The Author And The Deities

A world building writing conference? This was just the thing that I needed. I could talk to other writers, maybe there would be a few well known publishers there too. Just the jumpstart to my writing career to help get me in the door.

I had a few hours before I had to be there, which was wonderful because I still had no idea what I was wearing. The flyer said business casual attire, but if I wanted to stand out it would have to be something perfect. I finally settled on my black dress and low heels, making sure everything was wrinkle free.

When I arrived however, nobody else was dressed up. In fact, they were dressed rather peculiar. A woman with jet black hair and purple highlights sat at the head of the table wearing a red corset and black skirt.

"Let's get started. Hemera let me see yours first," said the woman, grabbing the paper from Hemera on the right of her. She began to read out loud.

'Hemera's mother Nyx dragged her dark veil across the sky every evening, hiding the bright blue of the celestial ether and ushering in night. Hemera dispersed her mother's mists with each morning, lighting the land in etheric light once more. Night and day were genuine substances distinct and independent of the sun.'

"Close to accurate, but flattery will get you no where in this conference my dear Hemera," said Nyx.

"Does anyone think that they have anything better?" asked Nyx.

"I sure do," replied a large man from the back. He was covered in tattoos.

"Let's see it then." said Nyx.

'I did everything, I created it all. The sun, the breeze, the fire, the animals. All of it.'

An audible groan could be heard from everyone at the table.

I almost didn't want to interrupt this, it was fascinating but not exactly what I had in mind when I signed up for the conference.

I cleared my throat.

"Excuse me? I'm here for the world building conference." I said shakily.

Nyx stared at me seemingly shocked at first, but then she smiled warmly at me.

"Loki you idiot. You weren't supposed to print this in the mortal newspaper." Nyx said, shaking her head. She turned her attention back to me.

"Yes my dear, welcome. How do you think the world was created?" asked Nyx.

"What like Earth? The physical planet we are on or the one that I made up for my novel?" I asked.

Nyx seemed intrigued.

"You created a whole world for a book? That must have taken a lot of time. We'd love to hear about it."

"I can't speak for every author, but I can speak for my own world. I tell you what, I'll describe mine for you and then I get a question. Does that sound fair?" I asked. I began to regret coming to the conference but I would see where this lead.

"I'd say so," replied Nyx.

"Okay, so for my novel what basically happened was that a scientist tried to raise a forcefield around his city but in doing so, caused a premature magnetic reversal of the poles. Radiation flooded through the lands.

He was successful in raising the forcefield around his city, but people who lived outside of it in The Shadows were not so lucky. The Catastrophe caused the inhabitants to get sick. Those that didn't get sick and die relatively quickly didn't have it much easier. The wildlife's migration got turned around, most of the plants ended up dying, and in turn causing a large portion of the animals to die since their food source was so scarce. " I started.

"That's cruel" said one of the woman at the table.

"She has a point, that's a little dark even for me. People living in irradiated lands " said Hades.

"What do you know of death Hades? You only get the souls after they have passed. Ask me or Odin about souls that have died in battle. Death isn't always peaceful, and there are plenty of souls lost on a daily basis to natural disasters." said Freyja.

This confirmed my suspicion. I wouldn't say I was the best at mythology or world religions, but I knew the names were familiar enough. I was literally at a 'writing' conference with gods and goddesses.

"So what else happens to those who live in the Shadows?" asked Nyx.

"Not yet. My question first. No offence meant, but what are you all doing here? Earth is already established. Are you just here to bicker about which one of you actually created it or does this conference serve another purpose?" I asked bluntly.

"So you know then?" replied Nyx.

"I had kind of worked it out when you told Loki he was an idiot and wasn't meant to publish it in the mortal paper but everything else since then has solidified it for me." I replied.

"No sense to hide it then, we come here annually for ideas on other worlds. You see, there are many other worlds out there, planets I think you call them and not all of them have life yet. As for if we are here to bicker, no. All of us created this Earth, but gods and goddesses get their power from our followers."

"What so you mean like the people on earth now that still believe in the Protogenoi, you would gain power from Nyx and the Māori would give power to Maui over there?" I questioned.

"See?! She knows who I am!" exclaimed Maui.

"How do you know who I am?" he asked.

"Oh, there is a whole banger that Disney made for you and a movie you have to watch it while you are here." I said.

Maui's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. He looked like an excited puppy.

"Yeah kid that's pretty much how it works" replied Maui.

I'd usually be insulted to be called kid, but I shrugged it off. Compared to gods, goddesses and demi-gods I'm sure they would call my grandfather kid.

"So monotheism really must have messed things up for you guys huh?" I asked, scanning the room realizing that one key God was missing.

"If you are looking for God, the holy spirit or JC they don't come to the world building conference anymore. To answer your question, yes and no, there was a powershift for sure but it kind of made things simpler for us. We had less responsibilities as our followers were converted or passed away but as you know everyone's belief system is different." replied Nyx.

"Now you've had three questions, I need to know more about your book." said Nyx.

"Sure, so in the Shadow's, there are 4 main camps The Phantoms, Scarlet Fort, Dusk Harbor and Emerald Sanctuary each has a different purpose. For example, Scarlet's Forts job is to put out any unneeded fires that got out of hand and also to start fires safely if a body needed to be disposed of. Each camp has a different leader, but what the main purpose of the story is they are looking for a very small object located somewhere in the Shadow's that's rumored to be able to undo the damage of the Catastrophe. " I answered.

"Can we read it?" asked one of the other deities at the table.

"When it's done." I replied, smiling.

It wasn't a mistake to come to this conference after all.