28. Annani
Annani stood in front of the door to the cabin”s terrace and looked up at the starry sky. Somewhere out there, hundreds of light years away, was Anumati, the home world of the gods, the corner of the galaxy her father had come from.
In the enormous, incomprehensible scale of the universe, Earth and Anumati were not only in the same neighborhood but on the same street. Maybe even in the same apartment building. She did not know enough about astronomy to know the actual scale, but since they were in the same galaxy, probably even in the same spoke of the wheel, it was considered close.
They called themselves gods and believed that they were the masters of the universe, but that was as misguided as humans thinking the same thing. Somewhere out there, in a different galaxy, there was probably a species of beings even more powerful than the gods, but the distances were so vast that there was no way to physically traverse them. The only way contact could be made was through connected consciousnesses like Aria and Aru”s.
Somehow, their minds were entangled like quantum particles.
Vivian and Ella had a similar connection, probably created by the same mechanism of quantum entanglement. The question was whether beings who had never touched each other, physically or otherwise, could be conjoined.
Theoretically, it was possible.
After all, the entirety of matter and all of energy in the universe had supposedly been created in the Big Bang, so every particle in all of creation had at one time touched all others.
Everything was intertwined.
Annani lifted a hand to her temple. She was giving herself a headache by thinking and theorizing about things she did not know enough about and had no patience for learning.
Sometimes, she suspected that she suffered from what humans called attention deficit disorder. She had all the classic indicators, starting with poor impulse control and continuing with a dislike of learning anything that required concentrating for a long time.
Oh, well.
No one was perfect. Not even the royal heir to the throne of the Eternal King. Annani was a powerful goddess, the most powerful being on Earth, and deep down she knew that she had not explored the extent of that power.
Toven kept telling her that, and she kept dismissing him, saying that after five thousand years she knew perfectly well what she was capable of, but it was a lie. The truth was that she was afraid to look too deeply inside herself and discover that she was more powerful than her father or even more than her grandfather.
It was terrifying.
Annani did not want to rule Anumati any more than she wanted to rule Earth. She had not even wanted to rule her own clan, entrusting her children to manage it for her, and they did that splendidly without her.
As for humans, even if she was interested in governing them, they would never accept her as their ruler, and by taking over she would do more harm than good, which was the reason why she had never considered it.
Working from the shadows and trying to improve their condition as much as she and her clan could was the best option for the divided and fiercely tribal humans.
But Anumati was different, and it was possible that she was the only one who could liberate trillions of beings from the oppressive rule of her grandfather.
Or conversely, cause mass loss of life and destruction.
A soft sigh had her turn to look at her sleeping granddaughter. Allegra shifted in the portable crib that Parker had brought to Annani”s cabin with Okidu”s help.
The sweet child always brought a smile to her face.
Annani had hundreds of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and many times removed great-grandchildren, but Allegra had a special place in her heart.
When the doorbell rang, the child whimpered in her sleep but did not wake up.
As Kian and Syssi entered along with Aru, Annani walked over to them and welcomed each one with a warm embrace.
”Are you okay?” Kian regarded her with a frown.
”I am very well, my son. I have been pondering the universe, and it has made me feel melancholy for some reason. But then I gazed upon the face of my granddaughter, and my heart swelled with so much love that I became emotional. But do not mind me.” She waved her hand at the couch. ”Let us all get comfortable before the meeting begins.” She turned to Aru. ”Is Aria ready?”
”She has not opened the channel yet, but I assume that she will at any moment.”
”Indeed.” Annani offered him a fond smile. ”In the meantime, please help yourself to the refreshments my Odus have prepared.”
”Thank you, Clan Mother.”
As Aru reached for a teacup, Ojidu immediately rushed to lift the carafe and pour into the young god”s cup.
When each one of them had a cup in hand, Aru closed his eyes, and Annani”s heartbeat accelerated.
There was something she desperately needed to ask the oracle, and hopefully, her wish would not be denied by her grandmother or the seer.