"…Zulm?" There was no possible way for Olivia's soft voice to travel the immense distance between her and the god yet she still spoke.

"Correct." And Zulm still heard. "This is our first face-to-face correspondence as our previous interaction was under less than ideal conditions." The planet-sized being was gently pulsating with life that radiated up the spires and into the clouds above. Continent-sized slabs of purple bone that covered rolling plains of black flesh softly heaved up and down as the god breathed out gasses from its many mouths that rose into the sky and formed the gas giant they surrounded themselves with. Zulm's voice was like a cool, soothing river filled with tiny pebbles that itched the skin as the water carried them along, "You have my apologies for that as I was under a time constraint until the others would notice and most likely attempt to stop my meddling."

"Others…?" Olivia was trying to think straight but was coming at a loss on how to properly speak. She shifted uncomfortably in the tendril's grasp.

"The gods of Earth," Zulm clarified. Noticing Olivia's discomfort, Zulm loosened its grip on her and adjusted the gravity around her to keep her from getting disoriented. "Or, at least, what is left of them." Zulm's eye partially closed as they appeared lost in thought for a moment before refocusing on Olivia and saying, "But, that is neither here nor there. We have other matters to discuss to fulfill your prayer, Stolen Soul."

"My prayer?…!" Olivia thought back to what she was doing before being brought here and remembered the last thing she said. "About why I'm here?"

"Yes. While not done in a temple of my children, I am able to bend the requirements in your special case." Zulm's eye dug into Olivia with both curiosity and indifference as the god watched her reactions. "Though, I am not sure why you would ask such a question as you already know the answer to it."

"Ans-?"

Before Olivia could respond, she heard Ayaka Fukuda's voice ring through her head, "I could make a better ending after those credits roll, so long as I don’t get left behind, anymore."

"!?!" Olivia looked around but all she saw was the rolling darkness that threatened to suffocate her. "Th-That…"

"That was the beginning of our deal. The beginning of a better future." Shapes shifted and rolled in the darkness. "And, just as I had hoped, you brought about the potential for that better future by bringing about the fifth vision." Zulm's eye happily narrowed as their voice took on a jovial tone, "I thank you, Stolen Soul." But even though Zulm was pleased, Olivia had a dark thought enter her mind.

Olivia swallowed a lump in her throat, and forced out her words, "You…wanted the reverse harem ending?"

"Correct."

"!?!" Zulm's bluntness stunned Olivia into silence as she tried to comprehend what they meant. Zulm wanted the reverse harem ending? "D-Didn't you want something different!?" she cried out.

"Different?" Zulm's form tilted to the side in confusion and stated, "Why would I want something that would go against our deal?"

"Wha-…?" Olivia's brain churned as it tried to reason its way through the conversation. "Didn't you bring me here to stop it!?"

"No, I brought you to my Arlexia to make that future happen." Zulm sounded very sure of itself and seemed to be getting confused by Olivia's confusion. "By your own words: you would make a better ending after the credits rolled. You cannot get to the credits without seeing the ending, so I orchestrated with my children to bring about the proper ending so that you may fulfill your end of the deal."

"Th-That was a figure of speech!" Olivia shouted at the god. Her body was trembling with fear, anxiety, and anger as she began to understand what had happened. "I said that on a whim! I was dying! I didn't mean it literally!"

"All deals are literal, Stolen Soul," Zulm calmly corrected.

"But…" Olivia's voice trailed off as she bit her lip in frustration.

"And, now that the credits have passed, a new dawn for my Arlexia is made clear!" Zulm happily declared and the darkness cheered in kind. "The pretenders, the heretics, and the incompetent shall be cleansed so that my Arlexia may continue on."

"If you…" Olivia's voice trembled as she still feared the god she was in front of, but she was too angry not to yell out, "If you can see the future, then why didn't you pick a better one!?"

"…?" Zulm silently contemplated Olivia.

"Everything we went through!? Everything Lucina suffered through!? Why not pick a different one!?" Tears streamed down her face and trickled off into the darkness.

"Because those were the only futures I foresaw."

"…?" Olivia glared at Zulm who was calmly staring back.

Zulm explained in a matter-of-fact tone, "My foresight abilities cannot see every future. I saw five potentials with two outcomes: the destruction of my Arlexia, or an unknown. It is not that I withheld information from you about what happened after the reverse harem ending's credits, it is that I also did not know what would happen. Such is the nature of divining the future."

"Then why am I here?" Olivia asked through clenched teeth. "Did you foresee my death, too? Was I also part of your vision?"

"No."

"!?!" Olivia looked up in surprise when Zulm answered. Hesitantly, she asked for clarification, "Then…?"

"You were discovered by chance and brought into the fold as you were the perfect person for the role." The darkness stirred and Olivia could see faint visions in the dark clouds around her. Visions of her past actions. "You are someone who cannot stand your friends and loved ones being bullied, yet you freeze up and do nothing when you think you're powerless. You fill your head with ideals on how to live a better life, yet your lack of drive allows apathy to take root and bring about the opposite. You are confident in yourself, yet question everything you do. You are a hypocritical fool, Stolen Soul, and I thank you for that because it made you perfect for enacting the future I wanted."

"…" Olivia's jaw trembled as it opened and closed without any words coming out. Zulm picked her, saved her from death, because he knew she would fail at preventing the reverse harem ending and thus bring about his fifth vision of the future. She was nothing but a tool, a foolish idiot who was only good for being manipulated by a god that orchestrated everything. It was rigged from the start. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks and splashed into the darkness as the visions faded away. "…What's the point?" she muttered.

"…?" Zulm's eye focused on Olivia and smothered her with its light.

"If everything I do is predetermined…if nothing I did matters…then what's the point?" Olivia started going limp in Zulm's grasp as despair infected her mind.

"You believe complete free will would have brought about a better future?" Zulm curiously asked.

"I…" Olivia's mind was breaking down as she continued conversing with the god. "At least it would be a future of our own making!"

"And does that make it better?" Zulm's gaze shifted to something beside Olivia and the darkness around her swirled into something new. "Did your father's complete free will bring about a better future?"

"!?!" Olivia turned and found her surroundings had completely changed. Zulm's power altered the very space around Olivia to show her a terrible memory.

"!!!" Ayaka Fukuda's parents were yelling in the living room of their house while a young Ayaka peeked through her bedroom door. Their speech was slurred, alcohol clung to the air, and furniture was thrown until Ayaka's father left the house for the final time. Olivia attempted to take a step out of her room only for her surroundings to shift once again.

"Was your mother's future brighter with the complete free will to burn herself out after her prayers fell on deaf ears?"

"…" Olivia was now standing in a large, somber room. An altar was against the far wall with a picture of Ayaka's mother, surrounded by flowers. A closed coffin suffocated the life from the room and a young Ayaka softly wept in mourning clothes for her departed mother. Olivia's heart churned and ripped to shreds as she desperately tried to grab and hug the crying child, but the world dissipated into a cloud of black smoke before reforming into one final image.

"Did Ayaka Fukuda enjoy the complete free will of her Tanaka?"

"…" Olivia stood in an abandoned intersection of Tokyo. Despite the buildings radiating light, not a soul was around. The road was clear of all cars except for a single white truck with a red stain on its grill. Turning around and looking down, Olivia stared into the dead eyes of Ayaka Fukuda's mangled corpse. Her arms were bent the wrong way, one of her femurs had snapped and was piercing out of her leg, and blood poured out of an open wound in her head.

"Complete free will is a tragedy that the gods of Earth allowed to happen because of their own foolishness and their humanity suffers for it." The Tokyo sky shattered like glass as Zulm's massive eye looked down at Olivia. "It was as a consequence of their actions, and their humanity cries out for help with nothing but crushing silence being their answer. I will not allow my humanity to suffer the same fate of abandonment. I will dictate my will when able while also allowing my humanity to make its own decisions and suffer their consequences. I will show the path while humanity decides how to walk it. Thus is my will. Thus will be done."

"…Why?" Olivia's voice whispered to Ayaka's corpse. "Then why did Beatrice have to die?" She looked up and into Zulm's eye. "Why didn't you save her!? Was she not important enough anymore!?"

"Because I did not want to intervene."

"Why!?"

"…Hm." Zulm seemed deep in thought. Eventually, they replied, "Perhaps an analogy will help you understand." The world shifted back to the core of Sailest, and Zulm explained, "If you owned a dog, would you dictate every one of its actions while it was outside in your yard?"

"…What?" Olivia felt a pit form in her stomach. "A…dog?"

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Yes, a pet dog." Zulm sounded very sure of themselves as they looked expectantly at Olivia.

"But…we're humans!" Olivia countered. "We're not dogs!"

"That is why I said I was using an analogy," Zulm clarified. "Be it a dog, a bird, or even a colony of ants makes no difference. I will not interfere with my humanity so long as it remains where I can safely see it. I will let the dog roam the yard."

"But…" Olivia was having a hard time wrapping her brain around the thought of her being a dog. "An analogy only works with similar things!"

"I know."

"Humanity isn't similar to dogs!"

"Correct, but our situation is similar to how humans perceive dogs." Zulm's words stunned Olivia, so they further elaborated, "Humans keep certain creatures as pets because they are above them. Humans perceive dogs as lesser creatures so they take them as pets; this line of logic applies here as well." Zulm's eye, which was as large as an ocean, stared down into Olivia. "Humans are on a lower level of existence compared to me, so I keep them as pets."

"…Pets?" Olivia felt sick to her stomach. "B-But you are talking to me! You and the other gods interact with the people who worship you! T-That's not-"

"Do humans not also talk to their pets?" Zulm asked as their eye narrowed. "Do humans not give their pets treats when they are good? Many humans interact more with their pets than their peers. But, as I said, this is only an analogy to help you understand."

"But I don't understand!" Olivia wanted Zulm to stop talking. To stop hurting her existence. "I can't accept that as an excuse for what's happened!"

"Ah, it seems we are having a miscommunication, Stolen Soul." Zulm nodded to themselves, matched Olivia's gaze, and said, "I am asking for your understanding, not your acceptance."

"…!" After a moment of contemplation, it clicked in Olivia's mind what Zulm was referring to. They were speaking in a literal sense. Zulm wanted Olivia to 'understand' her situation and was doing their best to explain it to her. Her opinion never mattered. A dog can't choose its owner. "…Then…why?" While it was a hard reality to swallow, Olivia forced her discomfort down so she could ask, "Why not just dictate everything!? Why bother with the illusion of choice if it doesn't matter!?"

"For the same reason humans allow dogs to freely roam their yard: love."

"Love?" The whiplash Olivia was experiencing was visible on her face as she tried to keep track of everything.

"I enjoy watching my humanity," Zulm began and looked past Olivia. The god's idle thoughts altered the space around Olivia and she found herself floating in the blue skies above Arlexia. "Owning a pet is about more than just 'ownership' of a creature, it is about watching them grow." Rolling farmlands stretched across open fields, cities, villages, and castles dotted the landscape, forest trees swayed in a harsh wind while hunters rode through them, and the gentle glow of civilization made its mark on the planet. "It is about taking care of another life as if it were your own family. About seeing what they will do, what they will become, and what they want to achieve." Olivia saw ships sailing across the Helker River as commerce boomed and trade brought distant lands closer than their borders allowed. "If I wanted to control everything, I would make a species without thought, like most demons; but that is not what I want. I want to watch my humanity grow and thrive in the world I prepared for them; in the garden I am proud of. If they stumble and make mistakes along the way then so be it for I will be here, when asked, to help them back up. There cannot be growth without failure. Sadness and tragedy have their place, even if I would like to avoid such outcomes."

"…Then why don't you?" Olivia felt the warm air brush against her cheeks and was filled with reverence at the sight of Arlexia from the sky. "You obviously have the power to get rid of the wizards, and stop the imperial family, so…why don't you?"

"Because I do not wish to incur the Last Second's wrath." Zulm's tone was…nervous? A hint of anxiety bled through Zulm's otherwise calm demeanor and into their voice. The darkness writhed, and the chattering maws recoiled.

"The Last Second?" Olivia turned to face Zulm and found them staring sadly at Arlexia.

"They…are a being you need not concern yourself with." Zulm was attempting to brush the subject away. "So long as you remain in my yard, you will never have to worry about them." What could scare a god?

"But I want to know!" Even if none of what she learned would matter to her life, Olivia didn't like the idea of being a helpless dog. Even if nothing would change, "I want to understand!"

"…" Zulm stared into Olivia's eyes for a long time in complete silence as they weighed through their response. After giving a soft sigh, and with a resigned voice, Zulm answered, "The universe is measured in millennia, not minutes, Stolen Soul. Even if I tell you an extremely abridged version of events, it will never fully carry the weight of what happened."

"That's fine."

"You will most likely end with more questions than you start with."

"So be it!" Olivia put a hand on her chest and declared, "I at least want to understand why things are the way they are; even just a little!"

"…Very well, Stolen Soul." The space around Olivia shifted as a new vision formed. "The Last Second's name is very literal: they are the Last surviving member of the Second humanity. Though, calling them a 'survivor' in their current state would be a far stretch." In a flash of light, Olivia found herself standing in a field of strange crops being cultivated by humans using strange yet similar-looking farming machines. Strange tractors plowed dirt as workers gathered bundles of crops onto weird-looking vehicles to transport away to a far-off city whose buildings pierced the horizon. Yet what drew her eye and awe were the spaceships that hovered in the sky above the planet. "To begin, the phrase 'man was made in God's image' holds truth as the first humans were created by a god that made them in their likeness."

"^@$%&$$#." A strange language entered Olivia's ear and she turned to see an androgynous human standing before her. Their face was youthful yet held a mature sharpness that both aroused and eased. They stood a full head taller than her and their hair, which shifted between multiple colors, trailed on the ground behind them without ever getting dirty. Something inside Olivia's very soul cried out upon seeing the being, and she instinctively knew who they were. The god that first created humanity.

Zulm continued their story, "Upon seeing humans for the first time, other gods created their own humanities and soon filled the stars with life." Children with strange hair colors ran past Olivia and into the waiting arms of the first human god. "Humanity loved one another and built civilizations to make their gods proud…yet therein lay a problem."

"…?" A massive shadow cascaded over Olivia and the land.

"The humanities loved themselves…but what about other humanities?" A spaceship, far larger than the others, blotted out the sky as it loomed over the planet. The spaceships of the first humans were falling down onto the planet as flaming wrecks crashed into cities and farmlands. "History has willfully forgotten who fired the first shot, and some delude themselves into falsehoods over their version of events, but soon the universe was engulfed in the flames of war." The massive spaceship fired beams of light onto the planet that sliced through buildings, leveled city blocks, and atomized the bodies of any humans it touched. Smaller fighter craft poured out of the spaceship's hangar bays like a swarm of locusts and performed strafing runs as the once peaceful farmlands were turned into a burning battlefield. Soldiers fired strange rifles while tanks accompanied large, walking war machines that trampled the earth beneath their steps. "Though initially on the losing side, after being pushed to extinction the remaining survivors of the second humanity poured all their recourses into robotic technology to continue the fight even if they were all wiped out." While one side of the soldiers looked like various humans mounting a defense, the invading side that leaped out of dropships was filled with nothing but copies of the same individual. The invader's steps were slightly mechanical instead of naturally fluid like a human's, despite their appearance being of a young adult female with flowing purple hair and eyes that glowed a synthetic red. "Escalation after escalation eventually led to the catastrophic result none of the gods expected." Out of the invading forces came a giant. Standing over three meters tall, the looming robed humanoid reached out a mechanical arm that covered old bones and forgotten flesh with metals forged from the corpses of stars, and pierced their hand into the chest of the first human's god. "The Last Second, a human, killed a god."

"!?!" The Last Second tore the heart out of the god which shattered the space around Olivia and she watched as the night sky started flashing with bright lights before eventually fading out. The war the humanities waged against each other broke more than just each other. Olivia watched the very universe start to die.

"In a last-ditch attempt, many gods rallied their remaining humanities for one last battle." The world shifted and Olivia was floating in space around a planet made of red rock, bellowing volcanoes, and skies of choking smoke. Spaceships of various designs and sizes were joined into one fleet, and spaced among them were multiple weird life forms of various shapes and sizes. Some were like Zulm and had eldritch appearances, others appeared geometric and made of shifting shapes and light, and others were like animalistic hybrids that could move through the vacuum of space. And, breaking through reality, came the massive spaceship that had killed the first humans. "In the Apocalypse system, the final battle of the War in Heaven was waged." One of the eldritch gods led the charge against the invading spaceship, only to be pierced with a strange beam and have a black hole form inside them; killing the god. Other gods focused on diffusing the black holes the Last Second's spaceship fired while the human fleets fired their own strange weapons. Olivia's brain could barely process all that was happening as she watched the battle that she only ever saw depicted in science fiction media. Then, a flash caught her eye. "And the winner…" All the energy that was being condensed and released around black holes that were being formed and torn apart was distorting space and time. Reality broke. Time shunted. "…was no one." And a big bang rocked the universe, engulfing Olivia in a bright light.

"…?" Once her eyes adjusted themselves back to normal levels, Olivia found herself back in the grip of Zulm's tendril and floating above the god at the core of Sailest. Zulm's eye was partially closed as they appeared in solemn contemplation.

Their voice was distant, yet firm, as they finished, "The Last Second's ship was badly damaged, the gods were rife with injuries, and all the humanities were killed by the release of energy. Having little other choice, the Apocalypse Accords were soon signed between the Last Second and the gods that ultimately limited how much interference gods could have on humans with the caveat being humans were banned from intergalactic empires and technology that could lead to the death of gods."

"…" Olivia silently watched Zulm, a god, appear remorseful over the past.

"But, not everyone follows the Accords. As is the case with Pianeta, there are gods who still hold a vendetta against humanity as a whole for what happened and will actively sabotage any attempts at cultivating humans."

"…The wizards!?" Wizards got their power from a strange meteor that fell centuries ago and they were vehemently opposed by the gods and their worshippers.

"A foul play by a god who hates humans. If left unchecked, the wizards will eventually develop magic to pierce space and spread their reach across the stars; a breach of the Accords. Even my Harbinger has limits to her portals." Zulm's voice began bleeding with anger, and the skies crackled with lightning in response. "If I intervene without following proper procedures, I will also be breaking the Accords…and the Last Second cares not for who is ultimately in the wrong when it comes to enforcement." Zulm looked deep into Olivia, and vowed, "I will not allow my humanity to die from the tricks of others."

"Then…reverse time!" Olivia pleaded with the god, "Surely a god can do that? You brought me here! Why not reverse time and stop the meteor from falling?"

"Taking your soul from Earth and bringing it across the universe to Pianeta is the manipulation of space, not time. You were not brought through time to a new dimension, you were brought to a different point in space." Clouds above Olivia parted and, shimmering in the distance, was a bright light that seemed to call to Olivia. The Milky Way galaxy twinkled as nothing more than another distant dot in the starry sky. "Time manipulation is not only banned by the Apocalypse Accords but is also not something to be trifled with. Even my occasional visions of the future are sporadic and only show potentials if not acted upon." Zulm sighed as they revealed, "Alm's Beatrice was also not exempt, so I had to find another route for her 'past lives'."

"Her…past lives?" Olivia perked up once Zulm mentioned Beatrice.

"Yes, Alm's Beatrice acted the way she did because she believed she was living her fifth life and the other visions, the other routes, were her past lives. This is not the case." The clouds above closed and returned Olivia to darkness. "I simply manipulated her dreams to make her think she had lived through the other visions. Much like how I planted my visions in the mind of the human on Earth that would make Finding Arlexia's Light, this method matured Alm's Beatrice at an accelerated rate and allowed her to properly fill her role as a Saintess."

"…" Olivia recalled how Beatrice would seem to know where to 'trigger events' during their academy life. Originally she thought it was the will of the story forcing the plot, but now she knew it was Beatrice attempting to change things from her 'previous' four lives. Just another victim in a game neither of them had a way of altering. "Then…what happens now?"

"Now?" Zulm's tone returned to its usual calm. "What do you want to happen?"

"…?"

"Our deal is officially fulfilled, Stolen Soul," Zulm explained and gave a nod. "In your actions handling my Harbinger after being enslaved, and in placating your father, Terence Arlexton will have the backing and strength to properly enact his coup. My Arlexia now has the highest likelihood of surviving. You have fulfilled your end of the deal, and I have fulfilled mine. My Harbinger will never leave you behind."

"…" Olivia was…done? If she was done, then why did she feel so incomplete? Why did she… "Zulm?" Ah, that was it. "Let's make a new deal." Olivia was angry.

"A new deal?" Zulm seemed curious and focused on Olivia.

"You've done it before, so making deals with me is still something you can do, right?" Even though Zulm seemed bound to the Apocalypse Accords, they still took Olivia's soul from Earth and made a deal with her so there must be some leeway. "In that case…I want a guarantee!" Despite Zulm being a god that could wipe her away with a thought, Olivia didn't feel as afraid of them as before. With defiance in her heart, and determination in her eyes, Olivia proposed, "Right now, Lucina is staying out of the coup for me… But I will convince her to rally the Hellhounds and personally join the coup; guaranteeing its success!"

"…Oh?" Zulm was intrigued. Terence's forces were certainly strong, but there were still unknown variables at play that could pose a threat to Arlexia. "And what is it you want in exchange, Stolen Soul?"

"In exchange…give my children a time of peace!"

"…?" Caught off-guard, Zulm asked for clarification, "You…wish for your children to live in a time of peace?"

"I…know it's possible to have kids with Lucina…so…" Olivia started getting embarrassed, but she pushed through for the sake of what was to come. "No forced games. No manipulated dreams. No pitiful martyrs. I…I want my children to be able to grow up happy."

"Stolen Soul…" Zulm's voice trailed off into a chuckle. "You hold a deal with a god and do not use its benefits on yourself?"

"Of course, it's for me!" Olivia countered. "What good parent doesn't want what's best for their kids!" Resignation bled into her voice that mixed with acceptance as she reasoned, "Pianeta...Arlexia… This is my home now. Whether I'm a dog in a yard or a human living for themselves… If there's something I can do the make sure my kids don't suffer like I or Lucina have, then I'll gladly take it!" Olivia matched Zulm's eye and, for the first time, didn't waver as she awaited the god's response.

"…It appears you two truly are similar," Zulm chuckled. Ignoring Olivia's confused look, Zulm gave her their answer, "Very well, Stolen…no… Olivia Ordrin. In exchange for unleashing Lucina Sanguine upon my enemies, I shall do all I can to make sure your children live in an Arlexia that holds an era of peace."

"…Thank you, Zulm." Olivia still held conflicting feelings about Zulm and how they saw humans, but she knew those feelings wouldn't do anything. So Olivia decided to focus on the things she could do and that started with ensuring the remaining male leads met their dues and Terence was crowned as Emperor. But to do that, "So… How do I go ba-AAH!?!" The tendril holding Olivia yanked her away to bring her soul back to her body that Zulm had taken her from for their conversation.

"…" Zulm's eye closed for a moment, basking in the silence, before partially opening to address their other guest. "Just as you did, she used her deal to benefit her offspring rather than herself."

"…" From out of the darkness waltzed a fox with pure white fur and striking yellow eyes. The fox swished its three tails which caused the wind chimes tied to them to jingle and sing.

"As per our deal, and now that her own is done, Ayaka Fukuda will henceforth live a life filled with a loving family in my Arlexia instead of meeting her end on that street." Zulm rolled their eye, and mused, "Had you not drawn my attention, at that time, I would have passed over such a soul. I thank you, young kitsune. And as my end of the deal is concluded, now you must uphold yours."

"…" The wind chimes sang a sad, yet resolved song as the fox approached Zulm.

"You make me sound cruel, young kitsune." The fox's form started disappearing and it closed its eyes. "While I will take your power to help strengthen my world's defenses from further interlopers, your soul shall enter my humanity's reincarnation cycle. Who knows? Perhaps you will even get to meet her again one day, even if neither of you will realize it."