Flipping The Board

Altor widened his eyes. And not only him, the other four people did the same.

"Your faces tell me I am right. So you people really exist. I get it now." Pablo leaned back and sat in the same position as before.

"How did you get to know that?" Altor asked.

"Your names." Pablo replied. "They were the names written all over mythology. Greek, Norse, Egypt. Such names belonged to the Gods. I have read some novels and comics too. Also, this man, Rameses, called me a Human which says you people are not humans. And since you can do magic as well, that's a clear giveaway."

Alfida smiled. "He is good."

"I agree." Chrysus spoke as well.

Demeter and Rameses remained silent though.

"You are right, Pablo. We are Gods." Altor confirmed.

"And now you all are going to judge me for my doings and decide my fate. Is that right?" Pablo guessed but Altor shook his head.

"No. We are different Gods. We have nothing to do with your Earth and its Gods. Our motive concerns you."

"And what does a group of Gods want from a mortal?" Pablo asked.

"Cleansing."

Pablo quivered his brows.

"Listen, Pablo. Listen carefully." Altor turned serious and Pablo returned the favor.

"Just like your Earth, we have our own world. It's called Seraphim. We created it with love and hope. We cherish it. We created good people, nature, scenery and many more things there. It became the most beautiful world to ever exist. But for the past hundred years, things haven't been good."

"I am listening." Pablo said and Altor continued.

"The people of Seraphim had turned evil. And not a few people, but all of them. There is no quality life there anymore. The society there has crumbled to the abyss, people have become monsters and if it goes on, we are afraid Seraphim will be no more."

"Sounds like Earth to me." Pablo commented.

"It's not a joke, Pablo. If I should phrase it in a different way then in Seraphim, everyone is Criminal X. We need your help. Only you can do it."

"Do what? Cleansing? Be specific, Altor."

Altor sighed. "Yes. Cleansing. We, the Gods, want you to go to Seraphim, eradicate the Evil present there and restore it to its former glory."

Altor stopped talking and stared at Pablo.

The man showed no expressions but he did change his seating position.

He put his elbows on his knees and remained serious as ever.

"You people do know who I am, right?"

"Yes. We know. That's why we called you to our domain in the first place. The Earthen Gods weren't letting you go. We have to beg them to get our hands on you."

"Why don't you restore your world yourselves? You are Gods."

"We can't. Gods can't directly interfere with their world. Why do you think you were able to commit so many crimes on Earth? It's because the Gods couldn't stop you themselves."

"I see. But if your world, Seraphim, was doomed for the past hundred years, why didn't you choose anyone else to clean it for all this time?"

"You think we wouldn't have tried?" Altor's voice turned solemn. "We send many people from different worlds to Seraphim in order to restore it. But they all died. They weren't able to handle the atmosphere and people there."

"Why couldn't they handle it?"

"Because they were all good men. We thought a good person could change Seraphim but turned out, Heroes don't win every time. If the Villain is really strong, the Hero will die."

Pablo nodded a few times. "So that's why you chose me this time."

"Yes. Good against Evil has been done too many times. This time, we'll flip the board. We'll mix poison with poison. We'll place knife against knife. This time, we chose you, Pablo. This time, the game will be…"

Altor paused and the next second, with a smile, he and Pablo spoke at the same time :

"Evil against Evil."

Altor stopped speaking and awaited Pablo's response.

Pablo didn't take that much time to speak as well.

"You guys seem sure that I will accept this offer of yours."

"You won't?" Altor asked.

"You will refuse Gods?" Rameses, from Altor's right, spoke as well.

Pablo ignored Altor and looked at Rameses. "You people are desperate. It's evident by your manner. You all need me. It's not the other way around. Right now, even you Gods are powerless against me."

Rameses clenched his jaw.

Altor sighed. "Let it go, Rameses. I'll do the talking."

Altor didn't wait for Rameses' reply and spoke to Pablo.

"You have committed many crimes, Pablo. Isn't that right?"

"Yes." Pablo replied right away.

"Do you regret them?"

"Not one bit."

"Exactly." Altor slapped his knee. "We need a man like you. We watched your last moments. We watched your whole life from here. Even till the end, you killed thousands of people. We also heard your last words in the court. You said you wish you could have killed more. Don't you want to live again to do that?"

"I don't mind living again, Altor. But I do mind living under the obligation of doing your task. I don't want burdens. You getting my point?"

Altor remained silent for a moment and in the end, he just sighed.

"So what you are saying is…" Altor peered on Pablo's face.

"You won't do our work for free."

Pablo's lips curled up. "Smart God you are."

"Fine. What do you want?" Altor asked.

"What can you offer?" Pablo asked in return.

Altor went silent at this. He roamed his head at the other Gods.

And all four Gods gave a slight nod to Altor. Even Rameses nodded.

Altor returned the nod and spoke again.

"Pablo, if you finish our task, then we will fulfill one wish of yours. Whatever it will be. We will fulfill it. No matter what kind of wish you will make, it will be done."

Pablo nodded in appreciation and stayed silent for a good few seconds.

"If that's the case…" He eventually spoke and looked straight at Altair's black eyes.

"Make it three wishes."

"Human," Rameses chimed in again. "What made you think you have the audacity to negotiate with us? Are you not afraid?"

"I am already dead, Genius. What's there to be afraid of? I can't die any further. And don't forget, you guys called me here. I sure as hell have the right to negotiate with you."

"Such mann-"

"I accept." Altor cut off Rameses. "Pablo, I accept. If you complete our task, we will fulfill three wishes of yours."

"Altor?" Rameses jerked his head at Altor. His eyes wide open. "Why did you accept that?"

"You know full well why I accepted that. We need Pablo in Seraphim. If Seraphim becomes more corrupt than it already is… you know what will happen."

Rameses closed his mouth at that and didn't speak.

Altor then focused back on Pablo.

"So we have a deal?" He reached out his right hand.

Pablo, however, didn't move. He kept his elbows on his knees and asked :

"How can I make sure you don't go back on your words?"

Altor's brows flinched. "You don't believe Gods?"

Pablo remained serious. "I don't."

Altor sighed. "Right. You don't. Fine."

SNAP!

Altor snapped his fingers and a golden paper materialized on his palm.

"This is a Heart Contract." Altor dropped the paper but surprisingly, the paper remained floating in the air. It didn't fall down.

Altor then looked at the other Gods.

The other Gods nodded and raised their hands towards the paper.

Now all five Gods were touching the paper.

"You touch the paper too, Pablo." Altor said.

Pablo stared at the paper, he blew air on it as well.

Altor rolled his eyes. "It's safe. You are already dead for god's sake."

Pablo nodded and finally placed his right hand on the paper.

"Now what?" He asked.

Altor didn't reply and the next moment, all five Gods spoke at the same time.

"We, the Gods of Seraphim, pledge to Pablo Castillo that if he accomplished the task which we expect from him in Seraphim, we will fulfill his three wishes. No matter how illogical and impossible they may be. We will fulfill his wishes."

SHING!

The golden paper shone a bright light forcing Pablo's eyes to shut close.

'Shit. I wanted to see.' Pablo cursed. He wanted to make sure Gods don't do anything without him noticing.

The light remained for two seconds and Pablo opened his eyes again.

"It's done. Congratulations." Altor spoke, smiling.

"What's done? What happened? You better not have cheated, Altor." Pablo threatened. The golden paper was not in front of him anymore as well.

Altor chuckled. "Do you always suspect everything?"

"Yes." Pablo answered right away.

"Don't worry. See this." Altor opened his mouth and showed his tongue.

Pablo squinted his eyes. "Are those… fingerprints?"

"Yes. They are. And they are yours. Stick out your tongue."

Pablo did that and Altor produced a mirror in front of Pablo.

Pablo saw his reflection and saw the prints on his tongue as well.

"On your tongue, you have our fingerprints, and on our tongues, we have your fingerprints. It's because of the Heart contract. Now we both can't go back on our words. Fair enough?" Altor explained.

Pablo sighed. "As long as it's true."

Altor nodded and reached out his right hand again.

Pablo, this time, also moved and raised his right hand as well.

Afraid that Pablo would say something again, Altor quickly grabbed Pablo's hand.

Pablo didn't mind that and grabbed Altor's hand as well.

Then, a God and a Human shook hands and this moment would not be forgotten, especially by the Gods.

"We have a deal."