greek gods in new york

25

I just noticed that Fernando was wearing the beige suit today.

Like my dad, he hated wearing formal clothes very much, and would only take out this only suit when Fernando thought it was an important occasion.For example, the first time I was invited to the school by the dean as a parent, such as now.

Fernando knew I would discover his identity here.

But he complied with my request and took me to El Paso, where it all started.

Eyes met, I moved my mouth, but I didn't know what to say.

"Listen to me, chica."

In the end it was Fernando who broke the silence on this desolate and eerie ruin.

The tall man tried to move forward, but he stopped when he took a step, as if I was a ticking time bomb that couldn't get close to me a few steps away.

He's scared?

I froze for a moment, and then realized: Fernando was afraid that I would become wary of him after realizing this.

What he is afraid of is that I am afraid of him.

For a time, great sadness hit my heart.

"I know you won't hurt me," I whispered while holding the Petri dish, "If you have any similar thoughts, you have had countless opportunities to make a move in the past 16 years."

What answered me was Fernando's silent gaze.

His eyes were still so gentle.Fernando watched me quietly, and after he confirmed that I was not braving myself, or telling a lie out of vigilance, my godfather slowly loosened the tight lines under the suit.But Fernando still didn't approach, and he didn't even show any intention of approaching.

Everything is for me.

"Sit down and talk, Nicole."

Fernando pointed behind me: "I think you have a lot of questions."

He turned around and pulled the worn chair closest to him.

After the explosion, everything in this room was dilapidated.The chair in Fernando's hand made a screeching sound as it was being dragged on the ground. It was deformed, and I even doubted that the chair could bear the weight of a middle-aged man.

But no matter what, Fernando finally sat in front of me.Then he stretched out his hand towards me, as if inviting, as if pleading.

I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.

As I, too, found a cushion and sat on the large boulder, I realized that I did not have any unexpected emotions in me.

surprised?Yes, but when the facts are cleared and presented in front of me, I don't feel surprised.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"you mean?"

"When you saw 'Outer God'."

"When the city of Tenochtitlan fell."

That was 1520.After the Spaniards completely buried the Aztec Empire in the dust of history, Tezcatlipoca became a traitor in the camp of the old gods.

In 1520, nearly 500 years ago.

Before I was born, even before my dad and the others came to the United States, Fernando had become a so-called "traitor".

I choked.

"Because," I said reluctantly, "is it because you want to take revenge on the Spaniards?"

Fernando laughed softly.

He leaned forward, hands resting casually on his lap.Whenever Fernando wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with me, he always put on such an eager communication gesture, but in the past, he would not avoid me like he was avoiding the plague god, nor would we sit in this dim ruins and look at each other.

"When my civilization was still there," Fernando said slowly, "in the earlier period, before the empire was formed, the warriors in the tribe would cut off the heads of collaborators and hang them on the Outside. Not only to deter the enemy, but also to warn the tribe members: this is what happens to traitors."

I pursed my lips tightly and didn't speak.

Fernando didn't wait for my response either.

He went on: "When contemporary Qatar deals with undercover agents, they cut off their heads and genitals and feed them to dogs, and then hang the headless bodies upside down under the viaduct in Juárez."

Qatar means drug cartel in Spanish.

"From a certain point of view," Fernando leaned back in his chair, the old chair creaking, "Since ancient times, human civilization has never changed."

"I don't know."

"What hasn't changed is that traitors have always existed and the way traitors are treated has remained largely unchanged."

Fernando said lightly: "I am not Zeus, nor Odin. Nicole, I have told you my story. My civilization does not exist in the way that the West understands. All the moral concepts, legal creeds, and times you accepted in the United States Even today, it cannot function normally on the land that was once mine."

Tezcatlipoca is not a god with a clear face.

Unlike Zeus, he gave birth to countless offspring, thus giving birth to the Olympus pantheon.

He is also not like Odin, who is the king of the gods, but is always troubled by the dusk of the gods.

The same as "Supreme God", he is not a totem worshiped by tribes, does not represent any natural force, he is "God", is the cause of impermanence in the eyes of Indians, his appearance often brings chaos, mockery and enemies .

"The presence of the Spaniard just gave me an opportunity."

Fernando narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling the past, the tenderness in his eyes seemed to be covered by blinds, faintly distinguishable, but unable to see clearly.

"Actually... I can't remember how I felt at the time. I am no longer the same as I used to be," he said, "Maybe as you said, I can hear the voice of 'that thing', it is indeed Out of anger and hatred. But now that I think about it, maybe that was just an excuse, and I agreed to His terms just because I wanted to agree to Him."

As the Indians see Tezcatlipoca would do.

"then you……"

I don't know what to say next.

Instead, Fernando twitched the corner of his mouth.When he looked at me, the blinds in his eyes opened, and the almost undetectable tenderness returned again.

"As I said, Nicole," he said softly, "I have nothing to hide from you."

"What have you done for Him?"

"Not much."

He replied frankly: "I made a deal with Him, and I have been wandering in America for hundreds of years. For a long time, I was not in the United States, but stayed in my hometown, Mexico. It was your father who came to the door, Nicole."

"My dad found you?"

"He wanted me to sneak inside Qatar."

A look of nostalgia appeared in Fernando's expression: "Ares told me that Qatar will impose the death penalty on the traitors it finds, but the old gods will not die, at least not easily. They are born to do this."

"Why did he come to you?"

"What's the problem, chica," Fernando laughed out loud, "Are there any old gods who speak Spanish besides me?"

Also.

He already has a Hispanic face, and he knows Mexico well.My dad is going to find Fernando, as it should be.

"That time was also the happiest time since I became what I am now," Fernando said sincerely. "On the eve of the end of our undercover project, I noticed that He was coming."

"coming?"

"Possessed on a human body and have real contact with the real world."

"'That thing' just found a way to possess humans 20 years ago."

"That's right. At the same time, the New Gods started Project Lazarus," Fernando explained, "and I convinced Ares to join them to find out what the New Gods really wanted to do. Then I realized that no matter 'that Whatever will happen in the end, we cannot let it fall into the hands of the new God."

"So you blew up the base." I looked around.

"So I blew up the base."

After saying that, Fernando looked at me again.

"But I didn't expect the new god to give up. Ares didn't. He even conceived you at the cost of his own soul," he said, "Nicole, in some civilizations, ancient humans would produce you through sacrifices. The form of a god in the human world is almost indistinguishable from your birth."

"But……"

When Fernando said this, I was confused instead.

But as a "traitor", wouldn't his deal with "that thing" be concluded until I was born?

As long as Fernando brings "the thing" to me and I absorb him, or he absorbs me, it will be over.

"You didn't, you didn't hurt me."

It turned out to be so difficult to say the word "harm".

In my mind, anyone could hurt me, except my dad and Fernando.

"Why, Fernando?"

He didn't answer right away.

Fernando rubbed his hands, his eyes drifted unconsciously.

The dark and closed ruins were not a good place to talk. He was so far away, and he seemed to smile slightly, but the laughter was drowned in the roar of the wind.

"Because I love you, Nicole, and I have always regarded you as my own daughter."

His voice broke the wind, and it was full of kindness and pride.

"The identity of Fernando Rodriguez was born out of a transaction, out of nothingness and chaos. Until I realized that after Ares lost his soul, part of the responsibility for protecting and raising you must be borne by me, this identity It has real meaning.”

do not talk.

My heart is still sore.

The acid was brewing and fermenting in my chest, rising slowly, almost hurting my eyes, making my eyes sour.

Stop it, really.

"As you grow up, I realize that since you are a part of Him, then you have the power to decide all this."

I'd rather you be a simple bad person, deliberately and intentionally hiding by my side, just waiting for the right time to expose yourself.In this way, I can hate Fernando without any psychological burden-he betrayed first, he framed me, he knew everything but refused to tell me, just watched me from the sidelines struggling in confusion and fear .

"I'm not lying to you, chica," he said slowly to me, "and I want you to decide all of this. Whether it's a god or an ordinary person, as long as you like it, you can choose whatever you want. select."

In my sight, Fernando's figure was gradually blurred by tears.

I sniffed in disbelief.

"Don't cry, Nicole."

He reassured me in a very low voice: "It's a good thing, isn't it? Now that I've told you everything, you can make a choice."

is it?

"He will come here to find you."

Fernando pointed to the dim void, then grinned: "I think you should feel it better than me, Nicole."

With that he stood up.

For the first time in my life, when Fernando was with me, I felt panic.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Leaving you the space to be alone with Him."

Fernando finally took steps towards me.

The tall and strong body moves forward slowly, and he has tried his best not to bring too much pressure on me.Eventually my godfather stopped in front of me and, like always, patted me on the shoulder.

"Don't be afraid, Nicole," he whispered, "You are the one that exists in the real world. If you don't want to, don't think about that possibility. He won't hurt you, only you can hurt Him."

"Are you going?"

"I must go."

Through Fernando's gentle eyes, I saw another meaning.

"Fernando!"

I grabbed his sleeve.

Useless tears will only hinder my vision and expression, I really try to restrain myself from crying, but they still can't stop flowing from my eye sockets.

"Don't, don't..."

you don't go.

You promised to accompany me, how can you go?

Everyone wants me to face all this alone, only Fernando said that I can be self-willed and can seek help from my father and him, but now even Fernando has to leave.

"Don't—"

I didn't say it.

Fernando stepped back in silence and pulled his sleeve back from my hand.

"I'm sorry, chica." His voice was barely readable.

He still left.

When the figure of Fernando Rodriguez completely left the room, I could feel the energy of "the thing" brewing around me like never before.