“…uncle Stories?” The soft-spoken voice came from the God of Renewal, still lying down in Stories’ arms as he made the long journey back to the star system where he had invited her from - Genesis 3.

“Yeah? Are you uncomfortable? Here, I’ll move my arm.” Renewal shook her head as she lay there, then continued.

“…will big sis Order be mad that I didn’t finish her experiment? I don’t want to make her angry.” Stories frowned as he heard Renewal’s worry. What exactly had that absolute disgrace of a god done to secure this precious girl’s infatuation?

“Who cares what that slimy witch thinks? Just do what you want to do. There’s no need to dance to the tune of anyone else; even if they’re older than you. Especially if they’re older than you. Age doesn’t always mean wisdom.”

“Don’t call her that!” Renewal got up with a start, causing Stories to abruptly cease his flight - which in turn flipped the two upside down. After spinning around in space for a minute or so, the two managed to right themselves by grabbing on to each other’s arms.

“Please don’t do that again.” The nauseous plea came from Stories as he swallowed to hold back the rising bile from an oncoming urge to vomit.

“…sorry. But you still shouldn’t call big sis Order something so nasty.” Renewal let go of his arms and the two continued the flight back side-by-side.

“Why exactly do you hold that wit-” (Renewal started to glare at him) “…uh, lady in such high regard? What, did she bribe you with some jewel or something? No, if I think about it, if it’s a bribe tailored to you… then maybe she gave you like, a cloaking device or something? So that you can hide away from visitors?”

“…oh, I might want that actually… but no, she…” Renewal smiled warmly, reminiscing their first meeting. “…she was nice to me. Just… nice.”

“Just nice? And all of a sudden she’s your best friend?”

“…she was the first one to be nice to me… there’s no way you can’t ask me to hate her – she’s my big sis, no matter what happens...”

Stories shook his head in disapproval. It didn’t make sense to him; in the short period of time that he had interacted with the God of Order and Knowledge, he had found her cold and calculating, rigid and unyielding. How anyone could find that emotionless robot nice, was inconceivable. Well, Stories mused, there’s no helping bad taste.

“Hey, yeah. For that matter, why am I your uncle? Shouldn’t it be big bro? You know I’m younger than Order, right? By like, an order of two.” Stories grumbled.

Renewal giggled. “…I dunno…you just… seem more like an uncle than a big brother…” She waved her hand in his direction, gesturing to his brown pin-striped suit. “…you look like one… too.”

“What?! I’ll have you know, this outfit is extremely dapper, ok?! Truth says she likes it, she says it makes me look more mature and- oh wait, never mind, I see it now.” The sheepish admission sent Renewal into another fit of giggles as Stories looked down at what he was wearing.

“That’s the last time I’m taking fashion advice from that woman. Maybe I’ll just wear a plain white T-shirt and jeans, like a normal person.”

“…no, no. I think you should stay with the brown suit. I like it.”

“…I suppose I could stick with it for a while longer. To be quite frank, the suit’s grown on me, too. Plus, I’m surrounded by fashion disasters… with such bad influences, my fashion sense has probably degraded to the level of a toddler. Switching my outfit up this late in the game? Probably gonna look a whole lot worse.”

The God of Renewal didn’t say what was really on her mind; that the real reason why she liked the brown pin-striped suit wasn’t because it looked cool or stylish, but because it was worn by her new, most favourite person.

======================================================

Order shook the blade off, spraying droplets of blood around on the overgrowth as she did so. She examined the blade once again. Still bloody. Annoyed, she plucked a leaf from a nearby bush and wiped off the blade as best she could, then replaced the cap on the black tube. She’d polish it to the standards she was used to after she was back at the Library.

Removing her notebook from her belt, Order flipped to her most recent notes and studied them again. “…yes, done, done… and done. That should be everything. Pity I didn’t get to test with a larger sample size; or with different variables. It might have been possible to modulate the output of Renewal’s ability by adjusting the distance she used it at, although that still wouldn’t solve the problem of the transfer mechanism only inheriting the destructive properties and not the regenerative effects. Perhaps with more time I could have isolated the factors for the latter and refined it to ensure a balance of sorts. This could potentially have been the right answer… haaa… No point worrying about it, I suppose. I doubt I’ll get to utilise Renewal any more than this.” Order sighed as she lamented the missed opportunities.

She raised her hand in a flourish to bring up her wings in preparation for the short flight back to her abode. Before leaving, however, she turned to look at the Plerbies one final time. After slitting the mother’s throat, Order had proceeded to ensure that the creature’s higher brain functions were shut down as quickly as possible via a quick stab to the brain stem. She was a scholar, not a monster; she didn’t want her test subjects to suffer if it wasn’t necessary.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

After the deed was done, she’d left the dying body lying on top of her mate as it gradually bled out; a twisted embrace of sorts. Order smiled at the sight.

“Good for them. They died in the arms of the one they loved most. How romantic.”

Then with a flap of her wings, the God was gone.

======================================================

“There you are, Genesis 3. Sorry about the… y’know… everything.” Stories bowed apologetically as Renewal frantically waved her hands.

“…please don’t say that…it wasn’t much trouble.”

He raised his head, flashing a wide grin at the girl. “Well, I’ll be off, then. You’ll probably want to get back to your “you” time, after all.”

“…um… please wait, uncle Stories.”

“Hm?”

“…will I see you again?”

Stories scratched his head at the question. How exactly was he going to put this so that she wouldn’t start crying?

“Well, I don’t often leave the divine realms; heck, even this trip was suggested by Order. Probably won’t come here often if it’s going to be a day and a half’s journey here and back; that’s way too time consuming.”

Seeing Renewal’s face start to droop, he quickly followed up. “…but, uh, if you ever come back to the divine realm sometime to, I dunno, refill your reserves at Life’s, just go to this big white cathedral on the western end and have a quick chat with the lady inside. She’ll know where to find me.”

The girl beamed. “…then… it’s a promise. You’ll have to spend at least two hours with me showing me around the place.”

“Yeah, no problemo. I’ll show you all the best spots to uh, watch people have fun!” With that, the God of Stories and Creativity launched himself back into the stars.

“Ah… youth. Truly heart-warming to see such innocence.” He smiled wistfully as he thought about the girl he had just bid farewell to. Sometimes it was just refreshing to meet a God that hadn’t yet been corrupted by the cynicism and brooding that came with the passage of time. He didn’t count; he’d effectively spent his entire “childhood” period taking cues from those very same tainted adults.

Right. His face hardened. There’s one very specific tainted adult that I’ll have to have a long and hard chat with. What was she thinking, exactly? That just because Renewal’s young and impressionable, she can be pushed around? Damned hag, just because you’ve lived for what, six centuries, doesn’t make you king of the lesser gods. We aren’t simple pawns for you to kick around so that you can stick another feather in your cap. Ooh, you’re in for it now.

As he hurled abuse at the imaginary Order in his mind, Stories began the long trip back to the divine realms.

======================================================

Order wasn’t slacking around while waiting the three days for Stories to return – no, she spent the time poring through the preliminary notes that she had gathered, refining the data for use with the upcoming experiments. She had already noted a flaw with the initial test with the two other lesser Gods; they’d basically started their tests on a whim. Whatever they could find, be it a baby or an adult, they dumped into the cauldron. Of course the metaphorical broth of results would have turned out foul and inedible; there needed to be proper areas demarcated, subjects rounded up properly, all preparations completed before any testing could be done. She’d not make the same mistake twice, that was for sure.

Hell, even the data that they did obtain; that was by sheer luck! What was she going to do if the adult Plerby didn’t meet up with its kind after a day or so? Camp on the rock for another five days, hoping that the creature would magically decide to seek out another one of its peers for companionship? Ridiculous.

“ORDER!” The shout came from below. Order knew the cretin had returned.

“You know why I’m here, right?”

“Correct, God of Stories and Creativity. You wish to accompany me to the God of Life and Creation’s domain; to protest the conditions of the experiment?”

Stories arched an eyebrow quizzically. “You don’t seem very worried about this. You do get that depending on Life’s answer, your little experiment is over, right?”

“Why should I be?” Order replied, an air of confidence surrounding her. “I believe that all my actions were necessary to prove my hypothesis, and I’m certain that the God of Life and Creation will see things my way – after I’ve explained it to him in full.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The two made their way to the elevator. Stories had rehearsed the entire conversation over and over in his mind the entire return trip back and it always ended the same way; with Life berating and condemning Order’s actions, which then led to him throwing her in uber-mega-hyper God prison.

Okay, maybe that last bit was a little embellishment on his part. But he couldn’t see how she was getting out of this with no repercussions. She'd treated two defenceless, helpless mortals like dirt; like steps on a path to getting what she wanted. Mortal life that the God of Life and Creation swore to protect. No way was Life siding with her over him.

After witnessing her demeanor, however, a tiny twinge of unease had crept into his mind.

Why did he feel like she was still going to get away with it scot-free?