The Land of the Dead where time can't reach
"Dea my man!" A cheerful man called as he landed on the plain of the afterlife, spotting a figure in a black hoodie. The jet lag hadn't hit him yet, it would only hit when he returned to the realm of immortals, "you haven't aged a bit."
"When will you drop that?" The figure said, turning to face the jovial being, "It isn't even a pun at this point." Dea would have shocked any mortal, what with her face being a literal skull. The rest of her body was also bony, albeit hidden by whatever time period's clothes she had decided to wear that day. Today's were a 21st century black hoodie with a corset less shirt, the kind designed to be worn under 4 layers with a large dress for the base and not a pair of black cargo pants. The specific name for these articles were not memorised by Dea, even an eternity wasn't long enough to get her interested in fashion. Dea's F word.
Her fashion sense was one of the painless things that the other gods and goddesses whispered about behind her back, talking as if she wasn't right there. Well, except for Heerfu.
The only immortal to not flinch when Dea's shadows reached the immortal realm. Maybe it was because Heerfu was a goddess of joy. Or maybe Heerfu was just like that because she was Heerfu. After all, Loe didn't welcome Dea anymore than the other deities- and he was the god of love. Loe always clasped the hand of Fertuis, who for being a god of fertility, was not at all a bad girl to sit beside at the mandatory meetings.
Fertius looked like the kind of girl who would chatter about everything and anything for 5 hours without need of rest or nourishment. However, while looking like the kind of girlfriend who texted 'hey' and 'why are you ignoring me?' every five minutes, Fertius was actually very knowledgeable in many topics. Not just the most newest thing available or common topics like the weather or human offerings.
She was also very talkative to Dea. Likely the only deity other than Heerfu to be so without a flinch or a look of poorly hidden terror. She would debate the morality of the newest and oldest shenanigans of the other deities with Dea. Or ask non intrusive questions about her work. Things like 'what happens when a humans life isn't cut at the right time' not 'why did you pick this job out of everything?'. Fertius was probably Dea's go to person if she ever had to ask an immortal where in the seven planes Heerfu was when she wasn't in her usual hideouts or meeting spots on Earth.
After an awkward silence and a self awarded smirk that said "that joke is epic and will never age... Much like you", Dea asked, "what excuse did you give the old hag this time?"
Dea sounded much like a thousand men and a thousand women all speaking at once. Ironic, Heerfu noted, as death was the only time she'd hear that many women and men speaking at the same time in perfect unison without being a single bit louder than one another. Even choirs and church goers saying the 'our father' wouldn't speak in as perfect unison as Dea does. It was one of the many things that freaked out the immortals, who chose one gender and one voice and sticked to it. Well, there were a small handful of deities that didn't stick to one gender. But they still only spoke with one voice at a time.
At one of the few times that Heerfu had interrupted Dea during a soul casting-where Dear weighed the deeds of that soul to decide what happens to them- Heerfu discovered that Dea changes into a young female child around humans. Let's down their guard according to Dea, so Heerfu referred to Dea as 'she'.
Dea swirled the tip of her scythe -it was just a prop, she didn't actually harvest souls with that thing- in a black puddle that sat a few feet ahead of her.
"I just told her I left something behind on my last visit." Dea raised her scythe, twirling it's razor sharp edge as a constant 360° in the air.
"That tired excuse?" Dea tittered, "One of these days you'll find that ticket has vanished and you'll need to find another way to get here."
Heerfu shrugged, "I know the back channels. But if I were to use those every visit, so would the rest of the immortals. And I know you like your me time." Dea grunted in response, lowering her scythe and resuming it's swirling. Well, it was more like a huff then a grunt.
Heerfu grinned, knowing she'd won this debate, "if you're that worried about my ticket here... Why don't we make a bet?" Dea's scythe halted, resting on top of the puddle, making a small ripple in it.
You see, deals and wagers were the only things powerful enough to tie a diety's powers to something. Naturally, as they were the only thing powerful enough to chain down a deity or reverse their magic(not even a deity could do that to another deity. It was simply impossible), there were many rules to a wager. These included "a deity, immortal being or other being of magical origin must declare 'I accept this deal' or 'I accept this wager', while not under the influence of dampeners." Yes, deities have their own version of drugs.
Dampeners don't damage the body or mind like a drug does to a human. Rather, they weaken the powers of a deity, enough for them to be trapped in a cage without being able to break out. These would be naturally sought out by humans if they ever found out about them, so any who do find out about them wake up with a memory wipe after having a vivid dream about grey men with large eyes. What exactly happens during that vivid dream is up to the human's imagination.
Another rule is that "any deal or bet, once agreed to, cannot be undone by anything other than another deal or bet made by the same parties involved". Naturally, no deals or bets have ever been undone. Except for one made many decades ago by Dea. But she doesn't like to talk about it much.
The last rule we'll discuss is that the deal or bet must be sealed with the declaration and a crossing of the left arm of both parties involved, so their arms form an X. If more than 2 persons are involved, the left hand must hold the right shoulder of the other participants, so a circle is formed. One time a deal was made, a perfect XOXO was formed. This deal was made between Fertius, Loe and several humans.
One rule that doesn't exist which may surprise humans is that there don't need to be any witnesses other than the participants. This is because all deals and bets are recorded in the sacred library once sealed with the declaration and crossing of arms or shoulder holding. The sacred library is a place as well known as the Vatican archives and even harder to get into.
"What kind of wager were you thinking of?" Dea inquired, resting her scythe atop her shoulder.
YOU ARE READING
The Final Gamble
Science Fiction"Look at that thing," Silas jabbed his weapon at its burning, writing corpse, "look at it closely." "Is that thing human?" Alex got her first good look at it. Its haunting yellow eyes. Its pale face, blue like a corpse. Its limbs moved around, clu...
