When the Old Gods died, the new ones were already to take their place. But the transition was not smooth. The New Gods were not as hands off as the old ones were, they wanted to flex their power, to prove they were worthy of being gods. They wanted to show off why the human race should worship the. Should fear them.
But this is not that story. The transition finished some years ago, a new status quo was formed and there is an uneasy peace. The New Gods live in their higher plane, free to fight among themselves, while humans live in their world, as if nothing happened. But there are some who remember. And while they live, there is always the risk of a return to a less peaceful time.
No, this is a story about an old man. One of a handful who stood up to the New Gods, who did everything he could to protect people from their arrogance. The only man left on Earth who was able to commune with the energy that had been the Old Gods.
“I dont have long left,” the voice said.
“I am trying,” the old man said.
His name was William Black, he had just turned 83 and right now, he is sitting in the attic of his daughters familys home, crosslegged and worried. In his head, he could feel the tendrils of power that connected him to the last remnants of the gods he had worshipped since he was a child fading. The voice, the combined efforts of the remains of the Old Gods, was struggling to maintain itself. What used to be a constant connection was now flickering like a radio as you drive outside of its reception area. Both William and that energy knew that once it was gone, the New Gods would start their hostilities again.
“We need you and your kind,” the voice said. “Its the only way.”
“The people today, they dont remember you. They remember the New Gods. They fought to eliminate you from our minds just as much as they destroyed us just for the sake of it. There are millions of people the world over who worship them out of fear as I worshipped you out of reverence.”
“Then you must find people to worship the way you used to.”
William sighed, opened his eyes and saw two of the three grandchildren whom he adored with all his heart standing at the door watching. “I think I have an idea,” he said, speaking out loud.
“Grandpa!” the younger of the children, a boy, named William after his grandfather, but known as Billy to everyone, right on the cusp of being a teenager shouted, running over and embracing William.
“Its about time you woke up,” William laughed and hugged the boy.
“Who were you talking to?” Billy asked.
“An old friend of mine. He cant come to visit, so I have to talk to him in my head.”
“Thats so cool, like when I see my invisible friend!”
“Exactly. What about you, Tanya?” he asked the other, his 15 year old granddaughter. “Dont you want a grandpa hug as well?”
“Yeah, come on, Tans,” Billy shouted. “Grandpa hug!”
“Tch,” the girl said, rolling her eyes, but still walked over and gave the old man a warm hug. “Since you asked nicely,” she added in a quiet whisper.
“Wheres your sister?” William asked the two of them as they stepped back.
“With Mom and Dad,” Billy said, pointing back down out of the attic. “Shes still too small to climb up here.
“Billy was getting in the way, so Mom said to come find you,” Tanya explained in that weird monotonous teenage voice.
“Of course,” William said. “Well, lets leave them to whatever theyre doing. I want to tell you a story.”
“What kind of story?” Billy said, already excited, sitting on the floor in front of his grandfather.
“Im not interested in kids stories,” Tanya said, but didnt move to leave.
“This isnt a kids story,” William said, tapping the side of his nose. “This is a grown up story, its scary and full of monsters.”
“Ooooh,” Billy said, clapping his hands. “I want to hear it! Come sit so grandpa can tell us, Tans.”
“Do I have to?” she sighed.
“Of course not, darling,” William said softly. “But I would like it if you did.”
She rolled her eyes again, but came and sat next to her brother.
“Good,” William said. “This is a story from a time even your parents dont remember. Back when people were allowed to live in any way they wanted, a time when your actions were considered blessed so long as you didnt hurt anyone.”
“Sounds like a kids story to me already,” Tanya said sarcastically.
“Well, it isnt,” William said, a little bit darker than he intended. “Those day were taken from us. The beliefs we held were stripped from our very souls by jealous beings who wanted fear to rule over us. But let me start from the start. I dont want to ruin any surprises.”
The three of them made themselves comfortable and William began to speak.
Long ago, there was a family of beings that lived among us, in this world. They werent human, and they never could be, but they treated us with respect. They showed us how to treat each other with respect. They were kind, but they were fair, and they didnt hesitate to punish people for doing something bad. We called them Gods. They did not like that, but they couldnt do anything to stop it, so they accepted it and took our worship and praise in the respect it was given.
For generations, so many generations, the world lived this way. But it would eventually come to an end when another group, similar to the gods, but not the same, arrived from somewhere unknown. They fought the gods, they killed them all, over many years each of our gods was taken and killed. These new beings were cruel and vicious and they relished the challenge of harming something that was more powerful than they, you see living among us who very rarely did something wrong allowed the gods to relax. And with that came a weakening. The new beings took advantage of that. It was a long, painful time, but they eventually overcame all of the gods and placed themselves as our new gods. We didnt like that. So they started to harm us.
The relish of the challenge of the old gods was replaced with an enthusiasm for harming us. Millions of people died. I was born during this time, and luck more than anything else, helped me to survive. By the time I was an adult, it was over. The new gods sat in their stolen thrones and humanity was forced to worship them. But I never would. I couldnt. I still remember the stories my parents told me, the power and the beauty of the old gods, never used for cruelty and always used to make life better. It was stolen from us and it made me angry.
“Ive never seen you angry, grandpa,” Billy said, his voice a whisper. The way William had been talking wasnt scary, but it scared him still.
“I could never get angry at you,” William smiled, and it was true. These grandchildren were the greatest gift he had ever been given. He could never abuse it in the way the new gods abused their gifts. “Do you want to hear more?”
“Yes please,” Billy said, again excited.
“Tanya?”
“Sure,” she said, trying to sound bored but not quite nailing it.
Some of us, William continued, wanted to find a way to reinstate the Old Gods, to bring them back. They had spoken, or my parents said they had spoken, about being able to come back from death, if the circumstances were right. We had no idea what that meant, and so we went looking for anything that could help. As an aside, it was during this time when I met your grandmother. She, like me, wanted to go back to the days our parents would talk about. We travelled together and fell in love. But as much as we looked, and as hard as we studied, we could not find anything that could help us. We were lost, just as our Old Gods were.
“What about your head friend?” Billy asked. “Can he help?
William smiled. “Indeed he could, and in fact thats why Im telling you this story. The friend I have inside my head is not just one of the Old Gods, it is the remaining energy of all of them. I have had their voices in my head since the day you were born,” he pointed at Tanya.
“What? How?” Billy was amazed.
“I dont know how it works, but it seems that by being granted grandchildren, I have grown closer to the gods in my beliefs. Like the prayers of the most devout being answered. You kids, and your sister too, gave me the ability to talk to the gods.”
“Can we speak to them too?” Billy asked, he had jumped up and was running around William now.
“Perhaps,” William said. “But they are faint. Almost gone. They need people to believe in them, believe in what they taught us and what they stood for. Without that, they might as well just be stories. Forgotten to time. And when that happens…” he stopped talking.
“When that happens, what?” Tanya asked.
The room went dark and the three of them were floating in an empty black void. Some distance away a red light pulsed slowly.
“Wow,” Billy said. He was upside down, not far from the other two.
“Where are we?” Tanya asked, her voice was covered with panic.
“Its ok,” William said, grabbing Billys ankle as he tried to swim through the air. “Youre safe.”
“Do not lie to the children, William Black. They are most certainly not safe.”
“Kids, this is the voice in my head.”
“Do you kids believe?”
“Grandpa has told me stories about the old gods my whole life,” Tanya said slowly. “I remember bedtime stories and little anecdotes from his travels.” William smiled and nodded.
“That does not answer my question.”
“I believe life would be better if the stories were true,” she replied eventually.
“Then believe, for they are all true. William Black has never lied to you.”
A purple light shone behind Tanya’s eyes.
“And you, young William, do you believe in me?”
“Yes!” the young boy said, spinning around, trying to find the owner of the voice. “I want to have you in my head too!”
“Then you shall,” the voice said and a deep red light shone from the fingertips of Billy.
“William, this is a start. But it is not the end. More is required of you and of the children.”
“I know,” William said, sounding exhausted all of a sudden.
“Feel rejuvenated and live,” the voice said as the room returned around them and the three of them found themselves in the exact same position they had been in.