Short Fiction: The Celestial Shores of Forgotten Gods

None of the readouts made any damned sense, especially considering how well-charted this star cluster was. There was no celestial body located in the center, between the warring stars in this binary system, yet Kahl's instruments were spitting out data that defied reason. Their sleek explorer-class corvette shuddered when entering what had to be an atmosphere, the windows splattered with fluid and clouds ensconced the svelte ship.

"Shit shit shit," Kahl shouted, trying to regain control. Their messy, tangled curls of dark hair fell over their face while their hands gripped the controls for dear life.

"We're losing altitude," the ship's onboard AI "Jeremy" intoned.

"I noticed!" they cried. "I'm trying to regain control, but it's not working!"

Kahl fought to regain control and level out. Whatever this planet was, they needed to slow the ship's ascent, or this was it. The AI kept attempting to intervene and override them, which normally, in charted space, would be fine. This was different, though, and they were losing altitude fast. The ship violently trembled and dipped, losing a few thousand kilometers in a heartbeat. Visibility was so low that the only thing they could really see were thick, blue clouds and the streaks of condensation on the cockpit.

"Is there anything solid to land on?" Kahl called out over the rumbling of the ship.

"I'm... not..." the AI's speaker cut in and out, forcing Kahl to flip the killswitch to preserve energy if Jeremy wasn't going to help.

They were out of options, securing their mask and clipping the survival pack to their belt in preparation for a rough landing. None of the readouts gave a clear sign of there being anywhere safe to land, but if Kahl jettisoned into retrieval mode, the pod should be able to propel out into the atmosphere, blasting the rest of the 'vette deep into whatever this planet was. When Kahl looked up, there was a pair of deep red burning eyes, cutting through the clouds that made them pause, finger hovering over the eject button.

Kahl tried to pull the ship away from whatever was before them, but the controls stopped responding, leaving them dead in the air. Their heart pounded while the outline of a massive figure broke through the haze, breathing smoke through its nostrils that blackened the cockpit. In a panic, they flicked the switch for the AI again, a faint whine coming over the internal comms, overblown with static.

"Jeremy?" Kahl asked. "Are you there?"

"There's...no more..." The voice was gruff, snarling through the static. "Leave...these...sh-ores."

"Jeremy, what is that thing out there?"

Before the AI could respond, the ship whipped forward, enveloped by what could only be a massive palm, brought to a dead halt, then flung backwards, hurtling through the darkened clouds at breakneck speeds. The panels spat out errors while the ship rotated with still-unresponsive controls. All Kahl could do was hold on, screaming at the top of their lungs while trying to flick the jettison switch. Their stomach churned and waited for what was an inevitable splat. The AI laughed like a maniac, voice crackling until it was so loud they couldn't hear their own screams before the smash.

#

"Are... you okay?" a small voice cut through their stupor. "Hello?"

Kahl groaned and came to, realizing they were on solid ground, the broken hull of the ship smoldering a few feet away. The ground was a deep purple, bordering on brown, gritty and somewhere between fine-grained sand and dirt. That same dirt covered them, getting into every nook of their suit, while the gentle sound of teal waves crashed at their feet. Turning to the voice, they saw a compact figure, with delicate, porcelain-like features and curls of flaxen hair atop its head.

"Who are you?" Kahl asked.

"Search your memories, Kahl. I’m sure you can remember."

"Could you tell me where I am, at least?" Kahl rubbed their head, standing up and bracing against the ship's hull. It warmed through the glove, but not enough to burn. "This place wasn't on any of the charts."

"It’s not, but you’re here now," the small cherub laughed. "Our very first visitor. Goody!"

"Okay, so what's your name, little one?" Kahl crouched before the child, looking up at them with glassy eyes. Behind its back was a pair of fluted alabaster wings, the kind that reminded them of paintings from the antiquity of angels. "Am I dead?"

"No, silly," the cherub said.

“What the hell was that… monster that grabbed my ship?”

“Oh, you mean ‘Bub? All fire and brimstone, that one,” it giggled. “But don’t worry, he won’t hurt you.”

“I have to be dreaming,” Kahl said. “Some weird demon just plucked my ship out of the air and slammed me onto some sort of cotton candy beach?”

"This place is very real. It's where we go when you're done with us."

Kahl took another moment to gain their bearings, although this place was beyond any charted reasoning. The childlike figure continued to prattle on, convinced of its own existence and how important it was that Kahl had forgotten. That others had as well. Kahl turned back to it, in an answer to if he really didn’t remember, and shrugged. That was the final straw for the diminutive figure.

The cherub dissipated, crumbling into the deep purple sand before their eyes. Kahl rifled through the newfound pile, but it was just sand, not a little person at all. It was then they realized they'd lost their helmet and were breathing potentially deadly air. They scrambled towards the flaming fuselage and tore through anything not on fire to find a replacement.

"The air's fine," a young man's voice said. "Yeah, don't worry about it. And forget about the little bastard putti. They're everywhere. Like flies, only more annoying."

"You mean that cherub thing?" Kahl turned to see a lithe young man—barely older than a child—wearing some sort of cloth skirt with flowing dark curls and softly bronzed skin.

"Yeah, the kid," he said. "They're everywhere. You people had a fascination with them or something. More of them than any of us."

"Any of who? Where am I?" Kahl did their best to keep their composure, although the concerned look from the man meant it wasn’t working.

"This place is for those like me," he boasted. "The forgotten. You even finding this place is shocking. Right now, they've all assembled to discuss what we do now, and you’re the big star. I’m here to guide you, though."

Much like the cherub before it, this figure operated under a preconceived notion of his own importance and that surely Kahl must remember him. Kahl’s lack of understanding or interest were like barbs raining from a tiny cherub’s bow to the man, who grew impatient. Kahl pounded their fist against a warm panel and did their best to ignore the sting.

"I know that hurt you," the man said. "You can't play tough around me."

"If you're so all-knowing and powerful, then you know I have no idea who you are, where I am, or how I'm going to get off of this planet!" That came out rougher than they intended, but whoever or whatever this was, Kahl's patience was wearing thin unless there were answers and fast.

"I suppose you're correct," the young man said. "We haven't given you much to go on just yet. Like the bastard cherub alluded to, there's never been a visitor to our fine shores here. These are my responsibility.”

Another cherub, this one with darker skin and a cute golden bow, buzzed in, flashing its shimmering eyes at Kahl, like two perfect diamonds reflecting the sun. Kahl couldn't help but stare in awe while the toga-clad man swatted at the cherub, who giggled while buzzing around until the man thrust his hand out towards the sea and from the water materialized a three-pronged staff that flew into his hand. Before the cherub had time to respond, the man skewered the cherub, who made a pained giggle before crumbling to dust that scattered onto the bulkhead of Kahl’s ship.

"Blasted putti!" he spat. "If you don't take care of them, they just multiply, and this beach will be full of those little bastards! Trust me."

“Trust you? I don’t even know who you are, or where I am.”

“I’m Mel,” the man sighed. “Yes, that Mel.”

He waited for a beat, like the name Mel would open up some latent memory in Kahl’s memory, and bring some form of recognition. Although Kahl did scan his memory, there were no Mels, at least not like this one. Another pair of cherubs materialized overhead and Mel again swatted them away, a torrent of dirt raining onto both of them and Mel’s laugh echoing on the beach.

"Playing ignorant, I see," Mel laughed. "Come now. You can plainly see how powerful I am. That's one step, isn't it? Seeing is believing, or at least that’s the hope. If you believe in us, maybe we can return from these shores."

"I’m sorry, I don’t know you. I could use some tools, though." Kahl sifted through the battered toolbox and tossed a broken spanner aside. "Like a new sonic spanner."

Mel swatted the spanner out of Kahl’s hand, it turning into dust as well, shook his head and squatted down, placing the trident across his knees to make eye contact with Kahl. "Kahl, this matter of your ship is trivial. If you leave, you’ll never come back. Once you're gone, you'll forget all about it. That's how it works, at least what we think. We don’t want you to forget."

“If I don’t leave, there’s a good chance I won’t forget,” Kahl said. “You’ve got me there.”

“The old gods are all deliberating right now about what to do with you. Since I'm known to—or, well, I was known to before I was forgotten about—guide lost sailors and explorers. They thought it was fitting I introduce myself."

"I'm an explorer.” Kahl saw an opportunity to engage in a shared interest. “Right now I'm trying to establish a trade route through a binary star system that has no inhabitable planets or resources to speak of, but my employer believes could serve as a prime location for a station and waypoint for a trade route."

"Interesting," Mel said. "It has been a while since I’ve met an explorer. I was mortal once, just like you. Can you believe that? A mortal! I incurred the wrath of a god and my mom saved us by jumping into the ocean. Now here I am, immortal but forgotten, just like the rest."

"You keep talking about more, but all I’ve seen are you and those cherubs," Kahl said. "How do I know you aren't just some strange, deep space creature playing around inside my mind?"

"Right now, Loki is the only one of us strongly advocating we let you go," Mel said. "Although some are being swayed by the idea of what it could mean if you were let go and were to remember."

"I'm sure I'll have a difficult time forgetting whatever this experience is," Kahl said. "Although... Loki, you mean the old Norse god of mischief?"

"Of course I mean him," Mel said. "See, everyone remembers Loki. He shouldn't even be here! That little sneaky bastard, although look, he's here like the rest of us because no one reveres him, worships him or fears him the same way they did before. It's quite involved and—"

"Oh shut it, Palaimon." Another man materialized next to Kahl in a sudden explosion of flames that knocked them over. A meticulously manicured hand outstretched towards Kahl while the flames disappeared. He wore rough furs and had light red hair, his features more coarse and weathered than Mel's. "Don't listen to this one. He's full of salty sea air still."

"Loki!" Mel shook his head. "What are you doing here? We all agreed on sending myself."

"He really doesn't listen, does he?" Loki locked eyes with Kahl, again thrusting his outstretched hand. "Go on, I don't bite. My name, as you already know, is Loki."

"Um, hey." Kahl shook the man's hand, a devilish grin growing across his face while he stood up and tapped the ship with his palm. "I'm Kahl."

"Oh, we're well aware," Loki said. "Trust me, all the puffed up chests from the blowhards trying to find some sort of divine answer to this riddle laid before us. The answer is clear to me: you need to go home already, don't you, Kahl?"

"Uh, I guess so," they said. "But you're like... Loki. The trickster god, Loki?"

"Fascinating how my legacy lives on, yet not enough to believe in me and let me live again," Loki said. "Oh, how they've done me wrong. Even if I’m not alive, why remember me as a trickster? I'm the god of flames!"

Loki slammed a palm against Kahl's ship, engulfing the hull into flames, sending Kahl scrambling back and tripping in the sand. Mel grumbled and pointed his trident at the sea, summoning up a mighty wave that crashed against the burning ship to extinguish the flames with a mighty roar. Kahl was breathing hard, looking at the readout on his wrist to show they were indeed conscious and this was somehow real.

"What would Odin say when he finds out you're meddling?" Mel asked.

"Oh, I'm sure I can convince Hera it was you little Mel meddling again," he sneered. "Don't you worry."

"Hey, wait." Kahl's mind was racing, trying to remember back to the units on ancient mythology they'd learned. "Hera is Greek, right? And Odin is Norse? How does all this add up? Entirely different belief systems from different eras."

"See, you do remember something," Mel said. "You willed us to be, then willed us to not be. We may exist in your history books, but no one believes in our power anymore. So here we are."

"I suppose it's been a very long time since anyone worshipped you, yes," Kahl said. "That doesn't explain why you're here."

"Whatever it is, I'm bored with it," Loki said. "When I saw you approaching, I saw an opportunity, and I took it."

"You did what?" Mel gasped. "Loki, you didn't?"

“You get that big demon thing to rip me out of the sky, too?” Kahl asked.

"If I can't pool my resources to rope in a way for at least me to exist again, what good is any of this?" Loki laughed. "Oh lighten up, Palaimon. Play your cards right and maybe you'll be back as well."

"There's no way this is real." Kahl knew they were physically there, but the story was far-fetched. Perhaps their mind was playing tricks on them, which deep space travel had been known to do to some if alone on the float for too long. It had been four months since they'd been around anyone else.

"Oh, it's real, alright," Loki said. "I merely saw your ship, made the proper arrangements, and I can have you right back out in space in minutes if you promise to relay my story. In fact, I’m now sensing something about a shipping lane and a station right through here. Why, it’s a perfect opportunity for my triumphant return."

"Loki!" Mel shouted.

"Oh fine, and Pal here, too. He can ferry travelers along or ride dolphins, whatever he did before. I don't really care."

"You can get off this... whatever this is?" Kahl knew better than to get their hopes up, but this was all strange enough as it was.

"Yes, fine. Look." Loki snapped his fingers and Kahl's ship blinked out of existence. Kahl gasped and Loki burst out laughing, snapping his fingers again, and the ship returned. "See?"

“That doesn’t help me.” Kahl drooped, noting the ship was still in rough condition.

"Oh fine, hop in and check for yourself," Loki said. “It should run.”

Kahl obliged, hopping into the cockpit and firing up the systems, everything working just fine. The ship looked awful, but the readouts told him everything was fine. All of this was far beyond any reasonable explanation, unless this was first contact with a sentient species and this was their idea of a joke.

"No, we're not aliens, you imbecile," Loki chided. "Yes, I can read your thoughts. So I know if I let you go, you'll relay this and I'll cease being stuck on this droll plane of existence."

"Loki, we can't do this," Mel said.

"What are you going to do? Run and tell Zeus and Hera and Odin and the rest of the assholes? Grow up, Pal."

"You think if I somehow get out of here and... convince people you exist, you'll not be here anymore?” Knowing their thoughts were broadcasting and these beings could read them made it more difficult to collect their thoughts.

“Your meddling will be the—" Mel raised his trident and pointed it towards Loki.

“Enough!” Loki snapped his fingers, and Mel dissipated into sand, much like the small cherub had prior. Kahl looked on in shock, and Loki shook his head. “He’s fine, just back with the other busybodies.”

"This has to be deep space sickness," Kahl said. "I'm losing my shit here."

"Absolutely not!" Loki disappeared, then reappeared in the cockpit of the ship. "This is very real. In fact, this is my way out of here and you're the key to this. If I promise to get you off of here, do you promise to believe? To worship me again so that I can thrive?"

"I'm not even sure how I'd do that?"

"Your other option is to wait around and see what these vengeful old fuddy duddies have in store for you, which, dearest Kahl, I've heard the talks and they don't sound pretty."

"There's no way I can make people just believe in the old gods ever again," Kahl said. "Not after this long, after coming this far."

"But you can see I'm right here," Loki said. "Correct? That I've fixed your ship and sent that goody two shoes packing?"

"I mean, yeah," Kahl said. "Sure."

"Then you believe in me," Loki said. "Even if you aren't able to convince a single other living soul, it gives me a chance."

“Mel seemed to think you’d get into some sort of trouble, or—“

"They’re fools!" Loki shouted. "I've made my decision. The rest of the gods be damned, for I refuse to sit along these celestial shores as some afterthought. Never again. I refuse this wretched nonexistence."

"B-but—"

"No, buts! Now bye-bye!" Loki snapped his fingers and an unbearable, bitter cold overcame Kahl before they blacked out.

#

The revival creche was cold and Kahl's eyes shot open in horror, struggling to breathe and see through the iced over window. On the outside, a woman scrambled, tapping at the glass and inputting something on the keypad. Kahl's fists pounded against the glass while it cracked open, the tech helping to peel it off before Kahl reached out, tugging at the cables binding them to the creche.

"Please, stop!" the woman cried out. "Doc, the one from A8 just had a rough re-entry."

"Shit," a woman's voice called from a distance. "I'm coming."

Kahl tore away the mask that was clutching to their face and fought for a few deep breaths, gripping onto the edges of the tank and attempting to pull themselves out. The tech rushed over and tried to calm them down, explaining they needed to stay put until the doctor could make it in and there were medications being administered, but it was all background noise to Kahl.

"M-my ship," Kahl croaked. "Where's my ship?"

"It was a smashed up hunk of junk," the tech said. "You're lucky to have survived for as long as you did drifting out there. We have no idea what you hit."

"Kahl Uno, correct?" a woman asked. She wore a blue jumpsuit with a white lab coat over it, in contrast to her dusky skin and striking features.

"Where am I?" Kahl asked.

"You are Kahl Uno, correct?" she asked again.

"Yes, but... wait, my ship was destroyed?"

"It was in awful condition," the doctor said. "You're lucky to be alive. Stell, can you set Mx. Uno up with a normal bed, please?"

"Yes, doctor," the tech said.

"Good. I promise I'll be back in a minute, just don't do anything drastic. We need to make sure you don't go into shock, Mx. Uno. There’s some sort of fire in the next pod I need to attend to."

Kahl sat in a puddle of melting goop that was still ice cold, wondering what had happened. There were memories of that strange shoreline, the cherubs, and two men, but it had to be their mind playing tricks on them. While the tech came over and fished through the cables, undoing them one-by-one, ignoring Kahl was freezing their butt off in there. A laugh reverberated from down the hall, a familiar one that made their blood run cold.

"Loki?" Kahl whispered.

"What was that?" the tech asked.

"That laugh, you hear it, don't you?"

"Sure, Mx. Uno." The tech paused for a moment, laughed and shook her head. "Huh, you know what? I do. Wonder who that is. Your other arm, please."

“Wait, where did you find my ship again?” Kahl asked in a panic. “Was there anyone else with me?”

“You were drifting out in the fringes,” the tech said. “I’d have to look at your chart, but you were on some sort of recon mission for the company and… Of course you were alone. Why?”

“That laugh. Is it another patient?” Kahl looked around and saw smoke wafting through the door. “Wait, is that smoke?”

“There wouldn’t be smoke in… what in the…?” The tech turned and there, standing in the doorway, was Loki, a wry smile across his face, a tiny flame nursed in his palm. “Sir, you can’t do that in here.”

“You’re here,” Kahl gasped.

“Do you know this person?” the tech asked.

“Loki,” Kahl muttered. “This can’t be real. You see him?”

“Uh huh,” she said.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Loki waltzed over, juggling the flame between his palms, then tossing it at Kahl, them ducking only for it to disappear before impact, making Loki burst out into laughter. “You mortals are such fools. You believe, and now so does she. The word is getting around, it seems! Loki has returned.”

In a dramatic explosion of flames, Loki disappeared, leaving behind a small trail of flames on the floor and smoke clinging to the air. The laugh trailed behind him, leaving Kahl and the tech frozen in place. Both of them locked eyes for a brief moment and Kahl couldn’t help but sigh.

“Who was that?”

“Loki,” Kahl said. “That asshole.”

----

This is a short story I've had kicking around for a while, and sorta let sit. It's not the usual tone or kind of story I write, and fell into the realm of being a story that didn't fit into my previous work, nor does it fit into a lot of the stories I've been writing lately. This one is from July of 2023, and really, I have no actual interest in mythology. Yet, here's this story. I don't know.