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Everywhere outside the remains of a battle could be seen. Buildings that look like they took fire from divine level spells. Scorched white marble houses and broken divine bodies of lesser gods were scattered about. When a god dies, it looses its physical form and reverts back to divine energy. That energy takes hundreds of thousands of years to reform but eventually the god will come back. Some changes occur like memory loss or a change in personality but the result is usually the same.

“I see you awake.”

I look over and in the next cell is Kyanu, dressed in ragged black battle armor and lying on a cot in the corner of the cell across from mine. Her armor was in tatters with several burns and deep gouges in the surface as if someone took a hacksaw to it. I was also surprised to see her wearing handcuffs with multiple heavenly runes on them, bolted to the wall.

“Surprised to see me? Lets just say i over estimated my defense. Got clipped across the back of the head. Never even saw who did it. How bout you?”

“Stupid love goddess’s chosen one. Got pushed into a magic circle of some sort. Whats going on? What did you mean there riots in heaven and now apparently in the fae realm?” I ask.

“We fucked up Fraxia. Big government guys burst into my place demanding the armor and when i told them...less than happy.”

“OK start from the beginning.”

“*sigh* remember all those years ago when abihail came by…”

That guy? I haven’t seen him since that day he tried to arrest us.

“Well when you got teleported to the realm of the fae you inadvertently broke the rules that Abihail had set down. Without fail he informed the god council and they voted on deploying forces to the earth faction home sub world with 67% majority in favor, 23% in opposed and 10% abstaining.”

Dammit. Knew that was gonna come back and bite us in the ass one day.

“The faction in opposed was a good number of major gods unfortunately. Gods are not supposed to have dealings with the fae but many of the councillors have ties with the realm. Deploying troops caused a lot of trouble between the council members. What were you thinking jumping into the fae realm making a deal when i specifically said lay low!”

“Well pardon me but i saw a way to gain some much needed magical knowledge. So i took it.”

“I would have taught you the basics in time!...*Sigh*. Try and look at it from their perspective. A known criminal who stole something very important from them, suddenly travels to a place where they have almost no influence. The leaked reports sparked described you planning a device that could imprison gods. Again what were you thinking!”

OK first of all that plan had been in the works long before i went to the fae world. And second, how did they even find out about that?

“If you’re wondering about that try remembering that god's happen to rule this world. Things like mind reading and digging through someone's memories do exist.” she said.

“Well what was i supposed to do?’

“How. About. Lay. Low.”

She said it like it was some major realization of important knowledge. Then again it probably good advice.

“So the forces in opposed to sending troops to the fae world, primarily the Dragons, obstructed the moveout of troops to a certain degree. The rest of the gods fell into disarray and war broke out due to internal struggles, gods had to choose sides and well...you know the rest. The fighting died down a little while ago but i suspect that the wars still going on.”

“How do you know that?”

Were still here aren't we? Most likely they're going to wait until the end of the war to execute us.”

“Execute?!”

“Well Execution for me and soul surgery for you. They still want their weapon after all.”

‘Dammit! Why is it always me!’

“How can they do this! I thought you said war was a taboo for god's! What happened to the whole nature fighting against itself!”

“Well it's more like a guideline per say. Like don’t start a fight with someone in school sort of guideline. Unfortunately the there's no teachers to break up this fight. It’s only going to get worse.”

“Oh sounds fun. How and what worse are we talking about.”

“What kind of enemy stands around while their enemy is in the middle of fighting each other. Kind of hard to keep a war secret and i can’t see them missing a chance like this.”

“What do you mean? Sneak spies in or something? Sabotage?”

“The time for spies and sabotage is long over. I’m expecting a full out assault.”

“Well what are the gods doing?!”

“You kidding? Probably too busy bashing each other over the head in some pointless conflict. The whole of heaven...the defense stations are at eachothers throats and the gates are unattended. Right now this whole place is a sitting duck for anyone with a big enough weapon. If i’m not mistaken the new generation gods have one such…”

“How do you know all this? Why are we just standing around here! We have to go!”

I grab at the bars and try to force them apart but the bars suddenly flare the color of molten iron and throw me back against the wall.

“I wouldn’t recommend trying that. Those bars are built to hold back Arch Gods.”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“Well help me out!”

“...Are you blind…”

She motions to the bars in front of her and the chains on her wrists.

“We can’t just stay here!”

Suddenly the door banged open.

“Goddess of death and her companion are to come with me.”

The goddess of love elf elite walked in proclaiming thus. Following her was Abihail.

“Your execution awaits” she smiled.

What happened to after the war!

“Bullshit!. Only the council can decide on the execution of a god!” kyanu yelled.

“Not anymore. The council has been disbanded. On orders of the Federation of Independent Realms, you have been found guilty of theft of the property of the gods, imprisonment of an immortal, and heresy of the highest degree.” she said.

___________________________

At one point in our trip i was separated from Kyanu by Abihail. I’m sure at one point this place must have been beautiful, but it had been turned into a warzone. I was forced to walk through a neighborhood filled with explosion marks and guards patrolling all over the place, all wearing the symbol of a white temple. Many times we passed the empty shells of various gods and i couldn't help but think of how the world was going to suffer from this. When a god dies there is usually a system in place that would take over their job in case the god ever died. The systems though proved to make many mistakes and were prone to failure. With so many gods dying i imagine the real world is suffering quite a bit.

‘I hope Blake and the other are OK…’

“Keep moving.”

Abihail pushed me along after i stopped for a moment to look at the gathered corpses. What is wrong with this guy. Isn’t it his job to do something about all this!

“Seriously you don’t think there is something wrong here! I thought you were the protector of the innocent not some pawn who only pays attention to his job when it suits him!”

He shoved me along more forcefully.

“I am many thing but do not mistake me an imposter! I do not expect a mortal to understand the inner workings of the heavens so keep your mouth shut!”

“Oh i’m sure one of us does not understand something. You do realize that instead of prosecuting me and fighting amongst yourselves you should be worried about the new generation!”

He pushed me into a large building and up a few flights of stairs.

“That situation is under control. Some mortal with little information on the subject is hardly qualified to make any decision.”

“Thats some control you got. I gotta ask, how many bodies have you collected? Or did you lose track? Oooh i know,  you ran out of room on the first sheet of paper right?”

He gave me a heavy ram onto the top of the stairs. After i went down he started kicking me in the rib over and over again. Every time his foot struck me i felt like i was getting run over by a truck and i’m sure i broke a few more ribs.

“Whats wrong! I thought you had everything under control? Or did you forget how to count cold bodies!”

He unsheathes his sword and raises it above his head.

“Silence! I will not be mocked by a mere mortal who does not-”

“Unit 314, stand down!”

The door at the top of the stairs had opened and out came a beautiful woman in silver clothing. Following her was a pair of guards and an official looking man in a 3 piece suit carrying a scepter.

“Stand down.” the man said.

Abihail’s face went slack and he stood up rigidly.

“Standing down.”

He sheathed his sword and pulled me up before saluting the man in the suit.

“*Sigh*Another failed unit. I imagine the artificial emotion levels are bugged or something. Oh well, the tech heads will know what to do. Unit 314, report to lab #2 for decommission and initiate the clean slate protocols.”

“Dear why not just send the unit on a suicide scout mission. They did come out with a more advanced model i believe.” the woman said.

“Resources my dear. I am afraid they are something we cannot expend carelessly. And anyway why is the convict here? He should be in lab #1 being prepped for surgery?”

‘I wanna shoot the fucker who invented surgery!’

“Oh that was me dear. I asked to see him before his likely demise as well. A sort of last civil conversation before he tossed to the wolves so to speak.”

“A marvelous woman in all ways. Many could learn from your example my dear.” he said this while looking in my direction.

‘Keep looking buddy and it'll be the last thing you ever see!’

She smiled sweetly like she was some kind of saint for have a quick chat with with me before i was sent to an early death, again. Gods! Do they all just eat up their own narcissism bullshit. And what was up with Abihail? Protocol? Artificial emotion?

“Lala! Please show Ms. Fraxia to the main hall. I will see you later my sweet.” She said kissing the man.

‘What a whore.’

A woman in gray leather armor and a dress grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the room. It appears to be the woman in silvers dwelling and i could roughly guess her identity. We entered a room with a very large mural of a cloudy tunnel and crackles of lightning. Walking through the room seemed to take an eternity and a moment all together. The floor stretched and shrunk at random. The dimensions of the room grew and grew until the starry sky could be seen and the spinning planet of Ryalia and it’s dual moons of Ni and Ha could be seen. A grand throne of twisting stars and colliding.

“I wonder what i could have possibly done to warrant the attention of the goddess of time and space.”

“I would say very many things.” the goddess said appearing on top of the throne.

“Now i’’m sure but i’m sure your ego demands that you explain so when your bullsh-”

Suddenly i fell to the ground as gravity increased tenfold just like back in the cell. Guess we know who to thank for that homely cell i woke up in.

“I’m sure a mortal like you prefers to keep talking in the face of overwhelming power but i dislike wasted time. So why don’t we get down to the heart of the matter.”

“Right right. My impending doom at the hands of some mad scientist with a scapel sharp enough to cut aparts someone's soul. You see, That's problem. I had other plans, such as raid fae dungeon. Learn space magic. Get rich and live a happy life without assholes in the sky ruling the world. Whoa!”

She suddenly appeared in front of me and grabbed my arm.

“Poor little beastkin.You just can’t think big enough. Your little prison idea was an interesting combination, but let me inform you right now that it lacks integrity to hold even a lesser god.”

“Oh and i suppose you can do better?”

Considering i thought long and hard for almost 10 years on a way to imprison or remove gods from this world i thought it was a pretty good idea. I know first hand that gods can imprison other gods but i want a way that doesn’t involve Divine Power. Those prisons cells that they had us in must have cost an arm and a leg to maintain so i want to know what else there is availible.

She flashed back onto her throne and towered over me.

“I am one of the few birthed from primal light. I am the one who commanded the universe to order and command the halt and flow of now and when. Without my me the reality does not start or end. I am the past present and future. I am here and there and all between. You would do well to remember that.”

She stood and cast a glance at the hand maiden still in the room/outer space.

“Leave us.”

The maiden bowed and left without a glance or sound in a flash of light.

‘Seriously, i want to teleport too!’

“I have seen all there is and all that will come. And countless times have you and your goddess stood in my way, but for you to be here means fate is amused by you. I won’t kill you. A mother who takes away their child's toy is a bad mother i should think.”

‘WHAT! This whore is luck bitches mother. Wow, heaven is full of love...and sluts. Wonder how stupid that guy was to get pulled into bed by her.’

“Don’t be too hard on dear Reynolds. He is far too busy trying to stabilize the heavens that my company is like a sweet poison to him. He has no idea how helpful he has been in my ah, arrangements. The council should have been more careful who they entrust their secrets too.”

Great, so the time goddess has been banging with some big wig in the development section of the heavens. I wonder how many deadly weapons the gods have made so far...World is fucked i know that much.

“So how long until i hear about a new queen of the heavens?”

“Ohohoho, is that what you think i plan. Still thinking too small...far too small. I don’t want to rule the heavens. Although i suppose that must seem what it’s like from the outside. Dear reynolds has given me access to enough information that i could very well set myself up as queen.”

“Speaking of “Dear Reynolds”, what did he do to good old Abihail back there. I was hoping to see how long until he would hold that sword over my head until he grew a pair.”

Actually i was hoping that he would try to stab me so i could use that blade and break the cuffs on me. From there i don’t know. I didn’t exactly get that far in my escape/rescue plan. Maybe try and find the Dragon god. He seemed like he might be able to help, or maybe the shadow god. Ever since i got here i haven’t been able to talk to Hyuna or Gluttony. Probably something in the cell and cuffs.

“The future is what happened. You humans made science fiction of it and but many on the old council found it an excellent idea. Soldiers that cannot disobey orders but have enough free will to be self sufficient. That little clone was an unfortunate failure. Only good for the scrap heap. Although i must thank you for that and way back then. You exposed several glitches in the system and for that reynolds was happy for a week. One step closer to perfection.”

“...”

“But that's not all. You really did prove yourself to be a marvelous guinea pig. So much so that i couldn’t have finished my plans without you.”

“I don’t suppose that thank you would come in the form of a free pass outta here?”

“Oh no. I’m afraid you know too much but as i said i won’t kill you. You will be dead soon enough.”

“So if i’m going to be dead soon it’s ok to tell me what you have planned exactly right?”

“Have you still not guessed it. Shame...I had high hopes that you would find the answer yourself.”

“OK let me guess. Would it happen to be the highest order of evil cliches, World domination!” I say this in sarcastic manner but...

“Actually yes.”

Wait, ahven't i seen this in a film somewhere?