《The Cursed Timer》


 The Curse

    Zarios is perhaps the shyest person mankind had ever seen when it comes to ladies. He had not spoken to a single lady ever since he was born. His only method of communication with them was with hand and face gestures, period. This had put him under much trouble throughout his school life. However, now that he entered college, his life had become much more relaxed beside the tough calculus exams.


    However, Zarios was awoken that morning to find an enigmatic being that looked like it came from hell standing in front of his bed.


    "Greetings pitiful mortal," said this hellish being with a smile. It had a humanoid like a body but with a tiger-like face, two horns and four hands.


    "W-Who are you? What do you want from me?" said Zarios.


    "I am what you humans call Tartarus, the god of torture. I assume you can expect what I want from you now? Yes, I want to torture you, rare being. You never spoke to a lady your whole life. I do not care what your reasons for this are, but it would bring me great pleasure to torture this special feature of yours. It would be an interesting sight to behold and a good warm up after spending three thousand years in a disgusting jail."


    "Can''t we discuss this somehow? Do you want me to worship you in return for not putting a curse on me?"


    "That does not work with me, kid. What will I benefit from a weakling like you worshiping me? Listen up; you will have to speak to a lady every single day. Otherwise, you will die."


    Tartarus casted a spell that glued a timer on the left arm of Zarious, It read 24:00.


    "Your timer will zero at exactly 12:00 at midnight. But since it is 7:00 now I will reduce the timer for today from 24:00 to 17:00, make sure you entertain me well mortal."


    The god Tartarus disappeared, and Zarios was left alone in his own room.


    "What the heck did just happen?" thought Zarios as he looked at the timer at his left arm.


    This whole story can''t be a joke, otherwise, why does he have a ticking timer on his arm? And even if it were a joke, who would do nothing and put himselfunder the risk of death? Zarios tried rubbing the alarm with his fingers, removing it with his nails but it didn''t work. Frustrated, Zarios went to the kitchen for a knife and tried scrapping the alarm with it, but the knife could not penetrate the skin glued with the alarm. Zarios gave up on trying further attempts for now, he had to head to the college.


    When Zarios left his house, the timer was 16:00.


    Zarios entered the class, and because of the curse, his eyes were unconsciously scanning the classroom for a lady he may talk to. His mother died a few months after he was born, and he had no siblings, so it was hard for him to speak to any female. Back in school the girls at his age tried to talk to him but got bored with his shyness and left him alone. The female teachers sometimes shouted at him to speak up and reply to them, but he answered them only with gestures.


    It is not like he hated ladies, his browsing history was full of them. He spoke to males normally, but whenever a lady speaks to him, his heart beats fast, and his head reclines downward, and his foot wants to sprint away. Even if he spent months with a lady and had known her well, his body still reacted the same.


    Zarios decided he had to do something about his shyness this time. He can''t obviously let himself get killed just because he was anxious with ladies. Zarios knew he had to speak to the other gender at some point. But even if he did talk to a lady today, can he do it every day? It is quite the torture for Zarios. He must have a female friend willing to talk to him daily.


    After scanning the classroom, Zarios found three potential ladies he may be able to talk to. Flora was the first, shy and calm and looked pretty. She seemed relaxed enough as a person that Zarios felt he may not be as shy with her. The second candidate was Fauna, outgoing, but always kind to everyone she speaks with. The third candidate was Lona, quite the introvert for he never seen her talking to anyone. This also made her the riskiest out of the three ladies, but Zarios felt she was worth a shot.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Zarios decided to talk to the first person he had set his eyes on, that is Flora. Getting rid of this curse soon would be best so he immediately stood up from his seat. But his legs were shaking, even his hands were trembling. So once his shy body knew that he would speak to a girl, it failed him.


    This is not good, he thought. By the time he reached Flora''s seat Zarios may fall on the floor, which is not a good story to spread throughout the college, he had enough rumors about him. Zarios decided that if he can''t stand up properly, he will use his friend sitting beside him for help.


    "Romeo, help," said Zarios. ¡°I can''t stand up for some reason. Could you help me reach the doctor?"


    "What happened?" Romeo asked as he helped Zarios walk.


    "No idea will have to check with the doctor."


    Zarios planned that while Romeo was walking him outside the classroom, at least one lady would ask what is wrong with him, and he would exploit that to reply to her, thus resetting the curse back to 24:00 for the day. This will only work once, but he would think of another way to reset the curse tomorrow.


    "Hey, Romeo, what is wrong with Zarios?" the outgoing Fauna was the first to ask. She did not ask Zarios because she knew he would not answer her.


    Perfect, it is now or nothing, Zarios thought. He tried to reply to Fauna, but his voice did not come out. He tried to shout, no use.


    "He cannot walk for some reason, so I am helping him to the doctor," replied Romeo to Fauna.


    "I see, keep it up, Zarios," replied Fauna with a smile.


    Zarios did not know that his shyness towards girls was this extreme. All these years he thought he could speak to them normally if he tried, but to believe that his voice does not come out is something else. Once Romeo brought Zarios to the doctor, which was also a female, Zarios tried to speak to her, but again his voice did not come out. This put Zarios in a dilemma.


    I can''t die like this, he thought. In an enraged fashion, he ignored the doctor, pushed Romeo aside, and sprinted outside the college. He had to do something otherwise he will die. Zarios tried to speak to the female waitresses at cafes and he even brought up enough courage to try speaking with a few ladies on the street, but in all these cases his voice still did not come out. Weary and depressed, Zarios went to his house to recuperate.


    "You look dead," his father Normav said once Zarios entered the house, then Normav returned his eyes back to reading the newspaper.


    "I will soon be dead," Zarios replied as he went to his room.


    Zarios father was not the kind who cared about his single son. A typical father would force his son to speak freely to ladies long ago, but not Normav. He once told him his son that must solve all his issues by himself.


    However, Zarios looked at the alarm which read 6:10. There is little time left before he dies, and there is not much he can do to stop it. He browsed the internet as his last resort to find anything that may help bring his voice back when he talks to females. Perhaps there were people with the exact same issue and somehow fixed it. But while searching the internet for three hours without a single clue, he fell asleep from fatigue.


    Zarios woke up after 2 hours from extreme body pain. He kept coughing until blood came out of his mouth. What is happening to my body, he wondered. He looked at his arm alarm, which read 00:49. Shit, he slept a lot. His whole body was in pain, and he felt weak.


    Perhaps these are the side-effects of my approaching death, he thought. This proved that the curse was not a joke. He had no time to waste, so he left the house and try to talk to any lady outside. His father was asleep at this hour, and after relying on the walls and handles and falling on the floor a few times, Zarios spent 15 minutes to leave his house. His vision was getting blurry that it was getting difficult for him to differentiate the gender of the person in front of him.


    The alarm read 0:34.


    There was not a single person outside his house. A bad timing, he thought, dammit what have I done to suffer through this? While he had 34 minutes left before his death, Zarios instinctively felt he had 15 more minutes at most before he could no longer move an inch of his body.


    So after resting for five minutes outside his house, coughing more blood and thinking about what he should do next, Zarios had no other option but to ring the doorbell of his neighbor Odessa and hope he can speak to her. Odessa is a middle-aged divorced lady who got engaged a few months ago as far as Zarios could remember. Zarios hammered her doorbell and she opened the door after a minute.


    "Zarios what had happened to you?" Her eyes grew large. "You can barely stand."


    Zarios couldn¡¯t see her face nor hear her properly. All he could do was grab her arm and say, "I need¡­ to talk to you."


    And after that sentence, Zarios fell on the ground unconscious, and the alarm went back to 24:00.


    <hr>


    The great god Zeus was awakened by a servant to tell him that the god of torture Tartarus had left his cage.


    "How did this happen?" Zeus exclaimed in extreme rage. He had never been this angry for a thousand years.


    "We do not know my liege," replied a lady more gorgeous than any human. "But the guard chef Hermes is searching for him as we speak."


    "Set this in top priority," Replied Zeus. "The last time he was left alone, he had destroyed a whole nation from his evil ploys. God knows what he is planning to do this time. Also, put the goddess of Love Aphrodite involved in the search."

 Odessa

    Zarios woke up the next day tied up on a bed. Startled, he tried pulling the ropes with force but it was no use. After accepting that he can''t remove the ropes, Zarios looked around him. The room was unfamiliar, was he abducted or something? Zarios wondered.


    He looked at the timer on his left arm, and he was brought back to his senses. He was still cursed, and the timer was at 18:00. This means he did return the timer back to 24:00. But how? Zarios could not seem to remember. In any case, the more urgent issue now is that he had to leave this room and somehow get his voice back when he talks to ladies. He hoped the one who tied him shows up soon.


    After an hour, Zarios heard two knocks on the door, and then the door was opened by his neighbor Odessa.


    "Oh Zarios, you are awake?" She stared at him. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her palm was bandaged. "What happened to you yesterday? I felt you were about to die."


    A sharp intuition, Zarios thought. His memories before he went unconscious yesterday flooded back to him. He obviously could not tell her he got cursed by a god, so he lied.


    "About that, I went to the gym and was so exhausted that I collapsed. I apologize for showing you--"


    Zarios shouted suddenly, "HOW COME I AM SPEAKING TO A LADY?"


    So Zarios did talk to Odessa, just 30 minutes before the timer was about to kill him. But why was he able to speak to her out of all the ladies he tried to talk with yesterday?


    Odessa burst out laughing, "What is wrong with talking to a lady Zarios? I know you have not talked to a lady before¡­ oh wait, I am your first?" She placed her hand on her mouth.


    "Yes," Zorian went shy mode and reclined his head downwards.


    "What? Why? After all these years and out of all the ladies around you, it was only me you had decided to talk with? Could it be you actually like me?" She gave a sly smile. "Just because I broke my engagement yesterday does not mean you should jump at the first moment to attract me."


    Life had taught Zarios many techniques when it comes with talking to ladies that loved to tease him. In this situation, a sensitive person like Zarios was boiling internally from shyness, but he did not show it. He simply looked at Odessa''s with bored eyes as if he was looking at a brick for a few minutes until Odessa gave in.


    "Alright, sorry, I was joking."


    "If you feel sorry then remove the ropes. Why the hell did you tie me?"


    "And why the hell I should not tie you? A half-dead boy who never spoken to a lady rang my doorbell at midnight to speak to me. Any lady would be frightened by this, you should be thankful that I did not call the police."


    She had a point. If Zarios were in her shoes, he would have done the same if not throw him outside her house.


    "You could have just brought me to my house, which is just next to yours. Oh, or could it be that you like me so much that you wanted to abduct me?"


    "Hey do not try to use my words against me now. Anyway, I rang the bell nonstop but no one opened the door to your house."


    "Yeah, I forgot that father does not open the door to anyone after midnight unless his house is on fire."


    "About that," Odessa sat on a chair close to him, and Zarios cheeks swelled red. "What is wrong with your father? He¡­ Why are your cheeks turning red? Are shy of me?"


    "¡­"


    "So now I have two choices, to sit a meter away from you or tease you and get even closer to you. Which one should I pick?"


    "If you pick the second choice I will kill you."


    "Haha, too bad you are tied up." Odessa moved her chair even closer to Zarios then placed her head on the bed just next to Zarios'' head. "Now about your--"The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Stop, I am gonna die!" Zarios turned his head left and right.


    "Alright, alright sorry but it is quite fun to tease you." She moved her chair a meter away from Zarios. "Okay so tell me, what is wrong with your father? When I talk to him it feels as if I am talking to a robot."


    Once he calmed down Zarios replied, "That is quite accurate because my father has no emotions. Now before you start asking me more questions how about you untie me already? I presume you can tell by now that I am quite a safe male."


    "Fine, I wanted to tease you more, but you might end up with a heart attack."


    Untying Zarios was a very delicate process. He made sure Odessa did not touch him when she untied his right arm. After that, he told her to stay away as he untied the rest of his body, which did take some time but he preferred this route.


    After he untied the ropes Zarios looked at the alarm, which read 24:00. This seemed weird at first, the timer should have decreased. Zarios then realized that since he was talking to Odessa he fulfilled the curse condition so the timer became stuck at 24:00. This meant he was safe for today, which was a big relief to Zarios.


    "So what did you want to talk to me about?" She asked him. "I suppose it is something important."


    How could Zarios explain his curse to her? No, even if he did explain the curse will she believe it? She will toss him to the closest garbage. But Zarios needed to talk to a lady daily, and if he can speak with Odessa already why should he adventure to other ladies? Perhaps he could come up with a lie that would make her talk to him every day. But he could not think of anything without coming as a creep. Shit. He had to buy some time.


    "Sure, but before that what happened to your bandaged hand? And your eyes were swollen when you entered the room."


    "Oh," She covered her bandaged arm. "Do not worry about it, I cut myself while cooking. And my eyes were swollen because I broke my engagement yesterday. Do I need to explain any further?"


    "No, it is fine."


    So how about you tell me what you wanted to talk about? I can tell you have been delaying it."


    "This may sound weird, but I need you to stab me."


    "Huh?"


    <hr>


    Zarios explained to her about Tartarus and the curse. And told her the only way she could believe him was to stab the alarm with the sharpest tool she has, and his arm would miraculously remain unscathed. She scrapped the alarm first with a knife, then she moved to rougher methods like stabbing the alarm with knife and needles. Odessa finally accepted that it was a curse when her chainsaw was also useless in harming the alarm, and she ignored that Zarios could have died in the process.


    "Wow, I thought the alarm was a weird tattoo first. So because you spoke to me the alarm returned back to 24:00?"


    "Yes, for today only."


    "And because of this curse, you are saying that you want to talk to me every day?"


    "As weird as it may sound, yes."


    She rubbed her bandaged palm, "And what would the neighbors say if they saw you talking to me daily?"


    "We can arrange it in any place. The curse accepts even a few seconds conversation to reset the timer."


    "That is pretty convenient¡­ So I have to talk to a boy who is 12 years younger than me every single day and for god knows how long."


    Zarios nodded.


    After staring at Zarios for a minute she replied, "Fine, I will help you but on one condition."


    "Which is?"


    "You have to be my boyfriend."


    "Haaa?" he shouted.


    She chuckled, "I like this response. I am also having fun talking to you even though I broke my engagement yesterday. I feel like you can heal my sadness."


    "Please, this is not a joke."


    "And I am not joking either. I want you to be my boyfriend. If you accept you can talk to me as much as you want, and if you don''t, you can find another lady to talk to."


    What the hell is wrong with this woman? He thought. Two hours ago she tied him up and now she wants him to be her boyfriend.


    "I think there is another way where we can reach an agreement."


    "No."


    So there is no running away from her condition, Zarios thought. For a shy dude like Zarios to get a girlfriend older than him suddenly was too much. He knew nothing compared to her about relationships, and he did not want to embarrass himself.


    "I am sorry I can''t accept being your boyfriend." Zarios finally concluded.


    "I see," she stood up looking sad. ¡°You are not honest. You can leave whenever you want." And with that, she left the room.


    Zarios felt terrible, she was kind to him considering his circumstances. But the offer was too outrageous, especially for him. In any case, his next plan for the curse was to talk to ladies around the city and in college and hopefully find a lady he can speak with. He also thought of going to priests after a few days because they may remove the curse.


    But his plan did not work out. He went to college and tried to talk to the ladies, but his voice did not come out. He also tried it with the service ladies in shops and restaurants with no use. His legs were shaking could barely stand while trying to talk to them and resorted to remain seated in all his attempts lest he falls on the ground.


    It was not clear on why he could only talk to Odessa out of all the ladies in the city. Zarios assumed that when spoke to her for the first time he had about 30 minutes left to die. So his shyness disappeared temporarily in favor of his inherent desire to live. This seemed possible because humans discard all their habits and manners when they get so close to death.


    A day had passed, and when Zarios woke up the next day in his room he looked at his alarm, which read 17:30. So the alarm decreased once again. And upon realizing this, Zarios gave up all the futile attempts to talk to ladies around the city and headed straight to Odessa''s house.


    "I accept your condition, I will be your boyfriend," said Zarios after she opened the door. He noticed there was a new scar on her neck, but ignored it for now.


    "Now you are honest," Odessa replied with a smile.

 Blood

    Two weeks had passed since Zarios agreed to be Odessa''s boyfriend.


    "You see, my husband Jarsos was not the kind of guy people thought he is," Odessa said as she drank her milkshake in a cafe. "The first time you look at him, you see him as a well-dignified gentleman. He showered smiles to everyone and was always there when you needed him¡­ somehow. I liked this man, and I think he liked me as well. It was I who made the first move, and he accepted me up to us getting married. And this is where things went downhill."


    Zarios was listening with intently as he drank his black coffee.


    "It turns out Jarsos had many bad habits behind the scenes." she continued. "He wanted to even share them with me, believing that I would accept them. I do not know how he believed this, but in any case that eventually led to my divorce, which was two years ago."


    "What kind of bad habits do you mean?" Zarios asked.


    "I would rather not talk about them." She replied.


    "I want to know," Zarios insisted, "as your boyfriend, or perhaps you got infected by some of his bad habits?"


    She turned her head to the window, "I did because he forced me to them, so I had no choice. But it is alright, I cleared my mind and body from them."


    "You are running away from my question, what kind of bad habits did he have?"


    "...I will only tell you one of them."


    So he had a lot of bad habits, poor Odessa, Zarios thought.


    "Fine."


    "He worshiped idols."


    Zarios spilled some of the coffee from his mouth, "What?" he shouted.


    "Yes, it is weird isn''t it? At this time and age, for someone to worship outdated idols."


    "Which means that he followed some of the old practices of worshiping the idols."


    "Correct, you are smart aren''t you?"


    "Even if you flatter me I won''t give you the key to my room."


    "Hey!--"


    "But anyway, I would rather close the topic." He interrupted her. "Sad memories should be locked up inside your brain and just forget about them."


    "No, that is not good Zarios. They will sooner or later ruin you and the rest of your thoughts. You will have to wrestle with these sad thoughts until they are no longer painful."


    Zarios did not expect her to go deeper into his comment. So a lot happened to her back then, such a response would not come out of someone unless they suffered a lot.


    "I see, I will keep that in mind."


    "You will thank me later when you get thrown into tough times like what happened to me. With that said, it is now your turn."


    "My turn?"


    "Yes, I told you about my toughest days. So it is now your turn to do the same."


    "I didn¡¯t go through very tough days to be honest, especially not like the one you had gone through."


    "It is fine, just tell me the most painful memory you can think of."


    "Alright, they are mainly about my father and the days where people harassed me because of my shyness in middle school."


    "Sweet, like?"


    "Sweet? You are enjoying this aren¡¯t you?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Come on, just continue.¡±


    Zarios gave her a glare, ¡°Anyway, six years ago I had a really acute fever. It was strong enough that I felt my whole body was cutting pierced by needles, and I could not move an inch of my body. I shouted for my father to help me while I was lying on my bed. He stood by the door of my room, looked at me and told me to deal with it and then left to his job. And from that day I avoided talking to him."


    Odessa stood up from her chair, "I really need to speak to your father. You could have died from this fever!"


    "You think it would make a difference? Remember, I told you a week ago he is a robot without feelings."


    "But feelings aside, from just simple logic you cannot leave a child with such a severe fever alone."


    "Odessa, I really do not want to speak to this person again. Just leave it, I got used to it."


    "I will leave it for now, but it is the unhealthiest thing of all not to fix your relationship with your parents."


    "That is just from your point of view, he has no issues whatsoever about it, and so do I."


    "¡­You know, now I feel like I really want to slap you."


    "Be careful, that would give you negative girlfriend points," he smiled at her. "Anyway this is not the priority, the most important thing now is to remove the curse."


    "Unfortunately, I agree with that. And I think I have found a solution for it."


    "Really?"


    "Well, the solution stems from the same reason why got the curse in the first place. It is all because of your shyness. If you stopped being shy, there is a chance the curse might disappear automatically. And even if it did not, it will no longer be difficult for you to talk to a lady every day. It is only difficult for an abnormally shy person like you."


    "I feel like it is more difficult for me to overcome my shyness than dispelling the curse. It became part of my personality."


    "So what? I assume this shyness of yours got developed into this monster because your father neglected you is not it?"


    "True, Mother died a few months after I was born, and was in an all-boys school until elementary school. I was never in a situation that forced me to ''talk'' to a lady. Gestures were enough for me to do all the job that I needed. Father knew about all of this but he did not care. Basically, I am shy by nature and my life helped amplify it.¡±


    "And why you are satisfied with this? Are you fine not talking to ladies your whole life? This is madness Zarios."


    "I did think about it, but I keep ignoring the hassle of changing myself."


    "You do have some of your father''s messed up genes."


    "Thank you."


    "Anyway, the best solution now is to crack your shyness."


    "Sure, but how?"


    "I have my ways."


    Odessa touched Zarios thighs under the table with her foot that made Zarios jump and shouted as if a cobra was about to bite him.


    ***


    The couple left the cafe and were walking to their homes.


    "You will sleep in my house today," said Odessa.


    "What? You want to corrupt my pure soul?"


    "A little bit. Just sleep at my house for the day as it should dilute your shyness."


    "This is torture. Can''t you delay this after a week or two until we are more used to one another?"


    "No, this is your punishment. Last week you avoided me for the whole day except for a single minute talk to reset your curse."


    "I could not help it. You do not know how tough it was for me to talk to you every day."


    "But now you can talk to me for about an hour. This is good progress, but nowhere near what I want. You also need to know a lot about what ladies want and need¡­ Come to think of it you do not know how much free service I am giving you."


    While he did not have a bad time with Odessa, except her being too pushy, Zarios felt he was getting manipulated by Odessa''s orders. He needed her to live, so he had no choice but to agree to all her demands.


    After the two entered Odessa''s house, the two argued about sleeping together or alone, with Zarios obviously sticking to the latter option. After an hour, Odessa finally agreed to let Zarios sleep alone in the living room, for today only.


    ***


    "As I thought, you can''t sleep?" Odessa said to Zarios after she came to check up on him. She wore more revealing clothes than usual.


    "Of course, what if you assault me in the middle of the night?"


    "You see, if I wanted to assault you I would have done it already. Geez, your shyness can be such a pain, it does not even let you sleep."


    "I guess."


    "I do have sleeping pills if you want."


    "Huh?"


    "You think I am lying?"


    "No, but why do you have them?"


    "I did have sleeping issues and managed to get the doctor to prescribe them for me. Using it once in your case won¡¯t be harmful if you are worried."


    "Alright, I will give it a try."


    Her logic was sound enough for Zarios, and he was confident enough she would not play around while he is asleep. So, Zarios swallowed the pill and entered into instant deep sleep. But this is where Tartarus torture actually began...


    Zarios woke up due to some sharp pain coming from his left arm, the same arm with the curse timer. He was still in Odessa¡¯s house, but what he saw that day was unbelievable.


    His whole body was tied up again, with his left arm punctured by a large needle, explaining from where the sharp pain was coming from. The needle, however, was drawing his blood to fill a container already half-full, and the culprit who did this was no one other than the person in front of him, Odessa.


    "Oh, you are awake?" She said. "Do not move, I am about to finish."


    "What are you doing Odessa? Stop this."


    "Why? I waited a whole week to draw this blessed blood." She looked like a drug addict who could barely wait to get her next batch of drugs.


    "W-What are you saying? What happened to you?"


    "It is about time that I tell you about it. There is one habit from my late husband that I could not get out of my system, I am actually a worshipper of the great Tartarus."

 Tartarians

    "You are a worshipper of Tartarus?" Zarios looked stunned.


    "Yes," Odessa replied. "You seriously thought that I liked you? Or even cared whether you might die from this curse or not? But once I knew you were indeed cursed by the mighty Tartarus, I could not help myself. I also wanted to be blessed by him."


    "A bless? Have you gone crazy? You consider a curse the same as a blessing?"


    The needle was still drawing blood from Zarios left arm, and could do nothing about it because he was tied up. He was feeling dizzy because he lost a lot of blood, close to a liter Zarios assumed.


    "A god, an actual god had spoken to you then cursed you. Who out of all the creatures in Earth managed to speak to a god? And not just to any god but to the mighty Tartarus. This sets you apart from all the creatures on Earth, it even puts you on the level on the divine, O blessed one, give me some of your blessings!"


    Odessa placed her legs on Zarios belly and kept showering his chest and face with kisses, not out of love but out of a passion for her god.


    How did the mature and kind Odessa change suddenly? Zarios wondered. Does this explain the reason why Zarios was able to talk to her out of all the ladies in the town? Is it because she was linked to the same god who cursed him? If that was the case then Zarios is ruined, because he must keep talking to her for the rest of his life to stay alive.


    "How did all of this happen?" Zarios exclaimed. "Where did the old Odessa go? You cannot be her, you cannot be the same person. I can''t believe all these two weeks were just a lie, it can''t be."


    "Why not? Many humans have different faces from what they are in public. I learned this from my late husband."


    "But this difference is too much."


    "Live and learn," she laughed. "I bet that after this you will not only have stronger shyness from ladies but a phobia from them. Funnily that the only person you managed to talk to was me. But it was all according to Tartarus plan. He, my beloved god, came to me and cursed me as well. And you know what? He cursed me before he cursed you. Have not you seen the scars on my palm and neck? He cursed me so that if I could not find a boyfriend younger than me then I would have to cut my body once daily till I could find one."


    "All of this was planned?"


    "Yes," she dug her nails into Zarios shoulders from excitement. "You getting cursed, and me getting cursed was all to make us meet one another. Do you get it now? We were destined by a god to be together."


    "To think that I actually liked you..."


    She ignored him and stared at her beloved blood container. Her response forced Zarios to close his eyes tightly to keep himself from crying. He had given it his best and did many things the old Zarios would not have imagined. Yet all of that was in vain.


    "Finally the container is full," said Odessa as she hugged the container. ¡°Do not worry your holy blood is getting used for a good cause as it should be plenty for the rest of my brethren." She then removed the needle from Zarios arm and bandaged his punctured skin.


    "And what are you planning to do with my blood?"


    "We will drink it of course."


    Oh my god, Zarios shouted inside his brain.


    "You cannot be serious."


    "I am. It is one of the main religious doctrines for the Tartarians or the worshippers of Tartarus. True love can''t form until the lovers drink the blood of one another."Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "But this means that I also have to drink your blood."


    "True, I have my blood prepared for you."


    "Seriously? Do not you think what you are doing is messed up?"


    "No, it is only different. Do you know many nations had worshiped Tartarus thousands of years ago? Where all of them mistaken? I do not think so. Our main religions today are equally messed up in their eyes. So neither religion is better than the other."


    Everything is heading into some messed up route. Zarios had no way to run away from her. He was tied up, weak, and dizzy from blood loss. No one would hear him if he tried to shout, and arguing to her about her religion seemed to go nowhere. But Zarios had to escape this messed up situation.


    "How about you untie the ropes now? Since you finished drawing my blood there is no point in keeping me like this."


    "You think I am retarded? I will only do that if you become one of us. If not, you will remain tied up till you die."


    "Sooner or later, there will be investigations that will definitely check the houses closest to mine. So you will be one of the primary targets."


    "What are you implying?"


    "Let us make a deal. Untie me and leave me alone and I will also do the same and ignore you completely from my life."


    "A tied up man is trying to make a deal, very interesting." She then dug one of her fingernails into Zarios belly deep enough that he shouted. "You are not the first person who was in the same situation as you, we have experience. But first, let me get a taste of this blessed blood."


    When Zarios saw Odessa drinking his own blood, and a little dripping to the floor, something inside of him was broken.


    "What a great taste, I already feel that I am closer to the great Tartarus compared to before," Odessa said as she removed some of the blood from her cheeks. "Your blood will serve us well."


    Whether it is due to the blood loss or from what he had been seeing in front of him, Zarios soon fainted.


    ***


    Three days have passed since Zarios got tied up by Odessa. His body had become thin from malnourishment and blood loss. He felt like he had just a few days to live. During these three days, Odessa had brought up many friends from her cult who have taken a little of his blessed blood. Odessa had also forced Zarios to drink her own blood using metallic tools to keep his mouth open.


    "Odessa, is there anything that I can do to make you untie me and leave me alone?" Zarios asked, on the verge of giving up.


    "We can no longer leave you alone, that would be too dangerous for us. But if you are willing to worship Tartarus and follow his rules and doctrines, I will untie you right away."


    "It is not like Tartarus wants me to worship him. He told me that he does not care if a human like me worshiped him."


    "Still, you always have to seek salvation from Tartarus, no matter how much he ignores you. And who knows, perhaps his words were no more than a test to gauge your belief."


    Holy shit, Zarios thought.


    "Alright, say that I wanted to worship Tartarus, what kind of rules do I have to follow?"


    "You will have to sacrifice something very precious to you. I sacrificed my ovaries for him."


    "You are no longer a sane person Odessa."


    "You may think so, but what Tartarus blessed us with was greater than the gift of birth."


    "Which is?"


    "Happiness."


    "What?"


    "I, no, we Tartarians no longer feel sadness nor depression. It does not matter what will happen to us tomorrow, because I will know that we will always be happy until our death."


    How is such a thing possible? Zarios could not get it. Did he give them some kind of food or artifact to stop all these feelings of sadness? But Tartarus is the god of torture; he is not supposed to make people happy. Instead, he is supposed to torture. It made no sense.


    "Tartarus is supposed to torture humans."


    "He tortures all except for his worshipers."


    "But he cursed you."


    "That was a blessing, not a curse."


    "Arguing with you goes nowhere, doesn''t it?"


    "It does, it is just that you are too young to convince me."


    "Or maybe that you have gone too mad to understand me."


    "Trying to get me angry will get you nowhere. And like I said the only way you can leave this situation is to be one of us and sacrifice something dear to you."


    "I don''t really want to sacrifice my reproductive organs like you."


    "Why not? A shy person like you will never use them," said Odessa while laughing.


    I use them every day, Zarios wanted to respond to her but was too shy to do so.


    "So what else can I sacrifice?"


    "It is common to sacrifice a hand or a leg."


    "No thanks, but what about cursed ones? Aren''t I already blessed by him, so I do not necessarily need to sacrifice anything do I?"


    Odessa stared at him for a while, "Actually that might be true. Because whoever gets cursed by Tartarus means that the great god likes him."


    "So do I have to sacrifice something or what?"


    "...I do not know, none of us would know for sure. There is not a clear statement about it in our scriptures."


    "Who would know?"


    "Tartarus for sure."


    "How about we ask him then? Tartarus, you can hear me, can''t you? I want to speak to you." Zarios shouted.


    "Oh my, you think the great Tartarus would show up for a little mouse like you?"


    "Why not?" A third inhuman voice was heard suddenly between the two. That person was no one other than Tartarus himself.

 Dispel

    "Why are you doing this, my lord?" asked Odessa. "Why are you favoring this stupid animal instead of me? After I prayed to you for so long..."


    "That is not your concern," replied Tartarus. "Or do you have complaints about the way your god does his job?"


    "No, not at all my lord."


    "Pay heed that this is your last warning, I expect someone who worships me not to repeat this insolent question." Then he turned his head to Zarios. "Now then, you called for me, pitiful human. What do you want?"


    Zarios tried to cover his fear, "you surely know why I called you. After all, you are a god aren''t you? You should be smart enough--"


    "Watch your mouth," Tartarus interjected, "It seems that we do not have a single retard here but two. If you try to harass me in any way you will regret it. My torture for you has been humble so far. If you want me to turn it into something that even a Titan, an immortal cannot bear, then I shall gladly do it for you."


    Zarios face changed color, he did not want to go that far. He had enough torture from the curse, and from Odessa, he did not want more of that. "I am sorry," he replied.


    "Good," Tartarus replied. "Now speak up properly."


    "I want to make a deal."


    "Which is?"


    "Release me from Odessa''s torture, and I am willing to do whatever you want."


    "I see..." Tartarus smiled, revealing long canine fangs. It was the first time Tartarus had smiled for centuries.


    After a few minutes Zarios asked again, "So will you accept the deal?"


    "Fine." Tartarus then looked at Odessa. "Do you hate her?"


    "Huh?"


    "I am asking you, do you hate this retard?" Tartarus pointed at Odessa.


    "Of course." All the emotions of love that Zarios had for Odessa got amplified into hatred.


    "Good, and you Odessa do you hate him?"


    "I am jealous of him."


    "Even better," Tartarus smiled.


    "My lord," Odessa said, "I am willing to do whatever you want, even more than this insolent dog--"


    "Be silent."


    "But--"


    "I have already warned you yet you ignored my warnings. You have to be disciplined."


    Tartarus snapped his fingers thrice, and that twisted Odessa''s body in the most inhuman fashion. Odessa gave very sharp cries that Zarios felt his ears might burst. After 2 minutes Tartarus seemed satisfied, he snapped his fingers thrice once again, and Odessa body returned back to normal.


    "How was it?" Tartarus asked.


    Odessa did not reply but kept sobbing.


    "I said, how was your lesson?" said Tartarus. "Are humans stupid enough to ignore the orders of the gods?"


    He snapped his fingers and twisted Odessa''s body. And after another two minutes, he stopped the torture and asked, "How was your torture? I do not want to repeat the same question again."


    "It was..." Odessa could barely catch her breath, "very painful my lord."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "Good, I can tell you won''t repeat your insolence again. Now back to you pitiful mortal, I will release you from this pitiful torture of yours. But you will have to live with Odessa for the rest of your life. Otherwise, you will receive extreme pain that you have not felt anything like it your whole life."


    Zarios felt that his heart had fallen on the floor. The last thing he wanted was another curse or to live the rest of his life with a crazy lady who drank his blood. Could not he have given Zarios an errand? Zarios thought.


    "You look sad. You should instead be grateful that I am helping you fill the condition of your first curse. Having a lady with you at all times will ensure that you will be able to talk to her every single day." Tartarus laughed, "This is so much fun. I do not get it why the gods do not torture mortals more often. Anyways you will be living with two curses from now on, and she will be living with two curses as well."


    Zarios gave Tartarus a sharp glare, but Tartarus replied to it with a smile, he enjoyed the glare. It was his job after all.


    "Why do you want to torture me this much? Why me?"


    "Why should I tell you? Though I suppose I will just say that the reason is related to the same reason why you have this extreme shyness towards ladies."


    Zarios did not get what Tartarus meant.


    "With this my job is done here. Do not hesitate to call me again, pitiful mortal," Tartarus laughed again, "that is if you want a third curse."


    Tartarus disappeared out of thin air, and Zarios and Odessa were alone in the room. But something felt different to Zarios, then he realized that the ropes that Odessa had tied him with, the needle she pierced him with to draw blood, even the dizziness from blood loss all had gone away. Zarios felt relieved, but his thoughts got depressed upon remembering he will be living forever with Odessa.


    Perhaps I should just kill myself, Zarios thought.


    Then suddenly, Zarios heard a sharp cry "Even though I had been the most obedient servant to him?" Odessa shouted, breaking one vase after another. "I will have my revenge!"


    ====


    It has been four days since Tartarus appeared and gave Zarios his second curse. Both Zarios and Odessa got the same curse this time, they had to be together else both would receive excruciating pain. Death, Zarios felt was gentler than this pain. Every second felt like breaking ten bones at once or getting stabbed twenty times in a single second. The pain was simply out of a different league.


    However, Zarios could not go over 10 meters away from Odessa. Zarios realized this after a few unfortunate tests since he obviously had to understand how it works. It pissed him off that Tartarus had not explained the whole system of the second curse like he did to the first one. He then assumed that Tartarus wanted to torture both of them thorough understanding of how the second curse works by activating it numerous times. The bastard.


    And he obviously could not go to university because he cannot bring Odessa to his university. Her brain was so messed up from the psychological damages she experienced from Tartarus torture that she became bedridden. It was brutal of Tartarus to treat his own worshippers so harshly. Odessa expected a royal treatment, but the reality had broken her heart instead. It seemed weird to Zarios because just after Tartarus left the two Odessa was on fire for revenge, but the next day she lost all her energy and never left her bed. Zarios also had to keep her alive, so he had to cook for her and even helping her to the toilet. Otherwise, he will have no other girl to talk to and he will die.


    But this situation can''t remain like this forever. Suppose that Zarios and Odessa lived together till they died, his life first would be unbearable because he will be living alongside a psycho that drinks blood for her mad god. And the act of being his girlfriend she started was mainly to stop her first curse from killing her, so there is that.


    And after four days Zarios had it, he forced the semi-unconscious lady lying at her bed for four days straight out of the house and hit the library. The library sounds like a weird choice but Zarios figured it was an excellent place to find a way to dispel the two curses and keep the depressed Odessa in a calm place.


    But the in the library books were full of crap, Zarios thought. They were useless and made by people messed up like Odessa. Some suggested boiling an egg and rubbing it on the curse on his arm, and on his left ring finger for his second curse (it was also on that same place for Odessa, quite a funny hint that Tartarus had given the two. Tartarus basically meant that they should marry, the troll). Zarios tried four dispelling methods he found on the most reliable books that seemed to him. He cracked an egg on the curse, he boiled hot water on it, he even put a horse''s pee and fertilizer made of coal on it, but the two curses did not get affected.


    Zarios felt he was getting mocked by the authors of the dispel books, basically telling him hey you believe in bullshit so here we are giving you more bullshit. Out of rage, he thought of burning the books, but of course he did not do that.


    He then tried going to a few priests. This seemed to him as a more useful alternative than readings dispel books. But after they used very similar techniques to what Zarios had tried from the books, like rubbing a boiled egg on the curse marks, the priests concluded that he had to cut the whole arm remove the two curses (both curses were located on his left arm).


    Luckily, the priests did not make a large fuss about this curse; perhaps they have seen similar curses in the past? In any case, Zarios did not find cutting the whole arm a good solution but kept it in mind as his last resort. For now, living with the two curses with his two arms intact was more favorable to him.

 Kevix

    And on the fifth day, it was Odessa the one who woke Zarios up.


    "We have to punish Tartarus," Odessa said to Zarios once he opened his eyes, her eyes were glowing fire. "After I spend these past years worshiping him with all my heart he did this to me! I know that I did cause you a lot of harm, but we have to set this aside for now. You may punish me as much as you want after we are done with Tartarus."


    It was the first time he had seen her that enraged ever since he had properly known her, which was not more than a month. He was not sure what was going in Odessa''s brain for the past four days, but her words now concluded that she is siding with him against Tartarus. This is good progress because it meant that he had a second brain that could help him to dispel the curse. Yes, Zarios did hate her for what she did to him, but he thought that for now the best move now is to use her to remove the curse.


    "Fine, and what do you suggest? Do you want to break the curse? Or do you instead want to take vengeance from Tartarus right away?"


    "Taking vengeance from Tartarus is my main goal. But first, we have to be immune to all his abilities and curses to beat up this bastard. A snap from finger twisted my whole body like a towel, you do not want to try it." She held her body tight remembering the pain. "And after that, we have to find a way to dispel the two curses and then find a way to beat him up."


    Odessa suggested a three-stage plan. That is to become immune to all of Tartarus curses and other abilities first, then remove the curses on their bodies, and beat him up last.


    "Sounds good on paper, but where will we find a way to do all of this?"


    "I do not know, but I know an expert. He knows a lot more about Tartarus than me, my first husband."


    ===


    Odessa''s first husband lived in a large mansion about 15 minutes of a drive from the house of the duos, his name was Kevix. Odessa called Kevix in advance that she will be coming. Kevix asked what is with this sudden meeting, she replied that he will know soon.


    So Odessa preferred living alone than living on a mansion with a mad husband, huh? Zarios thought. That gave him a better implication toward Odessa, but not that much still, she drank his blood after all.


    Once the duo reached the outer gates of the mansion, the gates opened automatically and led the two into the huge outer garden first, then to the door for the mansion. It is good to be rich, Zarios thought. He preferred not to talk to Odessa much, for a simple reason that he shunned her and was wary of her from now on.


    The two entered the mansion and were welcomed by a well-trimmed man holding a golden stick and a dark blue tuxedo.


    "Welcome Odessa," said Kevix. "And...You did not tell me that another person was coming."


    The marble, paintings, and the extra shiny vases and glasses that decorated the mansion made the place worthy for a king to live in. It was a completely different life compared to what Zarios had lived.


    "He has to come with me whether I want it or not. So there was no point in telling you.


    "You have become blunter," Kevix gave her a long stare. "Does he know about what we do?"This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Yes."


    "Then come upstairs to my study room."


    The study room was also luxurious but full of Tartarus statues, Zarios counted them as 24 status.


    Quite the hardcore, Zarios thought. He was undoubtedly on a religious level higher than Odessa. Perhaps among the top people backing up the religion of worshiping Tartarus Zarios supposed.


    After the two sat on heavily cushioned sofas, were given a fancy drink and the talk began.


    "Now then, tell me Odessa, why would the person who divorced me, one of the richest and most capable people in the country, want to talk about? I thought at first that you wanted to be with me once again, but the thought evaporated from my brain once I saw that you have brought a fellow male with you."


    "Hell no," said Odessa. "I would not marry a crazy man like you again. The person on my left may seem simple and unfashionable, but he is a much better person in every other way than you."


    Zarios did not expect that she preferred him over Kevix.


    Kevix dug his nails deep into the cushioned armrest of his chair, "Tell me quickly what you want."


    "We have been cursed by Tartarus."


    "Listen, if you want to joke around do it elsewhere I am a busy person, and you know it well."


    "This is the usual response," Zarios interfered. "And likewise I will prove it to you the usual way."


    Zarios removed his shirt and showed the man the curse marks on his arm and left finger ring and spent a few minutes explaining the way they operate.


    "Alright I accept these two curses as a legit Tartarus curse," said Kevix after but he brought up all the sharp tools he had and gave the curse marks a good drill until he simply gave up. "The two curses are also in line with the way Tartarus cursed people long ago based on our old scriptures. If we could create a similar curse marks that make the skin immune to all kinds of damages, we would be rich."


    You are already wealthy, Zarios thought. Or perhaps Kevix was still not rich in his dictionary.


    "Now then, what do you want from me? I suppose you did not just want to show it to me for nothing and just leave?"


    "We want you to remove it," Odessa replied.


    Kevix laughed. "You seriously think, me the most obedient and graceful worshipper of Tartarus will work against his god? If he knew that I worked against him what will he do to me? All this wealth that I had accumulated over the years was thanks to him. The discussion on this is pointless, go away and do not come back here."


    "Kevix," said Odessa. "How about you do it just for my sake? For the sake of the time we had spent together? "There is a good chance that will die and get many more curses than these two. If we make a single mistake and allow the curses to activate, we will die."


    "You deserve it after what you have done to me. Perhaps Tartarus did it as retribution for all the pain that you have given me.¡±


    Me? I deserve it? I did not harm you in any way besides asking for the divorce. It was you who harmed me to this messed up religion in the first place."


    "It was for your own good."


    "It destroyed my life."


    "You were not smart enough, it did not destroy mine as you can see," Kevix spread his arms pointing at his luxurious room.


    "No, it was because I was not a thief like you."


    "Do not you dare call me a thief," Kevix stood from his chair, his face turned red. "Leave this place at once."


    She blew him up, Zarios thought. Perhaps there was a better way to convince him?


    As the duo stood up and walked toward the door, Kevix recollected his mood and said, "Wait, I will not help you myself but I know a person who might. I can''t guarantee you anything except that I will tell him about your issue. He will meet the two of you soon."


    Odessa did not reply, she walked with Zarios outside the room and left the mansion.


    ===


    A week has passed since Odessa and Zarios meet with Kevix.


    "After all, what can we mere mortals do against a god?" Odessa complained as she leafed through vast stacks of books. "Perhaps the best way is to just live like this, I guess until we die."


    "No," Zarios replied. He noticed that Odessa had quite the volatile mood, one day she is fired up and on the next day she had no energy even to lift a finger.


    "You sure are stubborn, are not you?"


    "It is too early to give up. There is still a lot that we can do."


    "Like?"


    "Leave the country and search for people more experienced in the matter. Who knows what we will find?"


    "You want to leave everything, your college, this country, your friends, and even your father behind?"


    "The curse has a priority."


    "Yeah, I also forgot that you hate your father. But do not forget that Kevix said he will bring us a person to meet us, but so far nothing came up."


    "Perhaps he lied to us."


    "No, Kevix may be a mad person, who gave me some of his madness. But he is true and on his words."


    "I do not believe the words of people of people who follow this crazy religion."


    "So you also do not believe in my--"


    "You two reek of the underworld," a sudden booming voice was heard.

 Heavens

    Both Odessa and Zarios searched around the room to find the source of the voice.


    "What was that?" Odessa asked.


    "No idea."


    "I hoped you two would figure out who I am from my voice," it spoke again. Then suddenly a human-like figure appeared. It had wings, wore a light white cloth that covered about half of its body. "People used to know me from my voice long ago."


    The duo were terrified, did another being beside Tartarus show up this time?


    "Please we do not want any more trouble," Zarios said. "We had enough already."


    "Trouble? Had enough? That explains something," the angel-like figure replied. But do not worry, I have no come to harm you two for I am mostly neutral. My name is Hermes, the god of trade. I was asked by a friend of my friend to come and see you two, but I did not expect an underworldly smell. Surely you two have gotten involved into a very major issue. Mind telling me the story?"


    Odessa and Zarios looked at one another.


    "We should tell him everything," Zarios said to Odessa, she nodded. What else other than a god would be best to help them with the curse?


    Zarios told Hermes that whole story from his side, and Odessa did the same. Hermes kept nodding at their explanations until they were done.


    "So as soon as Tartarus left his jail, he started causing problems," said Hermes. "I have to report this to the top gods."


    "Wait, can''t you find a way to help us dispel the two curses?" Odessa asked.


    "It is not that easy. Well, I have a way but I need permission from our king Zeus. I do not want to get a beating for going over my limits. If it was a mortal matter, then I have more than enough authority. But with issues involving gods and immortals, I have to get Zeus'' approval.


    "And how long would that take?" Zarios asked.


    "A minute,"


    "You must be joking," Odessa said.


    "You think we need days like you humans?" Hermes smiled and disappeared within the blink of an eye.


    After exactly a minute Hermes showed up to the two again and said, "Well, I did not expect this, but Zeus wants to see you two."


    That was fast, Zarios thought.


    "Zeus himself wants to see us?" said Odessa.


    It was very rare for Zeus to ask mortals to visit him, especially those with no unique features like Odessa and Zarios.


    "Indeed, I am also quite surprised but this is just how he is. And this is perhaps one of the reasons that made him better than our previous kings, Kronos and Ouranos. Anyways, he wants to hear the stories of you two with his own ears. And the words of my king are a must to me, so I will need you to come with me to the heavens whether you like it or not."


    "Sure, we will come. It would be an interesting trip," said Odessa.


    "This would be the first time ever that a human, no two humans, ever stepped on the heavens. It will enrage many gods and demigods, which will make it more fun. But to me I do not really care, the heavens are just a place like many other places. Who really gets to decide whether it is holy or not? Not even Zeus can decide on this.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Zarios initially thought Hermes was a being similar to Tartarus, arrogant and brutal. But no, it turns out there are kind and humble ones. So even the gods differ greatly from one another just like us humans, Zarios thought.


    "Alright, it is not like we have any choice on the matter," Zarios replied. "So when do you want us to be there?"


    "Now."


    "Sure," Odessa replied instantly, her eyes glowing passion.


    "Haha, you sure are a hasty lady are not you?" Hermes said. "The place should be to your liking I assure you. But there are a few rules that you two have to follow to ensure that no harm shall reach you two,¡±


    "Which are?"


    "Do not talk to any god, or demigod, just do not speak to anything unless I give the permission to do so. Many gods will be staring at you with either hatred, curiosity and will try to anger you. All of these scenarios would be bad for the two of you because the situation will be like a human talking to an ant, really I am not joking here. The gods in the heavens can easily kill thousands of humans without breaking a sweat.


    "I agree with you on that, I have personally experienced how painful that can be," Odessa said. So we won¡¯t talk to anyone beside you."


    "Correct, that is, besides Zeus and me. Be humble with Zeus as much as you can. If you anger Zeus he will place his wrath upon you two that is much, much worse than the games of Tartarus. Zeus might even leak his rage to the rest of humanity.


    Gosh, what have we gotten ourselves into? Zarios thought. He did not want to trouble himself with gods but he has no choice.


    "Alright, we got it. So could you send us to the heavens already?" Odessa asked.


    "Sure," Hermes replied. "Hold on to me tight, but do not touch my wings. I won''t be going at full speed because your bodies won''t be able to handle it." The two did that and waited.


    Zarios felt a huge fan, ten times larger than a plane blowing its wind at him when Hermes flapped his wings. In a few seconds, Zarios saw himself outside the solar system, and within a few more seconds he could see the whole Milky Way galaxy below him. And after racing through areas that made little sense to him like orange clouds, beamy rings, and walls of blue fire that took in total ten seconds to race through, Zarios looked at structures akin to the pictures of ancient Greek he had seen numerously on TV and paintings. The same but they looked perfect in a way he could not describe. The most striking structure was the statue of Zeus, larger than mountains and at the very center of the place. The sky was stuffed with white clouds that Zarios could see nothing beyond them. There were also colors he had not seen before, a lot more than the seven colors of a rainbow.


    "This place is unlike anything I have ever seen in my life," said Odessa, her face full of joy.


    "Of course," replied Hermes. "What do you think the heavens are? If you two are lucky, extremely lucky, you may be able to live in the heavens. And by that, I mean luckier than any human because not a single human has managed to live here.


    Zarios supposed that to be correct. Humans have barely managed to leave Earth to even think of reaching this place.


    ***


    If Zarios could simplify all the beings he was looking at, they were mostly a mixture between humans and animals, or basically hybrids. There were beings like a Minotaur, a mix of human and a bull. There also creatures like a medusa, a combination between a snake and a human, and many other beings of similar structures.


    "Were they all born in here?" Zarios asked.


    "Most of them," Hermes replied. "There were some gods who were born on Earth, or as we gods call it Gaia, our great and first mother. But that was a long time ago. Now we do not associate ourselves with earthly matters anymore. We realized that the closer we are to Gaia, the closer we are to tragedies. It took us a long time to leave Gaia, unfortunately, simply because we did not want to abandon our mother. No life forms stayed alive when we fought on Gaia. Dinosaurs that you humans keep discovering countless fossils went extinct due to one of our wars we fought. And they are just a fraction of all the creatures that went extinct. So, in summary, the more we involve ourselves with Gaia, the worse it is for everyone. This is why when we agreed to abandon Gaia 3,000 years ago we also changed the name of Gaia to Earth so that the people living on it stopped associating the name to bloodshed.¡±


    "So the stories we humans have of you occupying Greece 3,000 years ago were all true?"


    "Yes, Greece was the last place that we occupied, and the first place was Egypt. Some of the stories that have reached you humans were true because many gods loved to boast. They kept fake records of remarkable acts, whereas, in reality, they were weak gods. Other gods were humble; they watered down many of their exploits like Hercules."