Retro-cognition

Chapter 1 - Fallen

©  Copyright, Maja D. Jørgensen ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Retro-cognition

Chapter 1 - Fallen

Unique clenched her fists. Her nails dug deep into the palm of her hands as she paced in front of the large gold gate. She paused, a frown forming. Her father's words echoed inside her head, causing a growl to vibrate through her throat. How could he order her like this? All she’d wanted was one look. One simple look at the mortal world.

Her father had no right to deny her this. It was her birthright. Wrapping her fingers around the steel bars of the large gate, she sighed. What should she do? She could disobey him. He wasn’t here now, and the other Gods wouldn’t care.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“Retro, the almighty God of Time,” she muttered. “Yeah, right. He’s more like the almighty God of Discrimination.”

She stopped pacing and took in her surroundings. Her heartbeat increased. Nobody had noticed her mocking her father, right? She wasn’t sure if it was considered blasphemy when, technically, you were a God, too. Nevertheless, it would be safer to stay on good terms with the other Gods.

The scenery in front of her was the same as always: exotic flowers and shining marble tiles decorated the elegant roads. Despite the beauty of the place, its never-changing nature bored Unique out of her wits. She rolled her eyes at it. Nothing ever happened here.

She saw her aunt, Amora, the Goddess of love, sashaying towards her. The Goddess’ white muslin dress swayed gracefully around her legs. With a frown, Unique turned away. She was not in the mood to be lectured on love right now. Actually, she wasn’t up to hearing about anything. Why couldn’t the other Gods just accept her? She was the daughter of Time. It wasn’t fair that she should stay passive while the others had the freedom to roam around exploring their powers.

“You can’t use your powers, Unique. It is not safe for you,” her father’s voice echoed inside her head. Unique pouted. She had just turned one hundred and twenty-five-years-old last week. Of course, it wasn’t as if her father, Retro, had remembered her birthday, and when she had sat down to have a heart to heart with him, he had shot down every single attempt by demanding her to stay passive. Passive sucks! She kicked a rock on the ground. Her eyes peered inside the gate, and she gazed at the fountain. Just a few more steps and she could test her powers on the humans.

Biting her lip, she looked around. The middle of their realm was unusually empty. It could be a sign. Perhaps her uncle Fatus was trying to show her the right path. The God of Fate worked in mysterious ways, and while she didn’t know if he had anything to do with the fate of God’s, this seemed like a perfect opportunity.

The beautiful, sapphire water called to her. It was now or never. Her powers were relatively passive anyway, so she wouldn’t be caught. With a nervous gulp, she began walking towards the fountain.

It didn’t take long before she was staring down at the sparkling water. One touch and she could see the layers of reality. Right. She could do this; no one would find out.

The last step to the porcelain edge seemed to go on forever. She rested her bum on the flat surface and inhaled deeply. Dipping her fingertips in the liquid, she sucked in a breath and entered the mind of billions of humans, which was too many at once.

She needed to narrow down her search. But what should she look for? She thought of Amora and wondered what the Goddess of love would look for. Obviously, love. . Well, love was always worth a look, right? Unique had often been curious as to why humans settled down with one another. It was cute but definitely strange. The Gods didn’t retort to such limitations of love—when you’re immortal, it’s apparently okay to shag around.