by Brey Willows
She thought of the car and Angie inside it and was transported onto the backseat beside her.
“What the serious fuck?” Angie jumped and pressed herself against the window.
Dis smiled. “Sorry, I know that’s probably unnerving. But I just had to tell you how fantastic you were at the rally, and I didn’t feel like waiting.”
Angie glared at her. “And you are?”
“I’ve gone by many names throughout time. At the moment, some call me Dis. Others, Chaos. Nice to meet you.” Dis held out her hand, wondering if Angie had the courage to take it.
She hesitated for only a moment before accepting. “I won’t say it’s nice to meet you. I dislike being taken by surprise, and if you haven’t noticed, the gods are kind of on my shit list.”
Dis let go of her hand. She’d read Angie’s emotions, her thoughts, her fears. She was one of the strong ones. She believed wholeheartedly in what she was preaching. There was no doubt, no reserve of adolescent religious guilt or remorse. Not only was she not confused, she had a clear desire for one outcome: the eradication of religion.
“Yes. I figured that out. And it’s exactly the reason I’d like to have a special conversation with you.”
* * *
The building shook with Zed’s thunder. Dani, Meg, Tisera, Alec, Selene, and Kera kept their distance as Zed gesticulated and flung lightning bolts haphazardly through the room.
“Is this what it comes to? The ungrateful bastards. Sons of clay-bitten slime. How dare they?”
Tis stepped forward in her full form, wings outstretched in front of the two humans in their party. “Zed. Stop. Your tantrum won’t get us anywhere.”
He turned on her, his hand raised as if to throw. She narrowed her eyes at him and hissed, and he instantly backed down. He lowered his hand and slumped against the wall. Dani felt the whole group relax slightly. When Zed moved back to his desk, the others cautiously made their way to the conference table.
Tis folded her wings but stayed in form. Alec and Meg were in their natural states as well, ready to jump in front of Selene and Kera if necessary. Zed was no match for the fury sisters when they came together, and he knew it. If he stops to pay attention. Dani sat beside Meg and nearly laughed at Meg’s expression. Never one to shrink from drama, the situation clearly had her engaged. She looked like a kid trying to figure out what ride to take first at the county fair.
“So, legal council? What do we do?”
Tis doodled on the legal pad in front of her. “I haven’t the faintest idea. The gods are contracted to Afterlife. But that was based on the collective. There’s nothing in our constitution that says they can never leave the company. Once we all came together, it seemed like a given. Plus, everyone has played by the rules we set in place for centuries.”
“It’s that fucking whack-job you let in from outer space. Nothing’s been right since she got here.” Kera pointed out the window, presumably at the sky.
Selene shook her head. “While it’s true it’s gotten worse since she got here, and the issues with the gods are undeniably her fault, given what Dani and Zed have told us about the underworld gods, the confusion and unease were what called her back in the first place. We couldn’t have predicted the reaction of the human population.” She bit her lip. “When I suggested the gods make themselves known, I had no idea it could have this kind of psychological backlash.”
“I agree with Kera. Can’t we shove the whack-job back to where she came from? I mean, it’s right upstairs.” Meg grinned at Kera, who nodded back.
“The Fates have said she can’t leave until the situation here is settled. They wouldn’t allow us to send her back.” Tis gave Kera a warning look.
Alec tapped the table. “So, let’s look at the crisis of the moment. Several of the underworld gods have decided to go back to their own countries of origin. They’re leaving Afterlife altogether, which means they’re no longer bound by any of the codes set in place. Right?”
Tis nodded. “Right. And when a few of the lesser-known gods heard the underworld gods were leaving, they decided it was their chance to strike out on their own as well. They’re hoping that by being in their territory full-time and no longer bound by Afterlife rules, they can develop more followers and gain status.”
“And the ramifications?” Zed opened a candy bar and stuffed half into his mouth.
Dani had noticed several of the gods developing new coping strategies. Stressed gods. That doesn’t seem like a good thing. Zed had always loved food, but he’d turned to chocolate for true stress eating. One of the Eastern gods had started snapping a rubber band on his wrist all the time, and she’d seen one of the old Roman gods surreptitiously drinking from a flask.
“We can no longer keep an eye on them. They have the right to behave as they see fit, though as furies we still have jurisdiction should they step too far out of line.”
“Like by killing humans.” Meg said it so softly they all turned to look at her. “The Aztecs.”
There was a second or two of silence before Alec said, “I’d forgotten about that.”
Kera looked at them in turn. “Want to share, vague terrors?”
Tis sighed. “If the gods begin actively killing their followers, we can step in. One of the old Aztec gods did just that, and we dealt with him.”
Kera looked contemplative. “While the knowledge that you can kill off a god should probably make me wet myself, it’s actually kind of a turn-on. Not to mention, it could be important information if this all goes to hell.”
Meg laughed and choked on her soda. Dani patted her back until she stopped coughing, and she was surprised when Meg leaned into her slightly as they continued to listen.
“Before we came together here, we were often at each other’s throats. Denying one another’s existence, damning our own followers when they looked to another religion, getting involved in human affairs. It was messy.” Zed opened a package of individually wrapped chocolates and started popping them in his mouth a few at a time.
“It could cause a strange type of human migration. People associated with particular religions could make their way back to the home of that belief system, if they know the god is actually staying among them. Even if they’re not originally from those areas.” Selene looked at Tis. “Wouldn’t that make the need for Afterlife redundant? If followers were once again mostly in specific territories?”
“In a way, it would. But the human world is complex now, especially with Dis messing things up. I don’t think it would be that simple.”
Kera stood and looked at the enormous world map on the wall. “So, what’s the plan?”
Meg shrugged. “Plan for what? Technically, no one has done anything wrong. And as far as we know, no one is planning on doing anything crazy. There’s nothing to plan for, at the moment.”
Dani thought everyone had a point, but none of them actually knew anything for certain. “When the Olympic and the Egyptian gods walked among humans, they disguised themselves, well aware that seeing them as they were would kill them. But today, we expected the humans to be fine with it. Maybe we’ve become less self-aware too.” She looked around the table at the people she considered her closest friends. “I can tell you this. In the Deadlands, we can feel the tides changing. Something is coming, and it’s like we’re getting prepared for it without even knowing what it is yet.”
They all stared at her until Kera said, “Well, that’s not at all terrifying. Nothing like an omen from Death to give you the warm fuzzies.” She winked at Dani to show she was at least partially kidding. “But if that’s the case, then maybe we need to discuss some kind of contingency plan. If this, then that, kind of thing.”
Meg’s stomach growled loud enough for the room to hear it.
“You’re like a never-ending pit of sex and food.” Zed threw a piece of candy at her.
“Some of us like our pleasure in piles of yay rather than little sips of yum.” Meg popped the chocolate in her mouth but continued
talking as she chewed. “If we’re going to create contingency plans for things that may or may not happen, can I be excused? I have a serious case of the boredoms.”
“It affects you too, you know.” Selene looked at Meg calmly, and as always, there was no judgment present.
“Believe me, I know. I’ve been out in the field. I’ve seen what Ms. Black Hole is up to firsthand. But I’m going to waste away of serious starvation, and the intense let’s-work-shit-out thing is your field, not mine.” She stood and blew her sisters a kiss. “And you know damn well I’ll be right beside you when the watery poo shoots from on high.”
Tis smiled affectionately at her. “We know. Go feed that beast in your belly. We’ll get you up to speed when we’ve worked some things through. If, that is, we can even figure out what to work through in the first place.” She looked at Dani. “You know you’re welcome to stay, but you don’t have to for this bit. Maybe you could take charge of feeding our ravenous sister?”
Dani felt herself blush and quickly stood beside Meg. “I know what a tyrant she becomes when she’s hungry. That’s bad news for anything living. I’ll take the mission seriously.” She mock saluted and grunted slightly when Meg punched her in the shoulder.
“Perfect timing. I’ve been thinking about your redesign.” She took Dani’s hand and tugged her from the room. “Love you all. See ya.”
They headed down the back stairs to the courtyard and across to Meg’s place. Dani desperately hoped Meg wouldn’t notice she hadn’t let go of her hand. She loved the way it felt in her own. So warm, so alive. Dani’s nature was to be cold and dark. She loved the way Meg’s presence felt like sunshine piercing a storm. When Meg let go to open her front door, Dani instantly missed the connection.
She went straight to the kitchen. “I went shopping. Sit. I’ll cook and tell you my design ideas at the same time.”
Dani sat on the indicated bar stool and waited. She could always tell when Meg’s mind was busy, and it definitely was at the moment. She seemed to move without thinking, grabbing things from the fridge and cupboard and throwing them onto the countertop.
“Oh! Wait.” She darted from the room and came back with a folder. “Here. Start looking.”
The folder had DEADLANDS REMAKE scrawled across the front, with a faded photo of Dani looking out over water beneath it. “Where on earth did you find this?”
Meg glanced over her shoulder to see what Dani was looking at. She turned back around. “I found it in a collection of old photos I was going through the other day. I can’t remember where it was taken. Can you?”
As though I could forget. It was the summer the four of them had spent nearly a month together at a lake in Bulgaria. They’d made it a base of operations and lounged in the sun or played in the water when they weren’t out on a job. It was the first summer she’d been able to spend real time getting to know Meg, and her life hadn’t been the same since. “No, I don’t recall.”
“Well, I liked it and decided it was totally how I picture you in your territory. All thinky and pondery.”
Not exactly sexy thoughts, then. “Yeah, I guess it’s a serious place.”
Meg spun around with a massive knife in her hand. She shook it at Dani. “Ah, but that’s the thing. It doesn’t have to be, does it?”
When Dani went to respond about the honor of taking souls, Meg waved the knife to stop her.
“Yeah, I know. Honor, duty, gray. I get it. But if you want to do a true remake and really rebrand your department, you have to take some chances. You’ve got to allow it to be something new.”
She went back to chopping, and Dani opened the folder. Sketches of various sections of her territory were color coded with words like “shops” and “spa” and… “tourist information.”
Meg shifted so she could see Dani and keep cooking. “Here’s my thought. First of all, we’re dealing with the issue of people being afraid of dying, right? Humans naturally want to live for as long as they can. Except the ones who don’t, but we’ll get to them. So, humans get to the point of death and get all freaked out. Right?”
Dani nodded, content to let Meg spell things out.
“What if we created a marketing campaign that showed them how totally not scary leaving with you is? I mean, we’d have to take into account the whole not-living anymore thing, sure. But if coming with you is an inevitability, which, clearly it is, then let’s make it something exciting.” She popped a piece of carrot in her mouth and motioned at the book. “Page ten.”
Dani flipped to the designated page and blinked. Sketches of posters with her in her ceremonial garb and scythe were joined with a photo of her yellow mustang and a background of the Deadlands that looked slightly more like Las Vegas. The coin she’d put in Meg’s glove box was represented too. “Um.”
Meg leaned across the counter and studied the sketch. “I know, right? Over-the-top. But why not? If we can rebrand you as a kind of travel operator, someone who is happy to take people from this place to that one, and it’s not all gloom and despair, you’ll have changed the way they see you. We’ll make your money a collector’s item. People used to have to pay to cross the river, right? We’ll use that. Humans understand money.”
She dumped a ton of vegetables in a huge pot and kept moving. She stayed quiet, and Dani knew she was giving her time to process. She knows me well. She flipped through the other pages. There were lots of parks and green spaces. A few spas. A golf course.
“Can I ask a question?”
“Well yeah, obviously.”
Dani tapped on the spa and golf course. “I get the marketing thing, to decrease fear. But people don’t stay in my realm long enough to use these things. They rarely even come out of my soulpack. Why put them in if no one is there to use them?”
Meg speared a sugar snap pea with the knife and held it out for Dani. When she went to take it off the knife, Meg pulled it away and shook her head before holding it out again. Dani swallowed against the flutter of eroticism and ate it off the tip of the knife. Meg nodded approvingly before going back to what she was doing.
“Here’s the thing. Your territory is beautiful. Your people seem to be happy. But why not give them a little something to take the pressure off? I mean, it’s not like their jobs are about unicorns peeing rainbows, is it?”
Dani raised her eyebrows and smiled.
“Okay, you know what I mean. But here’s the other thing.” She wiped her hands and came around the countertop. “You said you’ve had an influx of souls you don’t know what to do with, right?”
Dani nodded. “More by the day.”
“Why not make yourself a receiving area and allow them to stay with you if they want to?”
Dani stared at her, unable to take in what she was saying. “Sorry, what?”
“It’s the time to do it. Make death itself a destination. Make it a place where the lost souls can hang out. It’s not like you don’t have the room, right?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Wait. These souls are lost. And you feel really protective of them. Why not give them a place to stay?” She turned to a page in the book with LIBRARY scrawled across the top. “They could stay with you, if they wanted to. Or they could take the time to read up on the other religions, and if there’s one that suits them, away from all the stuff going on in the living world, then they can apply to enter that religion’s realms.”
Dani was overwhelmed by the idea, and questions flew through her mind too quickly for her to grasp them properly. Meg smiled and placed a noisy kiss on her cheek before she went back to cooking.
“I won’t take offense that you look like you’re going to be ill. We don’t have to talk about it any more today. Just think about it.”
Dani closed the folder but kept her hand on it, as though if she let it go it might make its own way to the Deadlands and transform everything she’d ever known. She’d asked for Meg’s help, and she knew she wanted a change. As she watched Meg move around the kitchen, talki
ng about something Dani couldn’t hear through the roaring of uncertainty in her head, she began to calm down. Meg’s passion and spontaneity were so far from Dani’s own personality it would be easy to dismiss her work. But she wouldn’t. There might be aspects she’d decide against, but the truth was, Dani trusted Meg, and her sisters, more than any other beings in existence.
Meg flashed her a smile, and Dani’s breath caught. It would mean her spending more time in my territory. With me. That thought alone made her open the folder once more.
Chapter Twelve
“I love it. I think it’s exactly what I wanted.” Azrael turned in a slow circle, looking at the first level of hell. Formerly Limbo, it was now so much more. Overwhelmed by work, he’d asked Meg for more input and for some of her time to tell the designers what to do.
“I’ve suggested a few more dance clubs, all themed. There are some straightforward ones, with your basic alcohol- and drug-soaked interiors, and then there are a couple of sex clubs, catering to the more exotic and ambitious tastes.” Meg motioned to the east side. “But over here, I’ve recommended something more sedate. I mean, you’re bound to get some of the boring smarty-pants types, right? Now there’s a library and some nice Zen gardens.”
“That will make the old philosophers happy. They’ve been after me for years to provide better digs.”
Meg nodded, enjoying the transformation. Limbo had been a drab, empty space, full of broken furniture and gray food. Now those who hadn’t been saintly but who also didn’t have any big sins on their records would have a place to go. It would be fun, and because Limbo wasn’t necessarily meant as punishment, there was no reason they couldn’t enjoy themselves here. It made her think of Dani’s issue with the non-religious believers, and she wondered if she’d be able to do something similar with the Deadlands. “Several of the other floors have been divided into halves or quarters as well. One side for the less severe, one side for your bog standard version of Hell.”