The Gods

I opened my eyes and the world was black. Before me were three beings that I instinctively knew were the gods. One was a red pillar of dust, higher than the tallest tower of the castle. I couldn't tell where it ended or began. The next was a tree, its roots running down into a black eternity, with green leaves that moved as though the wind was blowing through them; but there was no wind, or air here. The last was blue ice in a shape I'd never seen before. Looking at it sent a shiver down my spine, making me feel uncomfortable enough to fix my gaze on the floor.

I tried to contain my shaking, realizing that I was dead. I had enough sense to kneel before them, my head hanging low. If I didn't look at them, I told myself, I would not be afraid.

"My child," the red god spoke, their voice like grating sand. I fought the urge to cover my ears. "I brought you into this world. I chose your time to come to life and made your breath and bones."

"My child," the green god spoke, their voice like a gentle breeze. "I guided you in this world. I chose your time to be alive and moved you through the seasons."

Last, the blue god spoke with a voice that was sharp like frostbite. "My child, I will take you from this world. I choose your time to leave this life and take your breath and seasons." My eyes widened, but I kept my gaze down.

""Do you have any last words," they all said in unison. I forced myself to look up, first at the green god, then the red, and last the blue god.

"I thought...I thought I was supposed to set the world on fire. I thought I was going to destroy the world." I whispered quietly, my heart divided between gratefulness and despair. I'd spent my whole life preparing for a future that would never arrive, trying to stop myself from becoming a terrible person. Now I would never become anyone. The red god answered.

"The bargain I made with the mage was that you would be such-"

"But Maleficent chose another path for you," the green god interrupted. The pillar of sand seemed to grow in size, as though agitated, in response to this. I looked between the two, feeling an animosity that I couldn't see.

"You've run out of time," the blue god interjected, cutting the tension between the two.

"But I don't understand-"

"It does not matter if you don't understand," the blue god insisted, its voice an echoing screech in my ears. "It is done." I felt my body move to standing without my consent. "And now I will take you to the other side." I slowly, unwillingly took steps towards the blue god until I was close enough that I could see that, within the ice sculpture, was a wraith, faceless and clothed in midnight. It reached out a skeletal hand through the ice.

My breathing became ragged as I fought whatever power was trying to force me to take its hand.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked, fear and desperation making my words come out as though I was choking. The wraith paused, and the force pulling me nearer lessened slightly. I fell backwards, realizing how hard I'd been trying to break free; and how futile those efforts had been. The wraith was now unseen, hidden within the ice. I could feel a semblance of sadness emanating from it.

After a moment of silence, the blue god said, "Your power may be of some use to me...but you may not want my offer."

"I'll agree to any offer," I insisted. I did not understand what power I could possibly possess, nor care what the cost would be.

The leaves of the green god's tree began to rustle. "Maleficent's curse is still in effect, brother. She will have to pay the price."

"She may prefer death," the red god interjected.

"No!" I snapped. "I'll pay any price. Please…" I was suddenly aware of an acute silence.

"You will not die," the blue god began, " but will instead be in a deathlike sleep. You will remain that way until you are kissed by your one true love." I opened my mouth to immediately accept, but was cut off. "Be warned, there is the possibility that you may never be kissed by your true love. In that event, you will stay in this deathlike sleep for eternity, until all of the ages have passed; neither belonging to death nor life."

"I accept your offer."

"I have not finished." The ice sculpture became an entirely different shape. "Should you awaken, you will be in my services. I will come to you, and you will no longer be like the other mortals, guided by my sister." I looked to the green god, the one who guided all life.

"But I'll live?"

"Yes," the blue god assured me. "You will live."

"Then I accept your offer."

I was a child. Foolish and naïve enough to think that death was the worst possible thing that could happen to me.