She Who Loves Silence (part one)

  The In-Between that holds the Multiverse together echoes with the essence of archetypal Gods possessing varying origin, power and intent. They struggle among themselves constantly. They die and are reborn again and again to renew their struggles.

  from Reality and God Theory, by Enky Goxo

  When a Chaos Storm rages against the changing landscape of Bridgeworld, dreams break free, and possibilities abound. The last storm I was in I found a keg of Smoothlager’s Finest. I love this world!

  from Life at the Bifrost Bar, Observations of a Minor Poet, by George P. Burdell

  “Even the Gods get lonely”, thought the conflicted goddess, standing in her sacred garden in an outside area of the Necropolis she had guarded for so long. She looked around at the abandoned Necropolis and once again mourned for her followers and friends dragged out into the night by changing times and departing gods and goddess’s.

  Meretseger was an ancient goddess of Egypt left behind by her followers and friends. She was a caring and merciful Goddess, but time had passed her and the Thebes Necropolis by.

  She stood there trying to plan what to do next as she had for several hundred years, when Apep the God of Chaos appeared before her in his human aspect to laugh at her and her dedication to duty and inclination.

  “I thought you were all gone”, she said frowning at him.

  “I am not one of your fickle worshipers”, he replied with a hiss.

  “What brings you here? Shouldn’t you be out and about playing havoc with Ra’s journey instead of here bothering me?”

  “I get bored with that conflict Meret. They ride from side-verse to side-verse and can’t find a home and neither can I. Out of all the pantheon, major or minor, you are the only one of us who still holds Home close to the heart.”

  Apep moved closer to her, “And you are the only one of us left in ignorance as to the true nature of the Time, Space and Multiverse we live in. I had nothing else to do that captured my interest. Here let me educate you.”

  Alarmed at Apep’s words, but confident in her ability to stand her ground in her seat of power, she spun and swept the evil god off his feet with a low kick, her dagger of order appearing in her hand as she struck at his neck. Apep snapped his head back, transforming into his true aspect, a giant smoldering black python and she transformed into hers, becoming an equally giant golden cobra, her fangs dripping shining glowing green venom. She struck at Apep again, going for just under his jaws and sank her fangs into his inviting throat, pumping poison into him.

  Startled, Apep ripped himself free from her death grip. He snarled at her and said, “Welcome to the Multiverse cousin”, and he breathed out a core of black breath that covered the Necropolis and then turned into a raging storm of Chaos.

  Meretseger became trapped by the Storm. The Necropolis disappeared and all she saw was dark Chaos obscuring her vision as she lost consciousness.

  Meretseger appeared on her knees in the road of a small town, coughing blood upon the ground. She lifted her head in panic and scanned her surroundings. It appeared that she was still in the eye of the Chaos Storm Apep had unleashed on her. It reminded her of past struggles, as she knelt there in the exact center of its deadly deceptive calm. She stood up slowly, contorted in pain as she healed herself from the damage she had taken during her flight in the storm. There were people putting out fires and pulling others out of the wreckage of fallen buildings. She had no idea where she was. She knew she wasn’t on the world she called home anymore instantly from her surroundings. And she was in her human aspect.

  She moved off to the side of the road and hid in an alley putting her hands to her ears. Noise! Too much Noise!

  She needed time to process, to collect her thoughts and assess the situation. Drawing upon her will, she forced herself to relax, then realized she could understand the language. No. Languages that she heard. So Many! Cacophony! Relax!

  Where was she now? Just where in the name of Ra was Here?

  She breathed deeply and slowly, and the calm of the Storm became her calm. A peaceful center, an engaged exterior. The calm of the essence of who she was. The leader she had always been.

  Assess. Why had Apep sought her out? And how had he produced a Chaos Storm? Yes he was a God of Chaos, but he wasn’t a God in Control of Chaos. He was merely a byproduct. What was the deeper meaning behind his approach? He had proclaimed her ignorance of the Multiverse. And she wasn’t. Several hundred years is a long time even for gods and she hadn’t been mourning her followers every waking moment. She had been satisfying her curiosity and had run into mention of the Multiverse more than once. Chaos Storms were produced naturally.

  She closed her eyes thinking deeper on the situation, then opened them as she felt someone enter her space. From the deep shadows came a deeper voice, "Are you injured?"

  She looked in the voice’s direction and saw a man dressed in a military uniform similar in style to many she had seen in her travels. She glanced around at the streets and saw several other people dressed in a similar but not as ornate a style as the man she deemed their superior.

  "I am fine, but new here. That Storm. Where am I?"

  "I see. You are on Bridgeworld now. It seems a Chaos Storm brought you here. They are rare and dangerous, but they always bring people like you."

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  "How is it that I can understand you? How is that possible?"

  "It's called the Babel effect. My name is Averus by the way." and he bowed.

  She smiled, rapidly adjusting to the situation with the quickness of a goddess who had caretaken her people for more years than she cared to remember, but Caretaker no longer since Wadjet had usurped her authority so long ago and stolen her friends, her so called worshipers. She didn’t need worship but she did need her friends. What an odd fate.

  "And you may call me Meretseger. But the noise. How do you stand it?"

  “The noise?”

  Meretseger held her head clasping her ears. "The Babble of the Babel," she said, and grimaced.

  "The Babble of the Babel?” Averus laughed. “That’s a good way to put it. It’s related to the fact that Bridgeworld is the center of the Multiverse. There is something about this world that turns it into an Omni Translator. It doesn’t matter who arrives. Everything is translated. It may be a spell, a shift in reality, or a tinkering with our minds. Nobody really knows. It is really quite useful, but new arrivals take time to adjust and Bridgewalkers are especially sensitive. We have items to relieve that.”

  “Bridgewalkers? What are Bridgewalkers?”

  “That can be a long discussion in itself, and I have duties to attend to. It isn’t over with yet. Come join me while we see what the storm has been doing before things get rough again."

  So they wandered the town, helping out where needed while Meretseger reflected on her surroundings, taking it all in. She felt overwhelming power running through the area from a large ley line beneath them which reached out towards the direction of the huge city she saw in the far distance. She smiled a bit inwardly. It was exciting to see new wonders and things she had never seen before, and this place had more than its share. It almost felt like Apep had done her a favor and she wondered if he would survive. Even the gods aren’t immortal in spite of legend. She had seen many die.

  She paid attention to Averus as he interacted with the individuals who turned out to be men of a squad he commanded. As she had predicted. Mostly he had them on fire and rescue but from time to time he would send one to take care of the individuals walking through the area obliviously. These were more new arrivals like herself. She had not been the only victim of the storm. She wanted to talk to them, but each time Averus hurried on. Twice she saw newly arrived struggling against his men’s grip, and she narrowed her eyes. Once she saw a panicked young woman being knocked unconscious and restrained. She held her anger. Averus didn’t really seem to notice or care. When she asked he told her that not all who came through a Chaos Storm were affected in the same way. Some were considered a threat and treated accordingly. Meretseger wondered what he considered a threat when he didn’t expand his explanation.

  As they walked Averus talked about the civil infrastructure that kept Bridgeworld from anarchy. “I am one of the three local Bridgekeepers in Dakari Province tasked with the protection of the residents.”

  “You have a large number of men working under you,” she said.

  “Not all of them are mine,” he replied. Some are under the other two Bridgekeepers.”

  Meretseger nodded. It appeared that Bridgekeepers were the local authority. Interesting but a more immediate need was coming over her as she considered Averus’s actions.

  “Here we are,” he said as he led Meretseger into an elegantly styled building. “My office is this way.”

  They entered a large room with a very high ceiling that had an air of wealth, numerous paintings and deep thick blue carpet. He went to a safe in the corner, and opened it, rummaging around before pulling out a gold bracelet covered with intricate arcane designs. He handed it to her, "This will block the noise until you acclimate to it.”

  Meretseger frowned to herself as she put it on. She felt Averus’s intent but dismissed him as being truly dangerous to her. After her confrontation with Apep it would take someone truly formidable to arouse her fear. And maybe not even then. The bracelet was well made and had a nice sparkle to it.

  Averus picked up what looked like a writing board covered with glass and tapped it. He laughed and said, "Too easy."

  "Too Easy?", she said.

  “The moment you put that bracelet on you became bound to my will. You won’t be missed” , he smiled wickedly.

  "I really despise slavers”, said Meretseger. We are all meant to be free.”

  “Slaver is such a limited word and freedom is overrated. I prefer to say Harvester. People like you have so many uses. Now sit and tell me about yourself before I send you off to be inspected.”

  Meretseger remained standing, staring at him, saying in formal speech, "Inspected? People like me Averus? People are who I live for. Those of honor and goodwill. I don’t sense that from you. You who are bound by office to serve and protect those people.”

  “I said sit!” Averus started to press different sequences on the tablet that controlled the bracelet he had given her.

  Meretseger laughed at him, “I am not a dog Averus. You call yourself a harvester, but I don’t see the mark of the harvest upon you. You name yourself Bridgekeeper, Protector of Dakari Province and all I have seen is your all-consuming corruption. Now tell me where your men are taking the new arrivals.”

  Averus looked at her with a frightened expression, “Why won’t you obey me?”

  “You can’t bind the Gods Averus. There is only One God that has the power or duty for that, and you have gone too far.” Meretseger's stomach growled as she began to morph into her aspect. Her face and body changed quickly, and she scowled at him all the way through her fast transformation into a massive Queen Cobra, her royal hood flaring and sparks showering down her gold sinuous form.

  “The Gods?” said Averus and he quit pressing keys on his tablet and in panic went for a weapon he had holstered at his side. He aimed it at her and then froze as Meretseger swayed from side to side, her eyes glowing hypnotically gold, his eyes following her blankly as she moved.

  “And now your will is bound to mine,” she whispered. “So tell me more about what you do with people like me.”

  His hands went slack as he stared up at her. The weapon he had grabbed dropped to the floor clattering loudly.

  Meretseger launched herself at him. "Too much Noise! "

  Meretseger came out of the building looking up. The eye of the storm was passing and the brief calm that had descended earlier was transitioning back into an unnatural fury. She had to locate where Averus’s slavers were taking the new arrivals. Averus had been amazingly stubborn in the fight against her will, but she had broken into his mind and found all she needed to know and more. She had left him a drooling mess of a man, but her rage had been awakened. Foolish mortal trying to tether her to his will. Foolish, Cowardly and Corrupted. How had such a man risen to power? Still he had told her everything while she was in her Judge Role. She forgave him, healing him and leaving him behind on the floor. Some say that forgiveness is a weakness but it was her greatest strength and had been for hundreds of years as she dwelt in her home the Theban Necropolis. He would wake up a different man.

  Meretseger peered deeper into the chaotic skies, seeing eldritch shapes flying in the wind and wondered again about this place called Bridgeworld, about its rulers. Still, as she had told Averus before she had given in to her anger, she was the avatar of the harvest, the protector of artisans, the protector of the land. It was sewn into her by the needles of Fate, Creation and Ra. She had decided she would take Averus’s place as Bridgekeeper and become that which he should have been to the people here. She didn’t demand or aspire to be worshipped but simply to be allowed to do that which she had been born for. She laughed at herself, "Meretseger. She who keeps bridges."

  Changing her aspect back into human form, she hurried down the street.