“Like hell.” Allan said, drawing the gun and ignoring the knowledge it would not do much. He pointed it between Elunitra’s eyes, “Let's see if I can pull a Nietzsche and kill a god.”
“Allan, please…” Elunitra said, trying to be calm.
“No. Fuck you. Fuck you all. I try and help you out, and help those you created, and this is the thanks I get? Fuck! You!” Allan was in a rage. He knew he had no chance against six gods, but if they came at him, he would try his best to kill them all.
“Petulant child!” The God of the Galgax said, raising his hand to strike Allan only to be stopped by Death.
“Yet, the child is right.” Death hissed, “We all seem bent on having this one mortal solve every problem we have, and yet we fail to give him a proper explanation. If I were in his position and suddenly was told I would need to die, I must say I would have a similar reaction.”
Allan was breathing hard, his vision tinted red. He wanted to strike. Death stepped forward, “Peace, Allan, let us explain, and then you may fight us if you wish. If you wish to fight us after our explanation, I will even give you a blade capable of killing a god to fight us with.”
It was the promised weapon that caught Allan’s attention, “Fine, let's hear the explanation.”
“The number of possible futures is finite.” Elunitra said.
Allan opened his mouth to object when Death spoke up, “Within the confines of the fourth dimension, time can only progress forward, so yes–it is finite.” Allan closed his mouth once more.
“As I was saying,” Elunitra continued, “futures are finite, but even so, at any given point there are roughly 108 decisions made every nano-second. Each of those decisions has a minimum of two outcomes. So at the very least, there are 108 raised to the second, raised to the seventieth possible realities all at once. But recently, there has been a staggering decrease in that number, and it is only getting worse. We seem to be headed to a singular possibility.”
“What is that possibility?” Allan asked.
“We do not know.” Death said, “But we were approached by the Higher Beings.”
“Ah, the horror squid-whales–copy.” Allan said, getting a smile out of Elunitra and Death. The rest looked angry he would dare say such a thing.
“Yes, the Horror squid-whales.” Death continued, “It was a shock to us but we listened. Apparently, to prevent the total destruction of not only this dimension but of this entire universe, they said you need to die.”
Allan’s face,a thunder cloud, made Elunitra wonder if Allan might just try and strangle them all one at a time. Then Death raised a hand and continued speaking, “However, they did specify you need to stay dead. If you agree to this, the odds reality will survive go from three percent to sixty-eight percent.”
“So wait–hold on–let me wrap my head around this.” Allan took a breath. “You basically want me to actually die, not like suspended animation. And then, after some amount of time, which you have not told me, I will be back?”
“Correct.” Elunitra said.
“So riddle me this, batman. Why the fuck are you lot asking?” Allan let his curiosity get the better of him, “Why not just merc me and then say ‘whoopsie’ and bring me back.”
“That was discussed.” Death said.
“I still think we should.” The Galgax god said.
“Stuff it scale-boy” Allan said, anger flashing in his voice, and then focusing on Death. “Please continue Death.”
“As I said, t was discussed.But it goes against everything we Gods believe and have tried to abide by.” Death said,“It is also because of the ultimatum I laid out to the gods regarding Earth.”
“Hmm.” Allan said thinking, “So how long would I be gone for?”
“Well that is the thing,” Elunitra said looking around for help.
Gultinth, God of the Sidhesh, stepped forward and began speaking, “The timeframe provided to us by the Higher Be…The Horor Squid-Whales, was vague. But please remember… to them time is malleable, and they can see everything and nothing all at once.”
“Right,” Elunitra said, “Even if it takes a thousand years, they can drop you back in exactly where you should be.”
“Why don’t they just kill me and drop me back at the moment after I die?” Allan asked.
Gultinth spoke again, “You need to be gone from the universe for a period of time in all formats. That was the general message we got.”
“Okay, and when would I have to die?” Allan said, his tone making clear he was only inquiring, not agreeing.
“Within two weeks.” Death said.
“Ohhhhhh.” Allan said, sitting down on the stool in the room. Allan looked up at Aly, frozen in time by the very goddess she worshiped. He knew this would hurt her in ways he probably could not fathom.
“I have some conditions.” Allan said, “I want you to hear them all and get a response before I say yes or no.”
“Well let's hear them then.” The God of the Galgax said, clearly impatient at how this was happening.
“Firstly, you will only kill me at the last possible moment.” Allan said, thinking the rest through and then diving in “Secondly–Death, you have to explain to Eddy what is going on. For your sake as much as mine. I guarantee if he figures out that you all killed me, he will find a way to kill Gods. You will also check in on my mother.Don’t tell her anything, but if my father somehow manages to crawl out of the cold hell that is a Russian gulag, he needs to disappear. I know you wont kill him. Just drop him on some moon that will support life that no one has discovered yet, and let him sort the rest out himself.”
Death thought for a moment. “I can agree to these things.”
Allan nodded and turned to Elunitra. “Now, you Elunitra, you have what I consider to be the most important role. You cannot let Aly fall back to what she was. I don’t care if you have to personally talk to her every day so she is not alone.”
Elunitra smiled and looked around the room at the crowd of women who were all smiling. Even the princesses had grins on their faces, “I think you underestimate the family you have built here, but I will agree to this.”
“Good, now this last one is for all of you.” Allan said, looking around at the gods, “You all must explain to these women what is going on. They deserve that much, as you are about to toss their worlds into disarray.”
Death nodded. “We had anticipated at the very least you would demand they know, and the other Gods have agreed. In this instance, the communication ban can be lifted.”
“Good. Well, so long as those conditions are met, I agree.” Allan said and slowly locked eyes with every God and Goddess present, a look of cold calculation on his face, “I just want you all to know if my family dies while I'm dead, I will personally use everything I can think of to cause you pain, even if I have to wipe the races that worship you from the face of the galaxy.”
That little statement caused a wave of unease to wash across Elunitra and the goddess of the Gish. The God of the Galgax looked like he wanted such a fight, and Death seemed to have some twisted sense of pride in the Human who was threatening to destroy the creations of his fellow Gods.
“Well then, let's do this.” Allan said smiling again, and standing up, “Um, they are going to freak out, so just…be calm I guess?”
“We know.” Elunitra said smiling at the prospect of it. After a moment, Elunitra waved her hand and suddenly everyone started moving again.
“Well, do you like it Allan?” Aly said excitedly.
“I do.” Allan said with a smile. He was about to continue speaking when Jalla and Tillia let out shocked gasps and fell to their knees. The princesses followed suit, and Aly’s eyes widened so far Allan worried she might pop something. All of the women were staring at the assemblage of gods with tears forming in their eyes.
Elunitra stepped forward, taking Aly’s hands and pulling her to her feet. “We have much to discuss, Alyniqual Jushintorg.”
