Phantom; Blessed by the devil, Cursed by the gods

Genesis

Freya watched the spectre as it stood unmoving in the Council of the Elders, the ones that saw and contributed to the shaping of the universe.

She looked around at the mala'chim, the holy ones often referred to as angels, the shedim, the messengers of hell widely known as demons, and lastly, the gods, greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, Irish, Indian, Chinese, supernatural beings that were revered by mortals, they all made up the Council, they all had a say in the affairs of the mortals and the Shaded beings of the Other World.

And in all their power and wisdom, Freya, the Norse goddess of love, beauty and magic, had never seen the Council so conflicted, the Elders had chosen it to be a gift, a special gift, but others thought differently.

"All this began with mercy, give it again and you are sure to regret it," said Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and hunt.

"Nonsense, why should the Nightshades be punished after they have sacrificed their daughter for the fate of the universe" said Ares, greek god of war.

"Ares is right, if anything they deserve it," said Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun.

"I agree, but I feel it is unwise to give it our blessings, Logan and Miriam were sent to find Lucifer and banish him back to his hell, instead they kept his location a secret, they deliberately disobeyed direct orders from this Council, I propose that we curse it," said Zeus, the greek god of the sky.

Freya shot Zeus a warning glance, curses were no ordinary matter, they could scar the child for life, making him a Shaded being from birth, but then again, blessing him would do the same thing.

"Cursing him is a harsh verdict Zeus" said angel Zamariel.

"Harsh is such a strong word", said Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and strategy, "I would say he is being aggressively reasonable, the Nightshades broke the Lex by aiding one of the shedim, a Prince of Darkness for that matter, cursing them is the most logical option"

"You do not know everything Athena", said Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge, "I agree with Ares and Ra, the Nightshades made a mistake, and they have paid for it, cursing the child would be an unjust act, it is punishment without reason"

"Or it is a signal to the rest of the Shemer that we should not be disobeyed," said Zeus.

"Enough!"

Freya shook at the sound of Odin's voice, she turned to her husband, his one good eye burned with rage, but she could see better than anyone that it was a cloak covering his utter confusion, for the first time in millennia, Odin didn't know what to do.

"We apologize King Odin, we did not mean to be so...."

"Foolish?" said Odin.

Freya stifled a laugh and caught the faint spark of electricity over Zeus's arms, she knew Zeus coveted her husband's place as King of the Council but she didn't think much of it, Zeus wouldn't dare to try anything, he was weak.

"It seems the gods have forgotten who they are", said Odin, "mala'chim, what do you propose?"

"We believe that what is good and just is giving this child without blessings or curses, let him be mortal and nothing more" said the angel Uriel.

Odin nodded and then faced the spectre, Freya saw the deep sense of concern Odin had for it, the silent urge to try and give it a destiny worth something.

"I have come to a decision, we shall make him a Phantom," said Odin.

The Council rippled with murmurs and protests, even Freya was shocked, he couldn't possibly be serious.