- I know what I'm doing!-Time shouted furiously, the situation was so damn stressful for him.

He was one of the oldest and most powerful Gods, so he knew enough about stress. And at this moment he knew that his nerves would go out the window.

Finally the blond gave up, tore the tie from his neck and threw it to the ground, trampling it brutally. It definitely wasn't his type of clothing.

A person would think that in over 100 million years an individual would be able to learn how to tie a tie. Well, that person didn't know this God.

- Why did humans invent this thing?! The handkerchief was perfect! There's a reason why I always wear it!-

- At this point, why change, Your Excellency? You don't change a winning team.-

The other was lying, he simply didn't want to continue watching that scene. He was sad, especially because that God and teacher was also the closest thing to a parent he had since he was found.

Ari Cheshire, that was his name, was the Apostle of Time.

He was a ginger cat type kobold and not a “neko-boy” as many annoyingly called him.

Trust me, never call a kobold a “neko-boy”.

They are fierce creatures and willing to tear your face off with their claws. Cheshire was not one of them, he would have simply lowered his feline ears and pouted. And you do not want to see a six-foot feline-like creature pouting.

And then he had friends violent enough to beat you for him. And incredibly brutally.

Things that happen when your best friend is Androktasiai, incarnate of slaughter and youngest daughter of Death.

- Rather, why are you trying to wear a tie? Your waifu sponsors one? Or your husbando?- He asked curiously. She had seen him eat five kilos of spicy chips because he wanted his favourite cartoon toy.

Luckily a God doesn't have obesity or high blood pressure.

- I was trying to change, but you know what? Vest, shirt and handkerchief are perfect. I could add a top hat- He looked at himself in the mirror.- No, I would look like the humanized version of a crazy triangle from cartoons. It's the bandage that condemns me, you know?-

- Yes, Excellency.-

Tempo realized what he had said.

Fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shit!

He had said it in front of Cheshire, the only person he shouldn't have said it in front of! - Ari, I'm sorry, I... you know I suck at words!-

- No need to apologize. I know what you meant.- He smiled at him.

Cheshire didn't hate that comment, he honestly knew that he didn't mean to hurt him, but ever since he learned the truth behind that bandage he felt guilty.

Normally the Eleven Great Gods and their biological children had special eyes, completely black as night, bright purple irises and a symbol in the center.

That of Time, in particular, had an "X". There was no deep detail behind that "X", no reason, when he was born the concept of the letter "X" did not even exist.

It was just a coincidence. Coincidence, like finding Ari when he was a newborn.

And how because of him he lost an eye and had to replace it with a common human eye.

The eyes are the center of a God's power, a catalyst that allowed him to fully exploit his powers. A bit like the electric current that passed through the wires to make a lamp work, even without a vehicle it continued to exist but is not manageable.

Similarly a God without his Divine Eyes is not able to manage his power as he would like, but only a minimal part of it.

Still enough to destroy a universe, sure, but nothing on par with the true power of a God in his true form.

It would be like comparing a wave destroying a sand castle to the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883.

And even that sound, which was heard around the world, would not have been comparable to what Time felt that day.

There are rare moments when a God personally intervenes in the lives of mortals. Time used to show up among men to enjoy life with them, you know, the usual things?

Sex, beer, parties, fairs and the like. The kind of things you do when you're desperately trying not to think about your life.

But this wasn't one of those.

It wasn't a good day when he was drinking with some drunkard at the inn, it wasn't a good day when he was playing with children and teaching them magic tricks, it wasn't a beautiful day when he was playing piano music to Cordelia while she waited tables at her inn.

No.

It was a bad day. A lousy day.

A shitty day.

- They exterminated each other, I didn't think it was possible. They killed all 3 billion individuals.- Fate's eyes widened as he watched the massacre and the pile of burned bodies before his eyes.

He hadn't even been able to imagine, up until that point, that something like this could happen.

He knew that mortals advanced every day in their personal race to extinction, but this?

This was something that not even the Family did.

They had set out to systematically eliminate each other.

And why? He had no idea, he just knew that it was yet another stupid war.

And this was definitely the one with the stupidest outcome.

There was a poet, a musician, who once had the pleasure of hearing that in his song he asked “Where are the sons sent to war, sent home tied in flags to pretend that their corpses were still whole?”.

Here is the answer, they never returned home.

Now he understood why Death had an expression of absolute despair when he began to read the report of the dead.

An entire race extinct.

In the Multiverse there were other representatives of their race, but none were like them. None are the same, all are unique.

And now they no longer existed, they would only become dust, nourishment for the same land that he had destroyed. Perhaps the next race would be wiser.

- … Corona, what do you think?- The blond God had not said a word until that moment.

He had simply dug among the corpses with almost chilling calm.

- I think that is not why I committed the first murder. I think that is not why we fought. I think that's not why I took their form! I think no race should create tools to kill their own kind! - He slammed his walking stick on the ground furiously, but at the same time avoiding hitting the corpses around him. - Look, Fate... look, Arkhes! Look, brother! We worked so hard to help them, to make them free and they... they exterminated themselves! Why? Why?! You are the wisest, aren't you? Answer this idiot.-

- Corona...-

- Answer me I said!-

Time rarely shouted, he always preferred to hide everything behind a smile, a joke, but war would always break his mask.

- I control time, I could rewind it and save them all and then? They would simply do it again! Why?! Why can't they love each other? Why can't they be better? Be better than me?!-

The other simply lowered his gaze.

There was no answer.

Some people simply don't like the idea that it was possible to solve things through dialogue, that it would be enough to sit down.

Love instead of hate.

Help instead of mock.

Be the best version of ourselves.

Be better than a God.

- I'll tell Diane to concentrate its cauldron, you speed up the passage of time. The bodies will decompose quickly and a new species, perhaps wiser, will be born.-

- So you just want to erase everything?-

- No, just move on. They will only be pages in a history book, we can't cry for every death.-

Insensitive, perhaps, but right.

Human life is but a miserable blink of an eye compared to the infinite life of a God, the extinction of a single civilization was nothing of real importance.

But you know, emotions are not logical.

- If you want to try to look for survivors I won't stop you, but I think it's useless. Archeronte would have warned us.- He paused for a couple of seconds. Hope is the last to die, after all. - But with all the work he had, he could have done something wrong.-

False hope, probably, but better than nothing.

And Time understood it, but he decided to try anyway.

Out of desperation.

That was a vision that no religious person would ever want to see or imagine seeing.

A God who had truly become man.

No mystical miracles.

No wonderful speeches.

No followers admiring his every step.

Just a man who with his bare hands dug through corpses, many of them unrecognizable, with his bare hands.

The dirt under his nails.

The earth and blood on his hands.

The dust on his face.

And a face pair of eyes that screamed.

Others did not stop staring at him as he sat on a ruin. His, of clothes and skin, would not get dirty. Not that Fate did not love humanity, but he was too far away alone. Too divine.

He sighed, he pitied his friend. He was the one who had worked harder for those mortals than anyone else and suffered more than anyone for their stupidity.

It hurt his heart to see him in that state. And all for a useless and mediocre search.

Betrayal would have mocked him for hours, with his stupid grin, if he had seen him in that state.

- Corona, that's enough. It's not worth it...-

- Arkhes! Arkhes! Run here! I found it!-

“Found it”? Was it a joke? How many chances were there that Death had really made a mistake in his calculations? One? No, less.

They were infinitesimal, Death always did his job with surgical precision, he never missed anything.

And yet he couldn’t really believe the vision.

And he laughed.

Arkhes laughed heartily.

Of joy.

That idiot Time had a newborn baby in his hands!

A living newborn baby!

He was breathing! He was breathing on his own!

- It's a miracle!-

Time held him close, he had burst into tears while he too began to laugh heartily.

- Damn, when we return to our World no one will believe us!- Fate reduced his laughter. Because he realized. - Corona... we can't take the child with us. Eternity would certainly accept him, but Existence would get in the way. That only allows deities to reside in our World, but if we leave him somewhere else we don't know what will happen to him. He's the last of his kind.-

Time turned and began to think. It was true.

Existence would never allow a mortal to reside among the Gods.

There were only two possibilities to convince him: kill him or tempt him. But how do you kill a God? He had theories, but no certainties. And he didn't want to kill again.

So the only choice was to tempt him. And with what? With a false certainty of superiority.

Existence had always feared and despised him for how he behaved and related to others. Because he was more powerful than him.

- Well, just give him a treat, right?-

The God gently placed the newborn in the arms of the other Deity. It was strange to have a newborn.

His youngest daughter was already grown when she came into the world. Then, delicately, he brought two fingers to his face and… tore out his eye.

He tore away part of his authority. Of his very existence.

- If I give him this I'm sure he'll accept it.- He sneered. - That bastard is greedy like few others. Perfect God my ass!-

- It might not be enough, Metatron has a good business sense. Lucifer's brother is always attached to him like a mussel to a rock.-

- Those two have a constant broom up their ass when they are together. But all I have to do is promise not to use the eye I have left, I could cover it with a patch. They couldn't have a better deal... after all, I could just erase him from the face of the Multiverse. What's an Angel to a God?-

That's why Time was scary. He was too human.

Arkhes sighed. - I'll help you choose a name for the baby, we'll avoid something like "Goku" or "Vegeta".-

- Come on, those would be super cool names! So how about...-

- Call him "Yamcha" and he'll hate you for life.-

- Okay, I'll think of an uncool name.-

Tempo came out of the bathroom, finally deciding to wear his usual handkerchief.

The ties must have been created by evil itself, probably a surviving member of the Family.

- Your Excellency, are you done?-

- Yes, yes, now hurry up, we have things to do.-

- We have?- He tilted his head in confusion. - What should we do?-

- Let's go get a beer, you and me. It's on me.-

- Is there a particular reason for this?-

- Happy birthday, Ari.- He patted him on the back. - Another century added up, you're starting to lose your touch, huh? The oldest Apostle ever. You cost me an arm and a leg… pretty cheap as a price, you're worth at least a hundred!-

The kobold smiled.

- Let's say a hundred and one, without me the house would be full of junk food and dirty clothes.-

- Wow, you're going up? I'm proud of you.-

And they laughed.