Caussa Unus (I) (Latin for Chapter One. I love Latin. It’s the best language. It’s not the first, but I consider it that. Anyway…)

The world ended on a Monday. Yeah, go figure. Isaac Solomon was seventeen. He was a bright boy, not a genius, but clever. He was average in terms of looks, but I’m not going to go into detail. We’re only going to know ‘Isaac’ for a little while. He was, at the time that his family died, drawing the sunset. It was very sad, very romantic, and an altogether poetic moment. The interesting thing with the virus/whatever is that it did nothing. No stupid zombification, no shriveling, no symptoms, nada. One moment you’re fine, the next ‘bam!’ dead corpse on Aisle Six! It was painless, simple, and quick. Death hates this thing. He was doing overtime for a long time afterwards. Regardless, young Isaac was drawing the sunset when he heard three ‘thuds’ behind him, all in quick succession. He didn’t need to turn; he didn’t need to know. Because he knew. He was expecting himself to drop any minute, but minutes passed and nothing happened. Finally he turned around to stare in mute horror at his dead family. Mom, dad, and little sister.
Now I’m sure you people are oblivious to this. Yeah yeah people died. It’s a zombie apocalypse. Get to the guns and gore! Let me put this into perspective for you.

This is a boy who lost everything in four seconds.

I doubt you get it. I doubt you ever will. Until it happens to you. Which it won’t, because most of you are dead and don’t remember your past life. At least that’s what Death tells me. You may remember and he lied to me.
Isaac can’t move for an hour. He can only stare. The tears don’t even roll until he’s stared for ninety minutes. This seventeen-year-old boy was going to go on a date with his girlfriend that night. They were probably going to kiss. Okay honestly, with the end of the world right there they were most likely going to do unspeakable things in the bathroom. But not anymore. Now, Isaac is a defeated, bitter young adult who can’t figure out why he didn’t die with his family. That thought will haunt him for the rest of Ultimo. He stares and stares and cries and cries and finally decides to die with his family. He knows that there’s a handgun in case of emergencies. And I guarantee you he would have done it had Death and I not interfered. Death came to collect Isaac’s family and I froze time so he could chat with the poor boy. Death hates suicide. It grinds his nerves because innocent, tortured kids who have done nothing wrong commit suicide and automatically go to Hell. So he tried to talk the kid out of it. This…is where things get weird.
Isaac had the handgun in his hand. Death and I were camped beside him (invisible of course) in case he changed his mind. But he didn’t. It was actually pretty instant. I almost didn’t freeze the clock in time. But I did. The bullet was stuck right there in his face, Matrix style. The look on his face, though. Anyway, Death materialized in front of him and Isaac thought he HAD died. Death set it straight and convinced the kid to go another way. What happens next is still a mystery of the universe. A solid white blast of light erupted around Isaac. Death screamed as I have never heard him scream before. The bullet I had frozen shot at Isaac’s head and vaporized. My invisibility failed and Death started smoking. Isaac vanished from view in the column of blazing light. I recognized it only from my brief journey to Heaven (I had had to have a word with God about freezing time without my consent. That didn’t blow over well). That was holy power. And Death didn’t like holy power. He was mostly black magic and dark power. Too much godliness would vaporize him.
I could do nothing to help my good friend, as only gods could nullify my power, and this was definitely a god’s work. Thankfully, the light vanished after about a couple seconds. Death lay in a defensive heap on the floor, and I helped him up. We both stared at what had become of Isaac. Well, what had become is really a poor way to put it. What he had evolved into is a better term. This is where a description is important. Imagine him as you will, but this is a character you should get used to. Okay.
I’ll start from the head. That’s what we looked at first. Long white hair flowed down to his shoulders, pulled away from his face. His eyes were solid gold, flecked with the smallest amount of bright green. His face was, well, interesting. I do not find anything attractive, as Time is not allowed to have relationships. I did not find this being attractive, but I guarantee every other person on Earth would have. It was a face that wasn’t quite human. It was a regular face, yeah, but it was hard to tell if it was a male or female face. It was too pretty to be male, but too strong and firm to be female. I only consider it a ‘he’ because it was originally an ‘Isaac.’ Perfectly tan skin led to a white robe that flowed without the slightest wind. It was really cool! The robe was sleeveless, revealing perfectly…average arms. Nothing spectacular about them, except for the massive broadsword clutched in one hand. The thing was easily eight feet long and must have weighed forty pounds. But this thing was holding it like ‘no big deal.’ It emanated divine power as well, clearly a holy weapon. We couldn’t see its feet or legs, but I don’t think they’re important. He was probably around five foot nine or ten, taller than me but still dwarfed by Death (the dude’s seven and a half feet tall. He’s scary). The being stared back at us with a gaze of patient understanding and kindness. Death spoke before I did.
“Isaac?”
The being spoke back with a voice I still cannot figure out. It was deep and masculine, yet translucent and calm. The only think I could think of was a spirit. I’d meant an interstellar traveler named Astral once, and this was the voice he’d had. It was a mysterious, entrancing voice.
“I’m sorry. Who?”
“Are you not Isaac Solomon?”
He laughed and smiled.
“Haha, I’m afraid not. You may have me confused with someone else. My name is Utopia.”
Remember this name. Forget Isaac.
“Utopia?”
“Yes, that’s correct. I take it you gentlemen are Death and Time?”
“Yes. I am Death.”
I was very confused. Not only was Utopia much more polite than Isaac had been, he was a completely different person! Neither Death nor I could fathom why the transformation had taken place. (Off the record, between you, Death, and myself, we think God wanted to keep having fun. I’ve met him before, and he gets control freaky when he’s bored. This was either him or Zeus being a jerk again).
“Time?”
“Yes.”
“The pleasure is mine, friends. I hope we can relate to one another in the near future. Forgive my rudeness, but I must be off. I have been given orders that must be taken care of at once.”
“I can freeze time if you want.”
“Would you be so kind? I would greatly like to know you two in better detail. I have a feeling we will get to know each other quite well.”
At that moment, I stopped time. That precise moment will mark the point where all Hell broke loose. A shudder ran through the fabric of space and time and…um…

I will take over for now. I am Thanatos, or Death to you uneducated souls. Chronos does not like to tell this part. Partly because he does not remember it. That shudder he was describing was a bolt of pure darkness that altered space itself. And just as holy power hurts me, black magic hurts Chronos. He blacked out for a while. I thank the stars we were nowhere close to the source, or my friend might not have made it in one piece.
That being said, this intervention was much more powerful than Utopia’s had been. Without even doing so, I could feel some of the evil energy leeching into me. I am able to absorb black magic when I want to. It’s part of the office. But I choose not to, as too much will corrupt even my heart. My black wings began to unfold without me trying, and I realized we should check it out at once. Utopia blinked once in shock and pain, but directed his attention to Chronos first. A truly selfless act.
“Is he okay?”
“He will be fine. Give him a few seconds.”
The energy disappeared, but I knew its origin. Chronos groaned and sat up.

Okay, I’m back. That feeling wasn’t great. Kind of like being whacked in the gut by an angry goat. Utopia’s face was full of concern.
“Are you okay, my friend?”
“I will be. What was that?”
Only then did I notice Death’s raven wings.
“Dark magic?”
“Yes. I suggest we check on it at once.”
“Time is frozen. Not that there’s anyone to notice us anyway.”
Utopia raised his hand timidly.
“Not to be a bother, but I am granted with the ability of teleportation. Can I be of service to you?”
Death and I looked at each other. That would come in handy. Death could shadow travel, but I had no means of instant travel. Teleportation would be of a great help to me.
“Yes, please!”
“I will shadow travel. Holy power is not good for me. Take no offense.”
“None, my friend. We will meet you there.”
Death was gone. Utopia held out his hand.
“Please grab hold and do not let go until I say.”
Nervous but excited to see how it worked, I grabbed his wrist. Let me disappoint all you hopeful fans. It’s dreadfully boring. You blink once and you’re in a different place. This place happened to be a house on fire. Death was standing in the glow of the flames. His wings were grower steadily bigger, and his scythe was in his hand.
“Anyone inside?”
“Yes. Four dead. I’m going to collect their souls.”
“Okay.”
He walked into the flames and a few minutes later four balls of light shot upwards. At least they were Heaven bound. Death walked out carrying a teenage boy in his arms. The boy was miraculously unharmed, albeit a lack of clothing. He was lean, of moderate height, and sort of attractive. But again, looks are not important for now.
“How is he not dead?”
“I do not know. All his kin were burned alive. He is unconscious from smoke inhalation, but I can sense no damage to his body. It is a miracle.”
We both looked at each other, then at Utopia.
“Maybe. Or maybe someone wants to give Utopia a playmate.”
“Perhaps. But for now I will check the boy’s internal records. Maybe the reason will be found there.”
Death has this cool ability to look at a person’s memories. He prefers to do it only when they’re dead, so as to examine cause of death, but in suspicious cases he can do it to the living. Death carefully lay the boy down on the ground and lightly lowered his scythe into the boy’s chest (yes, into), scooping out a film reel. He ran it through his fingers as he watched the kid’s life flash past. That was how people’s ‘lives flashed by their eyes.’ Death was reviewing their tapes.
“Okay, let’s see. His name is Seth Sutcliffe, age sixteen. Fairly uneventful life. Let’s see, girlfriend, good grades, nice home life, alas, nothing of interest to us. Three minutes ago, however, something exploded, causing a massive fire. He blacked out trying to rescue his little sister and brother. Noble.”
Utopia closed his eyes and looked away.
“Such a waste of life.”
Death let the film coil back into Seth.
“Indeed. But that was definitely black energy. Perhaps it caused the explosion. But why?”
“I don’t know. To…confuse us?”
“Or to lure us.”
Utopia’s eyes widened.
“Behind you!”
We both turned to see Seth’s body hovering into the air. Black tendrils of energy erupted from the ground…

Chronos blacked out again. Not surprising, seeing as we were much closer to the source of malice than before. Utopia collapsed to his knees, on the verge of passing out himself. I felt raw power surge through me, and I had to fight to expel it before I absorbed the foul aura. The tendrils cocooned Seth Sutcliffe and I shuddered as an evil feel crept into the air. Black light shone faintly from inside and I readied my scythe should I had to have defended Chronos or Utopia. Finally the darkness abated and Utopia and I stared at what had become of Seth. Chronos was still out.
The boy was still a sixteen year old, but he was much different. Black hair curved across his forehead, wavy and plush (one of those ‘Beiber do’s’ as you mortals would call it). The boy was now quite tall; I would estimate six foot three or so. His eyes were a frightening shade of crimson, and his features were more pronounced. Altogether, it gave an impression of an eerily attractive teenager. A rather tight T-shirt tapered into equally ridiculously tight black jeans (honestly. Why you mortals find tight things attractive, I will never know). His arms were tan and corded, not muscular but still impressive. I find attraction and love altogether to be a stupid idea, so please do not get any ideas, ladies.
“Good evening to you, Thanatos. Is Chronos okay? I would hate for anything bad to happen to him.”
“Seth?”
“Seth? I am not familiar with that name. I am Discord, and I see my fated rival has tricked you into siding with him. How are you, Utopia?”
“Well, as always. Why have you chosen to interfere in the apocalypse?”
“I could ask you the same question. I was summoned by your presence, if you must know. Thanatos, you are a sensible Incarnation. I implore you, do not listen to this moron’s pacifist pleas. Please help me to achieve my goals.”
“To do what, exactly?”
“Create a new empire, of course! With humans being dropped like flies, the world will be barren in but a day or two. With you as Supreme Emperor and I as your faithful advisor, we could create a new world without the sins of human error!”
Utopia scoffed.
“You dare talk of sin? You are sin! Death, please do not follow his dark manner. He will kill you as soon as he becomes leader!”
“Okay Utopia. A: I am not sin. He is his own deity. B: Thanatos is a very clever deity himself. Surely he realizes the potential in this. Go back to Heaven, little man.”
I decided to end this petty argument.
“Enough. I have been bribed before and it did not work then. It will not know. I will not join your quest for power, Discord.”
Discord’s face darkened considerably while Utopia beamed.
“You will help me restore peace to the world?”
“I did not say that either.”
Discord’s face lightened and Utopia’s took on a confused look.
“Death?”
“I have been neutral since before Chronos existed. I collect souls for their long awaited journey to Purgatory. I do not believe in Good or Evil. I know they exist, but frankly I don’t care. I will not help either of you. I hope Chronos does the same. Forgive me, but you two are on your own.”
Utopia’s brow furrowed, but Discord just smiled and chuckled.
“Ah, I should have known. Stoic to the end, Thanatos. You are a true Incarnation. How foolish I was to assume you would pick a side.”
Utopia was standing bravely in front of Chronos, whether or not he knew it I’ll never know.
“You make a good point, Death. Will Time think the same?”
“I hope so, for his sake.”
Chronos decided to awake at that moment. I will continue to narrate, as I want to.
“Oy, anyone get the license plate of the truck that hammered me?”
He blinked once as he took in Discord.
“Oh boy. Satan spawn?”
Discord smiled down at him.
“That’s rather derogatory. I prefer agent of darkness. Salutations, Chronos. How have you been?”
“Chronos, this is Discord. He will be the yang to Utopia’s yin.”
“Oh great. Your masters have a sick sense of control.”
Utopia looked offended.
“I was summoned to create order in this barren world. Lucifer is the one who wants to have murderous fun.”
Discord grinned.
“Yes, the residents of Hell like to show their appreciation through bloodshed. It’s a failing of ours.”
“You admit it’s a failing, then.”
Faster than the eye could follow, Discord whisked two swords from his wrist (They literally formed from his flesh) and swung at Utopia. Lightning quick, Utopia blocked with his massive broadsword. Chronos turned himself invisible and I spread my wings, but the two only seemed focused on themselves. Discord blinked behind Utopia in a puff of black smoke, but Utopia swung his broadsword with massive strength. On connection with Discord’s swords, it sliced through them with relative ease, narrowly missing Discord’s face by inches.
“Oops!”
He teleported a ways back, only for Utopia to appear right in front of him, broadsword ready. Discord smiled and opened his mouth. A forked tongue easily four feet long shot out and wrapped around Utopia’s wrists. Discord whipped Utopia over his head, into the ground. Retracting his tongue, he licked his lips and grew two more swords. Utopia got up and the two charged at each other. Chronos and I decided to intervene. In the blink of an eye, I had my scythe leveled at Discord’s neck and Chronos had his unique X-shaped spear pointed at Utopia. Both stopped short, centimeters from decapitation. Utopia gulped and Discord inhaled sharply.
“Are you two children done?”
“Seriously, we’re one hour into a new beginning and you two are trying to kill each other!”
Discord stepped back only for my scythe to follow him, my wings curving around him to box him in.
“Don’t try anything, Discord.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Thanatos. I’m too smart to cross you.”
Utopia lowered his sword and Chronos relaxed slightly.
“Thank you. I would not want to have killed my rival so early on.”
“Aw, that’s cute. You think you can beat me. Don’t you know, Utopia? Evil is always more powerful than Good.”
“Maybe, but Goodness always triumphs in the end.”
“Not in this case. I must begin to rally my followers before they die off. Tootles for now! And Thanatos?”
“What?”
“Please reconsider my offer. I would hate to kill you when I become ruler of this World.”
“Get lost, scamp.”
He snapped his fingers and vanished in a black puff. I folded my wings and Chronos snapped his spear back into its conventional hourglass form. Utopia looked at me with his golden eyes.
“I thank you for keeping a level head, Death. Neutrality is key in this era. I do not know what game Lucifer is playing, but it is my sworn duty to oppose his evil ways. I must find loyal friends willing to combat evil with me. I will not insult you two by asking to join me. Good luck.”
“And you, Utopia.”
He flashed brightly and was gone. Chronos turned to me.
“Nice guy. Is this going to pan out well?”
“No. This is the start of something big, Chronos. I do not know how it will turn out; that’s usually your job. All I know is that we must be very careful not to get mixed up in this. I will follow Discord for now to see what he is planning to do. Please follow Utopia.”
“You got it. Be careful, Death. That brat’s up to something.”
“I know. That’s why I’m following him.”
We parted ways. I went to follow Discord. I could not predict what would come next. No one could have. The next twenty-four hours would be the most interesting I had ever seen in all my millennia. And that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Caussa Duo (II)

Death wouldn’t let me narrate back there. But rest assured, loyal viewers, I am back! I followed Utopia to his first location. I couldn’t teleport like he could, but I could freeze time. To mortals, it was the same thing. His first stop was the home of a young man by the name of Luke Packsen. Come to think of it, every individual in Ultimo started out as a teenager. Fascinating. Anyway, Luke was in fine health. He had not succumbed to the virus yet, unlike his family. But Luke was rather happy. His father had been a horrid drunk and an abuser, his mother a prostitute, and his older sister had always been on some sort of drug. Well, not anymore.
Luke was fifteen at the time, a soul hard and scarred from years of violence. He was drinking a beer, watching some filthy TV show (I mean, really. The stations show that kind of stuff?!). Utopia paused outside the boy’s sliding glass door, his hand pausing on the handle.
“Why him? What could You want from this tortured soul?”
He could not see me, and I wondered whom he was talking to. Apparently Luke couldn’t see or hear him, because he continued to sip his illegal beer. Utopia sighed.
“If that is what You desire.”
He opened the door and drew his broadsword. Twirling it in a strange pattern, he pierced the boy’s skull quickly. I’m not proud of it, but I panicked. I am glad I didn’t show myself, or things might have gone far worse. As it was, I took a step forward in surprise, my spear forming out of my hourglass. My panic was not needed, however. The moment the sword left Luke’s head, a blinding light shone from his eyes and mouth. The light engulfed his body until his entire person lit up like a Christmas tree. Utopia closed his eyes in solemn respect as another being stepped out of the light.
This being was far more unusual than Utopia. It had hair down to its mid back, but the thing was split. Like I mean literally split. The left side was clearly female, the right definitely male. The female side first. The hair was blond and silky and the face was pretty yet strong. The torso was adorned in golden armor, and I won’t go into detail with what made the chest female. The arm was decorated in a long chain that ended in a giant sickle blade. The thigh was only partly covered with a metal plate, and the foot was protected by a steel-toed shoe.
The right side had black hair, slightly unkempt and messy with a masculine face not so different than Luke’s. The torso was dressed in a skin-tight silver mesh, with a distinct pectoral and a muscular arm that gripped a similar sickle with chain. The mesh covered a broad thigh and tapered down to a very sharp point. The being was easily six five, and emitted a sense of purpose I couldn’t relate to in the slightest. It smiled at Utopia and clapped him on the back. It then kissed him on the lips. Just a little unsettling. Its voice was impossible to distinguish between male or female, a confusing mix of the two.
“Utopia, my old friend. How are you?”
“I am happy to be here, Justice. I take it you know why you have been summoned?”
“Of course! Discord causes problems and I don’t show up to clean the mess? Let’s be realistic.”
“Naturally, my friend. Shall we proceed to wake the others?”
“Yes. Can we summon Glory next? We get along quite well.”
“Glory comes last. You should know that. He has given us a mission, and I will carry it out in His name. Morale is next.”
“That annoying child? *Sigh*, very well. Let us go. We can catch up on the way.”
The male side put its hand on Utopia’s shoulder and the two vanished in a shimmer of light. I could only imagine why Justice was a transgender, but I decided not to question divine purpose. I waited a couple seconds, and then froze time to find the dedicated two.

It is my turn now. I followed Discord to the home of a young man by the name of Cyrus Kurim. He was of Asian descent, very intelligent, but suffered from severe depression. He had no reason to be sad. His family was caring, his friends loved and respected him, and he had a girlfriend too (Which, at my knowledge, is essential for teenage survival). Regardless, he was sitting in his basement playing a video game when Discord made his arrival. Cyrus’s family was a rare case in which they were all still alive, and they all looked up sharply as Discord materialized in the middle of their living room. The mother screamed, the older sister immediately put her arm around her young brother, and the father jumped up. What I saw would haunt me for a while.
Discord smiled briefly and ducked as the father threw a hard punch at him. His sword appearing from his wrist, he gutted the poor Mr. Karim in front of his family. The mother screamed harder and Cyrus started to bolt upstairs. I regret not doing anything now, but at the time, it happened so fast I was paralyzed. Snapping his fingers, Discord sent coils of razor wire from his palm at the distraught family on the couch. Slicing flesh, the wire buzzed as electricity filled the metal. The family did not last more than a second. Cyrus yelled in fury and, grabbing a kitchen knife from its sheath, charged Discord. Discord neatly plucked the blade in mid air and flicked Cyrus lightly on the forehead. A black spot appeared on contact and spread across his face, consuming his veins and leaking into his eyes. In a few seconds, the boy was completely black, his body twitching and writhing in the cocoon. After a small while, the struggle stopped and Discord smiled as a being ripped itself out of the covering.
The being was of moderate height, rather athletic build, but had the complexion of a doll. The color and look of ivory, not a follicle was out of place on this creature. Red hair seemed to defy the laws of physics by swirling and waving in mid air, ignoring gravity. The being had on no clothes, but a strange black mist enveloped the body. When you turned to look at an area, the cloth appeared, but everything in your peripheral vision was naked. It was interesting. The most startling thing about it, however, were the eyes. The eyes were a dull black color, but the heartlessness and determination in those eyes was like nothing I had ever seen before. I knew automatically that mercy was not in this being’s vocabulary. Discord hugged the being and looked it over.
“Murder, my darling. You’re looking good.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself, Kaos.”
“Please don’t call me that, you flatter me.”
“No choice in the matter. How goes the war on Sentimentality?”
“It just started! You’re the first!”
“Very well. I sense Justice has been awoken. We must hurry to revive Evil.”
“No. Evil will be hard to control. We must wait until we need it. We will bring forth Fear first, to destroy what little hope the forces of Good have built up.”
“A wise move, but do you not think we should summon Cunning? Surely Utopia will have called upon Morale by now. Fear would be of no use to us.”
“In that case, you are correct. But we need to rally whatever mortals remain to offer as sacrifices. If they have resolve to live, the offering is spoiled. We need Fear to eliminate any fighting spirit they may have.”
“As usual, you are correct. But can you promise to leave some for me? You know how I get when I don’t kill something.”
“Murder, would I ever steer you wrong?”
“You might.”
“True. But you’re my best friend, and I know you well. For you.”
He pointed to the younger brother, who was faintly alive. The sister had taken most of the shock for him, and he was trying not to move. Only five years old, but wise enough to know not to draw attention. Murder’s eyes burned a hot red.
“A child? Discord, are you so evil?”
Discord smiled. Murder chuckled.
“Of course you are. To Lucifer.”
“To his Majesty.”
I will not describe what happened next.

The next mortal they went to was a young man by the name of Ryan Coffin. I always wonder if they chose him for his last name. Ryan was sixteen at the time, and let an entirely uneventful life. He was not overly athletic, not terribly smart, and not very handsome either. He was, as mortals go, an ‘Average Joe’. His family had died a while back, and he was in the process of visiting their makeshift grave in the backyard. Murder decided to play a little prank on the unfortunate boy by doing something truly evil. Molding the cloth around him, he took the likeness of Ryan’s dead mother and hid in the ground. When Ryan laid a beautiful rose on the dirt, Murder burst from the ground, flesh dropping in chunks. Ryan screamed in terror and backed away, only for Discord to pierce his skull from behind with his fingers. The same black filth spread across Ryan’s face and engulfed him while Murder dropped his disguise.
“You’re worse than me, Murder. His mother?”
“Let me have my fun. I enjoy watching mortals squirm.”
“Prepare yourself. Fear likes to scare us as well as humans.”
“I am aware. He is welcome to try.”
The cocoon ripped open to reveal…nothing. The wrappings were empty. Discord rolled his eyes and the two stood back to back.
“Fear, my old friend, we are in no mood for one of your lovely pranks. Please, Utopia is on the move and we must resurrect two more by sundown. Come out come out wherever you are.”
I felt a horrific presence behind me and whirled to face a creature out of my worst nightmare. I do not wish to describe it to you, but just know that it terrified me to my inner core.
“Hello Death!”
So frightened I was that I dropped my invisibility spell and stumbled backward, my wings and scythe erupting from my person. Murder’s eyes flashed crimson.
“A spy? Filthy Deity!”
Discord waved his hand and Murder stopped in his tracks.
“Do you not recognize the Incarnation of Death, Murder? A wrong move and you could be blown into oblivion!”
I huffed in annoyance and turned to them, but kept Fear in my peripheral. No need to let him out of my sight.
“Indeed you could. I thought you were going to let me trail you in peace, Discord.”
“I thought you were going to leave me alone.”
Murder’s eyes narrowed.
“You knew he was following us and you did nothing?”
“Of course not! Thanatos has promised not to take sides in my war, and so I will leave him alone. He is, after all, immortally wise. Right, Thanatos?”
“Do not kiss up to me, Discord. Chronos and I are merely keeping tabs on you and Utopia. If we see anything that defies the natural order of things, we will stop you. You came very close with the Karim family.”
“Oh, them? They were going to die anyway. I put them out of their misery!”
I had had enough. Letting my power emerge, I rounded on Discord. Murder hissed, but stayed put and Fear took a step forward in surprise. Discord gulped nervously as my scythe pushed against his throat. Even Hellspawn were powerless in the face of Death.
“No more, Discord. If I see you screwing with my business again, I will reap you like a bad harvest. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal.”
“Excellent. Carry on.”
I retreated and Discord rubbed his neck. Fear chuckled and Murder eyed me evilly.
“Okay, Thanatos. Okay.”
Fear smiled at him. Discord shuddered.
“Don’t look at me directly, please.”
“Sorry, boss. But he’s a fun guy, isn’t he?”
“Thanatos? Sure, if you don’t piss him off.”
Murder watched as I walked off.
“Which I’m guessing isn’t very hard.”
“Nah, only if you mess with Fate’s threads.”
“Which we plan to do?”
“Bingo! Let’s go boys, Cunning awaits!”
Fear smiled.
“I like him, he’s fun.”
Murder rolled his eyes.
“Sure, if you like being told you’re wrong every five seconds.”

Hi, I’m back! So while Death was bragging and getting his pants scared off of him, I was meeting the forces of Good. Morale turned out to be a real fun chick. She was incredibly, incredibly optimistic and wasted no time in pointing my presence out to the others. Both were delighted to see me and welcomed me into their party. Death will scold me for not staying neutral, but to be honest, I hate Lucifer. If I can do something to piss the horned devil off, great. So I decided to help Utopia on his quest for a better world (That would be a poor move later on.) (Shut up, Death. This is my story).
Anyway, Morale was, for lack of a better term, cute. She was only about five foot five, with the face of a happy little girl. She had long, chocolate hair that she kept in two pig tails on her shoulders. She dressed exactly like a cheerleader and even carried around two little pom-poms. She, as I figured out, had a bit of a temper and got very excited when she found a hot topic to talk about. But overall, she had a lot of spunk and I liked her.
“Okay, so I was thinking maybe we should go summon someone who can kick Discord’s butt! Like Glory! Ooh, Utopia, can we summon Glory?”
Utopia smiled in understanding.
“You too? No, we cannot summon Glory. That defies the order.”
“Exactly! Discord will never see it coming! We can swoop in and kick him in the pants when he’s not looking!”
Justice shook (His? Her?) it’s head.
“Not if they’ve summoned Cunning. I have no doubts they are already coming up with some horrid plan to annihilate us.”
“Well then we gotta go get Faith! She’ll know what to do!”
I looked at Utopia and he explained.
“We are all counter forms of Lucifer’s allies. Discord and myself. Murder and Justice. Fear and Morale. Cunning and Faith. The list goes on infinitely. Thankfully, whenever a holy war arises only five of us battle for each side. We must summon Faith so that Discord does not get the upper hand. Faith is the embodiment of emotion. She channels His power into ours. With her on our side, it will be very hard for Cunning to defeat us.”
“I take it Cunning is smart?”
“Far more so than even He or Lucifer.”
Morale piped up.
“Yeah, but he’s a know-it-all. He always has to be right.”
Justice scoffed.
“He usually is. I hate the runt.”
Utopia smiled.
“Peace, comrades. Shall we find Faith?”
“Yeah! Where’s the willing soul?”
“Right here.”
‘Here’ happened to be in the middle of a field. Justice raised an eyebrow.
“Utopia…?”
“There are only fourteen humans left alive. We need seven to revive Glory. He is going to grant us Faith without a cost.”
“Cool. So…where is she?”
Utopia kneeled.
“Oh mighty Father, creator of all that is divine and mortal, heed my cry.”
The skies literally opened up and a star fell lightly onto the grass. The star turned the surrounding area snow-white and I shielded my eyes against the blinding light. The light faded after a few seconds and a lovely girl stepped onto the field. She was a little taller than Morale, with incredibly fair skin and long blond hair. Her face was beyond mortal standards; beautiful like a goddess. A long white robe flowed around her ankles and she smiled at us.
“Good evening, my friends. Is the All Father treating you well?”
“He is, Faith. Thank you for joining us.”
“It is a delight as always, Utopia. Justice, Morale, it is a likewise pleasure.”
She faced me and her smile dampened ever so slightly.
“I thought Incarnations were not allowed to take sides.”
“Yeah well, who’s going to stop me?”
“Forgive me. Help is always appreciated.”
A shudder ran through the air and a black object streaked across the sky, away from us. Utopia frowned.
“That would be Cunning. We must collect the seven mortals quickly.”
Faith nodded.
“Yes. Shall we go?”
Utopia turned to me.
“Can you freeze time for us?”
I considered the consequences, weighed them against each other, and threw common sense out the window.
“Yeah. Give me a second.”
I raised my hourglass and the sand inside stopped falling. The world itself froze, everything perfectly still. I channeled my energy into the figures in front of me and they came abruptly to life. Morale looked around, her eyes wide.
“So…cool.”
Justice nodded.
“Indeed. Truly awe-inspiring, Time.”
“Aw, thanks guys.”
Faith urged us forward.
“We must go.”
“Yes, we must. To Glory.”
Faith clapped her hands and we vanished in a blast of light. Mass teleportation is fun!

Cunning watched the world around us freeze and nodded smugly.
“Exactly as planned. Thank you, Undertaker.”
“My name is Death, scamp. And I did not do this to help you. I did this to counter Time’s ability, which I did not think he would use. He is being very foolish.”
Cunning was brilliant. The child had predicted, to the second, exactly when Time would decide to help the faction of God. I had hoped he would have been wrong, but to my dismay he had not been. Discord was sitting on top of a throne of bones, his hand resting under his chin.
“I’d say so. Do we have permission to kill him now?”
“Only if you desire to be erased from history. You are not allowed to kill Incarnations. You above all should know that.”
He chuckled.
“Of course I do. Just checking. Fear! Get out of the trash.”
Fear removed his filthy head from a trashcan, half of a banana peel in his mouth.
“But I’m hungry, boss!”
Murder piped up from behind Discord’s chair.
“That’s because no one is left! No one to be afraid.”
Cunning smiled as he wrote frantically in a black notebook.
“Not until we summon Evil, anyway. We must hurry. Chronos’s course of action was expected, and the fools think they have the upper hand. We have exactly six minutes and fifty-two seconds of free time before they catch on. We must resurrect Evil and stop them from summoning Glory. All we need is to kill one little mortal.”
I clacked my scythe open and closed with patient foreboding.
“Not without clearing it with me first, right?”
“Everyone will die in the ensuing war anyway. You will be fine, Undertaker.”
“Death. And do not do my job for me.”
“Counterpoint. You don’t kill them, correct? You merely take their souls. So why do you care that we kill them?”
“Because I have their schedule. And if that schedule is messed up, I have to do extra work.”
“Counterpoint. Fate is dead, correct?”
“No. She merely has very few to spin threads for. And stop saying that.”
“No threads, no set course of life, no overtime for Undertaker. You shouldn’t care.”
Discord smiled.
“But there are still threads in place. I will not cut them for her, and neither will you.”
“We are losing time! I will discuss it with you in great lengths later. I have a proposition you won’t be able to resist.”
“Try me.”
“Later! Lucy Jr., we gotta go!”
Discord scowled and Murder giggled.
“Do not ever call me that again, Cunning.”
He shrugged indifferently.
“Onward, guys! Three minutes and four seconds left for an advantage to be taken.”
Discord snapped and his morbid throne rose on clawed legs. Fear finished his box of cereal and loped alongside as Murder rode on one of the arms, her leg stretched across Discord’s lap. They clearly had a connection. Cunning walked ahead, finger to his mouth in thought. He was of moderate height, with spiky black hair and horrid circles under his eyes. He had awful posture and a very indignant way of walking, like he had been raised as a monkey. His clothes were civilian casual, a hoodie and jeans, with Nike sneakers and leather gloves. He looked over his shoulder.
“The Pentagram is six point two miles from here. We need to have the hosts prepped and ready by the time we reach there.”
Discord smiled lazily.
“No problem. Fear? Murder? Would you be lambs and fetch the mortals for us? You know where they are.”
Fear nodded.
“Okay, boss!”
He lumbered off in the other direction, smashing a lamppost on his way. Brawn, yes. Brains, not so much. Murder sighed, but slipped off the chair.
“And Murder?”
“What?”
“Don’t kill them. We need them alive.”
“You’re a killjoy.”
“I try.”
She winked at him before vanishing in a puff of black smoke. Discord looked forward.
“How you doing, Thanatos?”
“Pretend I am not here. I do not have any desire to be seen with you.”
Cunning looked back, confused.
“By whom?”
Discord grinned and I growled under my breath. C***y little brat. I would have to remind myself to teach the lot of them manners sometime.
We reached our destination just as the sun was beginning to dip beneath the horizon, a trip of almost four hours. Discord had his throne to carry him, but Cunning had walked the whole way with no signs of tiring. He held up a hand and Discord halted his chair.
“Finally?”
“You should know teleportation is not in our move set. Yes, finally. Now we have to wait for Murder and Fear. We only have…”
He paused, finger to his mouth.
“Four minutes and thirty-five seconds until the prime summoning hour.”
A voice sounded from behind us.
“Speak of the devil and she shall appear!”
I turned to see Murder walking calmly. Fear had seven bodies slung effortlessly over his shoulder and my eyes narrowed. They were dangerously close to passing over. I looked coldly at Discord and he caught my gaze without any concern.
“They’re alive, as per request. They won’t be meeting you any time soon.”
“Let us hope not.”
Cunning nibbled his finger nervously.
“Three minutes and twelve seconds. We must hurry!”
Discord closed his eyes and a hideous aura filled the air. A blazing red line shot upwards from the ground about a quarter mile away. The line began to spread and etch into the land, burning everything in its path. The line twisted and spiked until a massive pentagram was visible, its vile feel parting even the clouds above it.
“Okay, guys. Shall we?”
Cunning nodded.
“Cutting it close. We’ve exhausted our extra time. One minute exactly remaining.”
Discord clenched his fists and the bodies rose off Fear’s shoulder and shot toward the star. I spread my wings and took off after them. I needed to harvest the souls when they were sacrificed. Cunning shouted after me.
“Don’t enter the diagram until the ritual is over!”
I didn’t intend to. The bodies lay down simultaneously, one in each spike and two in the center. I could faintly hear Discord shouting some obscene curse, and it occurred to me far too late that perhaps I should move away from the massive source of Satanic energy. The bodies in the center began to pull apart at every joint as the bodies on the outside stretched and melted into the center. I watched stoically as the bodies began to smash together and fuse into a hideous blob. I didn’t sense any life force disappear, and I began to grow uneasy as the humans vanished into the growing shape.
A glimmer of light caught my attention and I looked up to stare at a woman standing outside the circle of evil. She leveled her hands at the thing in the center and fired a blast of light at it. Quicker than I could follow, Fear appeared in front of the blast and took the hit straight on. The woman jerked back as Fear looked at her and Murder appeared behind her. I said nothing as Utopia came out of nowhere, kicking Murder and sending her flying. Fear jumped at the woman and a strange being intercepted Fear. The thing was neither male nor female, but a mix of the two. Fear punched the being in the stomach, but the being didn’t flinch, decking Fear in return. Cunning appeared behind the being, a needle-like appendage growing from his middle finger’s knuckle. He lightly stabbed the being in back of the neck and the being gasped in pain, collapsing and falling to the ground. Fear kicked the being in midair and Cunning stabbed it again in the arm. My attention was diverted as Chronos appeared next to me.
“You made a poor choice, Chronos.”
“Yeah yeah, I’ll take the heat later. What is going on in there?”
The bodies were beginning to fuse into a single shape, and still no souls were moving into the next life. That was worrisome…
“They are trying to summon Evil. I have no doubts your friends will try for Glory at daybreak?”
“If they survive this. I don’t know why they’re trying to stop the summon.”
“It’s a fair fight.”
It was. Discord had joined the battle, his twin swords flashing as they caught the dying light. A tiny little girl was raining glitter onto her comrades from her pom-poms, and it seemed to heal whatever wounds they sustained. Fear, on the other hand, seemed to drain the stamina of whoever he looked at, friend and foe alike. Murder was a demon on the battlefield; her giant axe clashing with the transgender being’s sickle and chain. The woman clad in white kept trying to blast the fusion inside the diagram, but kept getting distracted by Cunning. Discord and Utopia were almost impossible to follow, their actions a blur.
The pentagram glowed brighter and blasted dark sorcery into the air. Chronos gasped in pain and I felt the power surge through me. The blob inside consolidated into a massive sphere with a sick sheen to it. A single golden eye opened on the outside and a shudder ran though me. That eye was pure malice! Evil indeed! The woman renewed her efforts to shoot the creature, ignoring Cunning. Cunning, however, continued to slice the blasts apart with his dagger-like finger. Utopia kicked Discord and sliced with his broadsword. A huge swipe of holy energy erupted from the blade and shot toward the pulsating diagram. Murder just managed to dance out of its path and it slammed into the column of light. The eye blinked and shifted to look at Utopia. He gasped in shock and shot another blast at it, grimacing with the effort. The eye shrieked in pain as the blast connected. The pentagram fizzled slightly and Cunning nibbled his finger.
“Discord, stop him. One more will interrupt the ritual.”
Utopia shouted in pain as one of Discord’s swords pierced his shoulder. Without hesitation, he grabbed the sword and snapped the upper half off, elbowing Discord in the face and blasting a final time with his sword. Abandoning the woman, Cunning sliced the blast in half. One half careened into the ground, but the other slammed into the blob full force. The thing screeched in pain and a massive explosion sent Chronos and I flying. I spread my wings and regained my balance as Chronos face planted next to me.
The woman instantly spread her arms and Utopia and the rest vanished in a flash of light, except Chronos. I frowned as I took in the sight before me. The pentagram had vanished, but seven figures stood where the center had been. Discord cursed under his breath and stamped his foot in frustration. Cunning put his fingertip in his mouth and stared in intense concentration. You could almost see the gears turning. Murder screamed in anger and Fear looked around dumbly.
“What happened, boss?”
Discord rolled his eyes. The figures had yet to move.
“What happened is that our ritual was screwed up by those ingrates. We have no more mortals to use; we have got to find a way to reconstruct Evil. Cunning!”
He didn’t reply, but he was muttering something under his breath.
“Multiply values by the square root of x, taking into consideration the constant of energy squared, algorithms algorithms algorithms creation to make a being through division…”
“Cunning!”
“We’d need to use a ridiculous energy source to refuse them! Something on the level of Lord Lucifer!”
“That’s impossible! His Majesty has given all the energy he can! There is no other force besides the Holy bastard who has the power we need! Goddamnit…”
Cunning’s eyes widened.
“Discord…”
“What?”
“There is one other force…”
His eyes flickered over to me and I understood instantly.
“Do not even think of it.”
Discord sighed.
“He’s right. If we kill Death, we can’t kill those idiots.”
His eyes narrowed.
“However…”
Cunning met his gaze and his finger went to his mouth again.
“It would work.”
“Care to fill me in?”
“No need, Death.”
“Fine. Then I will leave you to the mercy of Chronos.”
Murder landed besides me and hissed.
“Do not cross us, Deity.”
Discord waved her off.
“No, he has a point. No need to keep secrets from our friends.”
“I am not your friend.”
“Sourpuss. If we drain Utopia’s energy via Fear, we’d have enough power to re-fuse Evil!”
“And Utopia is as powerful as God or Satan?”
“Satan is not Lucifer, careful. But yes, he does. A shame I do not have all of His Majesty’s energy.”
“Can you not use some of your own instead?”
“I’m going to have to anyway. And the four of us combined would have to sacrifice ourselves. Not worth it. I prefer two birds with one stone, thank you.”
Cunning lifted his finger.
“Three, if you count annihilating Glory.”
“We’re not going to try to stop their ritual. It would take too much time and we need to focus on Evil here.”
He turned to look at the seven figures standing in the fading Pentagram. Murder turned to face him sharply.
“Are you insane?! We must!”
Cunning waved her off.
“He’s right. It’s not a logical action.”
Fear c***ed his head.
“But…”
Discord looked at him sharply.
“Enough. We’re not. That’s final.”
Chronos slowly backed away.
“Ooookay, well, that was fun, but I’m going to go. I have, um, things to do. So…bye!”
He froze time and I grabbed his wrist.
“Senescence. If you get involved in this, you disregard everything you work for. Incarnations do not take sides in the war of Heaven and Hell.”
Chronos turned, his eyes hard.
“What has God ever done for us, huh? Nothing. Not a single damn thing. What has Satan done? Everything. He killed my Mona, and he killed your beloved…”
“Do not even speak her name. It is my oath of office, Time. I cannot take sides, or I forfeit my title.”
“What good is your title, now, Death? No one’s left! Let their souls rot! I’m not going to sit back and watch the thing that killed my love wipe out existence.”
He threw off my hand and was gone. If needed, Time can override my abilities, which he had clearly just done. I shook my head as the forces of Darkness came alive. Discord looked around sharply and clapped his hands.
“Well, that was quick. Sorry, folks, but Cunning and I totally lied. Of course we’re going to shut down Glory! But hopefully Chronos will be telling Utopia something very different.”
Murder smiled.
“You’re too smart for me, Kaos. My apology.”
“No problem, my darling. Now, let’s get Evil situated and then we can prepare for our daybreak scheme.”
The figures inside the burned star on the ground had not budged an inch. Discord looked at me.
“Care to join us?”
“No. What I do care about is the fact that their souls still inhabit the bodies. Sacrifices do not require that.”
Discord shrugged.
“Well, I may have lied a little.”
That was it. I snapped my scythe open and shot toward the beings. Murder hissed and Discord started forward, but it was far too late. I sliced through all seven with a single stroke, my blade cutting though flesh and bone like paper. The souls didn’t budge. The bodies, however, reformed in drifts of black smoke. Cunning walked up beside me.
“It’s useless. Without substantial plane initiative, their physical forms can’t be destroyed. Their minds don’t exist, but they can’t be killed either. Until they become Evil, that is. You’re wasting your time.”
“Am I?”
I grabbed the little runt by his shirt and lifted his up to my eye level. I am much taller than average beings, and this was no exception. He grabbed my wrists, but my strength is not born from muscle. I turned to Discord, who was nervously walking toward us.
“If I kill this brat now, how far back will it set you? Or will you just automatically lose to Utopia?”
“Thanatos, please. Let’s keep a level head.”
“I am perfectly calm. I warned you what would happen if you crossed me again.”
“It’s not our fault, technically. If we had summoned Evil, you would have your souls. But our ritual was botched, and the souls can’t leave until we finish. So please, let’s just put Cunning down.”
“I want those souls by tomorrow, or else I will cut down this imp where he stands.”
I dropped Cunning and he got up, brushing himself off like nothing had happened.
“It will all be over by tomorrow. Anyway, allow me to introduce our new friends. Meet the parts of Evil. Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Pride, and Wrath.”
They were all identical except for their eyes. Each was an unearthly color, and glowed with an aura that sent chills down my spine. Cunning was a few inches shorter, perhaps due to his dreadful posture, and regarded each one with a detached fascination.
“Each is powerful on their own, but their combined form is unstoppable. If we stop the fusion of Glory and manage to create Evil, victory is ours.”
Fear grinned.
“I like winning.”
Discord walked up to the hulking being, being very careful not to look at him.
“So do I, Fear. So do I. Now then, shall we get a move on? We need to get to the Summoning site before daybreak, and we can’t teleport.”
“How do you know where it will be?”
Cunning rolled his eyes.
“I keep telling people. Simple mathematics. Now we need to leave if we want to make it.”
Murder strutted past me.
“Isn’t he something? You coming, Black Angel?”
I growled. Arrogant pricks, the lot of them.
“Do not call my name in such a familiar manner, woman.”
I took off, disappearing into the night. Murder chuckled.
“Touchy, isn’t he?”
Discord smiled.
“Very. But he’s necessary.”
She laughed and sat down on his lap as his chair began to move again. From my perch in a deserted building, I watched Discord press his lips into Murder’s neck as his hand gently caressed her thigh. Fear chuckled and covered his eyes. Cunning just kept walking, not paying any mind. At least the forces of Good never showed such lewd displays.