We all gathered around Mr. Brutus. All his disciples were instructed to sit on the grass. However, Zubu refused and because of that Cosmo didn't hand her a juice box.

I got apple juice and the best part was that it seemed to never end as I continued to swallow mouthfuls of sweet apple goodness. I gave some to Snowball and she seemed to agree. As I guzzled down my delicious drink, Riza started messing with my hair. She complimented me on how soft it was.

Compared to her hair mime wasn’t as tangled. It looked like green wasn’t her natural color. That was made evident by how burned and dry her hair was.

Ribdena moved closer to Zubu. “Say child. You clearly aren’t happy with your cheating goddess. How about you become my follower instead. You might not fight with the ruthlessness of a dragon, but we can fix that.” Offered Ribdena.

“Quit trying to convert my followers you fat fucking lizard!” Yelled Cosmo before wedging herself between the two.

“Mr. Brutus is it fight’n time yet!”? I asked.

“Were taking a break at the moment. You should relax for now.” Said Mr. Brutus before taking a sip of his flask.

“Isaac you should use this time to stretch.” Said Lorie.

I nodded. That was when Lorie sat down in front of me and started to pull and bend my legs for me. It felt odd, but I understood the importance of a good stretch.

“You know if you were a better goddess you’re followers would never doubt their faith.” Said Ribdena.

“Oh shut up! At least I give my followers the chance for free will unlike your religion. Where the weak are sacrificed to you. Weakness is important for innovation. Last I checked there are no buildings or technology of any kind in your world! Those towers were provided by my mages!” said Cosmo.

“Technology is for the weak. They use it because they can not match the strong. It is weakness. The only reason I have the towers is to accommodate weaklings like you.” Said Ribdena.

“Oh yeah! Last I checked you have an ether phone. Doesn’t that mean you’re weak?” Cosmo suggested.

“I wanted to have monthly meetings between all the gods and was voted out. It was either I get a phone or not know what’s going on. I absolutely hate it. Also why do you post so many captioned photographs?” Said Ribdena.

“They’re called memes! They’re supposed to be relatable and funny!” Responded Cosmo.

“Maybe you’re child would actually like you, if you talked to them face to face like a person. Instead of sending cryptic messages plastered over old cartoons and edited pictures of cats.” Jabbed Ribdena.

“Yukio likes me plenty. She’s just unhappy at the moment and is looking for a god that better suits her needs.” Said Cosmo.

“Oh, I don't want to change religions anymore.” Zubu interjected.

“What really!” Said Cosmo excitedly.

Everyone looked over in surprise. It was shocking for Zubu to say that considering how long she’s refused Cosmo’s blessings. I knew better than to take her seriously. There had to be a twist.

The goddess tried to hug Zubu only to get a solid kick to the face. She tumbled back into Ribdena's arms. Who remembered she didn't actually like Cosmo and let her fall on her butt.

“What the hell! I thought you liked me now! That was a dirty trick! You knew I’d drop my guard!” cried Cosmo.

“As if I’d suddenly start liking you after the stunt you pulled!” yelled Zubu shutting the goddess up.

“It was pretty shitty of you to not only boost the kids, but control their bodies down to the last cell.” Said Brutus.

“Yeah, what gorilla face said!” Said Zubu anger clearly growing on her face.

“So you don’t want to follow me?” Questioned Cosmo, somewhat disappointedly.

“Of course I do, I plan to claw my way up your stupid corporate ladder until I’m strong enough to cut your head off!” yelled Zubu.

“How can you say that? Do you really think I'm that bad? Why can’t you just accept my blessing? It would make your life 100 times easier! You’re just being stubborn! What could be so important that you’re actively refusing me?” Cosmo yelled.

“Are you kidding me? What about my family? My friends? I’d give it all away—the roof over my head, the food on the table, the clothes on my back! All the knowledge of multiple worlds, the power, the longer lifespan, the path to godhood! I’d sacrifice it all just to see them one more time!” Zubu cried.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Yukio, I told you that's not possible anymore. Their souls were recycled before you were ever reincarnated into the lower spirit rank.” Said Cosmo.

“I know that! I can’t un-know it! And you’re the one who took them away! How can you expect me to like you when you’ve destroyed everything that ever made me happy?” Zubu cried. She turned and ran off.

“Hey hold on!” Yelled Cosmo as she got up and tried to go after her, only for Ribdena to hold her back. “What are you doing? Let go!” Complained Cosmo.

“In this case you are the last person that should be involved. You need to distance yourself and stop meddling with the mortals that despise you. You are not her friend. You’re her captor. Her assaulter.” Said Ribdena.

I tossed my juice box aside, handed Snowball to Lorie, and ran after my little sister. No one stopped me as I sprinted passed them.

-Yukio-

That stupid goddess. How could she not understand she was the problem. I hate her. Why couldn’t I just be recycled with the rest. Maybe then I wouldn't be in so much pain.

Reaching into my robe. I drew out my knife. It was old and had been a gift from that brute. He gave it to me after he showed me how to skin a dear. I guess he wasn’t that bad. At least not all the time.

My knife was a bit dull at the moment, so I grabbed a rock that was nearby and ran it along the edge of the blade. I just wanted to see them one more time, but that wasn’t possible.

There was no after life where we could all hang out. They were gone. Erased from existence. Even if I found their reincarnated souls. They wouldn’t be the same people. They wouldn’t even know me.

Not Jake my fiancé. Not my little brother Koji. Not my best friend Tabitha. They were gone, so why the hell was I still here? What was the point of ascending into immortality when they wouldn't be there with me.

I ran my finger along the newly sharpened blade. It was almost paper thin. I’ll enhance it with an aura. That’ll make it less painful.

I held the knife up and saw my reflection. My tears hadn’t stopped. Just do it. Do it. Make the pain end. I moved the blade over to my left arm and prepared myself.

“Zubu what are you doing?”

-Aku/Isaac-

When I found her, she had tears running down her face. There was this familiar look on her. One I knew too well. It made me really sad. Like I’d failed as a friend.

“Leave me alone you fucking toddler!” she screamed angrily, like a tortured animal lashing out. It hurt to hear the emotion in her voice.

Did I make others feel this way during my own emotional breakdowns? It wasn’t fair to those I cared about, and it left me feeling terrible.

“I… um.” since the situation had escalated so quickly, I choked on my words. It was my job to calm her down, but I was terrified of saying the wrong thing.

“You what! Go the fuck away! This is none of your business!” She yelled.

She was in a lot of pain and seeing her like that… feeling it radiating out of her. It was a lot to take in. It shouldn’t be this hard. I care about her. I really did, so then why… why couldn’t I say something. Anything!

What did everyone else do when I got caught like that? I’ve been there before. Those emotions. They cloud the mind and make it so you can’t think right. She was in a dark place and all I needed to do was pull her out.

“N-No!” I yelled shaking my head.

“This isn’t a game! I’m not counting to three! Leave or I’ll cut you!” she yelled holding the knife up and pointing it at me.

This was it. “Fine! Then cut me!” I yelled before pushing forward and ramming myself into the blade. I felt a sudden sharp pain in my gut. It hurt. It really did, but Zubu was in much greater pain.

Her eyes went wide. “No… I didn’t mean it! Why would you do that?” yelled Zubu.

The only way to change her mind was to let her see how selfish she was being. I knew she would never actually stab me and now I had turned her mind away from her objective.

I fell on my side with the knife stuck in my stomach. “If you wanna die, then I’ll die with you. We can be reincarnated together.” I said weakly with a big smile on my face.

“You idiot! What about your friends and family!? Are you just going to abandon them!?” She cried.

“But Zubu, you are my family. That’s why I came.” I cried.

“That’s not… you can’t be serious. We’ve only known each other for a week.” She sobbed.

“But it’s true, and you were planning to hurt me, so I decided to do it first.” I said through the growing pain.

“Isaac, you’re such a dumbass. Please heal yourself before you bleed out. The others will probably blame it on me.” She said.

“Only if you promise not to be selfish again.” I said.

“Okay. I promise.” she answered

With that I popped the knife out and started up an aura of chicken soup. It closed my wound slowly and left an instant chicken raman flavor in my mouth.

I sat up and stretched as Zubu glared at me. “Are you mad at me?” I asked.

“If anyone is selfish it’s you!” scolded Zubu. She had that look like she wanted to spank me.

“I just did what you were about to do. How do you think I would feel after you were gone?” I said.

Her face softened “Yeah. I'm sorry. I know you’re going to leave soon and then I'll be all alone again. It's not fair that I have to keep existing just so you don't get a little sad.” She explained.

“Not a little sad. I would cry and be really, really sad forever.” I corrected.

“That sad?” She asked?

I nodded.

“Dammit! Before you came along I had no worldly attachments! Now I can’t do anything without wondering if it’ll make you sad or not!” She said roughing up her hair.

I smiled. “That makes me really happy.” I said cheerfully to her annoyance. “If it makes you feel any better I really hate making you sad too.”

“if that’s the case, then it would make me very sad to see you sleeping late, and drinking coffee, and getting drunk, and wearing boy clothes, and forgetting to change your underwear everyday, and not eating enough. What else? Oh and going a day without a bath.” She said.

“Hey don’t do that! That’s not fair!” I cried.

“Nope, if you don’t follow anyone of those things I’ll be very sad, because it means you’re not taking care of yourself.” She said.

“Why the clothes thing though?” I asked seeing no point in having to wear feminine clothing all the time.

“Well, obviously seeing my adorable little sister look her best would bring a smile to my face, and it would make me very sad if her cuteness was obstructed by clothing that doesn’t suit her.” She explained.

“Hey, I’m the big sister!” I retorted.

“In your dreams you little gremlin!” she responded.

We stared each other down. That was until I tasted copper in the air. At first I thought it was Zubu, but I realized her aura wasn’t even active.

“You taste that right?” She asked looking around.

“Yeah.” I responded.

“Up there!” Yelled Zubu as she got to her feet and pointed into the sky.

Following her finger I saw a portal position horizontally above the skyland. From it a massive red bolt of lightning shot out slamming into the ground. It kicked up dirt and rocks. Melting everything under it's immense heat and pressure. The sound was like a million bees having a sex orgy.