15. ZARA #2
“Because you’re Zeus’s messenger. Aren’t you?” I was sure Zeus had mentioned that he was the one who’d been keeping him busy lately when Seth took me for our audience with him.
“I am, but not just Zeus’s. I deliver messages for all the gods. And the Fates. And until recently for the Oracle too.” He said ‘Oracle’ like the word left a bad taste in his mouth.
“So if these descendants have got god blood, for want of a better way of putting it, does that mean they’re immortal?”
“No. It doesn’t seem to work that way when the male gods procreate with human females.
Flip it around and yes, you end up with powerful beings like Seth and the other guardians.
But children born to human mothers in the mortal realm only seem to have a fraction of the powers the guardians do.
They live a little longer, are less likely to get sick or lose their faculties as they age, and they may manifest some small degree of the powers of whatever god sired them but that’s about the extent of it.
No one really knows if it’s down to genes or the environment they’re brought up in, but on the whole they’re pretty normal, and the effects tend to lessen with each generation. ”
“So, what about that woman you helped yesterday, does that kind of thing happen often?”
“More often than it should unfortunately. Mortals are such strange creatures. Some of them, like Father Nico, have beautiful souls but others are very damaged. They can be so cruel to each other, like that woman’s husband.
There are thousands, probably hundreds of thousands more people in situations just like hers, or worse, and I can’t help them all, but I do what I can for those I know about. ”
“Last night was a happy coincidence though, right? It must be rare to just happen across a case like that while you’re delivering a message.”
He sighed, looking uncomfortable again. “It’s fairly unusual to stumble across one like that, but I do find out about them in other ways too.
I hadn’t planned to introduce you to that side of my work so quickly, but after last night I suppose I may as well.
” He paused for a moment while he refilled our wine glasses.
“Sometimes a stray prayer will catch my notice. When people are desperate they have a tendency to pray to any god who might listen. If their petition sounds genuine, I will pay them a visit and see what I can do to help them. I also have what you might call a network of helpers. Pure souls who should have passed from the mortal plane but choose to remain there to help others. When they find someone in dire straits through no fault of their own who they feel deserves more help than they can provide, they know to come to me, and I will do what I can for them. It takes up far more of my time than delivering messages for the other gods does. So now you know my most closely guarded secret.”
“What, that you’re a good person? Don’t worry,” I leaned in so I could whisper my next words, “I won’t tell anyone and ruin your street cred.”
“Much appreciated,” he said with a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and I realised he’d really been worried about how I’d react. “So do you think it’s something you’d like to help me with?”
“Absolutely,” I said enthusiastically. “I think what you’re doing is amazing, far more important than dream messages. I’d be honoured to be a part of it. I do have one question though.”
I ignored the “only one, that’s progress” he muttered under his breath. I was quickly coming to understand that his sarcasm was just his way of pretending he didn’t care what I thought of him.
“These pure souls who hang around to help,” I pressed on. “We’re not talking about guardian angels are we?” Because if we were, I was totally confused. The nearest thing to angels I knew about were the Watchers, and I couldn’t see them going out of their way to help anyone but themselves.
“Not guardian angels in the sense you mean, no. To my knowledge such a creature doesn’t exist – although I would have said the same of the Watchers not too long ago, so don’t bet your house on it being true.
The souls are just that – souls who have chosen to return to earth rather than moving on to whatever comes next, to do what they can to help others.
So yes, I suppose you could call them guardians of a sort. ”
“So is Father Nico one of them?”
“I thought you only had one question,” he said giving me a mock frown.
“No. Father Nico is a special soul, and I hope when the time comes he might be persuaded to stay around and do more good in this realm, but for now he is exactly what he appears to be. A priest with a heart of gold. I fund a few of his projects to help those in need in his diocese, and in return he helps me when I request it of him. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s half convinced I’m a guardian angel rather than the rich businessman I portray myself as. ”
“So you’re pretty much running a charity organisation. Where does the funding come from?”
“I’ve made some wise investments over the eons, but also,” He clicked his fingers and a huge pile of money in various currencies appeared on the table between us.
“I’m a god, remember. Don’t worry, I’m not creating enough to destabilise the economy.
Just enough to make a difference in a few deserving lives. ”
“And what about the people who cause the hardship in the first place? Like that woman last night’s husband. Do they get a visit too?”
“They do, but not from me.” His tone hardened, making me glad we were on the same side. “My brother Phobetor deals with them.”
I remembered Phoebe saying that she’d heard Phobetor enjoyed his work a little too much, but if he was meting out justice to those who deserved it with his nightmares, maybe he wasn’t such a bad person either.
“Now, if you’ve had enough to eat, let’s go and have a nightcap in my study. I have chocolate,” he added encouragingly, and I got the impression he didn’t want to be alone again yet. Well that was fine with me, because neither did I.
“Chocolate sounds good.” He might need to do a bit more work when it came to planning the main course, but at least he had dessert nailed.