The God of Gravity part 3: Apocalypse

Living Creatures

“Would you be kind to tell us where the next biggest masquerade party will be held?” asks Jasper. There is an evil intent on his face that makes the god feel maggots moving in between his toes.

They are in the ruins of a building, with rubble as floor and flake-weak walls, looking like they could collapse from a single breath. The captured god is sitting and his back is against a wall surrounded by Jasper's comrades. They do not bother to shackle him into something so he would not escape. He cannot escape, no matter how hard he will try. Looking around, he wonders why these two humans are with these deities—who look menacing and villainous. Sayuri is sitting on a broken pillar in the distance, facing sideways. Hyun is right below her, leaning against it. He gives the god a glare, showing his fangs.

The god's throat suddenly feels itchy, like Hyun is already biting him. He refuses to let himself drown in his fear. He believes it is not real. He swallows and it made space in his throat to speak his words in a fearless voice.

“What do you want?” he asks. 

“Did one of your eardrums got busted after the fight?” Jasper laughs. The god frowns at him. Jasper frowns back. “You heard me,” he says, getting serious all of a sudden. He receives no answer. “There's something fascinating about living creatures.” He smiles.

A cockroach passes by his feet so he steps on it gently to avoid killing it. He picks it up with his fingers and teases the god by nearing and retreating it from his face. As would as a stone, he does not flinch. Hiroki and Prisha are disgusted unlike everybody else.

Jasper continues, “They try their best to avoid damage. If something gets damaged in their bodies, the nerves send stress signals to the brain, creating the sensation of pain.” He demonstrates it by lightly squeezing the cockroach. It starts to struggle even more. The amount of pain it is feeling is clear. “The brain will then try to resolve it by means of locomotion… or something like that. For example, this bug twitching around hopelessly.”

He smirks, showing both top and bottom teeth before crushing the cockroach. The stench of its guts is strong but the god is not disgusted. Jasper throws it away.

“Whether you like it or not,” says Jasper. “you will tell us where is your leader: the man with the Golden Mask.” and wipes off the guts of the cockroach using the god's hair.

This gives him the chance to attack Jasper. He clenches his fist and it stops an inch away from punching Jasper's throat. It is as if his hand has a mind of its own. Hyun sneers at him.

“Don't even think about it, ” says Hyun. “your veins are full of my blood and you can't use Immunity unless I allow. So, behave.” Tilting his head, his eyes glow red. 

The god feels pain all over his body. “Argh!!” he grunts. His body twitches involuntarily like the cockroach.

Jasper laughs like watching a comedy. “Nice recreation of the demonstration I showed earlier!” He pats the god's head after Hyun stops the pain. “Good boy.” The god pants very hard like he could rob everyone of their share of air. “See what I mean? Let me ask you again. Where is the man with the Golden Mask?” He gets a growl from him this time. “Our lady is getting impatient. She might kill you in one slice at any time.”

“Like the hell, I care!” he answers back.

“Oh, you can talk!” Jasper exclaims sarcastically.

“You will not get anything from me, just kill me already!”

“No, I don't believe that. I believe you could be of some use to us.”

Hyun makes the nails of the god shoot out from his fingers and toes. “ARGH!!” he screams.

“Oh, that must be painful!” Jasper puts a face of worry as if he cares about him. “Don't worry, Hyun will fix it for you.” His nails come back to their respective fingers.

The god widens his eyes, realizing how much pain he is going to endure over and over until he goes crazy. He growls, “You damn-”

“Just answer us and everyone wins!” His arms are spread, like the usual gesture of a TV host does. “What do you say?”

“Never! Argh!!”

Another round of pain he endures. It goes on and on. Pain and heal, over and over. Hiroki and Prisha could not bear to see it so they went far from them and somewhere so they could not see blood and hear screams. But then it seems that the scream is finding its way even in the tiny cracks of the walls. Prisha is doing better than Hiroki—trying to stop himself from throwing up in his mask. His hands are against the wall while Prisha is caressing his back.

“I thought you have been with them for a long time,” she says.

“Ugh…,” he groans before answering, “Yes, but I never saw them torturing someone. I've seen them kill, but they are not horrifying as much as this torture.”

“I can't believe you are still with them considering you can't take this.”

“I know but I have to.” They did not talk for a moment. Then he kills the silence by asking, “Deities are so different from us, aren't they?”

“Not likely,” says Prisha. Hiroki is surprised that she disagrees. “Demigods and humans are also capable of that.”

“Right,” he nods and clears his throat. “Okay, let's just go back.”

They went back and the god is hugging his knees on the ground, looking like a cockroach. He has become insane. His eyes are so wide-open that his eyeballs could pop out at any moment. His shivering shakes the rubble around him. Jasper is shaking his head and looking down at the god. He just notices Prisha and Hiroki are back.

“Oh, both of you are back!”

“What the hell did you do to him, Jasper?” asks Hiroki with a disturbed expression on his face.

“He snapped and told me everything I needed.”

“Kill… me.. Kill me…,” mutters the god.

“Well, we swore we will end him before he said what we needed to know... so we will. Would you do the honor, my lady?” asks Jasper. “Another soul of a god for your power.”

Sayuri looks at him from the pillar. She goes down and walks slowly towards the god. Like a steady stream she walks, her companions watch her. Hiroki has seen her kill somebody many times but his heart is still welling up with dread and fear. Prisha on the other hand is not that disturbed as him. She may be a lady but she is nearly as odd as the others. 

Sayuri grabs the hilt of her katana. She is in range. But then she only passes by and spares the god. Showing them her back, she says, “He suffered enough.”

Hiroki's breath jumps out of his lungs because he is surprised. Jasper is smirking beside him. “What does she mean?” he asks Jasper. “Isn't killing him is the best way to end his suffering?”

“He will suffer more if she did. He will be one of her swords forever.”

“Oh, right. I forgot about that.” He sighs.

“I'll end him,” says Hyun.

“Please do,” gestures Jasper.

With a clench of Hyun's fist, the god instantly dies. He takes back the blood he let the god borrow and goes on his way to Sayuri. Prisha, Hiroki, and Jasper walk together. They are quiet and did not say anything. Jasper puts on his mask again before going out in the open. Snow begins to fall and the weather is getting violent.

“Well, look at that,” says Jasper looking into the violent, gray sky. “snowing in the middle summer of the hottest climate in the world. Not because of Ashe but because of ash.” He laughs at his own pun. He grins at his human comrades but they cannot see him doing it because of his mask. They can only tell by the look of his eyes.“This is where both of you laugh,” he says. They just look at him then look ahead to the ash-covered street. “Or not… It's okay. It's not even a good one—I admit.” He rubs his chin, thinking about what he could have done to deliver it more effectively.

Another silence is born. Only their muffled footsteps against the ash and snow can be heard. Other people who walk in the street are covering themselves with thick clothes. Not only for the chilly weather but protection against the elements. Their eyes are hopeless as they see through the glasses of their masks. There has been a government for the moment the apocalypse started. They gave people their masks and suits but not food and supplies. The selfish officials kept it for themselves as well as spaces in bunkers. But when the masked men arrived, they are eliminated from the inside out.

Jasper is acting like he usually does. He tries to whistle inside his mask but it is hard. It is as if this whole apocalypse is normal for him.  This is not the case for Hiroki. Also Prisha—who just lost someone she holds dear. They have been walking for a while now, following behind Sayuri, and Hyun that is desperate for her attention.

Hiroki has a burning question to ask Jasper. “So, where are we going?” he asks.

“Get ready, Hiroki, for this might be your first trip to…..” He starts a drum roll with his mouth and pretending he is hitting two drumsticks against a drum. With his arms spread out, he announces, “Olympus!!!”

“Yeah, but we don't know if it is still as ‘wonderful’ as you tried to make it sound.”

“You got a point.” His voice turns serious. He shakes his head and says, “Well, anyway, it's pretty obvious in the first place that their leader would want to go to Olympus since the most important deities are there.”

“Are you a little bit worried about your sister?”

He sighs. “Maybe but if she survived the explosions, she's fine. The same goes for Mother and Father. Believe me when I say that they are the toughest people I know. Especially, Mother.”

“She's on Mars, right?”

“Yeah, that woman is fine. No one can match her there even without prayers.”

“She can fight so well, unlike you?”

“You're right to put it that way.”

“What kind of woman is she?” asks Prisha. Her eyes are shining, eager to know more about one of the Olympians.

“She's very clever, strong, and definitely the kind of person you don't wanna mess with. Even I, can't trick her. She's like both a Third Seater and a Fourth Seater.”

“Let's go meet her!”

Jasper shakes his head. “I'd rather die. I'm sure she has found out that I've gone rogue. She'll beat me down to the ground with a metal rod if she sees me.” They laugh.

“That's what moms do,” says Hiroki.

“Speaking of which, what about your mother, Hiroki. Are you worried about her?”

He hesitates to answer. “It's kinda odd but we aren't that close so I never got attached to her.”

“Sorry I asked.”

“It's fine.”

In the Olympus Capital of Earth, a boy using the mask of the Masked League to protect himself from the toxic air is wandering in the streets of Athena district. He is wearing advanced armor like demigod soldiers. He is desperate to find food for his own. He finds two masked men in the middle of the hotel lobby of a building. They are demigods and are gathering around a campfire and enjoying their meal. The boy sneaks in without them knowing.

“How many did you kill today?” asks one of them.

“54.”

“Hah! I killed 56. I win! Now give me that steak!”

“Hold on. How do I know you're not-”

“YARGHH!!!” grunts the boy from above them. His heels hit both of them unprepared. Their brains splattered inside their skulls and the flawless tiled floor of the lobby gets destroyed. 

He grabs their supplies and makes a run for it before others come to the scene. It was successful plunder for him. Nobody knows where he went until he arrives back at his safehouse. It is under the sewers. It is pitch-black but he follows the signs he made to navigate through. Finally, he sits on his sheets. He removes his mask and pants very hard. It is fine not wearing it since the toxic air cannot reach this part. With his flashlight, he lights up what is inside the bag he snatched. It is full of canned food. It is a win for him.

“This could last me for two weeks,” he whispers to himself. He points the light to a picture of him and his two other friends on the wall. After drinking water from a bottle, he says, “I'm sorry I couldn't save Sander. I hope you are alive and doing finer than me, Leo.”

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