Chapter 27: Reunite

Toha, Theo, and Vibria left the last trial of the temple as they arrived in the central part of the temple. They stood in the center as the other two stone doors opened up, followed by the stone door closing behind the three.

Toha and Theo were the first to spot Ariadne as she walked out with her new apparel. Her trident glowed the shimmering silver color as Toha took note of her appearance.

“You look different,” Toha called out to her as she headed towards them. “What happened?”

“I will explain that once we leave this temple,” Ariadne replied. “I had a visit from a family member ... I will tell you more about it after all this.”

“Alright,” Toha replied as their attention went to the other door. They saw Ptah walk out peacefully with his staff in tow.

“Hmmm ... yes, quite interesting indeed,” Ptah said. “Quite interesting...”

“It seems you had an interesting trial,” Ariadne told Ptah.

“Very, and as do you. From the looks of it...” Ptah replied as he got closer and closer to them. “Even more interesting. I recognize that trident, I knew him well ... this temple has many surprises and rewards.”

“It is about time we were given some good fortune,” Ariadne said. “I...”

Ariadne was unable to finish her sentence as everyone in the room heard the sounds coming from the central chamber. They could see what looked like six massive doors open up on the stone floor. Vibria reached her hand behind her as she gripped the handle of her sword in preparation for what was to come.

“We are in no danger,” Ptah said. “Vibria, you can relax.”

They watched as six coffin-like structures rose from the open alcoves of the stone floor all around them. Each of the coffins was of different shapes and sizes. Some of the coffins were small being around three feet long, some were adult human-sized, and one was massive being about twelve feet by twelve feet. As the stone doors closed underneath it, the stone coffins rested comfortably on it.

“There they are,” Ptah replied as he began to look at each of the closed boxes that held the other mythics in place. “So much effort to get to this. This goes beyond what was done to put these in place in both resources and time to make these temples.”

“Who made these temples?” Toha asked him.

“Hmmm ... that is a good question, indeed. I voiced my opinion about having this plan and ultimately voicing against it, much against my wishes. Perhaps they know once we awaken them.”

“If they are alive.”

“They are alive,” Ptah corrected him. He took his staff and banged it to the stone floor a few times. The echoing sounds of stone and metal staff reverberated around the room.

Theo was still holding onto her father’s hand as she looked at them with curiosity.

The coffins fell apart as the doors opened wide, revealing each of the mythics inside them. The walls of the coffins collapsed to the stone floors as Toha took note of each one.

“Amazing...” Ariadne commented, looking down at each of them. “So many losses we had five hundred years ago, and yet we find out there are more of us. It is good to hear that we are not the only ones out there.”

“Indeed,” Ptah said as he pointed his staff at each one. “Azaban, the raccoon ... Angwusnasomtaka the rites initiator ... all within the North America region.”

Toha looked at each one as he shook his head. “Stories from my mother about what was out there ... I never thought it was possible. This is Manaka’has, the rainbow crow,” he said, pointing to a typical looking crow that had a mixed variety of colors. Despite displaying all the colors of the spectrum, the feathers gave a robust black color of the ordinary crow. “Manaka’has is the legend among the Lenape. He traveled up to the mountains to save the others from the cold winters. He was given fire to bring back to all, but there was a sacrifice in doing so ... the stick that had the fire on it touched him and burned his feathers to a dark black, and the smoke perforated his throat, giving him a deep voice. To the people, the crow is widely respected for its sacrifice.”

Toha walked to the next one and pointed to it. “This Angwusnasomtaka of the Hopi tribes, she is responsible for initiating the rites for children of the tribes.” He looked at her noting her appearance. She looked like a typical dressed Native American woman from hundreds of years ago, but the most significant difference was that she wore a massive helmet that covered her head. You could not see her face at all as a pair of black wings came from her back and helmet. There were a pair of two massive whips that were rolled and laying on her dress. “She was known as the crow mother and used her whips to initiate the children into adulthood. They had to endure the pain of the whips, and from then on, they became men,” he looked at two more. “I don’t recognize these two.”

“Perhaps I can tell you?” Ptah replied in his calm demeanor. “Pinga ... and Nanook. They are of the Inuit people. Nanook here is the Polar Bear mythic of the Inuit. The people would pay respect and worship the bears of the North. Killing a bear was a sacred act, and if done so, then, efforts would be made to appease the spirit of the slain bear. Nanook was the master of bears or at least in that region; a great hunter.” Ptah looked at his body. Nanook looked like a large polar bear that wore skinned animal hides that dominated his fur. He looked like he could stand on his two legs with simple ease. Much like all the other mythics that came from the coffins, they were still sleeping peacefully.

“The human woman here is Pinga, the goddess of the hunt, medicine, and fertility for the Inuit. There have been so few human goddesses lately to serve along with the Coalition of Deities now, that it is a pleasant sight to see one.” Ptah looked at her as she rested. She looked like a typical human woman of the Inuit that wore animal hides. She had a bow that lay next to her as she slept peacefully.

“So few humans indeed,” Ariadne recounted. “Most of the human deities just never made it after Cataclysm with the exception of the Vedicians of the Hindu, of course.”

“Vedicians?” Toha asked.

“The many armed humans of the Hindu religion and beyond. Some of the most powerful gods that survived Cataclysm that were still making the crystal were the Hindu mythics. Some had many arms, have powerful shapeshifting abilities, and magical capabilities.”

“Ah...” Toha answered as he pointed to the raccoon. “Azaban ... I never thought I would ever see him. He is the raccoon of the Abenaki. He might as well be another Coyote. Hell, Coyote would be happy to see him. He was a trickster that outsmarted others to get what he wanted.” Toha looked at the sleeping raccoon. He looked like any other raccoon.

Toha pointed to the largest mythic in the room that filled the ten by ten coffin. “This is Apotamkin... , “ he said as he paused. He felt a sense of dread as he looked at this mythic. “I remember the stories about her ... she was the one that attacked children long long ago as they got close to the river. Of course, I imagine that she was forgiven once she was a part of the Coalition of Deities.” Toha said as he looked at the massive serpent. She had red scales that covered her body and looked like a giant eel for the most part. On the top of her forehead, she had a long snout with razor-sharp teeth and red hair on her forehead instead of horns.

There was a stirring as everyone looked at Pinga as she started to open her eyes. She immediately sat up as she looked at everyone in the room.

“Hello,” Ptah declared. “You are safe here. Do you feel well?”

“Ptah...” she said in almost a whisper. “You are alive. Did Cataclysm ... is it?”

The green-skinned human nodded. “It is dead. We are alive ... what’s left of us.”

Pinga looked at the others. “Ariadne ... Vibria ... How long have I been?” she asked as she put her hand to her forehead.

“You have been asleep for long over four hundred years. Can you explain to us what happened?”

Pinga nodded. “We ... we were listening to what you suggested. We tried to fight the creature by going to sleep. We had temples erected to serve as channeling posts. You might ask Manaka’has on that once he awakens.”

“Did it work?” Ariadne asked. “Did you feel anything?”

“I don’t remember much. I remember convincing Nanook, and he was hesitant on this idea. We went to sleep, and I pretty much remember nothing ... I do remember some things now and then. I remember seeing ... echoes of the giant creature, almost like a nightmare of darkness that was closing in. I remember hearing it screech as we saw it slow down ... then I remember it dying. That is all I remember.”

“Hmmm... , “ the minotaur reacted. “Well, you are the lucky ones, I guess. I almost feel like calling you cowards for fleeing...”

“We weren’t cowards, Ariadne. We just felt that there had to be a different way. We didn’t want to become fodder for the beast. By the time I left the fight, there were thousands of us left... , “ the woman shook her head. “How many of us are left?”

“Hundreds ... we still have the Coalition of Deities in place.”

“That is all that is left?” she asked in shock.

Manaka’has began to stir awake as Ariadne walked over to look at the crow that started to open its eyes. It was lying on its chest as its wings began to move, and its eyes began to move.

“Pinga, do you know how many temples and other mythics decided to do this?” Ptah asked.

“About fifty of us. I don’t know how many temples were made ... five, six maybe? Like I said, the crow would know more. I know we are scattered throughout the Earth. Australia had the biggest, I think. Nordics had one as well.”

“The Nordics?” Ariadne heard her as she turned her head to look at her. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, there are many of us still being awaited to be woken up. I can still remember being connected to them somehow when we slept, now that I think more of it.”

“Toha, we are truly not alone,” the minotaur smiled. “There are more of us than we can imagine. The Nordics ... they were supposedly all wiped out. This is wonderful news to be told.”

“Indeed,” Ptah replied. “It will be up to us to find all these temples and awaken the others. Pinga, we are happy to see you alive and well. Even if you don’t know where they are, to at least know that there are others waiting to be awakened is still good news.”

Pinga looked at the temple around her. “Once the others wake up, this temple will collapse. It is designed to serve one purpose, and once it is done, we must leave, so humanity never finds it.”