“Ah, what a beautiful day!” Death exclaimed loudly, both pondering to herself and trying to catch Tenuk’s attention. “The rivers are flowing, the skies are clear, the silver grass is gently wafting in the breeze… Perfect…” She took a long sip from her cup of tea, then put it down on a table made from a dead tree stump.
“Isn’t it like this every day?” Tenuk asked as he cautiously approached the personification of the Cycle. He’d been meeting Death on and off for a few thousand years now, but he was still scared of her. It didn’t matter that Death wasn’t allowed to flat out kill him. Tenuk wasn’t bothered that he’d die and become a Veth (still a great alternative to the Dark Nothingness that claims most other Deitics) or anything like that. Death was just a genuinely terrifying being to sit with.
Of course, it didn’t help that there were three Veth tearing a Deitic apart behind them.
“What did that Anexartan do to deserve that?” Tenuk muttered to himself. Death heard him though and swiftly answered his question.
“I found him at the Shores trying to convince passers by that this was hell and that he would take them to some place called “Heaven”. Kitrin found him and brought him to me. Told him and his Veth buddies to have a bit of fun with the idiot.”
Tenuk sat down on the ground next to the stump. “Why do they always call it Heaven? Never got that. Same reason why Deitics call this place hell. Is it because Deitics too see Kinigi how they’d want to see it?”
Death shrugged. “Possibly. What do you see when you come here?”
“Pinkish skies, pink-purple glistening rivers, reeds of silver and grey. Your weird dome home which looks green up close but silver from a distance…”
“You see this place as a Veth does.. Well, mostly.” Death smiled. “But I must ask, have you always seen Kinigi like this? Or have you only ever seen Kinigi like this before you knew of your fate? Because many who change their beliefs or their opinions on Kinigi, the few beings that come here twice or more, they often can’t remember how they originally saw this realm.”
Tenuk thought back for a moment. “No, I’ve always seen Kinigi like this. I don’t ever remember seeing it differently. What I DO remember is when I was very small, like, not even three digits old. Still learning about the universe. My teachers brought me and a bunch of other Kronospasts just to the very edge…”
“What did they see?”
“I don’t really remember, but everyone else was really scared. Said it was hot and horrible with nasty boiling liquid everywhere. I couldn’t work out what they were on about, apart from it being really humid and hot and sweaty.”
Death’s eyes lit up. “You’ve seen Kinigi like this, even before you assisted the Theoktons? Wow. I guess you just didn’t believe what your teachers were telling you…”
“Now that you mention it…” Tenuk mused. “You’re probably right. My teachers liked me but I liked to push them and argue with them. Never really been someone to accept things at face value.” He paused for a moment. The Veth tearing apart the Deitic behind him were really distracting. Since he wasn’t dead yet, the Veth could all very easily turn on him.
“They won’t.”
“You sure?”
“You see Kinigi as they do. They know that you’re one of them. Any other Rethan would probably see a similar landscape, but with a glowing, warm sun, golden grass and a sky filled with auras. Temthans would see a happy hunting ground. Thropes would walk through a landscape made of clouds and godly rays of light. It all depends on what you believe in.”
Tenuk considered taking a cup of tea but quickly decided against it. “Is Kinigi in every universe like this?”
Death sighed. “No. I wish it was. Kinigi wasn’t really a thing in my universe. Consciousness was recycled, but Deitics were far stronger and many claimed the mortals and dragged them into places like “heaven” and “hell” and all that. I knew better than to listen to those horrible ‘gods’. But I wanted better. I hated the fact that mortals were dragged away. I’m… I think this is a discussion for another time.”
“Is something wrong?” Tenuk asked, both curious and surprised at Death’s change in attitude.
“I haven’t thought about the past in a while. But I need to check this Deitic and make sure none of his cronies are still around. We can talk about this next time.”
“Very well, Death…” Tenuk smiled as he got up to leave. “I’ll see you soon, alright?”
“Sure. See you soon…”