Gathering of the Chosen

by Timothy L. Cerepaka

  Chapter Two

  Up until this point, Raya had been quite bored. She had been bored of World's End—which, despite being the Throne of the Gods, was not really as exciting or interesting as the name suggested—bored of the rude katabans who had greeted her and her parents when they arrived here, bored of the other mortals that had also been invited to World's End and who she didn't really care about, and bored of the Temple of the Gods. Mostly, it had been because Raya didn't like traveling and didn't like talking to strangers, especially to strangers who weren't royalty like her.

  The only stranger who interested her was the mage named Braim Kotogs, who had allegedly come back from the dead not too long ago. Yet even he seemed boring, not to mention there was something definitely off about him that made Raya want to avoid him.

  The view from the balcony is sort of nice, I guess, Raya thought. But the view from my room's balcony back in Carnag Hall is even nicer.

  But when the severe-looking woman on Skimif's Throne below—the one who reminded Raya far too much of Teacher—had mentioned a 'Tournament of the Gods,' well, Raya perked up. She liked tournaments. In fact, Carnag's Fifth Annual Airship Tournament had just ended recently and the winner, as per contest rules, had given Raya a free ride in his airship, which had been the most fun Raya had had in a while.

  As a result, Raya decided to pay more attention to the announcement. She leaned forward a little bit more, watching the woman named Alira hug the thick Rulebook book to her chest.

  “The Tournament of the Gods?” repeated the Loner God. His mocking tone had vanished, which was sad, because Raya had found him to be the most amusing thing about this whole trip. “I've never heard of that.”

  “That's no mystery,” said Alira, “because there has never been anything quite like this in the entire history of Martir.”

  The Loner God glanced at the strange, green octopus-like god sitting next to him. “Hey, historian, is that true?”

  The god—who Raya recognized as the Historic God, the God of History, as he matched the description her father had once given her of him—rolled his eyes, but nodded. “It is, brother. History does not have any records of any Tournament of the Gods being held anywhere in the world before today.”

  “I guess history doesn't repeat itself after all,” said the Loner God with a smirk, earning another eye roll from the Historic God.

  “But that still doesn't explain what the Tournament of the Gods is,” said another god, who Raya immediately recognized as Grinf, mostly because his powerfully built body, square jaw, and large gavel closely resembled the statues of him back in Carnag Hall. “Is it some tournament in which we gods will have to compete?”

  “You gods will not need to do a thing,” said Alira. “It is in fact a tournament for the mortals. The humans and aquarians, that is. To put it simply, one hundred mortals from all over Martir will be competing for one of the five positions for godhood that are currently vacant.”

  That caught Raya's interest. She leaned forward even more, ignoring the mutterings between Yorak and Jenur beside her, and the puzzled look on Father's face.

  “Hold on,” said the Loner God, raising one of his short arms. “You mean that, rather than create new gods out of nothing, we're going to ascend five chosen mortals instead?”

  “Precisely,” said Alira. “The Tournament is going to have five different brackets for the different gods: One for Skimif, one for Hollech, one for the Human God, one for the Spider Goddess, and one for the Avian Goddess. Each bracket will have twenty mortals competing for the title of each god. For example, the Skimif bracket will have twenty mortals competing for the chance to become the new God of Martir.”

  Raya's eyes widened. She glanced at Father and Mother. Father stared at Alira with a stunned expression, while Mother looked like she grasped the implications of the Tournament as quickly as Raya did.

  I always thought I'd be the Queen of Carnag when Mother passed, Raya thought. Her grip around the railing tightened. But what if I could become the Goddess of Martir instead?

  “Why didn't the Powers just create a bunch of new gods and send them here?” said the Loner God. “A huge tournament like this sounds like a big waste of time, if you ask me.”

  “The Powers disagree, Longer God,” said Alira. “The Powers believe that creating new gods is less efficient than making mortals who already live here into gods. Newly-created gods would need to be trained by you deities, in addition to learning how to integrate with all of you. They will need to learn the complex social understandings that you gods have created among yourselves, which doesn't even factor in the time learning how to interact with the mortals and understanding Martir itself. Ascended mortals, on the other hand, already have a basic understanding and knowledge of Martir and the gods. Therefore, they will take less time to teach than brand new gods would.”

  Raya listened to every word that came from Alira's mouth as if it her life depended on it. She kept imagining herself sitting in that throne where the Mysterious One and Alira stood, presiding over the gods as they all bowed down to her.

  If I become the Goddess of Martir, it won't just be the gods bowing down to me, but the whole world, Raya thought, unable to hide the smile on her face. That would be amazing.

  “And finding the mortals who are destined to become gods—who you refer to as 'godlings,' if I understand the term correctly—will not be difficult,” said Alira. “If I am not mistaken, Tinkar, the God of Fate and Time, knows which mortals are destined to become gods and which are not.”

  She was looking at a god as she said that, an old, bald-headed man with a large staff topped with a clock. Raya recalled from her lessons that that was the form that Tinkar typically took whenever he needed a physical form, which meant that the man was indeed Tinkar himself.

  Tinkar, however, hardly looked happy about Alira's plan. Nonetheless, he nodded and said, “That is correct, Alira. I know the fates of all mortals on this world. I can help locate the one hundred mortals who are destined to become godlings, as unlike their fellow mortals, the fates of godlings are hidden from me, which makes them stand out quite a bit. It shouldn't take long, especially if some of my siblings help me.”

  “Yeah, yeah, that's nice,” said the Loner God, waving off Tinkar's words like they were irrelevant. “But what are the details of the Tournament? I'm normally not the kind of god to worry about the small details, but this seems way too important to gloss over. Like, what are the rules and structure of the tournament?”

  “All will be revealed in due time, Loner God,” said Alira. She patted the cover of her Rulebook. “We must first decide on a location for the Tournament, as well as gather all of the mortals who are destined to become gods. All of Martir must be informed of the Tournament as well, from the lowest mortal to the highest god.”

  “Where should the Tournament be held, then?” said the Loner God. “Answer me that, lady.”

  “I believe World's End would be an excellent spot to host the Tournament,” said Alira, “seeing as it is the Throne of the Gods after all—unless anyone here can think of a better place to host the Tournament, that is.”

  Not a single god objected to that suggestion. Raya had hoped that Grinf would suggest that they host it on Carnag, but Carnag's patron was as silent as the rest of them.

  “Okay, but why a Tournament?” said the Loner God. “If we can find one hundred godlings, why not just pick five from among them and ascend them? Surely that would waste less time than setting up a whole Tournament.”

  “The Tournament is how we will weed out the worthy from the unworthy,” said Alira. “Not every mortal with the potential for godhood will attain it. And of those who do, not every one will use their power for good. By completing the Tournament's trials, the new gods will show that they are indeed worthy of that lofty title and the immense power associated with it.”

  The Loner God said nothing in response to that, although he was clearly grumbling under his breath. He was too far away for
Raya to hear him, however.

  “If there are no more objections or questions,” said Alira, after looking around at the rest of the gods, “Tinkar will lead a team of half a dozen other gods to locate the one hundred godlings who will be competing in the Tournament. Meanwhile, I will inform the rest of the gods about the rules and structure of the Tournament, which will take place exactly one month from now. That should give us plenty of time to find the godlings and organize the Tournament itself.”

  Alira spoke in a very matter-of-fact voice, which reminded Raya too much of Teacher back home on Carnag. Still, Alira's annoying voice didn't put off Raya from the idea of becoming the Goddess of Martir at all.

  I bet that its my destiny to become a goddess,, Raya thought. I mean, of course I am a godling. I'm the Princess of Carnag. If anyone should be given godhood, it should obviously be royalty like myself.

  “With that, I dismiss this meeting,” said Alira. “I will reveal more of the details regarding the Tournament over the next four weeks as we begin the preparations. For now, you gods may leave and do as you wish for the rest of the day.”

  With that, both Alira and the Mysterious One vanished. As soon as they did, the gods began to leave. Some flew out of an opening in the glass dome above, while others teleported, and still others left through doors behind the thrones that led outside. Raya noticed Tinkar gathering half a dozen other gods around him as he spoke to them, but they were too far away for her to hear anything he was saying to them.

  “Wow,” said Darek, who Raya was displeased to notice was standing closer to her than she liked. He looked at the other people on the balcony. “A Tournament of the Gods. I have never heard of that before. Has anyone else?”

  “No,” said Yorak, shaking her head. “In all of my years as the Archmage of the Undersea Institute, I have never heard of such a process of deciding who should become a god.”

  “What's the normal process for ascending a mortal, then?” asked Braim, pushing away from the balcony and turning to look at Jenur and Yorak.

  “The actual process is a mystery to us mortals,” Yorak said. “It is one of the few mysteries of magic that we mages know very little about. The gods have kept the process a secret from mortals ever since the creation of Martir itself.”

  “All we do know about it is that only the gods can turn a mortal into a god somehow,” said Jenur. “The exact process is unknown.”

  Braim then looked at Mother. “Say, Queen Hana, you're a katabans, right? Would you happen to know—”

  “No,” said Mother shortly. “While I did serve the Mechanical Goddess for many years, that was one secret she never saw fit to share with me. We katabans are just as in the dark about the subject of ascension as you humans are, so don't ask me another question about it.”

  Braim raised his hands defensively. “Okay, okay. No need to bite off my head.”

  Raya also pushed away from the balcony to stand by Mother. She did not, however, express her desire to become the Goddess of Martir, mostly because she doubted anyone here, except for her parents, would take that wish seriously.

  Instead, she said, “Well, I for one am quite excited for the Tournament. I think it will be very interesting, maybe the most interesting thing to have ever happened on Martir.”

  Darek, who was still leaning against the railing, said, “I just wonder who the participants will be. Alira said that there are supposed to be one hundred godlings, which breaks down into twenty for each god. Any idea who might be chosen to participate?”

  “None whatsoever,” said Yorak. She then patted Auratus on the shoulder, causing her pupil to look up at her. “But I think that Auratus here would make a good candidate. She is an excellent student and an even better mage.”

  Raya wrinkled her nose at that. Although she didn't know Auratus very well, she had to admit that she had a hard time imagining an aquarian, of all things, as the Goddess of Martir, or as any of the other godly roles that needed to be filled. True, Skimif had been an aquarian prior to his own ascension to God of Martir, but that was different and Raya wasn't so sure that this Auratus had what it took.

  But if Auratus is one of the chosen and we are put in the same bracket, then that means we'll have to compete, Raya thought. I'll have to keep a careful eye on her in that case.

  Auratus looked a little embarrassed at her mentor's praise, while Jenur said, “I hope that one of my students is chosen. It would bring even more honor to North Academy than it already has. And I'd just love to put up a picture of that student on the Wall of Mastery among all of our other great students of the past.”

  Raya, folding her hands behind her back, looked at her parents for their opinions. She expected them to say that she of course would make a great goddess. Not just any old goddess, no, but the Goddess of Martir herself. It was only what she deserved, after all, and as her loving parents, they were obligated to voice their support for her.

  But Raya was disappointed when Father said, “It will indeed be interesting to watch. I hope that one of Carnag's mages is chosen. What do you say, Hana?”

  “I expect Carnag to have some representation,” said Mother, brushing some strands of hair from her face. “After all, the Carnagians are a proud and noble race of humans. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the chosen godlings come from that island.”

  Raya wondered if her parents might have somehow forgotten about her. So she cleared her throat rather loudly, but no one seemed to pay her any attention.

  Instead, all attention was drawn to Braim when he said, “So what kind of challenges do you think that the participants will have to take on?”

  “I imagine it will vary from bracket to bracket,” said Yorak. “For example, I doubt that the replacement for Hollech will have to go through the same trials as a replacement for Skimif. It is probably wiser to ponder the specific trials that the participants of each bracket will face.”

  “I bet that the people in the Hollech category will have to tame horses, because he was the God of Horses, after all,” said Braim. “And maybe steal things, too, because Hollech was the God of Thieves, too.”

  “That's still not very specific, though,” said Darek, shaking his head. “Like, what would Hollechian participants actually steal? Would they have to steal from a king or from one of the gods, maybe?”

  Raya found all of this speculation about the actual challenges rather boring. She cleared her throat loudly, but as before, no one, not even her parents, seemed interested in listening to her.

  “That would be a very impressive challenge,” said Father, tapping his chin in thought. “Steal from a god and try to get away with it. I can't see how any mortal thief could possibly succeed in that, but perhaps that is the point, that if you can successfully steal from a god, then you deserve the title of God of Thieves.”

  “But what would people who are participating in the Spider Goddess category have to do?” said Darek, a frown on his face as he scratched the back of his head. “Try to pet a poisonous spider and hope it doesn't bite them?”

  “I don't know,” said Jenur. “But I'm sure that all will be revealed in time. For now, perhaps we should all return to our residences, since the meeting is over and all.”

  “Good idea, Jenur,” said Father. “But before we do that, why don't we all have dinner together? I believe that World's End has many good restaurants that we could patronize, which will be my treat. Right, Hana?”

  “Of course it does,” said Mother. “Or at least it did, back when I last visited here. I doubt I'll have any trouble locating a good restaurant for us to eat. In fact, I believe I saw a great seafood restaurant on the corner when we were traveling to the Temple.” She then turned to Raya. “Raya, what do you think? Do you want to get something to eat before we return to the place we're staying at?”

  This wasn't what Raya wanted to talk about at all, but she could see no way to bring up what she actually wanted to talk about in a natural way. Still, Raya was determined to find a way to move the conversa
tion in the direction she wanted it to go.

  So Raya said, “Why, yes, Mother, that sounds very nice. I have never eaten at a genuine katabans seafood restaurant before, but I am certain that it will be a splendid place to discuss how great a Goddess of Martir I would make.”

  Raya was pretty sure that she had succeeded in smoothly and naturally changing the conversation to the subject she wanted to talk about—at least, she thought so until Braim snickered, causing her to look at him and say, “What?”

  “Oh, nothing, beautiful,” said Braim, though he still snickered. “It's just that, well, I kind of doubt that you will be chosen to participate in the Tournament. And even if you are, I doubt you will become the Goddess of Martir.”

  “How do you know that I won't?” Raya asked. “Can you see into my fate and tell me what lies in the future?”

  “Of course not,” said Braim. “I just think that it's funny how you think you'd make a great Goddess of Martir.”

  “Of course Raya would,” Mother said, before Raya could respond. She wrapped an arm around Raya's shoulders and squeezed her against her body. “Raya is obviously the best and most qualified mortal to become the Goddess of Martir. Even if she is half katabans, I doubt that will keep her from achieving apotheosis.”

  “Are you sure that katabans can ascend?” said Braim. “Because I thought that only humans and aquarians can.”

  “I am half human, you know,” said Raya. “That, I believe, is enough to qualify for me a chance for the position of the Goddess of Martir. Right, Father?”

  Father—who had clearly been trying to stay out of the conversation—nodded hastily and said, “Uh, yes, Raya, of course. And even if you aren't chosen, your mother and I will continue to love you as always.”

  “Don't talk about if she isn't chosen, Tojas,” Mother said. “Instead, talk about what we will do when she is chosen. On that day, we'll throw an island-wide party on Carnag to celebrate her success. And maybe on Shika as well, if we can get them to celebrate with us.”

  To Raya, the idea of an island-wide party seemed awfully small for such a momentous occasion. If she became the Goddess of Martir, she'd create a massive worldwide party that everyone, human, aquarian, katabans, and god alike, would participate in. She had never heard of a worldwide party, of course, but she decided that that just meant she'd have to be the first one to do it.

  “Uh huh,” said Braim, who didn't sound too excited about it. “Well, I guess we'll all just have to see which way the winds of destiny blow, eh?”

  “Of course we will,” said Raya. “And as we all know, the winds of destiny almost always blow in the direction of royalty.”

  “If you say so,” said Braim, although he didn't sound convinced at all by what she said.

  Oh, well, Raya thought. It's not like I need his support. I have the entire island of Carnag behind me. Who needs the support of a resurrected man, anyway? Especially one as rude as him.

  ***