Aiden and Will both asked for a break to gather their thoughts.
Mr. Lee took them back to his actual bookstore and went to grab what he called snacks and more tea.
"He has to be lying," Will said, pacing in Aiden's mind. "There is no way the gods would allow this."
"We signed the contract," Aiden said, lacing his fingers together as he stared at the floor. "Mr. Lee can't lie, even if he wanted to."
"He could be lying! We never read the fine print. For all we know, it's fake, and he's just messing with us for the fun of it!"
Will yelled, and a sharp pain shot through Aiden's head as he lashed out with one arm.
"So, you think he gets a kick out of messing with us?" Aiden mumbled. "I don't think he would go through all the things he did unless there was a reason."
He heard Mr. Lee return to the desk.
Once again, the world shifted.
Aiden was rushed back into his mind.
Will paced behind him, his chair thrown across the room. He slammed a hand down on the desk.
"Do you get some sick joy from messing with us because we're low level and can't do anything back to you, huh, Mr. Bookstore Owner?!"
Will swept his arm across the desk.
The tray of small butterscotch cookies and two fresh, steaming cups of tea went flying.
Then they slowed inches from the floor.
Like time moving in reverse, the cups and tray slowly drifted back up and settled on the table.
Will glared at them before returning to his pacing.
"I can understand your apprehension to accept this," Mr. Lee said calmly. "As well as the fact that what I am presenting can come across as both strange and foreign. But I have no motive to lie in this situation."
Aiden stared at the cookies for a moment.
Then he looked up.
"If that's the case, then why don't the gods do anything about this?" he asked. "They are the creators of everything, so why don't they step in?"
Mr. Lee took a moment to sip his tea.
Then he let out a small sigh.
"Before I can answer, like before, a groundwork must be created. Tell me, Mr. Hollowcreek, what do you know of the divines?"
Aiden took a moment to think.
"Well, I know of Freyungen, the goddess of love, and In'rack, the soul guide. But for the most part, that's it."
Mr. Lee nodded.
Twenty-seven playing cards appeared on the table.
Twelve were closer to Mr. Lee.
Twelve were closer to Aiden.
Two sat off to the side.
A final card sat alone in the middle.
"To explain the gods," Mr. Lee said, "I must explain the bit of a mess the pantheon is experiencing at the moment."
He tapped one of the cards.
"As I said before, each being has a string of fate. This includes the gods. But while mortals hold a string of fate no thicker than a pencil, the gods' strings can often dwarf the very forms of the gods themselves."
Aiden stared in confusion and began to speak.
Mr. Lee held up a hand, signaling for him to wait.
"A god's string is larger due to the amount of energy it takes to be a god, as well as the fact that gods pass their strings down to make way for new gods."
Aiden stared in bewilderment.
Will walked back over and slammed his chair upright. He still looked angry, but now he was back in the conversation.
"So you're telling us the gods can not only die, but die often?"
"Well, not often," Mr. Lee said. "Though it is consistent. Just as elves know the day they are going to die, the gods know when the approach of the inheritance is coming from the moment they are given their power."
He gestured to the cards.
"The inheritance is when a god selects someone to become the new divine. In return, the old god steps down and makes way for them, allowing the cycle of fourteen to continue."
Aiden glanced back down at the table, where the twenty-seven cards sat.
"Uh, but there are a lot more than fourteen here," Aiden said. "None of the groups have fourteen. Only twelve at most. So what's this cycle of fourteen thing? And who even does this inheritance ritual? Is it the gods themselves?"
Mr. Lee held up both hands in an almost mocking surrender.
"I cannot answer one hundred questions that quickly. Slow down a bit."
He reached toward the cards.
"To start, let us look at the outliers first."
He flipped over the single card to the side and the two that were paired together, revealing three names.
E-tum, the Quiet Shouter
God of pride, writing, and runes
Magentina, the Great Betrayer
Goddess of theft, language, and communication
The lone card was more ominous.
Htaed Lla
The God of True Death
Mr. Lee tapped the pair first.
"E-tum and Magentina are gods apart from the others because they were locked away by the gods in a vault created by the rest of the pantheon at the center of Fortunz, a place most call the Divine Tomb."
"Wait," Aiden said, looking over the two cards. "So two of the gods are in prison? What did they even do?"
E-tum was depicted as a gray-skinned humanoid with glowing white eyes and horns curling from his head, though he seemed to lack a mouth.
Magentina, on the other hand, looked like a beautiful woman with a golden-yellow glow and a massive bronze ring floating behind her back.
"Honestly?" Mr. Lee said casually, taking a sip of tea. "It's because they kept arguing."
Will and Aiden looked at each other in confusion.
Then Will asked, "They just argued and got imprisoned?"
"Well, it started when Magentina created spoken language. E-tum ended up using it to constantly boast about himself nonstop for a few hundred years until Magentina finally stole his mouth."
Mr. Lee set his cup down.
"In retaliation, E-tum corrupted Magentina's beautiful words by making written language. Thus, the two started arguing until the other gods became so fed up that they locked them away, where they have been ever since."
Will and Aiden sat slack-jawed.
Aiden stammered, "B-But that's so... so..."
"Human?" Mr. Lee asked. "Well, believe it or not, the gods once were human. Every god was."
He picked up a cookie.
"The position of pope in the churches is not one sought for political power. It is who the gods pick when they are going through the inheritance ceremony. Well, most of the time, at least."
Mr. Lee took a bite of the cookie and chewed quietly.
"So you're telling us the gods were once mortal," Aiden said slowly, "and people want to be pope because they become gods once the old ones step down?"
He stared at the cards.
"When is this even supposed to happen? And how could written language only have been made ten thousand years ago? There are history books dating back beyond that."
"The gods are not given a blank canvas when they ascend," Mr. Lee said. "Instead, they receive the title of creator. Each god takes on a facet of the lineage they inherited. So while the name of the god changes every ten thousand years, their domain and accomplishments do not."
He folded his hands.
"As for when it was supposed to happen, that was thirty-eight years ago."
Aiden jumped up, his chair sliding back.
"So the gods have only been in power for thirty-eight years now?!"
"No," Mr. Lee said. "Something else happened."
He tapped the lone card.
"You see, Htaed Lla over here is in charge of the ceremony. He is the one to cut the strings and grant them to their successors. However, the old gods rebelled."
The room went quiet.
"So instead of accepting death, they fought back. And while their strings were damaged, with pieces being used to make the twelve new gods, the old gods are still around."
As if on cue, the cards flipped over.
The gods were revealed.
The ones closest to Mr. Lee seemed to be the old gods.
Aiden read over the list.
In'rack, the Spirit Guide
God of remorse, kindness, and memories
De'kan, the Soul Thief
God of vanity, corruption, and lies
Seeheld, the Great Watcher of None
God of the future, fate, and prediction
Qie-Kai, the Dread Mist
God of monsters, evil, and slaughter
Sinoc Valba, the Gamemaster
God of luck, games, and deceit
Freyungen, the Hearthfire
Goddess of love, home, and family
Conkyutus, the Souljudge
God of the afterlife, souls, and verdicts
Hagnal, the Snow Queen
Goddess of cold, music, and storms
Helomast, the Beastking
God of nature, healing, and animals
Harmonious, the Magic Weaver
God of magic, invention, and development
Draconian, the Brightest Spark
God of dragons, power, and regality
Gundenclang, the Forgemaker
God of crafts, creation, and sustainment
Aiden glanced down at the list closer to him.
"If the normal rule is fourteen," he asked, "then what about Htaed Lla, E-tum, and Magentina?"
Mr. Lee took a moment and set down his teacup.
"Htaed Lla is the one being in the world without a string and serves as the mediator of the divine. Though he is said to leave the divine realm and travel when he is not actively performing the inheritance."
He glanced to the paired cards.
"As for the other two, legend has it that Htaed Lla could not get into their vault. So they are both trapped and eternal."
Aiden nodded more out of confusion than understanding.
Then he looked to the list of new gods.
In some, he saw similarities to the old gods.
In others, they were entirely new and foreign.
The Imprisoned King
God of slaves, revenge, and rage
Qe-tan, the Thousand Voices
God of snakes, monsters, and poisons
Moon, the Returned
Goddess of the moon, stars, and dreams
Sun, the Burning Bow
Goddess of the sun, fire, and growth
Betromoth, the Frozen Axe
God of ice, survival, and the wilderness
Astrofan, the Eye of All Storms
Goddess of natural disasters, change, and destruction
Enu, the Timekeeper
God of time, progress, and leadership
Arcata of Seven Faces
God of emotion, peace, and space
Moonblade, the Starslayer
God of weaponry, combat, and triumph
Letan, the Silver Gamble
God of oaths, bets, and trickery
Lka, the Self-Bound Prisoner
Goddess of laws, vows, and promises
Ragna, the Introspective
God of self, karma, and accountability
As Aiden finished reading the cards, they seemed to sink into the table.
Mr. Lee gave him a polite smile.
"Now," he asked, "what will your final question be?"