Post by RomulusGloriosus on Jul 4, 2015 14:00:44 GMT -8
"-beep-
You have 1 new message. First new message, sent today at: 9:27am:
Gideon, honey, it's mom! Happy fourth of July! I just wanted to check and see how you were doing and whether you had any plans for today! Your father is out cooking right now - we even put the veggies on the grill too because we missed you so much! I haven't heard from you in a while and I get worried sometimes. Call me a hysterical mother, but I like to know how my children are doing. Liz and Andrew are here with little Lucas, and Liz was asking after you. What am I supposed to tell her when you never call me? Well, anyway, give me a call back soon. We love you!
End of Message."
Dr. Gideon Hunter, or Aghora as he now knew himself, let the phone drop from his hand to the floor below. He lay sprawled out on his couch in his poorly decorated apartment in Ballard. His depth perception swam before his eyes, unable to tell whether the old ceiling fan above him was as high as a cathedral's rafters or touching his face. Lethargy held his body to the couch like invisible chains. He hadn't felt able to shake off the feeling of exhaustion since he'd been unceremoniously checked out of Harborview and allowed to go home. He hadn't left his house since then, and he wasn't entirely sure if he'd left the couch for anything more than to eat or go to the bathroom. It was becoming hard to remember.
Aghora's mind flashed back to sitting in the car with the - lawyer? Businessman? The one he trusted so deeply and even now, thinking of him, he couldn't help but think fondly on him despite everything that happened. He had felt so desperate then, so cautious of being taken to the hospital and what they would do to him. He let loose the fury of Lord Shiva upon the man in the car, and the man had simply shrugged it off. Since then, Aghora had felt...broken. Even more broken than he already was, considering the only thing allowing him to cling to reality at this point was his sheer faith in his mission.
How had the man just shrugged off the power of a God? The only options Aghora could consider were that either the man himself was a God, Aghora was an unworthy vessel of the power of Lord Shiva, or that perhaps Gideon really was just a very, very sick man and all of everything he had learned and done was just his sickness playing tricks on his brain like a modern day Don Quixote. Gideon shuddered at the idea, and his hands reached up to touch his face and dig forcefully into his eyes. He began to cry weakly and turned onto his side.
He remembered now - he'd done this many times over the past several days, as well.
Gideon's arms wrapped around his stomach and he shut his eyes tight. He felt sick - extremely sick - mentally and physically. How could he have been so stupid to believe everything he had seen, and not just believed it was some symptom of his own illness? Was he an idiot for thinking that he could change anything, that he was truly an 'avatar' of Lord Shiva, and not just a ranting and raving man in the back of an important man's car, embarrassing him in front of his driver?
Unless, of course, the man really was a God. And this was all a trick, an attempt to break him, to test the tenacity of Lord Shiva himself. Aghora had seen the Lord dancing at the center of the Wheel of Samsara, who burned his fragile soul beneath his menacing third eye. He had seen the Lord's fury with his own eyes, felt the flames upon his flesh, smelled his own burning skin and hair, tasted the smoke and ash, and heard the furious damad damad damad of the cosmic drum playing to the tune of Lord Shiva's dance. Who was Gideon to deny that all he had seen was merely a symptom of his madness, and not the incorruptible truth?
Aghora got up from his couch, finally, and shook his head softly. If this was a test of Lord Shiva's tenacity, whether his new form was worthy, then he would not fail his God. He would find Estelle again - he'd been avoiding giving her a call, wondering whether he was worthy to continue his quest, and was avoiding her calls as well - and continue his crusade against the vampires. Perhaps the man - this God, perhaps - in the car who had come to test him was actually sent to strengthen him. To remind Aghora that should Shiva miss a step, his dance would continue.
Shiva was God, but Aghora was human - this was his greatest strength and his greatest flaw, and he needed to remember.
But before he did anything else, Gideon needed to call his mom back.
You have 1 new message. First new message, sent today at: 9:27am:
Gideon, honey, it's mom! Happy fourth of July! I just wanted to check and see how you were doing and whether you had any plans for today! Your father is out cooking right now - we even put the veggies on the grill too because we missed you so much! I haven't heard from you in a while and I get worried sometimes. Call me a hysterical mother, but I like to know how my children are doing. Liz and Andrew are here with little Lucas, and Liz was asking after you. What am I supposed to tell her when you never call me? Well, anyway, give me a call back soon. We love you!
End of Message."
Dr. Gideon Hunter, or Aghora as he now knew himself, let the phone drop from his hand to the floor below. He lay sprawled out on his couch in his poorly decorated apartment in Ballard. His depth perception swam before his eyes, unable to tell whether the old ceiling fan above him was as high as a cathedral's rafters or touching his face. Lethargy held his body to the couch like invisible chains. He hadn't felt able to shake off the feeling of exhaustion since he'd been unceremoniously checked out of Harborview and allowed to go home. He hadn't left his house since then, and he wasn't entirely sure if he'd left the couch for anything more than to eat or go to the bathroom. It was becoming hard to remember.
Aghora's mind flashed back to sitting in the car with the - lawyer? Businessman? The one he trusted so deeply and even now, thinking of him, he couldn't help but think fondly on him despite everything that happened. He had felt so desperate then, so cautious of being taken to the hospital and what they would do to him. He let loose the fury of Lord Shiva upon the man in the car, and the man had simply shrugged it off. Since then, Aghora had felt...broken. Even more broken than he already was, considering the only thing allowing him to cling to reality at this point was his sheer faith in his mission.
How had the man just shrugged off the power of a God? The only options Aghora could consider were that either the man himself was a God, Aghora was an unworthy vessel of the power of Lord Shiva, or that perhaps Gideon really was just a very, very sick man and all of everything he had learned and done was just his sickness playing tricks on his brain like a modern day Don Quixote. Gideon shuddered at the idea, and his hands reached up to touch his face and dig forcefully into his eyes. He began to cry weakly and turned onto his side.
He remembered now - he'd done this many times over the past several days, as well.
Gideon's arms wrapped around his stomach and he shut his eyes tight. He felt sick - extremely sick - mentally and physically. How could he have been so stupid to believe everything he had seen, and not just believed it was some symptom of his own illness? Was he an idiot for thinking that he could change anything, that he was truly an 'avatar' of Lord Shiva, and not just a ranting and raving man in the back of an important man's car, embarrassing him in front of his driver?
Unless, of course, the man really was a God. And this was all a trick, an attempt to break him, to test the tenacity of Lord Shiva himself. Aghora had seen the Lord dancing at the center of the Wheel of Samsara, who burned his fragile soul beneath his menacing third eye. He had seen the Lord's fury with his own eyes, felt the flames upon his flesh, smelled his own burning skin and hair, tasted the smoke and ash, and heard the furious damad damad damad of the cosmic drum playing to the tune of Lord Shiva's dance. Who was Gideon to deny that all he had seen was merely a symptom of his madness, and not the incorruptible truth?
Aghora got up from his couch, finally, and shook his head softly. If this was a test of Lord Shiva's tenacity, whether his new form was worthy, then he would not fail his God. He would find Estelle again - he'd been avoiding giving her a call, wondering whether he was worthy to continue his quest, and was avoiding her calls as well - and continue his crusade against the vampires. Perhaps the man - this God, perhaps - in the car who had come to test him was actually sent to strengthen him. To remind Aghora that should Shiva miss a step, his dance would continue.
Shiva was God, but Aghora was human - this was his greatest strength and his greatest flaw, and he needed to remember.
But before he did anything else, Gideon needed to call his mom back.