Chapter 113: Ch.15
We relaxed in America for the most part while our coven spread out to influence the world and prepare it for the coming battles. They were all allowed to discreetly activate witches with the ritual and bells we made to build their own covens and prepare for the worst case scenario.
One evening during the early fifties Betsy decided to find out first hand what it would be like with another woman and brought home a young up and comer actress who called herself Marilyn Monroe.
To get me in the mood she teased me as she and Marilyn made out on the couch. When their dresses came off, I growled and let her see the darker pleasures I could bring that I usually shared with Faith, Buffy and River who enjoyed it the most.
Whips, leather, chocolate, candle wax rough sex and chains. Both woman experienced what it would be like with each other but the also experienced my slightly kinky side. Marilyn came back a few times before she started to notice we didn't exactly age.
I cut her off then and dimmed her perception of us. I headed later and suspected it drove her to do wilder and wilder things, even sleeping with my father while he was topside. She never really lost her need for that darker place I took her too and couldn't really replicate it with others but she seemed to almost find it with Lucifer for a time.
Betsy was a bit sad to see her former temporary lover turn out so wild but in the end she lived life to the fullest so it's all one could hope for at least. She married quite a few times and they all tried to curb her wild side so it ended badly until her death almost a decade after we left her.
Betsy was heartbroken so we went to her funeral and paid homage to our former lover turned party girl. I saw Lucifer there picking up women and laughed when Betsy kicked him in the balls when he tried her. I'd long since protected her from his 'charms' and as she was immortal, he'd found it hard to even try it.
We left and disappeared from the public eye as it was our one and only time near cameras since they'd been invented and took an image of one of my modified illusions.
During the nineties we corresponded with August Corbin, helping him acquire demonic tomes to identify demons and even an exorcism at one point that would eject the demon and send it back to hell or Purgatory where it belonged.
For a time we were his greatest ally and informant. That is until he inquired about a rare tome on the horseman of death. I informed him the only copy had been left in the hands of a secret society called the Freemasons, of which I was actually a member.
I'd joined when I began supplying them with runic tomes and ideas for their traps. They took credit for it as usual but I didn't mind. I was actually a grandmason for a time before I passed the title to Lincoln during his era.
We'd certainly left our mark on the world, even if none remembered it. When the two thousands came around, Betsy and I retired to the hidden vault in Sleepy Hollow where she'd sleep and continue to meditate on ascension.
It was a hidden chamber Thomas Jefferson had built with our insistence that would open when I went into the catacombs with Abby. Once free again I'd be able to change some things in secret for the better. I'd already sensed myself on the streets of New York so it was time.
As we fell into our trance like sleeps in our hidden bed chamber, Thomas said his goodbyes once more sadly as he closed the entrance. I did my own meditation and led Shenlong to do the same inside my inner realm.
He fell into his own meditation state and would be like that for a long time to come. Even when Thomas woke Betsy and myself up, Shenlong remained like that. Getting into busy mode I robbed those that were stealing from Atticus Nevins, Pandora's former supplier.
I'd even taken their money and off shore accounts when Nevins retaliated. When he got away from Ichabod and Jenny, I switched the files he'd stolen about the nine holy places full of gold and mystical treasures with a false one that lead to mine fields and caves I knew to have vicious curses and creatures lurking within that fed on humans and demons alike.
One of which was the entrance to the underworld and boy would Hades love to try out his new dagger on some idiot demon who tried to enter his territory without his permission.
I watched from afar as the crooked agent killed him for the file and dumped his body. Betsy had taken off to make sure our coven had done good and our bots had done as I'd asked. It wasn't yet time to do anything so I disappeared into the shadows and waited.
A few weeks later Abby returned and things were set in motion. When Crane and Abby left for the Catacombs, it wasn't long before I would appear so I left town to DC where I'd prepare everything there. Our coven had begun migrating discreetly with our cloaked magic ship I'd left them.
Soon they'd gather the others from all over the world and return. Reports were in that we were ten thousand witches strong and all of which had been feeding my talismans that fed into my coin all this time.
When the time was right and I felt the massive temporal spell activate from Sleepy Hollow's direction, I felt the bond click back into place with my god aspects. As it was time, I began creating more aspects using my coin as a funnel and the laws I'd understood of this world and the others I'd visited before.
I'd taken the chance to learn alchemy so my grasp of this world's laws was pretty deep as they weren't that different from the many others I'd been to. Aspect after aspect I created solid essence aspects that are a golden apple and spread out across the world to fulfill their duties.
Their thrones of power were centered over the key points in the world's lay line intersections. All except Sleepy Hollow that is. Gods of Life, death, pain, insanity, sky, earth, night, etc, all spread out and belonging to no pantheon as they were my own creations of me.
Everything that made this worlds laws warranted a god and damned if the world wasn't improving because of it. When I felt the hidden one begin to grow stronger, I felt another problem that was far more disconcerting.
Gaia, this reality's version of my mother and lover of Typhoon, father of monsters, released him from his shackles with the help of the giants. My aspects of nature, death of evil, reincarnation/rebirth and fertility were being called to battle by the Greeks and Romans as the Roman camp was being attacked by the giants as well.
I fused them and split the Roman and Greek aspects before sending them after each foe. I couldn't involve my other aspects or help myself as I was busy with another matter. The hidden one had gained omnipotence and could feel me, or most of me any way.
He was bidding his time as I was by no means a slouch in power and if push came to shove, I could merge them all and fight him almost equally. Fortunately for me though, Crane and Abby returned, striking a serious blow to him.
When Abby sacrificed herself, I made sure to purify her soul of any perceived taint so she'd go to heaven after her soul passed on it's spark to Molly, the new witness to be after her.
When the hidden one was defeated, Pandora acted all snooty and god like but lacked true immortality. I had my kindred sacrifice his head, temporarily of course, so the horseman of death could bring down Pandora.
When the shockwave hit and the skull was destroyed, my death aspect found it easy to fuse it all back together and return it to the kindred who was grateful. I took them into my realm where they retired to their cottage for now.
When the box was want to explode and Crane and the rest ran, I removed my cloak and set my coin on it, draining the box of all it's boomer as I directed the flow. All the power of the hidden one and the box was fused into my coin with the rest of the magic and essence I had yet to use.
Crane and the rest were completely safe as I walked out of the spelled chamber they'd placed the box in before to protect the town from the blast. Jenny, Joe and Crane all looked out as I told them. "It's safe now, the box is dormant and unless you activate it with magic, all but useless. You can come out now."
Jenny walked out and Crane turned around. "Oh good, it's you. Thank god!"
They both stopped talking before Crane asked finally after poking the box. "Do you know of a way to retrieve Leftenant's soul from the box?"
I shook my head. "I'm sorry Crane, I told you there'd be serious repercussions from that ritual you did. The moment it took her, it didn't keep her soul. It fed on her hope and killed her. Her body became it's lifeforce and her soul was released into the ether where it would spark the next witness before being carried to heaven. If she were going to hell, I'd be able to do something, but heaven isn't within my domain."
I shook my head softly while Jenny cried a bit, silently shedding tears while Joe held her. Crane was devastated but understood now what it meant by eternal soul. He asked softly. "So apart of her was given to this new witness?"
I sighed and rubbed my head. "I'm a way, yes. It's more like the witness essence passed on to the next one, a shroud that covers the witnesses souls. Her soul went to heaven after she passed it on to the new witness, what you remember of her, the important bits, are in heaven with August Corbin who was allowed to meet her half way. It was a beautiful sight to see but they're both in heaven in the end."
Joe choked up a bit by my words before Jenny asked after calming herself down. "Why didn't you help? You could've done something! You're the devil after all!"
I shook my head. "If my devil side left hell, there'd be chaos as demons would break my laws to follow it out. Every dead body from here to California would be possessed by demons searching for their king. I could no more stop the hidden one at that time than you could. I may be powerful, but in the end I'm just a man in this form. If I die here, my father would scorch the earth and the end would truly begin."
She was still mad but not directly at me any way. It wasn't a complete lie as my god forms were still consolidating their forms and Pandora could've used the box to absorb them as well or worse, the hidden one would've fed on them creating two super powerful beings.
Even if I'd had fused them, I'd almost be as powerful as he was. Because of his omnipotence he'd still have the edge and see it coming. He would've been desperate and worst of all, I know he could've fed on me if he rejoined with Pandora against an outside foe.
When the funeral happened, I brought Betsy to it with me to Crane's surprise. When the funeral was over they began talking of the old days. She told him what I'd done for her, going back in time and making her immortal.
He was surprised more when Ezra Mills, aka Jenny and Abby's father gave him a letter. Ezra looked my way in surprise and I smirked and waved at him, revealing my grandmaster mason ring. He was shocked to see it as much as he was to see me in my natural form. Only the Freemasons and my coven knew both appearances I had and only the higher ups knew both.
I was in my White haired form I'd prepared for my return, another bout of pain to be sure. I watched from afar as the corrupt federal agents took Crane. I blocked his memories of me and Betsy being back when he left.
I then told Jenny and Joe to search for the Tibetan singing bowl used to find the next wearer of the mantle of the Dalai Lama. I instructed them how to use it with Crane and told them to wait two weeks from today before packing up the books and artifacts in the armory before heading to DC in their RV to join Crane there.
I met with Katrina and little Jeremy and sent them to a heavily warded and fortified estate home in DC to be close to Ichabod when he finally found his place there. Katrina knew it was necessary as his role as a witness was important.
Later I met with Ezra in secret and told him of the corruption in the agency and warned him Malcom Dreyfuss was behind it and would make an attempt on the assistant directors life. As the assistant director was the current grand master mason, it would be awkward if he died.
I gave him the dock information for my coming coven and told him to tell them I said to protect the assistant director with our second charm. It was a spell that I'd created that would make a golem of sorts from the DNA of the assistant director and they'd insert his astral spirit into it so he could control it and not even a high demon, a former angel, could tell the difference.
He'd be safe from whatever Dreyfuss attempted and they'd assist in finding the evidence against him. Malcom's demon body guard, Jobe, was an old contractor that hadn't been back in hell personally since ancient times and didn't know of the change in management.
My father was still angry and bitter back then and deals were his thing so he'd let the demons that came in their own specially made flesh suits, nothing but the best for his emissaries, come to earth to tempt souls.
Jobe was a dying breed, literally as I'd killed many of them over the last two hundred years and sent them to hell or in some cases, just straight up ended them. The flesh suit was technically a vessel but I'd been angry a few times and used the sword of Enoch or Methuselah if you will, on them.
Some demons had really gone evil as could be and sick as well with their time on earth. The camps during World War Two was my most infamous time as I'd ended the good doctor/demon that had been experimenting on children, not for any clear purpose really, but to see how much pain they could take before their minds broke.
I'd needed to end him and his allies because I sure as hell didn't want those kinds of demons in well, hell. Jobe would be dealt with in time but for now Betsy and I moved to our town house in DC not far from the Lincoln memorial.
I took on my badass bounty hunter persona as I'd officially and legally inherited the building and all of my dearly departed 'friends' estate. All my assets were returned in bulk as I now owned majority or enough to hold sway in most of earths major corporations.
I was officially a majority share holder in an investment group which in reality was just me and all my bots posing as an investment group called Global Operations Denomination or G.O.D. My investment firm was so powerful politically that Malcom Dreyfuss and Jobe has tried repeatedly to gain access but both were rebuffed by the witches that had stayed in the states to keep an eye on things and my seriously overpowered computer system.
Dreyfuss has received several lawsuits for trying that had nearly bankrupted his own corporation each time over the years. His last attempt nearly landed him a prison sentence that required Jobe to save him from. That was last year as well. Now that my investment firm was back in my hands, I gave the order to dig up Malcom's skeletons but keep it so quite the demon wouldn't be able to find out before it's too late.
While I was playing politics and backing the vault, Crane's personal place to learn and prevent the apocalypse, things would be different. I made notes of Dreyfuss doing restoration bid on the Lincoln memorial and getting a swamp draining permit for the area off highway fifty which I knew to be the Dryer coven's land.
There was also a charity outreach to the battlefield preservation where the lay lines converged in Sleepy Hollow. It was where the alter for the philosophers stone was and also where the hidden one had made himself omnipotent.
I disregarded the alter because I could simply take it when I'm ready. As for the other places, I'd wait until Malcom retrieved the other pieces himself before taking them from him. I received reports of most of Malcom's security firm going missing over seas and in different places in America.
The monsters must've had a feast because he was pissed from the way he was acting. Even Jobe was nervous from the reports and had reportedly come back severely wounded from one of the outings to find out what was happening.
On the bright side the war against typhoon and the giants had come to an end as the gates of death closed and all the giants were either put down or sealed away. Typhoon himself was stopped and beaten back while I'd received praise from the other gods for saving a few and helping beat the Titan down.
Now all that was left was what made me seriously worried, Gaia herself was starting to wake and I could feel it even in my immortal witch form. As my god bodies went back to work like usual, I sent the last of them over to set up their thrones over the lay line nexus in Sleepy Hollow.
With that all my current issues were finished for now. Betsy has reached the peak and was about to ascend so there was little reason to hold back for much longer. All we our issues would be sold within a few months.
Until then though, it was time I paid my brothers a visit. I took Betsy with me and shadow traveled to the underworld after crossing most of America to California. There I showed her the entrance and Charon. He was no longer as busy since my other aspects were taking souls in to my realm. There they were given a peaceful afterlife or rebirth.
There were literally thousands of aspects of myself I'd created for my goals so a lot of the gods were experiencing a lessoning of the mortal's influence on their psyche's.
Charon was more at ease though an outsider couldn't tell. I introduced Betsy as my wife and eventual goddess in her own right. Charon greeted her in his own way, with a nod. I told her openly. "This is Charon, ferryman of the dead and I suspect one of my older brothers."
Surprisingly Charon spoke up. "I've not told anyone my parents name so I guess it's not weird that you know as all our siblings can feel each other. There's not many, but Thanatos and Hypnos are the ones you know. The others are more private about their affairs and will tell you if you ask when you meet them."
I nodded and Betsy was a lot warmer to Charon even with his indifferent personality. I gave him the drachmas and told him it was time for Betsy to meet death. She was a bit iffy as she knew from my memories my brothers weren't very warm.
When we arrived I handed Charon a bag of drachma saying. "Why not join us for a small family gathering? I'm sure Thanatos won't mind."
He shrugged and stepped off the boat with us, still carrying his paddle. Betsy found it odd but didn't comment. When we entered the throne room, Thanatos was there. I walked up cheerfully saying. "Brother, it's good to see you. I've brought my wife, the immortal Betsy Ross Morningstar."
He turned his gaze to me before looking to Charon. As if expecting a fight his wings flared open. He spoke coldly. "You know it is forbidden for gods to enter others places of power without an invitation Charon."
I spoke up. "I invited him brother relax, he's our brother after all. I don't know what's between you two but can you not let it pass this once? After all, you two are my favorite siblings in this cruel world."
Thanatos looked to me before putting away his wings and standing before shrinking to our size. He walked to us saying. "You're new as a god Wraith, but you should at least attempt to learn our laws."
I waved it off as we'd had this conversation before. "Laws made by weaker beings aren't my concern. Besides, aren't I not a god? Shouldn't you be scolding me for coming unannounced as well?"
He lowered his hood and sighed. "Mother has deemed you special even amongst all our siblings, else she would not give you her god totem. It is why I gave you my own."
That had Charon raising an eyebrow in shock. I sighed and looked at the one he'd clearly paid a high price to have Hephaestus reforge for him. Shaking my head slowly I sighed. "And here I thought it was because you liked me best. Now I feel cheated."
He raised an eyebrow and Betsy laughed lightly. Thanatos turned to her now and she apologized. "Sorry, you're just really alike. When Wraith gets annoyed he does the same raised eyebrow expression. It's so cute."
I gave her an annoyed look and she pointed at me and laughed. Shaking my head at both Charon and Thanatos's clearly amused demeanor now, I sighed and remembered something. "Charon, where is your throne room or seat of power?"
He shook his head lightly. "I've never been given the chance to make one. Hades never offered and after I joined as the ferryman I've been to busy to ask much less build one."
I frowned. "Then you've not even had the chance to grow stronger or change from all the mortal influence? Damn, well, I'd you decide to build one you can do so in my palace. I don't mind sharing and I know you enjoy the extra stuff I added. I'd be more than happy to share it all with you brother."
He was shocked by my offer as the closer a gods throne is together the less each individual receives as all the faith and energies are divided between them. It's why the Olympians had resisted sharing Olympus with the minor gods and goddesses.
What I was essentially offering was to halve my total power income from my reincarnation job with him. Little did he know that was actually one of the smallest energy and essence power sources I had as a whole. Hell was still the largest then came my coin and the lay line sections where each of my aspects shared the dozens of intersections around the world.
The largest on earth that anyone could have access to would be Olympus or the other pantheon main HQ's. They were the only places my aspects avoided. As it was though I could gift him the whole palace and not lack much.
The list that Hades continued to make for those slated to reincarnation had significantly reduced after the last battle. He clearly feared my power and wished to weaken me to bring me down to a manageable level of power.
It was one of the reasons I intended to do my next move. After spending three mortal outside days with Charon and Thanatos, I went with Charon to my palace where my aspects of nature, death of evil, fertility and rebirth/reincarnation were waiting.
As soon as I entered, they began to fuse back into my body. I felt my god powers return in full force and damned if it didn't feel good. I estimated my current power with those four aspects alone equaled all that Hades and his merry band of death gods and the damned could throw at me without releasing the titans and giants in Tartarus.
I walked before my throne while I felt Charon assessing my power. I told him openly. "I've tired of being a god of the Greek and Roman pantheon. You may take up my mantle as the Greek and Roman god of death of evil and rebirth and reincarnation if you do wish brother."
My offer shocked him almost as much as it did Thanatos that had come with us at my insistence. I put away my throne of power and told Charon. "Here, place you're throne here and all this palace's gathering power will go to you as will the understanding of those aspects."
I waved a hand to the garden throne and put it away as I continued. "The garden will stay if you like it but I've already decided to transfer my nature mantle to Pan. He's deserving of an upgrade as such."
I sent the god in question that exact information and transfered the mantle to him when he was ready. Charon wasted no time and basically took over the palace instantly as he placed his wooden boat seat like throne there and he sat on it.
I transferred my fertility god mantle to Persephone secretly as she grew stronger almost instantly when she accepted. She was already a goddess of fertility but now she was more than a match for her mother and almost Hades's equal in power or will be once she's had time to adjust.
As I ended my last tie to the Olympian gods, Hades arrived without warning and stood there angrily with greed in his eyes. He'd been hoping I would simply choose one of my other aspects and leave the underworld and my mantles to him by default but since I gave them away willingly, Charon and those that received them were safe as no god could take another's mantle by force.
It had to be by understanding or willingly given and as such he was shit out of luck as his road to becoming the strongest greek god was cut off from him. He stared at me coldly saying. "You are no longer a Greek god and as such you are a foreign god within my territory. Submit the powers you claimed from my realm and you may leave freely, if not than you will be hunted by all the Greek pantheon as a trespasser in our claimed territories!"
I waved a hand, sending Betsy into my inner world and preventing the shadows Hades was creeping towards her from above from taking her as a hostage. I shook my head. "I'll not be doing that Hades, but seeing as you've decided to be greedy-"
I smirked while telepathically telling my brothers the plan as I pulled out Persephone's pearl. "I'll let you in on a secret. Your wife was a damn good lay and a screamer when she yelled my name!"
As if on que both my brothers summoned their god artifacts and swung them at me while I crushed the pearl, fleeing Hades with a smile as their attacks hit the mist created by my teleporting out. Hades screamed in rage as the underworld shook from his anger.
I appeared in Boston where the Hotel Valhalla was located. I'd long since scoped it out along with the demigods that lived here. I already had all the Norse god artifacts in my realm waiting for my own use.
I knocked on the front door and showed them my necklace saying I am the son of Nótt, the Nordic goddess of night. What the foolish Greeks and romans had failed to realize is that the primordial gods and goddesses were more than parents to just them. They went by many names and had many aspects in different religions.
As I carried her symbol of power and radiated the power of an untethered god, they let me in cautiously and brought me before their gods in Odin's hall. Here is where I would decide their fate. As the gods all assembled, Odin, a white bearded man with one eye and two ravens, one on each shoulder, asked. "You claim to be the son of Nótt, yet you do not bear any godly presence of the Nordic hall, how can you verify your claims? Her symbol of power will not be enough to save you if you're lying."
I shrugged. "Ask her yourself. If my claims mean little then let her claims speak for themselves."
He frowned. "We've not spoken to the night mother in many eons. She has gone quiet and distant from us."
It was my turn to frown now. "You are the Allfather, king of the gods, can you not speak to her if you wish it?"
He nodded slowly. "I can, but that does not mean she will answer back. None of the primordial ones speak to us anymore. Not even to their own children."
I shrugged. "Mother always did like me best. All I said was to ask her yourself, if she chooses not to answer I will accept your verdict whatever it may be."
He nodded slowly before closing his one eye. His metal eye patch glowed as I sensed him communing with the higher gods. I touched my mother's necklace and prayed as well. After a few moments he opened his eye saying. "She has not deigned to answer."
I sighed and he continued. "Therefore I've no recourse but to see you banished from-"
As soon as I opened my eyes I saw her standing there in shadows that followed her. Twinkles of stars shone on her clothing as she smiled to me saying. "My son, you've grown so much. I'm afraid I cannot stay long or Dagr will catch up to me and the cosmos will be tossed out of balance. I love you my sweet boy, no matter the pantheon or choices you choose and nothing will ever change that."
I smiled sadly and watched her turn to Odin and give him a death glare before galloping off into the ether. A tear rolled down my cheek and froze from the cold in her wake. Odin was flabbergasted and in a bind now. He'd just been about to kick me out when a primordial goddesses avatar came down in person to verify my claim.
He coughed before saying. "Very well, now that you're found worthy, what abilities and aspects do you carry that can benefit our halls?"
I smiled lightly. "I am a god of nature, fertility, death of evil and Rebirth/reincarnation. I am willing to take on these or any other aspects the halls of Asgard require. I assure you I am versatile and can take on many more or different ones as needed to strengthen these halls."
I split into four solid god bodies, each having a different aspect. It surprised them as their pantheon has never been big by any means. Mostly they relied on the basic immortals to make up their numbers as they lacked the talent or understanding to become gods themselves.
It was a surprise and from the looks on their faces a good one. Odin asked. "How many aspects can you take on at once?"
I grinned and honestly answered. "How many do you need? I'm a wanderer god now so I've created many aspects all as deeply ingrained as these and are just out there absorbing random lay line essence to fuel my selves."
My words stunned them all now and Thor laughed uproariously while saying. "You do us proud uncle, our halls will be strengthened many fold with this!"
Odin was the next to speak. "Call those that do not conflict with our own aspects here and we shall gladly take them into our halls. I'm afraid that's the best we can do. I do hope you understand."
I nodded easily as I understood them completely. They were the weakest of the current pantheons as they had too few real gods to contend with the rest. The new world simply didn't have enough strong lay lines that weren't already taken or being guarded by the bigger pantheons for their own uses.
It was already the best they could do to acquire this small intersection in Boston. As it was they were simply to small to risk me or anyone else competing for aspects as well. Odin himself was the only one in the entire pantheon that equaled the big three in power.
As it was he could measure my power and with his defining eye, read my heart. He probably knew already that I was stronger than himself but was willing to kick me away and risk a battle instead of actually ending up losing what little they did have.
They were far more heart warming than the Greeks or the Romans by any means. I looked around as hundred of my aspects came here before the small assembly of gods, shocking them all as the power i naturally exerted bloated the hall and shook the lay lines below.
I hid my presence as best I could and told Odin. "I own many lay line intersections far larger and more powerful than this one. If you're willing I can shift all this pantheon to one of them and help you all build a temple of power to absorb and focus it all."
Odin looked wearily but nodded while asking. "I assume this is not all your aspects?"
I shook my head. "No, I have thousands and have wondered this world for centuries. I figured the lag lines or the hall would give if I brought more."
All my aspects joined me in closing my eyes and shifting the entire pantheon and world tree to the convergence point in Minnesota. There was a major convergence their that equaled the one the Olympians used. As the world tree settled atop the convergence in my inner eye, I opened my eyes with a smile as the hall began to expand naturally.
The other gods rejoiced as I helped them turn their seats into thrones of power. When they felt their power growing they celebrated with a feast. I became known as the god of many faces to them.
My aspects took on different faces as they brought their own thrones in and I secretly shifted a few of the key line convergences closer to here. It wasn't hard for someone at my level of power to adjust the board as it were.
My thrones matched their own now as I was no longer in need of the lay line energies to stabilize my aspects. Now it was all about deepening my understanding of each aspect to further degrees. The Rhône's I myself used did not in fact actually take in the power they gathered but instead filtered the mortal personalities out and fed the other god's thrones the purified power.
They became much more in tune with their aspects as their power grew and soon they matched even Odin's old strength. My aspects meditated instead of partaking and none bothered them. Odin himself was smiling now as he could equal two of the big three in power at once if he was willing to push himself.
Soon the many immortals who followed them would be effected by the changes as well and become gods if they're lucky. I would not fight them over aspects if they did because I could simply switch out my own with the ones I decided to leave here with them.
I shed my god aspects before their eyes as my aspects all went into meditation except my rebirth and reincarnation one. I would use him to communicate with this pantheon whenever necessary. Odin asked. "Why is it you choose to take on a simple immortal form?"
I shrugged. "I find it easier to focus on one aspect at a time so that I may create more or have an epiphany whenever the moment strikes. In this way I've created my many aspects and become a god of many faces as you call me."
Odin himself seemed to take my words seriously and nodded. Thor was talking with my aspect and telling tales. As I settled in the energy of the Nords surrounded my being and marked me as a god of the Nordic pantheon to the other gods perception.
I left the Hotel Valhalla and headed for DC once more where I took out Betsy who'd been listening the whole time. She asked me plainly. "Why didn't you let me meet them? They sounded like a hearty fun bunch."
I sighed. "Because I do not know their personalities. Odds are with their history they could very well see sleeping with you their right as you're not a goddess yet. I would rip them apart if they tried and destroy their pantheon if I must. I don't want to risk it until I know them better."
She nodded understanding as after meeting Hades she got the picture, gods were prone to jealously and fickle behavior when they feel like it. Even downright cruelty was within the realm of possibility if they think they can get away with it and sometimes even if they can't.
As the last week in DC passed and Crane found the surface once more as the head of the Lincoln memorial statue disappeared. Elsewhere I was receiving threats from the Greek and Roman pantheon in places as they searched for my aspects and myself.
Hades wasn't about to give up and the rest of the Olympians were interested in my secrets to growing so strong so quickly. Greed covered most of their eyes so quickly. Only Hestia and Artemis and Hecate abstained from joining the hunt whereas I'd encouraged my brothers to do so or at least make a show of it.
As it was they claimed to be too busy mostly and barely searched, frustrating Hades to no end. The Olympians has tried getting Hypnos to search me out but he fell asleep during their demands, pissing Zeus off to no end.
My other siblings searched as they were asked to by my known brothers to make it look good and to keep the blowback off of them. Charon has successfully finished integrating with his new aspects and using my methods, split himself to fulfill his duties.
His mortal body sat in the palace garden and enjoyed the sounds and feel of the living nature there. Pan had become a major god of nature and the wild only he still had to fight with the other gods of nature and there was that pesky fact that Gaia was waking that created more problems for him.
The seeds of the laws I'd given them had grown as they cultivated them and took over those domains I left them a chance at. Back in DC I watched from afar as Crane and his new partner, HomeLand security agent Diana Malhotra, beat the demonic Booth.
A week later they beat the two Dryer sisters after Malcom sold out the third on a lie and bought their piece of the philosophers stone with the Dagger of Z'urn D'oragh. The most sought after witchcraft artifact. It could kill with a single cut no matter how small or slight.
When they beat the sisters I collected the dagger in the confusion and stored the clocks escaping magic in my coin. I left there and continued to watch from afar as I sent Crane mystical charms and protection amulets that he'd given to the agents he met in the vault, them to study and use.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone