WHEN I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SPIDER WITH MY GODDESS :VOLUME1

CHAPTER -2 - A - THE PANTHEON

CHAPTER -2 - A - THE PANTHEON

“Aaahhh….ahhh...ahh” I tried to scream, but I couldn’t hear my own voice. I was just now in an accident, is my body even okay, and are my ears okay. Why can’t I hear anything? Why cannot I feel any pain?

 Am I going to die?????

I tried to open my eyes and prepared myself for the worst but the sudden appearance of strong rays of light flooded my eyes and blurred my vision for an indefinite period of time. As I tried my hardest to make out the surrounding and was first time pleased to see my other classmates. Were we really okay?

I touched my body from bottom to top and was relieved to find it in one piece. Not even a single cut or bruise. But how is that possible? Weren’t we just now the victims of an unfortunate road accident? Am I dreaming?

The number of unanswered questions only increased further when my vision was reconfigured to its normal state. I and my classmates were standing on a huge white marble platform circular in shape and was floating mid air without any support. There was no land to be seen. The whole area was drenched in a white light, which had no source in whatever direction I looked, but the light brought a soothing feeling to my eyes and my skin felt warm. I calmed myself and started registering the information in my brain.

The sky was clear with no clouds. It was an unusual ending space and the clouds at our feet made it more unbelievable. All the students were in healthy conditions and have come to their sense which was quite obvious with the fuss they had started to make. I pinched myself and felt the pain which gave me the creeps that is this method really viable to draw the line between reality and dream. Because just then an ANGEL with white wings spread across its back descended on the platform out of nowhere.

Most of the students were first startled and took a defensive stance to see an alien being but after a short while, seeing no signs of hostility they ran towards him in hope of getting their illogical questions answered.

“Hey man, where are we?”

“Did you bring us here?”

“What do you want to do with us?”

“Sir, can you please tell me where my parents are.”

Some of the students started crying. Some went to the edge of the platform and played tricks of jumping. Some girls crowded near the class rep who tried his best to clear their doubts by reassuring them of his own position in class.

“Are we dead.”

“Did the bus accident really kill us all?”

“Is this the place where people are judged before they are being sent to heaven or hell?”

“Is this really it? I want to go home.”

The word ‘home’ caught everyone’s attention and they started raising their voices to force out the answers from him even if it meant they would have to fight. Some of them like me stood at their places waiting for an answer to clear our doubts and afraid to be a part of an angry mob which had resorted to vandalism.

The angel’s face showed no sign of discomfort or surprise. He quickly grasped the situation and came up with the best solution. He flew high up in to the air with his white feathered wings spread out in the sky, a loop of light radiated from his back, which caught everyone’s attention and distracted their minds.

He was truly a mystical being. The perfect picture of an angel with wings and white gown which went below his feet and even covered his own shadow.

“CHILDREN OF THE MORTAL RACE. PLEASE LISTEN TO MY REQUEST. FOLLOW ME TO THE PANTHEON AND ALL YOUR DOUBTS WILL BE CLEARED.” These words from a non-human character played like a beautiful sonnet in my ears and made me unable to deny his petty request. Every student became silent, some wiped off their tears and moved to the middle of the platform and then looked back at the angel.

The angel then looked upwards and flew much higher than before into the white sky. Suddenly the platform, before we even realized was moving upwards slowly yet it seems to have been maintain a steady pace.

A massive temple surrounded by huge marble pillars, statues and torches came into our view. This shining new temple despite giving the vibe of being an ancient one towered over the immediate landscape, where there was nothing beyond it but a sea of clouds. A terrific series of huge brickstone stairs stood in front of the temple. The only thing up above us was a circular rainbow, with a blue inside it deeper than anything I’d ever seen before. The angel landed in front of the stairs and started climbing up the humongous pile of blocks.

No one made a sound among us. It was pin drop silence, one never witnessed before. The feeling of fear, confusion, amazement, frustration and sadness had overwhelmed our reasoning ability. With a bit of hesitation we followed the angel in a single line without any instructions. What was surprising was we reached the top of the colossal stairs in no time at all and there was no sign of fatigue in any of our muscles. Every minute spent brought terror and bewilderment at the same time.

‘Is this the so called pantheon the angel mentioned?’ We dragged our legs through the entrance, and suddenly our surroundings changed. We were supposed to be in a building, but the place looked more like a castle courtyard. There was a lush-green lawn, flowers I had never seen before which can hold anyone spellbound, and a large fountain too. For some reason I was captivated by the water which flew in the fountain system. The water was so pure that it was transparent like a super expensive glass and at the same time one could see his own reflection.

But what surprised me was that the whole area was empty and no one was there to enjoy this scenic landscape. The angel climbed a small flight of stairs on a stage which I was sure never existed a second ago. He stood at the side as if waiting for someone important to arrive.

“My dear children, I welcome you all in the holy land of Gods. There is no need to fear. All your questions will be answered, so please ask without any hesitation.” An old lady descended from the sky again out of nowhere and had grayish-white hairs, with a physical body of a seventy year old woman. It was such a pleasure to hear a pure and humane voice after a long time. There was no doubt in my mind she was a goddess, the kindest soul I have ever met yet.

We started looking at each other to choose our representative, and all our gazes extrapolated at a single point where the class rep stood biting his nails. It was kind of unsightly but no one minded. He had a charismatic personality and was intelligent and quick witted but a lustful person too at that. There was no time to vote and Homura who felt the pressure of everyone’s gazes stepped forward.

“Are we all really dead? What is the reason of bringing us all here?” Homura hurriedly finished the sentence and took a step back. The presence of a heavenly being commanded respect and devotion from every soul with no exception.

“My name is Gaea. The goddess of ‘Mother Earth’ in this holy sanctuary called ‘PANTHEON’. I am sorry to inform you of your demise in the unfortunate accident. I am sure you all are grieved to realize that you will never be able to see your loved ones. Mere words cannot heal the wound of hearts nor undo the present and dry up those tears filled with grief and loss. The reason you all have been summoned here is to give you another chance to live again and be reincarnated in another world. Of course you can refuse and move to the spiritual realm.” The goddess put forward her proposal and looked at us with the most caring and sincere eyes I had ever seen. I was hooked up to her appearance. She was old and had wrinkles on her forehead and face, but it accentuated the majestic presence of a person who has been an expert in his field for a long time. She was a pro at this!

We were surprised and at the same time not. It was quite obvious after seeing the angel that we were no more part of the living world. But what caught our attention was the part where the goddess mentioned the word ’REINCARNATION’. Can it really happen? Will we get another chance to live? Weren’t these my thoughts just before I died! So I pinched my cheeks again to confirm and draw a vague line between reality and fantasy. I started slapping my cheeks and drumming my head to get rid of any hallucination. I was not embarrassed in the least because some people performed the same exercise and other followed because they thought it was reasonable and totally normal.

“Oh my little darlings don’t fret over. I know you are all worried about your family and are unable to collect your thoughts and are overwhelmed by it. Your state of confusion is totally normal. I know death is irreversible and we must steel our hearts to accept the truth with all our being. Please take rest in the rooms we have prepared for all of you and decide your next course of action. After hearing your decision we will be able to talk in details later.” The words of the goddess struck a chord in everyone’s soul. Lady Gaea looked towards the angel standing on her left side. The angel disappeared and then reappeared in front of class rep and signaled to follow him. It would be hard to getting used to this sudden materialization and dematerialization. It seems that he doesn’t like to talk very much. But he somehow enjoyed taking us by surprise now and then.

 We formed a line and again started to follow him towards a small entrance. We all had our own doubts and thoughts, but for now all have concluded it was best to go with the flow and follow the orders of the supreme beings.

At that time I looked back at the small stage and saw two other figures descending from the sky and each stood beside Lady Gaea. Were they Goddesses too, I wondered! But I soon lost their sight as a new landscape; presented itself in full grandiose.

“Are these the human children chosen by the Divine System?”

“How fascinating! Thing are starting to get interesting sooner than expected.”

Goddess Hera and Goddess Artemis presented their thoughts.

“I agree! I hope these children rise to our expectation and make the best out of it. By the way Artemis what are you doing with that thing?” Lady Gaea too spoke her mind without holding back.

A young girl, tall and slim wearing a knee length tunic, with, hunting boots, a quiver and was armed with a silver bow and arrows neatly placed inside a quiver tucked at her back and had a huge fat wild boar tied to her right shoulder. She was definitely Goddess Artemis – ‘Huntress Goddess of the Moon & Lady of the Wild Things’. Her auburn hair colour and silver eyes were elegant and her beauty was mysterious but real. But the most concerning aspect was her massive strength to hold onto such a huge boar without any hesitation with those puny thin arms of her. She sure is a hunter through and through.

“This piece of juicy meat is for the feast tonight. I will ask Lady Hestia to prepare the best dish with this heavenly beast.” She held out the boar in front of the two goddesses, as if she was waiting for their praises.

“Sure we will love to feast on one of your esteemed spoils of wild hunting.” Goddess Hera spoke in her sweet and young accent.

The three Ladies started moving in the exact opposite direction of the students while continuing their conversation till they vanished from anyone’s sight and the courtyard was left empty again where the flowers fluttered and danced in the cool breeze.

***

MOUNT OLYMPUS

We had no idea what the current situation was. We quietly followed the angel until we passed through an archway to another building. Or at least, it was supposed to be another building.

Surprisingly, we ended up in another outdoor space, if you could even call it that. I could see the ever-present sprawling clouds in the distance, but there were blooming flowers beneath my feet. I could see a few ivory pillars, much like the ones from outside the Pantheon, jutting out of the ground here and there. Since the pillars were supporting only a huge single slab of marble, they kind of reminded me of Egyptian style architecture.

But what waited at the end of the hallway was an entrance to a new world completely out of everyone’s imagination. As the same teasing source-less light pulverized my view and as per the usual routine the scenery presented itself in full glory, the gigantic ‘Mount Olympus’ stood before us. A flock of mysterious birds with feathers as white as milk flew up high in the sky as if welcoming us after our tiring journey had came to temporary halt. For some reason I wanted to hug and feel their warm fluffy feathers, but maybe some other day.

I took a peek at the face of the angel out of sheer curiosity. And I could tell through the sinister aura radiating from his body even though he was wearing a poker face, but inside he was laughing and howling at his full voice,’ be amazed you pathetic lowly mortal humans. Imprint this in your weak mortal memory because you may not find a treasure of this grandeur again.’

The serrated white mountains loomed in the distance under the clear blue sky. The legs of the mountains were very wide. The peaks of the mountains were like harpoon tips shrouded in ghost-grey mist. Just as we approached, a chute of snow detached itself and went trundling down on its other side. It slid over the knotted edge and then went crashing into the chasm below. The silence that followed was spine chilling. It froze our marrow to think why we had been brought to such a dangerous place. The angel was startled too by this unexpected avalanche but reassured us that there was nothing to fear with his smile and we continued to follow him. I concluded that the heat had displaced the snow from the tip of the time chiseled mountain. It sure was summer even in the divine realm.

As we reached the bottom of the mountain, my gaze fell upon a flight of golden stairs which traversed and ended exactly at the middle of the mountain. The angel started climbing the stairs. But we students have become too impatient to think how much time we will have to continue to walk. But no one resisted the Supreme Being. Not because of fear, but the eccentric situation which each of us found ourselves and the fact we have died had already drained our mental capacity.

At mid mountain an unexpected huge expanse of flat land caught our attention but the true surprise was the settlement that occupied this half plateau. It was an old fantasy setting of a prehistoric city which took pride in its rich culture and heritage but there was much more to it. “I welcome you all to the holy city of Gods CARDELIA. A place of unimaginable blessings.”

Every treasure man holds valuable will pale in comparison to the magnificent city of heaven. Precious stones lavishly adorned the towering walls that firmly surrounded the Cardelia city. The city had no need for the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of Gods illuminated it. At the gates of the city there was no barricade or door, as if showing the hospitality that anyone may enter to seek shelter.

 I wondered will the streets and houses be made of gold. But I was glad that was the not the case, the God of Architecture sure was not extravagant in his constructs. But something about the material used in the construction bugged me, as if the road, the buildings, were they alive! Even in this chilling breeze a warm sensation from the walls and street enveloped my body. It was as if I was in a heaven-made kotatsu.

As we followed the angel, we saw several Gods and Goddesses passing by us or looking at us up from their balcony as we continued our tiny procession. The houses were neither very tall nor short; most of them were two-storied or three-storied mansions. After taking a straight path and a left we came to a halt. We finally reached the hotel or maybe an inn or whatever they call it here. When we entered through the door, the scenery totally changed, it was not at all what one would visualize after seeing the outside infrastructure of an old-fashioned three-storied building.

Then we were given the instructions by our extraterrestrial guide who found comfort in seeing our stupefied looks of amazement and praises of this divine realm.

“In this city you do not need to learn the routes because the streets always keep on changing. Just remember the destination in mind and you will be guided by the roads themselves. This inside space is a pocket space connected to another dimension and has twenty floors, with a single room on it. Each one of you will get to occupy one room. Every room is equipped with a kitchen and a bathroom and all other amenities like food, books, water, air required by the mortal race as stated in the ‘Holy Scriptures of the ways of life of the Inferior Races’. All of you are required to appear in the General Assembly at 6:00 pm. So be prepared five minutes prior and I will come here to escort you to the Assembly myself.” The angel stopped and took a long breath and cleared his throat.

Amazinggggg!

What an awesome navigation system in this outdated town-setting. What a relief! I will never get lost in my life again. For those who don’t know I am very bad with direction and learning routes. I mean very bad, maybe the worst. I had got many times lost and always had to seek the help of locals or police from time to time which was the reason I never travelled much or ventured outside the house on earth. Could it qualify as one of the reasons for me being a shut-in? And what’s with this freakish extra dimensional-pocket space? If such a thing existed on earth then maybe the price of renting a house would go down and there would be no homeless people and earth could support a much larger homeless population. Why don’t they share this technology with the people on earth?

Ah!

I think I get it. Isn’t it pretty obvious with that stupid name of the book he mentioned? He really thinks he is the best.

 Lost in my thoughts I came back to life or maybe after-life, considering that I am already dead, I saw that I was standing alone in that long corridor. Where did everyone go? I should hurry up and get to my floor.

What a bother, everyone had occupied the lower floor and some were complaining that the upper rooms got smaller and smaller. After climbing a hefty amount of stairs again I reached the 20th floor. As expected for some reason it appears that the building is a triangle and not a square. Hence the rooms got smaller and smaller as one ascended.

The admiration I had for the God of Architecture shattered in pieces, what use is this pocket dimension and navigation system if walking is the only thing they could do. It is so tiring, to monotonously climb stairs since we reached the Pantheon. How dare they call us inferiors if they cannot provide us with a van to travel or install escalators and lifts?

As I held the knob of the door, it shone with a red colour and a ‘click’ sound as if it registered me as one of the tenants. It was a smaller room but much bigger than the miserable storehouse I lived in. It was amazing in itself that the room had a sci-fi vibe to it.

There was a small kitchen and a pantry. I took out a packet of potato chips and poured a glass of apple juice and enjoyed the delicacy on the massage chair which was totally unexpected. All hail to the God of Hospitality!

I took a bath, and the another pretty interesting thing I saw was there was no tap.

“Is the God of Architecture really does not care! All I wanted was a bath after a tiring day.”

I looked inside the small opening in the wall and searched for flowing water.

“Ahhhh!  My eyes. Its too cold. Sttttoooop it!”

The water gushed through the hole and striked at my eye and then suddenly stopped.

“I get it.”

We just need to think of taking a bath and water would itself come out running at full speed from the shower. Similarly you can also control the temperature. Its pretty funny if you think and enjoyable at the same time.

I soaked myself in a fur towel which was so smooth that I kept it rubbing on my cheeks after drying my hairs with a hair dryer without using electricity. I used the same logic again. The image of hot air manifested itself from the hair drier. I thought I was using magic and it was fun too. I found a pair of ironed clothes in the drawer.

After wearing these new clothes, I watched myself in the mirror.

But the little smile on my face disappeared. The girl who stood before me was cursed throughout her life by her adoptive parents. The a***e was constant, raising a child in that environment was unthinkable, and I was warped by it. ‘Stupid brat, always got that sad, nasty look in her eyes, we can’t kill her so why doesn’t she try to take her own life and spare us the trouble.’ Remarks like this had become a normal exchange of words between my uncle and aunt. I had a single photo with my parents when I was little. The photo depicted my parents hugging me in front of our old house. I don’t remember their faces even in my memory. The ones in the picture are they really my parents. I don’t even remember the voice of my parents and how they felt about me. Did they too want that I was never born? Were they kind to me? Did they really love me? At least I would like to think they did.

 There was no person on earth who could have mourned over my death and my little cousin who liked me during her adolescence started avoiding me after her middle school due to the instigation from her own parents to stay away from me, severed our bonds. Maybe she would have felt a little bad after hearing about my death. Will anyone even remember me?

I looked up and the unconscious and dusty black hair covered half of my face. To look straight at someone I had to focus my hardest but looking down at the ground was the easiest since making an eye contact with anyone gave me the chills. What if the person started hating me? At least if I don’t make any contact then there will be no dilemma of being liked or hated. I blocked these thoughts and then curled up my hairs.

The mirror depicted a beautiful young albino girl with a skin colour so white that is rarely seen in the country. Long velvet-black hair caressed my pinched-in cheekbones and offset my red lips. Black emotionless eyes in which one could look and experience the abyss itself. ‘I am truly a beauty. Should I apply for role modeling? I am sure I can capture anyone’s attention. The granny at the confectionary shop always told me how lovely I was to look at and scolded me for hiding my face under those untidy and sun-scorched hairs of mine.’ I too wanted to dress up fearlessly like other and show my face to the world but this attractive looks and lovely body of mine was covered in an invisible blanket of gloominess and drenched in darkness. I tried to smile but my face did not change whatsoever. I then tried to force a smile but it looked more horrible. I quickly put down my hairs which crashed in front of my face and covered the sides and forehead down to the eyes.

I jumped on the bed and covered myself with blanket. I was afraid. Did anyone see my gloomy face? Will they start abusing me with the same abuses as my uncle did? I scanned the room and there was no one.

 I then slowly put my head on the pillow. I was really tired and maybe out of my mind too. To think that that I would be able to overcome my short comings and insecurities. Even after being dead I was still worrying about my dismal looks.

Then again the bright source-less-light wrapped the entire room not even leaving my own shadow. I didn’t find any tube light or hidden bulb. How am I going to sleep? It was already four o’ clock. Is there even night in this city?

The lights got turned off. I thought about a bright room and the light reappeared. It was fun to repeat the same activity without using any kind of switch. Does this room have its own consciousness?

I looked up at the roof and there was no hole or the ceiling appeared broken, it was but anything smooth as cream. Is reincarnation really possible? Will we really get another chance to live? Will I find happiness, family and friends this time? Will everyone be given equal opportunities? Are there really no demands from Gods? Is it really a free service?

Will all of my classmates agree to this? I wonder how they feel about being dead. Are they sad that they have to leave their parents behind and other people who loved them?

 Well I had no attachment to my previous world. I was totally devoid of friendship, companionship, brotherhood, love and care of family members. I can only remember anything but pain and disappointment. What will the new world be like……..

I don’t remember when my eyelids fell down and sealed my vision and sleep overtook my brain and body.

 Will I wake up and find myself that I was dreaming all along.

***