The God of Gravity part 2: Olympus

I Will Take It

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(Hours earlier)

In a large chamber in the mines deep below the canyon, the ground shook because of a god, using his bare hands to crush the rocks. Instead of fists with curled five fingers each, this god has pincers of black. The surrounding walls are dim because only a small electric lamp is the only source of light so his sweaty back is the only thing that can be seen as it reflects some of the light.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Jasper after slipping out to the open then followed by his other companions. "Looks like we intruded into the wrong room!" The god looked over his shoulder as he turned to them. "May I ask where is the party?"

The god turned back to his business without saying anything and continued to crush the rocks with his pincers. Hyun stayed close to Sayuri. Jack lit up the nearby chamber with his bright light but the chamber is still vast, so nothing could be seen from the distance.

Jasper has a joke in mind, "It looks like we are in the right room! There's a disco ball right here!" he laughed as he pointed at Jack. "And here is our host," he showed his hand to the god.

"Whoever you are," said the god in a low tone after stopping. "leave me alone." Then he continued.

"You'll make a bad host with that inhospitality of yours," said Jasper. "Emaan, the God Scorpions. Also known as 'The Heir' or so they say." He smirked.

"If you are looking for The Heir, you came to the wrong place. Go to Ra City and you'll find her there."

"Perhaps... but would you care to know why we're here?" asked Jasper as he stood beside him.

Emaan stopped and faced Jasper. He is bigger than him and his body is built for fighting and it is the way it is after mining under the canyon for years.

He frowned at Jasper as he threatened, "Get out of here or I'll s*******r all of you." His eyes glowed violet and dozens of giant scorpions appeared around them with their eyes glowing violet against the darkness.

"Oh, so scary," scoffed Jasper in sarcasm while shaking his head and retreating. "I don't wanna be scorpion food! I still want to find a bar and get drunk as hell that my soul will leave my body because of the hangover! Boohoo...," Jasper smiled then turned into seriousness as Hyun's eyes glowed red and the scorpions screeched in pain.

Emaan widened his eyes and asked, "What are you-"

"We are here to bust you out and replace Cleopatra. So, please follow us."

"Release my scorpions!" he demanded.

Jasper nodded at Hyun so he stopped. "Alright, let's go," said Jasper.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, right... I guess we have to introduce ourselves first. Sorry for forgetting because we are in a rush. I am Jasper. That there is the charming Hyun, the awesome cyborg's Jack, that normal human is Hiroki." Hiroki frowned. "And that's our wonderful goddess, Lady Sayuri."

"What do you want?"

"Maan... uhh... haha. Emaan, I mean, I thought I already said why we are here. We're here to bust you out, so you can assume the throne of Ra, after we kill Cleopatra. Oh... that rhymed," he commented to himself.

"Cleopatra is a merciful and good goddess. Why would you want to kill her?"

"Oh, we witnessed many terrible things that have happened before we concluded that Cleopatra is an ugly witch. Well, I could say 'witch' with the 'w' replaced by 'b'. - but I don't want to say that." He smirked. "It's a bad word and my good mother taught me well."

"What terrible things?"

Then Jasper changed his tone into sincere as he said, "She slaughtered a whole village full of innocent people. No one survived and we were there when they fell from the sky after the sand exploded beneath them. It was Cleopatra's doing right after she won the battle against someone you might know: Hammad, the God of Lizards."

Emaan's eyes got drenched in dread and his knees gave up so he knelt. He looked up to Jasper and asked, "Hammad, my brother, is dead?"

"Yeah, I am sorry to tell you."

"I knew it...," said Emaan in realization. "He should've stayed here as I said to him and he could've lived!"

"Actually, your brother is very brave. He fought for his freedom from this dump and fought again for the people of the desert."

"No, we deserve this. My forefathers shouldn't have fought against Olympus and we could've lived under the protection of the main family of the Ra Clan."

"Hey, are you really a god?" questioned Jasper.

Emaan did not answer as he stood up and started digging again and said, "I am Emaan, the cobalt miner and shall forever be. Mining cobalt helps the Realm. Mining cobalt gives me purpose. Mining cobalt is good. Mining cobalt is a great deed. Mining cobalt is my life and shall not ask for more. Mining cobalt...."

He went on and on with it saying that cobalt is the only thing that keeps him alive. The others were surprised to know that the god has lost his will to fight. It is a sad sight to see an able-bodied god but without spirit. It is as if seeing a simple life-less machine that is made for only one purpose but with a figure of a person. He looks dead.

Jasper looked at Sayuri. She is folding her arms as she looked down. Then frowned as she looked at Emaan in a fierce glance. She made her eyes glow violet as she walked towards him at a fast pace. She grabbed him and threw him across the place so the chamber rumbled.

"I don't like wasting my time for a wimp god!" she yelled as she walked towards him and he slowly stood up and did not fight back.

"Gotta work," he said.

"This is not just about you!" she roared and kicked his face so he got knocked away again.

The scorpions never dare to intervene because of Hyun. He looked at them with his calm eyes and they are frozen in fear without even using his power. And partly, it is like they want Sayuri to knock some sense to their master.

Emaan did the same thing and said the same words earlier: "Gotta work."

"Innocent people are being killed in this desert every day!" She pinned him down under the sole of her feet and his face is smooching the ground. "I have only one question to ask you, Emaan: Will you take the throne to save your people or not?"

She waited for his answer as he took a breath. Her companions were eager to hear his answer so they gathered around him. He closed his eyes and so she lifted her foot away from his face.

He stood up and said, "Gotta work."

"YAARGH!!!" she roared as she unsheathed her katana and came out the violet fire that scared the scorpions around her.

"Wait, my lady!" yelled Jasper and a hand grabbed a hold of her arm that is holding the katana.

It was Hyun. She frowned at him but he said, "Let him be, my lady. You don't need to kill him because he's already dead. Killing him will not solve anything."

She scoffed, eased up so the flame went out, and put the katana in its sheath. She turned and walked back to where they came from. Her companions followed behind her and matched her pace.

"This is not what I expected," said Jasper while they walked.

"Yeah, I thought so too," said Jack.

"What happened to him?" asked Hiroki. "He's a god and he's supposed to be full of will to fight."

"We are the same, Hiroki," answered Jasper. "Gods, demigods, and humans. We are all persons."

And Hyun was still looking back at Emaan as he stopped walking. He felt disturbed about it because, like Emaan, Hyun is a big-brother for Hyeon. He never wondered what would Hammad think of Emaan because it is clear now why Hammad left this dump while his brother stayed. What Hyun wondered about is how his brother would think of him if they see each other again because now, he's a rogue god.

"Hyun!" called Jasper with an echoing voice. "What are you doing?"

Hyun stirred and answered, "Nothing. I'll be right there." and flew to catch up to them.

An hour passed and Emaan is still doing his job: Mining cobalt. Although his sweaty face and pale eyes are making him look like he was not affected by Sayuri's words, deep in his thoughts and his soul, he is screaming in regret and guilt.

Then "Emaan!" called Saadah with a flashlight as he entered the chamber. "Come with us."

The men that went to assist Saadah shackled Emaan's wrists with normal handcuffs that are made for humans. Even a demigod child can snap this chain without much exertion but the only thing that can snap these handcuff chains is the "Will" - which Emaan does not have.

Well, for now.

They tied him there: in the middle of the quarry and his hands and feet were bounded by the large chains that would take more than Will and enormous strength combined to break them. But what could it be? What could it be that will make these chains snap and for the broken god to take hold of his freedom to save his people? - This is what he pondered about while the men burned his skin with hot glowing metal with the rune of the God of Centipedes.

The men were panicking as they tried to make Emaan scream. They also pondered why Emaan could not feel pain, although he did not take any drugs nor did he use any technique to make himself numb. It went to the point that they started to target his parts of the body where hitting them would be painful enough to make any man scream. In the crotch and the nails on his toes and fingers, they tried to make him scream.

But he never grunted a single breath.

They left him alone and suspended him from the ground for hours until Lateef came down to meet him. Emaan remembered the faces of his father, mother, brother, sister, and friends. They are the faces of the people that passed away because they fought. Although they did not speak in his mind because he could not remember their voices, it is apparent to him what they are speaking. They spoke with their hearts so the heart of Emaan heard them. And led him to the point when he said,

"I will take it."

Hyun cured his wounds. Then something else gave him more strength. It is not the doing of Hyun but of the feeling Emaan felt. He could not describe it but he just used it to break from his chain. Not the rusty chain that bound his wrists and ankles but the chain that locked his heart for a long time. So he was free. And the chain that bound his physical body just snapped right after.

Then he heard, "I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU SAID, EMAAN!!!" screamed Sayuri from above him.

He took a deep breath.... then screamed, "I WILL TAKE IT!!!"

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