text: "Finish your dinner son, it's almost time" came his father's voice from the hallway. Andromeda hurried and finished his steak and salmon dinner, washing it down with some sweet red wine. He set down his glass and bolted from the dining room, knowing that the servants would quickly clean up after him. He caught up to his father and followed him down the hallway and out the back door. The evening mountain breeze was cool and brought the smell of the flower gardens to Andromeda's nose. His father stopped and looked at him for a moment. "Today is possibly the most important day of your life, certainly the day that you will remember the most". Without waiting for a reply his father took off and headed towards the wooded path. Andromeda gulped and followed, anxiety building with each step. Andromeda followed his father down the dark tree-covered path and into the next clearing. The tall iron gates of the family cemetery stood before him. In the 18 years he had been alive, today was to be the first time he was ever allowed into the graveyard. They both stood and admired the ancient metalwork for a while in silence. The gates held the family crest in its center with depictions of armies on each side with a gigantic tree in the background. Finally, Andromeda found his voice " Dad, what is going to happen when we pass through these gates? What will I see?". His father smiled slightly and turn to him. "Past these gates, you will see the end, the beginning, horror, and wonders." He hesitated a moment as if to reflect on what he just said, nodding slowly he continued. " You will see the power of the collective human consciousness at work." As soon as he finished speaking the gates shuddered and opened up. Past the gates laid a stone path lined with torches and hooded figures. They began to slowly walk forward, Andromeda looking all around him at the shrouded people and the ancient tombstones behind them. They continued on the path until they reached a large mausoleum at the base of the mountain. The stone crypt was guarded by several large men in dark armor that Andromeda didn't recognize. The doors to the tomb looked to be hand-carved from some sort of expensive hardwood. The carvings showed wolves and giants in battle. The doors groaned and opened up revealing a dark chamber beyond. "Past these doors son...you will learn that our family has a dark history and a darker secret. Our ancestors have had to do some terrible things to maintain the power we have and unfortunately for us. We have to continue or everything will be destroyed." Andromeda felt a slight twinge of sickness in his stomach. "What kind of terrible thing?" He asked his father, scared of the answer. His father sighed and suddenly looked 10 years older. "Murder, genocide, war, the birth and death of religions, manipulation of currency and the media, and even the destruction of nations". Came his reply. " In truth" continued his father. "Our family deserves the worst of punishments, but we can't allow that to happen...we must continue this dark fight and here shortly you'll see why." Andromeda nodded, trusting his father even as the feeling of dread filled his heart. They walked side by side through the chamber and down a long, dark staircase. After what seemed like an hour Andromeda could see light flickering ahead. Sweat trickled down his back regardless of the damp coolness of the subterranean stairs. Arriving at the final landing he took stock of his surroundings. Ahead of him stood a company of soldiers in the strange armor the men outside had been wearing. Behind them stood two massive wooden doors with intricate carvings and heavy black chains. A strange vibration radiated from the wood. A soldier walked over to him and his father and handed them strange helmets. "Wear these helmets, it's the only way to protect yourself from the chaos on the other side of these doors." His father thanked the soldier and slid the helmet over his head. Andromeda asked, "what exactly do we need to be protected from?" His father's muffled reply came from the helmet in Andromeda's hands "have you ever heard the scream of an angel or the cries of a demon? Without these helmets, our minds and souls will shatter". Andromeda pulled on his helmet and felt his heart skip a beat. The heavy black chains began to shake as they pulled back into the walls. The doors slowly creaked open and Andromeda felt his father push him forward and they both passed over the threshold. The doors slammed behind them. Andromeda gawked in confused amazement. The ceiling of the massive cave he now stood in was hidden by a swirling cluster of stars and planets, lightning flashed in clouds and thunder tore through the massive space. The floor of the chamber was a mix of broken pathways and pillars, the flow of a hellish fire illuminated the room. Directly ahead of him a man was chained to a pillar. He wore armor that was rusted and dented, behind him was two massive white wings. The wings were broken and tired together. The man had nails stuck in his eyes. Behind his pillar was a massive giant of a man with a red beard. He was chained in a similar fashion. Slowly Andromeda realized that there were countless beings chained to pillars and walls. All of them in terrible and broken conditions. Andromeda looked desperately to his father for an answer. " Religion" "What?" His father placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly. "Religion, you're looking at religion. That winged man is the Archangel Michael and behind him is the Norse God Thor. Our secret is that we have imprisoned the Gods. We keep them here until they completely fade away from memory. Unfortunately, though, the Gods gain and lose power as humans lose faith or start believing in these powerful entities." A terrible scream tore through the air and pushed Andromeda to his knees. His father continued calmly. "Humans create gods through the power of belief. The more people who believe in the Gods, the more powerful they become. Our great ancestors knew this and began a war on religion. They were shown a technology that allowed them to find and subdue these all-powerful creatures. A technology that the men outside of this prison use currently to hunt down and capture them. It's a constant fight and one we are starting to lose." Andromeda was having difficulty comprehending what he was seeing and hearing. "Who...who gave us the tech?" "A powerful being from another world, yes you could say that a god gave us the tech so we would remove all of the other gods for it's the inevitable occupation of our Earth. Not only do we use its technology, but we have also worked ever so hard to discredit all religions. Our efforts have backfired greatly though. We created the Abrahamic religions in an attempt to control the population. All we have gotten though are countless versions of God, Satan, and endless war. We now have a resurgence of Norse Paganism and that terrifies me. The last thing I want is Fenrir to break free." Andromeda's mind was numb, he was on the verge of a panic attack and his mind couldn't absorb any more of the truth he was seeing. "Welcome to the endless war, to the family power, to the service of our Lord who you will learn about starting tomorrow, and ultimately...our guaranteed doom.