My eyes snapped open. Sitting on the corpse of the Old One I had just defeated was a pale woman who seemed to be in her early twenties. Jet black hair was pulled back into a long tail, and her face was framed by earrings with an ankh and skull design. Deep blue eyes seemed to laugh at me. She wore arctic camo pants, black combat boots, a black T-shirt with the punisher logo on it, and all of this was topped off by a leather jacket that seemed to be ripped from the Matrix, the old ones not the recent thirteenth movie. The oddest part though was the fact that it seemed like the world had stopped around us. I could see fires that weren’t flickering, ash that hung in the air motionless, and the beam of light that should have faded remained unchanging. I also wasn’t in pain, though I couldn’t move my body beyond breathing and maybe speaking, “Uhh, hi, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
The woman smirked a bit and replied, her voice a little less cold but still just as dry, “Two things, one I’m waiting to hear the joke; and you have a choice to make when the others arrive.”
“You’re expecting me to tell a joke? Others?” I asked, trying to move my hand to grab the hold out knife and failing.
“They always said you laughed at death, I wanted to hear the joke. Stop trying to move the rest of your body, we stopped time for you so we could speak. If you keep pushing you will break the spell and likely bleed out before we finish our conversation,” she answered.
“Wait, are you saying you are Death?” I asked, and at her nod I blurted out, “Care to get some dinner before I move along?”
I don’t know how I managed to blush with all the blood draining out of me, but I know I did especially as the woman’s jaw dropped open and she frankly gaped at me. She stammered out, “You want to take me to dinner before you die?”
I grinned and said, “Well I don’t know how well I would be able to eat as a ghost or whatever, so figured I should ask beforehand.”
A warm laughter that reminded me of flames crackling sounded off behind me and a voice that was the mirror opposite of Death’s choked out, “Oh powers, the look on your face sister. You would think you hadn’t been asked out before.”
From the corner of my eye I saw a tall red haired woman in a white dress walk past me to join the lady who claimed to be Death. The ebony-maned woman glared at the newcomer and said, “It’s been a while, and I’m trying to decide whether he’s joking or not.”
I spoke up, “Why joke about it, if it’s my time to die then it’s my time. Figured asking for a last meal wouldn’t hurt. Worst you could say is no,”
A soft smile crept onto her face and she said, “You truly do not fear me, or what I represent.”
I tried to shrug, but still couldn’t move the rest of my body, and said, “Everything dies ma’am. No point in wailing about it. I doubted I would be an old man when I took up this job. That and it’s been three long years since I’ve had a decent steak.”
The redhead let out another peal of laughter and said, “You're not dead yet young man. You may still live past this day. You are going to be given a choice, we are just waiting on the balancer to show up.”
“Balancer?” I asked as a third form seemed to materialize behind the two women.
I started to push forward as I saw what looked like a being of the same design as Nar’Shag appeared and walked toward the woman. I could feel my body burning as I started to shift and the two women gasped before stepping forward and placing hands on me to keep me from moving. The thing that looked like an Old One seemed to shimmer and become a human being that looked like a twelve year old with sandy brown hair dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. His eyes though were still ink black with flecks of light like stars in the sky.
The boy said, “Peace soldier, my form changes based on who I’m dealing with and the circumstances. I am not like them. Their time has now passed.”
His voice was deeper than any twelve year old should have. I could also feel his words reverberating against my magic and soul. It felt like what you would expect to hear when God said ‘Let there be Light.’ A proclamation of absolute truth. He turned to the two women and asked, “Is this your pick then?”
“Yes, since the other one survived,” the redhead said.
I said under my breath, “I am so confused.”
Apparently they heard me as the boy said, “I will try to explain. Some concepts your moral mind may not be able to handle. The three of us are aspects of existence. Life, Death, and Judgement.”
I looked at him confused and he elaborated, “Judgement, as in the ability to make judgements. What your scientists have defined as sentience.”
“Gods,” I said.
The dark haired woman, Death, replied, “No, gods are shaped by the unconscious will of those who can think and feel. We are aspects of fundamental laws. Sort of.”
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I cocked an eyebrow at her. She sighed and looked at the boy who said, “These avatars are used to interact with reality. We aren’t the true aspects, merely a physical manifestation. We are the hands that step in when something goes off track with a reality and try to bring it back into balance.”
The redhead spoke up, “And because we have sentience within the avatars we pick we get bored and meddle. In this case you are the prize in a wager.”
“Piss Off, I am no one's prize!” I snapped out, beginning to struggle against the stopped time again.
“Hold Stephen Michael Rogers. What she says is incomplete,” Death said, my name reverberating throughout my body; True named by Death will have that effect.
“Correct,” the boy said, “First, you are to be given a choice. The prize is that they got to pick you, not that you would be forced. Your choice is whether you wish to pass here and now, and be reborn in another reality..”
“That’s not a lot of information, and what wager,: I asked.
I saw the two women smirk as the boy seemed to get the sullen look common to teenagers. When he didn’t continue Death spoke up, “There are a number of realities that exist in a cycle of life, growth, and near extinction. Few ever break out of it, and rarely ones that are in a similar pattern. As my sister said, we get bored. The three of us made a wager on whether or not the cycle would break, and who would cause it. This is the third reality where Life’s pick has succeeded in breaking the cycle.”
The boy said, “I still say it’s an anomaly that all three times it was a human that broke the cycle, but I know she didn’t interfere. Death is an impeccable arbitrator. With that being said the prize was to pick a mortal and let them be reborn into a different reality. They would regain their memories later in life, but otherwise would be free to make their own choices.”
“Uh huh, I don’t buy it. Nothing is ever that cut and dried,” I said.
Death smiled and said, “Well the reality we were going to send our prize has a bit more leeway in how much the gods and aspects can meddle, so long as the rules are obeyed. That and there is another wager in place that we won’t speak of.”
“An uninformed choice isn’t much of one. Why don’t I get to know that wager?” I asked.
The boy answered, “Because knowledge of the wager would affect your choice and decisions. Your previous knowledge from this world would not give you much of an advantage in the grand scheme of things. There are others that exist that already have power that could match or exceed yours.”
I had to ask the big question though, “Why me, is it because I’m going to die shortly?”
Death shook her head, “Only in part. You have a chance to survive this actually; you would still have to deal with the aftermath of your fight, but you do have enough of a chance to survive that it will be a true choice. As for why you; mostly because you intrigued us. We had a list of people to offer the choice to, but it takes a set of circumstances such as yours to make the offer. My sister’s first pick was someone else, but his chances of survival were high enough that she didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask. You were an anomaly in this battle, and it caught my interest.”
“Who,” I started to ask and stopped at the look she gave me, a look that clearly told me to not be an idiot, and I continued, “St. John”
Life spoke up, “Yes, she was my first choice. In the other realities that the cycle was broken her counterparts were also the ones to lead. Though in each of those she was the only one to make it to the final confrontation. This time she had allies with her which increased her odds of survival beyond what I felt reasonable.”
“What was different, or am I not allowed to know that?” I asked.
The two looked to the boy who took a moment to consider before nodding and saying, “It doesn’t affect the balance for you to know. In those other realities the counterpoint to the Phantom’s was on the opposing side. The leader of the Phantom’s, your direct counterpart, fell before the final battle began. In essence you were the deciding factor in St. John’s survival as she would have faced her final challenge alone if you had not been here to stop Nar’Shag.”
“Butterfly wings,” I murmured.
The boy nodded, “Exactly. That one change in this reality affected more further down the flow of time than most mortals would perceive. It is also the reason the wager is being kept from you.”
I nodded in understanding and asked, “What are the terms of the rebirth?”
“You will be reborn as an infant and regain your memories either at your majority or when faced with an active life threatening situation. So if your teenage self decides to jump off a bridge you just move on. You will also be granted a set of boons so long as they do not upset the balance. If you have a preference we will try to accommodate you,” he answered.
“Can I know my chances of survival if I turn down this offer?” I asked.
Death considered for a moment, and at the boys nod, she said, “Between twenty and thirty percent chance you survive. Your team has already spotted your confrontation, but there are a great number of injured and you have damaged your body with your struggles against the frozen time. It would depend on the choices of others. If we hadn’t interfered it would have been around ten percent chance you survived without being found, and close to forty that your compatriots would find you.”
That actually wasn’t bad odds, honestly it was better than I expected when I played my hold card. So now the question was did I take the option. I asked, “Can I use part of that boon to have a video message delivered to my sister here? A final goodbye?”
The boy nodded and said, “Many soldiers did that before they left for this battle. It wouldn’t affect the balance to have one get lost and found.”
Well that answered that, that just meant there was little holding me here. The aftereffects of the mana drain and the self inflicted wound to my arm would require an early retirement or a medical discharge. Willow would grieve, but we didn’t expect to survive this battle. All that was left was the oath I took when I joined the unit. I closed my eyes and recited the private oath of the Phantoms. “I will walk in the shadows to ward the innocent. I will avenge what I can’t prevent. So long as I live I will protect those who cannot protect themselves, even should the world declare me a villain. This I so swear by whatever powers that watch over me, and the very magic in my soul.”
Opening my eyes I looked at the three powers, “If I am not moving on to what comes after death, then I still have an oath to keep.”