2.49 Hatched From An Egg

        It was promising to be another beautiful day in Lemuria as the sun rose over the village, Zara pondered the beauty around her as she stepped outside for the strange storytelling ritual, willing to open her mind to the possibility of having been deceived, to a point. As the friends took their places beneath the tree, she still felt deeply disturbed by contradictions painting such a dark image of Medel. Nonetheless she liked the storytelling, it was interesting in spite of these dark contradictions, much more interesting than any mythology text books she had studied in Culloom. 

        She glanced at the crystals hanging in the tree nearby, sparkling in the sun as they spun in the fresh ocean breeze. This place wasn't all bad. If these things about Medel were true, then she wanted to know. The fact was, she was still alive, was she not? She was rested and well fed, well dressed by Atlan standards, they had taken good care of her so if Medel was real, He was allowing all that, wasn't He? Could all their Bad Press simply have been a lie too?

         "Do you remember where we were?" Mina asked, testing her memory.

         "Medel the kidnapper!" Zara hadn't forgotten, she wanted an explanation, a really good one. Mina noticed her tack was changing, and offered the goblet to the friends.

         "Who would like to begin the next chapter?"

         Nepheus raised his hand. The musician with the golden pipes was handsome too, like Jasun and Neter he was of a blonde complexion, his was an exotic blonde too, a strawberry blonde. Zara was beginning to notice that even though the Origians were different gen races, they all seemed to share each other’s traditions, as if they were one gen race. She glanced at Mira in comparison. Mira’s hair was like hers used to be when she still had hair; mousy, lacking color, frizzy, it wasn't really long enough to braid...

         Clutching the obsidian goblet, Nepheus closed his eyes, taking a moment to meditate on the reflected light before continuing with the alternative history lesson. "Medel, Barduk and Vina retreated to their cave with the kidnapped children and worked night and day to incubate their new Archonic race. They infused stolen Nummo eggs with all kinds of DNA from the Nefilim, Star People, and wild animals that roamed these parts. They hatched four females and eight males, they called them the Anunnaki."

         "Anunnaki?" Zara was horrified, they had to be mistaken. Not only did the story make zero sense, it was an insult. "How can you say that! I'm part Anunnaki!"

         "That's right" Mina smiled as if it was somehow okay. "And so are we."

         "WHAT?" The story had taken an unexpected turn.

         "We are all part Anunnaki. Atalon is one of the Original Anunnaki."

         "Atalon?" Suddenly anger and pain gave way to laughter. "King Atalon was hatched from an egg?"

         "Yes" Nepheus was serious. "All the original gods were hatched from Nummo eggs."

         "King Atalon was hatched from a Nummo egg…" Zara echoed, laughing and crying at the same time, it was beyond ridiculous. She had to give them credit for their creativity.

         "I'm sure he wouldn't want you to know that" Mina winked.

         Zara grew serious as she realized what Mina was implying. It was an outrageous statement, how could it possibly be true? Yet at the same time if it was? Mina offered a huge clue. "Is that why you worship the egg?"

         Mina shook her head. "We don't worship the egg."

         Zara was at a loss. "Then who do you worship?"

         "We don't worship" Mina replied. "That doesn't mean we aren't grateful. We express Gratitude every day. We live to Celebrate Life."

         "Celebrate Life?"

         "Yes. Worshiping and Celebration are two very different things. We don't worship or live our life according to some Prescribed Doctrine like you did in Atlan, we Celebrate Life instead. Every day when we create our delicious food and wine for each other we are celebrating Creation. Every evening when we play our music for each other, we are celebrating the vibrations of Eternal Love. The Phoenix Spirit needs no worship, the Joy of Love, the nourishment of Celebration is what fans it's flames. It's the Archonic Spirit who needs the worship, the reflection of Love and Creation, to fan it’s flames."

2.48 White Smoke

        Out on the majestic viewpoint of the Villa balcony, Halios inhaled the crisp morning breeze, resisting any temptation of succumbing to the aromas of vanilla pancakes wafting up from the Grand Courtyard below. He studied the aribu as they emerged from their tents in various conditions, pondering his own personal plans for a New Empire. 

        He could see Torus at the gate already, doing his job like a good god. Halios shook his head in wonder. Sending him to Fomora was an excellent idea, one of Atalon's fewest, Torus was proving to be a good leader, but he had no idea what he was in for. Fomora was the real Hellias. Frigid cold and barren, survivors lived in ice houses and ate raw fish for dinner, if they were lucky enough to catch one. No one had scouted Fomora in centuries, no one had heard of any civilizations blossoming in the remote land. It was the perfect place to build the next step of the plan... 

         He let his gaze wander to the pancake lineup beyond the tents, the gathering of happy campers was a sight to behold, Atalon had really outdone himself this time, standing ovations were in order! When suddenly, he recognized one of the patrons at the pancake stand who wasn’t supposed to be there…

         The wafts of vanilla weren’t just from the pancake breakfast, there were wafts of vanilla goddess competing with the stench of puke, sewage and excess alcohol from the night before. Bell scanned the lineup for familiar faces as he left the pancake stand to continue his quick scout of the grounds. As he turned toward the gates he noticed Josh emerge from a tent, followed by an eager fan. Through the sea of tents and bodies, Bell watched them hurry over to the pancake lineup gathering more fans along the way. By the time Josh reached the lineup he had a crowd of fans around him.

         Bell couldn’t help but wonder. Was Josh in the Tabloids again? What had he missed? He took a detour to investigate, there was some sort of exchange between the fans and Josh, what was it? An Autograph session? Then he noticed another fan make a similar exchange… What were they exchanging?

         As each fan scurried away, Bell's suspicions of Josh and his renewed fame grew in exponential ways. Still under cover, he followed the fan back to his tent, surveying the scene from behind another tent. The fan was with friends. Moments later, through a slim opening in the door there were puffs of white smoke billowing out…

         "Ugh!" A giant waft filled his nose, he instantly recognized the smell....

         It was the SAME WHITE SMOKE that blasted him into the outer realms of the Universe that day the Gora Lab blew up!

         Blown away by the shocking revelation, Bell staggered backward to dodge it, now he had to know what it was and where it was coming from! He hurried out the courtyard towards the headquarters building, unable to shake the feeling he was onto something huge, he hadn't been mistaken, he was sure it was the same white smoke! He could feel it even from that tiny little puff!

         It came from the Gora lab!

         Was Josh selling it? It made complete sense!!! How did he find out about it? Who gave it to him?

         Did he steal it? 

        But Bell didn't have the time or authority to investigate the drug scene that morning, it was of little urgency compared to the new emergency assignment his unit had to deal with in the Underworld. With great reluctance, he made his way down the stairwell to meet his crew, already waiting for him in the Hub, then boarded the train to Fina.

         By the time they arrived at the gated wall of dead bodies, the stench of rotting flesh had completely impregnated the atmosphere. Countering any weakness they felt with solemn affirmations, the soldiers disembarked and began to dismantle the gate. As they opened the massive iron grid the pile of bodies, oozing with maggots, collapsed into the open floor filling the tunnel with the fresh odor of death, exposing the magnitude of horror that had piled up inside.

         "Okay, soldiers." Bell stiffened. When he was in charge, he was as strong as an ox, this was Bell at his best. The crew were used to this level of carnage now, too. This time the cleanup was more organized, this time they were salvaging adults, not children. "Same procedure as Culloom. Salvage what we can, load them all up carefully, take them to the lab. Once you've cleared the station, move on up to the street level. The whole town needs to be cleansed."