The Dark Goddess

Chapter 4

Back at the godly realm 

Osoosi the hunt god had been feeling ripples in the synergy of the world for months now,

Although it wasn't unusual to feel  such ripples, in fact the earth mostly had rippling effects to be consistent, what was unusual was for him to be affected by said ripples,

Three to four times now a ripple had blasted him like a blow to the gut,

Like someone was directing a huge blast attack to him from far away but all that got to him was a hard punch to the stomach.

Just two days ago he had felt the punch again but now followed by strong waves of ripples indicating that whatever it was that was causing this isn't going to stop.

He knew now that he had to find out what was causing this, one thing he is sure of is that whatever is causing the ripple had to be an integral part of him for it to affect him so much, making the mystery even more so.

Only one solution laid before him, a visit to Olokun, god of the ocean, the deep & the abyss, the one whose wisdom is unfathomable.

But now as he stood looking at the ocean, he started having second thoughts.

Deities do not mingle too well with each other, and going to meet one on his turf is total surrender to such.

He wondered if he should just send a message for them to meet somewhere more neutral,

But he waved off that notion believing Olokun would most likely see that as an insult, after all it is Osoosi that needs his help and not the other way round.

He looked at his reflection in the ocean surface, his azure eyes bored right back at him and his slick short cropped hair fell forwards while the tiny beads braided into a few strands clacked together as they dangled.

Deciding on an idea, he took out a piece of bead, went back into the forest and hid it in an iroko tree after splitting some of his core essence in it.

Dangerous yes but necessary,

Besides, it is only dangerous if another god finds it which is highly unlikely,

But it is necessary because if he gets killed while in Olokun's domain he'll regenerate almost immediately through the essence in the bead rather than having to wait to respawn altogether which takes really long painful years.

He went back to the ocean and dived right in feeling contented that he had at least made a contingency plan.

Going to Olokun's place of abode is like traveling in space, you move from nothingness to nothingness and when the despair of never getting to ones destination starts to creep in, wham!, white and blue blinding light shines bright opening to an underwater city so beautiful and regal.

Merfolk and sea creature of all sorts present, it is known that there are places like this scattered about the oceans, the habitat and livelihood of higher aquatic creatures.

Immediately Osoosi got in, ripples moved all about the place in waves like a sonar ping, and coming back from the waves were merfolks in guard regalia and a couple of dolphins.

They came towards him, greeted him by bowing and led him towards the huge palace in the middle of the city.

Osoosi could only just keep following and marvelling at the sight, the immense structures, the architectural works and sculpting, he just kept wondering how it could all have been possibly done so deep underwater, then he remembered that this was a realm as well even if it was underwater.

As they approached the palace he discovered that all the sea creatures they passed by were always staring straight at him when he got close.

He thought to himself 'they must know I'm no ordinary visitor', but when he looked at his hands holding the reins of the dolphin he rode, he saw that they were glowing, in fact all of him was glowing and he stood out like a deer amongst wolves,

He shook his head violently, clearing such thought from his head, here he was a wolf as well.

"OSOOSI!!" called Olokun's booming voice after he had been in the waiting area for a little while (well it could have been a long while, time is somewhat irregular and irrelevant deep down here).

Osoosi turned to face the imposing structure of his host,

The ocean god had a bluish tint to his skin (no surprise there), he had a burly frame, muscles bulging and flesh shimmering,

His eyes had no iris or pupil, it was just a blue shinning ball that sometimes dimmed or brightened in intensity according to his current mood,

His hair was long this time and it flowed around him, it was braided in some parts with *'cowries' at the end of each of the braided hair,

He wore a white linen wrapper around his waist, and draped another over his shoulder tied in the opposite direction at the waist.

The part of his body that could be seen had tattoos of different sea creatures, some even Osoosi couldn't recognize and even he had his fair share of hunting sea creatures as well.

With that memory came a pang of guilt as he realized he was standing in the presence of the father of all sea creatures (both monsters and the good ones).

Olokun smiled through his moustached and bearded mouth as he traced Osoosi's gaze to his tattoos, he could guess what his guest was thinking,

"If you're worried I'll challenge you on the killings you're responsible for, then you must think little of me, I'm wise enough to know that some things are necessary" Olokun stated as he got seated and gestured for Osoosi to do the same.

"Oh no no.. Not at all, I was just marveled at the sights of the magnificent creatures I do not recognize" Osoosi supplied a half truth, he was pretty sure Olokun couldn't read minds (or could he?).

Olokun's eyes suddenly flashed in excitement and a miniature of one of the creatures in his tattoo flowed out of his hair.

Osoosi's mouth stayed hanging at the sight but Olokun snatched it out of the air and crushed it to death after which it crumbled to dust

"Forgive me, my creativity gets out of me sometimes, literally, I am one of the few whom Olodumare has granted the ability to create life, limited to my domain though but still that ability can be both a blessing and a curse" Olokun stated again.

"You have been causing hiccups in the synergy of the world Osoosi" Olokun stated yet again surprising Osoosi by going straight to the reason why he was there.

'maybe he can read minds after all' Osoosi thought to himself,

"Well" Olokun continued "at least a part of you is responsible for it" 

"What do you mean, wise one, I am lost on the meaning of your words" Osoosi replied.

"Well, all I can see is that you are missing an integral part of you, and it has awakened to its powers, look for the one responsible and correct this mistake together or be ready to incur the wrath of thunder and or of creation itself" Olokun supplied.

Osoosi was even more confused now 'you should be called god of ambiguity' he said to himself in his thoughts as he could find no meaning in Olokun's statements.

but Olokun was done with him as he stood up and turned on his heels about to depart.

Osoosi stood up and moved in a flash to block Olokun's path, "please tell me more, I need to know what to do exactly, whose wrath am I about to incur, you never said, please great one, I came to you because of your unfathomable wisdom don't disappoint me now".

Olokun's eyes flashed in anger and all about them churned great streams of water pushing Osoosi far back till he hit the wall and he was pinned there by those same streams of water.

"Do not test me Oso, you transgressed and now your transgression might very well displace the balance of the world, this is your responsibility and yours alone, well you and your partner in crime, you have created an iji, one that is born not made, and because of this the balance of the world hangs on a thread, so do not for once test me because I can make you suffer not just for your sins against Creation but also against me, if you know whats good for you, you'll leave my palace now and only dare to come back after all your wrongs have been righted"

Olokun boomed in anger but then just as sudden as the anger came in a flash it left exactly the same way.

The streams stopped churning, everywhere stopped shaking and even he himself was gone leaving Osoosi choking and coughing and trying to catch his breath.

'That was close' was all he could think of at that moment.

Then as his eyes cleared he saw his entourage coming towards him to take him back.

'well at least I got one thing clear, I need to visit Oya, after all she is the only one I know of that I committed a crime with, a crime of passion and f*********n, of lust and love'.

Glossary

*’cowries' - a pyriform shell, of the cowrie, especially of the species money cowry (Cypraea moneta), formerly used as money in some areas (especially most parts of Nigeria in the past, it was one of the earliest forms of money and treasure).