“I don’t think there is more you can learn from me,” Owuo says with a rare smile that looks genuine. His eyes are alive in a new way and he looks at Ivan with a sense of accomplishment.
They are in the Shifting Planes of the Disc of Lêgba, in a secluded spot where Owuo had transformed a platform into a temporary home and training facility. It has the appearance of an Earther boxing gym, but instead of a roped, square ring, there is a raised heptagon that mirrors the heptagon of the Smiting Chamber. There is a low light in the space and the heptagon is spotlit.
“Now you must go to the enemy as a necromancer and wreak havoc,” Owuo continued, the delight for evil deeds creeping into his voice as he spoke.
“You really think I’m ready?” Ivan asks. They sit in the middle of the heptagon, both in black shorts and sleeveless shirts. “I definitely know more than I did, and I can see ghosts now, I can’t wait to tell Wendy about that. But I’m ready to go with the others?”
“You have learned with the Abosom of Evil, a lesser student wouldn’t have survived bathing in my magic.”
“The aduro is strong,” Ivan admits with a laugh, “but I’ve been through enough that I knew I could take it. It was almost like being possessed by the Red Father. He was all destruction and he would have torn me to shreds, my body and my mind, but I managed.”
“You’ve mentioned this Red Father before,” Owuo says curiously. “Did your father become consumed by chaos and attack you? Oh I miss striking bargains with red magic users, they are so careless and desperate enough to give away anything in exchange for more power. Once, I sealed a pact with an onini python with the promise that she would terrorize a family of lepuraj on the Disc of Agê who annoyed me when I was passing through the Disc long ago. She is still stalking the first born of the Zomo Monarchy, and all she got in return was a negligible power boost that allowed her to kill her jilted lover.” Owuo laughs uproariously. “Truly dumb, and the Zomo now give me offerings at the start of every homun nomad cycle in the jungles to try and spare their first born. I take the offerings of course, and delight in the continued slaughter of their children.”
Ivan winces as Owuo laughs. The dark face of the Abosom is handsome in his levity, his skin is a very dark shade of violet but seems to glow in the places where the light from above falls down on him and it gives his skin the appearance of polished stone.
“You would have liked the Red Father,” Ivan says. “His rage had destroyed an entire universe, I’m sure you find that funny.”
Owuo chuckles and his face is distant, as though he is imagining such an existence reduced to nothing by unchecked rage. “Yes,” he says with a sigh. “I do, but only because it is not my problem.”
“So you wouldn’t care if my home universe was destroyed?” Ivan asks with an air of hope in his voice, hope that this being he’d spent so much time with in the two decades he has been in the Fonlands isn’t as completely evil as he presents. Ivan hopes that the Abosom of Evil at least cares for him as a friend, then maybe he could help to curb some of the more cruel things that Owuo delights in.
But Ivan is naive and dangerously close to becoming a victim of that evil himself.
Owuo eyes Ivan and smirks. “You are a flirt, I see why your husband is so jealous about you.”
“It’s not flirting,” Ivan says dismissively, Owuo loves to poke at his relationship with Clay, it is the extent of the abosom’s evil that he has experienced in their time together. “I want to know if you care for me as a friend, as a student. Or is this only situational? You’re only nice because you understand the threat of Une and truly believe that I can be helpful?”
“Sorry Ivan,” Owuo says mockingly, “I know that my godly stature is alluring for an Eather, but I will not be blessing you with a sexual encounter, not even as reward for surviving my training.”
“Would you care if my home world fell victim to Une?” Ivan asks again, ignoring Owuo’s attempt to deflect. “I think that you would. Look how you’ve helped the refugees of the Talj Rip here in the Shifting Planes, you oversaw their transition, and that had nothing to do with fighting the enemy.”
Owuo drops his facade of delight and speaks seriously. “Last lesson, Earther. You wield the incredible power of my aduro now, you can summon it to suffuse your power and wield it as you see fit, but know that each time you use it, I am sinking myself deeper and deeper into your very being and when I get the proper hold, I will turn you inside and out at my pleasure, and no prior experiences will save you from that. Everything that I do, I do for no less than eight boons to me. I have not shown you all of me, you do not know Owuo Odomankama, and pray that you are already in Deads’ Town when you do because I only show friendship to deads. I saw real power in you, Ivan Santana of Hyperion, wielder of the smokeless fire that could burn a mind inside out at your will, and if you live long enough, one day I will have you. Then and only then will I satisfy your sexual cravings for me that you so thinly veil with questions about my concern for you and your home universe. You can drop your artifice and give yourself over to me now, I will let you suck my toes for as long as it pleases you, little Earther. But only because you will make such a nice pet, not because I care for you. I cannot care for anything the way that you Earthers do, I am not susceptible to self-deception. So there, I proved myself wrong, I had one more thing to teach you, though honestly, I had meant for it to be a secret in the hopes that you would overuse the aduro and corrupt yourself beyond repair more quickly. And before you say it, I didn’t tell you because I care about you, your feelings, your life outside of the Fonlands, I told you because I would rather you had more time to become disenchanted with existence before you give yourself to me. When your relationship with Clay has dissolved because you realize that Earther love is suffocating…”
The explosion of neon violet and green energy off of Ivan is so powerful and sudden, that it catches Owuo off-guard and he is hurled back against a stone wall of the training facility. The heptagon is destroyed and Ivan hovers over the crater, a mad ball of flames surrounding him. Owuo laughs as he peels himself off the wall and floats to hover in front of the ball of flames.
“That hurt,” Owuo says proudly. Ivan glares at him with anger, but Owuo looks down to the destroyed floor of the training facility. “He’s all set, Sakpata.”
Ivan is confused for a moment and when Owuo descends to the floor of the training facility, he follows him, and is surprised at the presence of the Vodun Sakpata.
“Hello, Ivan,” Sakpata says as his physical form decreases to be the same height as the Earther. “I would like for you to join me. I have a very important mission to ensure that Une is wiped clean from the multiversal structure. Owuo tells me you have become quite adept at Death Magic.”
Ivan half bows. “Of course. However I can help, I’m happy to.” Then he glares at Owuo. “I don’t believe that you don’t care at all, you try too hard to push others away. I think you feel guilty for indulging in your evil and you don’t feel worthy of friends.”
“Or family,” Sakpata adds and Owuo glares at him with anger. Sakpata laughs and shrugs. “The Earther is right. You became a creep because you felt excluded from the family of my siblings and I and wanted everyone to think that you were an outsider by choice. But Ivan and I know better.”
“Alright,,” Owuo says, “Don’t you have some universes to travel to and clean up? Get out of here, both of you.”
“I will see you soon,” Sakpata says, “and thank you for your cooperation. You are an asset to the Fonlands.”
“Oh yeah? Do you realize Ivan has my aduro? He can kill a Vodun if he wants. It would probably kill him to concentrate enough to pull it off, but he could do it.”
“One such as Ivan deserves such a power, he would only use it to the benefit of the entire multiversal structure,” Sakpata counters and then portals himself and Ivan to the Smiting Chamber.
“Welcome back,” Azalaan, God of Dreams, from Universe 1121, says as the two emerge next to the heptagon that has a moving cloud of mist swirling on it. Azalaan greets Ivan then turns his attention to Sakpata. “His husband is going to Une’s home, he’s not available for our team.”
“That is unfortunate, I’d heard you two are stronger together,” Sakpata says.
“We are, but I have Death Magic now and I’d like to expel as much of it as possible before Clay and I join our power together again,” Ivan explains. “In light of what Owuo admitted to me, I’d rather not curse my husband if possible.”
“Owuo’s mark is insidious,” Sakpata admits, “but it is not as difficult to resist as he would like you to believe. You have a strong will. I would have advised against you learning his aduro spells if I had known, but you are far from doomed as a result. Azalaan will fill you in our mission while I go out and collect as many others as I can.”
“There will be seven,” Azalaan says, “I saw us all in a dream. The Smiting Chamber says that Ali is on the Disc of Xêvioso with the Golden Executioner, Adofo. He will volunteer to come, but he and the Golden Executioners are pivotal to Xêvioso’s war plans so don’t bring him.”
“Shouldn’t we accept any who are willing?” Sakpata asks. “Is seven enough to do what we are called to do?”
“You are enough to do what we are called to do,” Azalaan says, “we are just protection and the circuit to boost your power. And yes, the seven that you will bring here, five now that Ivan and I are here, will be sufficient. Anymore and you are negating the dream of our success. I don’t want to have another dream about this multiversal mission, it may be full of bad portents. You brought me here for a reason, Vodun.”
Sakpata acquiesces and leaves Ivan with Azalaan to travel to the Disc of Xêvioso.
PRL Serials 