Thief of Time

[Book 14: Cosmic Contrivance]

“One cannot help but wonder when the Cosmic Egg will hatch,” the Black God muttered. “Intriguing, is it not? The Cosmic Egg, the seed of a new world, completely monopolised by the Omen. What world would it be? What would the Omen seek to do with it?”

He shook his head. “So, so many questions.”

While Claud and the Black God hadn’t said anything about him being the Omen just yet, Claud was fairly certain that the Black God himself was fairly certain of his current identity. The only thing that was absent was his acknowledgement of thus, although there was definitely something rather ridiculous about this whole spiel.

Clearing his throat gently, Claud said, “The Omen of this cycle showed a lot of restraint, did he not? I’m sure he’s the more peaceful kind.”

“Mhm.” The Black God paused. “That said, the Red God did die in very curious circumstances. Was that the Omen’s doing, or was it someone else masquerading as him?”

Lily made a noise in her throat. “What do the Coloured Gods think of about his death? Who do you think caused it?”

“By all accounts, it cannot be the mortals of this cycle just yet,” the Black God replied. “None have reached the level of existence required to interrogate and dethrone one of us.”

“Interrogate and dethrone?” Lily asked, and Claud leaned forward. “Is that how…”

“We took down the inverted Gods of Virtue?” the Black God asked. “Precisely. Gods in their Divine Kingdom are nearly impervious to all forms of damage. However, that which is not fixed — mortals — are able to wield their multifarious wills and thoughts to observe the world before them. The gods, while they were once mortal, are forced to react to the observations deduced.”

“Observations?” Lily asked.

“React?” Claud touched his chin. “How does that even work?”

“Mhm.” The Black God pondered for a moment. “Mortals with sufficient authority can confront us gods head-on. While we are certainly omnipotent and omniscient within our Divine Kingdom, there is a replacement mechanism in the form of the five grand skies, which shackle our free will in dealing with…one might call heretics.”

“Heretics, huh.”

“Heretics like us, who question the previous authorities and shake their faith in their own beliefs. The more successful we are at shaking their faith and ideals, the closer we bring them to the earth,” the Black God replied.

“Uh. There’s something wrong with this, though.” Claud rubbed his head. “I mean, I don’t even know what you guys actually stand for.”

“All that money that went into our churches don’t really count for anything?” The Black God chuckled. “Anyhow, that’s what we did anyway. There are definitely other ways, but this Godsfall was never about the new batch of Bearers taking down the Coloured Gods.”

He paused. “Probably.”

“Probably?” Lily asked. “And the Red God’s already pushing up the daisies.”

“It seems like this cycle has been turned into a mess,” Claud added.

“I think the moment me and Schizel survived, the Last Godsfall turned into a glitchy mess,” the divinity replied. “Perhaps that was part of that person’s goal too, although I am not sure how that even worked. None of us are certain what is going on now, although this uncertainty is definitely making all of us a little more insecure and unsure.”

“…Which can lead to erratic behaviour,” Lily uttered.

“Indeed.” The Black God reclined on his chair and took a sip of some tea. “How’s the breakfast? Do be honest. I know it’s not really that good.”

Claud thought for a moment. “Well, in the Seekers of Life, there exists a certain bartender who goes by the name of Schwarz. If we’re lords and ladies of the culinary arts, he is indisputably the king of them all.”

“Schwarz?” The Black God raised an eyebrow. “Hm-mhm. It is intriguing to hear you say this, knowing that you’ve already savoured the various dishes prepared by the three sovereigns, Lesser Half and the Blue Moon. Indeed, he might just be a culinary ace.”

Lily nodded seriously. “You can try to invite him over for some booze, although his drinks are so strong that I daresay only your Holy Son could ingest it.”

“Drinks so strong that only Nero could ingest it?” The Black God chuckled. “Intriguing. It wouldn’t happen to be the drink that caused one of my bishops to be sleeping near the entrance to my Divine Kingdom, would it?”

Claud glanced at Lily for a few seconds, and then jerked. “Right! We did give him a bottle, but to think he started drinking…”

Lily rubbed her head. “Oh dear.”

“Mhm. He must have underestimated that drink.” The Black God rubbed his hands. “…Done.”

“Done?” Claud asked, before spying a very familiar bottle in the silhouette’s hand. “Uh. Would you look at that.”

“Huh?” Lily turned to the Black God, and then chuckled awkwardly. “Uh, I don’t recommend you drink that, O Black God.”

The divinity pondered for a moment, and then nodded. “True. I had agreed to convey the two of you to the Indigo God. It would be verily unsporting were I to partake of intoxicants right now. It’s worth noting that Nero has a very peculiar constitution when it comes to intoxicants and toxins, and that what he may have might not be something I do.”

“Even if you’re a god?” Claud asked, despite himself.

“Even if.” The Black God nodded seriously. “Well, I suppose I should bring you two there before I start drinking this.”

He got up from his seat, prompting the two of them to follow suit. “Follow me. I will bring you two to the Indigo God.”

With those words, the air in front of him shimmered, turning into an indigo door that shimmered with a metallic texture. To be honest, Claud didn’t quite understand what separated violet from indigo, but he had a feeling that uttering those words would get him mobbed shortly afterwards.

Two solid knocks echoed throughout the small, cosy room, and the Black God shouted, “Jurias? Jurias! It’s me, Origo! Are you sleeping in again? You know that she’ll be angry if you’re always lazing off, right?”

Claud glanced at Lily, who looked as stunned as he felt. They exchanged thoughts with a flicker of their eyes and some blinks, before they turned back to the door, which had now turned into a drum for the Black God’s knuckles.

“The gods seem quite human,” Lily whispered.

“Well, they were human around six thousand years ago,” Claud whispered back. “And they seem to make it a point to remain human too, from what I can tell.”

The various mannerisms and human activities that the Black God had carried out, which mainly included eating, drinking and talking about random gossip for some reason, flashed through his mind.

“True…”

“When you look at it, other than dominating some key concept and mechanism of the world, the Coloured Gods aren’t all that different from the Chromatic Lords, right?” Claud guessed.

Before Lily could say anything, the indigo door creaked, and a purple head popped out. Unlike the Black God, though, the Indigo God’s facial features were actually quite distinct; Claud could pick them out.

“What’s up, Origo? I was having a good sleep.”

“You’ve been having a good sleep for the past three millennia,” the Black God replied. “How is it that Medea hasn’t done anything yet?”

“Because I bake good cakes,” the Indigo God replied. “She loves them for some reason.”

“…What the heck.”

The two divinities chatted about cakes for a while, before the Indigo God returned to his senses and frowned.

“You aren’t using that mind trick of yours on me, are you?” he asked.

“Nope.” The Black God shook his head. “Gods can’t lie, remember?”

“True. Well, you’re here for something, right? Come on in, then.” The Indigo God yawned. “Would you like some cake?”

“Yes, please.” The Black God paused. “Huh. That came out quite naturally. Also, I have two little friends with me. They’re here to ask you something?”

“Two little friends?” The Indigo God rubbed his eyes. “So there are members of your congregation here, then.”

“It’s hard to explain, but they’re not my believers,” the Black God replied. “You can think of me being obligated to them in one way or another, rather.”

“Oh?” The Indigo God rubbed his eyes again. “Now you have my full attention. What’s all this about?”

“Something to do with time,” the Black God replied. “I’m also curious too, so we’re all knocking on your door for this reason.”

The Indigo God let out a yawn. “Well, it’s rare for any of us to move in person, and for a visit no less. Why not? Come on in, you guys.”

The door opened fully, and the Black God nodded at Claud and Lily. “Come on. We can do our formal greetings inside. That’s more polite, or so I’m told.”

“Since when did you care about being polite?” the Indigo God asked. “But come on in anyway. Standing like this can be quite awkward, so follow Origo in and have some cake, if you will. You two aren’t allergic to milk or dairy, right?”

“…No, we aren’t,” Claud replied, after collecting himself.

“Thank you for your hospitality.”