For a second Johan stood there, heart racing.

  “Uncle.” He said.

  Around him the sins fell to one knee, head bowed in respect, and even the other deities followed. Interestingly Wrath stayed standing.

  “Look at you.” Greed smiled warmly, eyeing Johan. “Last time I saw you, you were just an innocent boy with freshly red eyes. I see you're hiding them, now.”

  Well. This was ridiculous. Signe glanced at him and that was enough to know.

  In a flash of light, Johan grabbed his dagger and threw it. Deities gasped and Frey yelled loudly.

  And as expected Greed didn’t move. The dagger sailed right through him.

  “You kept the dagger I see.” Greed spoke, clearly amused.

  “An illusion? Too afraid to meet me face to face, huh?” Johan snarled, bringing a smile on his face to mimic Greed’s. The dagger flashed back to an earring.

  “I’m afraid this is the best I can do at this moment.” Greed grimaced. Johan eyed him, he looked fine. Ruffled hair. Clean clothes, simple slacks and one of those shirts with the ruffles. He looked normal.

  Johan didn’t bother to acknowledge him with a response, instead he straightened up and settled to wait.

  “For the past almost five years I have been in the captivity of my old partner in crime-”

  “Captivity?” Johan interrupted in shock. He shared a look with Note. Why would they use an excuse like that? Did they have anything to gain from making Greed seem innocent? He was the one that started all this.

  “I understand what this looks like.” Greed continued and Johan glanced around uncertainty.

  “Well I don’t. What do you want?” He asked coldly.

  “We didn’t tell you because you would have tried to save him and gotten yourself killed.” Frey said.

  “I wouldn’t have.” Johan snapped. Of course he wouldn’t.

  “Maybe not. Not while you think he’s the enemy. But if you knew he was innocent from the start? There is that hero complex of yours, afterall.” Envy said. “Of course you would have gone to save him, you had nobody else.”

  Johan clenched his jaw. They spoke as if they knew him. A pawn in Greed’s game, someone useless they had to wait to use. A small fish they threw back into the ocean so he would grow big enough to eat.

  “Then if you’re not going to kill us, what do you want?” Johan asked tiredly. Greed stared at him with calculating eyes.

  “Your help.” He answered simply.

  Johan stared at him for a second.

  “My help.” Johan repeated bitterly. He should have expected this. “And what exactly do you need my help for?”

  “To take back Heaven.” Greed answered.

  Johan felt his mask break at that. He took a deep breath and stared at Greed. Then around him. The sins were still watching him cautiously. All these deities around them. Deities he recognized. That he grew up with. That ran him out of Heaven. That killed his friends?! They wanted his help?!

  Johan threw his head back and laughed.

  The sins shifted cautiously. Deities muttered in the crowd.

  Was he going crazy? What even was this all for?! “Now? You want to use me now?!”

  “We’re not using you-” Frey tried to interrupt but Johan could barely hear him.

  “Yes,” Greed sighed. “Thomas has been-”

  Thomas?

  “Who even is that?!” Johan asked.

  “He used to be Old Life/Death’s servant.” Frey informed.

  “Yes. That dirty deity of deceit-” Greed snarled but stopped himself midway through the sentence. He cleared his throat and corrected his shirt collar in an attempt to regain his composure. “I’ve been waiting for the perfect time and it’s now. You have discovered your powers and he knows you're alive. It’s all starting.”

  Greed turned to Lust. “If you would.”

  Lust nodded and reached behind him, grabbing a small stack of papers and holding them out. Johan eyed them for a second before he snatched them, glancing at the paper.

  Oh-

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  Involuntarily he took a step back, sending an alarmed look back at Note and Signe who stepped closer to see.

  It was of his first vision, a sketch of it, but somehow more detailed. It showed Johan, standing before the weeping tree, and Note’s arm breaking through the ground in front of him. He flipped to the next page only to see the three of them in the village. Quickly he flicked through the rest of the pages. Everything was on there.

  “Parts of Old Fate’s journal.” Greed gave a tense smile. “My brother left behind a very, very telling vision. He saw Life and Death coming back before they were even deities. At first I didn’t know what to think. When I first saw the journal I didn’t know what to think. I had just seen these two deities come to life and there it was, a whole different tale of the same story. But I soon understood.”

  “You knew they were going to die and you didn’t do anything.” Johan accused.

  “I knew they were coming back. That was all I knew.” Greed corrected. “I didn’t know how or when they would die, only that it would happen. And you know, Johan, what happens if you try to change the future.”

  Johan looked away.

  “Let me start from the very beginning.” Greed started. “As you know, between me and my older brother, your father, I became a deity first but he was the first to go to Heaven. He was picked by Fate just like you were and went to learn. Though he was fairly old at that point, already in his twenties while usually new Fates are found in their childhoods. I was a young teenager when he was chosen and he was my only guardian. When you become a deity you have to leave your human life behind so I was left alone. Not by his choice of course.

  “Without him I struggled for a long time until I realized. You can gain anything just by knowing what to say and when to say it. And I used that to my own advantage. This was when I met Thomas. We were partners in crime. He was a tool, a good tool, but still only a tool. And that was all he was to me.” Greed paused, tilting his head slightly. “Something went askew and I’m afraid he has carried a grudge against me for leaving him to deal with the fallout.”

  Johan wasn’t even surprised. Greed had always been a bad person.

  “Shortly after he was imprisoned I became the deity of Wealth. A couple years later the trials were over and he was sentenced for execution. But right before, he ascended. When he came to Heaven, he schemed. He made a different version of himself. Stupid but kind. And most of all, forgettable. You could imagine him hurting a fly, but you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t think of him at all. And that’s how he did it. He was just the kind of person Old Life/Death would hire to be his attendant. Afterall, that’s exactly the kind of person he wanted working for him. Out of sight, out of mind. And Thomas was exactly that.”

  Greed laughed darkly. “He hid from me. Otherwise I would have caught him before he could do anything. His powers attack the mind and after years Old Life/Death was too far gone. In a fit of madness he had to be put down.

  “Your dad saw this in a vision and went to stop him. But you can’t change fate. And all he did was set the stone rolling.” Greed looked behind Johan. “And that’s how you two came to be deities.”

  So that’s what happened... Johan shook his head.

  “Nothing happened for a year. Everything was fine.” He argued.

  “It was.” Greed admitted. “But Heaven was in a state of uncertainty. Three new leaders at once. And children at that. For the first time the deity of Life and Death had been separated into two people instead of one. People weren’t happy with the situation and Thomas used this unease to gain supporters and managed to call a revolution.”

  Beside him, Note made a sound and any sympathy he might have felt for Greed disappeared.

  “A revolution?!” Johan snarled. His face hardened and he looked around. These deities murdered Note and Signe for this Thomas guy to become their new ruler. “It sounds like you got what you wished for.”

  “But it’s not anymore!” Someone from the crowd yelled and many shouted in agreement. Johan almost laughed.

  “We need you to take your rightful place.” Greed insisted softly, like he was scolding a child. “On his way to power, Thomas deceived many.” Greed tried to justify. “He manipulated and he tricked. But it was all wrong. We need to take Heaven back from him before he ruins it. Don’t blame anyone, Thomas is devious and it’s not their fault for getting tricked.”

  The crowd once again loudly agreed.

  “Seriously? Murdering Note and Singe was a ‘mistake’?!” Johan asked and as if on cue, Greed’s illusion started flickering, for a split second he looked pale and rugged, his clothes dirty and messy and he seemed to be looking straight through Johan with a surprised expression on his face.

  “He wasn’t supposed to be back yet.” Greed muttered to himself. Johan watched irritatedly as the illusion continued to flicker.

  Greed quickly looked back at Johan. “I need to go. Johan, I believe you’ll do what’s right.”

  The illusion disappeared.

  “It wasn’t their fault for being tricked.” Johan repeated to himself. “Seriously?”

  He looked around the room, at every deity in there. So many of them he knew. The deity of agriculture, the deity of protection, the deity of love, the deity of innocence, and so, so many more.

  He looked at all of them, and saw what they really were. Trash.

  “It’s not their fault.” Johan quoted, mocking Greed’s words. “It’s not their fault they decided murder was an option.”

  People flinched as he spoke. Many looked away. But Johan didn’t relent. Nobody was saying anything and if it was for any other reason, Johan would be happy to see the pained and guilty expressions on their faces. But not now. Not when he knew the only reason they changed their minds was because they wanted something. Guilt didn’t change the past. They hadn’t even apologized, yet they had the audacity to say it was all a mistake.

  “You decided to trust some random guy and now that you know that he sucks, you want me to 'step up to my rightful place’ and get rid of him?”

  “It’s not like that-!” Deities in the crowd yelled. “Wait, that’s not-” Even the sins tried to interrupt but Johan just spoke louder.

  “You killed my friends and you tried to kill me too. I don’t care that your comfortable little bubble burst. That the second you entered Heaven you decided that you could do nothing wrong anymore so why not do whatever you want no matter how terrible it is!“

  He took a couple deep breaths, trying to control his anger.

  “I won’t help you. And when you are all dead, I will feel peace.” Johan made it very clear it was the truth. The only people he cared for in this whole room were there involuntarily. “You made your choice. Now live with it.”

  You could hear a pin drop with how silent it was.

  “Where’s the exit?” He asked Frey directly.

  Frey watched him with a defeated look. After a moment he looked away and pointed behind Johan.

  Johan glared at Wrath where she stood amongst the sins, right where she belonged, daring her to try and make them stay. And then he turned around. “Let’s go.”

  They only got a few steps away before Frey yelled after them. “Johan, it’s not just for us! Aren’t you tired of all this? Of hiding? You can’t even cut your hair in fear of anyone seeing your eyes! You have the power to stop this so please!”

  “Just shut up, Frey.” Note called back and put a hand on Johan’s back.

  They kept walking.