A God sat at a table under a large gazebo impatiently tapping his finger. The God, Izo, was in his usual battle garb, wearing dark leather armor with some fire-retardant silk underneath for comfort. His face was as sharp as his fiery red eyes. His slightly unkempt long dark red, almost black hair falling down to his shoulders. The gazebo was a simple wooden structure, dark in color to contrast the vast white void surrounding it. The milky glass table positioned in the center of the gazebo slightly melted every time Izo tapped his finger, unease displayed clearly on his face.
Izo sighed. He was usually more calm than this. Even though he wasn't here to fight he brought his armor purely because he wasn't sure how this talk would go. His relationship with these people had done nothing but rot in the past 200 years. After all, how can you stay friends with people you're trying to kill? The contents of the talk itself didn't do well to ease his nerves either.
"Lets all stop fighting and play a game!" was the gist of the topic of the coming conversation and he was sure at least one of his siblings would draw their sword at that. The god who proposed this was always a weird one. When the Gods began fighting for supremacy, he just sat back and started taking bets on who would perish first, and now he was making a game out of stopping their feud.
Izo could only think of it as suspicious, and he was sure the others would take it as a joke. The man himself wasn't even here to present the idea, instead forcing the responsibility on Izo. Even if Izo wanted to refuse this strange proposition, he knew he had little choice in doing so. The planet the siblings govern was beginning to scream under the stress of their endless battles, and Izo wasn't sure how much longer it would hold together if they kept fighting like they have. Izo glanced at the seats surrounding the table, only three of six were filled.
We're just waiting on two people. Why are they always late? Izo cried in his heart. He wanted this conversation to be over already and it wouldn't start until everyone was here. Tara and Arkigit are here, and Caboose said he wasn't coming. What the fuck are Vulkria and Vitara doing?
Despite the question to himself, he could guess at the answer. Vulkria was probably fighting some stray god to blow off steam and Vitara was most likely tending to her secret garden. Izo turned his head to the other two present. Tara was just sitting quietly and Arkigit was reading in his high chair.
If you didn't know better you might think that Tara was made of stone on account of how still she was. She was sitting in a stern upright position and her face was expressionless as usual. Izo was sure that her facial muscles stopped working around the time she became a god because he had never seen more than three different expressions from her. Her short hair refusing to be affected by the wind as it softly blew by was exceedingly unnatural as her large leather coat obeyed the wind’s demands.
Two chairs over, sitting in a custom made highchair is Arkigit. Solemnly reading his book with his custom-fitted tailcoat and hat, he gives off an air of nobility thats completely ruined by the fact that he's a solid three feet and one inch tall. Arkigit was very clear about that single inch. Arkigit himself had an unoffensive face that always seemed to have a dignified expression on it. Always managing to liven up the mood with small talk wherever it was possible, the fact that he was silent right now wasn't a good sign for Izo and his forced proposition.
I'm sure I could convince Tara, she would be fine with any method as long as she becomes the True God in the end. Arkigit may prefer this over senseless combat, but the fact that Caboose came up with this will surely make him uneasy.
As Izo was contemplating the chances of this working, the entrance of the gazebo began to glow. Once the glow completely faded two womanly figures made their way to the table and sat down. The more striking of the two, Vulkria, sat down next to Tara while the plain looking one, Vitara, chose to sit on the side of the table farthest away from Izo.
Vulkria was fully kitted in battle armor as she usually was, her wings poking out from her back. The new hilt at her hip and her satisfied grin paint the picture of a recent victory, but there wasn't a scratch to be seen on her armor. Her face was just as flawless with long white hair extending well past her shoulders. As she sat down she leaned back her chair and crossed her legs on the table.
Vitara just sat down at the table and sat quietly, refusing to look at Izo. She looked no different from a highschooler who was a little too fond of the outdoors with dirt still staining her young looking face. Her ataire was simple, exceedingly simple and Izo knew the reason. Vitara preferred to be one with nature, weaving her clothes out of leaves, vines, and other plant life. The reason she was wearing a simple shirt and pants right now was because Izo had gotten a little mad at her not too long ago and burned all her plants.
She can look at me all she wants. Izo thought. If you grow a forest around my favorite volcano something is going to catch on fire.
"So what do you want Izo?" Although Vulkria was satisfied from her recent victory over who knows what, she clearly doesn't prefer the company of her siblings. A sentiment shared by everyone here. Everyone present focused on Izo. Arkigit put his book away, Tara turned her neck a few degrees to face him, and even Vitara put aside her passive aggression and looked at him. After clearing his throat and mentally preparing himself for the coming conversation, Izo began.
"I'm sure you're all aware of how the world is cracking at its seams, and if we keep fighting as we have the world will crumble under our weight. I have called you all here to discuss a proposition or an alternative." Izo opened up the discussion with an out, confident that he'll have to use it sooner or later. Izo lit a fire in his hands. As the fire grew it took on the shape of a small stack of papers. Once the stack of papers was clearly defined the fire went out, leaving the papers in its place. "This alternative to combat was proposed by Caboose." Once the name Caboose left Izo's lips Vulkria audibly groaned.
"What does that lazy bastard want? What has he even been doing these past few decades?" It only makes sense that Vulkria, being the battle maniac she was, knew little about the activities of someone who really didn't know how to fight.
"I believe he was reading some literature from his home planet. He said he had to 'catch up on his missed shows'." Arkigit, who was now drinking tea, had a similarly low opinion of Caboose. "However I find it strange that he would care enough about this world to propose a solution considering he spends most of his time off planet doing whatever he pleases."
"I don't care what the proposal is, I'm not accepting it." Vitara said with a scowl. "He sprayed this weird liquid on my plants and now they won't grow." Caboose had wondered what would happen if he mixed bleach with weed-killer, the result wasn't what he had hoped for.
"I must say Vulkria, it's very audacious of you to call Caboose a lazy bastard when you spend all your time fighting whatever stray God happens to find its way into your bedroom." Tara snapped. Although Izo wanted to yell at Tara for antagonizing Vulkria he could see where she was coming from. The constant battles Vulkria was taking part in was causing unneeded strain on the planet, assisting in its demise.
"Oh so the talking statue is calling me a slut. I'm just defending our territory, no need to thank me." What Vulkria said was true to an extent. Without a True God, the siblings' world was less defended against eldritch horrors, space dragons, stray Gods, and whatever else happens to want a planet.
"While we are thankful of your exploits Vulkria, there is no need to fight the enemy so close to our planet is there?" Arkigit said what everyone was thinking. Even if you needed to defend the planet, you didn't have to wait until they were right on top of it to attack them.
"He's right Vulkria, your swords keep almost hitting my plants and I'm not comfortable with that." Vitara was concerned with her plants as always.
"No one gives a shit about your stupid plants Vitara!" Vulkria is clearly unhappy that she's this week's target of hate, it would be in Izo's best personal interests to keep it that way but...
"Vulkria is right, no one cares about your plants." Izo whispers under his breath.
"I heard that Izo!" Vitara howls. "Why are you even presenting Caboose's stupid proposition anyway? Where even IS Caboose?!"
"Vitara there's no need to shout." Arkigit says calmly while sipping his tea.
"Shut up shorty, Vitara's right Izo. Where is Caboose?" Vulkria, seeing a chance to change the focus of the conversation jumps at it. However in her haste she forgot one of Arkigit's insecurities.
"I AM NOT SHORT YOU SLUT!" Arkigit's calm aura shattered in an instant. "I AM A GOD, MY HEIGHT IS A CHOICE!" That wasn't really how it worked at all. He was just short.
Great, now I have to deal with this. Izo thought.
"Arkigit I understand you're upset, and I also understand that your very tall. Now can we please focus for half an hour for once in our fucking lives." Izo began his sentence in a calm tone but his agitation quickly got the better of him. With every strained word his eyes would glow, his hair would become a more vibrant and fiery red. Suddenly Izo felt a shiver run down his spine and he quickly turned his gaze towards Vitara.
That bitch just tried to curse me! Izo was ready to snap. However he decided to be the bigger man, the sooner they all agree to this stupid proposition, the sooner he could leave.
"Let's just start discussing the contents of the proposition already." Izo sighed. "For fucks sake please hold all complaints till the end."
"I only promise to try." Izo didn't care who said that and was just pleased that someone promised to at least do that much. Izo read through the proposition that Caboose had given him. Overall it was a list of clauses that laid out a competition where each God would choose a recently deceased soul and reincarnate them. This soul would act as a Second that the Gods would use in the competition. Once the competition began, the Gods interaction with the world would be kept to a minimum. The competition itself went like this, Each Second would be given a rock and sent to the planet of Lesotis in a different location. Once a Second collects all of the stones then the sponsor of that Second wins and becomes the True God. If a Second is killed then that sponsor of that Second is eliminated from the competition. The Gods are allowed to bestow one power upon their Second, and can speak to the Second whenever they want during the competition. However the Gods cannot speak about, or answer any questions relating to the other Seconds or their locations. Nor can the Gods interfere with another God's Second. At the end of this document are six signature lines, each God must sign their name to take part in the competition. Once you sign your name you solemnly swear that you agree to the terms above and will not dispute the outcome of the competition. The competition will begin one year after the signing. There was also an apology about killing Vitara's plants thrown in there.
After Izo finished reading, the gazebo was strangely quiet for a few moments. Izo relished those moments.
"I find it strange that Caboose would propose this." Arkigit broke the sacred silence. "Is his attention span really long enough to think of something like this?"
"I refuse to sign that." Vulkria's response was completely expected. "Why should I have someone else fight for me when I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own?"
"Vulkria we all know the answer to that question. If you fight then Lesotis crawls closer to collapse." Tara told Vulkria off while she moved to sign the document. "While I find it unlikely that Caboose came up with this, the terms solve almost all our problems. I see no real reason why any of you shouldn't sign this."
Tara has made her choice, and everyone accepted that like you accept that you can't smell colors. It was now a fact of life.
"I agree with you Arkigit, I don't think Caboose came up with this either, but we're running out of time here. This solves the problem of Lesotis collapsing and still lets us kill each other. I've tried, and I can't think of a better alternative. I am however open to suggestions." Izo said almost pleading. He really didn't like this whole situation. The fact that Caboose had a solution to almost all their problems was something that just shouldn't happen.
Caboose never tries to do anything seriously. He takes everything as either a joke or an obscure version of poker. Caboose never seemed to care about who became the True God either. Why would he try to solve problems he shouldn't care about?
"He apologized for ruining my garden, so I guess I'll sign it." Vitara placed her index finger on the signature line, her signature seemed to grow on the paper.
Vitara was swayed by her plants, as always. Fitting of a former dryad.
Nobody moved for a while after that. A few minutes later Vulkria let out a small chuckle and took out a small pen and signed the paper. The ink from the pen was filled with the blood from her defeated foes, a joking suggestion Caboose made that she found appealing.
"I guess it could be fun to train a mortal in combat to kill all of your Seconds." That was just an excuse, Izo knew she only signed it because she couldn't think of a better alternative. "At least I can still kill things off world."
Vulkria went quiet, dealing with her self-sacrifice for the greater good.
Izo turned to Arkigit, now his only hope of not signing this thing.
Please talk me out of this. Izo pleaded in his heart.
"Don't look at me like that Izo, I can't think of anything either. Besides, what are the chances this is part of some master plan?" Arkigit gracefully signed the paper, seemingly convincing himself this wasn't a horrible idea. "Caboose has already signed the document Izo, now all it needs is your signature." Arkigit handed the papers to Izo.
Don't talk about chance when involving Caboose, Arkigit. You know he's all about chance.
Izo gazed down at the paper, he felt like he was staring into an abyss. Why would Caboose suggest this. Why would Caboose suggest this. Why would Caboose suggest this. Why would Caboose suggest this. It didn't seem right. Izo thought for a long time. After a while Vulkria scoffed and left, clearly unwilling to wait for Izo to sign the document. Vitara left soon after to tend to her plants. Even Tara stood up from her chair and left. Arkigit stayed, engrossed in his book.
Am I overthinking this? Unable to come up with an answer to his own questions, Izo began to doubt his suspicions. As strange as it was that Caboose was contributing, nothing is impossible right? Just overwhelmingly improbable. Writing away all his doubts as paranoia, Izo signed the document.
And the game began.
