God School

by Scott Kinkade

  He reached into the chest and pulled out a large hammer with a short handle. Brandon knew very well that this particular Artifact was the most dangerous one yet.

  “The look on your face tells me you remember this one. For the first time in millennia I see fear in your eyes.”

  Brandon would have been lying if he said he wasn’t concerned by this latest development. Belial was holding Mjölnir, the mighty weapon once wielded by Thor. Obviously the Bifrost had taken Brandon to the Norse storage chamber. It used to be said the hammer could smash mountains with ease. From here on out, he would have to be more careful than he’d been in a long time.

  Belial pointed Mjölnir at him. Lightning erupted from the hammer and struck Brandon in the chest, knocking him to the floor and scorching his clothes.

  By the time he got back up, Belial had reached into the chest and removed a magnificent spear: Gungnir. It always hit its target no matter what. “Once I throw this at you, it’s all over. There’s still time to bend over and lick my boots for all eternity.”

  “Go yur yourself,” Brandon said.

  Belial gave a sort of shrug, and then threw Gungnir at him. Despite just being hit by Mjölnir, he was able to dodge it with ease. He knew, however, that was only the beginning. True to its legendary reputation, the spear curved and came at him again. Around and around it chased him. Brandon was fast, but he could grow tired while the spear could not. Meanwhile, Belial observed the spectacle with smug satisfaction.

  This went on for quite a while. Eventually the inevitable happened, and Brandon made a misstep. He tripped, and Gungnir impaled him through the abdomen. He went down in a pool of blood next to Belial.

  His evil brother clapped sarcastically. “For a while there I thought you might actually outrun it. ”

  Brandon coughed up crimson essence. Even gods could bleed. “Bastard.”

  Belial laughed. “Are you referring to my aim? Yeah, it’s true; I could have speared you through the heart and granted you a quick death. But even you must know I don’t want that. I want you to suffer as much as possible before you die.” He bent down and yanked Brandon’s head toward him. “Look at me when I’m talking to you! For a long time—even by god standards—you’ve been all high and mighty. You looked down on me, convinced I was just a walking ego. You thought you were better than me. Ha! Don’t think I haven’t forgotten the end of the previous universe. You cried like a bitch! Ares died that day, and even though you briefly brought him back today, it can’t erase countless millennia of you being a pussy. Remember that as you die.”

  * * *

  Ev and Maya went into the corridor and found the Bifrost still waiting for them. Despite Ev’s reluctance, Maya insisted on going with him to help Brandon. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I have to do this, Ev. I have to face Belial and put an end to my nightmare. I have to make up for the things I’ve done.”

  Ev sighed. “Fine. But don’t attack him. Leave that to Professor Strong.”

  She agreed to the compromise, and they entered the Rainbow Bridge. For better or worse, they were about to settle things once and for all.

  They materialized inside a chamber that resembled the ones that had gone through previously. However, this one was lined with high arched walls.

  Ev froze as he took in their new surroundings. Belial stood over Brandon, who had a spear through his gut. “Professor!”

  Belial looked over at them. “Look, Ares. Your student has arrived just in time to see you die.” He twisted Brandon’s head so he could see Ev.

  This was all wrong. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Brandon was supposed to have defeated Belial—possibly with Ev’s help. But now he lay dying on the floor, and Ev could see no way for them to stop the evil god now.

  It was Maya who spoke up first. She stepped forward to confront Belial. “You have to stop this!”

  He gave her a derisive snort. “You think you can tell me what to do now, bitch? Have you forgotten who you owe your life to?”

  She hesitated, but continued nonetheless. “For years I believed I owed you my life. But now I realize you didn’t do it for me. You don’t care about me at all. You’re a monster and I won’t help you anymore.”

  “Hmph. You’re right; I don’t give a damn about you. I care so little, in fact, that I think I’ll kill you right here without a second thought.”

  He raised the hammer he was holding. It began to glow with an ominous light. Ev had a horrible premonition at that moment. He knew he couldn’t let Belial do whatever he was about to do.

  Lightning erupted from the hammer. It was headed straight for Maya. Without another thought, Ev leapt in front of her. It struck him like an out-of-control truck. He went flying backwards into her, and both of them hit the floor.

  * * *

  Brandon watched as Ev shielded Maya with his body. The kid was still just a god in training; he’d never be able to withstand the hit from Mjölnir. Sure enough, he went down in a smoking heap.

  “Ev!” Maya had recovered and was now cradling Ev in her lap. Fresh tears ran down her face. “Talk to me! You can’t die! You can’t!”

  Belial was unmoved by this. “This is the cost of betrayal, Maya. The kid died because you betrayed me. Actions and consequences, you know.”

  She glared at him with furious eyes. “You monster! How could you?” She returned her attention to Ev and sobbed uncontrollably.

  Belial tsked. “I’m sick of you. You can both die together.”

  He leapt into the air with Mjölnir raised above his head. He intended to bring it down on the two students and eradicate them.

  Brandon knew he had to do something and fast. He needed something to stop his brother with, but he had no weapons.

  Actually, he did. Without even bothering to think about it, he took hold of Gungnir and ripped it from his stomach. The pain was unbelievable, but he managed to bear with it somehow. Then, using the last of his strength, he hurled it at Belial. He didn’t have time to properly aim it, so he just had to hope for the best.

  The spear connected with his brother in midair, hitting him pretty close to his heart as far as Brandon could tell. Mjölnir fell from his hands, and Belial followed suit. Both unceremoniously hit the floor in front of Maya.

  * * *

  Maya watched as the fallen form of her old master reached out his hand in a futile attempt to grab her. Absolute shock registered on his face. He couldn’t understand what had just happened.

  The flames that normally emanated from his body were gradually snuffed out. When the last of them died, his hand fell in defeat. Now nothing whatsoever registered on his face. His eyes were blank.

  The Blood Key materialized above his corpse. It hovered there a moment, and then blinked out as if she had simply imagined it.

  She carefully laid Ev down and went to examine Belial. Upon rolling him over, her eyes confirmed what she had desperately wanted to see. The spear had pierced his heart. No matter how mighty the god, death would always follow upon the destruction of the heart.

  A part of her felt like celebrating, but there was no time. She might still be able to save Ev if she hurried.

  * * *

  His eyes opened slowly. A beautiful figure hovered above him, a pleasant light coming from her hands. It took him a few moments to realize it was Maya.

  He was in an incredible amount of pain. His chest felt crushed and scorched. Yet somehow he was alive. “M-Maya?”

  She shushed him lightly. “Don’t try to talk, Ev. Save your strength. Thanks to the healing arts we learned at the Academy, I managed to pull you out of the darkness. But you’re still far from well.”

  “Never mind me,” he said. “I’ll be OK now. You’ve got to help Professor Strong.”

  To his surprise, though, Brandon limped over to them. His hand clutched his abdomen where the spear had penetrated, but the wound appeared to now be closed. “I can take care of myself. We’re not called gods for nothing. But I’ll admit, if you hadn’t shown u
p when you did, Belial probably would have finished me off. I owe you both my life.”

  “Does that mean all is forgiven? For Maya, I mean.”

  Brandon scratched the back of his head. “I doubt it. A lot of people are going to want someone to blame for this, and since Belial’s dead now, that someone will most likely be her.”

  Ev could not accept this. “But she made things right! She turned against Belial and helped us beat him. If she hadn’t distracted him, he totally would have killed you. And she’s sorry. Aren’t you, Maya?”

  “More than you’ll ever know,” she said somberly.

  “A lot of people died, Ev,” Brandon said. “You can’t just sweep that under the table with an apology. I’m sorry, but things aren’t going to end cleanly. There will be consequences for her actions. But,” he added, “I’ll do what I can for her.”

  Ev smiled. It wasn’t much, but he’d have to take what he could get. “Thanks, Professor.”

  Chapter XIX

  Without warning, many holes opened up in the sky, sucking the Nephilim back to Gehenna. The Divine Protector group rejoiced; this meant Brandon and Ev had won, and things could go back to (relatively) normal.

  Sure enough, they soon returned from the Tower, flying limply due to their exhaustion and injuries, but still in one piece.

  The biggest surprise, though, was that they brought Maya with them. CiCi embraced her friend, assuring her she didn’t care what Maya had done. Jaysin, for his part, patted Ev on the back and said, “Job well done, mate.”

  Daryn shook Ev’s hand, but wouldn’t even look at Maya. Clearly he was still upset at her. Brandon had been right; there would be consequences for her actions.

  After the friends had gotten caught up on what had happened after they left, Ev, Brandon and Maya were introduced to potential gods Deep and Sahara Alato. These two had decided to enroll at the Academy in the spring.

  Next came the awkward part. Maya and Freya stared at each other for several moments. Maya tried to say what was on her mind. “I…”

  But Freya simply hugged her. “Don’t ever do that to me again, Maya.”

  Fresh tears streamed down Maya’s face. “I won’t, Professor. I swear.” Ev realized Freya was the mother she had never had. For the first time, he understood the significance of their relationship.

  “In that case,” Freya said, “I don’t need to say anything else. Let’s go home.”

  * * *

  Ev, Maya, Brandon and Freya stood in Bethos’ office following their return from Stiftung. The atmosphere was grim as the President read their report.

  He soon finished. He laid the paper down on his desk and exhaled. “That was a hell of an adventure you guys went on. Nephilim, Artifacts, the Tower of Babel, teaming up with Zero Grade. You did it all, didn’t you?” They nodded. “Well, all that matters is Belial’s dead now and the Nephilim have returned to Gehenna. The only thing left is to decide what to do with Maya Brünhart.”

  Maya gripped Ev’s hand for support. Despite the seriousness of the situation, it felt good to him. “Please go easy on her,” he said.

  “Why should I do that? She got a lot of people killed.”

  “She didn’t have a choice!” Ev argued. “Belial was forcing her, threatening her.”

  Bethos wagged a finger. “We always have a choice. Fear is not an excuse for betrayal.” He turned his attention to Brandon and Freya. “What do you two think?”

  Brandon cleared his throat. “I recommend leniency. Yes, she betrayed us. But in my opinion she acquitted herself by turning against Belial and helping us defeat him.”

  “Exactly,” Freya said. “Look, Maya isn’t a bad person. Not by a long shot. She’s just a poor soul who got dragged into something bad. And I think we’re not being fair by denying her the chance to tell her side of the story.”

  Sighing, Bethos said, “Fine. Maya, tell us your side of the story.”

  Maya explained everything, starting with the death of her parents. She didn’t leave anything out. Eventually she got to the part where Belial had her infiltrate the Academy. “I have to be honest. I didn’t do it because I was scared. I did it because I hated you for not helping me during my darkest days. I wanted to bring down the mighty Bethos.” Ev looked at her like she was crazy. She definitely shouldn’t have been telling the President this.

  Oddly enough, Bethos didn’t seem to take it personally. He listened calmly to her story without getting upset. “So what happened? What changed?”

  “I got to know the people here. I realized they aren’t the cowards and self-righteous pricks Belial made them out to be. The Academy is full of good people. Still, at that point I convinced myself I was past the point of no return. I had to do what my master said or he would destroy me.

  “But if you must know what ultimately made me decide to turn against him, it was Ev. He was willing to lay down his life to save me, and that was something I couldn’t ignore. So I decided to put my faith in him, and he didn’t let me down.”

  “A beautiful speech,” Bethos said. “But I’m still leaning toward expulsion.”

  Ev knew at that moment that he needed to step up for Maya. So step up he did. “Now wait just a minute! I’m not going to let you kick her out without a fight.”

  Bethos scrutinized him. “And what are you going to do about it?”

  “If she goes, I go. Maybe we’ll join Zero Grade. Is that what you want? Two rogue agents with god training working against you?”

  Bethos’ face was an emotionless mask. “Are you threatening me?”

  “No, not threatening. Just…exploring our options. Right, Maya?” She nodded. “I promise you that if you kick us out, it won’t go well for you.”

  The President considered this for a moment. Finally, he did something surprising. He laughed. Hard. This went on for a while. When he finally calmed down, he said, “I like you, Ev Bannen. You’ve got moxy. Very well, you’ve convinced me. Maya can stay at the Academy, but she’s on probation. If she so much as sneezes at the wrong time, she’s out. Is that understood?”

  “Perfectly,” he replied, satisfied at the decision.

  Maya bowed. “Thank you, sir.”

  * * *

  Ev and Maya left the office, leaving Brandon and Freya alone with Bethos. “Something’s still bothering me about all this,” Brandon said.

  “What’s that?” Bethos said.

  “The Blood Key. It disappeared when Belial died. It should have remained there for the taking, but it didn’t. And then there’s the Nephilim. They were returned to Gehenna. That suggests someone else now has control of the key.”

  “Interesting,” Bethos said. “Are you thinking…?”

  Brandon nodded. “Yes. He must have willed it to someone upon his death. But Maya doesn’t have it, so it couldn’t have been her.”

  “Could it have been someone in Zero Grade?” Freya asked.

  Brandon pondered this for a moment. “Possibly. But since he apparently broke all ties with them, I don’t know who it could be.”

  “I thought Maya was his only ally,” Bethos said.

  “Perhaps not. If he had one, he could have had another,” Brandon said.

  “So what do we do about it?” Freya said.

  “Until this person gives us something to go on, there’s not a whole lot we can do,” Bethos declared.

  Brandon sighed. “We can investigate, but Zero Grade is so secretive, it’ll be hard to get anywhere.”

  “So we wait for them to make the next move,” Freya said.

  “Looks like we don’t have much choice,” Bethos said.

  * * *

  Ev and Maya walked calmly down the hallway. “That went about as well as could be expected,” Ev said.

  “I really thought they were going to kick me out. I would have been all alone again. Thank you, Ev. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

  He shrugged. “It means a lot to me as well. You’re the one person in this world who has the best chance of u
nderstanding me, Maya. We’ve both been through an awful lot in our lives.”

  “Yes. For better or worse, we have. But did you mean it when you said you’d quit and join Zero Grade if they expelled me?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, yeah I would have quit. I probably wouldn’t have joined Zero Grade, though. Not after the things they’ve done to us. But I definitely would have quit if they didn’t let you stay. I couldn’t imagine my life without you.”

  She squeezed his hand. “You truly are a savior, Ev Bannen.”

  Epilogue

  Thanks to Belial, the existence of gods was now known to the world. Things would never be the same again. Every religion now had to face the fact that each had foundations in truth, and none could be claimed as the one true faith. Church attendance worldwide dropped dramatically.

  However, many people chose to face their new reality with a new outlook. Instead of no single religion being correct, each was part of a greater truth. You could put them all together to form an amazing puzzle. People managed to maintain their faith even in the light of these bombshell revelations.

  Unfortunately, there were still serious problems to be solved. Tensions between countries escalated due to the appearance of the Tower of Babel. Even though the Nephilim had returned to Gehenna, the Tower itself remained, and each nation demanded equal access to it, despite the fact it was within Murnau waters. They threatened to take any action necessary to get it.

  Ultimately, though, the saber rattling amounted to very little. The entrance to the Tower was mysteriously sealed up, and no one could get inside. Therefore, the Murnau government decided to allow representatives from every country to come inspect it to their heart’s content in the hopes of reopening it. Of course, the Murnau military remained on standby in the off chance someone actually succeeded.