Chapter 2: Chp 2 – A Ghost Finds A Home

Chapter 2 - A Ghost Finds A Home

If you're reading this, then that means that you are fully human and have a strong enough mind to see through the mist. Humanity is in desperate need of people like you to lead it. Not that it won't survive without you. Just that I don't want all the work.

I can't describe every creation of man that grips a blade at our throats, new ones appear every day, but hopefully, this book will provide you with information on how to combat the ones beyond the mist. They lurk around every corner, so if you've never encountered something beyond the mist and never found yourself in a mental hospital, consider yourself lucky.

My name is Semides Homina, derived from the Latin phrase Semideus Hominus. That's what I've decided to name myself. It's a little embarrassing calling myself after what I literally am, but such is the origin of names. If you ever meet me, you can call me Sem.

After leaving the strange realm, I found myself on the streets of the current largest cultural heart of the world, New York City. And I never felt so powerful yet disgusted in my life. The meager scraps of divine abilities that I've cultivated during my existence multiplied tenfold. The piles of trash, the forest of glass and concrete, the crowds of useless and hardworking people, I could feel it all.

The thing I couldn't do was hold a single conversation with anyone but children. Everyone except them was quick to please me, abiding by any request, even ridiculous ones. But they were quicker still to forget our meetings.

I roamed through the city for days, mooching off of small businesses to survive and sleep. I spent several more investigating humanity's diverse cuisines, technology, and their creation of the internet. That was until I came upon the Empire State Building, a hulking mass of skyscraper. It wasn't the tallest around by a long shot, but it was in an older style. Though it wasn't the building's looks that stopped me, it was the overwhelming presence of Greek Divinity. Mithras and Theandrios's auras were like embers of dying flames compared to this bonfire. Some people entering and leaving were decidedly not human. But I wasn't going to peer through the mist and see what they actually were, I could make guesses based on their auras. I turned back, as inconspicuous as I could. If there was one religion to stay away from, it was the hedonistic Greeks.

But while walking away, I bumped into two women a head shorter than me. Normally people and children walk around me, but this time I bumped into them, and I was the one pushed back. They held hands and leaned into each other like lovers, maybe sisters. Chestnut hair that draped over one of the woman's shoulders, with a white dress and a golden necklace made in the shape of two serpents clasping their mouths together and inlaid with jewels. The woman on the right had snow-white skin and straight purplish-silver hair that flowed down to her waist.

Goddesses. Probably Harmonia and Eris.

The humans walked around us unconsciously, and trying to imitate their glazed-over eyes, I bent down and started to retie my laces.

"If you wish to look under a lady's skirt, you should court her first," Eris said.

It seemed like they knew I perceived them. Then it would be unwise to pretend that I can't. As long as I was respectful then, I might be able to rely on Harmonia to protect me from Eris's whims.

Maintaining my downward gaze, I said, "I apologize to your majesties. I would not dare gaze under your skirts. I simply did not wish to bother you."

"Hmm. I like the way you tell the truth."

"Would you like me to speak differently?"

"You don't have to speak so formally. I am just a minor goddess."

"I will do my best, your majesty."

"But not what I ask?"

"Eris, leave the poor boy alone," Harmonia said.

I almost said I wasn't a boy, I'm likely more mature than even these minor goddesses, but I truthfully don't know my age. Either way, such an outburst would be unwise.

"I was just messing with him because he's cute." She pulls my chin up to face her. "Let's take him home."

"We can't take him home, he might have a home or family already."

"Do you have either of those?" Eris asked me, her pitch-black pupils peering into me.

"No, Your majesty."

"Come along then." She said, walking away.

"Why don't you live with us? We don't bite." Harmonia smiled sweetly.

I nodded and started following them. But we didn't head into the Empire State like I assumed, instead, we went past it and into a much more modern building. Harmonia held my hand during the 68-floor ride up the elevator. Eris hugged my arm as the doors opened, pulling me inside.

The elevator opened up to a penthouse made primarily of white and black marble with gold accents. The decoration was less grand than what I thought Greek gods would have, but it was far more intricate, appearing like a complex dance of harmony and chaos.

They guided me through and I saw random pillars that formed walls closing off a collection of fire pits, and countertops. Instead of lightbulbs and switches, rooms were lit by scones with white and purple flames with golden covers lowered by pulleys. It was very strange, as if a modern penthouse was redesigned to be something the ancient Greeks would make with the goddesses' powers. The city could be seen from the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Do you like it?" Harmonia asked.

"I'm…very confused."

"About what?"

"Many things. But mostly why you brought me here."

"We're adopting you, silly," Eris said.

"...why?"

"Because every sense I have tells me that you're more human than any human that ever walked the earth, but you're clearly not."

"And you don't have a family," Harmonia said.

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"That too."

I don't know if they're telling the truth, or if I'm too weak to detect their lies. Theandrios and Mithras were easier to deal with.

I walked over to a sofa set beveled into the floor and practically melted into it, a far cry from the couches I'd been sleeping in so far, and an even farther one from the padded room I grew up in. Harmonia and Eris sat opposite of me, their previous clothes turned into loose-fitting robes.

"Let's start with introductions. I am Eris, goddess of constructive chaos."

"And I am Harmonia, goddess of peace and harmony. And despite what some myths might say, we appeared together in the creation of Olympus, not as children from different gods."

So if myths aren't concise or strong enough, they can be resisted by gods. Good to know. Mithras and Theandrios said they gained freedom because they were forgotten.

"My name is Semides Homina. You can call me Sem."

"Demi-god Human? What a peculiar name." Eris said.

"When you're the first and only, is it not natural to name yourself after what you are?"

"Then where do you come from? And what are you?" She changes sides and leans into me.

I've told them enough already.

"Come on now, don't make me invoke your name," Eris whispered.

"Unlike yours, my name does not have power." Dammit.

"Oh, why is that?"

"Eris, we don't want him to be afraid of us." Harmonia placed her hand on my knee. "You said you had many questions. Would you feel more comfortable if we answered some?"

"I thought gods have to live in Olympus, what are you doing in the mortal world?"

"We're simply minor gods, mostly just personifications. Only the most powerful of gods have to live in Olympus. Besides, we're close enough."

"You should be very strong, considering the peacefulness of the world right now."

"Just because there isn't blood spilled on the ground, doesn't mean that the world is at peace. Humans have grown since the age of the Greeks."

"And why are you living with each other?"

"Because we're married!" Eros said.

"Didn't Harmonia marry the Greek Hero, Cadmus?"

"The Greeks got bored with peace rather quickly. I discarded our marriage as soon as he started having affairs. None of his children were mine. Then I became friends with Eris since she gave me this lovely necklace and as they say, opposites attract. The rest is history."

"Forgive me for my rudeness, but I have just one more question. Lady Eris, what of your children?"

Eris stopped tracing my arms and Harmonia looked at her worriedly.
"Children of personifications can't materialize for very long. Unless they have legends written about them."

"Have you seen them recently?"

"Not for centuries."

"I think that's enough." Harmonia sat up.

"I can help you see them."

Eris pulled my face to look at her. "How?"

I cupped my hands around her relatively small face, closed my eyes, and focused on the few scraps of information that I knew of her fourteen children. From Lawlessness to Psudeotruth. I could piece together some of her children's images better than others, but hopefully, she could feel them.

I held the image as long as I could, but eventually, I had to give up and I opened my eyes. Eris had streams of twinkling black tears that soaked into my skin when I brushed them away.

"Thank you," Eris said, holding my hand against her face.

"What…are you?" Harmonia asked.

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