Soon days became weeks. Jake explored himself. More and more instances with gods became clear to him. He learned things he never thought to ponder. He became aware of treatments he never thought he’d seen before. Jake Caloway in many ways, learned the secrets of the universe. Jake was an occultist. But the spirits told him that God would be pushing him away, and so it was. Jake even believed himself to be talking to “God” for a while, but that spirit eventually like all good friends left him as well.

Jake found friends again though. Eventually he fell to moderate discord, and joined multiple communities. Soon all but two of his friends Jeromy and Kael were practicing witches. Janet, and Cooks and the like didn’t talk to him anymore. He had also years of internet friends that abandoned him as well. But that was all five years ago. Jake was trying to start over. He wanted desperately to start fresh, free from the chains of the obsession over Maika, free from his love of Cooks, and others. 

He was hurt. They had left him. That left giant wound in his heart, and issues of abadmoent that hadn’t ceased via his fathers suicide from when he was 13. His past haunted him. He couldn't deny that. But in many ways he got so attached to his initial friends that it wasn’t healthy that they were in his life at all. He had flashbacks everyday, and his unique dreaming for whatever reason wasn’t exactly helping.

He was also attached to a few blokes at the mental asylum. But those guys were all assholes in the end. At least in his mind. Anthony was the only one who was nice to him. The ones who even like Anthony- that promised they’d stay in contact, never truly did. If Anthony was actually like Osirus, Jake had met yet another god who had let him down. But Jake believed they were aspects of each other. Race doesn’t usually come into play when such things are taken into account. Anthony was a kind soul. A soul he occasionally still thinks about. But he wasn’t a long term friend, and he was someone Jake left behind.

Jake became confined to a computer and his antipsychotics while they cured his brain, made him gain about 200 pounds, and made him look rather swollen. Soon his teeth began to rot out of his mouth and being lower class the problem only ever continued unable to afford dental care. Acne filled his face and for a long time he was miserable. Depression filled his mind. He wasn’t happy.

Jake wasn’t exactly pathetic. He often joked that there were never two hot best friends and Maika the girlish presenting looker, who would always end up sleeping with whoever Jake was crushing on, was always someone people admired that they held over Jake. Jake wasn’t jealous of Maika. But Maika in some ways held this over people he didn’t like, and now that they were no longer friends, it was just another nail in the coffin for Maika to hold over Jake that Jake worried would be brought up should they reconnect. Sometimes Jake crossed Maika’s mind. But these thoughts were met with disgust, upset, and a grossed out creepiness sometimes pittiness or unsettled sympathy and cringe that they had ever been friends at all. Maika didn’t remember a friend. Maika remembered someone he used to know, who was overly attached to him who went off the deep end.

Jake still missed him though. But he often thought because of all these factors that if they did become friends again, as his spirits had told him that Maika would look at Jake and be upset. Jake worried that Maika would see him as someone who was stupid like he had told his friend he viewed him as, so many times before. To his benefit for what Jake lacked in the looks department, he made up for in his wording, storytelling, painting, and intellect. Jake was excellent at magic as well and a very hard worker with a skill for languages. Jake was seen by many as a creative genius, but despite this all, these were all inner things, you’d truly have to “know” him to understand.

Jake spent 5 years studying demons. Working with them. He studied primarily out of a book known as “the Goetia.” an encyclopedia for the demonic. Terrible instruction manual, good dictionary for who to contact, at least according to Jake. Jake’s approach was, befriend with minimal tooling, and become the higher power, and out of all the horror stories he had heard about demons, the good for him outweighed the bad, and he grew to love them, they began to change him, and he grew despite them pleading otherwise, to view them as a very misunderstood group. No he was not the person at the start of the journey and like all who venture into the occult, he felt great shame at his former self, especially at his actions and attempts at “trying to sell his soul”.

Jake remembered quite vividly a flashback. He was sitting in a computer room. On his desktop. Suddenly he heard chanting. The ability to see and hear spirits is one that is earned. One that you work towards and not one that is so freely given. He looked around, several demons who he had come to know, were around him. Lucifuge, who is Lucifer’s dark twin. Amaymon, and the whole hierarchy. Demons don’t work without a system. They sort themselves in the “Infernal Empire” via a kingdom of sorts a government they suffice where they go by ranks, and order. Satan greeted and gave him a gift. He placed something in his hands. “What is it?” 

“He’s a familiar” Satan said. 

“Who is he?”

“Why don’t you ask his name?”

And the spirit who we’ll call Belial, told him his name, and it was ranking demon who Jake had to come to know.

“Treat him well. He will guide you from this point.”

The portal collapsed and the spirits left, and Jake and A, got to know each other. The memory fades and Jake looked at his hand. 

“You aren’t deluded you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“You really refuse to see yourself as a god?”

“You guys keep saying I’m god. I know I’m not the god of the bible-”

“That’s symbolic. This is literal.”

“Why? How? I know people don’t just wake up with power? Spirits keep saying I have this dark power-”

“At some point you gained it. You don’t remember and you don’t need to. It was when you were “crazy” less stable. But you gained your divinity. It’s why the gods see you as their equals.”

“So what I’m supposed to believe that?”

“It’s hardly a lie Jake.”

“What do I do with this information?”

“Lot’s of things.” B said sure of himself.

“Such as?”

“I think you need to explore yourself. But you’re not ready.”

“How am I not ready?”

“You aren’t ready for this knowledge or information. You’re getting there. But you are not there yet.”

“So I’m a god?”

“Yes. That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“I know you’ve struggled with delusions-”

“That’s a word for it.”

“But some of them weren’t delusions!” He said this trying to make a point. Trying to get across to Jake who was so sure of his beliefs.

“I think deep down. You know you’re not human. You’re not immortal. You will even be worshiped when you die. But you’re not human.” Jake was silent.

“So I hid for nothing.”

“So you know this?”

“I think I destroyed my spiritual reputation. I tell spirits I’m “Jake Claoway” and they laugh at me”

“They laugh at you because you had unlimited god like power and not only did you choose to hide it, you chose to manipulate people into thinking you were a fool! Thinking you were harmless. Why?”

“I just don’t want people to be afraid fo me B“

“So you destroyed your reputation?”

“I was already crazy when I did that. But yeah I regret it.”
“So why do you hide from even the Greek Gods? Why is Hermes the one you choose to open up to?”

“Because he’s a trickster. I’ve always trusted tricksters. I’m drawn to them. Woden, Enki, Hermes, Loki. I like them. He’s a liar. He had a golden tongue. So he’s perfect to tell my secrets to. I didn’t expect him to go on blowing the lid to all of mount Olympus like he did. I guess I can’t trust him.” Jake said recounting on an incident we haven’t covered and won’t.

“I think you need to be careful with how many people you let know about you. The Greek pantheon was a unique one to choose. To trust. But in general the more people who know, the more of a target will be on your back.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Now I do have to get going.”

“Thanks B. For always being there.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you.”

Jake relaxed his muscles. He closed his eyes. He overheard the gods gossiping at his alter as they often tended to do. He drifted. He was out at sea. He was on a boat. The waves were hot and he could feel them. Ice was coming undone at every turn. He saw before him Maika, strapped to the head of a pirate ship like the figure of a vessel. He reached out to him, but he laughed. Soon the water continued to boil and Jake screamed but nobody came. As the water fell into his throat he fell under.

Soon he collapsed and was completely drowned. Finally he was in a cave. There was a golden statue. Several women went up to it bearing gifts. He saw a dark skinned women with frizzy hair in a beautiful dress approach him. 

“What do you have to give?” 

“Myself” and Jake went to the idol and woke up in a cold sweat.