Chosen Successor

Gateway

"Alright, listen up."

Bill paces midair in the living room, the only room that had no triangle in sight. From your encounter with Bill and seeing how he behaves, you find it difficult to believe he did not want to be in a triangle obsessed room. The guy loves himself!

Case and point, he would not stop blabbering on about how "inconvenient" it was to be pulled away from his "meditation session." Even with your groans and pleas for him to quiet down, he was relentless.

"I was already listening-"

"Your family completely destroyed the idol we need to perform the ritual for the Axolotl. This thing is supposed to be rock solid; they really are a special case!"

Your eyes roll at his lighthearted banter, and you flop onto the couch, watching the cooking show from earlier. Unfortunately, you are not able to enjoy it as Bill floats to block the TV from your view. He waves his hand in your face, brandishing the bottom half of- what you assume to be- an idol of the Axolotl. You bat his hand away from you and cross your arms over your chest. You just wanted to go home.

"But that's no skin off our teeth! We just gotta find a new one. Easy!"

The idol is removed from your face as Bill looks back at it, examining it for a moment before tossing it behind him with a shrug. It hits the TV, shattering the rock figure and the TV, and drops to the ground in useless pieces. You stare at the shattered remnants, bitter at not being able to have a TV break at the very least.

You almost got sacrificed! You deserve a break!

"Alright." You start, a sigh slipping past your lips as you stand once more. "And how are we going to find that? Can't we just carve it or something? Seems easier than finding one."

"No can do. These babies are made by the Axolotl's old cult and infused with some crazy stuff!" You raise an eyebrow at him, hands coming up to rest on your hips. This all-knowing demon who can zip a person's face shut can't even get the stuff he needs for a simple idol.

"Yeah? I thought you were big and powerful?" Chips of yellow fall onto the floor beneath the flying demon. "Really expected something better from an all-knowing demon, I guess."

Bill shrugs his arms with a laugh, your words slipping off his back with no effect. His hand comes up, tapping at the bowtie on his front, in thought for but a moment. "Kid, this body is only a fraction of what I once had."

Your mouth opens, ready to ask what he means, but he floats to you, cutting you off with a cane to your chest. It pokes you, tapping twice and forcing you to fall back onto the couch from the force. You rub at the spot he poked and shake your head. He cackles and drops the cane, letting it fade into the ground, leaving nothing left.

"Now, now, that doesn't mean I'm not as great as I was before!" You don't question him on what he means by "before." "Once we get the idol, I'll be in tip top shape, and we can go our separate ways."

He turns his back to you and folds his hands over his back, watching the static on the broken TV.

"That is what you want, right? For everything to go back to normal?"

You bounce back at his question, caught off guard for a brief second. Of course, it is what you want! You want him gone, away from you, out of your life. He's been an interesting companion, but to have your old life back was what you want!

Before the ritual, before this damned house, before that deer. Before all of it!

"Well! If you don't want that-"