Elsewhere-Most Holy II

A vast line of people sprawled out across the holy city, reaching far and wide to even beyond the mighty gates. A whole line of those seeking miracles from their god. Their chief protector and benefactor as well as the divinity they pray to everyday for good weather, wealthy harvest, long lives, and so much more.

Yahweh had grown a lot since his early years. As a young man into his thousands, he and Sophia centralised his power to a single observatory that watched over all of his domain.

His kindness was endless, his love bottomless. Yahweh never skimped out on giving out fortune across his people. His belief on what a god should be had grown with the aid of his loyal caretaker.

As Sophia had said, babying the populace was counterproductive. But as Yahweh still sought to do all that he could, he made a compromise.

He was a shepherd, a caretaker who took care of his own and provided a good environment for humans and animals to grow and prosper. Yet he allowed all who was willing to journey to him to ask for boons.

It was a combination of this and his own prayer filtering system that keyed Yahweh in to the wants and needs of his people.

"God is generous, god is generous."

The people praised him all around. Yahweh watched from a balcony as his avatar met with people everyday and overnight without rest. His charming face rested on his open palms.

He reveled in it. He wasn't ashamed to admit it. It was one of the things he wanted to live up to. Yahweh, the greatest son of El.

They called him that. Baal, Anat, even grumpy old Mot. They all recognised him as such. So what was wrong with wanting to achieve that status?

Come to think of it, he hadn't contacted his family in some time but he was content for now. The humans under him were fed and happy. He received their adoration and he gave back to them fortune. He was sure he'd done a better job than what Baal would've expected. He loved watching them and his hard work.

From behind him, he felt Sophia approach. His loyal caretaker and one of Baal's priestesses. She hadn't changed over the years, having cultivated to a level where she could be considered a deity in her own right. But she wasn't born in the heavens like gods were.

He found her fun. She was the mother he'd never had, willing to indulge and discipline him when needed. His best friend.

"My lord, the southern quadrant is due for another raining season," Sophia called out from behind him. "The weather gods are asking for confirmation to begin as such."

Yahweh glanced back. "Hm? Already? Wasn't that area just out of one?"

"The chief god there says there were signs of drought," she said reading from a tablet. "It's a little out of the way but I could schedule a trip there."

Yahweh hummed to himself. His subordinate gods were a handful. They always grovelled before him and sang his praises, more so than his human followers.

But they had been at their job longer than he'd been alive and Baal trusted them so he'll trust them as well.

"I trust their judgement," Yahweh said turning back to his humans.

"It's a little strange they're asking for permission all of a sudden. Especially so soon."

"There shouldn't be anything to worry about, Baal said those guys are good at what they do. Not to mention they've progressed very far into the heavenly mysteries as well. And they've obeyed me so far, so it should be fine," he dismissed.

"If you're sure," Sophia appeared a little hesitant but shook her head. "Very well, I'll let them know."

Yahweh returned to observing his humans again. His avatar continuously met men after men. He occasionally yawned and fidgeted in boredom.

'Maybe I should get some helpers?'

…

A majestic storm of thunderclouds descended towards the holy sanctuary of Yahweh. A storm cloud containing a mighty chariot driven by heavenly bulls.

Riding the tide of lightning and clouds, the king of the gods descended wearing his bull crown.

The startling sight of such an apocalyptic power startled the humans below into frightful reverence.

"Grandfather who is that?" A child in silk clothing asked.

"Hush boy on your knees," the elder man manhandled the child into a kowtow position.

The boy was a little unhappy, being ignorant of the situation. However, the elderly man knew. Worship of the higher gods wasn't that popular anymore but he remembered them from his time as a boy.

"Praise be great god Baal, praise be great god Baal," he chanted.

"What's the deal? Is this Baal guy that great," the child muttered.

The mighty god, who stood over a hundred meters tall, cast his gaze at the boy. His crimson gaze glistened as his bronze skinned body turned with him.

"Hm?" He grunted staring directly at the child.

In that moment, the child felt as if the totality of the universe's storms watch him. In that moment he was frozen. Was he even alive? Or was this a premature state of death.

He couldn't think, couldn't mutter even a single world. All he felt was the total collapse of his mind and body on a fundamental level.

It was an excruciating experience. The feeling of helplessness before the supreme deity.

All the while, the anger of a god barrelled into his person. The displeasure at this mere mortal's dismissal of him.

A crime is a crime. Ignorance be damned.

"Big brother!"

Baal's expression brightened as his intended visitee zoomed out to greet him. The bull god laughed heartedly as his younger sibling made his bright presence known.

"Yahweh, it was been too long," he announced in a booming fashion.

"Still as dramatic as ever I see," Yahweh laughed along with Baal as the brothers shared a familial hug.

Their gigantic forms were surrounded by thousands upon thousands of grovelling civilians. In this sea of bodies, Sophia made her way through. She knelt before the two.

"Your most holy majesty," she said prostrating herself before Baal.

"Sophia," Baal's crimson eyes lit up in appreciation. "Still as beautiful I see. You have done well caring for Yahweh."

"Indeed, Sophia was…"

Whatever Yahweh had intended to say was stopped when he noticed another commotion. Down below him, a child wheezed and struggled in pain. His eyes bloodshot and bulging out.

His skin was beginning to smoke and the look of anguish of the elderly man beside him was transparent. Even then, he dared not go out from his kowtowing position.

"Oh you poor thing," Yahweh immediately shrunk down to the boy's side.

"Yahweh?" Baal cried in curiosity as Yahweh's hands glowed.

His youngest sibling's divine power flowed through him as his light touched the boy. His brilliant power, the greatest that was born out of El reached through spacetime itself to restore what has been lost.

In less than a single moment, the boy began gasping for air, restored to his previous healthy condition.

"What happened to you?" Yahweh asked with concern. He slowly patted the boy's back

"Yahweh," Baal walked up beside the young god with an amazed look. "What're you doing?"

"This child is showing damage from exposure to divine power," Yahweh frowned. "Baal you should be careful. Mortal humans are fragile without cultivation. They could burn up or go insane."

Baal stared at his brother for a long moment. Then he crossed his arms with a confused look.

"I suppose," he muttered.

Yahweh meanwhile continued to pat the boy.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Huuhhwaaaa…huwaaa?" he sat up. "You?…oh my god! Lord Yahweh," he screamed.

Yahweh laughed in amusement and waved the child off. "I'm asking if you're feeling fine. Do you remember what happened to you?"

"Huh? Oh…I…well…I don't know?"

"Well, looks like you were exposed to radiation leaking from divine presence," he starred back at Baal. "Seriously, be careful."

"I…you know what, fine," Baal threw his hand in the air. "Play with yours however you like. I won't judge."

Yahweh frowned slightly but otherwise got up and dusted himself. He left the child behind as he began guiding Baal to his base of operations.

"Sophia, sort them out kay?" He suggested to her. He then took Baal into his home.

Staring at Baal, Yahweh made a, 'what do you think', gesture. The two only stood at the front entrance but the majority of the building was already visible. It was circular in structure and contained a single large throne for Yahweh with other balconies around.

Of course those areas were restricted to Yahweh and other gods. Only special humans like Sophia could enter.

Baal scratched his chin and observed Yahweh. "Not bad," he commented. "Thought you'd go for bigger."

"Well that wasn't really needed. I think this looks nice enough."

Baal frowned. "Yahweh, you're a high god not some lowlife bottom dweller. You should be living in a fortress not a temple. Did I not teach you the importance of image?"

Yahweh fidgeted nervously. "Well I didn't want to just copy you."

Baal chuckled. "I suppose not. Every god must find their own specialty after all." He took a moment to observe the outside where Sophia felt with the humans.

Yahweh felt his gaze was slightly off. It was as if Baal was contemplating something he couldn't quite wrap his head around. But Yahweh didn't think much of it.

Baal was the king of the heavens. He was the head of all gods and was extremely busy managing the cosmos year round. He was probably judging his progress at managing his sphere of influence.

Yahweh felt a pit of trepidation in his chest. It was daunting the longer Baal stayed silent.

"How was your time with Sophia?" Baal decided to ask. Yahweh sighed in relief when he chose to break the ice.

"Sophia was really nice. She…"

He began retelling the tale of their first meeting all the way till the present. Baal gave a wry smile as he listened half paying attention and half wondering.

He took a glance around the entire star regions he was in multiples times as well as reading into the past and present.

Yahweh of course noticed this as well but continued Baal's request. He secretly wondered why Baal had to be so thorough. Did he catch on to some mistakes he'd made and were judging him for it?

He sure hoped not.

"And then you came," Yahweh finally concluded as Sophia walked back into the building.

"Hm, interesting," Baal muttered glancing at Sophia with visible displeasure.

"Is something wrong?" Yahweh asked innocently.

Sophia glanced at both deities and bowled. "My lords. The situation has been sorted as requested."

Baal glanced at Sophia and sighed. "You've grown quite comfortable haven't you."

"It was not my intention, I was…"

Sophia began an attempt to defend herself. Whatever she said though, Yahweh wasn't paying attention. That was because his ears picked up something.

For gods, their worshippers were a source of power. Not the primary source, merely a supplementary source that empowered them and aided them in unlocking the secrets of heaven.

A god can reach out to their followers and speak with them however they wished. The inverse is true as well though very much restricted.

Prayers were the primary source of contact. But for many gods, prayers were tuned out. One could only handle so much attempts at saying good morning or good evening or thanks for dinner before it all gets irritating.

Even Yahweh wasn't immune even though he tried his best. His filter system was a method in which some noises were blocked out while more important ones were heard by his avatars.

But should a large amount of prayers accumulate enough, they could circumvent the system.

"Help, somebody." "The water, so much." "God Yahweh, please help us."

"I have to go."

Yahweh announced and took off.

He left a bewildered Baal and a nervous Sophia behind his sudden teleportation.

"I'll sort you out later," Baal said before taking off and following Yahweh.

…

"Insects, daring to offend us," the chief sea god of Yahweh's southern regions scoffed. Below his gaze and the gazes of his contemporaries, the world flooded.

"Think you can order us? What gall," they spat.

"It's all that runts fault. I can't even concentrate on cultivation anymore," they spat.

Looking at their handiwork, many of the disgruntled deities looked on with expressionless gazes.

They weren't too concerned with the ramifications. The mortals needed to be taught a lesson for abusing the kindness of their betters.

The god king will understand their case. Even if he punished them, at most it'll just be a few millennia worth of prison time.

The rapid waves below was all consuming. A flood that swallowed the sinful humans below. A flood that in a wave of light, disappeared.

The chief sea god turned his gaze towards his overseer with shock.

"Leviathan, what is the meaning of this?" Yahweh said with gritted teeth.

As reality reformatted around them and broken landmasses were restored. Leviathan, the chief sea god snorted. "We are punishing the mortals as is our duties," he said simply.

"Punishing?" Yahweh had never felt so enraged before. His fists were pulled into a tight fist that he raised. "You were supposed to take care of the humans. Give them rain and floods for crops and good fishing harvests. Not drown them!"

"You are just a child," Leviathan sighed. "These people have grown complacent and decadent. They dare offend the god's divine authority and abuse out relationships. They were only reaping what they sowed."

Yahweh felt his heart sink. "You…monster," he announced glaring at the collection of gods. Many of them were on high alert and fearful of him.

For the first time in his life, Yahweh wanted to hurt something.

"Yahweh, that's enough," Baal's regal voice interrupted all those present. Thunder and lightning broke out announcing his presence and all stilled in the world.

Both Yahweh's metallic light and Leviathan's aura of seawater disappeared. Only the bull god's thunderstorm remained.

"Big brother/your majesty."

"Big brother, you must…"

Baal raised his hand halting Yahweh. "Follow me back to heaven. We shall sort things out there." He glared with annoyance at Leviathan and the disgruntled gods then at Yahweh.

"Little brother, calm yourself first. We shall deal with this in an orderly fashion."