Time & Termination

"You have been punished!" The Godmaker thundered.

The gods fell silent, they weren't scared of anyone but the Godmaker. After all, the Godmaker has the power to remove them of their power, and even kill them. The Godmaker was the one who created the gods and is the only one who could kill them. Being scared of the Godmaker is mutual, even for humans alike. The main element was used to make each of them, different races. They all were made from different things, but in the end, were made from the same element; Vremja. Even the gods were created from the same element. Sure, the gods had the power the humans didn't, but they too have, at least, used to have, the same vulnerabilities of humans. The gods could die (if stabbed or injured, otherwise not), fall in love, and even express emotions.

The vulnerabilities died out. Death wasn't replaced, but prevented- the gods never came back to the floor. Love was replaced with inferiority complexes. Expressing emotions was replaced with cruelty and narcissism. This made the Godmaker angrier by the day, he would collect his anger when his children came whining to him about stupid things like all the cookies being eaten and their pens running out of ink. This didn't bother him much, but what did was the fact that they destroyed the tool used to create Vremja. You heard it right, the thing created to create the sorts of life.

"You have been punished for using and destroying the Tool of Life." The Godmaker seemed calm and collected now. He took a deep breath. "You-"

"What's the punishment?" The god of justice and correction interrupted. His eagerness was only met by the Godmaker's annoyed scowl.

"One of the gods should share his power with three of the humans on the floor. Every three hundred years. If you don't accept, you can say goodbye to your godhood and be banished to the floor as a mortal till you pass on."

Whispers broke out and some of the more headstrong gods started to yell out their questions. The Godmaker refused to answer any of those. He had enough of their BS. A few of the first gods came forward towards the Godmaker. The Godmaker pulled out a stone that seemed to be the ruins of the Stone of Life. He muttered an enchantment that seemed like a bunch of gibberish (not even the gods could understand the language). At the end of the enchantment, he fell to the floor, mixing in with the soil.

None of the gods went to investigate the Godmaker's fall, because, according to them, the Godmaker was an annoying elder brother who wouldn't agree with anything they do.

This is the story my mom used to tell me, she was there 2000 years ago when the Godmaker cursed them. Yes, my mom's a goddess and I'm a godling (not demigod, demigods are nothing but trouble. Godlings are young gods in training to get a part of life as their specialty) This year, it's my turn to share my power with three humans. Well, at least, I think.

I say goodbye to my family and friends and head to the Stairgates. Stairgates are like the gatekeeping stairs that allow us gods to off to the human world or transfer our powers to the humans. This enchantment is said to be older than the Stone of Life itself. But I'm not sure if it's true though, ever since the Godmaker disappeared, the Upper-Floor was in chaos. Questions were left unanswered and the first God took charge.

He tried to make things the same as they used to be; it was, for a point. Then everyone started rebelling because the new rules had been "taking away their free will" I'm not supposed to know about it, I wasn't there. Even speaking of the rebellion leads to banishment.

I walk a ten-mile trip to the Council of Royalty. I push past the crowd of gods and godlings and take a seat which is ap approximately 15 meters from my seat. I don't know whether I'm supposed to be eager about sharing my power and meeting a human or should be scared that I have a huge chance of dying.

I hope I don't get PTSD from this. Yes, even gods get PTSD. These aren't the vital vulnerabilities but one of the minor ones, the minor ones are never replaced, they never can be. The minor vulnerabilities are the only things that remind the gods that they aren't all-powerful.

We are to go and share our powers with the humans or we aren't to get the status of a God. I hope to get selected because it's going to be a new experience for me. Also gives me the advantage of being a god soon. Yes, I told you it could kill me but I don't care, I just want to see how the mortals will use their tool.

I also forgot to tell you about the types of gods about their human relation thing. There are three main types, the first one being the Gods who don't care about the humans at all. The second one, the gods who like taking control of the humans. The third type, the gods who find the humans interesting. I don't know how this is relevant to the story coming soon but hey, it's here, just in case.

I see my friends and beckon them towards the seats beside me, they blinked a few times, not understanding what I was trying to do. Yes, they're stupid most of the time but they are still my friends.

Before I get the chance to yell at them to take a seat, they scurry over to me and give me a friendly smack on the shoulder.

"Hey, look." One of them whisper-yells at us while pointing towards the Chief of the council, followed by my mom. I want to say 'Hi' to her but I can't because she now isn't my mother, she is now a Co-Chief of the Council-of-Royalty. The gods are forced to give their memories over till they end their careers. My mother left me to my dad. I want to say something to her but I can't, she doesn't know me. Prevention for biasing. She isn't my mother anymore, now, she's a person who helps rule and takes care of the UpperFloor.

The Chief walks toward the center of the stage starts to make a long speech. "Good day, godlings" He begins.

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It's been about what I'm guessing half an hour since the Chief started rambling. I want to fall asleep, but I cannot. I now wanted to warp time and go back to choosing a seat in the middle, where I could fall asleep and no one could tell on me. I regret my life right now.

After his speech, which ended about ten minutes ago, my mom walks in and gives us orders on what we should do. We were to write our names into a paper and put it into a fancy jar made of what I assume is copper.

I write my friend's name on it. Gods are not allowed to tell out our names, my dad says it's cursed. But humans know, because of a mistake the gods made a year after the Godmaker's fall. They are alive but powerless. To prevent this mistake from happening again, they placed a rule to never do what the older gods did.

It's now been ten minutes and the Chief and mom are counting out the votes. The chief says something we cannot hear, my mom nods and walks over to the stage. I am surprised to see my name come out of my mom's mouth. At the same time, I feel happy because it's been so long since she called me by my name. I doubt that she even remembers my dad.

Tears start to form in my eyes and I climb up the stage. By the time I get to the center, my tears vanish and my face is plastered with a smile. Mom points out to the crowd and I quickly tell this before anything happens.

"Thanks-" I am about to say 'Mom' but I bite my tongue, and instead say "Am I supposed to feel sad or happy that you chose me?" I am half expecting the crowd to go 'I renounce my vote.' I quickly add "Anyways, thanks to Chief and Co-chief for allowing all us godlings to become proper gods."

Mom and the chief lead me to a room, but this time, there are two others in there except us. They too are godlings, one, I never met before and the second, my frenemy. I smile at both of them. They seem taken aback but quickly snap out of it and give me a small wave.

"Godlings," my mom says, we are in eye-to-eye contact. Her eyes seemed sad and lost. I, without subconsciousness, quickly hug her. Then I realize what I have done and quickly pull back, just as soon as she was going to return it. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to-" I stutter. She waves her hand dismissively as if she seemed unaware of what was happening.

"I have called you all here to inform you that your votes have ended in a tie." I look at the Chief, bewildered, he looks back at us, without any expression.

Without warning, they teleport us to the Stairgates. I have never seen this part of the UpperFloor before, if it isn't visible to us, it means it's been hidden from the commoners. "I was going to expect another voting ceremony between you godlings. But due to us running out of time, we had to add everyone into this." She had said that before taking us there.

I look around to see only the other two, and not the Chief and mom. "Ready?" I ask them, not knowing what I should do. They nod, excited. I don't know any of this 'power-sharing business, so I walk over to the 10 pillars which held up the entrance of the Stairgates. I lift my hand and place it on the weird-colored marble. As soon as I do that, I start to levitate and I touch the pillar, hoping for it to stop. I feel an invisible rope made out of mist tighten around me, and I struggle free. I hear a whisper of a man say "This is how you're going to share your power." Then I look at the others, who also touched the pillar and were tied down. I feel the energy drain out of my body and the place where the rope is tied to my throbs. Moments later, I fall unconscious.