Chapter 31: Back to November 12th, 1983

Time heals all wounds as it always does. For Theo and Renenutet, it was known as the Month that Never Happened. They would tell the story of an event that lead to the deaths of billions and how they averted the crisis. The magic worked. Theo had achieved her goal and made herself a hero overnight. None of that seemed to matter too much for the minotaur. She was eager to rest and relax along with the snake goddess that also participated in the mission that lasted for five weeks. The mission was a success. A crisis that would have led to a nuclear apocalypse was prevented by the man who would have been killed by the mythical marksman.

An effort by Kuma Lisa was made to find the grave of Freischütz’s wife. She and Ariadne, along with a couple of mythics, would participate in the burial of the marksman as he was placed next to his wife’s grave. On his gravestone, it said, “He had, but one love in the world and that was his wife. May they rest in peace together.”

The funeral of Freischütz marked a visit by two individuals as they traveled to the Great Forge. This hidden location was buried deep in the Earth’s rock. The large spacious cavern that led to it was filled with a bright light as the two mythics materialized from thin air.

Ryujin was one of them. The dragon stood in his typical form along with his two swords as he stood next to another god. Standing at nine feet in height was the mighty demon god Cabrakan. God of the mountain, God of Earthquakes, Cabrakan was a heavy hitter carrying a massive steel hammer in one hand and anti-vehicle cannon in the other. His tan skin was like solid rock. He wore the clothing of the Mayan warrior that covered his heavy muscular frame. On top of his head was his long flowing black hair with a ram’s skull that connected to two long curved horns. He looked more like a moving stone statue than a living creature. His eyes would emit a red and yellow color as he looked around him.

“Thank you for coming with me on this Cabrakan,” Ryujin told him.

“Errrrrrr,” were his words as he turned his head and nodded lightly.

The tunnel that the two teleported from connected to a simple stone door. There were simple lights emitted from red-light crystals that merged into the rock walls that illuminated the area. The tunnel was a long black hallway. There was nowhere to go but the door. The other side simply connected to solid rock. The secret location of the Great Forge was perfect for serving the purpose that it was meant to do.

Ryujin kept his hands to the grips of his swords as they began to walk to the stone door before them. In the distant sounds beyond the closed doors, they could hear the familiar sound of a hammer striking solid metal. It was a consistent rhythm with no end.

“Be ready, Cabrakan. You know who we will face right now.”

“Errrrrr,” he replied, nodding his head.

Ryujin gripped one hand to his sheathed blade while he took his free hand to push open the door ahead of him. The massive stone door opened as they both stepped in together. The room revealed was the Great Forge itself.

Inside was a series of heavy-duty tables. Various hammers, tongs, tools line the entire room. One side of the room had lava flowing down the walls while the other side had snow that drifted from the cracks. In the center was an anvil. There was a magical furnace that connected to the flowing lava and cooling well that connected to the snow on the other side. In one corner was a series of various blades. The room needed nothing to illuminate it. The hot lava did the job for it. The intense heat and pressure would kill a normal human being with ease, but it was designed to be that way. No human mortals were allowed to come to this place, and none would ever want to.

In the center back of the room near the anvil was the familiar form of the Devil himself, but the light from the room seemed to highlight his black and reddish skin. His tail flicked as The Devil was smashing his hammer to the anvil. Sparks would fly as the hammer fell again and again. The Devil never turned his head to look at the two individuals behind him. Instead, he kept his hammer blows on the anvil.

Ryujin watched as the Devil gripped the incomplete metal blade. He was busy checking it out for any imperfections in the metal. The edge was incredibly hot, giving a glowing orange and red color. He would place it back on the anvil again before bringing his hammer down again.

Each hammer strike, he would move the sword around to fold the metal further and further. Ryujin and Cabrakan stood near the entrance of the large room, looking at the back the Devil himself.

“Why have you come here?” The Devil calmly replied to both of them, sensing their arrival.

“We wanted to check on your progress in the forge,” Ryujin replied to him.

The devil’s silhouette would alter a little bit as the flames from the nearby furnace would flicker and change the illumination in the room. His tail seemed to jerk about as he would pick up the hot blade as he looked at it. He took a close look at it. There appeared to be agitation in his face as he once again placed it on the anvil. He slammed his hammer on the anvil once again, sending sparks flying everywhere.

“Normally, I get the random visitor to get something repaired or fixed ... Why are you here?” He asked them as he lifted his hammer in the air.

“Freischütz is dead,” Ryujin told him.

He stopped the hammer before he was going to strike it down. He paused for a couple of seconds before he continued to bring the hammer down on the blade.

“What does that matter to me?” The Devil replied to him.

“I think you know quite well what that means. The plan you had put into place failed. You wanted to see the world burn. Perhaps you wanted to know why you are still working here instead. There is your answer.”

The Devil took the red hot blade as he turned to the water well. He placed it into the water as hot steam blew into the air. He left it for a few seconds as he kept his focus on his work.

“Once again, what does it matter to me?”

“Nothing at all. It is just simple information for your day.”

“Are you asking me to feel pity for a random individual? You know who I am,” he replied to the dragon in a calm and collected deep voice.

The Devil pulled out the cool blade as he looked at it closely. He shook his head at the work. You could see his black fingers rub the slight imperfections on the edge. He tossed the blade to a pile of metal blades on the other side of the room. The sound of metal clanged and echoed throughout the room. He then went to a molten metal bucket. His hands quickly grabbed the hot bucket as he began to dump it into a large cut out of a blade. The molten metal flowed from the bucket as it started to fill in the cutout. He snapped his fingers as the molten metal began to send yellow starlight from it. The dragon and Cabrakan watched him intently.

“You know that there is nothing you can do to hurt me while I am here,” The Devil replied to them. “The rules clearly state that I cannot be held responsible for past transgressions before joining the Coalition of Deities. That is why you are here. You wish to kill me or arrest me. You will fail. Legally there is nothing you can do about it.”

“It is interesting to hear that coming from you. You orchestrated a man to wipe out the world.”

The Devil placed the button back near the furnace as he took a green metal powder and began to sprinkle it over the molten metal. He then snapped his fingers as the metal quickly began to harden. He then grabbed the hardening metal as he placed the blade to the heating chamber of the furnace. The edge continued to keep an orange glow to it as he gripped the nonhandle where the grip would be placed.

“So, where does that leave us?” The Devil told him. “I told you before I cannot be held liable for past situated events that affect the now. Unless I clearly do something right now to violate those rules, past events before joining the events are forgiven.”

“There has been a debate on those rules in the last month,” Ryujin told him.

There was almost a chuckle from the Devil himself. He remained composed, though. “I imagine they always do. What did they have to say?”

“They concluded that you should continue your work here in the forge unharmed and untouched.”

The Devil pulled the blade out as he looked at it. He seemed happy enough upon looking at the orange glow of the edge to bring it to the anvil. He took his hammer and began to strike at the metal, sending the sparks flying once again.

“Such is politics...” The Devil replied to the dragon. “Going after me would be going after themselves. You think I am a horrible person. Of course, I am. We all hold our pasts once we joined the Coalition. Every god, every demon, every monster, we all have our pasts. Isn’t that right, Cabrakan?”

“Errrrrr,” he replied to him.

“And of course you, Ryujin. I know some of the bad things you did in the past,” he said as he slammed his hammer down on the metal.

“You are correct. Legally we can’t do anything to stop you. Plus, you know how to take care of the forge well. For almost five hundred years, you have stayed down here being the blacksmith for our cause.”

The Devil only replied with another slam of his hammer as he continued to fold the metal of the blade.

“So qualified you are...” Ryujin told him. “That we want to have someone else work down here with you.”

The hammer strikes stopped. There was a look as he turned his head to look at him. His red eyes momentarily glowed a searing red as they returned back to normal. Even his tail twitched a little as well.

“Who do you have in mind?” he asked the dragon.

“Meretsegar. She will be down here to work with you.”

The Devil seemed agitated only in the slightest. “The harvest goddess’s daughter? Why do you want to have her work here?”

“She has expressed interest in working in the forge. She likes working with armor and metal. She has gained some valuable insight over the years, and she feels ready to work here. Perhaps you can give her some of your knowledge.”

The Devil tossed his hammer down. “Well played. I see what you are doing. Fine, she comes here and helps me out. She learns how to be a well-accomplished armorer. I will make sure that she learns everything that I know.”

“Good. If there are any incidents, we will be one of many to respond.”

The Devil ignored him as he took his hammer and continued to slam down on the metal.

“Come Cabrakan. We will leave him be,” Ryujin told him.

“Errrrrr,” he replied as he turned around and walked with the dragon.

The two left the Great Forge as the Devil continued his work. He lifted his blade as he looked at it closely. His eyes momentarily looked at the direction of the closing door before he checked the sword closely. The Devil placed the blade down on the anvil as he seemed to take a deep breath before he picked up the hammer again.

It was a beautiful day in Alpine, California. The sun was shining brightly, and the birds were chirping outside of Rex’s one-bedroom home. Not far on the other side of the street was Estrella and Estella’s house. The neighborhood was quiet. One man was working on his lawn while two women approached the two homes.

Both of the women seemed very familiar. One looked Native American in appearance, but you could tell the blended look of her mother having some Greek appearance to her facial features. She wore a beautiful dress and had her signature feather tucked to the side of her ear. The pendant shined as the sunlight hit it.

The woman beside her looked Egyptian in appearance. Her clothing and wear were seemingly comfortable in the cooler winter environment.

“So Renenutet, you feel ready to meet Rex now that we cleared out all our shit for the next several years?” Theo asked her as they looked at their human forms.

“Yes, although you can just call me Renias,” she replied. “My original name is so old fashioned. I would prefer the Renias name, especially if I am going to be your neighbor for a while.”

“Or Ren. I like that name, too,” Theo looked as she practically put her hands to her pockets.

“Ren? Why do some of you call me by that name? Everyone likes to shorten down names. Even you did. The original name was such a pretty name till you butchered it down.”

“Theo? I like Theo. It rings off the tongue so easily. Plus, it is how you preferred Renias instead of Renenutet.”

“That is only while here with the humans. I had that name for thousands of years compared to your sixty-odd years. I don’t want Renias to be my permanent name compared to yours.”

“Fine ... Renias.”

Both of the women reached the homes. They both took a look at them before they parted ways.

“You think they will welcome us?” Theo asked Renias.

“I will make him welcome me. What you do with yours is up to you.”

“You sound like you will rape him.”

“Rape? He consented to it long ago. He gave me permission. I am here to collect.”

“I don’t think that will be fair for him, though,” Theo grinned a little bit.

“You are telling me the idea of fairness when you are trying to get two women? Only in my ancient days of Egypt did I ever have two men service me at once. Consider yourself lucky.”

There was almost a chuckle from Theo as she looked at her. “I imagine you would have been something in bed, alright.”

“I did have my time with the occasional woman but don’t get any ideas. I know where you go towards.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Theo paused for a little bit as they looked at the homes. “That was a rough ride, wasn’t it?”

“The month that never happened? Yes, it was.”

“Do you think the humans will destroy themselves?” she asked in a serious tone.

“The mortals have been here for hundreds of thousands of years. They will continue to live as long as they wish to live. Their desire to kill one another is obvious, but their desire to live is also strong. In the end, it is their choice to kill each other or not.”

“It’s only for almost the last forty years that they discovered the atom bomb. Perhaps that is promising that they haven’t tried to exterminate each other with it so far. At least we did our part, and the rest is up to them.”

“Yes. In the end, it doesn’t matter to us. If they choose to kill each other, it doesn’t affect us anyway. We will just have a fresh world to live on without them.”

“You almost made it sound like they were a nuisance in your voice.”

Renias shook her head. “I would prefer that they lived, but it is annoying to be in human form. It felt nice to be our actual selves during that month.”

“I agree, being in human form again, it just feels ... itchy. I hope the Coalition of Deities eventually drops the rule of human forms.”