Ascenders: Rising From Zero

She moved on, her eyes s.h.i.+ning with light of ancient knowledge. With each step she took, warmth spread over about, the sensation of being loved, wanted, needed and valued invading every thoughts of creatures nearby, including Bayo.

He frowned, mentally as the female came into range, making herself comfortable on the circular hedge of rock he had stood on as the Alpha.

"h.e.l.lo, Bayo. It"s nice seeing you in person. I am the 401st Orisha, the last deified human." She smiled, waving rings-engraved fingers at him.

Her smile held on before wavering as she saw no response from Bayo, turning into a slight frown that even made her face more beautiful to behold.

"Right! You don"t know who the 401st Orisha is."

"Of course I don"t! Who do you think you are? Forbes Richest human?"

The beautiful woman simply smiled, dazzling him once more in the fragrant exquisite beauty radiating from her.

"I am Orisha Osun, G.o.ddess Of Love. Your grieving over these dogs is one spectacular type of love that I thought I should pay you a visit, in person." She sighed sweetly, exhaling the freshness of spring into the air.

Bayo still stood, watching the supposed G.o.ddess stretch in a show of beauty?

d.a.m.n, she really was beautiful.

Focus Bayo, focus.

She had called herself an Orisha and if he remembered right, Orisha just was not a translation of G.o.d/G.o.ddess in Yoruba.

No, it was a t.i.tle. A t.i.tle that had to remain in Yoruba regardless of what language it was spoken in.

But even at that, would a whole G.o.ddess of love come to seat on some dirty rock, totally relaxed? Very unlikely!

As if sensing his thoughts, Osun turned her head to him and giggled.

"You people keep misunderstanding love. Love isn"t just about Prince Charming and sleeping beauties. Love occurs to just anyone, even to the one in the dirtiest of environment." She concluded, whisking off light with her fingers at her gown.

Just then, a blue mental screen opened up in Bayo"s mind in response to the earlier scan command he had given.

Taking his focus onwards, he read over the stats.

—————

Osun

Specie: ORISHA:/Orisha of Love and companions.h.i.+p

Energy: ???

Law: Law of Love ( Aspectual Guardian )

—————

"Ah, I know I"m beautiful, but it"s very rude to stare at a lady like that, okay? At least you should have just asked me instead of soul gazing me with that Soul remnant of Trixius." Osun pouted.

"H-how?" Bayo stammered, taking few involuntary steps back. Yes, she had being communicating with him with his thoughts but just how had she known that it was Trixius"s soul remnant.

"How do I know? Hehe... You see, Bayo, I happened to take a liking to Trixius a lot. Trixius planned for every eventuality which was a pain for the G.o.ds but not for me, okay? I sort of happened to know just about everything about him." She said with a smug look on.

"I don"t get? You supported him? I thought Trixius had battled against you Orisha?" Bayo frowned again, trying to piece the puzzle.

"Yes, You could say that but not exactly." She said, her head shaking thoughtfully.

"You see Bayo, Trixius was a great Prime who got mad and became a demon. He had a great value for lives, people, justice and wellbeing. He loved those principles that he was willing to put his own life on the line to ensure that no one had to get hurt. That was the virtue of him that caught my eyes from my ever busy schedule."

"I still don"t understand. How does love transcend to you supporting a demon Prime that fought the Orishas?"

Osun sighed, a dreamy look on her face.

"Of course, you don"t. People fight for different reasons. To protect a land, secure a property,defend their honour and the likes. But the truth is, you can"t fight for something you don"t truly love. You need to have idolized that thing or person before you can truly battle anyone just to have it. Trixius, he loved equity and balance so much that he defied the heavens itself."

"And you supported him?"

"Do you really understand this Aspectual Law of a thing?" Osun sighed, exhaling. "I am a G.o.ddess, but once, human. It was the love I had for my village that I decided to save it using my Ajé(1) skills that earned me divinity as the last Orisha. My point is, as Aspectual guardians, we are everywhere and nowhere at the same time but where my Aspectual Law, Love is the strongest driving factor, that is where my essence is mostly."

"Oh! So Trixius driving force was actually love? And because of that you could actually see into his plans and stuff... hmm." Bayo sighed mentally.

"Yes. And that is why I am able to draw myself from my busy schedule of Aspectual supervision to see you. You are one loving human, just like Trixius and that was the reason why I had to tamper with Trixius Ascender plans and give you a second chance kinda." Osun chirped on, clapping her hands excitedly.

Wait, second chance?

"You are the reason why I am here?" Bayo asked, eyes widened.

"Of course! When Shade broke your heart, it was the denial of love that prompted you into that madness. You know what they say that Love is blind? Also, you kept thinking about your mother just before your death. That was love at action there." She smiled, enforcing the sweet aura that completely mesmerized Bayo.

However, Bayo"s face dropped as she mentioned the name of his ex-girlfriend. He had yet to get over that heartbreak.

"Orisha Osun, why does love have to hurt?"

Osun was taken aback. She blinked, her long eyelashes gracefully whipping up and down.

"I... Asking that question is like asking, why do wounds have to hurt?"

"You haven"t answered me yet."

"There are some things you must discover for yourself. Why does Love hurt?" Osun replied, standing and stretching.

"Because it is a unique experience for each person. Or because if you are not afraid of losing something then you cannot love it. Because true love comes with a cost. Or because the universe will fight against anything or everything aimed towards progress." She continued. "The long and short is, Love is a totally unique experience, Bayo."

"Heh!"

Just then, the air rippled, cracks appearing into the atmosphere. At this, the Love G.o.ddess tensed, looking at the sky.

"I didn"t imagine my talk will be his long with you, Bayo. The Aspectual Energy Of Love needs is guardian back. I only spared some time off because Obatala agreed to hold up for me."

Hold up?

Didn"t this mean that she had to be always at her duty post, doing whatever she does to Love?

"Heh." Osun sighed, reading his thoughts. "Did you really think being an Orisha was the lifetime retirement plan where there"s all the goodies you want and it"s so restful?" She asked.

Well, yes, wasn"t that the general idea of being a G.o.d or G.o.ddess?

"No! Being the love G.o.ddess, I have to see that the energy of love is not left unchecked. Too much of everything is bad, you see. Even love Aspectual energy is left to itself, it will rampage through the strands of reality causing even greater havoc in all of creation. That is why for every of the 401 Aspects of Reality, an Orisha exist."

Just then a flash of pure white bolt of energy rippled and slammed heavily into the ground, obliterating nearby vegetation.

"Ah, Obatala...." Osun pouted, looking at the sky. "What"s with you and this show of force? Weren"t you the one in charge of Love Aspectual Energy before I was appointed? Don"t go all cranky on me now."

Her smile flickered as pink-red energy began condensing into her palm. The energy convulsed, s.h.i.+mmering as it grew and then with a Poof, dissipated into nothing.

"You"re lucky, Obatala. I can"t let you know where I am else I would have sent you some little lovey explosions." She sighed, Bayo becoming even more tensed up as he prepared to bolt.

For all he knew, he didn"t want to be caught up in the midst of a duel between G.o.ds.

No, especially not Obatala, King of white cloth and guardian of the deformed. He remembered what his history teacher had said that Obatala had descended to Earth with a golden chain, creating land with sand from a snail sh.e.l.l and the scattering of the sand by a fowl.

"Easy Bayo... Even if he sees you, he"s not going to destroy you although he holds serious anger towards anything Trixius." The Love G.o.ddess spoke, stretching once more.

Just what was it with her and stretching? Some sort of G.o.dly Gymnastics?

"This doesn"t add up. You said he won"t hurt me but yet is seething towards anything of Trixius. I have that man"s soul remnant in me so what is the certainty he won"t just unleash a bolt of energy on me?"

Osun smiled, winking at the Latent Stealth Dog. She walked closer to him, bending with hands on her knees, her cleavage revealing itself.

"Just why do you think everything has being so easy for you? You"ve never stopped to wonder why things just worked out right for you, No?" She asked.

Bayo tilted his head, thoughtfully. "Uh... I have a unique soul?"

"Well yes, that was what made me become your patron. But think wide now. The cl.u.s.ter of Fire Breathing Salamanders that saved you from the monster eater ants, the resource pool that you found, packed with fishes right in the middle of a plain where other beasts could have long emptied the oil but yet it remained full for you even lasting enough for you to reap out over a thousand energy points from it.. You didn"t think it was odd?" Osun straightened up now, putting her hips at her waist as she observed another atmospheric rift.

"See, Bayo, The Orisha Pantheon is aware of you and your siblings. And we know that you are merely p.a.w.ns, Trixius" p.a.w.ns whom he awaits, waiting for when you all would achieve sufficient power to free him up.

But what condition it is that Trixius has programmed for his jailbreak, we don"t know. So instead of waiting for you all to find that condition yourselves, we are fueling you Ascenders, making things easier for you so that you can acc.u.mulate the neeesed power and bring the fulfillment of the condition closer." She paused, her chocolate brown eyes gazing deep into his soul.

"How do I explain this to you? Okay, you are all lab rats. We are feeding you Ascender so we can figure out what condition Trixius has set that we may act upon to counter it and leave him locked up forever."

Bayo grimaced, mentally.

Now that he thought of it, this just meant the series of events in his life were all being orchestrated by some divine beings. And that he didn"t really have a unique soul?

His ears dropped as his tail sagged between his legs, occupied with heavy thoughts.

Just why was he living the life if he couldn"t even control it.

"Aw... don"t feel bad. That black dragon feat was all your doing, remember? You lost a great deal of energy for that?" Osun said, a hand tapping his head as she squatted before him.

He sighed, mentally.

"Bayo, I have to tell you this. Ifa, the G.o.d of divination has a message for you that I am delivering." She muttered, watching in amus.e.m.e.nt as Bayo"s ears perked up.

But not for long as her eyes suddenly shone out vibrant energy, momentarily stunning him.

"Bayo, FirstBorn." Osun"s voice was all rough and mascular now. "The first of the siblings and by you shall the name of Trixius rise or Fall. But if you must destroy, destroy completely. If you must save, save completely lest another come to put you out of your place. There is no middle ground."

The air vibrated, warming up as Osun"s form began flickering. Up above her was a bolt of energy descending downwards with speed of light, unseen to anyone.

Bayo blinked, surprised at the sudden vanis.h.i.+ng of the G.o.ddess. Unknown to him, a purple pink essence was floating up, creating a sort of s.h.i.+eld that interacted with the the energy bolt, tearing it apart.

"Law Affinity Gained. Law Energy Detected.. a.n.a.lyze?"

Yasmin"s mental voice sounded even as a warming, longing sensation of coolness began spreading through his entire form.

At this point, he didn"t need Yasmin to tell him any more about the calming energy within him. He knew what it was.

Love!

He had gained the affinity of the law of love.