Chapter 3: Making deals with ‘higher powers’ never end well.

“Is that all you are asking for?” The “god” asked and Cass gave it more thought. Was that all he was asking for? How far could he push this? It was clear that the creature had more spirits it could steal, but it wanted him. For some reason, they needed Cass in particular. That could work in his favour.

“I want a favour. A no strings attached favour. Not anything along the line of a revival or reversing a death. Just…if I need help, I want you to help. No questions asked. You want me to interfere with a world I know nothing about, I need to have at least one get out of jail free card.” The laughter filled the area around him.

Cass did not relax.

The air got thicker, filling up the space. If he could see anything beyond the glowing chains, he would have swore it had gotten foggier in this dark space.

“You push your luck.”

“If you are going to make me do something insane, yeah, I am going to push my luck. It’s clear that this is a big deal. Why wouldn’t I demand something worthy of that?”

“I could fix this without you.” The voice replied, and he laughed.

“Then do it. It’s no skin off my back, but you owe me. Someone close to you clearly fucked up and killed me ahead of time, like you said. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be sticking your nose into this. Even “gods” have people they care about.” The silence that filled the space told Cass that he had once again hit the nail on the head.

“This. This right here is why I selected you. Yet I failed to realise how annoying you can be.” Cass grinned.

“My sister lovingly called me ‘an adorable asshole’.” Cass told them smugly.

“I am aware of what your sister called you. I can’t seem to find it in myself to agree with her. I do not know what she found so adorable about you.” Cass let out a bark of laughter.

“I am glad I am not to your tastes.” Cass told the creature, this “god” and heard a shuffle of fabric.

“No. You are very much not. A good thing, and a bad thing, and yet another reason why I wanted you out of the many. Alright. I will agree to your terms. I will look after your sister’s children, and you will get a favour that does not involve reviving you or someone else. In return, you will go to a world that I have selected and stop evil from taking over. But I warn you, you must do it in a different way than the way that is given to you.” The voice warned, and Cass scoffed.

“What does that even mean? Are you saying that the world you are sending me to has already defeated this evil you are so concerned about?” Cass asked.

“No. They just think that they have. Which is why you need to go there.” The chains jingled as Cass shifted, tugging on them absently.

“But I have no idea how to do that.” A gust of wind washed over him as the creature sighed.

“No, you have. It is not well known, but gods have a tendency to spread the stories of other worlds amongst other worlds. In different ways. Most commonly by written word. Being able to find the stories is one of the criteria for being able to summon you here.” Cass felt his jaw go slack.

“What? Are you saying that the “gods” or whatever you call yourselves just spread the stories, or fates of other worlds to others? For funsies?” Cass could hardly believe what he was hearing. “What fucking genre are they using? No! Wait! Don’t tell me. If I’ve read it…no. Fucking romance? They spread it as fucking romance novels?” Cass felt the laughter fill his chest, but it wasn’t a happy feeling. He was incredulous.

Fucking romance novels? They left the criteria of saving the worlds in the hands of romance readers? He wasn’t really complaining, since he was one, but dear lord! There were so many of those kinds of books! It was too broad of a genre!

Grappling with the reality presented to him, he came to another startling realisation.

“Wait, that means my sister also-”

“-I am not such a cruel being that I would steal two lives, Caspian. She is safe, and she will remain so from my hand. I do not believe she has drawn the attention of anyone else, and we normally only take one from each family line. Your sister shall remain safe. As soon as our contract is sealed, she will be protected by me as well. After all, it would not do for her children to be without a Mother, would it?” It sounded as if the voice was mocking him, but he didn’t care.

It was a relief. Such a huge relief to find out that she was safe from this nightmare. That the kids would likely be safe from this as well. Whatever hell he was about to descend into, at least he sold his soul at a high enough price to protect them. That was all he could ask for.

Sighing, he glanced around the darkness, frowning.

“Alright. So, which of the books am I going into?” He asked, and was met with a loud silence. “What? Are you not allowed to tell me?” He scoffed. “That’s fucking rich. You can’t even give me a hint?” He demanded, and sat listening to nothing for a long, long moment. “Hello? Anyone there?” He called and another gust of air washed over him.

“You are very impatient.” The “god” chastised. “It is a virtue that you would do well to learn. The world you will be going into is…complex. They are on the verge of the world collapsing because of the revival of the Demon Lord. A…hero party has been created of some of the best talents in the country.” That gave him next to fucking nothing.

Lots of stories were like that.

“Uh huh. That’s very…in depth.” Cass replied, his tone to be desired.

“Watch your tone. I have to be careful about what I say. I cannot be too specific, lest either one of us receives a punishment. If I do, you can kiss our agreement goodbye.” The “god” warned and Cass hung his head and laughed.

“Oh. What a mighty and powerful god you are. Afraid of a little bit of punishment, huh? Is it called divine punishment? Or something else? Discipline? A time out?” Cass egged them on until the air around him felt heavy and hard to breathe.

He realised he didn’t need to, but it was something he had no plan of stopping. Whether dead or not, he was not about to change himself for this creature. He’d keep the veneer of being human up until he wasn’t. Fuck the “gods” and fuck the demons.

He’d been an atheist before this, and honestly? He was not comforted to find out that there were creatures more powerful than him ‘keeping an eye’ on things.

They clearly weren’t doing a good enough job.

“…You test my patience, Caspian.” The “god” warned, and Cass laughed.

“I test everyone’s patience. Get in line.”

“The word you are about to enter is in turmoil. The royal family holds power, but it is the three Dukes who hold more than them. They are desperate to reel in the power of the Dukes. You shall be from one of those Duke families. Your job is to figure out who you are in the grand scheme of the story and prevent the future predicted in the book from happening. As a small gift from the…acquaintance who took your life too early, once you remember what story you are in, you shall remember it in its entirety. You will never have any problems remembering how it was written.” That was…actually quite helpful.

Huh.

Not all “gods” he guessed.

“But!” The booming voice startled him, causing him to rattle the chains. “You must remember. The stories are all written from the protagonist’s perspective. If you are not the protagonist, there could be things that you might not know about your character until you are in their shoes.” It was a warning.

Cass was not going to be the protagonist.

Well, that wasn’t the worst thing. He didn’t mind not being a main character. Especially if he was meant to halt the main story line from progressing. Being a side character meant he probably had more freedom to move about. It was also a good warning.

Do not rely on your memory. Especially as the story changes. It only gave a good understanding of the main character, and even then, it could be seen through rose tinted glasses. The book would probably be reliable for main events, but that was it. And that would quickly change after he fucked up the plot.

Would the story change as he fucked it up? Would he know if he was doing the right thing?

“Am I going to get the first edition, or am I going to have access to the story as it changes as well?” Laughter filled the air, and Cass swore he felt someone stroke his cheek.

“Ah. You are clever. You can come to the shrines dotted around the world to speak to me and find out the new path the story is taking. It obviously would not be smart to have the story in the world it resides in, so that is the only way to find out if you are making the right choices.” The “gods” tone seemed oddly affectionate.

“Oh. And there are lots of those?” Cass asked, suspicious. Would he have to climb a mountain or some shit just to find out every time how the story was progressing.

“I would not task you with something so difficult. I am not a demon, Caspian. Especially when it comes to checking your progress. Most major cities should have a shrine of some kind.” The “god” told him, and Cass glanced around at the darkness. Something still wasn’t adding up.

“Alright. Okay. So, what aren’t you telling me? I can feel it. You’re keeping something from me.” Cass warned, and the chains tightened around him. Cass had that as his only warning before he was yanked off of the ground.

It was unsettling, since he couldn’t see anything. All he knew was that he was moving, and quickly. The voice speaking around him didn’t get further away or closer to him.

“I would never keep something from our valiant hero, now would I?” That didn’t sound like the creature he had been speaking to before.

“Who are you?” Cass demanded. “You don’t sound like the “god” I was speaking to before.” Another caress of his face, and Cass grimaced.

“Oh, what a sweet, smart boy they’ve picked. The realms are not going to know what to do with you. Don’t worry, sweetling. We’ll make sure your contract is upheld. Now, go give them a shake up, won’t you?” Giggling filled his ears as the chains released him.

Cass felt his whole stomach drop out of him as he began to free fall. His body twisted as he fell in the infinite darkness, laughter in his ears.

He screamed. He wasn’t shy to admit it. It was terrifying. Horrifying, actually.

He should never have trusted them for even a goddamn second. Deals never went well. At least with demons, you knew what mess you were getting into. Gods? Whole other fucking story.

He didn’t even have a name to curse. Those damn fuckers. Once he found out the name of them, he was going to set up an opposite shrine to them, and worship that. Maybe he’d begin worshiping demons or something.

Just to spite them.

“You fuckers are going to-” Just like that, he slammed into the bottom and everything went black.

But as far as he knew, an infinite space shouldn’t have a bottom. Fucking cheap “gods”. They couldn’t even give him the whole fucking experience. They cheeped out on him, even in the end!

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