Why are you special?

Inside my fairy meadow, I start talking to someone who's not here, "Hi Death, I spoke with Life’s Champion, and have some questions; is now a good time?"

The disembodied voice answers me with a low chuckle, "As good as any. How can I help?"

"I'd like to start by fact-checking a few things he said. First, he believes he'll die if he loses Life’s Champion status. Is this correct?"

Death takes a bit to answer, "Eventually, yes. He'll start aging normally, grow old, and die, assuming none of his many enemies get to him first."

Yeah, that sounded fishy, "As to some of his curses: All food tastes like dirt…."

Death fills me in, "Perfect nutrition. Any food going in his mouth becomes a specific formula that is the absolute ideal for healthy eating. And yes, it tastes like dirt. A 'Blessing' from 'Earth'. My siblings apparently love bragging about how they make this mortal miserable, by the way."

Aha, "He's plagued with nightmares…"

Again, Death keeps me informed, "Visions of things yet to come. Victims' perspectives of the most gruesome murders 'Air' can find. One day, he might even figure that out. 'Air' and 'Judgment' have a bet running on that one."

OK, that has me curious, "Not important, but what’s the bet?"

Death chuckles, "Whether or not he'll knowingly prevent one before he dies for good. 'Judgment' says it’s not going to happen, 'Air' is a pretty extreme optimist."

Deliberately stopping one murder, with advanced notice, with centuries of time to do it, is extremely optimistic? They have very low opinions of this man, "He can't get drunk or drugged…."

Death laughs, "That one … I don't have permission to tell you about."

That gives me pause, but I can play this game, "Who would you need it from?"

I can hear Death smiling, "That would be my sister, 'Life'. You're good with loopholes."

So that suggests… "If I said it was because his body fights everything off, how wrong would I be?"

Death cackles with glee, "You would not be wrong."

I laugh good and hard at that one. Mind, I have the same 'problem' from a different angle, "OK, that's funny. So… on a more serious note: Does a champion need to be released from service, or can they quit by whatever word?"

"Nobody has ever quit," Death starts, "but Dad is a big believer in free will. If he does tell my sister, straight up, in whatever phrasing, that he will not serve her anymore, then she MUST abide by that decision, and cut him off. If he recants and asks to be back in her service later, she can again accept him at her choosing... but he'd need a different blessing."

That's about what I was hoping for, "And what happens to the other 'Blessings' if that happens?"

Death seems thoughtful, "Then… the channel used to power them would be closed, and they'd fade out as they ran out of energy. How long would depend on which 'blessing', but… he'd be free of all but mine within a few years, because skin color is a one and done when he's not actively resisting, like Life’s curse on you."

Channeled energy… wait… "Death, what is my blessing costing you?"

Death pauses a good long while, and I wait patiently while my head itches, "You don't have the words.  Closest for now… sustenance, maybe?  It's something I was already losing, you're just making the loss a little faster is all, maybe two percent? And it really only flows when you're directly using it, which is just while you’re leveling up in my office.  Your blessing is quite lightweight. The one Life gave to her champion is downright gluttonous, especially by comparison."

That makes me worry, "And what happens when it runs out?"

Death considers, "If it was any of my siblings running out, I could answer how it would go: I'd collect them, take them to Dad, he'd tell them where they went wrong, and set them back up. It's happened to all of them at least once. For me? As I'm the one that handles collection, I honestly don't know, and am terrified of finding out."

You are remarkably calm for being terrified, "You’re basically dying, then?"

Again, a very long pause, no itching this time, though, "More like starving, but yes, the same basic end result."

More questions, then, "How can I help, and how long do you have?"

Death seems to consider, "Odd choice of order, so I'll reverse them. It's hard to say. A few months, maybe. And… if I knew, I wouldn't need help."

OK, so… if the curses cost, and there's a channel… "You said the channel would close if Life’s champion forsook her. But there’s a channel there, and the curses are simply twisted blessings. Can you switch the direction of flow? Feed on the power your siblings are using to keep him ‘cursed’?"

Death pauses again for a while, "Apparently, yes. OK. That could drag it out, but…"

"But it's not a solution. That's OK. But you can de-curse him, sort of, at least temporarily. That’s wonderful, because I'd like to do a show of good faith for Bane. Would you please drain his curses … oh, starting at noon tomorrow? I'd like to be able to tell him exactly when it will happen, to demonstrate you can help him out, and that I'm not just blowing smoke." There's that itch again.  He’s looking up the expression, I guess?

Death replies, “I can do that, sure.”

I nod, "Thank you as always. I suppose I should get back to reality, now."

I hear Death’s whisper, "Be seeing you," as I step out of the Fairy Ring Retreat spell and back to reality.

Wendy speaks up first, "So what did you find out?"

"That I might be able to pull this off," I smile, "And that one deity can weaken another's divine curse," no, I'm not going to explain that in detail, "And my patron has agreed to help out with that," for more than one reason, "at a specific time, which will be a show of good faith for my hunter. I am going to tell him now."

Christine pauses at that, "You have one of the guardians of the world doing your bidding?"

"No, but I can talk to one. Kind of like having the ear of a king, I guess? He agreed it was a good idea," although he'll answer nearly any question I put to him, so… maybe I do?

Paula continues, "But you can talk to one, ask questions, get answers, hear questions… the kind of back and forth we're having now?"

I put on my best innocent face, "Yes. Is that rare? It's been that way for my entire life on this world," which is true, even.

Christine practically chokes, "... is it rare? Each deity can have just one! They're marked with unique blessings so they can prove it! Things… noone… else…."

As Christine trails off, Paula completes the thought, "Things nobody else can do. Unique abilities to prove they're speaking on behalf of the deity. Like the ultimate power of magic you seem to have. NO ONE can cast without a dungeon nearby, and yet you do. And your effects last seemingly forever. And you cast limitlessly, effortlessly, without speaking or waving your arms around. How did I not see it sooner? Who's your patron?" Paula is looking at me VERY intensely.

You're not going to like the real answer, so I'll avoid it, "Apparently mortals aren't permitted to know the real names of deities… he spelled that out for me."

Paula collapses back a bit and lets out a breath, "Right, that's why we use titles for them, like The Blessed Mother. So we have one Prophet trying to kill another… which means the gods are at war." Paula curses, "They're not supposed to do that…" she shakes her head.

Christine picks up, "No, they're not, but they always find loopholes to do it anyway," Huh… I'm going to need to ask Death where his sustenance comes from… it’s possible someone - probably Life - figured out how to manipulate it to choke him out, "Do you know which one is rebelling against The Supreme and is after you?"

I cringe, "I do, yes, and you're really not going to like that answer…."

Paula seems puzzled, but Christine gets it, and closes her eyes while she speaks slowly, "Let me guess… she is the one tasked with bringing new life into the world."

I nod, "Yeah. Pretty awkward, isn't it?"

Paula goes very quiet as Christine speaks, "Indeed. But! Much as she's my patron, she is bending the rules, and she hasn't directly told me to hunt you… so rest easy. We're not going to turn on a brother-in-arms.  Well, sister-in-arms. I'm still getting used to that."

Sense Motive is yelling at me that I need to watch Paula, though. Great.  Still… she's not a major threat, and most of her firepower is lent from me, so I can just shut her down if needed.

I smile, "Thanks for that. But I also need to give her champion the good news. So…."

They give me some room, and I Send to Bane, "Good news: I can keep you from dying of old age, and most of the curses will be suppressed starting noon tomorrow. Clearing to discuss?" Twenty-five words, the limit of the spell.

I get a response, "Great. Heading there now. I still have to kill you until I'm paid, though."

I focus on my summoned air elemental, which is still patiently waiting as ordered, and watch for Bane's arrival….