2.35 The Goddess of Fire

        Having been a Panther in a past life, the ancient Aquillan tunnels were old stomping grounds for Neter, he was quite familiar with the Underworld network beneath the Atlan Empire. He had hoped never to return to Atlan ever again, but after hearing Zara's stories, nothing could stop him from seeking the truth. This was an ancient saga burdened with ancient guilt, Zara's accounts of Culloom joined too many dots for it to be some fantasy, or mere coincidence, the mysterious island called Gorias, cloaked in the innocence of Culloom. This was an arm of the network he was completely unfamiliar with, this island had to be investigated now she had placed it on the map. 

        He moved swiftly through the dark passage, navigating the pitch black with ease, it was almost like old times save for the putrid odors occupying the tunnel between Kergal and Atlan, these new fumes were toxic, how could Aquilla even survive? He could feel his lungs burning, he was growing uneasy, realizing now how badly overdue this was.

         As the path levelled out from the upward climb he could make out the faint pulsating glow of Aquilla's lair, assuring him she was still here. Aquilla was relaxed when he found her, laying awake in her nest; her big blue eyes were filled with sadness. Unafraid of the giant beast, Neter approached her bed and knelt down beside her head, reached out his hand and stroked her brow with a gentle rub. "What's happening, my friend?"

         Aquilla snorted, sending a cascade of sparking embers across the floor.

         "Pissed off, aren’t you!" He opened his bag and drew out a small leather pouch, opened the ties and withdrew a handful of rose hips, offering them to her. "Me too. Here, these are from Mina."

         Aquilla lifted her head, sniffed the berries and began to nibble the rose hips from his hand. Neter scratched her scaly neck as she licked his other hand clean with her long black tongue. She snorted another shower of sparks onto the ground and rubbed her head against his chest, almost knocking him off his feet.

         "Whoa!" He chuckled, catching his balance. He didn't need words to understand her. "That’s right! I’m going to see what's going on over there." He stood up to leave, flashing her his weapon. "Don't worry, I've got the sword!"

         Relieved to see some real concern, Aquilla felt vindicated, she laid her head down and let out a heavy sigh, illuminating his path ahead.

         Neter took the cue and followed the sparkling carpet towards the last stretch of the tunnel, turning to look at her once more before disappearing around the corner. She looked so sad... Her eyes looked sparkly now... Were those tears in her eyes? His heart stopped for an agonizing moment of realization. He had never seen Aquilla cry, no one had. Aquilla never cried... Aquilla was the invincible warrior, the Goddess of Fire... Tears from the Fire Goddess were not a good sign at all!

         As Jasun held the goblet with his eyes closed, not only did Zara notice how amazingly handsome he was, she noticed his physical appearance was seriously flawed; he had webbed fingers! Like a frog! She wanted to ask why his hands were like that but didn’t dare…
         "The War of the Gods began a very, very long time ago…" he began "...before life on Gaia even existed. The planets in our galaxy were born from each other... From Star Dust, like you and I they have their own Phoenix Flames, birthed from the same Phoenix Flame of Eternal Knowledge as you and I."

         Zara took a deep breath, reminding herself again of the Serpent Sorcery, his chiseled features were just that, she would need to remind herself of that constantly in order to stay sane.

         "They are unique bodies, each one has individual minds with individual powers, like you and I" Jasun continued. "They generate different energies, different vibrations, each of them affects one another in their own unique way, just like you and I."

         Now Zara found herself feeling enchanted by the fairy tale being told by the handsome frog man as he continued to seduce her with more Lunie mysteries.

         "The first planet in our galaxy was Netu. Netu is a star now but she was once a lush green planet like Gaia. She lost her battle with the Archonic energies of her galaxy and they destroyed her, but from her ashes was born a new life, she is the Original Phoenix, the god of Eternal Knowledge. She is still blazing bright today, she is the sun you see every day."

         "Netu? The sun? The Original Phoenix?" Zara wasn't sure if he was pulling her leg or if he actually believed this, if he was simply asking her to believe this. "The sun is a dead planet?"

         "Yes and no!" Jasun smiled, he was even more handsome when he smiled. "Netu's Phoenix Flame is Eternal Knowledge, her Energy is Eternal, her Light is alive inside us all! Netu was the Original Phoenix, and Silva was the Original God of Creation. Together with Netu’s Phoenix Flame, Silva birthed new planets, and together they nurtured them in an orbit of love, just like a mother and father would nurture their own children..."

         Images of Orien's head flashed across Zara's mind, winding her, making her cough. Jasun glanced at Mina, but Mina gestured for him to carry on.

         "The children were all different, all loving, but one of them caused great adversity. Elon was the planet of Reflection. Her entire being was a reflection of all that was around him, therefore she could only reflect love. She was a reflection of all things, and by reflecting all that was around her, she could harvest endlessly, but never generate, and so Elon became the Goddess of Eternal Harvest."

         "Elon? A Goddess?"

         "Yes" Jasun assured. "But with reflection came jealousy, no matter how much light she harvested, her reflected light was dim, a mere glimmer compared to the powerful rays that shone from Netu. And no matter how much love she harvested, her reflected love was powerless without the Spirit of the Phoenix fuelling it. And so Elon grew jealous, and jealousy grew into a Spirit that was empowered by this reflected love and light. This was how the Archonic Flame evolved. It is this Archonic Flame that has divided us."

         Zara wasn’t buying it at all, but she was following. "Archonic Flame?"

         "Yes. Because of her powerful energy and light, Netu's powers grew naturally in the universe, and because of her growing jealousy, Elon set about dampening Netu’s light, for she wanted to be the brightest light in the orbit. And so the War of the Gods began."

         Zara scrunched her face as the nonsense was elaborated upon, she questioned the handsome storyteller's illusory presentation with great skepticism, he was for sure another one of these Unicorn illusions. It was all lies and she wasn't having anything to do with it. She had never even heard of Netu, Jasun's story didn't make any sense, it didn't even come close to the Phoenix myth of her text books.

         Jasun noticed she was having a hard time, white knuckled fingers dug into the soil, she was upset now; story time was over. He returned the goblet to Mina.

         Mina had noticed her white knuckles too, she took the goblet and stood up. "Ooh, it's quite chilly outside. Why don't we go inside for some tea? Tomorrow we can tell more of how and why these crazy stories became our specialty, so that you can understand where our troubles have come from, why we have been so divided, and why none of this makes any sense to you."

         "You're right!" Zara agreed, getting up off the ground, brushing herself off, grateful at least for Mina's insight. "None of this makes any sense, at all!"