Theo had a pleasant breakfast the next morning, but he picked at his food, thinking of the things he had to do that day. While his essences would finish brewing sometime, he had a few hours to kill before they were complete. Tresk hadn’t run off yet, although she had already eaten all her food. Alex’s big eyes lingered near one window, peering in to see what the group was doing. He figured the best thing for them would be to make a trip he hadn’t wanted to make.

    “We’ve got to see the system today,” Theo said, breaking the long silence.

    “Ew, I don’t like that place,” Tresk said.

    “We’ll never make progress on the deal with the gods if we don’t go and visit them.”

    “Fine, fine,” Tresk said. “I know you get lonely.”

    The real reason Theo wanted to bring Tresk along was that it would be nice to have the authority of another throne-holder with him. Being a liaison was one thing, but always arriving without the help of others was challenging. He didn’t think Khahar would want to come. He wasn’t certain the man could even leave his realm, as he had avoided doing so since taking command. While that was moderately suspicious, most things that man did were suspicious.

    After finishing their meal, Theo and Tresk went outside and wrangled Alex. The dragon-goose wasn’t eager to go into the void, but she agreed to come along. Before leaving, the alchemist left word with Salire that they would be gone for a few hours. Then it was only a matter of parting the veil between the mortal realm and the void, and falling into it. A sense of comfort washed over him as they angled for the central star formation of the area.

    “So, what’s the plan?” Tresk asked. “Are we doing ‘good cop’ or ‘bad cop’?”

    “Good cop, I think,” Theo said. “I’m not trying to rock the boat, but we need to get a feel for what the gods think of us.”

    “Well, Hallow is in our pocket, isn’t he?” Tresk asked. “And I’d bet money on Shadow, leaning towards you. Void as well.”

    “That just leaves death, fate, omen, and the elemental gods, which I don’t know if there are elemental gods yet.”

    “Fine, fine,” Tresk said. “So we’re just going to be on our best behavior and set the stage, right?”

    “It feels like you’re actually learning,” Theo said. “Are you trying to be less of a goblin lately?”

    “Something like that.”

    Theo landed in the system’s frigid wasteland shortly after. Tresk and Alex worked close behind him as he approached the stage. They moved quicker than usual, as the cold seemed to have intensified in recent days. This place was the one area where they could meet with the gods. Right on the border of the seal, it allowed them to communicate directly.

    The system promptly appeared; its crystalline form hovered in the center of the platform. Both Theo and Tresk lowered their heads for a moment. Alex honked.

    “And what can I do for you today?” The system asked, “Have you made progress?”

    “We’ve made a lot of progress,” Theo said, sharing a nod with Tresk. “But that’s not why we’re here. I’d like to arrange a brief meeting with the gods to plead my case.”

    The system took longer than Theo was comfortable with to make up its mind. It squirmed for a moment before it inclined her head. A moment later, six spots around the circle lit up. Ghostly figures appeared, all different, and all glowing with their respective colors. Or, with Shadow, it was the lack of color. Theo hadn’t seen Zaul in a while; their last meeting was in the Ascendants’ dark realm. But even now he was cloaked in enough shadow to make it almost impossible to discern features.

    Death was the first to speak. “So good to see you, Theo.” His words sounded far more honeyed than normal.

    “What is this meeting about?” Omen groaned.

    “Silence, brother. You’re not looking very professional right now, are you?” Fate asked, nudging the boy who shared the circle with her.

    Theo couldn’t help but drag his eyes toward the right side of the circle. While the left side was almost filled, only one person stood on the right. It was a Kahari woman, standing tall with her shoulders back and a proud look on her face. There was something familiar about the pattern in her fur. He couldn’t place it. Which was strange since he had a perfect memory. He felt an attention from the woman that was hard to place, as though words were eager to escape her lips, but she couldn’t utter them. ?

    “Plead your case,” the system said.

    “As the gods are aware, we are preparing for the world to reset. I know that some of us have our differences, but if we don’t work together to make it happen, then everyone will be poorer for it.” Theo took a few long moments to gauge the reaction on everyone’s faces. Like the gods they were, they remained stoic. “As a concession for our work, I would like permission to bring my alliance into my throne world.”

    The system simply nodded. She turned to each member and swiped her hand. When she did, the god was dismissed, vanishing from the platform. Theo didn’t miss the look death gave him as he vanished. It was strange, and he couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. More like an expectation of the future from underneath that black hood.

    “I don’t appreciate your plan to kill Death,” the system said. “Although it’s within your rights, we would need a new one to hold the realm.”

    “Then that’s my proposal,” Theo said. “A way to ensure that death commands the realm and I get what I want.”

    “I’m listening,” the system said.

    “I understand the importance of each godly realm. They’re fairly obvious when you consider their namesakes. But there is one that stands out among them.” Theo took a few long moments to gather his thoughts. “Are you the one who designed the Thrones of Power? You did it in reaction to the ascendants’ power grab, didn’t you?”

    “Correct.”

    Theo held up two fingers. “Two positions in the realm of Death. The leader, and an arbiter. Create another throne and give the holder authority to oversee what Death does with the souls of the dead.”

    “You want me to create a new position of power based on your desires?” the system asked, seeming slightly annoyed at the suggestion.

    “I’m basing my decision on logic, not my feelings,” Theo clarified. “That’s too much power for one god to hold, and is there a mechanism for somebody to assault his realm and take it from him?”

    The system took a long time to consider the proposal. Theo waited, sharing looks with Tresk and Alex. As the moments wore on, he became increasingly nervous that his idea would be declined.

    “I’ll consider it,” the system said. “Perhaps that will be your task, but I need time.”

    As the system often did, it vanished without saying much else. Theo didn’t wait either. He surrounded his companions with his aura and dropped them back into the void. Only once they were there did he feel comfortable talking.

    “That might have gone well,” Theo said, scratching his chin as he considered his options.

    “I can feel that silly little plan warming its way through your brain,” Tresk said. “You think something like that would work? Do you think our plan to murder Death isn’t going to work?”

    “There’s no point going into this without a backup plan,” Theo said. “Killing Death or driving him from his realm is going to be difficult, if not impossible. We’re talking about killing a proper god, not an ascendant.”

    Theo had been an accomplice to killing an Ascended before. Balkor was dead, or mostly dead, thanks to Fenian’s actions. But the demon god of undeath had only been an ascendant. He was basically a juiced-up mortal commanding a realm. He wasn’t that hard to kill, but death had protections that the ascendants didn’t. Their realms were completely unknown to the alchemists. They could have been anything, and there could have been defenses none of them could penetrate.

    “My only thought for killing Death was to poison his realm,” Theo said. “But we would have to find it, apply the poison, and hope it took hold. What if he resisted it, or had some other defense?”

    “Yeah, I get it. But we’ve never backed down from a challenge, have we?” Tresk asked.

    “And then we have to find another person to assume the mantle of Death,” Theo said. “We have to think long term now. More importantly, we have to run this by the other throne holders. I just have a bad feeling about this.”

    “Okay, okay,” Tresk said. “So, this alternative you’re thinking of... We create another throne that does what? Manages Death specifically? Isn’t that the job of you and Khahar?”

    “Yeah, that’s our job, but we can only do stuff when the gods break the rules. I want to impose new rules.”

    This could have turned into a long debate, but Tresk nodded along. Theo could feel that she sensed the wisdom in his caution. She understood that the assassination attempt would be nearly impossible. She also felt his reliance on the newest player on the field. If they could get Elrin to agree to be that arbiter, things might work out.

    “For now, we’ll give the system enough time to think about it,” Tresk said. “The system seems to take what you say seriously, which means she’s taking all our positions seriously. That’s good news, isn’t it?”

    Indeed, that was a good thing, as the group approached the mortal realm once again. Theo looked forward to turning his attention to potions, but he now had a path forward with the gods and his plan to bring his burgeoning alliance—with all the weird magical stuff that came with it—with him.