The Demi-God's Date With Justice

   It was not his fault. This much Azeron was absolutely sure of. As absolutely sure as a god could be, or in his case, as absolutely sure as a demi-god could be. He swore to himself that it wasn't his fault, and to a few of his friends, too.

   Oh sure he had been responsible for a number of calamities that befell the human race, just as many as any of the other gods, he mused. However, he was also responsible for a great many of the blessings that had made life wonderful for a great many humans, especially that of a certain poet during the late stages of what the humans termed the middle ages.

   But did he get any credit for that? No, not an iota. All the humans cared about at that time was the plague brought on by Derbisterg, a lesser known demi-god of pestilence, which completely overshadowed the poet's good fortune.

   It also didn't help that most of the human populace that knew of the poet couldn't read, and it damn sure didn't help that the poet chose to live as a hermit.

   He couldn't figure out how his name had been drawn into the conversation regarding the volcanic eruption in the area the humans referred to as the Mediterranean. It had been at least a millennium since he had even glanced in that direction, much less concerned himself with it. In fact, no god that he had known of had paid attention to that area of the world since the populace had all began ignoring them and started venerating Jehovah and Allah.

   "Hah!" Azeron thought. "If any gods should be getting the blame for disasters in that area of the world, it's those two!"

   Of course, he would never speak those words aloud. Those two possessed the belief power of billions of humans, far more than all the other remaining gods (and demi-gods) combined. He was toast if either one of them even suspected his thoughts.

   Azeron momentarily wondered what it would be like to wield that much belief power. He would be able to do anything.

   He quickly put an end to that line of thought as he approached the vast Hall of Judicature. His presence had been requested by the Tribunal and as far as he could gather it had to do with the volcanic eruption. He could think of nothing else that would be important enough to warrant their attention.

   Timidly he opened the large door that lead into the antechambers where he would be temporarily stripped of his powers, including his immortality, before being lead into the main theater. 

   He had been stripped of his powers before and he dreaded the process. In his mind there was nothing worse than being stripped of his powers...it made him feel so...human.