Emma held the curtsy for several seconds as though waiting for some signal before returning to her previous standing posture with a smooth poise that spoke of experience making the gesture. Her eyes flicked between the four others, lingering on Tim for a moment longer than the rest. "Well? I'd expected…"

Their surroundings had changed again while she spoke, and they were now standing in a good-sized hexagonal room with walls of dark gray, nearly black stone. Velvety-looking red carpet emerged from under a set of stone doors along one wall that were fitted with an elaborate gold trim in the shape of interlinking weapons. The carpet extended to the opposite wall, against which a similarly ornate throne was positioned. The rest of the room's floor was bare, and neither windows nor furniture were in evidence, but murals depicting epic battles spanned the convex ceiling. In total, the room was around a four-point-two in lavishness, almost entirely from the murals, and was less decorated than Tim had expected from something that called itself a god.

Traveling this way is convenient at least. Disorienting, a bit terrifying to imagine I could just get teleported into a star or something, and even more terrifying now that I've really thought about that, but at least I don't have to sit around and wait.

"We have arrived," Sateus announced. It moved forward, its shape dissolving and reforming into a giant blurry wolf as it hopped up onto the throne and put its incorporeal, canine paws up on one of the arms, gazing out on the room. "This is Aleon, host world to the competitions of deities, and we now exist in the heart of my citadel. Take a moment and acclimate yourselves to it, my champions."

"What happened to the decorations?" Vol asked. She stood with her hands on her hips at the front of the group, nearest the throne, looking back and forth.

"Time has passed. I tired of them," Sateus said.

"I've a fondness for this sort of minimalist style," Emma said while taking in her surroundings with her arms clasped over her middle, having wandered over to one side of the room to look more closely at part of a mural.

"Liar," Vol muttered.

"What?" Emma exclaimed, spinning around to glare at the other woman.

"You're lying." Vol met her eyes with a frown. "I can tell."

"My scorpion, there's no need for hostility among you," Sateus said, sounding amused. One of its paws came up to scratch at its ears. "A well-told lie can still be a victory, even if it's known as such to those who hear it." Its swirling eyes cleared, becoming pits of infinite darkness, and it turned its head to face Emma. "The thoughts of mortals are known to me, just as they are known to all deities you will meet. Choose your lies carefully, my champion of the mind."

Good, good, good. Everyone here knows what I'm thinking. Just what I wanted.

Ir'alith was standing a few steps off to the opposite side of Emma with her brow deeply furrowed. She hopped a little. "I am lighter," she said. "Is this magic native to Aleon?"

Lighter? Tim subtly brought himself up onto the balls of his booted feet and tested his balance. Maybe? Didn't really think about it because I was distracted, but the desert world felt a little heavier too, I think.

"Aleon is a smaller, lighter world than yours," Sateus said. "Its concentration of magic is higher, however."

"Concentration?" Emma repeated, taking on a skeptical look once more as she regarded the deity lounging on its throne. "You speak as though magic comes from the world itself and not from within ourselves."

"Humans," Ir'alith said in a tone so condescending that it caused Tim's eyes to roll by proxy.

Emma's gaze pivoted to her. "And what manner of creature might you be to speak thus of us lowly humans, miss…"

Ir'alith's lips slowly spread wide, again changing her pretty face into a nightmarish ravine of razor-sharp teeth. "Demon," she said. A point of wavering light appeared above her head, followed immediately by another, and then a third. More and more points appeared, going far beyond the level of having too many to count until they formed a dense, umbrella-shaped sea of bright dots that stretched from just over her head to the ceiling. They swam back and forth in orderly lines as though forming conveyor belts that carried them upwards from side to side until they reached the top, where they slid down the sides like rain to begin the journey again. "Magic does feel…more comfortable in this world," she said, her tail swishing back and forth.

Vol let out a sound of amazement and rushed over, waving her hand through the field of lights and causing the ones she touched to change course and flow around her.

And that's…real magic. Because you definitely can't do that in New Era. Tim ran a hand up through his wavy black hair. I think I skipped past freaking out and right to that point where my brain is giving up trying to worry anymore. Like that time Nancy lost my slides right before a board meeting. Just hoping nobody notices.

Deep breath.

Emma stood on the opposite side of the room with her mouth open halfway as she stared at the display.

Guessing that means she's not much of a magic user. Wait, didn't Sateus say I was here for some magic thing? Shit, I should've paid more attention.

"The competition will begin twelve hours from now," Sateus said. "Use this time to prepare yourselves."

The words echoed in the room for a short while, and Ir'alith's display of magic vanished.

"I've created quarters for each of you just outside of this one," it continued. "You will not enter another's rooms without permission. If you wish, there is an area where you may spar down the stairs at the end of the hallway. You will find food at the top of those same stairs. I will grant you each ten minutes to ask whatever questions you would of me. Unless I summon you, you are not to disturb me until the time of the competition, when we will convene here once more."

"I'm gonna go see if anything I left's still here," Vol declared, already on her way towards the exit.

"I have no questions to ask," Ir'alith said after. "You will show me my opponent and I will defeat them. Until then, I will prepare myself for battle." She turned to unhurriedly follow Vol out.

"Well I've a number of questions if you're of a mind to answer," Emma said, facing Sateus. She glanced to Tim. "Would you allow this human to make her inquiries first?" she asked, arching a golden eyebrow.

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"Drake Storm has arrived first, so his questions will be answered first," Sateus stated. "You will return to your quarters until I summon you."

Emma frowned, and then she disappeared.

Tim didn't realize he'd been staring at the spot she occupied until he was forcibly jarred out of his daze.

"Of the mortals I've gathered, you are the most interesting, Drake Storm." Sateus said.

Tim started, and it was at that moment that he realized who he was alone with.

What he was alone with.

"You're really a god?" he asked, starting with what seemed like the most important question. A question he couldn't possibly avoid asking.

"A true god," Sateus clarified. Its jaws clamped onto one of the armrests of its throne, and it began to gnaw at the stone.

"Is that…different?"

"A god is one that has transcended mortality and touched what lies beyond," said the god. "A god possesses certain abilities, but they are limited, bounded by their power. Among these limits is that a god cannot create—only destroy. A true god is one who has transcended this boundary as well."

An inhumanly large tower shield, made from a single, massive diamond, clattered noisily to the ground in the center of the chamber. It was so large that it covered the twenty or so feet between Tim and the throne. He nudged it with his toe, finding it to be just as solid as he'd expected and also much heavier.

"I can create," Sateus said, continuing to bite idly at its throne, "and I can destroy."

The shield vanished.

"This is an answer to your question," Sateus finished.

"And you can stop time?" Tim asked next after the two-out-of-ten display of god powers.

"I can," Sateus said. Its jaws clenched, shattering the armrest, and the throne was now a plush, cushioned sofa. It rolled onto its back, lazily wagging its tail.

"How…" Tim paused. "Did you stop time?"

"I did not," Sateus answered. "One more powerful has prevented it, so I slowed time instead."

"Just for…Eden?"

Sateus turned its muzzle towards him. "You are cautious, and that may lead you to victory, but your time is limited."

"Did you stop—slow time on Earth too?" Tim asked.

"I did not," Sateus answered. "Time on your world was stopped by another the instant I summoned you."

Another. As in another deity? No, no, that's just going to be some crazy rabbit hole of never-ending questions, and I don't have…time…

He frowned. "Why me?"

"Are you not Carl's friend? My scorpion suggested you as his replacement."

Scorpion? No, stay focused. Need to pretend like I'm Carl and focus to get through the most important questions without getting sidetracked. "You know Carl?"

"I do not, but I have seen from the memories of others that he was strong. Victorious in all things." Sateus rolled over on the sofa and had again taken on an indistinct humanoid form.

"And he came here from a VRMMO—New Era—just like me?"

"He did."

"With his same stats and gear and everything?"

"It would have been the same as with you."

So Carl got brought here from the game. He's still with Annie, so there's absolutely no way he was playing much—she probably doesn't even know, though that's also not really like him—which makes his fishing-only story about playing at lunch from work at least somewhat plausible. Hm. Maybe things aren't as bad as I thought? "And he was only on Eden for twelve days?"

"Yes."

Which means…either he got strong in twelve days—which is still weird to… Oh, but time was probably stopped for him too! Alright, so that explains… And… Tim tapped his booted foot while he thought. "How strong is Carl relative to Vol and Ir'alith?"

"He could not defeat either of them in combat."

"And what happened to him?" Tim asked at last, the question he'd been dreading the answer to after ruminating on the amount of blood he'd seen in the strange car previously.

"I will not answer that question," Sateus said.

"What?" he exclaimed with raised brows. "Well, is he okay at least?"

Sateus shifted, coming to sit upright. "I will answer no questions regarding this matter." It leaned forward with its elbows on its knees, and Tim felt himself inching closer. "Even now I feel we have drawn unwanted attention. To speak further on it would attract more. Eyes are upon you, Drake Storm. Be wary of them."

Tim frowned. What?

"You possess concern for your friend," Sateus said, changing to a slightly more upbeat tone. "Friendship is a form of victory too. I cannot add to this victory with news of your friend, but I will offer a different sort of information that may bring further victory."

A god of victory really likes to talk about victory, huh.

"I do not know your thoughts," Sateus said after a moment. "I have a…sense, is perhaps the word. You are anxious. You are curious. You felt fear before, but that has faded some. When I summoned you, you felt longing. You intended to deceive. You feel surprise now. Less now that I have said it."

Tim took a long blink.

"You are not from a realm that I occupy," Sateus continued. "This alone would not prevent me from knowing your thoughts, but somehow I still am not able to know them. There are few you will meet who are more powerful than I, and they are not likely to have greater insights than mine. Do with this knowledge as you will."

That's a lot. But it can't read my thoughts, assuming it's not lying, and it's implying that none of the other gods or deities will be able to either, which is great. Alright, alright. He took a slow breath and let it out. Carl, buddy, I hope nothing bad happened to you, but it's sounding like this is a case where you need me to bail you out anyway. If you just came here with starting stats and gear, and they were planning to make you compete in some crazy…

"So I'm here to fight, and there's absolutely nothing I could tell you that would make you send me back?" Tim asked.

"You are my champion of all forms of combat, both magic and physical," Sateus said. "You will be returned to your world once I have claimed victory and for no other reason."

"And these fights are…to the death?"

The god's eyes bored into him. "Victory is obtained when your opponent yields, becomes unable to fight, or is slain."

He swallowed. "You're a god though. A true god. You can bring people back if they die, right?"

"I can," Sateus acknowledged. The sofa returned to being a throne, and the deity's size grew by at least three times, its eyes becoming head-sized abyssal whirlpools as it suddenly towered over him. "If I so desire it," it said, its voice somehow feeling like it took up more space without becoming louder. "I have not revived a mortal in many thousands of years, Drake Storm. Do not imagine you will be the one who moves me to change this. Even now you may think otherwise, but the cost of such a thing is greater than the value of your life. If you seek to live, victory must become your world."

Tim took another deep breath as he steadied himself under the weight of what he'd just heard. "Right," he said absently. Man, it sucks that I can't at least talk to you a bit more before this thing kicks off, buddy, but… He shook his head. There's no way. I can't imagine Carl fighting anyone for any reason outside of… Maybe if his family was in trouble? But just for some random thing like this? Shit. Am I really this good of a friend?

"I think I'm done asking questions," he said.

"You have two minutes and eleven seconds remaining," Sateus said.

"Just need to think about things right now," Tim murmured into the hand that he'd brought to his mouth. An idea struck him. "Was there any other reason you picked Carl?" he asked, looking up and dropping his hand. "You said he's strong, but was that it?"

A set of giant, distinct teeth appeared in the middle of Sateus's head swirl, forming a menacing, lipless grin. "There was another reason."