Midnight

“So how did it feel? Killing the person you spent the most time with?” A female voice calls out from the darkness. A voice that isn’t Kali’s. But, it’s still very familiar.

“I didn’t kill him. He had to have survived that.” I try to convince myself that I didn’t just kill my own brother.

“His body was destroyed after crashing him through the entire Earth, then sending him to space. Before you blacked out, you absorbed his power. Your brother that you cherished is dead now-” The female voice continues to talk.

“Shut up!!” I cut her off.

“But you need to know this. You’ve already killed so many people. You are far too sinful to be god. Let’s start from the beginning. You killed Zyair, the same day you met him. But, let me tell you a little bit more about him.”

“Stop!!” I scream, yet it doesn’t stop the voice.

“Zyair was the son of Antevorta, the goddess of the future, and a human man. Antevorta never experienced love with any other god, so she came to Earth to find love. She found Zyair’s father and was instantly in love. She gave birth to a demigod. She named that demigod Zyair, meaning river in ancient human civilization. When Zyair was five years old, he learned that he could see the future for a very limited time. He kept this a secret from his father, and from his mother that wasn’t home often. When Zyair was eleven years old, he learned the true meaning of being a half god. He saw into the future, and he saw his father being murdered by a burglar. As he was so young, he couldn’t do anything to save his own father. So, he had to watch as his father was gruesomely murdered in front of his own eyes. After all, this burglar was only a burglar. But, Zyair convinced himself that it was some kind of demon sent by the gods. A year later, he was visited by his mother and was told that he was a demigod. He also learned that his goddess mother would not be able to visit him again. He was put in care of a close friend of his father. But, due to the death of his father and the information that he was truly a demigod, he became extremely paranoid. He constantly thought demons were after him. When he was sixteen, a year before you killed him, he killed his guardian. Zyair convinced himself that his guardian was a demon that was going to kill him. By the time you murdered him, he was nothing but a paranoid freak. Does that justify what you did to him? After all he was a demigod. He neither belonged to the world of humans or the world of gods.” The woman’s voice continues.

“I was told that he would only get in the way of my plans. That justified it to me. And Kali was right, Zyair would’ve just gotten in the way of my plans.”

“How about Kaylyn? Your human sister. You know now that you and her weren’t even remotely related. Hell, she was a human and you were a death god with amnesia. You shouldn’t feel bad about killing her. And, you didn’t. You didn’t have any remorse when you snapped her neck.”

“She was trying to kill me. Lust had taken control of her mind. I can’t be held responsible for that.” I try to reason with the female voice.

“Humans are easily influenced by higher beings. Peitho had completely mind controlled Kaylyn. Kaylyn had no say in anything that happened to you recently. Yet, you can still justify killing her. How about the three guards you killed in Washington D.C.? The third one had a wife and a kid. They all had families, people that would miss them. Yet, you still feel no remorse. How about the guards you killed in Baltimore? How about the hundreds of people you killed from destroying buildings in both Washington and Baltimore? All those people had families. They had first loves. They had problems. They had happy days. They had sad days. They had days where they wanted to just end it all. They had days they never wanted to end. Does this sound familiar? You have a family. You have someone that loves you. You’ve had struggles. What makes you so much different from those humans? You’re physically stronger. You live forever. You can fly. You can teleport. You have all the knowledge you will ever need. Yet, you feel the same emotions as humans.”

“SHUT UP!! SHuT MUPM. SHUT THE FUCK UP!! I GET it. I get it. I’ve done wrong. But, I can’t stop now. I really can’t. I have a goal. I will make all the universes into one. I will make everything perfect. I just can’t stop now.”

“What would be the point? What is life without pain? What is life without death? The world is corrupt. The world is crumbling. But, maybe that’s ok. But, even if you strive to make a perfect world. Is it really worth sacrificing so many people?”

“You have to make sacrifices to achieve greatness.”

“What is a world without sacrifices?” The female voice asks.

“Paradise.”

“Wake up!!!” I open my eyes to see Kali crying above me. I soon realized that my head was laying on Kali’s lap.

“I’m fine.” I say as Kali looks down at me in shock.

“You idiot!! I thought you were actually dead!” Kali says before she kisses me.

“Where are we?” I ask while I sit up.

“I’m not completely sure, but I’m going to assume that it’s somewhere in Asia.” Kali says as she wipes the tears from her eyes.

“What makes you think that?” I ask. Kali then points to a sign not too far from us that says something about Sapporo. Sapporo is a city in Japan, so Kali’s assumption was accurate. “We need to get back to Washington. I have the power of the god of sleep on top of my other powers. We also have Hermes on our side now. So, I believe that we can defeat Zeus. Once we defeat Zeus, then we win. There’s no other god or goddess that could possibly stop us.”

“Then we can make the world how it was supposed to be. Only two gods.” Kali says with a smile. Little does she know, there’s only going to be one god remaining after all this is over.

“I see that a wonderful couple has come to visit me. But Thanatos looks very different. I really dig the white hair. It makes you look like a total badass. Anyway, how did Baltimore treat you?” Zeus says as we teleport in front of his throne.

“We’ve come to kill you!” I exclaim as Hermes teleports next to me.

“Oh, have you now? Even Hermes is in with your little scheme?” Zeus says with a laugh.

“What’s so funny?!?” Hermes questions.

“It’s just so funny that a messenger boy thinks he’s so tough now.” Zeus says as he laughs some more. “You know their plan right? They will backstab you as soon as you beat me.”

“I don’t trust a single word that comes out of your mouth, old man.” Hermes exclaims.

“Well, I guess I’ve had a good run so far. Honestly, being king of the gods is so much damn work. I feel like this would be a nice break. Thanatos!” Zeus gets off his throne and gets down on one knee. “Kill me! Make it quick too. I don’t like pain.”

“Are you serious?” I ask, not wanting to fall into some kind of stupid trap.

“I’m very serious. Now, kill me.” Zeus confirms his death wish.

“I thought he was proposing for a moment.” Kali whispers to me. Not the time to be making jokes, Kali.

I walk up to Zeus as he stays down on one knee. I summon Peithos sword of light in my right hand. With one quick slash, I behead Zeus. Zeus, king of the gods, just died by my hand. He didn’t even put up a fight. I absorb his power, making me the strongest being in the universe. Goodbye, god of the sky.

“Was it really that easy?” Kali asks in a concerned tone. “Kind of anti-climatic in my opinion.”

“It isn’t over. I feel something. Some kind of presence outside.” I say. “Before we deal with whatever that may be-” I say before teleporting in front of Hermes and stabbing him with the sword of light. “I need your power too.” I laugh as I absorb Hermes' power. Now, I’m unstoppable.

“Let’s see whatever is outside.” Kali says as she motions me towards her. Once we head outside we see a large figure out in the sky. It’s a woman dressed in all black.

“My child, you’ve caused much outrage.” The woman says. I recognize the woman after she starts speaking. It’s Nyx, the goddess of the night and my mother.

“If you think you can stop me. You can’t. I’m stronger than any god.”

“But you are wrong, my child. There is one god that is stronger than Zeus.” Nyx says.

“No there isn’t. I should be the strongest god of them all. To prove it, I’ll kill you too!” I say as I rush towards Nyx. But, before I can strike her I get engulfed in darkness.

“Foolish child, your pride will bring about your unraveling.” Nyx says. The dark fades away to reveal a large cavern with lava rivers flowing everywhere. Ahead of me is a man with a long black beard. He is wielding a two pronged spear in his left hand and holding the chains of a three headed dog in his right hand.

“Halt! Who dares upset the balance of the underworld?” The man says. The three headed dog starts barking at me.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” I ask.

“You must be joking. I am Hades, ruler of the underworld.” He says. Despite being a death god, I’ve never actually met Hades up until now. “Now state your business!”

“Well, I’m here to kill you.” I say with a serious tone.

“You’re quite the jokester! I bet that you can’t even beat Cerberus!” Hades laughs as he lets go of the chain of the three headed dog. The three headed dog jumps at me, but I slap it away which makes it disintegrate immediately. “Holy shit you beat Cerberus! Well that’s quite awkward, noone has ever beat Cerberus before. Especially with such little effort! You must tell me your name.”

“I’m Thanatos, Personification of Death.”

“Oh! You’re the son of Nyx aren’t you? When did you get so strong?” Hades asks.

“After I murdered Zeus.”

“You did what!” Hades points his spear at me and his friendly face turns real scary.

“I killed Zeus?” I say once again, not sure why he’s so upset.

“You killed my brother! You monster! Die right where you stand!” Hades charges at me with his spear. I summon the sword of light just in time to block his strike. Even blocking the strike, it still sent me back a few feet due to how powerful it was. But, I keep my balance.

During a moment of inaction, I look around to take in the surroundings. It seems as though I’m on top of a large cliff inside a cavern. Everywhere I look, there’s lava. Lava flowing from the ceiling to the floor, about 100 feet down from where I stand. The floor of the cavern is completely covered in lava with a few chunks of solid rock floating around. So, if I were to fall it wouldn’t feel too good.

“You really believe you can kill me?” I confidently ask.

“You do have great power, enough to kill any god. But, I have a trick up my sleeve!” Hades laughs as he points his double pronged spear at me.

“Oh! I’m so excited to hear about this wonderous trump card of yours! I’m almost shaking with excitement.” I sarcastically blurt out. There’s no way he can possibly beat me.

“Persephone!! We have a guest!” Hades yells out. A woman appears next to Hades. She’s very pretty with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

“She looks weak!” I laugh at the thought of this woman trying to fight me.

“Oh, but you’re mistaken! Persephone is sometimes called the goddess of life. I’m the god of the underworld, a god of death. When you take life and death, what do you get?” Hades says as turns to Persephone. “You get reality!” Hades pierces Persephone with his spear and absorbs her power.

“You’re crazy if you think that will give you enough power!” I yell.

“You’re the crazy one!” Hades yells. “I, Hades, god of reality and one true god of the universes, challenge you to a duel to the death.”

“Whatever you say, delusional old man.” I say as I draw my sword. Hades charges at me with his spear. I dodge his first attack, but he quickly switches his spear from his left hand to his right and attacks again. I block his second attack, but it causes me to lose my balance. I suspect he saw my poor balance and… He uses his other hand to punch me!! This punch sends me back a few feet. I look back to see a ledge about ten feet behind me.

“You’re weak, Thanatos.” Hades says as he smiles sadistically. He charges me again, but this time he misses and strikes the ground in front of me. I think that missing was his intention, since the ground beneath my feet crumbles from his hit. I try to fly, but I soon realize that I don’t have the ability to fly in the underworld.

“Goddamnit!!” I yell in desperation as I plummet 100 feet into the vast lava pools.

“Foolish boy!!” I hear Nyx yell as I suddenly stop falling. It feels as if something caught me. “You must know better than to challenge Hades in his realm. Walk into the dark, my child.” I look behind me to see a large gap in the underworld. I decided to quickly run through the pitch black gap.

Within a few seconds, I’m back on Earth. Specifically, I’m back out in front of the white house in Washington D.C.. I look around for a moment before I hear a different voice from behind me.

“Thana- I don’t feel so good..” I turn around to see Kali laying on the ground with a gash through her chest. Red blood rushed from her chest and made a pool around her. I immediately rushed to her side. I knelt next to her and grabbed her hand.

“Who did this to you?” I cry out.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Someone must’ve hurt your girlfriend! I wonder who could’ve done such a thing?” Hades appears from the same dark void I came from.

“Nyx is helping him...Kill her.” Kali mutters to me before closing her eyes.

“Thank you, Kali. Rest for now my love.” I say as I wipe a tear from my eye.

“Nyx is helping me? Not yet.. Wait. NYX!! Come here.” Hades says as my mother appears next to him. “ Thank you, Nyx. For helping the one true god.” Hades says as he stabs his spear through Nyx. “God of death, life, and the night! I am really racking up titles. Now it’s time to deal with-”

“Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.” I repeat to myself as I rush to Hades. We clash blades for a moment. His spear crashes against my sword of light. As I attack, I see more and more of my red fog block my vision.

“I can’t even speak! How rude of you-” Hades says as I keep pushing him back with my attacks.

“Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.” I keep repeating as I keep attacking. I keep attacking and attacking, yet he won’t die. Just die. Just fucking die. You hurt Kali and you die. You will die the most gruesome death of them all. With the power of Thanatos, a god of death. The power of Kyle, a weak human that harnessed a secret power. The power of Peitho, a goddess of Lust. The power of Hermes, the messenger of the gods. All this power flows through my veins. With this power, I will destroy you Hades.

“You’re so very boring.” Hades counters one of my blows and pushes me back a few feet. In this time, Hades unleashes the powers of Persephone and Nyx. Hades sprouts wings from his back, one being white and the other being black. A black fog starts to engulf his body just like my red fog. Before he can do anything else, I throw myself at him. I shoot him across the city, through the few still standing buildings that make up Washington D.C.. Now flying, we take turns attacking and blocking each other’s attacks. I’d like to imagine what it would look like to see this battle from the ground. The sky is lit up from my red fog, now consuming my body, which is constantly fighting the darkness.

“Why won’t you die!!” I yell as I charge Hades once more. This time he dodges. I watch as his two pronged spear becomes engulfed in flames. He throws his spear at me, which is far too fast for me to dodge. The spear pierces straight through my chest, yet I don’t feel any pain. The power from the spear shoots me into space, but not quite how you would expect. The immense power put behind that throw took me through the entire Earth and out the other side.

“How was that?” Hades teleports beside me, probably disappointed that his spear is lost. The spear disintegrated during my exit from the atmosphere.

“Surprisingly, It isn’t the first time I’ve done that.” I say as I charge Hades once more, only this time without weapons. He catches my fist, but I swing around and kick him with the swiftness of Hermes himself. This kick is so powerful that it sends Hades twirling towards the moon. I’ll assume that Hades went straight through the moon, since the moon cracked into a thousand pieces. I teleport to a hardly damaged Hades.

“How was that?” I jokingly asked.

“My first time being sent through a moon.. It was underwhelming.” Hades laughs as he charges me this time. I can feel his rage heighten as we fight all through the solar system. We pass by Venus without destroying it, but the same can’t be said for Mercury. Once we got closer to Mercury, Hades pulled out a fancy trick. Instead of throwing me through the planet, he threw the entire planet at me. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried it, but dodging a planet isn’t the easiest thing to do. Instead, I suicide bombed the planet, splitting Mercury in half. I threw the one half at Hades while he tried to throw the other half at me. Instead, both halves of Mercury hit each other and exploded into a shit ton of rock particles. So much for saving the world! Instead I destroyed the entire solar system with another death god.

“Die!” I yell as we start fighting in the rocky mess of Mercury. Rocks floating around in space were perfect objects to lob at Hades. But, whenever I would throw an asteroid at him he would either throw another one at it to intercept it or dodge it. After many failed attempts, I give up and resort back to close combat. I fly towards Hades as he heaves many asteroids at me. I dodge the first one, cut through the second one, and kick the last one back at him. It shatters against his body once it hits him, leaving a cloud of dust around him. With that cover, I pull off a surprise attack. This attack leaves Hades unbalanced.

“What the hell!” He yells as I throw faster than light attacks in his direction.

“I’ll send you to a place hotter than hell!” I say as I grab Hades' neck. Before he can react, I throw him into the sun. It takes a few seconds, but the sun reacts to the powerful being by expanding. It expands at an alarming speed before turning into a blue color. Before it could reach me, I teleported back to Earth and grabbed Kali’s body. I quickly fly out of the solar system and get a safe distance away. In the far distance, I see the sun disappear for a moment then let off a beautiful ray of blue and orange light. I find an asteroid floating out in empty space, so I quickly go to it and sit Kali down on it. Space is quiet and awfully lonely. What do I do with Kali? Will she survive?

“You’ve killed every human on that Earth.” A similar woman’s voice says to me. The same voice that told me the backstory of Zyair when I fell into the ocean.

“Are you going to make me feel guilty again?” I ask the woman.

“You aren’t guilty? You’ve killed the greatest creations of the gods.”

“There’s still four other universes..” I say.

“They collapsed. Once you killed Hades, the underworld collapsed. Which, in turn, collapsed the rest of the universe, and killed all the other gods. The only reason why this universe hasn’t collapsed is because your power is keeping it somewhat stable. I’m also trying my best on my part to keep the entire universe from collapsing.” The voice explains.

“Who are you? You seem important if you’re helping keep the universe from collapsing.” I ask, wondering if it’s another god that I have to kill.

“No, I’m no goddess. You won’t have to kill me. I’m Chaos, space itself. All the emptiness around you is me. I have no actual body like the other gods, as I’m merely a thought or an idea. I’m especially present in your soul. That’s why I can communicate with you so well. You’re actually the only being I’ve ever been able to talk to.” The woman continues explaining.

“So, have I won? Can I create a new world? A world where everyone can finally be happy? Where Kali can be happy?” I ask Chaos.

“It matters what you consider winning. You’ve lost everyone and everything. You’ve killed your human side. You completely overthrew Kyle’s mind, even when he wanted to help you. You killed any humans that ever loved Kyle. You killed any god or goddess that ever knew you. You destroyed the Earth that was the home to so many intelligent beings. You killed your own brother that you cherished when you lived in the underworld with him. You killed your own mother that looked after you and Hypnos. And if you don’t do anything about it, you will lose your wife too.” Chaos says with no emotion in her voice.

“What do you mean? Kali won’t recover?” I frantically asked.

“It matters what your final choice is. Kali is the only being that can fix all of this. Due to your selfish decisions, I’ve become rather weak. So to answer your question from before. You can’t create a new world. You’ve absorbed too much power, and bad power at that. Killing so many innocents like that has weighed on your abilities as a god. So, if you were to create a new world now you would probably end up destroying me. Kali, on the other hand, hasn’t done anything wrong so she can still create a new world. The only issue is that she will die if you don’t do anything soon. So, I give you two choices. You give your power to Kali and hopefully she will create a new world, or you can keep your power and watch the entire universe crumble around you.” Chaos explains.

“Will I have to kill myself to give her my power? And, if I do give her my power will she have my ‘evil’ power as well?” I ask, willing to give my power to Kali.

“Your evil power is inside your soul. You’ll give Kali your god powers, not your soul. Your soul will be destroyed. So, yes you will have to kill yourself.” Chaos answers.

“Well, then I have only 2 requests for you, Chaos. First, I want you to keep an eye on Kali for me. Second, I want you to give her a message when she awakens.”

“I can do both of those things. What is your message?” Chaos asks.