Why are you special?

Oscar, still pending clothing… I should put mine back on at some point, too… starts spilling about his dad, "OK, so… Dad's a warrior.  And after he got his contract, the ultimate warrior. He doesn't lose fights, period. He always goes for trial by combat, and so gets away with anything… and everyone knows it. He tends to think with his sword first. I always call him Dad, but his actual name is Zachary. Most people call him, ''my lord'."

I'm missing something… "So if he doesn't lose fights, and he doesn't age… well, didn't age… because of your mother, how'd he get killed?"

Oscar chuckles grimly, although it comes out a bit like an air-headed giggle… wait, is that how I sound? "Because the fight was a distraction. That death cultist was avenging his family…" Oscar looks at me, "... you will keep to your word, right?"

I take a breath, "Yes. I'm somewhat forced to, even."

Oscar continues, "... he was avenging his wife on my father, and his daughter because of me… she got caught in a stampede before I realized I had a bad deal.  He… didn't care if he lived or died anymore, so he… set the house on fire. Normally that wouldn't stop Dad, but the oak casks of whiskey… well. The fight didn't kill Dad. He 'won' in that the Harvester cultist died first. But the building exploded. Roof collapsed on top of him, crushing him. I watched the life leave his eyes… and I'm guessing I followed soon after. The pain was… well, I was dying. Did die. How many days has it been?"

I cringe, "Not days."

He frowns, "Weeks?"

I just point up, so he keeps going, "Months? Years? Decades? Centuries?"

He seems exasperated, so I clue him in, "Nearly three millenia."

Oscar pauses for a while at that one, "That's… does anyone even remember I existed?"

I shrug, "I got some details of your end from your… uncle, I guess.  Your Mother's brother… I try to call him 'The Comforter of Souls', but clearly I should have asked more questions."

Oscar nods, and I continue, "So your dad died fighting… great. Think he's going to want to keep at it? I understand he's not going to remember being dead."

Oscar huffs, "Oh yes. I usually let him sleep in because waking him before noon has gotten the help killed."

'The help'? Ah, rich family, which makes sense… "So I should probably have a plan… for running, as apparently your dad can't lose, assuming his contract is still valid like yours. Are you OK with being there to calm him down?" Bluff, bluff, bluff. I'm not going to kill you for what that bad deal does, but I am going to use it. Because I need something to drop him out of combat mode, and a no-save diabolic contract seems like just the thing.

"Yeah, sure, no problem."

"Great," I turn to my construct as I start to dress, "I have another soul for you to revive; same drill…" I recite the id for the father, also the death date, as I support the construct with spell points.

Again, the minute passes as I fuel my construct's casting,and a body builds from nothing, forming into a very muscular naked man and… why is it so many men around here have giant tools? Is it something in the water? … ah. Heh, I get it: The Elixir of Sex Shifting. It ALSO works for that, so anyone above a certain wealth has whatever size tool they want.

Meanwhile, I get to watch my plan, such as it is, play out. When Zachary comes to, he immediately jumps to his feet, balls his fists, and starts swinging, making a b-line for me… until he sees his freshly-minted daughter, at which point he changes direction… and I wrap HER in a sealed Forcecage, the Windowless Cell version. A ten foot invisible cube that is very, very durable.

What, did you think I was planning on making them have kids? I just needed to break the dad out of fighting mode. Incest produces nasty, nasty problems. And I also need to demonstrate to Oscar that he needs to be quarantined; a near miss should do fine for that.

… and they're both basically humping the invisible wall, trying to get tab A into slot B. Hmm. Well, they'll be busy for a while… "Hey, Comforter?"

I can hear a wry smile in my patron's voice, "Well… you have them. Now what?"

"Yeah, apparently there's a strong visual component. Still, I have them, and they're safe, so… how would I go about speaking with your sister?"

Death answers immediately, "You already can. The little one growing within you is part of her domain. And as a prophet, if she wants you to hear, you will. So if you address her directly and give her something that will elicit a response… you're good to go. For talking, at least. I don't know how it'll actually go."

I nod, "Thank you as always."

I hear a chuckle, "Good luck. Be seeing you… hopefully my sister doesn't murder you for this."

Yeah, so do I. "Blessed Mother, is now a good time? Or should I say 'Blessed Grandmother'?"

Yeah, that gets her attention, "WHAT MORTAL DARES MOCK ME?!"

Jury's still out on whether or not that's a good thing, though, "I apologize, Blessed Mother, it was not intended as mockery. If you would like to confirm, tell me, who's the father of the little one growing within me?"

There's a long pause, and suddenly I'm looking at a woman with four arms, whose figure I can't make out because of how many mammaries she has showing. Yeah… fertility goddess, a very old school look, too, "How is Oscar the father?" She demands of me.

She's focusing on me far too much. Let's change that, "His diabolic contract is apparently still valid, and snagged me when I raised him. And… well, I’m afraid he's now your daughter, because he caught my curse when… well. You're focused on me… but Zachary is over there with Oscar, and unfortunately Oscar's contact does some odd things with that kind of shift," I point.

Life stays in place, but also turns around… sort of splitting in two but overlapping herself. OK, I knew deities could be in multiple places at once here from conversations with Death, but it's very weird to see. Especially as I can see both of her, perfectly, despite the overlap.  She splits again as one of her runs over to hold Zachary, and the other runs to Oscar, completely ignoring the Forcecage.  Yeah… I have a long, long way to go before I can tangle with these folks on their turf… lucky for me, 'no smiting' is apparently somewhere in the rules.

The deity speaks, "Pay attention to me my beloved Champion…" and suddenly Zachary is free of the irrational compulsion.

Seeing the questioning look on my face, the close instance of Life answers before I phrase it, "I reinstated his Champion status, and granted him immunity to diabolic contracts and related effects."

So she has her own solution to that… that explains it… and Life seems to have abandoned all decorum as she mounts Zachary right in front of me… a Wall of Iron spell puts paid to that view. While it's fun to watch all those milk makers make milkshakes … I need to be able to think.

And I find dividing her attention was apparently a lost cause from the beginning as she stares daggers at me, "So what are your demands for the return of my husband and child?"

Right… 'no direct interference' means she can't stop me from doing… anything, really. Huh. For all her power… she's only as strong as her current champion, who's not got a combat blessing this time, and who just had his devil's contract divinely suspended. Which means here and now… she's powerless to stop me from doing anything I want.  Huh.

I shrug, "No demands. I am not going to hold them ransom. I have a request, but even if you say no, I am not going to hold either of them. I mean, your son needs to be quarantined until such time as the contract can be broken, but if you tell me where you want them to go, I will cheerfully send them there via Wish transport, right now. I am trying to make things better. Threats and manipulation don't do that. Life is a gift, it's not a commodity to trade." I might be a bit of a hypocrite there….

Life pauses a moment, and calls me on it with, "Isolation ward seven, Abbey of the First Mother, north shores of Lake Norhan, fourth continent, Arcturus-4, horsehead galaxy, prime material plane."

And I stick to my word, using Wish Transport to get them there. Also, that's astronomy talk mixed in there… how big is this Fractal that she felt the need to specify the star and galaxy?

She blinks at me, "You did it. No hesitation. You simply threw away your trump card, because … why?"

I laugh, "I already told you. I want to make things better. Threats and violence lead to more of the same. All I'm asking is that you stop and listen to your brother - really listen to him, rather than blaming him. That's it."

 She blinks at me, then rushes me, crying, "After all I've done to you, you still…."

She buries her head in my chest, bawling her eyes out, and the world fades….