Chapter 2: Prologue (2)
—
Enrique had seen many things in life that weren't anything short of "miracles". But this, it would take the highest place in that list.
He wasn't dead, and was rather in a golden cloudy horizon that looked like the average description of 'heaven'. Not only that, he was healed of all his injuries in a process that he could only describe as 'somehow'.
Something supernatural just happened.
Unless this was a hallucination, or something the human brain fabricated for everyone who's about to die, he had been 'summoned' by someone. Though this could also just be the afterlife since the person he was facing looked just like, and introduced herself, as an Egyptian Deity. But he doubted that possibility since he never worshipped any God, let alone Egyptian ones, and she also said something about becoming her Avatar.
Enrique was nervous about this situation, but he wasn't scared. Afterlife, or another reality, whatever it was- it was an opportunity. A chance to live. However, his businessman senses judged this chance as not a Godsent. This woman in front of him wanted something in return for saving him.
"Avatar?" He asked, slowly standing up and dusting off his suit. It was still bloody and cut in many places, though his wounds were healed entirely. A chair materialised behind him, and another in front of him, with a table separating the two. He took his seat, and the Goddess also did opposite him, though her 'chair' was more of a throne.
She was trying to symbolise their position here.
"Let us do it in this manner since you are dressed in a suit." The deity said, at him. "An Avatar, in essence, is a mortal who carries the will of a God or Goddess. They're the direct servant of the God they serve, and in response, the Gods lend them various powers."
"Ah, I see. But first, about your identity…" Enrique enquired, looking at her. "You really are Mut?"
"Yes. Do you know about me?" The woman asked in casual curiosity.
"I think I just do." He replied. "Egyptian Sky Goddess, Mut. Mother Goddess, Mut. Amun-Ra's wife, Mut. Your appearance also matches your description I once read on the internet."
Wearing a (quite revealing) white cheongsam decorated with shining gold, cut on both sides of her thighs to reveal her chokolate legs, the Goddess had flowing platinum hair that contrasted with her dark olive skin. An elongated golden crown floated over her head and she had four wings, two smaller than the others, erupting from her back. She really did fit the description of Mut. He could tell.
[Image Here]
Because despite not being religious, Enrique Nova held a bit of knowledge about many religions, though mostly the basics. Out of the very few things that he enjoyed, these fictional stories entertained him quite a bit. So besides the movies, comics, and animes he had spent his time researching from a young age, mythologies also held a part in his heart.
"That is indeed correct." The Goddess nodded, crossing her legs as she snapped her fingers, two cups of coffee appeared on the table. One of the cups was made of gold and decorated with diamonds, while another was a very plain white cup. As one could guess, the Goddess took the first cup and Enrique was given the second. "I heard you humans like to talk business over coffee?"
He would personally digress. Tea was better than coffee, so he preferred that. But he didn't find a need to say that here and accepted the cup.
"A question," Enrique asked as he took a sip. "Do you know where I came from?"
"Most possibly a parallel universe." The goddess replied. "From how calm you seem with all this, you are possibly familiar with the supernatural."
He actually was not. But since her answer wasn't- 'You are from planet earth, what do you mean?' and her first guess was he was from a parallel universe, it probably meant her guess was right and the situation he was facing wasn't happening in his world. Honestly, he would know of any hidden supernatural structure if it existed in his world, it would be weird if he didn't while being a top figure in the world. So it was more acceptable for him to know that it's a parallel reality.
However, he had to confirm exactly where he was at the moment. Just any random reality where Gods of Mythologies were real? Or were there any other alterations he could recognise?
"I am sorry but, can I confirm exactly how different of a timeline I am in? By asking a few questions."
The Goddess, gladly, didn't seem to mind that a mortal wanted to interrogate her. Enrique didn't have any experience dealing with Gods, so he had to be careful.
"Ask away." The deity said, taking a sip from her own cup.
"You do operate on Earth, right? If so, what is the current year, and what's the craziest thing that has happened recently?"
"The Year 2011, and the biggest hot news on the planet Earth is about Tony Stark becoming Ironman. The less known fact, but something that is equally more important is that- Odinson Thor had come down on earth. Though he is gone now." The Goddess replied calmly.
Though she was calm, Enrique Nova however lost his cool at that. He still maintained a stoic face on the outside, but his internal confusion had turned to panic.
Marvel. It was that shithole.
At least… it was the Cinematic Universe, from the looks of it. Though he couldn't be sure, it might have other elements too, he needed to be careful.
'Though going by her words, the timeline should just be after the first Thor movie.' Enrique thought. 'Hmm, can she not read my mind?'
It appeared she couldn't, or she would have reacted in some way to his thoughts. In any case, he decided to ask a few more questions.
"...Are there Mutants on earth?" He asked carefully.
"Oh, so is the reality you're from similar to this? That'd make things easier." The goddess nodded to herself. "Yes, Mutants do exist. Mutants, Meta Humans, Aliens, Gods, Cosmic Entities, and more."
Well that was a lot to take. So Enrique took a sip of his coffee. As expected, tea was better for these situations. In any case, from a logical viewpoint, this Goddess wasn't like those "ROB" he read about in third-class fanfictions. She was a usual Goddess, who's not all-powerful, and had summoned him here to become her avatar, not the usual troupe where main characters receive wishes before setting off to a life of bliss.
"I got the gist of it," Enrique replied, ignoring her question about his world. "Now about the offer you made before. Can you elaborate?"
The Goddess revealed a gentle smile. "Mortal child, I wish you to become my avatar. Avatars are mortals chosen by Gods to represent their authority in the mortal realm by using the powers lent to them by their said Gods. They are usually given a goal that they need to fulfil, and that's exactly what I have for you." Mut said, looking at him. "My Egyptian Pantheon is on the verge of collapsing. The other Pantheons are opposing us, and have made us miserable enough that we can't even freely make moves in the mortal realm."
"Gods can't do as they please? That's weird." Enrique mostly said on a whim. He knew of this situation from watching the TV Series: Moonknight. The Egyptian Gods were given many punishments just for revealing their existence, while Gods like Thor roamed on earth without care.
"Exactly. The only reason we can't break this rule is that we are too weak, our pantheon's [Faith] has grown a lot less in number. When an individual God's Faith point reaches zero, they lose all their powers and fall to the ranks of a Mortal. That's not the case for everyone, such as High Fathers like Amun-Ra, Odin, Zeus, along with High-Gods such as me, Thor, Poseidon." She let Enrique absorb the information. "On the other hand, when an entire pantheon's faith reaches zero, the pantheon along with every being it's made of, they cease to exist."
"..." Enrique was silent for a minute. "Why haven't you tried to fix this yet?"
"Well, to fix this, we need more people believing in us. Believing doesn't just mean praying to us, fearing us also works. But praying is usually better since it gives us more [Faith] points. Some Gods have tried to actively bring more believers under them, but they were punished and sealed. One such example would be Amit, I will tell you her story someday. In any case, since we can't try anything by ourselves in fear that the other pantheons would target us, I have summoned you, my child." She watched his reaction with a smile. "You are the answer to my problems, to our problems. By being my avatar, by spreading the name of the Egyptian pantheon, you will make me stronger. Later on, we both will be able to make the whole pantheon grow as well. I wish that you, my child, become my Pharaoh."
…A Pharaoh. A term used for the ancient Egyptian monarchs. Enrique didn't hate the sound of it. Usually he wouldn't accept such brazen offers, working for a huge pantheon didn't sound like him. He was the one who made others work, after all. However, he feared that if he rejected her, she might throw him back into his world (while injured again). Or worse, drop her to Marvel without any powers or simply kill him. Yet, even with that risk, being the Avatar of an Egyptian God… he wasn't sure if he should accept that offer. He had seen how things turned out for Moonknight, and this woman, Mut, was actually Khonsu's mother.
"Your son, Khonsu." Enrique started. "I happen to know how he treats his Avatars. He's been doing that for a long while, too. Goddess, will all due respect, are you not his mother? If so, how can I expect anything beneficial for me by accepting your offer?"
"Mortal, I am not my son. He's not even my 'biological' son, I am his stepmom." Mut said softly, though she didn't seem displeased. "As for the deal of becoming my Avatar, we can come to a mutual contract unlike the Avatar contracts my Son usually follows. But still, I didn't expect you to know about my son and his ways. Not bad."
Oh… this woman was… naive. He would have said she's nice, but honestly she's being dumb by being so kind when her whole religion is about to die out. He guessed that's what it meant to be the 'Mother Goddess' of Egypt. In any case, she saved his life and although he was a dick he liked to repay his debts. He wouldn't scam her that hard.
—-
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Mission: Make the Pantheon Great Again.
Details: The Egyptian Pantheon is on the verge of eradication, and so you are given the mission to make it rise to its former glory.
1st Objective: Earn 10 million faithful believers for Mut's religion.
2nd Objective: Earn as many faithful believers as you can for the Egyptian Pantheon as a whole.
~
You are reading story Marvel: False God at novel35.com
Goddess Mut has some special conditions for you to follow.
Condition 1: You are to not harm the Egyptian Pantheon in any way. However, if it's a situation where you must, you have to ask for Mut's permission.
Condition 2: You are to fight against other Gods if needed.
Condition 3: However, you are to not kill any Gods, from any Pantheon, without Mut's permission.
Condition 4: In case of any existential emergencies that the Egyptian Pantheon faces, you are to fight for them.
~
You have some special conditions that Goddess Mut must follow.
Condition 1: I will only do the aforementioned jobs, and will do them at my comfortable pace. You are to not force me with any other Job, unless I accept your request.
Condition 2: You, in no way or form, will try to harm me if I don't break your conditions.
Conditions 3: You will not be able to take back my powers before this contract expires.
Condition 4: You will not blackmail me using the people around me.
~
This contract will last for exactly 10 years!
===
Enrique read the scroll made of gold in his hand and nodded.
He had tried negotiating some more conditions, but they were brazen enough for her to not accept. However, this alone was good enough. 10 million sounded a lot, and so did the fact that he will have to find believers for Egypt for 10 whole years. But this wasn't the worst thing in the world, it's not as if he would have to serve Egypt in any way possible. He was not a slave, but a mercenary instead.
Also, he could always break the contract given just how many powers that surpassed Gods existed in this universe… But that's just a possibility for later.
"Now, you'd have to drop a droplet of blood on this contract." The Goddess said as she materialised a knife in her hand, handing it over.
Enrique accepted it and created a small cut on his thumb, however as the red droplet of blood fell from above, it turned black midway. Though it hit the contract and things seemed to go smoothly, Enrique was surprised.
"Is that one of your…?"
"No." The Goddess shook her head. "The technique I used is a power that originated from Demiurge, the essence of the void. It seemed like a side effect of the technique, you have a few special powers. Such as the ability to stop me from reading your mind. There might be more, but I have no idea about them." She placed a hand on his head. "I am placing a spell to make sure your blood looks red, at the very least. It would be troublesome if you get hurt and people see black blood. Humans can be very scared sometimes, and don't worry it wouldn't affect your Void powers."
Golden light erupted from her hand and engulfed Enrique, but when it ended he felt nothing. He tried making another cut, and as she said the red blood didn't turn black no matter how much time passed.
"Now, let’s finish this." Mut said and cut her own finger, dropping a blood drop on the scroll as it glowed bright white before dissipating into particles of light. "There, now the contract has been properly established."
"Ah, alright. Though I don't feel any difference." Enrique said, looking at her.
"Close your eyes, relax, and try calling forth something powerful from within you." Mut said, patting his shoulders before backing off.
Enrique Nova was familiar with meditation, so he quickly calmed himself before doing what she said. Call forth a great power.
-Bzzt~
The slight buzz of electricity danced in the back of his ears before something bright erupted from within him. All of a sudden, he felt powerful. His muscles were ticking with power, with authority to bring anything down. He wasn't sure what powers he had exactly, and the Goddess said he should find out about those himself, but knowing she's a Sky Goddess, he could make some guesses.
When he opened his eyes again, he found a mirror in front of him, where he had exchanged his suit with a magical costume with lightning crackling around him. He looked fucking badass.
[Image Here]
"Not a bad choice of costume," Mut said. "You are free to change its looks whenever you please, as well."
She talked as if he had chosen this costume himself. Though maybe he did, subconsciously. Since it looked exactly like Shazam's suit, except the red parts were replaced with white.
"I guess it doesn't look bad." Enrique commented as he checked himself out.
"In any case," the Goddess said after a gentle giggle. "What is your name? I have to prepare identification for you."
"Nova." He looked back at her. "Enrique Nova."
"Not bad." The Goddess said as she closed her eyes. "I am sending you to the United States. I can't have you work in Egypt since the other Egyptian Gods would definitely notice and if they do, they'd try to seal me."
"As for why the US, exactly?"
"Because it is a place filled with Meta Humans. As it turned out, the faith of a Metahuman – while challenging to obtain – is around a thousand times stronger than a normal human's, and more if the meta-person in question is very powerful. Meaning, you can finish your contract's first objective just by gathering 10,000 Meta believers. That will ease your job."
Ease his job? Yeah, sure.
But he didn't protest. It seemed… fun to be in America, where the supernatural was the most active. He had no reason to hide away from those dangers after dying once and coming so far.
No reason at all.
"Alright," the Goddess raised her hand and placed a finger on his forehead. "Good luck, I will be watching."
She pushed him with a finger as his back touched the cloudy ground, but rather than an impact, he found himself passing through and dropping on a bed inside an apartment.
"Huh."
That was a neat trick.
But he should get busy now.
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[°] Two Character Images in this chapter.
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