Deities

"You might have to break the rules in order to rescue yourself if the shit hits the fan. It'd be your own fault if you let someone take your gift." Lois said nothing. She'd been feeling this for a few weeks, as mentioned earlier. She was grim that this happened, but she was ready for some of it. Time, after all, waited for no one, not even Adrian. A rush like none other crept into her stomach. She was smiling, and she hardly smiled. That was a gift she gave to very, very few.

"That feeling you just got, sister," Frey said. She'd grown her own set of horns.

"That's excitement. Nothing better than danger to bring out the deity in all of us. "

"Don't try to provoke me, hun, you're the one with your afterlife virginity still in tact. I just need someone to watch me if I end up losing my cool."

"Which is appropriate, after all. You are a force to be reckoned with and the circumstances are right." Lois waited for the kicker they both knew was coming.

"However, the code would disagree with you. No one would take the word of a frustrated woman who just broke up with her ex."

"And here I was thinking we were still deities. My record would hold up better than his in any court. The only problem is that we aren't held up by any court here, and I'd miss out on my chance to humiliate him internationally instead of just on one plane. He'll come looking for me soon, try to corner me."

"Says the woman who talks to butterflies in the lavatory." It would end up in a bathroom, too. None of these fights ever took place in any dignified place, not since the weather channel began airing. Changes in temp and patterns were noticed. She'd not been looking for easier ways to take care of enemies, she thought the lines were clear since Murphy's Laws were written down. Nothing was sacred anymore, not even battle fields. Lois sighed, having lost her opportunity to fight long ago with her pacifistic ways. She never went to them, either, it was an opportunity to gamble among gods, and she was usually nowhere to be found in those times.

"I'll not have this going on tomorrow, Frey." And that was the end of that conversation. Frey was looking especially liberated with her finished latté, considering she only got one about once every ten years if she were lucky. The rest of the time, she had to imagine she was drinking coffee, when she was actually drinking the sludge scraped off the bottom of a two-hour old pot of joe from the employee lounge. It was the living she knew she'd rather have, so she let it go.

Possibly one of the most daring of the group but not the most laid back, Frey was chosen to be Lucifer's personal assistant. Before she was given this position, she was a meek woman who'd been thrown into the depths of what she believed was Hell from within. She'd been beaten, bruised, killed, then brought back to somewhat alive and kicking. She decided to become a little more responsible with her afterlife, and in doing this, she resisted any firm stances on how things were to be run. A side woman with no agenda, just what the guy wanted. She arranged meetings with potentials, monitored the surveillance system, and tended to the needs of her employer. Within reason, of course.

She was feared almost as much as Lucy himself, with her business apparel and tight bun atop her head. A clipboard in one hand, a cellphone in another, and a watch that had every timezone on its face. Not that she needed it after this long, but she'd request a location and have the appropriate time there. Most of the time, they were similar places, but His Excellency threw a wrench into her system once in a lunar eclipse.

Their day was winding down. Frey had her silly contraption, Lois had Adrian to deal with. Deities often stayed out of the business of other deities, so there was no confusion as to whom was causing her trouble. She'd been dating Adrian for a blip of time, cutting it off this early was something she wasn't terribly broken up about it. He was cute, young in a way. That was what he had, but he was a thief from the beginning.

Overlooking that small detail was kind of her.

Now she had to deal with his deception.

There, in the third stall from the end, was a pair of peculiar shoes. They were Adrian's shoes, and he had much to atone for. She'd caught him finally. He'd put a spell on her hat to make her suspicion disappear. Fortunately, her suspicions weren't based on something he was hiding, she just never learned to trust him. Turning, she walked back to the door only to find the door jammed somehow. She'd been set up. She feigned fear.

"Lois, darling, what is your hurry?"

"Adrian." Sure enough, the Time Guardian made himself known and walked to the sink. Lois had been right to distrust him as soon as she smelled trouble, and now she needed to take her leave. This was going to work out perfectly. She reached for her hat, but he stopped her. He was in front of her now. His hand came down from her head and he touched her nose as a parent would a child.

"I wouldn't do that. This room would surely react negatively to your change in form, as I'm sure you're aware. The magic is much too strong for what you're wanting to do. Destroying yourself is something neither of us desire."

"What deception is this, Adrian, that you can attempt to control me."

"Just want your power, sweetheart." He wanted her power, but he couldn't handle even the tiniest fraction of it. For a second, Lois pictured the world in chaos, somewhat like when she lost her cool and decimated a tiny shed in the Ukraine with lightning. Her mind didn't feel any change, though. She was ready to stop his threat.

"You'd never harness it." Her hat. She could usually control the weather with her disguise on. However, her powers were harnessed a bit to hold onto the plane. What was he getting at? She reached for her hat and realized he was watching not her, but her hand. His face was a little apprehensive. He didn't want her to remove her hat. In that case. . . she thought. With a smirk, she removed the hat, allowing the warmth to spread from her head to her toes. Her cheeks flushed, she was honestly a Goddess in its purest form. Her skin began to change tones, and Adrian became a little dazed. She was, without a doubt, in her most precious and invincible form. Even if Adrian had wanted to take her power, he would be unable to in this form.

"I. . . " Adrian's mouth fell open.

Adrian, if you were as in love as I was at one point, you would've known I'd be my own person, I wouldn't allow my work to play backseat to my relationship. Perhaps sidesaddle, but never backseat. Time, however. . . " The air dryer was behind her. The continual dramatic coincidence was upon her when she decided to use one to save her own skin. Oh spite, she drawled, poising her elbow over the activation nob.

"I don't love you. Believe me when I say you are one of the most difficult women to impress when I want something from you." He was begging? How unlike the men of old.

"I know this, dear. That's why I'm no longer pining for you as I once did. It's not nice to fool Mother Nature, and so I bid you adieu. You are no longer responsible for your power after today as punishment for destroying" It began projecting air onto her hand and she knew she had a moment for this to make the desired effect. She whispered a few words of encouragement, anyone could do that, but she was the only one with the language of the wind.

She stepped away from the wall an inch. The air swerved around her form, lifting her arms as pets would, and shot forward in a whirlwind. He was taken aback by the attack and was forced against the far wall, flat on his back. She was unaffected. Her mind recalled the words she needed to end this. It would be short and sweet.

"I did love you, Lois." She approached him as the wind held him down, and with the pressure she was exerting on him, she was in complete control of herself and him. He was not being crushed, merely held back so she could talk to him.

"You were trying to lure me into a sense of false security so you could take my abilities, but as you can see, I'm more capable of handling them than you are. You are better off walking away from this. If you resist, I will remove your burden and find someone more capable of handling them than you."

"You're not going to, though."

"I will if I have to. Taking anothers' ability is punishable-"

"I know, but you aren't using yours."

"I respect my abilities. They respect me in return. You, however, have forgotten yourself more than once." She didn't have long, machines were shifty like that. "Choose now."

"I still, and always will, want to use your powers to the point where they are no longer yours. To the point of abuse." Lois sighed. Those were the words. This might've been harder for her to face after all. Adrian had been a sweetheart to her, showered her with love and she had done the same. They knew they could live forever, but love forever might have only depended on their ability to tolerate one another for all eternity. There was only a handful of couples who had accomplished this, and they were probably the only tame ones of the masses of them. "Destroy me, if you can. I'll take a part of you with me."

"You had more when I loved you." The words left her mouth, words of a different language, old tongue. His eyes strained back into his sockets and the wind broke around them. She was sorry to have broken their bond, but he wasn't happy with his gift. The only thing she could do was relieve him of it. He would not die, just be reborn as someone new, perhaps the next Time Guardian, any could tell. Sometimes it was a matter of time spent on the mortal realm to remind him of his actions and make him a better person. His powers would go to her, and she would have to transfer the power to another with the mindset for it until they could extract it into someone more responsible. There were backups for this, and in a few years, he would be given a chance if he proved worthy.

And he disappeared in a wisp of dark blue dust on the wind. Lois breathed in the smoke and coughed. The pressure was back and she grabbed onto a bathroom stall to keep steady. Her lungs, ready to burst, sent spikes of pain through her body. Spasms of fear and uncertainty shot through her but the decision was clear. She needed help to get back. As she lost all feeling in her arms, a pair of feminine arms caught her before she fell. Darkness.

Lois stood on the precipice with arms outstretched, overlooking the ocean at near sunrise. The air was moist with the night's frost soon to be turned to dew in the spring morning while the brisk chill fought to remain the strongest element in her presence. Nighttime was her time to settle down and collect her thoughts. The frost from the night would wear soon, as all things had a place in time.

She felt betrayed, but she would live. The darkness wasn't her favorite place to be at the time, and she was cold. The Earth would keep moving. Time was with a temporary Guardian, and they were contemplating the fate of the one reborn. Samuel Terrace, South Carolina, age fourteen. Born into a family recommended by the majority of neutral deities and in good understanding with their views concerning responsibilities that mattered the most to the council.

Her position was in question as well, but their evidence was vast against the Time Guardian and it was her own fault for trusting him enough to get herself into such trouble. She took full responsibility for her actions and they checked her records for any marring that would effect their decision. They found none.

Though she was now among her element, she felt a tiniest bit alone. She'd never asked for help from her elements. They knew this to be a kindness, and treated her well throughout the conflict. She was strong and willing to move on, and that was enough for now.

Lois smiled for the first time since she left him behind, and remembered that time waited for no one.

Fin.