Deify

No one believed in them anymore. No one believed in much of anything anymore. Felt foolish to when every day was met with new losses. But, they rose anyways. The Morrigan stripped the invaders of their health until bones were the only trace of their former existence. Her crows feasted on those unlucky enough to survive. No one could breath around Aether who deemed the outsiders unworthy of the air. The humans left in the resistance looked on in equal parts awe and horror, as the old gods rose in fury to defend their territory. Sinew and blood spilled over the land, running in rivulets as the invaders were sliced into pieces, boiled from the inside out, and burned with the wrath of every interpretation of endless suffering that existed. This…this might be worse than the first apocalypse.

Their ancestors were right to fear these beings of misery and death. Hel and Thanatos laughed manically at the onslaught, licking the viscous red liquid off their fingers like one might, in the past, drink wine. Some of the resistance fighters glanced around terrified of their companions. They were laughing. And cheering. Like this slaughter was something to celebrate. One fighter even began to pray, clutching a heart shaped locket even as the invaders had their heart ripped out of their abdominal region, fluids dripping slowly onto the earth. At moments like this, I think grief is a poison, infecting people until only monsters remain. However, other resistance members knew better. They might have won this battle, but they had a sinking feeling that they would lose their freedom regardless. It took maybe a few minutes for the gods to accomplish what we had been trying to win for years. It rang hollow. Many of the humans bowed to them, praising their victory, unable to see their own defeat. That defeat became clear to all when the first person died because they refused to worship. His electrified husk is still sitting at the front of camp.

When the apocalypse first started, everyone was frankly surprised that it wasn’t of our own making. Most people thought that it would be robots. Sadly, they didn’t last as long as us humans did. They weren’t our destruction or our salvation in the end. Aliens had always been considered, but it was also assumed that we somehow would be at fault for either provoking them or purposely instigating a conflict. We didn’t expect the aliens to the aggressors. There’s a lot we didn’t expect.

The old gods certainly were included in that list, as was the aftermath. They might have saved us from the invaders, but we quickly learned that life had just become another form of subjugation. At least we could fight back against the aliens. It felt pointless to even try with the old gods. But, at least you felt some modicum of pride to try. Struggling against what is “supposed” to be is, I think, a very human trait. Besides it wasn’t like you were safe if you didn’t fight back. Some of the gods had little reason to harm us; some even seemed to revel in it. I, myself, took a whiplash to the face simply because, as Sekhmet put it, “I was there”.

This is no way to live. This isn’t what I fought for, so I will have to fight again. Giving up ain’t in my blood, which is why we have planned a strike against the old gods. I never thought I would live to see who apocalypses or to pick a fight with Zeus. If there is any of the gods I want to kill, its that guy. He’s a prick. What wonderful words to leave in the world, right? Oh well. This a member of the human race signing off to anyone who might stumble upon my pitiful words. We were here. We lived. And tomorrow we fight. Goodbye.

We won.