Author's note: This chapter was a bit difficult to write. It takes place over a couple of weeks. It's not intended to be realistic, and it contains a little something for everyone to hate. Enjoy!
*
The dream began like it always had; with Bob sitting on a blanket in a large grassy clearing. Two identical white spotted fawns, the twins as Bob called them, walked up to him. Each licked a side of his face before laying on opposite sides of him.
He didn't know their names. He had asked many times. But they refused to tell him, saying it wasn't time yet.
The one on his right spoke first. "Hello young master. It's been a long time. You've done extremely well. We're very proud of you."
Bob wondered why she had called him "young master." They had never called him anything but Bob. He said nothing though; it wasn't his turn to speak yet.
The one on his left said, "we've missed you. We're sorry we couldn't visit sooner. But we weren't allowed to interfere. You had to make those decisions of your own free will. We heard what you asked of Aphrodite and Athena. That was a very wise decision. We want you to know, we'll be here for you as well. We promise we won't let you stray off the path you've chosen. You've..." she perked up her ears looking at the one on his right in shock. "She comes!"
The clearing became extremely bright. Bob had to shield his eyes. The light dimmed to a more tolerable level. He didn't understand why, but Bob stood snapping to attention. He stared straight ahead as a woman walked a slow circle around him as if appraising him. She stopped in front of him. He felt her probing his mind far deeper than anyone had ever done before.
When she finally spoke, her voice was like a soft melody carried on a gentle breeze. "This is the one? You've chosen well my daughters. But you've left quite a mess in his head. It makes things difficult for him. Not to worry, it'll only take me a few minutes to fix it."
Bob felt his magic being organized, connections being made, and with each new connection came a greater understanding. By the time she finished, Bob was able to understand and access all of his magic with ease.
"There, that's much better!" She looked over her work very carefully. "Tsk tsk my daughters. You gave him all this power. But you forgot to give him enough magical essence to sustain it. That won't do at all. He needs at least ten times the amount you gave him. I'll give him that much as a baseline. But I'm also gonna give him a way to store extra essence. I think a reserve of about ten times his baseline should do it. Don't you, my daughters?
I'm gonna let his reserve be filled by sexual pleasure. Every time he gives or receives sexual pleasure, he'll automatically convert that energy into magical essence. I can see by your smiles, you like that idea my daughters.
He's almost ready to meet me and learn his true purpose. But first, Cassandra's been very loyal to him. She loves him like no other. I think she deserves a reward as well. From now on, you may protect and guide her as well. Go to her and bring her to me."
Cassandra appeared a few seconds later. When she saw her master standing at attention staring vacantly, she stepped in front of him. "What have you done to my master? If he's harmed, I swear by the heavens, I'll find a way to destroy you!"
"Easy child! Bob was right, you're a feisty little warrior! I'm not here to harm him. I'm here to help. You're here because I wish to reward you for your dedication and loyalty to him."
"His love is all the reward I need or want!"
"I thought you'd say that my child. But I'm gonna reward you anyway. I can't undo what's been done to you. But I can make sure you're as immune to harm as your master. From now on, nothing in creation can harm you in any way. I've also made sure you're protected and guided, as he's been these many years. He'll be coming out of his trance any second. Right now, his mind is preparing itself to finally meet me. I know your love for him is eternal and unconditional. So I'm gonna give you the gift of being by his side as that happens and he learns his true purpose."
"You... You're the one that's been manipulating him?"
"No my child," she pointed to the fawns, "these two have been pulling his strings. They're my daughters. But I've known about it for some time. If you'll step to his side and allow me to finish what I've started, I think you'll be very happy with the results."
Cassandra swallowed nervously and stepped to Bob's side grabbing his hand.
Bob's eyes blinked a few times. He looked at the woman standing in front of him. "Who are you," he noticed Cassandra gripping his hand, "and what do you want with Cassandra?"
"Would you mind if we sat down? This is gonna take some explaining. I think it would go a lot easier if we were all relaxed."
"Sure. Why not?" He sat down pulling Cassandra on his lap wrapping his arms around her protectively.
The woman sat smiling. "My daughters are right, you do make a lovely couple. I've never needed a name before, so I don't know what to call myself. I suppose, the creator, or maybe the maker of all things... Gosh, that's such a mouthful isn't it? Maybe you can help me. Pick a name and we'll see if it fits."
Bob asked, "are you some kind of a god?"
"Heavens no! I have far more power than those puny things! Like you, I don't consider myself a god. I really don't know what I am. That doesn't help much though. Does it?"
"Not really," Bob chuckled. "But I think I understand. I don't really wanna run around calling you 'creator' or 'the maker of all things.' But I think you're my boss. So how about I just call you that for now?
She pursed her lips tilting her head from side to side. "Boss huh? I think I like that. It certainly fits. Okay, we'll go with that for now."
"So boss, why are we here? What do you want from me, and why is the love of my life sitting here in my lap?"
"Cassandra's here because I wanted to give her a few gifts which she can explain to you later. She's also here because she deserves to be by your side when you learn your true purpose.
She was created to bring peace and prosperity to creation. Hera screwed that all up because even I can't interfere with free will. My daughters were more then a little angry with Hera. But there's nothing they could to stop her.
They cooked up this little scheme to make things right. They swapped rings on Hera, then spent the last six thousand years searching for a suitable master for Cassandra. As soon as your spirit was created, they knew their search was over. They've been protecting and guiding you since the day you were born.
They made one, not so slight, miscalculation though. They had never created a ring before. When they made Cassandra's ring, they used the Djinn ring as a model, adding the binding element to insure Cassandra would only have one master. Originally you were only supposed to inherit Cassandra's powers. But they copied the Djinn ring a little too closely and you inherited everyone's powers but mine. Of course none of us knew this until you put the ring on and Cassandra appeared. By then it was too late to do anything.
I like seeing the good that's come out of this mess. So it's time you learned your true purpose. I want you to pick up where Cassandra left off. Bring peace and prosperity to creation. Start with the world you know best, Earth! That world has gotten so far out of hand I've been seriously considering wiping it out and starting from scratch. The only reason I haven't, is because I keep hoping the idiots will self destruct, saving me the trouble. I'll give you a reasonable amount of time and a free hand to do whatever you think is necessary. Your orders are simple captain, tame them. Or I WILL destroy them."
"What do you mean by tame them?"
"I guess that was a poor choice of words. Bring peace to Earth Bob. I don't care how you do it. I'm tired of all the wars. The killing never seems to stop. I'm tired of the wackos running around on their 'holy wars' killing innocent people. I'm tired of countries blackmailing each other with their foolish nukes. I'm tired of women and children being treated like property by a bunch of homophobic assholes Bob. It's gone on for centuries. Enough is enough. Be Creation's Guardian and put a stop to it for me."
"Okay boss. I'll give it a shot. But you're probably not gonna like some of the things I think I'll have to do. I don't know if I can pull it off. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to break their spirit. It's not gonna be a pretty sight. I may even need to call on you or the twins for some help."
"That's fine Bob. If you need our help just call and we'll be there. I realize not everybody on Earth deserves to die. That island you're living on isn't big enough to hold them all. I've created a planet exactly like Earth, for you and them to live on. It's identical right down to it's orbital positioning. Even the days, months, and years are the same. I know it feels like I'm asking you to choose who lives and who dies. But I'm hoping it doesn't come to that."
"You and me both boss. How am I supposed to get them there and how are they supposed to survive?"
"You have enough power to port several million people at a time if need be Bob. As far as survival goes, use your resources. The Djinn can whip together a good sized city in a few hours.
The planet is full of all the animal, plant, and water life native to Earth. As well as all the natural resources like coal, oil and natural gas. There's also more than enough copper, tin, silver, gold and other ores. So I don't see survival as a problem."
"How far is it from Earth boss?"
