Stu and the girls sat in his living room; it’d been six hours since the battle. None of them had much to say about it, even prosperity sat in quiet reverence. The 11PM news came on and Stu turned it up so they could hear what they had to say about what happened today.

  “Welcome to the eleven o’clock news this evening, unfortunately we have heartbreaking news this evening. After news broke of the natural gas explosion on Market Street, which at last check had already claimed 132 lives and injured 72, we have received breaking news that Thunderclap of the EFC has been found dead this evening. He was 34 years old, and he was found after an apparent suicide. We now take you to the EFC ceremony in the ring.”

  An announcer in the EFC ring stood there Solemnly. “Today we lost a legend in the Extreme Fighting Championship, we have gathered here this evening to pay our respects to a great man and an amazing fighter. He left one request, that we will honor him with nothing more than a moment of silence. Tonight, we will have a period of five minutes of complete silence, to show the love that he inspired us all to have in this dark world.”

  Stu picked up the remote and shut the TV off, the silence persisted without prompt. Prosperity sat next to Chaos, they both quietly watched Stu who just sat on a stool staring at the floor lost in his own thoughts.

  Prosperity asked, “Are you alright? We forget sometimes how hard death is for humans; we are here for you if you need to talk.” Stu and the others had been physically healed pretty well after their sushi dinner at Godly Sushi, but it was clear that today had been difficult for Stu. Not only was today’s final kill a heartbreaking one, but Stu had lit the gas that’d killed so many. The hardest thing to comprehend was that it seemed like Silence hadn’t died, it almost seemed as if she’d imprinted herself on Stu’s soul. He didn’t say anything.

  Chaos hadn’t come back unscathed either. Even gods can be compassionate, Chaos seemed to be one that met the criteria, but the jury was still out on prosperity. Chaos thought that Prosperity might have some compassion though, after all without her they would’ve lost today, or she figured.

  Stu was still quiet and unmoving on his stool. It wasn’t a conscious choice, he didn’t want to be this way, but his mind was silent. He had nothing to say, nothing to think about, and nothing to feel. He was completely exhausted mentally, physically, and spiritually. Gods were nothing like he’d expected. They were all so much more complicated than either good or bad, and that thought was killing him. Had he misjudged Silence? Was she a force of good and maybe he was the force for evil? He was unable to forget the moment Silence lovingly sacrificed herself for Sterling. Asking himself internally, how many more fights could he participate in without dying or breaking? There was no doubt that the tournament would break him at this rate. Making the first sound since the fight, Stu sighed deeply.

  With a worried look on her face Prosperity said, “Seriously Stu, if you need to talk, we will listen. We are both here for you.. At least, you should know that Chaos is here for you, even if you think you can’t trust me…” She trailed off in mid thought. She felt something different saying that.. why? Now she racked her brain trying to figure out what it was. Did she fear them? Perhaps she feared what they may do if they knew about her? Would they leave her alone? She was trying to figure out why that bothered her, it wouldn’t be any different than the last 300 years on this planet. She only had been with them for two days and yet she liked this, enough that she was happy she hadn’t killed them. Now staring at the floor herself, in silence, she had complicated feelings about everything. Pondering the value of winning, if it meant being alone once again. Glancing at the others sitting in silence as well, she wondered how they all ended up here. Was it all coincidence, or maybe they’d willed it this way, she figured there was the possibility that it was organized by outside forces also. She wanted so badly to tell both of them, but the fear of the unknown kept her from saying anything, she continued staring at the floor.

  Chaos looked up and watched the other two sitting silently, she could see Stu was clearly having a crisis of faith. Looking at Prosperity, she couldn’t help but think, she looked like she may also be having a crisis of faith, but she wasn’t sure that was possible for a God. As Chaos continued watching Prosperity, the symptoms seemed to be the same as Stu’s, but if Prosperity could have a crisis of faith did that mean she could as well? She stared at the floor now; was this a crisis of faith she was having now? Was it because she worried now about the others, and she didn’t want to die anymore? Did Silence ever have a crisis of faith? Did she want more than to win the tournament, could that be why she seemed to be different? Could it be… This world was changing the Gods somehow..?

  Stu broke the silence saying, “What if that had been us out there today?”

  Chaos asked, “What do you mean?”

  Prosperity clarified for her saying, “He wants to know what if it had been you two that died out there today? What then?!?” That last part came out with more emotion than she’d intended.

  Very softly Chaos said, “If we’d died, then this conversation wouldn’t be happening now…”

  Stu asked, “How much more time before we never see each other again? How much longer before I’m expected to go and fucking kill Prosperity?!?”

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  The girls both stared at the floor avoiding all eye contact when Stu asked those questions. Those were things that gods didn’t question, not because of any enlightened reason, but simply because the duty of a god was to do whatever they had to do and never question things. Now though the cat was out of the bag; Stu was wondering whether he’d be the one to kill Prosperity and leave her dying alone on an empty street.

  Prosperity had already suspected the questions were burning a hole in his mind, they’d been doing the same to her for some reason. With more confidence than usual she asked, “What would it take to prove that I want to be here, with you two?”

  Chaos looked up from the floor surprised asking, “You do?”

  As quickly as it’d come on, the confidence left her. Prosperity softly said, “Yes..”

  Stu looked angry as he glared at Prosperity asking, “How can you say that? You can’t lie to me!”

  Chaos softly and hesitantly said, “Calm down Stu we’re all friends here..”

  Stu was infuriated as he said, “Friends… You want us to pretend we are friends, but we’re not.. You two are Gods, and I’m just a piece of a prize to be won. You two want to pretend we’re friends though, heh, there’s no future for us other than a grave. At best Chaos wins, Prosperity is in a grave, and Chaos has a broken heart. Face it, because I have already..” He was red in his face, angry and far less emotional than you’d expect, but his words cut deep into the room.

  The girls sat in silence, staring at the floor in silence again. They were both completely taken back by the sudden outburst from him, most of all was Prosperity. Speaking softly, she said, “I-I.. Um, it’s.. It’s fine.. I’ll leave, I just..” Going silent mid-sentence and standing up while not looking up from the floor. She got her things together to leave.

  Chaos yelled, “Wait! This is all my fault!” Prosperity stopped looking at her questioningly.

  Stu yelled at her, “This isn’t your fault!”

  Chaos yelled back at him saying, “Yes it is! If you want this to end than there is a way! You can kill me!”

  Giving her a crazy look Stu calmed down slightly saying, “Alright, explain it to us then. How is this your fault?”

  Hanging her head in guilt she said, “My name is Chaos, I’m the god of chaos, you chose to worship chaos. The blessings of Chaos can only be chaos; this is all my fault. If you need to take your anger out on someone.. Please! Use me!”

  Stu said, “Oh… Yeah… We have got to work on your phrasing…”

  Prosperity Said, “I never intentionally tried to cause any problems. All I’ve known was duty, not what it was like to have friends. Where this may have started with Chaos, I’m here on my own now.”

  Stu sighed heavily and rubbed his face before saying, “God.. damn…” He looked at Prosperity sternly saying, “I’m not sure I should apologize for anything, but I will.. I’m sorry, you are welcome here with us anytime.” Avoiding eye contact primarily with Stu, prosperity looked like she was about to cry. Reluctantly she made her way in front of him and got down on her knees. Stu uncomfortably asked, “Uh, Prosperity? What are you doing?” down on her knees blushing she bowed to him raising her dagger in offering. Surprised he almost fell off the stool, “Wait what is this?”

  Without moving from her position Prosperity said, “I’m officially willing to surrender to you. I’ve no interest in winning the tournament if I have to lose you two to do it. I formally withdraw and surrender to you, blue blood.” The silence filled the room, now it had a different weight to it than before.

  Unsure Stu looked at Chaos and she said, “Listen, I’m not sure this is a good idea Prosperity.. You may resent your choice later.. Don’t you think you should think about this?”

  Prosperity sill bowed on the floor and offering the dagger said, “I have already made my decision. Now, I’m feeling really awkward right now. Can you accept my surrender already and let me be your prisoner? I won’t be subjugated by another god, and you need a reason to trust me. I’ll have to obey you, if I’m your prisoner.”

  Chaos said, “I’d really rather you two not do this.. Um, I don’t like the idea of Stu being in control of you...”

  Bluntly, Stu said, “It doesn’t matter anyway because I don’t want it. Like I said before you are welcome here any time.”

  Still unmoved Prosperity said, “You still don’t trust me, and I want this. There is no way for me to win this tournament anyway. At least as your prisoner, I have a chance of surviving and maybe a chance of being your friend. I believe that is worth more than winning!”

  Looking at Chaos he asked, “What do you think?”

  Chaos looked unhappy and said, “I think you shouldn’t get any perverted thoughts.”

  Rolling his eyes, not because the idea hadn’t occurred, but because he wouldn’t ever actually act on those thoughts. He was a guy; some thoughts just can’t be helped after all.. He said, “I’m going to Accept her surrender if that’s alright with you, God.”

  Chaos reluctantly said, “Fine..”

  Reaching down and taking the dagger from her hands he asked, “Is it tradition that I say something, or should I say nothing?”

  Sitting up prosperity quietly said, “It’s not necessary to say anything, but it would be nice. This is a big deal after all.”

  Thinking on his feet he said, “Oh, uhh… Oh, I know!” Clearing his throat and speaking in a tone of authority, he said, “Prosperity, you have performed admirably in the tournament and gone above and beyond your duties as a God. Having accepted your surrender, we will not call you a prisoner, but rather we welcome you into The House of Chaos as part of the family!” He may have gone a little overboard with the theatrics, but it was his best attempt to alleviate the stress they all were feeling. He didn’t think the words meant anything.. The dagger changed color as he held it up, the gold trim turned blue. He looked at it closely, wondering if he’d imagined it. The girls didn’t seem to notice or say anything, so he just placed it in his pocket for now. He’d ask a judge later.

  Prosperity said, “On that note there is something I’d like to do.” Standing up she wrapped her arms around Stu and buried her face in his chest hugging him tightly. She said, “Thank you, this really means the world to me.”

  With an odd look on her face Chaos rushed over while they were still in mid hug and wrapped both of them in a group hug saying, “I’m probably going to cry, but the way Chaos has brought us all together is just the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!”