“Who do you think you are attacking people like that?” I stood up and yelled, shock and indignation having won out over sense.
“I’M DEATH. I’D HAVE THOUGHT THIS OBVIOUS GIVEN THE FACT THAT I HAVE JUST CLAIMED YOU.” It gestured towards my waist and, looking down, I saw me. I also saw my body, which was passing right through me.
I’d guess most people are assaulted by spiritual concerns once they are a spirit, like whether there is Heaven or Hell, which one they’re going to, and so on. However, I was just downright angry. Ordinarily, one would be scared to death by the specter of, well, Death but seeing as I was already dead I decided to let it have it.
“What the hell! Why’d you dangle life in front of me just to take it away? How does this even happen?” I screamed at the figure before me. “You have one job, can’t you do it ri…” I stopped as Death instantly moved in front of me, it’s skull almost touching my face. Literally staring Death in the face, I realized the blue lights in its eyes weren’t small, just impossibly far away. “DON’T BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE SAFE FROM ME BECAUSE I HAVE ALREADY CLAIMED YOU. MIND YOUR MANNERS UNLESS YOU WISH TO FIND OUT IF THE DEAD CAN DIE.”
As I involuntarily took a step back, through my body which was all sorts of disturbing, and Death stroked its chin with bone fingers. “BUT I SUPPOSE YOU ARE OWED SOME EXPLANATION…AND HE HAD WANTED TO TALK TO YOU. COME WITH ME.” It grabbed my hand (I hadn’t thought anything could have been colder than that river; I was wrong) and tapped its scythe on the floor. Suddenly, we were elsewhere.
It was like a casino, with slots, poker tables, roulette wheels, and other gambling implements. The place was either vast or infinite, as I couldn’t see any walls. Death and I were at a craps table with the apparent sole other occupant of the place. In my eyes he looked almost exactly like the king on a playing card, except he his features were ‘gambling-themed.’ For example, his pupils looked like roulette wheels and his teeth like the backs of playing cards.
“MR. NEFESH, MEET THE LAW OF PROBABILITY. PROBABILITY, THIS IS THE INDIVIDUAL YOU WERE CONCERNED WITH,” Death said as it took a seat at the table. “I BELIEVE YOU HAD A PROPOSAL FOR HIM.”
Instead of responding, Probability suddenly flicked out his hand towards me and two dice flew out. I caught them and inspected them, but they seemed to be entirely ordinary six-sided dice. Then he gestured and I found myself throwing them. Shockingly, they landed on 7. It was shocking even though 7 is the most common result because usually that is achieved through something like 1&6 or 3&4. Instead one die had seven dots on it while the other was blank.
Stolen story; please report.
Seeing my incredulous expression, Probability gave a chuckle; it was warm, much like his voice. “If you are shocked by something like that, then your concept of possibilities are two narrow.” He grinned, “Why, one time a fellow rolled my dice and it came up seven 7’s.” I’m not so sure about this fellow’s definition of ‘possibilities.’
Now it was Death’s turn to chuckle. It sounded decidedly less warm. “AH YES, I REMEMBER THAT. HE WAS PLAYING CRAPS WITH ME FOR HIS LIFE. UNFORTUNATE FOR HIM HE DID NOT BET ON 49.” I would have asked why I didn’t get a chance to play for my life, but somehow I thought better of it. “BUT ENOUGH OF YOUR FUN, LET’S MOVE THIS ALONG. I HAVE NUMBER OF IMPORTANT APPOINTMENTS TO KEEP.”
Probability’s smile disappeared. “Well then I suppose I ought to make a fuller introduction to Mr. Nefesh then.” He took out a deck of cards and started deftly arranging them into a house. “I am one of the many Laws that govern and shape existence. As Death so succinctly stated earlier, I am the Law of Probability as both a manifestation and concept itself. I curate, effect, and control any and all chance, fortune, probability, and so on and so forth.” It struck me that I was a bit out of my league here.
The house of cards was growing rather rapidly, but somehow the dimensions didn’t make sense to me as if there were parts I couldn’t see. “Now, what has occurred with you and the other Mr. Nefesh has caused quite a stir among the Laws. This sort of thing has never happened before, and some Laws feel the event has violated their tenants. There is an opinion that a ‘small’ apocalypse is in order, to the effect of cleansing reality of life.” He flicked a card, and the whole thing came tumbling down. Upon closer observation, I think Probability’s roulette-pupils might spin, though I can’t be certain as the whole room seems to be spinning too.
He continued, “I find this undesirable. Unlike most of my brethren, who find life to be quite troublesome to apply rules to, I’m rather fond of it.” He smiled, showing off his playing-card teeth, “I hadn’t had fun until you all invented gambling after all. Also, I find the other Laws to be a bit too absolute. One thing dying instead of another isn’t that big a deal after all.” I began to suspect that this being’s view on life and its value were rather different than mine.
“So here’s what I propose: you take over the other fellow’s body and help fix this. Take another lease on life. Perhaps prevent multiversal extinction. What do you say?”