.^^ James's Golden Armor ^^

— James —

"The fates warned me about you, you know. That you would cause great change, amongst all the Realms. They were vague, of course, as to what type of change. So I gambled..." Bast blew a kiss at the woman in bed with me, and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey! I don't barge into your wet dreams!" I growled at her.

"You do, actually. Well, not the wet dreams. I don't have those often." She saw my raised eyebrow, and explained. "Well, if I get any ideas, I simply act on them. I am a goddess of Lust, after all, not the goddess of self-control. Anyway, we can discuss your sexy librarian cherry-fetish later, I need a word." She shrugged.

I sighed and stood, making the room disappear, taking control of my dream. She smiled at the new location, an Egyptian Oasis known only to the locals as 'Zenbeq Barakä', which translated to 'Lily Pond'. She leaned down and captured one of the namesake Lily-Pads, smelling it and replacing it on the green water.

"You have a very powerful control of your Dreams. I'm impressed." She nodded.

"I appreciate that. This place seemed appropriate for a serious talk." I smiled, and sat casually in a reed boat, casting off into the lake with her on the bow.

She trailed a hand through the water thoughtfully, and nodded. "True... anyway, my Gamble. I gambled that your shaking of my world would not be negative, and I'd like some assurance that my bets have not been ill-placed."

"I cannot give you that. I don't know the future... but to be fair, I also don't have any intentions of screwing you over, so at least there's that." I shrugged.

She sighed. "Well, I hope it goes well; I've become quite attached to your antics, and the amusement you bring me. In an endless existence, you learn to sieze any scraps of enjoyment that you can find."

I smiled. "Giving me advice?"

She laughed loudly. "Perhaps, child... you may return to your dream, now, if you like." She smirked and waved her hands, changing the scenery slowly.

We now sat on large cushions, in a Riad of some sort, and several, varied naked women started appearing from thin air.

I chuckled. "You are a shifty Kitten, I'll give you that."

She shrugged casually. "I'm a goddess of Sex, my child. Did you think I'd allow a subpar dream like a cliche sexy librarian? Hmph."

—

I sat up slowly, cracking my back, and blinked. "Uhm... hello, Mrs. Teagan? What are you doing here?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You haven't talked to me in several months. I was worried."

"No need, I'm alright." I shrugged, and stood up, dressing in some exercise clothes.

She followed me out into the complex, and I raised an eyebrow at the remnants of her portal, with the chalk leftovers on the wall outside my house. "Your portal skips over barriers?" I asked.

She grinned. "Did you think it wouldn't?"

"Kind of, yes." I nodded, and knocked on grandfather's door.

He opened it, rubbing his bearded cheeks, and blinked slowly at Siobhan. "Who's that?" He grumbled, following me as we began our morning run around the neighborhood, something we'd settled on as a good bonding activity that wouldn't take too much cerebral energy.

Siobhan kept pace casually, walking backwards in front of us, and resumed talking. "Well, like I said, you haven't been coming to the house these past few months. I'm worried that your studies are suffering."

"I'm a Master Mage, Mrs. Teagan, you don't have to worry about me. I learned just about all I needed from you, but I promise to go to you, if I find a good reason to do so." I shrugged.

She stopped running, and a Rune appeared, growing until it was as big as me, and I slammed into it. It shattered around me, to her obvious surprise, and I laughed. "Was that supposed to stop me? Or scare me somehow?" I asked, and drew my own, with my Wand.

It pulsed a gleaming Gold, and she was launched through my portal, into her own library. "Wonderful to see you again, of course, Mrs. Teagan, but I'm busy, and I'd like to continue this conversation at a more convenient time for me." I bowed sarcastically, and closed the portal, resuming the run.

Grandfather hummed deeply. "That may not have been a good idea. She is a very old Skald, after all. Very powerful."

"As am I, if you've forgotten. I don't tolerate rudeness, regardless of who offers it. I have quite literally attacked Gods for being rude to me. My balls are made of pure Diamond, Grandfather, and my Spine is made of Titanium." I replied easily.

He snorted. "I'll agree with that, at least... ah well. No more talking." We continued the run in nice silence, and completed four full circuits, stopping in front of the gate, as breakfast started.

Siobhan sat in front of me, as I dug into a large serving of light chicken salad. "So, I realize you may have advanced a bit more than I thought, and I do apologize for underestimating you... but you shouldn't make a habit of blasting people through portals. Not very nice."

I grinned. "Maybe not, but you shouldn't make a habit of trying to intimidate me. I have literally attacked gods without so much as flinching, Mrs. Teagan. You can't even begin to scare or impress me as much as them."

She blinked slowly. "When and why did you attack a God?"

"Several times, actually. Thor, Apep, Set-Apep, some Forest Gods, infestation of some nasty Scythian Aspects, so on and so forth. It's really no big deal." I shrugged, and pulled over my second bowl, full of potato hash, scarfing that down in record time.

"And... why?" She repeated.

"Variety of reasons, but basically we just didn't get along, really. Can you pass the cookies?" I asked.

She passed over the basket of dense bread, and I dunked a few into some tomato soup, eating them nearly whole. She scrunched up her nose at my horrid manners, and sighed. "Well, either way, my original point stands. Your Knowledge of Skaldwork is average, at best, and you should definitely allow me to continue training you."

I shrugged. "Maybe. I've got stuff to do, honestly, but I'll give it thought. Either way, you should stick around, meet the Parthenos Clan, your new In-Laws." I smiled and waved a hand at the gathered sleepy individuals.

Grandfather perked up. "Who's In-Laws?"

"Uncle Warren is getting married to her daughter." I explained.

He nodded. "I see. Well, welcome! We accept all new additions, here! Even the Peterson's didn't phase us!" He laughed heartily, revitalized by the dark Italian roast espresso in his grip.

Mum appeared, rubbing her eyes, and made herself some coffee, walking over with purpose. When she reached us, she placed a hand on Siobhan's shoulder, and looked in her eyes. "You ever enter my house while I'm asleep, ever again, and I will shove my foot so far up your ass that my sweat will lubricate your throat for my fist." She said calmly, in Gaelic.

Siobhan's eyebrow began to climb, and Mum shook her head, gripping the other woman's collarbone tightly. From the tightness of her face, I knew it hurt a lot more than she wanted mum to know, but she couldn't really do anything about it.

"Am I clear, darling?" Mum asked gently. She nodded slowly, and Mum released her, patting her shoulder. "Great! Well, you're welcome anytime, as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to meet my new sister-in-law, sometime soon, hopefully before the wedding!" She smiled warmly.

—

My Grimoire was still growing, ethereally, engorging itself on the magic from my presence and contact. It buzzed faintly with the power that flowed through my veins, and the accumulated amount was nothing to scoff at.

Something that Bast has said stuck with me, and replayed itself at my thought. 'Your Spirit will be like Your Grimoire, a Collection of Knowledge And Power, no Advanced Sentience.'

In other words, it would be entirely possible to separate the Two, and make it into an Avatar of my Own Spirit, fostering a greater connection, as well as allowing a semblance of Sentience in the afterlife.

I called on Bast mentally, something I hadn't done yet, and she answered swiftly. A rift opened, and she stepped through, humming with happiness. "I knew you'd call me!!! What's the game?" She asked, looking around.

"I'd like to make my own Grimoire an Avatar of my spirit. The greater connection will allow me to pull and give more magic to the Grimoire, and also make the Grimoire casually Aware." I explained.

She laughed. "Well, that's very interesting, but why do you need my help?"

"Because I'm aware that you need to be a Spiritual Being, aka: a god, to make avatars of yourself." I responded.

"Do you? I recall a similar practice... Golems, you call them?" She smirked.

"Yes, but that's different, it's a direct transference of consciousness, not a splinter of your mind which you vaguely control." I shook my head.

She tapped her chin softly, and nodded. "True, but the premise is the same, is it not? You must push your spirit into a higher plane of existence, then reach back down into this one, creating the illusion that you are above this plane in the first place."

I blinked slowly. "So... gods are just beings that placed their spirits into higher planes of existence? You once had actual Bodies?"

She winked. "Can't answer that, really, but it's a possibility."

I nodded. "Alright... well, I'll get to work, then. Oh, one last question... what would happen, if a god were to repossess the first body they ever had? Before they removed their spirit and soul from it?"

She grinned savagely. "Oh you don't want that, dear... there's a reason gods destroy the bodies of new gods... too much power is dangerous." She stepped out of the room, disappearing, and I smiled.

"Might as well have answered me, Bast..." I murmured, and sat down with my Grimoire.

The process of possessing a Golem was simple, in theory, but quite delicate, in physical practice. It required the most potent of all Magic's, Patience.

My spirit, coupled with my soul, was somewhat easy enough to carefully detach, like a piece of meat on a bone, while leaving it still in my body. My Blood Magic came along for the ride, leaving my body an empty shell. I gathered everything that made me, me, and simply stepped back.

My body slumped, slamming to the floor, and I recognized the feeling, from when Ptah kicked me out of my body, and hummed. I felt a calling already, to go join the dead, but I ignored it, and followed Bast's instructions, slipping through a crack in reality, one of the billions of cracks I'd never been able to see, but the Boggart's and Fae sometimes used them to get around.

This one took me to a field of reeds, infinite and expansive, to the east. To the West was a flaming, molten gold river, with small reed boats floating along peacefully.

I walked towards it, and ignored when the ground began to burn my feet, and the paradoxical smell of cooking meat reached my nose.

I refused to even look down, forging ahead until I reached the bank, and then walking into the river itself. I knew this river to be the Waters of Life, which drained from the Field of Reeds, and continued to feed the living with energy. Drinking of it would give me energy as well, but bathing in it would do so much more.

I felt the presence of several familiar beings, and looked up, after dunking my head in the molten gold.

Aker, god of Gateways, stared down at me from his boat, holding his weapon of choice, an Ankhet Staff, in one hand, and what looked like my body in the other. "Yours was not to die this day, Young Parthenos. I know when every soul should cross my borders, and you are not dead, not yet. But your body cannot be without a soul for much longer, before it expires. Rejoin it, and return to the realm of the Living." He said kindly, and reached a hand out for me.

I shrugged. "Nah, I'm good." Smiling at his confused look, I dove away, under the liquid metal that moved like water, and resumed pulling it into myself. I built myself a sort of armor-like body from the metal of the river, in a form I found pleasing. The entire body, from creation to completion, was soaked and carved with Runes of power, control, strength, and so on, with my magical path tattoos carved deeper than the rest, nearly all the way through, to allow for the passage of magic, through my new blood.

Upon inhabiting it, I felt the slow dissolution of my soul, which had begun the moment I separated from my body, cease, and a sudden need for air begin.

I gasped for breath, and surged to the surface, coughing out the gold from my lungs, and crawled up the riverbank, shivering. My entire body felt like a live wire, all my nerves on high alert, all my bones and muscles and organs fighting off the invasive substance. I relaxed as best I could, and grinned as I felt the Chrysalis be suddenly activated, shocked into effect by my actions.

As I wasn't inside my body, I was confused, but I also knew fighting it would end badly, but unlike the last few times, when I'd been unable to move, trapped in my own body, I was fully capable of standing, and shaking the metal water from my body.

Aker stared at me, then shook his head, and knelt. Before I could react, a very old voice spoke behind me in the language of the Egyptian gods, the Hieroglyphic language, given voice.

"I interrupted my daily routine, my divine duty, and allowed my dearest Horus to direct the Sun in my stead, in order to investigate the disturbance in the Waters of Life... and what do I find, but a creature of the Lower Land, rising above his Caste through magic and ingenuity? I have not witnessed the Rising of a new Spirit in a very long time... since Bast herself, I believe... but here you are, in my presence, totally unharmed by my aura... who are you, Small One? What is your Name?" The voice asked gently.

I turned, and knelt before Amun-Ra, the God of the Sun, Dawn, and Morning, the most powerful of the Egyptian Gods. "I am-" I began to speak in his language, enjoying the power that it brought. It was like using Skald Runes, but far more potent, like the words and symbols carved themselves from my soul.

He held up a hand slowly. "No, not who you were. You have just become Something Else, and Someone Else."

I smiled. "And I am still doing so. The Chrysalis will last for a while more."

He shook his head. "No. What you feel is simply the Life in your Veins. As long as you exist, you will be changing, growing, and existing on continuously high planes. It is now your Fate."

I nodded slowly, feeling my body slowly, to memorize the new feelings. What I'd taken for pain was just incredible sensitivity, which I could dial back slowly, and carefully. "Then I am simply Αλλάξει ποτέ, Alexei Potei, The Ever-Changing One."

He nodded slowly. "A Greek Name for a Greek Spirit. Go Forth, and Be Named, Αλλάξει ποτέ. As The One, Amun-Ra, I Command it be so."

I shivered as I felt that statement spread ice through my body, like using too much magic. I stuck my hand into the river, to recover, and sighed when it was finished. A thick chain of Geas appeared around my throat, like a collar, and then shattered like cheap glass. I gathered it, and traced it back to Aunty Durham, to my surprise. It's purpose was unclear, but the potency of it was incredible, even to me.

Amun-Ra took one last cursory glance over me, and nodded, stepping onto Aker's boat, and allowing himself to be taken away.

I let myself get used to my new body for a few more minutes, then stepped through my portal, barely feeling any drain at all, and looked down at my mortal form. It seemed weak, and frail, in comparison to the golden armor that now made up my skin, and the metal of my organs. But still, Bast had said that it was powerful, to enter one's own original body, so I allowed it to happen.

My bodies merged slowly, and casually, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. My soul, now several times as large, (incredibly powerful, even by my skewed standards,) wrapped around my body, then expanded into the same dimension I had once stored my power in. Further than ever, and almost freeing, in a way. Like taking off a tight tie, or a pair of very tight trousers.

Bast stepped into my room, as I finished up, and smiled at me. "Well aren't you a cutie-pie! Look at that!" She giggled, and poked my face, which had sharpened a bit, losing most of my baby fat, and revealing more of my jaw and cheekbones.

I grinned, and spoke in her language. "And now? Do you think I managed it properly?"

She laughed, and kissed my forehead. "You did, my dear. Now go gloat to someone else, I've got some nonsense to deal with." She stepped through a rift, and I followed, smiling at her amused laugh.

We stood upon the dead scarab shore, the original one, but now thousands of snakes were drinking from the river, each about thirty feet long, and as thick around as my waist, covered in dragon's scales, and bleeding golden sand through the cracks in their skin.

She hissed, while I laughed, drawing my weapon and getting to work.