Avial the goddess of love, Jaxious the god of earth, Syra the goddess of luck, Darion the god of hell, Fernin the god of fortune, and my dear Pherisous, goddess of the galaxies and stars were all victims of Deaths slaughter.
Avial and Darion got what they deserved, they constantly disobeyed Death and fought over the smallest and foolish reasons. Darion created hell just to spite them. Life and Death believed karma should punish the wicked, furthermore allowing a chance at redemption. But why Pherisous? She was sweet, loving, and all I had in life.
Without Pherisous I didn’t have reason to stay. I wanted to escape and visit each star she birthed, but without her they would eventually die. I studied space and counted each star waiting for them to flicker into nothingness, destroying any proof that she ever existed. Isolation didn't scare me, the infinite idea of space peeked my interest and avoiding the drama of gods and goddesses was enough reason to desire solitude. Why did I stay? I stared at the earth we created, Chara. A pact between gods and goddesses, a pact that Life and Death could honor. We gained our powers from our followers. As long as we treated them with love and respect they loved and respected us back with prayers. He or she who was head god had the most followers and the most prayers. That was how we settled our disputes over power. Even the gods and goddesses that were naturally destructive had incentive to keep their followers alive. But Avial messed up. She wanted to be head goddess and risked destroying her creatures. She desired her faithful to be beautiful and completely obedient. Goddess of love, ha! My mouth twisted with disgust at her name. She wasn’t lovely or lovable, she was deserving of a brutish husband like Dias and a fate worse than death. It was her fault Pherisous was dead.
~~
All the long days, the hours of suffering and loneliness blurred together. Years have passed, I know not how many. The guilt of neglect drowned me. My followers begged for my blessings during the cold winter months and I didn’t have the strength to help them. Is it possible to overcome such sorrow when guilt and depression piled on top?
“Sister?” My brothers voice made me jump. Wallowing in my own self pity made me unaware of the bright sun light that covered my moon. “How do you fair today?”
I returned my gaze to the stars.
"Why Pherisous? Why did he take her? She was loved by everyone and she never destroyed anything." Tears trickled down my face and into my mouth as I spoke. They were salty but I didn’t even have the strength to wipe them away.
"It brings me joy that you’re well enough to talk again.” Godius paced in a small circle. “Death is mad with power. He did it because he wanted to."
I shook my head. "He warned us."
"What does it matter to him? It's not like we destroyed souls. He's being dramatic. The souls of her followers won’t even remember their past lives. If Death cares so much than he can beg Life to give them luxurious, full-filled lives through karma." Godius’ sun radiation grew bright enough to smother the stars. I scoffed as the last diamond light faded. “Oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting your five year long star gazing? It’s time to move on, Goddessa.”
Godius’ footsteps boomed as he paced back and forth and his golden rings clinked together while he fiddled with his fingers. The silence between us seemed to amplify his irritating noises. I silently begged for Godius to stay still for two seconds but refused to speak.
"You could be of some use to my quest." He finally spoke. Relief washed over me as his little ticks seemed to quiet down at the sound of his voice. I haven’t felt anything but uselessness since Pherisous died, I could do with a purpose.
"What if I told you that even Death could be killed." He said.
"Absolutely absurd!" I blurted.
"Not entirely. If we could be killed why can’t he?"
"Because it's part of who he is. Death is his name."
"All the gods and goddesses are made up of tiny strings of power, each weaved of hundreds upon thousands of strands that define the type of power we posses, our build, our essence and mannerisms, it makes up our souls. What if it's the same for him but he’s just been around longer, he's had more time to hone his abilities?"
"H-how do you know this?" The question of our existence has never been answered. Did Godius finally figure how we were made?
Godius rubbed his ear, took a step back then said, "I have discovered things..."
What did he mean by that? A pang of fear shot through me. I didn’t want to know what he meant. Godius has done unspeakable acts in the past that made me cautious of him but he always acted on my behalf. He’s made many sacrifices for my happiness. The least I could do is help him.
My silence was too drawn out. Godius grew impatient, "After everything he’s done you want to protect him?"
"Protect him?" I gawked at the thought.
"Then why not join us?"
"Us?"
"Dias, and a few others..."
"You and Dias? Why doesn’t this comfort me?"
"I know Dias and I have butted heads over status of head god..."
"Butted heads? Is that what you call your war?"
"Dias can't fight Death alone."
"You mean you can’t fight death alone."
"Why do I deserve your snark, sister? What did I do to you?" He was right. My brother always looked out for me, he deserves a better sister than I.
"What can I do?" I said with my head hanging a little, my eyes focusing on the crystal floors to my castle. They appeared to bend and shape to geometric shapes against Godius radiant light. Small triangles glimmered with different shades of reds and oranges against the flat surface. It wasn’t until then that my feet began to swell from the heat.
Godius smiled. “He wants to talk to you.”
“What!” My screech echoed throughout the halls. My guard of angels burst through the door with worried faces. I held my hand up, shook my head, and they returned to their guard.
“Death has something he wants to talk to you about. You, go to him, talk to him, try to draw out the conversation long enough.” Godius talked like it was an easy task. My knees shook, with the raising of my palm I summoned furniture from nothing. the magic in the air worked quickly and constructed a cyan colored chair with soft cushions. The chair screeched against the floor when I dropped my weight into it.
“I can’t talk to Death!” I said.
“You have to! Please? For me?”
“And why is this task so important? Why do you want me to have this conversation with him?” Godius got on his knees, he placed his hands on my leg and stared at me like a starving dog.
“To distract him. I have to do something I’m not very proud of doing... Death will find out. But if he’s distracted he won’t notice until it’s too late.”
“I don’t know, Godius.”
“I know he scares you, Goddessa.” He rubbed my leg soothingly. The satin of my dress was soft against my skin but the goosebumps seemed to feel pinched with each stroke. “But think, you won’t have to fear him once he’s gone.”
“And if we fail?”
He paused. For the first time since I’ve known Godius he stood still for the two seconds I desperately begged for and it was unnerving. I could tell he wanted to lead with a positive note, but he couldn’t.
“Then he kills us.” Godius said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“How can you act so carefree?”
“It’s worth the risk. I’m willing to fight for my loved ones...” He took my hand in his and squeezed. “You deserve vengeance, sister. He wronged you, he killed Pherisous. Why should we be punished for destroying things when he’s being a hypocrite? His name is Death, his whole ordeal is rot, decay, and destroy! He’s pissy because he wants all the control.”
“You’re right. It isn’t fair. For someone as innocent as Pherious, she didn’t deserve that end.”
“No, she didn’t. Now, will you help me?” His head tilted to the side, yet again reminding me of a puppy.
“Of course. All I have to do is distract him, right?”
“One other thing. Death will eventually figure out whats going on, when that time comes he will look for me, he will find me. It’s part of the plan. When that happens meet us at the counsel chambers.” He said as he stood and began to walk away.
“What happens after that?” I asked.
“You need to take the needle from him.”
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