Villain Retirement

Gods. What are gods?

Most believe in only one, while some believe in many. Many would treat other people's gods as false, but some would be more welcoming.

But what is a god?

Riley has seen many who have claimed themselves to be as such — even him, once. He claimed to be a god when he realized he became an existence that could not be matched by anyone.

But if one would ask Riley what he thought of god or gods, then he would probably say he did not picture it to be the way he was looking at them now.

"Riri! Taste this! This is brandy from this man's universe!"

"I do not like the taste of alcohol, Miss Pepondosovich."

But perhaps this is the way the people from Scandinavian origins view their gods; warriors, and kings, all celebrating their small victories of battle as they drink their way to the merry night. And although all of them were laughing and smiling; taking jabs at each other in very friendly ways, one could still see the fire of competition in their eyes — no longer dancing, but still very much alive and flickering.

Riley did, however, notice something else filling and reflecting the fire in their eyes; the planets that were decorating the night sky above them. There were hundreds of planets, each placed there perhaps as some sort of symbol of home… or perhaps a mockery to them telling that they are stuck here forever.

Whatever the planets serve as, it works. It was clear to Riley that although all of the gods here were aiming for the book that contained the clue to a Cosmic Piece, most of them had actually been climbing the tower just for this very scenery.

A scenery of home, even from afar — that was the true prize of Grandarena city.

Even now, as he sat quietly at a table far away from the noise, he could see the longing in everyone's eyes — he could even see it in Esme, who was just quietly sitting beside him… finishing the snacks he personally grabbed from the buffet.

Riley did not mind, however. He purposely grabbed extra as he was used to Hannah taking his share of the food even though she was telling everyone she was not really that hungry; it would seem even someone like Esme is not exempt from that sort of stereotype. But of course, it also does not help that she seems keen on imitating everything Riley does… she was even mixing sweet milk and soda like him, even though she clearly doesn't like it. But perhaps out of all the people present here, she and Miss Pepondosovich were the only ones who had not really looked up at the planets hanging above them more than once.

"I have been meaning to ask, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley gently pushed away the large mug of alcohol that Miss Pepondosovich was giving him and instead also turned to look up at the home of the gods,

"Which one was your planet?"

"Oh…" Miss Pepondosovich blinked a couple of times as she looked up, her eyes quickly scanning all the planets above, "...I don't really remember."

"I suppose that makes sense," Riley breathed out, "Your planet was inside another planet, after all, Miss Pepondosovich."

"Hm…" Miss Pepondosovich also let out a small breath as she nodded, "...Forget that, which one was yours again?"

"It is that."

"...Your kind was aquatic?" Miss Pepondosovich squinted her eyes as she looked at Earth.

"No," Riley shook his head, "Earth's surface is made up primarily of bodies of water, Miss Pepondosovich. But my kind lives on land, mostly."

"Huh. And where is yours, Your Highness?" Miss Pepondosovich asked as she looked at Esme, who seemed to be struggling trying to swallow her milk soda.

"I believe it is that one, Miss Pepondosovich," Esme pointed at Theran. And as soon as she did so, Riley tilted his head to the side.

"Your Theran looks completely different from the Theran in my universe, Esme," Riley blinked a couple of times as he stared at Esme's Theran.

"The multiverse is weird like that," Miss Pepondosovich shrugged as she just let herself fall onto her chair, letting all the planets above her reflect her eyes, "I don't even understand a single thing about it. You two are from different universes similar to each other, while most of us here are literally from completely different universes — themarians or those things called Norinlads you mentioned don't exist in my universe…

…It's more like the two of you are just from different timelines or some sort."

"Hm," Riley nodded, "I thought of that too, Miss Pepondosovich."

"As I said…" Miss Pepondosovich smirked as she looked at Riley as if she just caught him saying exactly what she wanted him to say,

"...Yours is the mass-produced universe!"

"Hm," Riley did not really debate on it and just nodded, "And perhaps I am the sole reason why all of our universes are so similar — they created and created for a chance to give birth to someone like me."

"Of course, you somehow make it about you," Miss Pepondosovich could really only groan as she stood up from her chair.

"Because I am a primordial as I said, Miss Pepondosovich."

"Right, right," Miss Pepondosovich groaned even louder as she walked away, "Anyway, I will try gathering more information about the book, if it is actually worth all the trouble we are giving it."

"But you just told us that it was real, Miss Pepondosovich," Esme finally stopped trying to drink her milk soda as she turned to look at Miss Pepondosovich; a trace of foam, still wrapped above her lips as she did so.

"It is. And we are not going to find out more about it unless we actually have it in our hands."

"But you just said you were going to gather more information, Miss Pepondosovich," Esme blinked a couple of times. She was about to say something, but Miss Pepondosovich suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

"It was just an excuse to get away from Riri!" Miss Pepondosovich stuck out her tongue at Riley. She literally looked like a child, however, as she had her hands up while holding Esme's hand due to their massive height difference,

"Let's go meet some other people, let the cloud god brood by himself. This place is literally a resort for the combatants to relax."

"Have you been here this whole time while we were advancing the tower, Miss Pepondosovich?"

"Yes. Yes I was," Miss Pepondosovich nodded her head several times as a small subtle burp escaped her lips, "And we will probably be here for a few more hours, or maybe even a day."

"And you have been drinking ever since? I was under the impression you did not like alcohol too, Miss Pepondosovich."

"I don't. But you should truly also try alcohol, Miss Esme."

"I do not like the bitter taste of alcohol, Miss Pepondosovich."

"It's not about the taste, ack. It's about regretting…"

And as Miss Pepondosovich and Esme's voice slowly faded away, Riley once again observed the other gods; most of them, truly just relaxing and trying to vibe with each other — he could probably join, the stories these people would tell would probably be better than the ones he already knew.

But stories are meaningless without people to hear them.

"Sister…" Riley let out a small sigh as he glanced at Earth, "...I wonder what you are doing right now? I know you are safe since Aerith is there to protect all of you, stronger than ever before since I imparted her with the same gift Gracy taught me. And Aerith, I do not know if you truly feel love for me, but at the very least…

…I hope you are missing me as much as I am missing you. There is nothing here that—"

"Why are you talking to yourself?"

And before Riley could finish his monologue, he was suddenly interrupted by a woman; skin as pale as pure snow, hair as dark as oil, and lips redder than blood; somehow reminding Riley of PIrate Queen Xra… if Xra was alive.

And as soon as the female god sat at Riley's table; the gods that had been chatting merrily with each other all abruptly stopped. Their attention, now all placed on him and the female god.

"You are new to this place, no?" The woman smiled at Riley; her eyes closed for some reason, "I heard you thinking earlier, about gods and all that stuff."

"..."

"And now you are thinking how I am able to read your mind even though you are supposed to be immune to it," the woman chuckled, "But that Pirate Queen Xra could also read minds, no? You could too if you want to since you have her abilities. But I digress, what do you think a god is?"

"I do not know, Stranger."

"What is a peasant to a king? What is a king to a god? Is this how the quote goes in your world?" The woman let out a small hum as she placed her finger on her chin to think.

"What is a god to a non-believer," Riley nodded.

"Hm. But I think that question is… what are you to us, Riley Ross?"

"I am…

…Death."