Thanks for the prompt. It was a fun write. :)

“Step forward please. Oh. You again. The boss wants to see you.”

“What…why..?” Lenny stutters.

The attendant doesn’t answer and motions for the next soul to step forward.

Lenny steps aside and anxiously waits for his meeting with the boss. Time seemed to stop while his mind raced about the reasons the boss would want to see lowly little Lenny. None of the possible outcomes seemed favorable.

“Soul #52681087, Human Name Lenny, please step up to the desk.”

Lenny gets up, nearly tripping over his own feet. He walks in the room and sees the boss, Zixx. Zixx is a brutish looking god. And a powerful god as well. Being the God of Reincarnation requires a tremendous amount of strength, not only physical, but mental too.

“Take a seat Lenny.” Zixx says gruffly. “You’ve been back here…47 times more often than other souls that pass through here. Care to explain why?”

Lenny is silent.

Zixx asks again “Lenny, do you care to explain why you’ve been back so often?”

Lenny is still silent, looking down at his feet.

“We have other options of seeing into your soul, but they are rather…unpleasant.” Zixx says.

This causes Lenny to stir slightly, almost looking like he is ready to speak.

“I… I.. just feel this weight on my soul every time I’m reincarnated. It never leaves. It doesn’t matter if I’m a human, an ant, or any other animal, the feeling remains. Nothing makes it go away, so I need to.”

“And how do you do that?” Zixx asks, some concern in his voice.

“When the weight becomes too much, I find a way out. Just depends what creature I am. If I’m an ant, for example, I’ll get myself crushed.” Lenny says.

“Ahh, I see. And this darkness you speak of, can you tell me more about it?”

The way Zixx is asking questions reminds Lenny of when he was a human and tried therapy.

“Does Zixx… care about me?” Lenny wonders to himself. He is almost touched at the thought of a God actually caring about him.

Lenny tells Zixx about his struggles with life. How, no matter who or what he became, he was still alone. For some reason, Lenny was unable to sustain relationships in his life. Whether they be with other wolves in the pack, or friends to go have dinner with, Lenny was alone. Never family to love him nor friends to care for him.

The more Zixx heard, the sadder he became.

“And then I find out not even Hell wants my soul. How do you think that makes me feel? Hell, the worst place in the existence, does not want me..” Lenny says, starting to sob.

Zixx had heard enough.

“Lenny, if you could have the perfect life, what would it look like?”

“Well, I think I’d like to be a cat in a loving home. They are adored by their family and get to enjoy solitude as well.”

“Lenny, I can do this for you if you promise me one thing…. Please give life a fair shot this time, okay?”

Lenny nods.

And with that, Zixx snapped Lenny’s soul into a nice tabby about to go into a loving home.

———

“What should we name him?” The woman asks.

The man pauses, and thinks for a second.

“I’ve always liked the name Lenny.”

The days Jovi, the god of of tricks, spent down with the mortals were the worst days of his eternal life.

“How can humans suffer so much, yet still persist on?” He wondered. “If the other gods won’t get off their asses to help those that worship us, then I will make them.”

Jovi started forming a plan immediately. How can a group of mortals intend to defeat the Gods of Hilam, one may wonder.

Simple: Tricks.

And trick them he did. It was not hard for the Gods of Helam have grown dumb and lazy over the many years of peace in Helam. This should not be confused with peace on earth, which is nonexistent.

The plan was simple, Jovi would continue on like nothing happened, but during his free time he would sow the seeds of dissension amongst his fellow gods.

“It likely wont take long.” He thought, amused and smiling at how clever he was.

Within 3 days the gods were at each others throats. Jovi knew all the right buttons to push. Spending an eternity with his fellow gods had its share of perks.

With the gods distracted, Jovi leads an army of mortals to the base of Helam Mountain, into the home of the gods. The battle was swift and decisive, with Jovi leading the mortals to victory.

The gods would be back, as they were immortal, but when they come back, they will find Helam Mountain has new residents with fancy new warding that will keep even the strongest of gods out.

Looking around at all his slain kin, Jovi can’t help but smile.

Your heart is pounding.

“Those…those can’t be…”

The more you look at the photo, the more certain you get. They have to be from “Gods Quest.” They look too familiar.

Running inside, you slam the door open. It hits the wall with a thud, leaving a mark.

“Where is it. Where is it?”

Video games fly around the room.

“It must be here. I know I still have it”.

Just then, something catches the corner of your eye. Under your bed, you see a lone game, with dust on it. It’s been years.

You look around for your old G64 and boot up the game.

“The NPCs were featured on the title screen” you think to yourself.

As it’s booting up, you don’t believe your eyes. The landscape is the same. The buildings are the same, but something is different.

Where the NPCs should be…there are just silhouettes.

You frantically search for the post card, finding it next to the bed, flipped over. On the back it says “We know what you did. We’re coming.”