Forty Seconds Until Midnight

“Sorry, I don’t exactly follow. You’re married to Thanatos? Like the guy that lives inside of me? Oh that came out wrong.” I exclaim, thinking about how much of a third wheel I am.

“You’re Thanatos! That’s the difficult part about this. Thanatos was trapped inside of your soul, making him a part of you. So technically, we are married. Even if you have the memories of a human you are still part death god.” If this shit couldn’t get anymore complicated I would be the happiest man-death god hybrid on earth. Wait, that's not really saying much.

“But, I met the guy. We aren’t the same person. I’m still Kyle Atonal. I’m still a human. Thanatos is trapped in my soul, and I don’t plan to let him out any time soon.” I say as I try not to think about the weight of the situation too much.

“He will set himself free soon. He’s already doing it. Think about all the things you’ve done in the past day. You can’t say a normal human would be okay with those things. You thought that I was manipulating you, but I never did such a thing. It’s been the god in your soul. No matter how much you deny it, he is slowly seeping into your personality.”

“But, I’ve chosen to do this all by myself. I could have backed out anytime. I killed Zyair, and I enjoyed it. I killed my sister, but I never needed her in the first place-” I say before Kali cuts me off.

“But you did need her. You never would have lived through your mother’s death. You never would have lived through your aunt’s abuse. If you didn’t have your sister, you wouldn’t be here making these decisions. Thanatos has been in your soul, in your life, this entire time. But, you never let him influence you. You never let him out of his chains. But, the second you put your guard down he takes a hold of you. You justify your actions with the world ending. You say that you need to make sacrifices to save the world. But, did you really? Did you have to kill Zyair? Did I ever force you to? No, I never did. It was all you. You made that decision for yourself. So, now is the time to ask yourself. Who are you? Are you Kyle Atonal? A human that has been through far too much at such a young age. A human that never let evil take him away from the path of glory. A human that will make sacrifices to save billions of people. Or are you Thanatos? A death god who craves to kill. Who makes meaningless sacrifices for a higher purpose that doesn’t exist. Decide now.”

“I’m me. I go by the name Kyle Atonal, but I’m not a fragile human. Yes, I’ve been through hell and back. But, I will save this world. I will make sacrifice after sacrifice, even sacrificing myself to save billions of people. I will be the forgotten hero. I will be the personification of determination, not the personification of death. Even if I do have a death god inside of me, I will not let that influence my main goal. I will save the world no matter what.” I monologue as I stare into Kali’s eyes.

“Good. I thought I was going to lose you, Kyle.” Kali kisses me affectionately after she is done talking. “I’ll set you free.”

An hour has passed and the sun is starting to set. Within a few minutes, the horizon is glowing with a beautiful red and yellow sunset. The perfect backdrop for the city on fire. Looking at the flames and smoke that encase the city, I start to lose hope for humanity. Is it really worth saving a species that is doing this to themselves? They are killing each other. Maybe they all deserve to die. All the greed and lust that’s in the world, maybe it’s fair the world ends. I think this as I drift off to sleep.

“So you’re back here again? Why can’t you just leave me alone. We’ve gotten through 17 humans without you bothering me, but all the sudden you decide to visit me constantly. It’s probably because of that bitch Kali.” Thanatos complains as I walk up to his throne. His red eyes staring me down.

“I’ve come here to ask you a few questions.” I say.

“You really think I’ll answer you?” Thanatos yanks on his chains, nearly tipping the throne over.

“You want freedom?” I ask as I move closer to him to stare him in his eyes.

“What kind of question is that? Of course I want to get out of this dirty soul.” When he opens his mouth to speak it reveals his sharp fangs. All he needs is a pitchfork and some horns and he would look exactly like Satan himself.

“If you want a chance at freedom, then you will answer my questions accurately.” I laugh a little at the thought of me actually interrogating a death god.

“It matters what you want to know.” He says as he relaxes his posture a little bit.

“I want to know, how did you end up here?”

“It’s a long story. It’s also rather complicated. It may make your small brain explode. So, are you sure you want to hear it?” Thanatos asks.

“Of course. I have plenty of time.”

“First, you need to know that this universe isn’t the only universe. There’s actually a grand total of 5 universes. This universe is the 4th universe. Are you lost yet?”

“In a world of gods and goddesses, I’m not surprised that there’s more than one universe. Please, continue with the story.”

“As you know, I’m a god of death. You also know that there’s more than one god of death. There’s more than a dozen gods of death, so work is given evenly to all the gods. Well, Kali and I were put in charge of death in the 3rd Universe.” Thanatos continues. “But, I wasn’t satisfied. I believe that there shouldn’t be hundreds of gods. There only needs to be two gods. A god of death and a god of life. Too many gods cause too many problems for the universes as a whole. Everything would be much less chaotic with less gods. So, Kali and I had a plan. If we were to take control of the 3rd universe and use all of its power, then maybe we could kill the other gods and goddesses. We never got to take control of the 3rd universe. Because, my mother had caught on to my plan way too quickly. Nyx, the goddess of the night, is my mother. She informed the major gods and Kali and I were at their mercy. Even if I tried to fight back I would have been killed. The major gods are way too powerful to fight. I took the blame for everything in exchange for Kali’s freedom. So, the gods threw me into a different universe and trapped me into a baby human’s soul. That baby human turned out to be the legendary Kyle Atonal, known for absolutely nothing. That’s how I ended up here.”

“So, in short, you tried to rebel against the other gods in hopes of making a two god system. But, if you were to win then which one of you would become the god of life?” I ask a simple question in preparation for the more complex questions that are soon to come.

“I think you could figure that one out yourself. Do I really look like a god of life?” Thanatos shows his fangs and glares at me with his evil red eyes. Yeah, I think that question was pretty stupid.

“All Kali has told me is that I need to save the world. How does that fit into your plan?” I ask.

“The major gods are planning to use this universe as a playground of sorts. They want it to end, so they don’t have to worry about ruining the life they made here. So, in saving this world we will stop the other gods from becoming even more powerful than they already are. Also, it won’t help the plan if the god of death is stuck in some kid’s soul when the world decides to end.” Thanatos says.

“I think we are done here. I have no more questions.”

“Do I get my freedom?” Thanatos' eyes don’t look as evil as they usually do.

“Oh hell no.” I laugh at how easy it was to get information out of this idiot.

“I swear Kali should just kill you and rip me out of you.” Thanatos starts to shake with anger.

“If Kali kills me, then that kills you too. We are the same person after all.”

Thanatos and his throne fades away, and I return back to the pitch black place I go instead of dreaming. So, I need to get this straight. Kali is after Thanatos so they can rebel against the major gods. If Thanatos and I are the same being then that means Kali found just the right person. I will save the world, then I might even be able to achieve godhood. That’s killing two birds with one stone. Who doesn’t want to become god?

I woke up the next morning, on the same hillside. Washington is still burning and collapsing. I look around to see Kali sitting on top of the car.

“So what’s the plan?” I ask Kali as I get up and start walking towards her.

“We have to get to the Emperor. With your power, I don’t think it would be that hard.” Kali says as she kicks her legs back and forth.

“I know it doesn’t really matter. But, who is this emperor guy? Does he have a name?”

“I don’t know. I can tell the future where death is involved, and logically thinking I should be able to know his identity. Yet, his identity is completely foggy to me. I don’t think it matters all that much.” Kali answers.

“Well, I suppose we should go.” I walk over to the car and get into the passenger seat. Kali teleports into the driver seat and she starts the engine. “I wonder how far we’ll get with the car?”

“Hopefully we can get within city limits. There’s quite a few collapsed buildings, so I’d imagine it would be hard driving all the way there.”

After a few minutes of driving, we entered Washington D.C..

“The White House should be just 2 miles this way.” Kali talks to herself. “I guess we’re walking 2 miles.”

“Wait what?!?” I’ve been daydreaming this entire trip, so I didn’t notice all the debris in front of us. “Oh that… Fucking grand.” I sarcastically remark.

I get out of the car to start walking. The air is thick with smoke and dust. I find it hard to breathe, but I’ve already been through enough that nothing really fazes me at this point. It’s hard to believe that this is the Capital of the country. How was Pittsburgh so damn calm? The country is falling apart and Armageddon is coming. How is no one freaking out? But, there’s no time to think like that. I need to hurry up and save this damned world.

After a half hour of walking past the remnants of a bustling city, we finally made it to the white house. In complete contrast to its surroundings, the white house is completely normal. Hell, it looks better just due to its shitty surroundings. Looking around some more, there’s a shit ton of security. There’s two guards, wearing riot gear, guarding the front gate. Past them there’s ten guards, wearing military uniforms, patrolling the outside of the white house. There’s probably quite a few more guards inside the actual white house. When I said a shit ton of security, I truly meant pathetic security. You’d think that someone who calls themself an emperor would have much more security than a few tired guards. I could probably get through without using my power.

I approach the front gate, without Kali. She said she would meet me inside. If she didn’t feel so bad killing weak humans she could’ve done this all by herself.

“Halt!” The guard on the left yells as both of them point their rifles at me. I couldn’t tell you what kind of gun they have. I’ve never really been a gun type of person.

“I mean no harm. I just want to talk to the Emperor.” I keep a straight face as I speak.

“He should have no visitors today. Leave the premise before you get yourself hurt.” The guard on the right says.

“I wish I could just save the world, without having to kill anyone. Just kidding, I love to see your mangled corpse displayed on the sidewalk.” I say as I clench my left fist, stopping time. I walk up to the guard on the right and grab the gun out of his hand. I walk behind him and put the gun to the back of his head. I clench my fist again to unfreeze time. “Now open the door or I'll kill your friend here.” I say with a smile.

“What the fuck are you? You just-” The other guard says as he points his gun at me and his pal.

“You have 5 seconds. 5. 4. 3.-” I say as I press the gun harder against the back of his friend’s skull.

“Ok ok. I’ll let you in just don’t kill him.” The other guard pulls out a key from his back pocket and unlocks the front gate. The second the gate swings open I pull the trigger, putting a bullet straight through his friend’s brain. I clench my fist and walk around the other guard and clench my fist again. Before he can react, I put a bullet in his brain. I watch as both their bodies drop to the ground. Their blood spilling out onto the sidewalk. Both of their heads are blown to smithers due to the power of the rifle. I look down to see my clothes coated in blood and human brain. I’m a death god. I’m not allowed to feel sorrow over these people. I would say I’m enjoying it, but there’s still something inside of me telling me this is wrong. Those two men had families too. But, I don’t care. They were in my way. They were nothing to me. Killing them is the same as killing a bug. I feel no sympathy. But, some human part of me wants to vomit.

“What happened?” A guard, in no armor, pops his head out from the gate. Before he could react, I shot twice in his direction. The first shot just grazed his head. The second shot hit him right in the head, killing him instantly. His corpse joins the other two laying on the ground. No more killing. I clench my fist to pause time and bolt for the front door of the white house. I ran past more than a dozen guards, whose lives were spared by me. I hope they thank me after I saved their world. I slam the doors open to see a man across the room, with long brown hair and a brown beard, sitting on a golden throne. He made the lobby into a throne room? What a mad lad.

“Thanatos! How wonderful it is for you to join me.” The man stands up from his throne and starts to walk towards me. His voice is loud and strong. A voice fit for a man with a lot of power.

“How are you talking? Time is paused right now. How do you know Thanatos?” I ask. Before getting to answer my questions, the man is interrupted by Kali teleporting beside me.

“I even get an audience with your beloved wife? I’m quite the lucky man. But, I don’t want to hurt you Thanatos. Or should I call you Kyle? Anyway, I’ll let you resume time.” The man stops at the appearance of Kali. The doors behind me slam shut, so I do as he says and clench my fist.

“Why are you here? You should be up with the other major gods. I know this is your universe and all, but you can’t just start the end of the world prematurely.” Kali says as she steps in front of me, shielding me from the man.

“I can end the world whenever I want. It’s my universe after all. I’m just encouraging all the humans to kill each other, so I don’t have to destroy anything myself. It would also avoid any conflict with the other major gods.” The man keeps talking as if he is important. I can kill you anytime, fragile old man. “Oh, Thanatos doesn’t have his memories back yet. He doesn’t even know me. I purposely made the amnesia breakable, but I guess I must’ve made it better than I thought. Kali, Why don’t you introduce him to me?”

Kali turns around and looks into my eyes as she starts to explain. “I can’t let you attack this man. Mostly because he would kill you very fast. It would also destroy the Earth as we know it. This man is the King of the Gods, Zeus. How or why he is standing in front of us right now is not important.” So that ‘fragile old man’ is actually the most powerful being to ever exist. And here I was, thinking that this whole situation couldn’t get any weirder.

“Perfect, now even amnesia ridden Thanatos knows who I am.” The old man says. “But, let’s make this interesting. You’re looking for the technology that magically kills all the NATO soldiers, right? It’s at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. Now, let’s see if you can make it in time. Oh, and there’s a surprise waiting for you outside fake Thanatos.” The old man smiles and sits back down on his throne.

“We need to get out of here fast, Kyle.” Kali grabs my hand and opens the front door.

“But, how can we trust anything he says?” I ask.

“We can’t, but it’s the only thing we have. If we were to challenge him in combat we both would be dead right now.” Kali says with a sense of urgency. I look around the front yard of the White House to see no guards. Suddenly, Kali lets go of my hand and stops in front of me. I look past her and see a woman in a long white dress wielding a sword of light.

“I thought you would actually listen to me, Kyle. But, I must use your own sister against you. It’s quite sad how much lust she keeps locked in her soul normally.” The woman talks. It’s Peitho, the goddess of Lust. The same woman who came to me in my sleep two nights ago. I look at Kali to see a long scythe appear in her hands. Her scythe has a purple glowing blade and a long black handle.

“I won’t let you stop us!” Kali backs up a second, then launches herself at Peitho. They clash in the air, trading and blocking blows from one another.

“Kyle, I love you.” I hear a different voice from in front of me. I look down to see Kaylyn standing about 20 meters away from me with the exact sword Peitho was using. Only this one is slightly longer and skinnier. Before I could blink, Kaylyn suddenly disappeared from in front of me. I feel a sharp pain in my left arm. I look down to see my entire left arm missing from my elbow down. HOLyhb shit what the FUCKM. I drop down to my knees in pain. Blood squirts from my remaining arm, leaving a blood pool around me.

“What the fuck just happened.” I barely say as the pain overwhelms me.

“A very nice woman made me a promise. If I killed you, I could be with you for all eternity. She would make you love me for all eternity. Doesn’t that sound great?” Kaylyn appears in front of me and kicks me on my back. “We can make love forever. You’ll finally LOVE ME!!” She stabs me in my chest over and over. The pain starts to fade away at the same time everything goes black. Did I just die? No, this isn’t the afterlife. I look around to see the black clouds within my soul. That means.

“You must need my help.” Thanatos appears in front of me, still chained to his throne.

“You won’t take me over.” I say as I approach the man and smack my fist against his chains, breaking them. Before he can do anything, I grab his neck and snap it. His body disintegrated into black particles that soon floated towards me. I throw my arms out and let all the particles get absorbed into my body. This makes Kyle and Thanatos a single being. A flood of memories come to me after the barrier of amnesia is broken. That isn’t important right now. Kali is in danger. I need to save her.

My eyes open to see Kaylyn standing over me. “How are you not dead yet?” She says as she plunges her sword into my chest again. I jump up, with her sword in my chest, and grab her by her throat. “What the hell?” she says as I take the sword out of my chest and throw it to the side. I lift her up by her throat. My arm is covered in a red fog, most similar to Kali’s telekinesis fog.

“Your lust was your undoing, my human sister.” Before she can say anything, I snap her neck and throw her body to the side. No one gets in my way. Especially if Kali is in danger.

I fly over to Kali’s and Peitho’s fight, which now is going on on the other side of the city. Both women left massive amounts of devastation in their path, not like the city was destroyed enough. Once I get there, I see Peitho on top of Kali. Kali uses the last of her strength stopping Peitho from stabbing her.

“Thanatos!” I hear Kali yell out. I punch Peitho off of Kali, shooting her through three buildings. “I knew you would save me!” Kali says as she kisses me. “But, what the hell happened to you?” She points out my missing arm and the dozen stab wounds in my chest.

“Some crazy bitch really wanted me dead.” I laugh, feeling no remorse for Kaylyn. I also feel no pain being a god and all. It’s actually pretty cool. “What do we do about Peitho?”

“We leave her. You can teleport and fly now, so getting to Baltimore is much easier. We still can’t do anything about Zeus for right now.” Kali starts talking, but my anger has already peaked due to Peitho.

“I’m going to kill Peitho.” I say.

“Don’t do that. If you kill her then the other gods will start to question if you are still chained up.”

“But, if I kill her I can take her power. I would be one step closer to ruling all the universes.” I say as Peitho reappears in front of me.

“Are you really going to challenge me with no weapon? What a shame. Here I thought it would be tough killing you, Thanatos.” Peitho says with a smile. She readies her sword of light and charges me. Kali flies away, knowing what happens next.

“Did you forget how powerful I am?” I say as I catch Peitho’s sword with my hand. The blade shatters as soon as I put pressure on it. Peitho backs up, with complete shock on her face.

“I must’ve underestimated you, Thanatos. I thought being in chains would’ve made you weaker.” Peitho gets ready to fly away, but before leaving I teleport behind her and punch her into the ground. The city is made a larger mess, when the mile long crater is created from Peitho smashing into the ground. I teleport down into the crater, where a damaged Peitho is laying.

“Give me your power, Witch of Persuasion.” I say as I put my foot on the head of the half conscious goddess.

“If you kill me now, then the other gods will hunt you. I hope they go after Hypnos too. That sleeping son of-” I crush Peitho’s head, which cause her body to disintegrate into small black particles.

“Don’t ever talk about my brother you bitch.” I say as I feel myself gain power. I absorb the black particles. It still isn’t enough to challenge Zeus.

I’m a death god. This universe will be mine. But, first I must save the world. If Zeus destroys Earth, then he will grow stronger. Much stronger. So, if I save the world and gain enough power to fight this weakened Zeus then I win. I will win this time.