Creation: Book 3: Strandbinder Complete!

The Battlefrog came into existence. It did not know its purpose and it did not know where it was. All it could rely upon was its instincts, and they said it didn't have any food in its stomach or fresh water in its system. But....there was something else, something at the edge of understanding. That strange thing fed into it at a slow rate, right towards the core of its body......and the only thing it truly understood at the moment was....it wanted more of it.

Walker thought over how the bearded man had spoken to him in is oddly powerful voice, and he didn't like it. "Why do you say it like I'm some piece of bacon, rotting and left on the floor?" He asked while looking the three newcomers over as they stared right back at him.

"Hrmmph, an odd way to speak." The original speaker grunted at him. He had a unique voice, like gravel being laid upon new pavement. The man was a tall, darkly complected man rippling in muscles and wearing a nice white robe with a yellow sash. He held a long white beard on the bottom of his face, with long white hair and long white eyebrows to complete the look. His face looked like the word seriousness was stamped upon it at the age of six and it had never let him go since.

The other two were a tall beautiful woman with angular eyes containing yellow irises, and a powerlifter whose hair was shaped up into tips that resembled two horns stabbing the air. The woman wore a very nice golden sash around a green dress, while the large man wore what looked like bronze armor if Walker knew his history right. He should be, correctly, freaking out at the appearance of random strangers who could be violent on a whim, but when you see giant squirrels throw up smaller blue versions of themselves, at some point you become immune to the strangeness of this place. He internally chuckled at his earlier anxiety upon first arriving in the protocol. It was amazing how much a person could change across the time of just a few days.

"What is this bacon you speak of? Is it delicious?" The woman asked.

The bearded man heaved a great sigh, pectoral muscles bulging with the intake and exhalation of his breath, like a great balloon was inflating and popping in his chest. "You are the Creator are you not? Time is not a friend."

"What is this place?" The bronze-plated man asked in a surprisingly high voice, looking around.

"Yes, where are we?" Asked the woman, also looking around....but there was something off about it. Like she'd been there before and was pretending that she hadn't.

The bearded man turned to the other two and roared out his words, "DO NOT SPEAK."

"He is." Virgil said, answering the man's question from earlier while looking at each in turn. He wasn't the only one staring, Rimi was currently standing next to the bull-headed minotaur, poking him in the leg for who knew what reason.

"Firrrmmmm." He whispered to himself, feeling his own arm at the same time. The horned man politely pretended not to notice.

"What's going on here?" Walker asked. "It said the Tree of the....ahhh. You guys are totally gods right? That's amazing! What's godhood like?"

"Of course we are." Said the bearded man, placing his hands on his hips and striking a classic heroic pose as he turned his head away.

"Lies." The woman replied, taping one foot impatiently as she watched the large man deflate.

"Castoffs." The bronze-man said as well, looking down at the ground.

"I WILL SPEAK FOR US." He thundered at the other two. "We are the Gods and Goddesses of Earth of course. That should have been apparent by....where has my lightning gone? Who has stolen it! Where is that lightning thief!" He started running around the tiny planet, but, there weren't many places to go. "Where is it!" He screamed as he ran by the Tree of the Gods, which looked quite different from its usual. It now stood over thirty feet tall and several branches had leaves with strange growths on them. As Zeus, as that's who he guessed he was, continued to rant about a thief and run screaming around the small world in circles, his feet slapping the ground, Walker looked closely at the growths on the tree. Each leaf now had a corresponding fruit that didn't look dissimilar to dragonfruit. Their roots were a multitude of colors, but otherwise, it was a seed hanging low under each corresponding glowing leaf. If he had to guess, he assumed that the leaf, shaped like an owl, would drop next.

"Looks like I'll have more company soon." He said quietly to himself. "Hey, Zeus!" He yelled.

"What!" Zeus thundered back.

"Do you see any fucking lightning here!"

"NO............no I do not."

"Okay, then assume you didn't come with it, and it was left behind."

"You do not understand, that lightning is the source of my power."

"More lies." The woman said again. "I apologize as I've never told you my name, Creator. I go by Echidna."

Walker knew that name from mythology as well, "You mean the mother of monsters?" He asked.

"I did not give birth to monsters, cretin. I gave birth to powerhouses who shook the world. For that, they were called monsters. It is the weak memories of humanity that have painted us in the light from which you know us to be. We were all shaped by our Creator with different purposes, just like Minos here." She finished, patting the large metal-covered man. He nodded once. "He doesn't often like to speak, as he feels his given voice is beneath the dignity of the feats he has performed in his life. Please forgive him." Minos just nodded again.

Zeus finally gave up on looking and walked over. "It is true, I'm afraid. The only god that could be found on Earth is just a pale imitation of the awesome power your stories tell of us."

"How do you know about those stories?" Virgil asked, for once just as in the dark as Walker was.

"This tree." Zeus said, pointing his hand at it. "Is ancient. You can call it the tree of life, or ages, or gods. It has existed for multiple millennia and houses all of the failed creations from Earth's time in the alpha protocol. Each of those leaves is another of our fellow primigenials, as you can call us."

"I don't know that word." Walker asked with a confused look on his face.

"It means we've been around since the beginning." Echidna supplied. "I don't mean the beginning, beginning. But the beginning of Earth. When the alpha protocol closed out, our Creator, the bastard that she is, trapped us in the tree and placed it at the bottom of the deepest parts of the ocean. She even left us guardians that would destroy anything that came close, and thus we sat there for thousands of years in the deepest pit of a planet we had once protected and cherished."

"That still doesn't explain how you know so much." Walker said, growing suspicious.

"We're Gods child! We know all!" Zeus yelled to the sky.

Echidna slowly shook her head, as if coming to a decision. "He'll figure it out when Athena releases you dolt! We need to tell him now, before things go along too far. You know his history!" She looked at Minos, who nodded. "Well...........We have a few with us who can....taste memories. They don't take them away, but they do experience them, and as we're all connected within the tree, we have a rudimentary form of communication. Since you've arrived-"

"You've been experiencing my life." Walker said deadpan. It was bad enough that the alpha protocol and Virgil could see everything he'd done, good and bad, but now a tree full of powerful primigenial beings also knew of his most embarrassing and sadly human moments. That time he'd been pantsed at a party. The first time he'd had sex. Everything was up for grabs. It was an all-Walker buffet, first come, everybody served.

"Yes." She finished.

"We are sorry, Walker." Minos said, placing a large callused hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off with a quick twitch of his body.

"Then why ask who the fuckin Creator is?" He yelled as he started to pace back and forth in front of them.

"BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW!" Zeus roared at him.

"What do you mean you did not want us to know?" Virgil asked.

"Because you.....don't.....matter.....mortal." Zeus said, stepping up to the squirrel and towering over him.

That put a crick in Walker's neck, like a pinched muscle that pulsed deeply, and he had to turn the side of his head with a grimace as the feeling became almost physical. Less than five minutes since getting out of their mini-prison, and this bastard was trying to control things. To bully them. It didn't matter that Earth's mythology called him the King of the Gods. No, there was a bigger problem. What if the rest of those in the tree were just the same. What if he was slowly letting all of the rejects from his home planet take over and fuck everything up. There had to be a reason they were imprisoned and other creatures or entities weren't. He couldn't let this happen. No, no, no no no no no. Walker wouldn't be controlled. No. He was already shunted to this world without a real choice or understanding, he wouldn't be forced to listen to this son of a bitch if he didn't have to. He would have to take control, with gusto, or things were already done.

He said the words that previously sat in his heart, unattended and unnoticed. They were always a hidden voice that he forced to keep silent but now had to let out. "Shut the fuck up you limp-dick piece of shit. You get a taste of my memories and think you can then push me around on my own world? Push around my friend?" He took a deep breath but he already felt it. Felt like that control he was trying to gain back, was gone, and with it, his control over himself ran out of the door.

"I'LL THROW YOUR ASS INTO SPACE AND FORGET YOU FIVE MINUTES LATER MOTHERFUCKER. I'LL BURN YOUR GODDAMN TREE DOWN BEFORE I LET YOU FUCK WITH WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO HERE." Walker stepped into the World Editor while still belting the three with his voice. "YOU'VE FUCKED UP IF YOU THINK YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT. I'M THE CREATOR AND I WILL HAVE CONTROL. THIS IS MY WORLD. SYMPHONY DOESN'T NEED MORE DESTROYERS.

"No! Please!" Echidna begged, dropping to her knees in front of him uncharacteristically. "Please! My children are in there. Zeus, apologize!" She said pointing at him with a glare.

"GODS DO NOT APOLOGIZE!" He said, spreading his arms wide. "IF YOU WANT TO TAKE ME DOWN, DO SO LIKE A TRUE GOD. FIGHT ME COWARD!"

"We're not gods you horny bastard. Gods wouldn't let themselves be trapped inside of a tree for thousands of years! You have more children in there than anyone!"

"I DO NOTTTT CARREEE!" He screamed at space. "THEY CREATED ME, US, THEN IMPRISONED US ONLY TO BE USED AGAIN! I SAY NO! I SAY WE FIGHT!"

"You will lose." Virgil replied calmly.

"THEN WE LOSE ON OUR TERMS!" he responded back with the fury of something once powerful, beautiful in its purpose, being forced into a cage for a long period of time.

While this happened, Walker was still within the World Editor. He knew he was protected, that the alpha protocol wouldn't let him come to harm, but he also well understood Echidna's feelings. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to potentially lose your children, but Walker had been toughening up recently. Lessons from his rougher childhood and time in the military rose to the fore of his thoughts. He couldn't allow worry or sympathy to affect him. Regarding those in the Tree of the Gods, he had potentially billions of lives in the future of Symphony to think about. He knew that they could help him succeed. They might even be the only way for him to succeed in the alpha protocol. But he couldn't let them fuck everything up. If he placed Zeus in the world somehow, he needed him to do what he asked, and told, not run off and start smiting things that he felt insulted him. He was still viscerally angry, and his body shook from the adrenaline pumping through his veins, but unlike the time with Nicholas, he had at least a modicum of self-control. He could still think.

"Why should I let you live?" He asked Echidna, knowing Zeus would just give another suicidal answer. But, it was Minos who answered first.

"Because we're here to help you."

"Because we can assist you in your world." Echidna supplied right after.

"Virgil?" Walker asked his only friend here. Rimi was a friend, true and he shouldn't forget that, but Virgil knew everything about him. He wouldn't steer him wrong.

The large squirrel placed a paw against his chin in thought, then said, "Perhaps if you can find it in yourself to forgive and understand....this person here....then perhaps they can also understand that you are not their former Creator, and had no choice in them being selected for the alpha protocol."

Zeus listened to Virgil with a thunderous expression, refusing to let go of his anger. He tried to walk away by pushing through Virgil, but the elastic barrier appeared and knocked him down onto his ass instead. He affected a shocked expression.

"Z...can't you just...do it this once. Can't you let go of whatever...what's the word?" Echidna asked.

"Limp-dick?" Rimi tried.

"No, small one. That is never something I would associate with Zeus."

"Superiority complex." Minos offered.

"Yes, can't you let go of your complex? We are not Gods. We never were. We were just given power, unearned, and once the Creator knew of what they had made, and the influence we had on Earth, they put us away. They had good reason to do so. Our history was filled with chaos. We did not rule well, and now, it is time for another to try. A child born from the world we once nurtured. Can you not see that? See that this is the result, the fruits of your work."

Zeus sighed in the grass, not a great suffering sigh, but a small one, with a quick inhalation that followed.

"Zeus....we need this. We need to be part of something. Something that Walker here, can provide. Purpose....again. The new Creator, who hasn't mistreated his denizens no matter what Hades may say of The Slicer, is not a bad mortal. He could do that for us. He could give us a new shot."

"Please." Minos said.

That was all he said, but, that seemed to do the trick. Zeus stood up and brushed at imaginary dirt, which made Walker think that this wasn't really grass, but he had to move on as the large man started speaking.

"For you Echidna, and the children. I will.....try"

"Thank you."

"Okay mortal, you wanted us so you have us."

"Technically I didn't know what was in the Tree." Walker reminded him as he stepped out of the World Editor. He wasn't done with his anger, as he knew few people who could turn it off on a dime, but rather than hold it against them, he was just going to keep a constant reminder of the time the King of the Gods tried to bully them in the back of his mind.

"As you say, whatever." Zeus replied nonplussed. "We already know what the first step is." He nodded at the other two, who nodded back. They each put out a wrist and, with a nail on their hands, dug into their skin, forcing blood to pool.

"Jesus Christ. You could have just spit or something" Walker said.

"I never knew that one. Also, if you are going to do something, do not do it with weak intent." Echidna said with calm, as her red blood dripped into the green grass.

"One moment." Virgil said as he went to each and gathered a small amount in the palm of his hand. Walker's overlay lit up.

.....

.....Scanning.....

Foreign entities have presented Dante with new genetic material!

New modifications can now be used.

New evolutions are now available.

New entity type is now available: Primigenial

New entity type is now available: Mythological

---

Optional tasks available.

.....

Special circumstances found.

.....

Tasks may now be assigned by those who donate genetic material for use.

"What does that mean?" Walker asked Virgil.

The others couldn't see his notifications, but Virgil could, and he apparently had an answer as he pulled Walker aside and out of their hearing range, whispering. "They can give you tasks that can unlock abilities that the previous Creator, the one from your homeworld, had. But, you need to stop trying to delete the Tree of the Gods. You cannot."

Walker ran a hand down his face, feeling drained from all of the events since placing the battlefrog. "Why can't I?"

"Because, once it matured, it connected deep with this small world. Have you not noticed?"

Walker looked around but it still looked the same. "Noticed what?"

"The size of it Walker, the size! It's two percent larger than it was."

"How the fuck am I supposed to notice that. I'm not a squirrel robot like you."

"Either way, if you remove it, there is a chance it will destabilize this tiny world, and expel us into space. We would not die, but we also would have great difficulty doing anything with Symphony."

"At some point, I'm going to have some agency here and get to stop asking questions, right?"

"Of course." Virgil said, but he didn't sound very enthused.

Maybe all of my memories affected his personality more than I think. He keeps taking on the teacher role whenever he can, Walker thought.

"Ah, I see." Zeus's voice landed like a landslide.

"What do you see?" Walker asked.

"I see that we can now shape this world just as much as you....Creator."

"Motherfucker!" Walker said, already getting ready to click the World Editor again.

"Wait, wait!" Echidna said with her palms pumping toward Walker in a pleading gesture. "Look, you didn't ask for us, just like we didn't ask for imprisonment. We're all a part of this, it is kismet, fate."

"Fate's an asshole." Walker said, seeing a reluctant nod from Zeus.

"Yes, they are. You have no idea there." Another nod from Zeus. "Creator, this is special. You have magic, and that is wonderful, but our power never worked through magic. It worked through the soul. We, the primigenials of Earth, gained power from souls and faith. The more followers one of us had, the more they could shape the world. We can give you that."

"How?" Walker asked, finally starting to see the real power of the beings in front of him. He loved Mythology as a kid, it was like crack to him, but when a story is retold over and over by human hands, things tend to go sideways, and original meanings and facts disappear. But he only had some fish and one large frog. This would take time and he didn't have a lot of that right now.

"We'll walk you through it bits at a time, as it can be overwhelming to mortals." She said with a large amount of sympathy laced into her voice.

"I am not mortal." Virgil said.

"You also do not have a soul, as you were created directly by the alpha protocol." Zeus said. "Souls can only be interacted with, changed, by other souls. We need to build and train Walkers to withstand what is coming, as we are not allowed to alter the system directly."

"That sounds amazing. It will let us add a whole new level to what we're doing here. But, we don't have a lot of time until the next battle."

Minos nodded and stepped forward. "The first step is always the longest, but with three of us, we can get you through it quickly."

"Great!" Walker said. "What is the first step then?"

Echidna grimaced and said, "We need you to open your soul to us."

"Open my soul?"

"Yes....and it will be very painful for you. Walker, you will have to perform great introspection and look deeper within than you ever have before"

"Greattttttt."