Fergie's God

I'm writing the novel, but there will be around 8 story arcs which weave together - I think I'm going to go with the non-linear plot spiderweb plot structure. This is one of the story arcs, I'm still writing it (and probably will be for a while.) This is the bones, with a few details to help me flesh it out completely.

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God's Office from Alecto (the Unceasing) Erinyes' point of view:

Most people say that it doesn't exist, but that's just because it's confusing to find and a huge pain in the butt to track down. You're told it's on the other side of the Akashic Library and that you need to locate the Librarian, Mistichinau, for the right map to get there. Of course, it all depends on who you ask at the Info Kiosk out front of the library and whether you're new to the University or been around for a while.

Many people are frightened off by the sheer massiveness of the library edifice, it does go on into infinity in all directions, except on the side it shares with the rest of the University grounds. It looks like a never-ending wall, the edges of which cannot be seen to the left, right or top. The entire face has magnificent windows dotting it sporadically, and in the supposed middle are grandiose main doors so gargantuan, they make the doors of Oz's Emerald City look like a servant's entrance. Murals cover it, some as old as the universe's first ever civilization, they are constantly being painted on the library by the art department - telling the stories of each civilization as it bloomed and evolved over time. All of this dazzles the eyes and makes you wonder how many lifetimes it'll take to get to the other side of such a place.

Quite a few people aren't daunted by the outside of the building but have no idea what it's like inside the library, nor what species are hired on as librarians. Upon entering you see the Front Desk, run by Avalokiteshvara, the Hindu god with the thousand arms of compassion, he is constantly answering questions and pairing people - depending on their form - with either Pegasus waiting nearby to fly land walkers to the right section of library, hippocamps waiting in a side channel to guide those water born down a thousand islets running off from 3 main rivers or gaseous forms in tubes over head that crisscross so many times it makes your eyes water just to look at them from below. There are usually a couple of lines to one side, of people who look freshly arrived, still looking as they did when they died on their home planet. When you say you want to see God, Avalokiteshvara points to the end of the line appropriate for your form and says "The line goes faster than it appears, no complaints or bribes please. You'll get there when it's your time to get there."

Whether it goes fast or not, there is so much hustle and bustle going on at the front of the library with all the different beings taking off and arriving all the time, that you can forget about time altogether just people watching and trying to process it all. You also see that whole parts of the library would be off limits to you, simply because of your chosen form - not far behind the Front Desk, you can see a reference hall under the surface of the central river and far above, you can see what looks like a huge bubble full of gases, in more colors than most people realize even exist, all swirling and moving in seemingly random patterns. Unless you are one of those gaseous forms or are lucky enough to be friends with one of them, there is absolutely no way to decipher what all of it means, most land and water based beings agree on one thing though, it is magnificently beautiful and completely hypnotic to most observers.

If you get past this chaos and don't become so mesmerized by the gaseous beings that you forget you're in line, you are then taken to an island about 400 kilometers down the central river, it's peak so high that it's shrouded in clouds. Around the edges of the river are scroll cases 50 stories high, with glades and fields of flowers, and immense, lovely, redwood trees growing at the bases. Once at the top of the island mountain peak - you can see for hundreds of miles on all sides. The scroll cases stand in concentric semi-circles going back at least 80 kilometers on each side, each case the size of a New York block, crammed full of ancient texts. If you placed the scrolls from the Library of Alexandra, before it was burned to the ground, here - they'd make up only a tiny portion of the whole. It seems as though there are thousands of Pegasus flying around, some diving down to specific cases, at least 100 circling the island in a holding pattern, as one departs the mountain side, one the circling Pegasus dive in and land.

If you are able to take your eyes from the breathtaking vistas of the library and pay attention to the passengers on the pegasus before and after they land on the island - you would see that the countenance of every single being who goes in to talk to Mistichinau changes drastically. On the way in, they usually look overawed, curious and determined - on the way out, every single one looks shaken and very afraid, rarely does one continue down the river towards the other side of the vast library, most head straight back the way they came, a few head out to different areas of the library. Usually these people find out the answers to their questions can be found somewhere in the endless cases of knowledge and the hassle of getting all the way to God's office is not only unnecessary but actually contrary to their subjective goals. You begin to wonder what can be so frightening that it causes a majority of the people on the same quest, to turn back and no longer want to seek the face of God.

When it's your turn, your Pegasus swoops down to land on a smooth stone shelf that has large gouges evenly spaced across the front edge, like something with enormous claws gripped it before taking off in flight - repeatedly for a millennium. Before you yawns the entrance to a cave carved out of the mountain, impossibly tall in this land of already impossible dimensions. People are hurrying in and out, appearing as small insects against the size of the cave. You can tell the difference between newbies and those who work there, it's plain on each face - either you're curious and trepidation, completely at ease and ignoring your surroundings, or terrified to the point of wet pants. I pity those who think they will not be affected by the main contents of that cave, for even the most at ease staff bustling there were once frightened completely out of their wits as well - they just got used to it.

As one enters the cave and comes past the 400 yds thick stone walls, you come face to face with a black, silver, and white dragon, with wings and horns and hand-sized teeth and claws as big as any other being present. Dragon fear hits you instantly, many newbies can be seen trying to flee and being coaxed by their guides to calm down. Mistichinau looks like he can swallow you whole, for a light snack and not even think about it, except maybe to chuckle at how insignificantly small you are. Every few breaths, a rumble rolls out from his throat and a bluish green vapor swirls from his nostrils. His eyes are a liquid metallic with neon colors writhing around and thru each other like a loose Gordian Knot, when he looks you in the eye, you get the feeling that you'll go insane if you stare too long.

Over time, as you stand there and process the scene, you can hear him talking to people in a low voice, the rumble is him growling at people's stupidity and small minded fear. As you look into his eyes, you slowly realize you haven't gone insane yet and it's really pretty cool to watch. You have to wonder what it's like to see out of eyes like that, what would it be like to have the sight of a dragon? They live immortally, they decided to stop going back to the planets long ago and are the main librarians on every level conceivable. If there is a form of existence, there is a dragon for it. It's an interesting phenomenon that they know and understand among themselves, but refuse to talk about with anyone. Mistichinau is the head librarian, he's had his post for millions of years and his attitude towards the other races hasn't improved over all that time.

Dragon fear isn't logical though, even when you start to calm down and realize you aren't going to be a snack, your primal brain keeps screaming "RUN!! Run away for heaven's sake! Run away NOW while you can!!" It's a part of our genetic code, no matter what planet you come from or how fierce your race tends to be - when a being comes into contact with a real dragon, your brain turns into a jibbering mess of fear and survival instincts. If you are able to conquer it enough to stay and talk to him, another thought usually creeps in. If a dragon is this frightening, a being created by God - how much more intensely scary will God be to actually meet?

Getting closer to Mistichinau, you're given food and drink while you wait for your turn. You're invited to sit in a lounge to one side, with tons of comfortable couches, pillows and a multitude of furniture that would be baffling if there weren't beings using them to relax. Around the Head Librarian are at least 50 people vying for his attention, he seems to be able to converse with all of them on an individual basis, simultaneously. Whenever a pilgrim is answered, they are guided back out and another one from the Lounge is brought forward, but the majority of the people Mistichinau talked to came and went as they wished, many with papers to be signed or reporting in from a mission the Head Librarian sent them on. As he moves his head, you can see a glint of gold on his nose, though what it is you can't tell from a distance. He also keeps raising one hand to his mouth, making a weird face and then putting his hand back down. The pattern is puzzling, especially as nobody standing close enough to talk to him react to it in any way.

While relaxing in the lounge, a group of Blargistians hand out a food they call manna, it doesn't look like anything special - just squares of some unidentifiable food in different colors. The newest people will ask "What is it?" They are asked: "What are you craving? Which color appeals to you when you think of it?" The Blargistians hand you a tin of squares the color you request and wait for your response. Surprisingly, it tastes exactly like the food you're craving, not only that - it's tastes like the best of that particular food.