Nathan Returns

by Jason Zandri

  “Correct,” Aphrodite said turning back toward Adia. “Infinite choices across a multitude of existences.”

  “And the Olympians?” Lisa asked.

  “We are not of this realm; as such we are unique to our own place and even when we move within your existence, we do not have an additional place in other realms. We exist only in Olympus and then here when we visit. We do not exist in the multiverse. While we can visit one of them as we might visit here, the situation for us is far different.” Aphrodite said.

  “Meaning?” Lisa asked.

  “We draw our powers from Olympus, the Prime Universe, the connection between, and the Earth itself. When we visit another realm in the multiverse, even the closest one in similarity, with the fewest differences or divergences from here, we are mainly stripped of the bulk of our powers. We have only a weak tether to Olympus. Eons ago, many of us enjoyed going between the existences. Now, with so much time removed and the tether so weak, we no longer dare it.”

  “You said time was of the essence,” Adia said, shaking off the emotional feeling she had for Aphrodite.

  “Yes,” Aphrodite said, her tone became blander. “Rebecca is not everything she appears to be. Once before, we picked a champion. Well, more than just once before, but in this particular instance, we imbued the wielder with too much power. When the time passed to address this, it became a battle for humanity. This man was Ahzeem Ama and while we know his eternal soul is still trapped between the Ethereal and Astral planes of existence, the evil essence that consumed him in the Prime Plane, your realm here, has returned.” Aphrodite moved over to the windows in the suite to take in the view of the city. “We believe that entire essence, the evil force if you will, is in one place…”

  “Rebecca,” Lisa said plainly.

  “Yes,” Aphrodite said turning around to look at the two of them. “As a normal being she was already physically and emotionally attracted to him. When she was… possessed by the essence, it modified and then rooted itself to her deepest emotional parts of her personality.”

  “Like she wasn’t already wonderfully unstable… now she’s super powered too,” Adia said sarcastically.

  “There is more to things than what appears on the surface,” Aphrodite said closing her eyes. She lifted slightly off the ground and floated backwards and away from the windows to the suite. Lisa and Adia moved closer to one another.

  Aphrodite was a few inches off the ground still and she waved her hand. The view of the city disappeared and the windows became dark. The resulting view resembled something similar to television screens more than windows.

  “More than just choosing the right person,” Aphrodite said, “which is difficult enough, the timing to choose that person is also nearly as critical. The mere fact that Cici was dying at the time, that she heard the call of the Olympians, that Nathan was her choice and arriving before she passed, were each difficult enough to arrange in synchronicity. There is one other factor that allows Nathan the ability to maintain the best and most stable connection to the powers of the realm.”

  “The alignment of the planets,” Lisa said quietly.

  Aphrodite turned her head and looked directly at her. She waived her hand lightly and the windows showed a view of deep space, almost as if on a speeding space ship and looking out the main view screen. “I remembered that you were there that day,” Aphrodite said with some level of surprise in her voice, “I had no idea you were aware of the alignment that day.”

  “Nathan talked to me about it,” Lisa answered and turned toward Adia. “It was one of those things he chattered about. I loved to listen to him talk about it. I didn’t have a ton of interest but he was so excited that I would listen, that anyone would, so I let him run with it.”

  Adia became a little tense but then turned her attention to the windows. “Is that Saturn?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Aphrodite replied as the view showed them passing by the ringed planet. “During the sealing of the talisman to the chosen hero, there was a celestial event occurring. Above and beyond just a planetary alignment, Saturn was in direct alignment with Earth.” The view in the windows quickly changed to an approach of the Earth. “As you can see here as well, the moon was also aligned and as we pass the Earth…” Aphrodite stopped and looked over at Lisa.

  “The Baxter—Zephram comet was also aligned between the Earth and the Sun,” Lisa said, recalling the words that Nathan had said to her.

  “That comet was an added catalyst. It was a gravitational, material, and interstellar event that has never been calculated into any incantation or any magical binding ever before.” The view of the windows passed the sun and ultimately Jupiter on the far side and then when dark. Aphrodite waved her hand and natural light and the cityscape returned to view in the windows. “With such an idea alignment, the comet is an added positive catalyst for someone like Nathan and the character that he has. If he has the willpower, he will likely tap into the powers in ways none of us ever have.”

  “Why?” Adia asked. “Your kind has had so much time to harness and use the powers… why would you assume Nathan would grasp them so quickly and use them even better?”

  Aphrodite smiled. “What is it that you say?” she asked tipping her hear and raising her hand to her chin. “We are ‘fat and happy.’ We don’t worry for anything, generally, we fear basically nothing and we harness little more passion daily than for our own sloth. Nathan’s mind is fresh and energetic. He believes in the people, his people, all of you; that you all can each achieve greatness of your own, whatever that might be. He wants to see people reach those successes. As much as he externally shuns the role, he is a wonderful protector. It is why Cici chose him. There are people on Earth, that if they could will something into existence for someone else, they would; even at a cost to themselves, because they are at peace with the world and they love themselves… they want other people to feel that way too.”

  “That’s Nathan,” Lisa said to her.

  Adia stepped forward. “As much as I don’t mind the history lesson and learning about Nathan, which I already know a lot about, I’m not seeing the urgency from before when you said time was of the essence.”

  “Rebecca imbued the powers onto herself rather than a talisman; that alone is going to take a toll on her being. She used dark magic and improper incantations, which have and further will, taint her and her powers. She also performed them at the worst possible time with respect to the local celestial bodies. The Earth and moon were pulling at direct angles to one another and the moon was at half-moon phase. With those direct opposing forces, and Rebecca’s power selection, Gaea’s, mother Earth itself, she could not have more incorrectly chosen a time to cast that magic, when mother Earth was under her greatest local stress with the moon pulling away at that angle.”

  “So with all of that, and the way Rebecca placed the powers onto her own being, she is under the same duress as well?” Adia asked.

  “Yes,” Aphrodite said as she moved to take a seat.

  “You’re getting weak,” Lisa said to her.

  “I am. Being away from this realm for so long… I am not used to the drain on my power and the strain on my being. I will need to leave shortly. I will need to rejuvenate for a period of time in the Fountain of Life on Mount Olympus.” Aphrodite looked over to Lisa. “You’re concerned for my well-being. In all the years of people praying to me, they offered sacrifices for honestly selfish reasons; in the end hope of getting what they wanted. You want nothing but for me to be well.” Aphrodite stood slowly, looking over at Adia then back to Lisa. “I must agree with the Watcher formally known as Cici Johnson; it is surprising that Adia and Nathan ended up with one another in a physical, emotional, and sexual relationship when Lisa is more aligned. I believe it is where that ‘opposites attract” saying comes from.”

  Aphrodite walked over and kissed Adia. At first, she resisted but finally relented. When she was done, she took a step back and looked directly into her eyes.

&
nbsp; “I am not a Watcher; therefore I cannot see as well as they would where you will go throughout your life. You are a strong woman, determined, driven, and independent. You will be able to get most of what you are looking for from your natural talents. To get the rest, you will need to rely on your softer side, which you hide away from most. It takes a far braver person to embrace what they feel than hide it. You have the strength if you would only believe in yourself.”

  Adia said nothing as Aphrodite stepped away.

  Aphrodite hugged Lisa deeply and then stepped back. There was a sadness in her eyes that Lisa thought she saw but dismissed it.

  “It’s okay,” Aphrodite said to her and smiled.

  Lisa leaned in and kissed her. When she finally stepped back she felt a little light headed.

  “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt anything that wonderful in my whole life,” Lisa said.

  “I am the goddess of love; when love is used for the right reasons, it can bring so much joy to peoples’ lives.” Aphrodite quickly turned to Adia. “I know; the wrong reasons can have very terrible affects.”

  “I didn’t realize you can read minds…” Adia said stepping away and to the windows.

  “It’s not so much reading the truth thought as it is the emotional impulses someone gives off. I read those empathetically, so to speak.” Aphrodite said turning her attention back to Lisa.

  “Nathan will not understand the things I have told you here. You will need to help him believe, both of you, before it’s too late. It is hard for me to say in one breath ‘trust me’ when I know you’ve read enough to realize that you should do the very opposite with my kind. I was one of the twelve that granted Nathan his powers…”

  “Twelve?” Adia called out. “There were only ten symbols on his bracelet.”

  Aphrodite turned to her and smiled. “Nothing on that level happens without Zeus and Hera’s knowledge. They are what fills the gap.”

  Lisa looked at Adia puzzled, but Aphrodite offered nothing further on the subject.

  “As I said, it is hard for me to say in one breath ‘trust me’ when you believe you should do the very opposite with my kind. While I was one of the twelve that granted Nathan his powers, it is within the same twelve where some treachery could abound. I offer you this as help and as a warning. The two of you together will make all the difference.”

  Aphrodite slowly stepped back and then away from Lisa. She moved over to the windows near Adia that overlooked the city. Aphrodite reached over, touched one of the panes of glass, and it shimmered. Once the shimmering ended, the view of the one pane was that of the fields near the reflecting pool on Olympus.

  Aphrodite looked back at Lisa and smiled. She then turned to Adia. “Nathan still has feelings for you.”

  “The man has an odd way of showing them; he always has,” she said sarcastically with her Puerto Rican accent bleeding into her reply.

  “I see far more than you do. Less than a Watcher, but more than you,” Aphrodite said softly. “Remember what I said; when the time comes, he will need you.”

  “When the time comes for what?” Adia asked.

  “Things that Cici mentioned of Nathan, the things that are still to pass.” Aphrodite said, raised her eyebrows slightly, and then stepped through the shimmering portal. Once on the other side, she looked back to the two of them and called out. “He will rise courageously, but for all his powers, he cannot do it alone. I believe the saying goes, ‘behind every successful man there is a strong woman.’ Nathan has two standing beside him. With that, he will be able to do what he must.” The portal suddenly closed, leaving the girls staring out at the view of the New York City skyline.

  The story and adventures of Nathan and Rebecca resume in

  I Hero: Phases (Expected first half 2016)