Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2006 20:19:31 -0400
From: Ring Master <academygm@hotmail.com>
Subject: Godsend Chapter 6

Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction.  Any similarities to real people are
coincidental.  If you are under the legal age in your area to read erotic
literature, please stop reading this and go somewhere age appropriate.  If
you are offended by homosexual material, please stop reading this and go
somewhere your bigoted little mind can handle.  If you're looking for pure
sex and plot/character development only get in your way, this story is
definitely not for you.  The rest of you, please enjoy chapter six of this
tale.

Author's Note 1:  Chapter 5 hit me like a ton of bricks.  It had strong ties
to a straight friend I had while coming out.  Stefan's reaction to Cade's
homosexuality was similar to how my friend took mine.  In honor of that
friend, I ended the chapter in the warmth of acceptance.

Author's Note 2: Yes, Stefan is straight.  If you thought he was gay, then
you read more into Stefan's actions than were actually there...which was fully
intended.  Angie, Kelly, and Aphrodite all did the same, and I wanted to put
the readers in their position.

-----------------------
Godsend
Chapter 6: Pallas in the Grove

"Thank you," Cade whispered, finally.

I walked around him and placed my hands on his shoulders.  "Come on," I
said.  "I'll tell you what's been going on.  I'll even tell you the parts I
haven't, and won't tell the others.  I think we're close enough friends now
for you to know what I really am, since I know you for who you are, without
the fake bullshit everyone uses in school."

"I'd like that," Cade said softly.

We walked a few minutes in silence while I tried to formulate the right
words.  "I have this...uh...power," I told him eventually.

"Ok, don't tell me, but don't make shit up," Cade said in a growl.

"No, Cade, I'm completely serious," I said quickly.  "It started
accidentally two days ago when Kelly and I were in the car, just after Jacob
and I had our talk.  Darren didn't show up until afterward.  When he did, I
sorta made them kiss."

"Yeah," he said.  He still didn't believe me.

"Look," I said, lifting my shirt.  He turned and looked, and I drew on my
power a little, just enough to make my stomach glow.  "I'm not joking about
this.  I'm really not normal."

"How are you doing that?" he asked.

"I'm tampering slightly with your attraction to males," I said.  "Right now,
what do you feel for me?"

"I feel like I'm seeing something strange from my friend, and...oh."

"What is it?"

"I'm not attracted to you at all right now," he said, confused.  I let the
glow fade.  "And there it is again.  Ok, so your power is...what exactly?"

"I can make guys go gay, or, it seems, deplete it.  But it's only temporary,
while I concentrate," I said.  "Do you believe me now?"

"So far," he said.  "Can you make me straight?" he asked quietly.

"I don't think so," I said.  "I can hold down your gayness, but only while
I'm with you and focused on it.  I'm sorry."

He shook his head.  "It's ok.  I started the day trying to cope with this,
and I'll end the day the same way."  He started walking again in the way we
were headed.  "Please, continue."

"When the power faded, I stopped Darren and Jacob from killing each other,
and Kelly and I explained what we had seen and felt from where we sat.  We
all went home then and Darren called me to swear me to secrecy.  We made an
agreement that their group would stop tormenting my friends."

"That explains why Mike walked by Newton without knocking him down," Cade
said.  There was a right turn that led down toward the center grove in an
almost straight path.  We started down that way.  Cade was patient when I
told him about the time stop at the party and the experimenting we did
afterward.

"Here's the part no one outside my family knows," I said.  "I had talks with
my mom and my sister and found out what I really was.  I don't know if
you'll believe it, though."

"You're going to have to tell me to find out, right?" he said, giving me a
reassuring smile.

"How much Greek mythology do you know?" I asked.

He looked at me sideways.  "A little."

"I'm the newest addition to the gods of Olympus," I told him.  "I'm not in
my full power yet, but when I am, I'll be the god of gay love."

"And you're straight," he said, deadpan.

I laughed.  "I know.  Isn't that a kick in the `nads?"

The sound of water bubbling started to come upon us as we approached the
grove.  Inside was a large reflecting pool with water lilies and koi.  A
stone bench surrounded the perimeter of the pool.  At the four cardinal
points of the pool, there were four small fountains, each producing just
enough force to give the grove a sound of running water.  There was also the
sweet scent of honey, though I never did know what caused it.  All I knew
was that it was intoxicating and relaxing.

"That's a little much, even from what I've heard, Stef," he said.  "I don't
think I can believe you."

"You don't believe I'm a Greek God," I said flatly.

He chuckled.  "I know you're a Greek God," he said with a smile, "but in a
different sense."  I laughed as well.  I realized that, if I actually was
gay, I'd probably have fallen in love with Cade at that moment.  I dipped my
hand in the pool and splashed him.  "Hey!" he yelled with a chuckle.  "Watch
it."  Then he reached in and returned the favor.  Things quickly escalated
into a water fight.  I reached in to try and splash him, and he lunged at me
to knock me in.  I grabbed his arm and pulled him in with me.  The water was
only two feet deep, so we didn't go down very far.  Both of us sat up
laughing.

"Stef?" a voice called.  It sounded like Kelly.

"Kel?" I called back.  "Is that you?  Where are you?"

Cade put his hand on my arm.  "What's going on, man?" he whispered.  "Do you
hear Kelly somewhere?"

"You don't?" I asked quietly.  He shook his head.

Suddenly, there was a flash in the air above the pool, and Kelly dropped
into the water, giving Cade and I another thorough soaking.

"Not funny, Mom!" she yelled.  She turned to face me, saw Cade there, and
turned deathly white.

"What just happened, Kel?" I asked.

"Shit," she said.  "I really wanted to tell you over dinner or something."
She stood up at full height.  Her hair was bedraggled, her clothes dripping
and drooping, and she had a lily pad cocked to one side of her head like a
beret.  "Stefan, I am the future incarnation of Athena, Warrior Goddess of
Knowledge."  To add to it, she dropped her mortal guise and stood before us
in full Goddess form, glowing and beautiful.  The goofy girl who had just
been standing before us was now majestic.  I could feel wisdom radiating
from her.

"Now her, I believe as a Goddess," Cade said in my ear.  "Can you do that?"

"Not yet," Athena answered for me, her voice strong and resonating, but
still soft and feminine.  "He will attain the ability to show his true form
when his full power manifests.  Yet, he is one of us."

I felt a stinging thought at the back of my head.  "You knew," I growled.
"You knew what was going on and you just let it happen.  Why didn't you tell
me?"

"Your experience was peaceful," she said calmly, making my anger subside a
bit.  "What happened to you was natural, and I wasn't to interfere, only to
observe.  I was under instructions to report  powers of the son of Aphrodite
emerged."

"Aphrodite's your mom?" Cade asked with definite awe in his voice.  I
shushed him.

"You were forced to be my friend," I said, softly.

The glow faded and Athena vanished, leaving Kelly behind in her place.  Her
hair was once again a dripping mass of frizz.  Her baggy clothes were
hanging from her dripping frame and she was starting to shiver a bit.  The
lily pad had slipped down a few inches.  "No, Stef," she said softly.  "This
is why I didn't want you finding out this way.  I wanted to tell you
personally so you knew I was sincere when I said this: being your friend was
not part of my orders, just observing you.  I chose to be your friend
because of the person you are.  Not once have you made me disappointed in
that choice, and more than once you've shown me what true friendship is."

I was speechless.  Cade spoke for me.  "He thanks you, for being honest," he
said.  "But I think it needs to sink in for him."

"I understand," Kelly said softly.  "Know this, Stefan," she said.  "Now
that you know who and what you are, my job has ended.  I'd like to still be
your friend, if you'll let me."

My voice came back.  "Get out," I growled.  "You're a liar and I never want
to see you again."

"You can't mean that," she said, her voice quivering.  I didn't care.  She
had been pretending with me for my whole life, and I couldn't forgive her
for that.

"I do mean that," I spat.  "You're not the person you claimed to be all
these years, the person I knew and respected doesn't exist.  Get out of my
life, Athena."

Cade put his hand on my arm.  "Aren't you being a little harsh?" he asked,
his voice frantic with pleading.  "She's your best friend."

"No," I told him.  "Anyone who hides who they are and pretends to be someone
else for people who care about them don't deserve friends."

"And what about me?" Cade asked, rage filling his voice.  "Do I deserve
friends for pretending to be something I`m not?"

I felt about an inch tall.  "Cade, I'm sorry," I said, calming.  "I didn't
mean it like that.  Your secret wasn't a betrayal like hers was."

"Stef, listen to me," he told me.  "Kelly's your best friend.  Don't end
that over this.  She kept who she was from you because she had to.  Her
identity was fake, but it was fake to everyone, not just you.  She was
hiding, just like I was.  The person she told you she was may not have been
real, but her friendship was.  You can't fake that."

I looked over at Kelly - Kel - my best friend of seventeen years.  Tears
were dripping down her red cheeks.  I knew, then.  I knew she was sincere.
"I take it back," I said.  She smiled and made a small jump as she clapped.
The lily pad slid down and stuck to her cheek.  I snorted.  "You look
ridiculous," I told her.

"And you have a frog on your head," she said with a giggle.  I reached up
and touched the top of my head, lifting the small frog that had been sitting
peacefully up there.  I placed it in the water.

"Just tell me," I said to Kelly.  "Are there any others pretending to be my
friends I should know about?  Mike's not Bacchus is he?"

"Oh god no," she said.  "Dionysus is a party animal, not a complete
asshole."

Cade burst into laughter.  I followed suit soon after, and then Kelly did
the same.  It felt good to have good strong laugh after the way things had
been going.  When it died down a bit, I interjected.  "Maybe we should go to
the house and get dried off, unless you can teleport us there, Kel."

"We'll have to walk," she said.  "I was practicing teleportation by tapping
into my mom's power with her permission and supervision.  I can't touch it
unless I'm near her and she lets me.  It's the way of a god in training.  I
think I'll need a ride home, unless mom comes to pick me up."

"Stay for a while, then," I said.  "You too, Cade.  Let's enjoy the day."
They both agreed to do just that.  Cade came out to Kelly on the walk to the
house, and she, of course, was more shocked that I was indeed straight - the
final proof being my resistance to Cade`s homosexuality.  We ended up
spending the entire day outside once we were changed.  Angie had something
to spare for Kelly, and I found some of my looser clothes for Cade.  Angie
even spent a couple hours with us, throwing a Frisbee and chatting.  I would
always remember that day fondly as one of the most happy and carefree of my
life.

Little did I know life was about to take a nasty turn.

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Questions? Comments? Monkey pox? Email me at academygm@hotmail.com