Nodding grimly, he replied, “I won’t. I promise.”
Bethos sighed and took his seat at the table.
With that, the Divine Peace Summit began. Jackman was the first to voice his opinion. “I’m damned well opposed to this whole thing. We in Chrichton don’t acknowledge any gods, and we’re certainly not going to bow down to them after they came to enslave us!”
“This isn’t about bowing down,” Lambda said. “It’s about finding common ground between humans and gods. I believe we can work out an arrangement that will be acceptable to all sides.”
“I do hope you’re not wasting our time,” Set said. His hands were steepled in an arrogant display of superiority.
“This whole thing is a waste of time,” Ernst said. He addressed everyone, yet peered at no one through his milky eyes. “Zero Grade can be beaten. It has been proven repeatedly as of late.”
“Now, now,” Lambda said. “If everyone will take a good look at those of us sitting at this table, I think you’ll see we’re not so different. We’re all sentient beings with desires and opinions. We just need to try and understand the other side.”
“What the hell’s there to understand?” Jackman said. “These Zero Grade grimes are just egomaniacs.”
Lambda raised a finger, saying, “Gods have different needs than the rest of us. They’ve been around for eons. They’ve basked in human adoration for all that time. They need it.”
“So we should just give it to them?” a skeptical O’Donnel asked.
Ernst agreed. “After all they’ve done, they deserve nothing. Let them have the fires of Buschweiss.” He was referring to Principal Orthodoxy’s (the religion of the Murnau Islands) belief in an afterlife for evil people. Buschweiss was filled with murderers, thieves, liars and women who stood up for themselves. Rapists did not necessarily go to Buschweiss (rape wasn’t a crime in their country) unless they committed other sins on top of that.
“And what of you, Bethos?” Set said. “Most humans don’t see a difference between your side and ours. Do you agree with President Lambda?”
Bethos took a deep breath and composed his thoughts. “Let’s get one thing out of the way right now. I don’t like Zero Grade. I don’t like anything about you. That being said, if it will end this war, I’m all for establishing churches for you. After all, you’re no less gods than the rest of us. If people want to worship you, who am I to say no?”
O’Donnel said, “But do people want to worship them? After the crimes they’ve committed against mankind, who aside from lunatics would willingly follow them?”
“The people of this country, for one,” Lambda said. “You’ve got millions of people right here who worship them, and I think they can find a niche in other nations.”
Set rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It was tough to read him; he played his cards close to his hairy chest. Ev wondered if they were, in fact, wasting their time here.
“And how would you convince people to come to church and worship us every week?” Set said.
Lambda replied, “We’re considering incentives packages—”
Set cut him off. “Absolute not! Zero Grade does not accept the adoration of bribed humans. The love must be genuine.”
Bethos chimed in, “You don’t need to bribe people. The fact is, everyone now knows without a doubt that gods exist. And for every god there is someone to worship them. Just look at me. I was a nobody a few thousand years ago, and now I’ve got more followers than anyone on social media. If you build the churches, people will come.”
There was silence as everyone pondered this.
“I’m damned opposed,” Jackman said.
“Yes, you’ve made your position quite clear,” Set said.
O’Donnel massaged her alabaster temple. “I’m not convinced, either. If I go back to my people and tell them I’ve capitulated to the enemy, I can kiss my re-election campaign goodbye.”
“People, people,” Lambda said, standing up. “I’m asking you to put aside your own interests and think about what’s best for your own nation. Building churches to the Lost Gods will save countless lives and end this war. Or would you prefer to go back to your people and tell them the bloodshed will continue?”
Set shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to us. We’ll have what we want regardless of what you humans decide.”
“You’re not helping,” Bethos said.
* * *
The negotiations (and arguing) continued for several hours. Eventually, though, the mortal delegates decided on a consensus. They would establish Lost God churches in their nations, but only a few at first as a way to test the waters. Set expressed his displeasure, but conceded that was probably the best they could have hoped for. “But if the people don’t come, we will have to resort to more…emphatic measures.”
“Just give it a chance,” Bethos urged him.
“Very well. On behalf of Zero Grade, we accept this arrangement for the time being. But don’t forget your end of the bargain, Academy president.”
“Of course,” Bethos replied. “Both the Academy and Zero Grade agree to remove our forces from human cities. The Ultimus Points in those regions will not be used by either side.”
“And the humans agree not to utilize them for military purposes,” Set added.
“Agreed,” Lambda said.
“I don’t like it, but I will agree for now,” O’Donnel said.
“Very well said, for a woman,” Ernst said.
“I’m still damned opposed, but Chrichton will abide by this arrangement.”
Lambda grinned from ear to ear. They had done it; they had forged a peace treaty that would prevent further loss of life for the foreseeable future. For now, at least, people everywhere could rest easy. “Well, the only thing to do now is to shake hands and make it official.”
Set sighed. “Very well. It’s unbecoming of a superman to lower himself to the level of someone like you, but I suppose it can’t be helped. It is human custom, after all.”
Lambda extended his hand, and Set reached across the table to accept it. In a moment, the world would be at peace.
That moment never came.
The hamagogue’s ceiling exploded, sending flaming debris down onto the delegates. Ev couldn’t react fast enough to save Lambda and the other humans from being crushed. The level they were on then collapsed, sending everyone crashing down to the pews below.
Chapter XIV
Ev pushed a flaming wooden beam off of him and looked around. The entire hamagogue was burning. Acrid smoke filled the air, reminding him of Zagreus.
“Ev!” Maya came rushing over to him.
“Where is everyone?” Ev yelled.
She shook her head. “I found their bodies a few yards away. Lambda and the others were crushed. We have to get out of here.”
Ev felt utterly defeated. They had been so close, yet were forced to watch helplessly as peace was snatched away from them. He raged inwardly at the injustice of it all.
They ran out the front doors and onto the street. When they looked up, it was painfully clear what had caused the explosion.”
“Holy—!” Ev breathed.
“What is that?” asked Maya incredulously.
Floating a hundred feet in the sky was a rectangular spaceship straight out of a sci-fi epic. It had antennae, nacelles, massive cannons, and even exhaust ports jutting from the aft section. It gave off a dull roar as blue flames crept from the ports. All told, it must have been a thousand feet long and hundreds of feet wide.
“Wait,” Ev said. “I remember Arcturus telling me the Lost Gods used to have space ships. But they were supposed to have abandoned them a long time ago.”
“Guys!” Bethos hobbled out of the cathedral. His clothes were scorched but he seemed unharmed. Set followed him.
“It can’t be!” Set said as soon as he saw the ship.
“I thought you guys didn’t have any more ships,” Bethos said angrily.
“I assure you that’s not ours.”
“Then whose is it?” Ev asked.
Set replied, “The only way to find out is to go up there and inspect the nameplate.”
So the four of them flew up alongside the ship, taking care to avoid the massive guns sticking out like a naval destroyer. They soon found the name etched into the side of the vessel.
Midgard
“Impossible,” Set exclaimed. “This ship was lost following the destruction of the previous universe.”
“Hate to tell you this, but someone found it,” Bethos said.
“You mean this isn’t yours?” Maya said to Set.
“No. This ship predates the formation of Zero Grade.”
A cadre of figures suddenly appeared atop the Midgard. They were dressed in a variety of strange outfits of black leotards, animal masks and colorful sashes. One was juggling flaming sticks, another wore white face paint and was pantomiming being trapped in a box, while still others danced independent of one another.
“Hear ye, hear ye!” the man who was apparently the leader said. He wore some sort of yellow cat mask. “A most heartfelt show of gratitude is in order. From yourselves, of course.”
Ev could barely restrain his rage. “Gratitude? You pooslickers! Why did you attack the church? We were this close to peace!”
The stranger replied in a melodious voice, “Exactly. Precisely. If not for our timely intervention, peace would have been achieved. Boring, predictable peace. You should thank us for keeping the spice in your lives. We tried killing President Lambda on board his plane and making it look as though Zero Grade had done the deed, but as we discovered, more drastic actions were needed.”
“That was you?” Ev said. He didn’t think he could hate anyone as much as he hated the Flawless Few, but these newcomers were close.
“Bastards!” Bethos spat. “Do you mean to say you want the war to continue?”
“But of course! For there is nothing in this world so great as death and destruction. Killing; bloodshed; torture; where would we be without these things?”
“A lot happier,” Maya replied icily.
The stranger did a pirouette before replying. “Rubbish! Nonsense! No one can be happy with the kind of soul-crushing calm you would have inflicted upon this world. Honestly, we are your saviors for preventing it.”
It was then that Set spoke up. “Wait a minute. This ship is the Midgard. Does that mean you’re Commander Loki?”
Another pirouette. “What are names? Names are meaningless. But if you insist, you may refer to us collectively as Carnaval. For to us, life is a never-ending festival. Would you care to dance? We have several willing partners here.”
“We’ll pass, you sick yurs,” Bethos said. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t rip you apart right here and now?”
The leader wagged a finger at him. “Ah, ah, ah, ah. Manners. You don’t go disemboweling your hosts right before they invite you to the party. That would be absurd. Although, I must admit to a certain bit of deceit if I claimed to not want to see that happen to some poor soul.
“Oh, but I see you are getting impatient, so I will answer your question. As I said, we have come to invite you to a grand event. Namely, the God Games.”
Ev could feel his patience rapidly draining away. “God Games? What the yur are you talking about?”
“Why, only the greatest series of athletic events in the world. Both Zero Grade and Divine Protector Academy will send five representatives to compete in said events for our enjoyment.”
“And why would we do that?” Bethos said. Ev could tell his patience was running low as well. If it weren’t for the giant cannons aimed at them, they probably would have attacked these bastards already.
The man replied, “Feel free to use your brain at this time. What are we standing on?”
“A big-ass ship. I’m not blind,” Bethos said.
“Exactly! A ‘big-ass ship’. And what does a ‘big-ass ship’ have?”
“Massive firepower, for one,” Set said.
“Yes! But more importantly, this ship possesses an advanced sensor array, capable of probing the deepest depths of this planet and beyond. We can see anything with it. We can find anything.”
Ev waved a fist at him. “Would you get to the point before I lose it and beat you into a coma?”
Sighing, the leader said, “I believe I was in the process of making my point. We can find anything; that means we found both your bases. We know where the Academy and the Flawless Few are hiding. And, being the benevolent saviors that we are, we are prepared to reveal that information to whomever wins the God Games.
“Think about it; you can march right up to your enemy’s front door and kick it down. And we, of course, will be watching as you do it.”
“And probably stroking off to it,” Bethos said.
“Ah, ah, ah. A gentleman never tells.”
Bethos ignored him. “And what if we refuse to compete in these God Games?”
“A tragic decision that would be. But as you are not blind—as you say—we do have options. For instance, we are standing on a ‘big-ass ship,’ and we know where you live. We could fly right over to your mountain hideaway and blow every trace of it off the face of this planet. Surely the thought of such catastrophic loss of life is enough to motivate you to accept our invitation. And that goes for Zero Grade as well.”
“We do not fear the likes of you,” Set said with venom in his voice.
“Perhaps not, but I’m sure you’d like to discover the location of the Academy to put and end to them once and for all.”
Set thought about it for a moment. “The thought does have appeal.”
“Don’t listen to him!” Bethos said. “They just want us to kill each other. We can still achieve peace.”
“Oh, I think not. We shall do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen until one side is completely obliterated. If that means liberal use of firepower, so be it. If you persist in fighting for peace, rest assured many many people will die,” said Loki.
“Doesn’t look like we have much choice,” Maya said. She took Ev’s hand in hers as she said it, squeezing it for good measure.
“Excellent,” the masked man said. “Fantastic. Make your preparations, and in one week we shall hold the God Games! Until then, au revoir!”
A shimmering began which soon overtook the entire ship, and in a few moments it was gone.
Bethos sighed and said, “Great. Just great. Listen, Set…”
But Set was gone.
“What now?” Ev asked. He was exhausted emotionally, and his brain was getting lethargic. He didn’t know how much more of this he could deal with.
Bethos looked just as tired. “For now, we have to get back to the Academy and tell everyone what happened here. Then we can decide what to do next.”
Emergency crews were gathering at the hamagogue below. They would deal with this as best they could, but their efforts would be in vain. Everyone inside was beyond saving.
Ev felt his breaking point fast approaching.
* * *
In the aftermath of the attack, the vice president of Morovia, Sterm Ganz—who had been sick with Morovian Flu as of late—ascended to the office of president. Unlike Joe Lambda, he took the opinion of General Haig and vowed to fight any and all gods who threatened their country. Ganz blamed both Zero Grade and the Academy for the attack, and made it perfectly clear there would be no more talk of peace. Exodus Squad would solve this problem once and for all, or die trying.
Carnaval had gotten exactly what they wanted. Whether anyone liked it or not, the war would continue until one side emerged victorious.
* * *
After the events in Dokiu, Ev, Maya and Bethos returned to the Academy where an emergency meeting was called. The faculty assembled in the conference room, which, tragically, was not as cramped now that several of their own had been killed.
“And now you know everything that happened,” Bethos said.
“No way,” Brandon
said, dumbfounded.
“It can’t be,” Freya added. “The Midgard was lost with all hands following the destruction of the previous universe. We assumed they hadn’t been able to get to Gehenna in time.
“Well, obviously they did,” Atlas said.
“Was that really Commander Loki?” Freya said.
Bethos shrugged. “Set seemed to think so. I never met the guy, so I don’t know.”
Until We Break Page 14