Praying to the Porcelain God

“And who the hell are you?”

“Huh?” That’s not what Nik was expecting.



“Are you slow?  Perhaps hard of hearing?  I asked; who are you?  I was attempting to enjoy a peaceful morning alone until you decided to invite yourself in.  The least you can do is explain.”  One dark brow arched meaningful as those jade eyes swept south of the border briefly, “And even though you’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before, please cover yourself.”



Face reddening at the way he was being spoken to and the fact that he was utterly naked, Nik looked about for anything that could be used as cover.  The courtyard wasn’t much; an archway was the only visible means of entrance and exit (overlooking the beam-method Jon seemed so fond of) and in the center of the room was a small pool of water, next to which the cold-toned beauty sat.  “Just grab a cloud and pull, they don’t usually like to be separated from each other for strangers but I’m sure one will come loose.  Though I can’t promise that it won’t run away at some point, since it‘ll be level with your penis.”  



“Cool it, crabby and crude,” Nik bit back in annoyance, though he still did as suggested.  Surprisingly, after a tugging in a few different places, a speedo-sized amount of fluff came away from the rest.  It was better than nothing.  “I didn’t invite myself here, your stupid Porcelain God must have beamed me up.”



“He isn’t my anything.”  The words were spoken venomously, as if the kid had something against Jon.  Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all, Nik had to agree with his taste in people.  “Since you can’t tell me why you’re here, you can still give me your name.  Not that I actually care.”  



Then again, the attitude would take some getting used to.  “Nik Atwood, ever so pleased to meet you,” he said, a tinge of sarcasm in the introduction.  “And trust me; I wouldn’t crash this courtyard just to cross verbal swords with a crank-muffin like you.  I think it’s Jon’s fault.”  That got him some attention.  Brilliant jade eyes bored into him, swimming with several emotions.  Surprise flashed over the boy’s face before slipping back into that cool indifference, only this time he seemed more withdrawn.  As if mention of the god was upsetting.  



“So you know him as more than just his title.  Not many outside of his sky palace do.  You must be from the temple, that’s where all Exotics end up.  Perhaps you are close to a member of the council, how else would you learn his name?  You look a little old to be a candidate for tribute.”  Those eyes returned to Nik, traveling over his naked form.



“A what?  I’ve got nothing to do with Fen and his bunch,” Nik frowned at the suggestion, attempting to ignore the jade gaze.  “What I’ve heard of them hasn’t made me want to join up either.  And I’m sure as hell not going to let them offer me up as a meat-popsicle to the dear ol’ potty god.”  Especially since Nik was supposed to take the moron’s place!  



“Were you raised in a cave?  Don‘t you know anything?”  There was that smart-talk again.  The guy treated him like he had an extremely low IQ.  What the hell; if Nik was going to tell somebody his toilet tale, why not sassy ’n sarcastic negative-ned.  “No, I was sucked down my toilet by a immature and impulsive sorcerer who fails at spells.  Honestly, the way everything seems to run around here is too wacko for my tastes.  I’d like nothing more than to go home, I’ve just got to figure out how.”  



A glance at Jade showed that those eyes hadn’t moved, in fact they’d taken on a curious gleam.  The boy’s whole face and body language had relaxed, the tension from moments before easing away.  “That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.  Are you implying that you’re from another world?  That a magical being brought you here?”  Nik merely nodded.  Jade (as he had dubbed the other male in his head) seemed to think a moment before going on, “Whether or not you’re telling the truth, I’ll give you a bit of free education.  Take a seat, student.”  Ha-ha.  Nik slowly lowered himself to the floor, eyes glued to his crotch to make sure the cloud went with him.  



“I’m an Exotic.  You’re one too.  Our people say that on the day of his coming to us, Jon blessed all unborn children.  Every generation since has had light hair- any color between the gold of the sun to the paleness of the moon.  And blue is now the dominant eye color, though in numerous shades.



“However, some families posses strong genes and sometimes a child is born with another color- of wood, of fire. Of black as dark as night.  We are considered exotic because we stand out amongst the rest of our people.  Almost all exotics are brought to live in the temple at a young age, to serve as Novices.



“Their fate has very little variety; guard, attendant, tribute.  Some find happiness in teaching or other activities within the temple and a rare few gain higher titles.  The council likes to keep Exotics out of positions of power.  For even though we are collected for our differences, our blood is viewed as bad by many.  We aren’t pure; if we were then we‘d look like everyone else.”   



This place just got better and better.  Magic and mudbloods.  What next?  Harry Potter apparating into the courtyard being chased by Voldemort?  “Phoenix, my man!  I see you got my summons!”  Jon was definitely no Dark Lord, more like a bad jinx someone had shot Nik‘s way.  He turned to his companion, hoping to share a roll-of-the-eyes about their less-than-favorite person, but Jade had already leapt up from his formally relaxed position.  All he got was a “See you around Nik,” before the gorgeous discontent beauty coolly spun about and stalked off.  They had been getting along, damnit!  Way to go Jon.



“Zaia.”  Nik eyeballed the room for another person as he carefully stood up, surprised at the downhearted tone of Jon’s voice.  He almost sounded. . . .sorry.  Jade’s retreating backside flipped a switch that said ‘Eureka baby!’  Zaia.  Jon seemed dejected at the ravenette’s departure.  



A second later said adonis slapped Nik’s shoulder with a large hand, chuckling and leering at the same time as he merrily poked fun, “Nice thong!”  The man had the attention span of a two-year-old.  “I’m glad Zaia could keep you company ‘til I got here.  What were you two chirping about?”



“How you cursed everyone here to look like you.  I didn’t realize you had that big of a head.”  Nik half expected the sorcerer to grin and spout out something like ‘The head isn’t the only part of it that’s big,’ but instead the other male scratched at his facial fuzz sheepishly.



“I didn’t curse them.  But I didn’t bless them either, like they all think.  It was sort of an accident.  I tried putting my own twist on a duplication spell while dabbling in potion brewing and things went awry.  Specifics aside, their DNA is a little bit different now.  Think of it this way, I increased the odds for blond and blue in the gene pool.  Totally harmless!”



“Right,” the guy really was playing God with these people.  Even if he did it by mistake.  Nik decided to jump right to the point, “Why did you beam me up here this time?  Some important stuff was going on and I’d like to get back.”  He’d disappeared on Sky before, but the rest were clueless. Jem & Em were probably arguing again and Micah. . . .



“Important stuff?  Pfft,” Jon gave him another manly smack, this time on the back. “I told you I’d bring you back today so we could talk!  I’ve got a few gifts for you, and one of them is really cool!  I won’t keep you for crazy long.  What’s so important anyways?”  



Nik tried to keep his cool, but his words came out a little rough, “Some rebel shot and poisoned me. I survived but now I get funky warm feelings when Micah so much as breathes all because of some flower!  I didn’t know I would hit the top of the assassins list just by being here.”  



“Someone tried to kill you?!  Poison, flower.  Poisonous flower!”  It was good to know that the idiot with power could manage to put two and two together.  “HA!  You got struck with Heartsease!”



“Don’t you mean Heartcease?”



“Oh yeah, I forgot that they call it that.”  Jon looked thoughtful for a moment before his eyes went wide, “It’s poisonous!!”  Genius.  “Wait.  Actually it’s not.  Well.  It is to them, but you should be okay.  Whoo-ee.  You had me scared for a minute there.  Can’t have my successor up and die on me!”



Did nothing faze this guy?  “How do you know the poison won’t make a come back and kill me off?  And I’m not okay, because the thing is practically a love potion!  Don’t you have #9 antidote or something?”  It wasn’t that Micah was a bad person, in fact- he was caring, a good listener, not to mention beyond lovely.  



Nik had to give his head a firm shake to free it from the daze that had snuck in along with thoughts of the other boy.  “I’m mildly allergic to Heartsease.  During the DNA alteration, the allergy mutated and advanced.  Everyone is deathly allergic to what the people have named Heartcease.  Since I brought you here, you don’t have the allergy.”  That made sense.  “But the plant’s properties still effect you.”



That didn‘t help any!  Nik‘s frustration built.  “Can’t you do anything about it?”  His hands clenched into fists to avoid a physical move, “Whip up something to make it go away?!  Call up your friend the witch doctor?  I don’t like not being able to control how I feel.”  And it was the daft deity’s fault!  Unfortunately for Nik, Jon didn’t seem to have a good track record for fixing his mistakes.



“I don’t have any antidote,” was the unconcerned reply, “never needed any.  I can try to brew one, but it could take a while to get it right.”  No way was Nik willing to play lab rat, there had to be another way.  Right?  He willed his stare to burn into Jon and magically produce an answer. “Your best chance for a quick fix is to catch a shooting star, then wish the effect away.  And my gift can help with that!”



Was this whole world on crack?  Glowing flowers, poisonous love nectar, and now he was supposed to believe that wishing on stars actually worked?  Nik turned to glare some more at the trouble-making sorcerer only to find a semi-transparent wall of fire between them.  No, around him.  



It wasn’t hot and it’s surface moved more like water or wind, but it was composed of vibrant swirls of red and orange.  It towered above him and seemed to shrink in closer and closer to his body.  Another one of those strange feelings raced through Nik, fiercer this time as it danced along his nerves until the energy began to focus between his shoulder blades.



It was as if a force from within was trying to tear it’s way out of Nik’s back.  His brain was telling him he should be feeling pain but there was none.  Just overwhelming sensation, power, coursing through him.  Making him breathless.  Then everything came together in a unified and brilliant climax that knocked him off his feet.



Or it would have, but Jon must have used more magic to suspend him in the air.  When Nik opened his eyes he could see the ground bobbing gently below him.  Color flickered oddly in his peripheral vision, and he was aware of a soft breeze tickling his back as well as the whisper of wind in his ears.  “Now that’s what I call one hot accessory, my friend!”



Sweet Lord.  Jon had turned him into a flaming version of Tinkerbell.

A/N; Sorry this chapter is late getting up. This is the last of the already completed chapters, and I've been too busy with the holiday-stuff / work lately to write more. I honestly do not know when I will get the next chapter up. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Thanks for reading