Craig Whiteman, a name which no one in the Ninth Street, even in the peak of drunkenness, would spout out of their mouths, lest their vocal cords corroded or something more dramatic than that happened. As a matter of fact, most of the people did not know why his very existence was a taboo topic, nor did they care anyway. They just knew that even asking about him was just as convenient as maybe asking for an adventure trip to the centre of Mount Etna. Again, no reason as to why that was the case, who cared about nerdy sh*t anyways.He wasn"t any sort of madman or freaky looking or anything that might come to one"s imagination on sensing the grim tones or seeing the strangely warning, and a bit frightened, expressions when he was known to be out of his house, or when some "too curious for his own good" outsider made the blunder of asking about him.
There was a popular joke going on that as many hadn"t even seen him, or maybe didn"t recognize him while crossing him on the street, there might come a time when "…he will be actually with us and we won"t even know until we meet some of our then "gone for good" neighbors.", as said by Gordon Cook, the local baker, and one of the rare few persons who met and talked normally with and about this Craig guy… Furthermore, he was the ONLY person who actually laughed on what everyone said warily about him.
"You are just one of those geezer sheep who cannot see what"s going on in front of them and just stay behind the closest sheep you can see." That"s what he told Brian Crown, an aged local, only to hear an earful of "Who you callin" a geezer" decorated with a variety of local and exotic swear words.
But who was this Craig Whiteman? Well, he was the one who was at that moment exiting his house, formally, yet simply dressed, with an "I know where I am going" air, one which he usually was known to lack. He was a bit taller than 6 feet, well built, with a strong, handsome but weathered face, slightly short hair, cut in a disciplined style with a trimmer. He was born "only he and G.o.d knows where" and "G.o.d knows when", but came to study in the local school, living with an aunt of his, who died four years ago. It was the time when he had to abandon the idea of pursuing his studies due to financial problems, and had to work as a laborer for three years, when he finally got a job at, according to his neighbors, "only he and G.o.d knows where", a phrase, as one might come to observe, was VERY commonly used in his context. He, in his seemingly early twenties, had an aura of a "once upon a time cheerful" guy living in restraints due to his circ.u.mstances, or due to the stigma".
Now, the first abnormal thing about him were his eyes: grey, actually very light grey, as if the black color was just sucked out of the iris, traces of which were all that remained. To a close observer, what would actually be even stranger would be the way the eyes focused on anything in their line of sight, a very penetrating glance, as if they were seeing much more than what there was– one of the few things that the locals unknowingly guessed right…
...
A few thousand miles away from Craig Whiteman was a girl in a white t-shirt that said "Look who"s behind me, sucker" on the back, and tight blue, distressed denim shorts, running at a speed through what was up till that moment a calm street which could give even Usain Bolt a run for his money(no pun intended). Now that wasn"t so astonishing, one would say, seeing the three hounds chasing her. Two things where one would go wrong here – Firstly, even with hounds behind oneself, it wouldn"t exactly be so easy to run that fast. So, one should be astonished in all fairness, and a bit ashamed of one"s own sloth like self, indulging too much in superhero movies and comics. And secondly, one wouldn"t call rhino sized creatures hounds just because they happened to have a what could somehow appear to be a dog like snout…
The girl stopped suddenly, as in Formula 1- brakes-stopped , turning with a slight smile on her face. She closed her eyes and spoke lightly with an irritated air, her voice slightly husky, and making one realize that there was still a way she could be even more heartwrenchingly attractive, "Let"s take you on then, you stupid pups spoiling my date…" and vanished, just as the "hounds" reached the spot where she stood a moment ago, growling in fury. The resentment was shining in their black eyes with crossed-irises. After all, who wouldn"t be p.i.s.sed off on having to make such a long chase, burning "precious" fat (Note : sarcasm), only to fail in the end.
That was when the girl reappeared 30 meters behind the trio, opening her eyes, a pair of very light gray eyes that shone with excitement, reflecting the blade of the slim longsword she held in front of her, its tip facing the ground. The sword had an abnormally long, black handle, wrapped in white fabric, while the blade was slim and black, exuding a sharpness that seemed capable of cutting even the air if it were shaken slightly.
"I seriously think I killed you Aufhockers… Thou shalt be allowed to disintegrate." She whispered with a mocking archaic touch as the trio disintegrated, burning in a black flame at the same time. At this time, she thought to herself, "I looked pretty darn cool, didn"t I?"
The girl was Athena, and before that thought might even start to spark into existence at the quantum level in one"s mind, she, in her own words, was " …fed up of stupid derps asking about her relation with the Greek G.o.ddess". There were some even going as far as asking whether she was the G.o.ddess herself or not, only to find the answer in the form of a barrage of profanities which clearly one would never expect from the G.o.ddess of Wisdom. Well, in her defense, the six feet tall, dark haired beauty did not usually flip out on other topics. Although, seeing her condition of generally being covered with gashes and bruises, as well as the presence of the two swords, made it "sort of hard" for people to find her to be "approachable".
Not knowing who her biological parents were, she was raised in Brussels by an Indian woman named Drishti, who worked as a teacher in a primary school. But, she knew right from early childhood that she was a bit different from other children, and even though she didn"t face any supernatural phenomenon as one might expect by this time (how about reading a xuanhuan novel if you want that fantastical stuff?), she could feel the alteration in perception that others had no clue about. That lasted for a few years, until Drishti decided to reveal herself truly to her adopted daughter, on an evening after a brief discussion about the day that went by.
"Athena, what do you think about G.o.d?" asked Drishti, not quite out of the blue, since they had just been talking about Priest Emannuel who came by in their cla.s.s for a lecture today.
A bit surprised by the sudden question of such a deep nature, one that they never bothered discussing ever before until this time, she thought for a moment before replying,
"I haven"t seen any evidence of G.o.d"s existence, but just for sustaining some hope in life, I guess I don"t want to deny it either."
"What you look for as evidence for G.o.d"s presence is based on your a.s.sumptions about "Its" nature. Let"s say that there is an existence, a being we cannot even describe with the limited vocabulary we have, which is responsible for whatever exists… You can call It G.o.d… You might call "It" whatever you want to. But, what makes it hard for someone like us humans to understand "It" is the fact that the kind of direct contact required for that understanding to start to be developed has never happened."
"So, you mean to say G.o.d"s real?" The young girl asked with a slight curiosity shimmering in her pale gray eyes, which slightly widened in inquisitiveness, "Then why..."
"Let me tell you some important things that you need to know, as the time for you to venture out into the world could come at any time in the not so distant future." Maa, as Athena came to call her, interrupted her.