Brady Tyson & The Two Little Liars

Chapter 17 - There, at the Dawn of the New Millennium

Silver grass unfolds from beneath my feet as I come into being in the realm of the gods. It seems that whoever was making all the noise the last time that I was here has left, as only the occasional rolling gust of wind disturbs the silent plane. It has a bit of a chill to it today. The golden sky has smudges of red in it, poking up from over the mountains in the distance.

Expectantly, I turn and look back to where Týr stands beneath the golden tree at the top of the hill. He has a book in his hand, and as I walk up to him the air shifts around him, and the page turns. The two ravens from before are perched on his shoulders, and they peer at me with a piercing gaze.

"Hi."

"Good evening. That was quite a show you put on tonight." He shuts the book, tucking it away into his robes.

"You saw all that?"

"I told you, didn't I? I'm always with you."

A lump rises in my throat. "Did... did I do the right thing?"

"You upheld what you believe in, didn't you?" His massive hand wraps gently around mine, and we start walking through the grass. "Without sacrificing anything, I might add. If that's not righteous then I would not know what is."

I try to respond, but my trembling lip tells me that it's probably better to keep my mouth shut. Týr squeezes my hand, and we walk in silence for a while. The raven on his right shoulder pecks at my hat. The god rolls his back, and the ravens screech and flap about in protest, before eventually taking off, flying up and over the hill.

"Bloody pests." He mutters. It makes me smile a bit.

"I think they're funny."

"Not when they drop in on you at unwanted times. You'd think that the old man would have better things to look after."

"Who?"

"Who do you think, Brady?"

"Uhm. Well, they're Odin's birds, aren't they?"

"That's right, I wasn't trying to trick you. You should be more sure of yourself, Brady. You have good instincts."

"I wish that I could believe that. I thought that Mr. Argyros was a good person, I really did... but it turns out he was just using me from the start. A total miscomprehension." I let out a sigh. This place is too relaxing for me to get worked up.

"Well, I suppose you could see it that way. A betrayal of trust hurts, of course, especially when it's from someone close to you. I won't discount that." He lets go of my hand to scratch at his beard. "But that shouldn't be an all-encompassing judge of one's character. It's the sum of one's actions that determines how 'good' they are, not just what sticks out the most."

"No way. If I live my entire life without killing someone, and then decide to shoot someone for no reason, and never kill again, then I'm still a murderer. I'm still a bad person."

"Brady..." He takes a deep breath and lets it out. "You're an intelligent girl. I'm sure you don't need me to point out how flawed this idea is. It's understandable that you're upset, and I'm not going to try to change your mind if you don't want to. I may have lived many, many mortal lifetimes, but I'm not going to act as though I can definitively say what is right and wrong. But... but based on what I have seen, what I have experienced first hand, I think that you should give a bit more heed to what I say. If all you see of a person is their greatest flaw, then there is nothing for you in your future other than failure."

...

I don't like being wrong. I don't even know if I am wrong. But this god, well... I suppose he is a god. I can't just act like he knows nothing.