I couldn't fall asleep. Things I had gone through this afternoon kept boggling my mind. Rachelle was killed and then she was kind of revived again. The dog turned silver haired suitor of Rachelle was actually the god of light. Even though the spelling of dog and god was just mirrored, that didn't mean I could accept that! And most important of all I was just a chess piece in the game of gods. All my miseries were just inconsequential to them it seemed.

Yves and the god of darkness kept talking about the game the gods were playing, but what exactly was that game? I rolled over for the tenth times. I couldn't fall asleep, I needed to get some answers.

"Yves, wake up," I called while shaking him. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

The guy in front of me groaned as he covered his eyes with his forearm. "I said you could wake me up when you needed me, but never have I expected this. Can't your curiosity wait?"

"No."

"I am just so glad you now know how to use my name, so glad." He smiled like he wanted to kill me. "What do you want to know?"

"The truth. Just what are the gods planning?"

"Do you know besides us mortals, the gods, there was once a third type of creatures in this world?" He ruffled his hair with one hand and with his other grabbed the cup of tea I had prepared for him. You need some incentive for a lazy high priest to tell you bed time story. I pushed forward a plate of macaroon I made.

I thought back to the lore of our kingdom. "The beasts?"

The beasts were the nightmares of every child in this country. They were the villains in every fairy tale. They were what stopped people from exploring the deep woods. Lore had it that the beasts were now residing in the Forbidden Woods near the border of our country. That's just the lore. Once in a while, there were some who weren't afraid of death and had a crave for adventures venturing into the Forbidden Woods, but rarely would they return. Those selected few who returned had their power greatly improved, but they all lost their memories. As if they signed a contract with a devil that made them gave up their memories in return for great power.

Yves took a bite of the macaroon in his hand and said, "Many, many years ago, mortals, the gods and the beasts live along peacefully. Well, the gods treated mortals as their servants all the while ignoring the existence of the beasts. Mortals, with a lot of help from the gods, started to invade lands of the beasts. The gods at that time still lingered in our land all the time. They found mortals entertaining. This fragile balance continued on for a long time. Guess what happened next?"

"The beasts were dissatisfied?" If I was in the position of the beasts, I would too. The beasts were basically ignored by mortals and humans alike and their living habitats were invaded by mortals.

"The beasts were a huge bunch. Some were as weak as mortals, but some had power as powerful as the gods. The stronger ones decided to revolt against the gods. They devised a plan to pull down the gods."

"That's where Rachelle came in?"

"According to what the old man said the beasts handpicked a beauty who had a heart of gold and sent her into the temple of light." He rolled his eyes. "As I said, the gods lingered with the mortals quite a lot back then. And the god of light was a fool."

Was he referring the god of darkness as the old man?

Putting one and one together. "So the god of light fell in love with Rachelle. But how did this kill him? He is a god!"

"While the gods and mortals use sorcery, the beasts were born with their powers and abilities. Didn't you learn anything from your own bed time stories? The hints were all there. Bed time stories are tales written by victors." He smiled cruelly.

In those stories, the villainous beasts had all kind of powers and abilities. Like venom, like a voice to hypnotize people, like from their bones they can form the most invincible weapon. They could change their appearance to look similar to us mortals, but they were also a beast at the same time.

"Rachelle was part of the beast?"

"No, she was a mortal through and through. She was just hypnotized by one beast and she carried out the plan perfectly. The beasts gave her a dagger specifically designed to shatter a soul of god. And the hypnotized Rachelle killed the god of light with the dagger. In the end the soul of god of light shattered into a million shards."

"And the gods didn't notice a thing at that time?" I asked. The god of darkness and his high priest knew quite a lot of details.

"Well," Yves smiled mischievously. "Do you think it's possible? Those were dark thoughts and plans of darkness."

"So... the god of darkness knew about this plan all along? And he didn't stop them from killing his brother?"

Yves shrugged, "He found it entertaining. The most entertaining thing he found in years. He was never neutral to begin with. He is the god of darkness. He can start wars so as to entertain himself. For all I know, the idea of invading lands of the beasts might even be instigated by him."

"So he just stood by the side when the beasts were plotting to kill his brother and the plan took action?"

"He is a god, a god is prideful and narcissistic." Yves smirked. "Who knew his brother is such an idiot?"

So he thought his brother could spot the trap and kill Rachelle, but in the end his brother was a god who found love more important than his life.

"But by putting together the shards of his soul, they could revive him. Why did the gods simply keep those shards in their own temples?" I pointed out.

"The gods are all a bunch of power hunger maniacs. Back then the twin brothers of light and darkness were the most powerful, they were like the kings above them. Now one was down. Do you think they would allow the god of light to be revived and reining them again?"

"But wouldn't the god of darkness disagree?"

"Who knows what the old man was thinking at that time? Maybe he was entertained. Maybe he thought his idiot brother deserved a punishment. Maybe he was too embarrassed to say anything. If it was me, I would have just let this idiot rot in hell."

"But the beasts still failed in the end, didn't they?"

"Of course, even though the other gods sat back when the beasts killed a powerful god, the gods responded by showing their gratitude by banishing them into the Forbidden Woods. Gods are ungrateful." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"The god of darkness said Rachelle was recreated by the gods as a trap for the god of light. Why set out Rachelle to revive him now if they want the god of light gone?"

"See how lack of sleep messes with your brain?" He tapped on my brain. "It's the god of darkness who wants to revive his brother. Or else why do I need to evoke this reborn curse we both hate so much?"

Wait... after Lucian regained all his memory, he chose to live on and die as a mortal instead of killing Rachelle. The other gods wanted to kill Lucian once and for all! I widened my eyes in shock.

"As I said, the world is a chess board for the gods. We are just the chess pieces." Yves looked at me with his knowing red eyes. "Now, after telling you a bed time story, it's time for you to sleep."

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