Chapter 66: The Death Of God

As I open the giant door, what welcomes me is a deep, dark abyss sucking me into the void before I can even do anything. Unable to feel the ground on my feet, let alone anything around me, I have no choice but to let the darkness lead me to wherever it wants.

A beam of light suddenly erupts, and a strange scenery appears before me.

It’s a simple hut in a middle of a forest. Nothing special. Nothing grandiose. Just a plain old hut with nothing to its name but its bamboo walls and straw roof.

In the vacant lot around the house, two kids are having the time of their lives.

Judging by their similar faces, they are twins. However, one could easily tell the two apart, since one boy’s hair is white as snow, while the other’s is black as the night sky.

“Chris, Peter, time for dinner!” A female voice calls out to them from inside the house, presumably their mother. And soon enough, I know my suspicion is correct, as the white-haired boy answers:

“Yes, Mom! We’re coming!”

Peeking through the window, I can see the scene of a happy family of four: a beautiful mother, a father that has started to show his age, and a pair of twins all joyously laughing at the dinner table. A scene that I haven’t been able to see for a long time now.

All of a sudden, flashes of light and wind distort everything around me as if time itself has been forcefully accelerated. When I come to, many seasons have already passed, signaled by the pile of golden leaves neatly swept and bunched at the corner outside the house.

The kids have grown taller by around a head, and their faces have shown a bit more of an adult look. Not by too much, however, which makes them in the range of early teens at most. Their carefree smiles are still mostly present, but I can vaguely see a sense of responsibility hidden within them, especially towards the white-haired one.

“Christopher, Peter, you can come in now,” this time, it’s the father that signals the boys. However, unlike before, none of them answer, and all that’s present is the silent, weighted steps of the two.

And unlike this time, space distorts itself right as the boys enter their home, and soon enough, I’m standing in the middle of their room – with both the boys and their father, whose hairline is now a stark silver compared to the hints of which I’ve seen – and a bed covered with a white sheet behind him.

“… Sorry for intruding…” I mutter. However, the boys and their father don’t seem to mind me at all. In fact, they’re still going on with their conversation as if I didn’t even exist.

“… Huh?” I exclaim. I try to talk to Balam inside my head, but even that has no response.

“Am I dreaming, then?” I thought. “But I have never even seen these people in my life.”

Meanwhile, the conversation between the strange people continues.

“Father, does that mean…” the white-haired boy gasps as he kneels down, shocked at the news he has just heard.

“Yes, Chris,” the father answers with a regretful shake of the head. “Your mother, Maria… she has passed away. But that’s not all. After this conversation is over, I too will leave this world.”

“What do you mean, father?” Shouts Chris. “You still have years left in your life!”

“No, Chris. After this, I will voluntarily disappear forever.”

“Voluntarily… are you saying that you’re gonna kill yourself? Father, you can’t! Peter, say something!” Chris turns to his brother, wildly shaking his hands in distraught. The one called Peter, meanwhile, stands silent for a second before finally answering, but not in the words Chris wants to hear:

“If it’s your decision, father, then we will accept it. May you rest in peace.”

“Peter!”

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“Haha, I knew you’d understand, Peter,” the father lets out a gentle smile as he pats Peter on the head. “But listen up you two. This conversation is extremely important, and I can’t stress enough the need for you to listen to every word I’m about to say.”

Chris bites his lips in silence, tears of protest still flowing from his eyes. Meanwhile, Peter gives a solemn nod.

The father takes a deep breath and starts his final words:

“Within me holds a power that governs everything in this world, even abstract concepts like life or time. As the wielder of said power, I have to follow certain rules to keep this world in its balance, one of which is to never tamper with the human life. However… your mother has passed away, and I can only keep myself sane for so long.

One day, I’d finally snap and use this power to bring her back to life. And once that happens, there’s no telling what I would do next to satisfy my humanly desires. That’s why I’m giving up this power and splitting it in two, and I want you two to each hold half of it. Don’t worry, you two complement each other perfectly, so I believe one can pull the other out of the depths of despair I’ve caught myself in.

There is, however, a cost. Even if the two halves will have their powers reduced significantly, they will still come with the curse of immortality. Meaning that you two will have to walk by each other’s side until the end of time… or until someone else like me arrives in this world, and you decide that he should be the heir to this power.”

From the father’s hands spawns two different orbs of pure energy, one shining the color of pure, untainted white, while the other sucks the light out of everything with its deep, dense black.

“Now, you two. Touch the orbs with your hands, and the transfer of power will be complete.”

“Wait, this is too much information for me to understand!” Chris shouts in confusion. “Power that governs everything in this world? Corruption? What are you talking about, father?”

“Chris,” answers Peter, raising his hand in return. “Sometimes, the best way to answer is to be silent. Father is not going to change his decision, so it’s our duty now as his sons to accept whatever he leaves us with a smile.”

“Peter… you can’t be serious! What about the days we’ve spent? What about this family? Are you actually going to just let everything go like that?”

“Shut up, Chris!” Peter snaps for the first time. “Do you think I’m not saddened by this? But this is what father wants, so I wish to at least send him off with a smile! Why can’t you do the same?”

“I…”

“Chris, Peter,” says the father. “I know it’s hard for you two. I’m not even a good father to you. In fact, I’m so bad at parenting that you two haven’t even learned my name yet, but I’m asking you this ridiculous task. So… please, I don’t want to see you fighting as my last moment. Chris, if you don’t want to do it, just say the words, and I’ll destroy this power for good, but my life will still end when it happens.”

“I…” Chris sobs, wiping his tears with his arms. “I just want us to be together.”

“We’ll always be together,” the father smiles in return, nodding his head towards the boy’s chest. “You two will always have each other, while your mother and I will always be in there.”

“… I… I’ll do it,” finally, Chris lets out a firm nod.

“Thank you, Chris. Truly, thank you.”

As the words leave the father’s mouth, the two boys finally touch their respective orbs in unison. The orbs are then absorbed directly into their bodies, while surrounding the father is now a divine glow of light as his body slowly dissolves into nothingness.

To the boy’s surprise, however, their father’s original appearance is the one to disappear first, but he himself still lingers on, now with the appearance of a young man only a few years older than them at most, his hair split into two distinct halves of black and white.

“Hehe, surprised?” Seeing his sons’ shocked expressions, the young man answers. “Yeah, this is what I actually look like. It’s hard keeping an old front, you know. But I’m still gonna be dead soon, so I might as well show you guys everything about me.

It’s weird saying this as your father, but my name’s Ichihito Ryuuhan. That explains the Eastern features on your faces, by the way. But I hope you, Chris, Peter, can remember that name and fondly remember it one day. As for now… farewell, my sons.”

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