There was once a boy of 13 years living in Rome, in the ancient times. The gods had been cruel to him and his family. They were poor, and could not read or write. His father was dead, and he had no siblings. Yet, the boy was happy with his life.
One day, he was out walking with his girlfriend, Casca. They had known each other nearly all their lives. Casca was in a worse situation: both of her parents were dead. She lived with her uncle, and every so often he noticed that parts of her body had bruises on them. But she never spoke of them.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" the adolescent boy said to Casca.
"It sure is. I do love the summertime," Casca said, looking into the boy's eyes.
The boy looked back. "And I love you," he said. Casca blushed. Both leaned in for a kiss.
whoosh, whoosh, WHOOSH, WHUMPF!
"What was that?!" Casca jerked away suddenly, causing her lover to kiss the air, lose his balance, and nearly fall over.
They both walked towards the small object that fell onto the ground. As he crouched down to inspect the object, his heart leapt into his throat. It was a gold coin! "Amazing!" He flipped it over. On it was printed the word "DEORVM." He went pale.
"How lucky!" Casca said. "We can sell it and eat for weeks! This is great."
"I don't think we can sell this." He showed her the coin. "Deorum. 'Of the gods.'" Casca's jaw dropped.
"You really think the coin belongs to the gods?" Casca whispered. There was a long silence. "What should we do? Do you think they know it's missing? Do you think they're coming to get it?"
When the solid gold coin was held up, it glittered in the sunlight. "I really don't -- whoa!" When the boy brought the coin close to his heart, the coin began to heat up and glow. When he moved it away in surprise, it stopped.
"What?" Casca asked.
"The coin got hot when I held it up against my chest." He set the coin back down where it landed and began to walk away. "The gods can have it if they want it. Let's get out of here."
Casca stayed where she was and picked the coin up. She held it up against her own chest. "I don't feel it getting hot."
"Hey! I said come on! I don't the gods to catch us with it if they want it back!"
Casca shrugged. "For all we know, this is just a gold coin that someone dropped. See? I think you're just imagining things."
Casca held up the coin against her friend's chest once again. This time, the coin shone as brightly as the sun and grew red hot! Casca shrieked. The coin was absorbed through his tunic and into his skin as he doubled over in pain.
"AAARRRGHHH!" He ripped his upper garment off to try and get the coin off his body, but it was nowhere to be found. A searing heat was passing through his body. He lay sprawled out on the ground.
"Oh gods! What have I done?! What can I do?!" Casca asked frantically. She placed her hand on his shoulder, which was burning hot. She took a step back to observe his body. It looked as though his legs were getting longer and his tunic was getting tighter on his body! He was growing!
The growing body tried to speak but no words would come out. In spite of himself and the changes going through his body, he had a strange premonition. Someone was coming, and they would be here soon. Many people. Important people. The gods!
"Run," he gurgled, his clothing becoming much too tight for him. "They're coming."
"Who? Who is coming?"
At that moment a sphere of light, glowing blue, came down from the heavens and landed in the dusty ground, sending off a shockwave. The sphere then began to grow into the figure of a man! This was quickly followed by a green sphere, a red one, and a brown one, all noisily landing and disturbing the earth greatly. A terrified Casca finally turned tail and ran as fast as she possibly could. The gods were here.
The light spheres continued to reform themselves into the forms of the gods. As their changes finalized, they stood about nine feet tall, shining brightly. They were all incredibly handsome and beautiful, their bodies were perfect in every possible way. The writhing figure on the ground did not notice this, however. "Help me," he implored. His voice sounded strange, a little different than normal.
The gods walked over. "Take his clothing off," one ordered. The boy was grateful, they were so tight it was getting hard to breathe. The heat waves continued to pass through his body.
"What's...happening...to me?" he gasped. His eyes closed, he lay sweating on the ground. He could feel his naked body continue to grow.
"Did you find a gold coin before?" a strong voice asked him.
He nodded, tears beginning to push out of his still closed eyes. "I am so sorry, gods and goddesses. I meant to give it back to you. Please help me!"
There was deep laughter from the gods. "He apologizes!" a female voice said. "Rejoice, young man, rejoice!"
Confused, the growing boy opened his eyes to stare into the eyes of a glowing goddess. "The coin was meant for you, young man." She smiled. "You are becoming a god."
A god?! But which one?