My only companion, the god snake, looks over my shoulder at the road we must traverse.

I expect something big to happen on this road like before.

But my expectations still need to be met.

Days pass without a giant snake or annunaki spies.

It isn't very interesting, to be honest.

But this road is not eternal.

What I find is not a temple but a simple wooden shrine.

With its vibrant red paint, it has been newly crafted. But, it exudes an air of extreme age.

I find no statues of gods to commune with.

Only a pyramid that has five stones at the center of the shrine.

This is the final temple.

The final god that I need to receive a blessing from.

But I don't know what to do.

Is this like the shrines in the temples before? A place meant for communion.

The cost is my memories.

I resolve myself to the effort, stand before the stones, and close my eyes.

I've tried praying when I was alive. But it seemed like I was talking to myself.

Now, I have to find the favor of a god through prayer.

"Excuse me," I say awkwardly. "I'm Will, and I am a challenger to the gate. I am here for your blessing."

Silence rings out as I feel like I'm spending air on rocks.

I look at the shrine, "I would like to offer memories of my past."

I hear a subtle thrum in the air and close my eyes.

Behind my eyelids, a slide show of my memories.

I have some control over whether or not my memory will be taken.

Much as I'd like to use memories of my childhood, this deity only wants my memories of Lily.

"No," I say through gritted teeth.

But, the god only grows greedier as I resist.

My control over the selection is flimsier than I had thought, and I feel emptiness spread through my mind.

The slideshow shows memories that had been a part of me for the final time.

Time and again, this dammed god plucks my past.

Exhaustion comes over me as I can't keep up with the extortion. But, eventually, the avarice of this god is satiated.

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A warmth carries throughout my body as I feel the god's blessing.

I stand in silence before this god's shrine. I am bereft of so much.

I take a deep breath and open my eyes.

I don't even know what or how much I've lost.

All I know is that the trade is complete, for better or worse.

Two roads are before me.

To retreat the way I came. Or to take the road to the center of the island, the core of the gate.

After coming so far. Could I even turn back?

I think of all the times these gods have told me of my fate as though it were set in stone.

But, the thing I realize is that they all wanted this.

The gods who acted as gate guardians never tried to stop me.

The war that had been simmering for ages could now boil over.

And it would be all because of me.

Before I process all my thoughts, my feet carry me towards the island center.

My thoughts constantly tell me to turn back. And, I spend long moments standing still. But, I always turn back.

My days are free of obstacles.

No monsters or men. It's just a road with a definite end.

I find a great altar in a valley, closed in by mountains. And two portals rise high above my head.

With a sigh, I look at the two figures waiting for me.

They don't move from their posts by the gates.

I see Samantha's black eyes and can't help but feel a dark aura hangs over her.

The other.

"Hello, archangel Michael."

"Was it that obvious?"

I chuckle, "Just a bit."

The old man winks at me before morphing into an adonis of a man with beautiful white wings.

Samantha looks between us earnestly.

"Will," she says. "There is so much that you don't understand. The law of heaven will stifle countless lives. It would be like living as slaves. Please, for the sake of free will, walk through this portal.

"You must, Will."

I look at Samantha with pity, "How much freedom are you experiencing right now?"

Through her words, I couldn't help but hear the fear.

I ask Michael, "Why does it matter which portal I travel through?"

The beautiful man looks at me seriously, "The gate will break. The other circles will bleed into this realm. You will form the first crack, creating a chain reaction. The circle you choose to open will have the advantage in the war.

"All of hell's fury and heaven's wrath will be unleashed upon this island."

Samantha, in desperation, breaks from her post and clings to me.

"Please. Please. You must go through mine. I- I can't..."

A demonic thrall can do nothing, but the demons will.

Even if I had not been notified beforehand, I would never do as she pleaded.

"Michael," I say evenly. "Did you know that, with only eight blessings, I would die upon breaking the gate?"

The archangel's features harden.

"Why did you choose me?"

The question hangs over us.

"You were convenient."

I almost can't believe his words.

"Convenient? What did you do to me? When did it even happen? Didn't I find you? How can you have designed this whole conspiracy like that?"

My questions are innumerable.

The archangel looks at me with a complicated expression.

"Will," he pauses. "I didn't choose you at random. I had measured your life and knew where you would enter the afterlife. You possessed qualities suitable to the task.

"And you found me because you were hungry, and I was roasting meat. If you didn't come to me then, I would have found you another time."

I let out a breath.

"And, the fact that I'll die in the process never tripped you up?"

Archangel Michael has a resolute expression. "I've sent others to their deaths more often than I can count. I am ready for you to be sacrificed."

"Too bad for you," I say with a tongue click.

His expression is blank.

"Well," I say. "There's no turning back, and the decision is obvious."

I brush past the tall archangel and stand before the portal.

I test the portal with a hand, and the massive portal fluctuates for a moment before I retract my hand.

I look back to those who I had at one time considered companions.

With a final look, I turn to face the portal.

My feet carry me to the threshold, and something strange happens.

I find myself in a void; a single tear the length of my body exists behind me.

"Did it work?" I ask out loud.

With a shrug, I walk through the tear.

I look around and see both portals gone.

Samantha looks at me in agony.

"What's wrong?" I rush to her side.

"I- Ah! Failed."

Her moans of agony tear at my heart.

I look into her terrified black eyes as her body trembles.

She gasps at air she can't inhale.

Her death is not a pleasant one. But, it has an end.

Tears fall from my eyes as I look at her.

She was supposed to find peace. But, because of me, she died miserably.

I look around. Michael left before I returned from the void.

The sky is torn apart, the heavenly host descending like the locust.

I want to bury Samantha. But I don't have time to.

With a bowed head, I close my eyes and turn to my survival.