Sam shook his head. "You're the same old George, that's for sure. Anyway, Shalee and I were supposed to create an empire and be the example the other worlds were to follow, but it looks like that is going to be put on the back burner now that the Crystal Moon is missing."

George grinned. "You two ... an example? Now I know everyone around here is smoking crack. What else can you tell me?"

"Shalee was brought here to be my mate," Sam replied.

Shalee grabbed one of the pillows off the bed and threw it across the room at Sam. She used the opportunity to act as if she did not know. "You never told me anything about that."

"Maybe we could talk about it later," Sam replied as he threw the pillow back across the room and grinned as it hit Shalee upside her head.

George shook his head. "You poor girl. You're the one who has to sleep with this big lug? What a tragedy." The jerk moved to the window and looked down at the torches lighting the cobblestone streets as Sam moved to the table and took a seat. "I don't know anything about this Lasidious, but maybe I'll meet him one of these Peaks. If he has plans for me, he'd better say something before I find my way back to my daughter."

Sam looked at Shalee and frowned. "Shalee and I have been so overwhelmed; we lost sight of your disappearance. We're grateful you're okay."

George placed his hands on the window sill. "Are we still dwelling on that? Shouldn't we be figuring out a way to get home?"

Shalee sighed, "If there was a home to go to, I'm sure we would be trying."

"What the h.e.l.l do you mean?"

Sam's face turned somber. "Okay, okay. George, I have something I need to tell you. You already know about the worlds and the Crystal Moon. But what you don't know is that the G.o.ds created a book after the G.o.d Wars destroyed the cosmos. They call this book the Book of Immortality, and it literally holds the souls of every dead being inside the page that their name has been inscribed on."

"You're s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with me, aren't you?" George responded. "You think that you can make me believe stupid c.r.a.p like that."

Sam shook his head. "Not at all. I don't think you're simpleminded. But I'm not finished. There's more. From my understanding of the G.o.d Wars ... the battles were all consuming, and they even destroyed Heaven and h.e.l.l. It no longer matters if a person is good or bad, everybody ends up inside the Book. They stay there until it is their moment to be reborn."

George's brow furrowed. "Sounds like bull c.r.a.p to me."

Sam nodded. "It's hard to argue with you, but it's the truth." Sam reached up to scratch the top of his head. "Ba.s.sorine said that the G.o.ds of Earth sent the souls of their followers to Heaven or h.e.l.l before they were destroyed. But that's no longer possible."

"You don't really expect me to believe you," George responded.

Sam nodded. "I do."

"You're telling me what the Bible said is true? You're saying I would've gone to h.e.l.l for the things I've done?" He paused for a fair series of moments. "Considering the way this world is, I'm inclined to believe anything right now."

Sam held up his hands to stop George from continuing. "Okay, okay. If you were worried about your soul, you're lucky h.e.l.l is gone." Sam stood from his chair. A grave expression appeared on his face. "There's something else you need to know."

"I'm listening."

A long silence filled the room. "Earth is gone."

George laughed. "Yeah, right! Whatever, dude!"

Sam's expression did not change. "I swear ... I'm telling you the truth."

George looked at the floor. "This is all too farfetched. It's like you're playing a game with me. If everything was destroyed ... including Earth, and nothing remains ... and the only worlds in existence are the ones the statue spoke about, then that means-"

Sam's heart sunk as he saw the light turn on behind George's eyes.

Shalee stood from the bed. She kept her eyes focused on George as she walked across the room, stopped next to Sam and then grabbed Sam's arm and held it tight. She remembered how she felt when she learned her world had been annihilated and that her family and Chanice were no longer living.

George reached for his wallet and started to open it, but he remembered the picture of his daughter was missing. He crumbled to the floor. Under normal circ.u.mstances he would never have shown weakness, but the loss of his daughter was not a normal circ.u.mstance. He started to cry as the realization of what the destruction of Earth meant. It was more than he could bear. Sam's revelation was too overpowering.

Shalee tried to rush to his side, but George held up his hands and screamed for her to stay back. "Don't come near me! I'm dangerous!" He pushed himself up against the wall and balled up below the window.

George's grief was h.e.l.lish as the memories of his daughter flooded his mind. The pain of knowing he would never see her again was tormenting. "She was so young," he sobbed. "I loved my Abbie more than anything. She was perfection, and she loved me, too ... no matter what. She didn't judge me. She loved me because I was her dad. Oh, G.o.d..."

George wailed as he remembered that there was no Heaven. "How can Abbie's soul find a safe place to rest if there's no place but a book for her to go to?" He rose to his knees and peeked out the window. "My baby won't know Athena." The dreams of his little girl going to the park with Athena would never come true. This thought amplified his pain. "My heart hurts!"

George stood and made his way to the door. "I need to go. I need to go now." Before he opened the door, he turned to face Sam and Shalee. "This is where we part. I need to find a place for me now. Don't follow me." He slammed the door behind him.

Lasidious stood from his chair. He maintained his invisible cover and walked across the room. The G.o.d pa.s.sed through the wood of the door to see where George was going. The Mischievous One did not want to lose sight of his work-in-progress.

Shalee tried to follow, but Sam grabbed her arm. "Don't! He needs to figure this one out on his own."

"What if he kills himself?" Shalee reb.u.t.ted. "I can't imagine a child of mine dying." Shalee fell onto the bed. Her sympathy for George's pain was pulling at the core of her heart. "If he kills himself, I couldn't deal with that kind of guilt."

"Would you stop?" Sam chastised. "Pull yourself together. He isn't going to kill himself. He's a better man than that. Something tells me that he'll fight back and land on his feet. He mentioned a woman. Perhaps he has a shoulder to cry on."

George was devastated as he walked down the hallway with the invisible G.o.d following close. The manipulator became more enraged with every step. His hate was enough to fuel the whole of Grayham twice over.

His mind questioned. How could the one thing good in my life be taken from me? How could these "so-called" G.o.ds destroy everything I consider precious and dear? Why did my baby have to die?

His mind screamed this agonizing cry again and again until he was lost in tormenting sorrow. Why did my Abbie have to die? Why did my Abbie have to die? Why did my Abbie have to die?

He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked out across the dining area of the inn. People were sitting and drinking, unaware of the danger lingering at the top of the stairs.

George removed his gloves. "The G.o.ds have taken my baby girl, now it's my turn. I'll kill your followers. I'll have my vengeance. I'll kill 'em all," he hissed under his breath with a reinforced evil. "An eye for an eye ... just like the Good Book said."

His eyes grew dark with hate. The baby-blue of his irises faded and was lost to his resentment as he scanned the room. His eyes were now black like the darkest night, and the last piece of goodness in George vanished.

Lasidious watched with concern. In all his seasons, he had never seen a revulsion so intense. Even he could not believe that George's emotions could cause the color of his eyes to change. The G.o.d knew this was not good for his plans. He would need to follow George until he could find a way to fix the problem.

George clapped his hands and scanned the room. He decided to kill everyone, starting with the men and working his way to the women. But he would spare the mother that was feeding the only child that was sitting in a high chair next to one of the tables. He flew down the stairs and started touching them all as they ate, shouting over and over within his mind, Everyone must die!

The taste of vengeance was sweet. He would kill every follower of the G.o.ds. Kill them all!

The town would have seen more deaths that night, but it was late when George exited the inn. He stole a torch from a nearby pole and headed toward the southern edge of the Enchanted Forest. Along the way, another 29 people were transformed into statues. Once he arrived, he lifted his head to the sky and screamed, "Kepler!"

After a bit, the giant cat appeared from the shadows. He could sense the shift in George. Something inside the demon warned him to keep his distance.

The blackness of George's eyes burned its way through the jaguar's undead heart. The torch and the way it lit the murderer's face amplified the intensity of his depraved stare.

The demon waited for orders.

"Go into town and find a man named Amar! I want you to do this before morning and tell him to come out here! I'll be waiting for you in the forest! Go!"

Kepler wanted to object, but he did not want to argue with the hate flowing from the human. For the moment, he would do as he was told. He turned and charged into the darkness.

George headed into the forest, found a clearing and started a fire. He lifted his head toward the starless sky and shouted. "Lasidious! Lasidious! I know you can hear me if you're a G.o.d. I'll kill everything if you don't show yourself."

A long period of silence pa.s.sed before George received a response. "You called?" Lasidious answered, appearing as Jason. As the Mischievous One walked toward the fire, he morphed into his true form. "I am here as you've requested. What would you like to say?"

George darted around the fire and grabbed hold of the G.o.d's right hand. To the murderer's surprise, nothing happened.

Lasidious' laughter echoed inside George's brain as the G.o.d's eyes turned bright red and his teeth to sharpened, fine points. Lasidious lifted only a finger, and the mortal's body floated away from him. The G.o.d lowered his finger and forced George into a seated position next to the fire.

Now, fellow soul ... according to the laws scribed onto the Book of Immortality's pages, the G.o.ds were allowed to defend an attack to make a point. On the other hand, they were not allowed to kill the soul responsible for initiating the attack. Lasidious broke no law by forcing George to sit by the fire.

Lasidious surrounded the area with an invisible field of privacy that would allow them to talk without fear of being heard by the others of the Collective. "How bold of you, George. Did you truly think that your power was strong enough to attack a G.o.d? Are you not familiar with what the term, 'G.o.d,' means? Did you not think I would have the power to stop something so trivial? I would not have told you how to acquire a power that I couldn't defend myself against. Think, George! This is unbecoming of your wit. I would have expected more ... much more.

"Perhaps we should start again. You can speak to me as if I'm someone you respect."

George screamed. "Why would I respect you? It's your fault the G.o.d Wars happened! My daughter is dead because of you! Kill me now, and get it over with! You've taken everything that means anything from me!"

Lasidious leaned forward. The G.o.d's eyes burned a hotter red. "George, the G.o.ds aren't responsible for starting the wars. The wars began as a result of the handiwork of an angel. Perhaps you would remember his name ... Lucifer. The Morning Star was the one responsible for your daughter's end. He failed to value your daughter's life. It was his lack of compa.s.sion that caused Abbie's end ... not mine."

The redness in Lasidious' eyes softened. "I know your heart. What you have lost doesn't need to be lost forever."

George held the gaze of the G.o.d without wavering. "My daughter is dead! I don't care about who started the battles. All I care about is Abbie. She was everything: my light, my soul, my smile, my comfort, my desire to keep going, and the only person I ever loved. You took her from me. I have nothing to live for now. What could've been so important that Lucifer had to destroy my little girl for it? I want nothing to do with any of you."

Lasidious reached inside the pocket of his dark-blue robe. He pulled out a picture of George's daughter and gave it to him. He watched the Earthling tremble as he held the picture near his heart. "Sometimes, what we think is lost, isn't lost at all. Your daughter's soul is simply resting inside the Book of Immortality. I personally saw to that. I retrieved her soul when Earth was destroyed and placed it inside the Book's pages."

"You what?"

"George, I knew this day would come, and we would have this conversation. I can get your daughter back for you, but it will require effort to be put into our moments."

"What do you mean by that?" George sneered.

"I have a plan ... one that I put in place long ago. I thought you would be the right being to help me carry out this plan. I saved you by bringing you here, and once I learned of your daughter, I went back for her soul. She was lost in the darkness of s.p.a.ce surrounding your destroyed Earth, and I plucked her from it. There were billions of souls there that Peak, but I only retrieved hers. I asked the Book to give her soul pleasant dreams, and the Book agreed, but not until after it questioned me as to why I would do something so against my nature."

"Yeah, and why would you do that?" George scoffed. "I'm sure you're a peach."

"Touche," Lasidious responded. His eyes changed from red to crystal-blue. "I told the Book that a soul as tender as your Abbie's had touched my heart. That was the end of our discussion. I poured happy thoughts into the page where her soul rests. She is living an existence where she's at peace. In her reality, you're still the best father a young girl could ever have. You take her to the park. You play together, and you buy her ice cream cones."

George's countenance softened just a bit. "So ... what you're saying is that she's alright."

"Completely," Lasidious boasted. "I've even given your Abbie a little dog. We named him Tidbit. This vision and other pleasant memories play over and over inside the Book's pages. Abbie is reminded every Peak of how great her dad is. She laughs at you as you get ready to go home from the park, and the dog p.i.s.ses on your foot. She even thinks her mother is happy, and you have a great marriage. I've given her a pleasurable existence."

George wiped tears from his cheeks. "Well ... other than the ex-wife part, it seems like what you've done for my Abbie is a good thing. Are you sure that you can help me get her back?"

The G.o.d smiled. "Your life was spared from the destruction of Earth for a reason. I should be able to retrieve your daughter's soul from the Book and rejoin you with her. Holding the power to retrieve your daughter is the key. I have a plan to attain this power. For now, I'm bound by the laws written on the Book's pages, but I have plans to rectify this problem."

"How does this involve me?" George queried.

"I need someone on Grayham to create monumental distractions. These distractions are necessary for me to move without recourse while the G.o.ds watch the events on Grayham unfold."

Lasidious closed the gap and put his hand on George's shoulder. "I believe you could be reunited with your daughter if we work together. We could accomplish this in a season or two. However, my plan is contingent upon one thing."

George shook his head. "There's always a catch, isn't there?"

Lasidious smiled. "Of course, there is. My plan will only work if you are strong enough to create diversions that will capture the G.o.ds' curiosities."

George frowned. "Are you going to be able to offer me any help? It's not like I have experience with cosmic distractions or anything."

Lasidious had to chuckle. "I like you, George, and I do plan on helping you. But I cannot make you help me. It must be your decision to undertake this task. What do you say, George? Will you help me help you?"

The mortal responded without hesitation. "h.e.l.l yes, but only on two conditions. When you get the power to retrieve Abbie's soul, you do it immediately, and I want to be updated on our progress as we go. I also want to have plenty of this world's coin. I don't want to worry about finances while I'm doing your dirty deeds. If you agree to that, I'll bring a h.e.l.l to this world like no one has ever seen. This should keep the others off your a.s.s."

"Agreed," Lasidious responded, "but it's dangerous for us to have these meetings. We would not want the others to listen in and diminish our advantage. If you will open your mind, I can keep our conversations between us. No one will be able to look into your thoughts to retrieve anything we've discussed. I shall talk with you in your dreams, but as I have said, this must be your choice."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah," George dismissed. "I already said that this is what I choose. Let's get the d.a.m.n show on the road." George clapped his hands and rubbed them together.

Lasidious touched George on the head. After a brief period of moments, he moved away. "It's done."

"What's done?" George replied.

"Your mind has been protected."

"That's it?"

"Yes," Lasidious replied. "Were you expecting something else?"

"h.e.l.l yes. I didn't feel a thing. You need to work on the way you do things. You need to learn what special effects are. When you do something G.o.dly, attach a statement to it."

Lasidious' brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"When I received the power from the staff, all I ended up with was a bellyache. There should have been some kind of intense experience that was attached to it."

A smile appeared on Lasidious' face. "You and all those movies locked inside your head are a bit much. You make me laugh, George. I know about your special effects. I will work on something better for the next series of moments in which you receive a power."

"h.e.l.l, yeah! Now that sounds better. Maybe whip up some lightning, some thunder, or maybe blow something up. Yeah ... you should totally blow some c.r.a.p up. But don't forget to bust out the rain to put it out."

"I get it, George. You want drama. I'll show you some."

The Mischievous One crossed his arms as the expression on his face changed. "I cleaned up the mess you made in town. The people you killed live again. I'm glad I had my eye on you. You must be cautious of the trail you leave. You're not immortal."

Lasidious touched George's head and smiled as the murderer's eyes turned from pitch-black back to soft-blue. "I don't think your lady friend would've liked your eyes looking so sinister. From now on, I shall visit in your dreams or whenever I'm sure it's safe to appear to you. Your Abbie is waiting, George. Make us proud."

The G.o.d vanished as Kepler emerged from the darkness of the forest to stand in the light being cast by the fire. The demon's speech was reserved. "Has your mood changed, or should I come back? Your eyes do look better."

George had not known his eyes were a problem until Lasidious had said something. Now even Kepler had made a comment. "Relax, Kep, I have nothing to be angry about. I'm sorry for yelling at you. What do you say we get some information out of that mage when he gets here?"

The demon turned and looked toward the trees. Amar stepped out of the darkness and into the light. After closing the distance, the mage took a seat on the ground next to George.

"It took some convincing to get him here," Kepler growled. "I don't think he likes me."

George grinned, and then he addressed Amar. "I'm glad you decided to join us. Let's finish our conversation from earlier."