The Newt and Demon

“Pizzas not for breakfast!” Tresk shouted.

Sarisa and Rowan blinked a few times, looking over the marshling as she gawked at the provided dish. It wasn’t even remotely pizza. Not that either of them would know what pizza was, aside from the times when Theo might have told them. They were served flatbread with melted cheese and butter, which was as much like pizza as any tomato-based soup was. She must have been drawing from his mind for some joke no one but her got. And there was no way the marshling would elaborate.

“Yes, well,” Sarisa said, taking her seat and clearing her throat. “Thought we’d do something different.”

“Not that this is cultural or anything,” Rowan shrugged.

“I’m from here!” Tresk shouted back. “I am the culture!”

Theo nodded, ignoring Tresk’s outburst. He could feel her nervousness about creating a moon. She did well under pressure, but only when that pressure was immediate. When it was looming in the distance, she got nervous. Then as time marched toward when she had to deal with the problem, she got crazy. Like a cornered goblin.

“Who would have thought that Broken Tusk would have cheese,” Theo said, looking at the flatbread before him. It was even made with wheat, instead of zee meal. “I think we should form your planet today, Tresk.”

“Yeah, me too,” Tresk said, fidgeting. “I can’t think right.”

“I have something to take care of,” Sarisa said, nodding at Theo. “If that’s okay.”

“I refuse to do any other job,” Rowan said, folding his arms. “You can’t tear this away from me no matter how hard you try. I’ll kill ya.”

“I’m not sure the best move is to threaten the man you’re sworn to guard,” Sarisa said.

“Yeah, well… This job is the best. And I don’t wanna give it up.”

Theo didn’t expect he would let his guard down anytime soon, but he was powerful. The moment he dismissed Sarisa and Rowan, some unknown horror would come out of the ground and grab him by the tail. There weren’t many loose ends, but they were there. Balkor’s shadow, Kuzan’s followers, and whatever other gods in the heavens that wanted him out of his position. Then there was Jan and Twist, which… That was a can of worms he wasn’t willing to open.

“No, I won’t dismiss either of you. But perhaps we can find a way to make you stronger.”

“Whatever you want, boss.” Rowan’s back was particularly straight today. “Shine your shoes? Fluff your pillow? Whatever you need.”

Sarisa didn’t have anything super important to do today. She wanted some time to sort affairs with someone afar. Which meant finding a merchant willing to send a message. Before they jumped to their new world, a lot of people wanted to get messages out. Most of those people weren’t locals, making Sarisa the minority among them. The people who were raised in Broken Tusk stayed in Broken Tusk. Whatever splinter half-ogres and marshlings that went elsewhere stayed splintered, never rejoining. Except Salire. She came back.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Theo said, grabbing Tresk by the wrist when she stood. Of course she had inhaled her meal. “We’re forming the moon today.”

“Planetoid,” Tresk corrected. “I’ll not have my realm as some lifeless moon.”

Theo shrugged. “Whatever you want to call it. Come on.”

“Wait. I wanna bring Alex.”

Theo grabbed his food, nodding to the half-ogres still eating at his table. They met Alex outside and fell through the barrier between worlds, revealing the solar system view that represented their new reality. A moment later, they were standing in the welcoming center of Tero’gal. It had been built up in recent days. A dronon the alchemist didn’t recognize dashed off. Likely to fetch Belgar. Sure enough, a few minutes later the defacto leader of the world came rushing over.

“We have some developments,” Belgar said, doubled over and out of breath.

“More war?” Theo asked.

“A group was expelled from the world,” Belgar said. “Some elves had created a small settlement, and they were conducting war. Tero’gal didn’t like that and ejected their souls into the void.”

Theo shook his head. “Perhaps they should have learned to behave before coming.”

“Yeah, screw ‘em.”

“It put the others in line very quickly. We don’t know what happens to a soul now, so the other settlements have calmed down.”

Tero’gal had been involved from the start. Once it gained Throneworld status, the planet wanted nothing to do with its denizens fighting. This might only be true for the transition period of the world, though.

“Oh, also the time changed again. We got a message,” Belgar said. “It went all the way down to two-to-one.”

“Really?” Theo asked, looking around. “Was that recent?”

“Yesterday, actually. We’re closer to the mortal timescale now. Is that good?”

“Hard to say. Tresk, how about you get working on the moon. I’ll have a chat with the system.” Theo turned away from the group, pausing before leaving. “Belgar, help her if you can. Or maybe pet the dragon-goose. Whatever.”

Passing through the cracks once again, Theo landed in the system’s little lobby. He rushed over to the platform, finding relief immediately. Ten of the twelve spots glowed when he stepped foot on the platform. The central spot for the system sparked to life, the crystalline entity fading into existence a moment later.

“Which gods are missing?” Theo asked, finding the question he arrived with far from his thoughts.

“That is to be determined,” the system said, her voice twinkling through the snowy landscape. It was feminine, so the alchemist thought of her as a woman.

“And which ones do we have?”

“The higher gods,” the system said, gesturing to five of the spots. “Hallow, Death, Fate and Omen, Shadow, and Void. The elemental gods. Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Arcane. And the lost gods…”

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Theo bowed his head. Perhaps it was time to treat the system and the gods with respect. If they were willing to put what happened behind them, he should do the same. If only for the sake of his people, and those that would come with him once the world ended. “I would like to speak with Death.”

A hooded figure appeared on one of the marks. Kuzan—now Death—stood as menacing as ever.

“I shall moderate,” the system said.

“I’m not here to fight,” Theo said, bowing his head again.

“What is it, Dreamwalker?” Death asked.

“My Throneworld cast some souls into the void. I’d like to know where they went,” Theo said.

“They arrived at the Gate soon after they were cast away. They now await judgment.”

“If it wouldn’t be overstepping my bounds, could I ask what that entails?” Theo asked.

“You may,” the system said. “It is within your responsibilities.”

“As we are in a transition period, most souls are being held until the next shift,” Death said. “Those who die now, or are sent into the void through other means will be quite fortunate. They will have the ability to select where they want to go.”

“What are the options?”

“Any godly world that wants to accept them can. They may also petition the ascendant worlds if they like. Another option is reincarnation on the mortal world—once everything has settled down—or transmigration outside of this system.”

Theo’s eye twitched. Transmigration is an option? There was a connection there to the bird-person who had been there at the end on Earth. The alchemist was certain that this was another place altogether compared to Earth. Which meant that back in the day, during Jan’s time, there was a bridge connecting universes. Iaredin was connected to Earth, allowing people to travel between them somehow. The mechanism of that was beyond him, but it was an interesting bit of information.

“Those are favorable terms for the dead,” Theo said, bowing again to Death. “How would it work after the ‘shift?’”

Death looked at the system, who nodded.

“Much the same. System, may I speak more… freely?” Death asked.

“The Dreamwalker may know about the inner workings of souls. He might become something of a ferryman.”

Death cleared his throat. “The realm will gain a version of hell from your world’s lore. They will serve a term based on their crimes during life with a chance at the transmigration or reincarnation option.”

“Who decides that?” Theo asked.

“I decide for most minor issues. For major issues, a vote from all gods is required, along with the system.”

“That sounds oddly fair, considering what I know about you,” Theo said.

“Keep it civil,” the system warned.

“May I add one bit of personal opinion, system?” Death asked.

“I’ll censure you if you reveal anything related to the mortal world.”

“What about Iaredin before it was sealed?”

“That should be fine.”

Death nodded. “I was a ghost before Iaredin was sealed away. Driven mad by one-thousand years of wandering, I set myself upon the world. There was no shortage of destruction caused by my hands. But when the world was sealed, I was given the option to gain flesh.”

“That’s where you stop,” the system said.

“Just one more thing,” Death said, nodding to Theo. “He should know.”

“You were never meant to awaken when you did,” the system cut in. “As the Dreamwalker, it is your right to know. Another was meant to awaken in Broken Tusk, but there were issues caused by a group of mortals and ascendants. A man from Kuzan’s lineage was meant to wake, setting the world straight.”

“May I?” Death asked.

“Finish it,” the system said, her normally monotone voice sounding slightly annoyed.

“He was the one that beat me back before the change. He was strong enough to lead the world. But you were given an impossible role to fill. Perhaps you didn’t do it the way he would have, but you did it. You broke the seal.”

“Unintentionally,” Theo said, gazing at Kuzan with confusion. This wasn’t the big-bad he had expected. “So is this your repentance?”

“It is,” Death said with a nod. “To shoulder the burden of my descendant.”

“That’s enough,” the system said. “Are you satisfied with his answers, Dreamwalker?”

“I’m surprised, but… Yeah. Thank you.”

“Adjourned,” the system said. Death vanished. “You may return to your work.”

Theo turned away from the platform, falling through the veil once again. That was illuminating. So Kuzan wasn’t as nefarious as people made him out to be. Evil? Absolutely. His method of keeping the world in balance was to have a war going on at all times, purging elven houses when they got too big. He might claim to want to change the world, but he was just feeding into the nonsense that kept the destruction going. Perhaps he was even the one to start that idea of constantly destroying everything to build it up. But what was that business about being a ghost in Old Iaredin?

“Given flesh, huh?” Theo asked, landing on Tero’gal once again. “Some weird stuff went down, huh?”

It was weird, but at least he knew that people would go through the right cycle when they died. The ascendants had it so people would go to their realms when they died… sometimes. There were problems when souls would get stuck in the void, or trapped in the mortal world after they died. The alchemist looked to the sky, spotting a new shape taking form. Tresk and Belgar weren’t near the welcoming center, so he wandered around for a bit before giving up. Instead, he took a seat and watched the show.

Tresk must have figured out how to channel the power of her throne, creating the moon. That or she just grabbed her throne and took it into space. Theo thought it was more likely for her to have done the second option, since it fell in line with the way she thought.

“Crazy little marshling,” he said, watching for a few more minutes before leaving. “I’m sure she’ll get it.”

Theo stepped foot in Drogramath’s village, far to the south. He stopped after his feet hit the wooden walkways, a smile spreading across his face. “Toru’aun,” he said, jogging over to catch up to the dronon woman. She was wearing a light dress with her hair done up in a bun. It was pretty hot in the swamp.

“Theo. Nice of you to drop by,” Toru’aun said. “Are you making a moon?”

“Yeah, what do you think?” Theo asked. “Tresk is working on it.”

Toru’aun considered the moon for a moment, finally nodding. “I’d like to live on the moon, if you don’t mind.”

“You don’t enjoy Drogramath’s company?” Theo asked.

“I think it will be nice up there. Perhaps you can find a mountain where I could live alone.”

Theo tried not to wince. She was a solitary person. “How many Toru’auni made the transition to this world?”

“A few hundred, but we’re all solitary,” Toru’aun said. “In all my years, I only created a few broods.”

“I’m sure Tresk will finish working on the moon soon enough. Let me go check…”

Theo zorped himself up to the moon, finding a barren landscape. He felt Tresk, Alex, and Belgar in the distance, so zorped himself over there next. He found himself at the foot of another massive building containing the Throne of the Dreamer. So she had used the throne itself as a catalyst to create the world. As he ascended the steps, he spotted all three of them inside, looking over the throne and discussing something.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to fill the world with monsters,” Belgar said, holding his hands up. “Theo would certainly disagree.”

“Monsters are a bad idea, Tresk,” Theo said. “I don’t even think you have that kind of power.”

“Oh, come on,” Tresk groaned. “No monsters down there. Monsters up here. The plan is flawless!”

Unleashing monsters into the world might be a problem. Theo was certain it would work, but that might cause problems. It was hard to tell how the world would react if she generated anything, let alone monsters. At least she didn’t get the option to name the world. It had given itself a name, Tol’bak.

“Let’s worry about getting the world estbalished before you generate monsters. Okay?” Theo asked. “Now, are you going for a normal planet, or are you going to set the conditions the same all over?”

“Giant swamp world!” Tresk shouted, imparting her will onto the world. “Giant alligators everywhere.”

Belgar sighed. “How do you deal with this?”

“One day at a time.”