Zeth sat on the grass outside the garden, trying to pluck a flower, but his hand phased through it every time he tried. Hopeless, he just sat there, waiting for Death to arrive. An hour had already passed, and to his surprise, he did.
A black fog materialized from the ground below and took the shape of a skeleton wearing a hooded cloak made of shadow. Death looked at him with a smile, or not...it was hard to tell by looking at bones alone.
"Oh, Zeth, what's up? How did your test go?" Enthusiasm echoed through the god's voice as he waved at his new employee. "Actually, I was just passing by. It seems some poor soul died, so I came to collect it."
Zeth didn't have any words to offer, so he gave a bitter smile instead.
"Why are you acting weird...wait...why are you in your astral form?" The skeleton's jaw dropped open.
Zeth, without a word, pointed to his side. The skeleton turned around to see it.
A vintage light pole...or what used to be a light pole...made of black metal with decorative engravings, now colored red. The pole stood proudly, while at the bottom lay the hobgoblin's corpse, with the pole passing through it.
Occasional drops of blood dripped from above. Death's head rose up, and he saw a naked human hanging on top of the pole, with its tip piercing through his back and coming out of his mouth...a vintage human popsicle.
That body belonged to Zeth...of course.
"Yeah, so...what happened is...I killed that demon." Zeth said, but the skeleton remained unresponsive, rather frozen in place. Hesitantly, Zeth got up and shook him lightly. A little push, and Death's body fell to the ground, bones scrambling in every direction.
[Lol... You are dead.]
The screen appeared before him once again, and Zeth felt he would kill himself, only if he wasn't already dead.
"My only employee...died..."
The skeleton mumbled in a cracking voice.
"No, wait, Death, I can explain."
Zeth tried to piece the bones together, but they still fell apart, as if the force holding them together was gone.
"Oh heavens, what should I do?" the skeleton grumbled again, ignorant of Zeth's voice.
The ridge between Zeth's brows wrinkled. As embarrassing as it was, he had to ask again.
"Can't you just revive me? I mean, you are Death after all."
The bones suddenly realigned themselves as the skeleton looked Zeth dead in the eyes.
"Are you serious?"
"It's worth a shot." A fake smile played on Zeth's lips. "Don't you have faith in my abilities?"
"Faith? Abilities? Hell yes..." The skeleton stood up, hitting his skull. "I have total faith in your abilities to fuck up."
"I didn't-"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Death cried in pain...or so he tried, since there were no tears in his eyes. "Before meeting you, I was a broke god without a temple. After meeting you, I am a broke god without a temple, with loans and self-esteem issues."
Zeth remained silent for a moment, then softly spoke.
"I was gonna blame that shit on the system, but I won't. My mistake. But isn't there something you can do about it? Please, please, pretty please?"
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Death retorted. "What am I going to tell them when they find out my first employee died on the first day of the trial?"
"They don't already know?"
Death shook his head.
"Nope."
"So how will they know?"
"Well...if someone tells them?" Death tilted his head innocently.
This was all Zeth needed to hear. His eyes lit up once again.
"Then who is gonna tell them?"
Death gulped, scared. He looked around, then whispered,
"Do not say a word past this."
"You have done this before. Why can't you do it one more time?" Zeth almost begged. Even he himself felt the absurdity of his request, but he had his luck to blame for this. And the Architect, of course.
However, the skeleton seemed reluctant this time, not budging from his decision.
"Each god only gets one chance to revive his employee, and that one chance has already been used."
"You didn't even die an honorable death." Death thought for a moment, then whispered, "Do you know how many documents I'll have to forge if I revive you?"
Zeth pulled a face in frustration.
"See, I totally killed the hobgoblin. And this clanker system didn't even help me with it."
"That's the most broken system I got from Hermis!" Death retorted angrily.
Zeth chuckled.
"And it's broken for real! Wanna see a demo?"
"System!"
[Sup?]
"Status."
[Bruhh...]
"See this? You see this?" Zeth tried to choke the holographic screen, but his hands phased through it again.
Death remained silent for a moment, looking at the ground.
"It's all my mistake...if only I had a little money..."
Zeth stopped, feeling a little guilty. His aim was never to trouble the poor god. In all honesty, if he felt anything for Death, it was pity. Yet the situation kept bringing him to a crossroads, where he had to lean toward his own benefit.
"Fine," Death said in a raspy voice. "I will revive you...just don't make these mistakes again..."
Zeth stood still with a downcast smile, looking at the poor skeleton, who dragged his body down from the pole and began repairing it slowly. Before Zeth knew it, his body was completely repaired, and as soon as it was, his soul was sucked back inside with immense force.
"I revived again!" Zeth stood up, touching his body, though there was no excitement on his face. He looked at the poor skeleton, leaving the scene with the hobgoblin's soul.
He gathered a little courage to speak, "I am sorry."
But the skeleton simply waved without looking back, "Try to bear with the system...I will...buy you a new one."
With those words, shadows engulfed his bones and disappeared into thin air. While Zeth remained standing, looking at where death disappeared for a few minutes.
'I promise I will pay you back.'