One ear.
Only one.
Garfield honestly did not know how to describe the creature in front of him.
It was roughly human-sized. Its head resembled a human skull overlaid with a wolf's… thick, coarse fur covering most of it.
The eyes were large and unsettlingly alert. When it opened its mouth, rows of sharp teeth were visible, except many of them were missing.
That was not the worst part.
One ear was gone.
From Garfield's higher vantage point, he could also see a bald patch on the creature's scalp, where the fur had never grown back.
The being held the snack Garfield had thrown, turning it over thoughtfully in its fingers.
As a cat, Garfield's instincts flared immediately.
He disliked dogs. Every muscle in his body tensed as he stared the creature down, tail rigid.
The wolf-headed figure sniffed the snack, then casually tossed it into his mouth.
"…Tasty."
Garfield blinked. After a pause, he asked flatly,
"… are you Anubis?"
The creature nodded. "Not entirely. I'm a clone. Left behind to handle local administration of the oasis."
An administrator.
Garfield relaxed a little.
He pulled a cigar from his pocket and flicked it forward. "Try this."
The Anubis-clone caught it easily.
Garfield snapped his fingers, igniting the tip with a small flame. The clone took two experimental puffs, then sighed.
"This stuff was ruined by you lot." He said mildly. "If I'd known it tasted this good, I would've asked for some earlier."
Garfield watched him closely.
Something was off.
The clone spoke casually, but there was a hollowness beneath it. Like a program running on damaged hardware.
After a moment, Garfield asked, "Once this so-called destined conflict ends… shouldn't you leave, too?"
The clone exhaled smoke. "Hard to say. Depends on what the chosen one wants."
"If they decide to rule the world, I'm obligated to assist. That's how the deity's settings work."
"And would you really do that?" Garfield tilted his head.
The clone snorted, scratched at the edge where his ear should have been. "I'm not stupid. All the real gods ran away ages ago."
"What do you expect me to do alone? Stick around and get beaten again?" He gestured at himself. "I already lost an ear."
That answered one question.
But raised another.
From the moment the clone appeared, Garfield had been wondering who or what had beaten a god so badly.
Missing ear. Scarred scalp. This wasn't the damage of time.
Hammer-level violence.
Egyptian gods hadn't walked the earth for thousands of years. That ruled out Thor, too recent.
Which left Odin.
And possibly his daughter.
Hela.
If that were true, then Garfield, Odin's third son, was not exactly a comforting presence to someone with such memories.
Smart cats ask first.
Garfield hooked a claw toward the clone and asked carefully,
"One Ear… your injuries. Don't tell me you got them fighting Odin and his daughter?"
The Anubis-clone went rigid.
The cigar burned unattended between his fingers as his gaze unfocused.
Memories surfaced. Not his own but the memories of the original.
The war of the gods.
A sky split by divine weapons. Countless divine servants were slaughtered like insects. Gods hunted down and killed as easily as chickens and dogs.
If not for overwhelming numbers and a final, desperate conspiracy, the Egyptian pantheon would have been erased entirely.
The clone exhaled slowly. "…Horrible."
Only one figure remained.
The avatar shuddered uncontrollably, its body trembling as if seized by an invisible chill.
Garfield immediately noticed something was wrong. His curiosity outweighed his caution, and he pressed on gently.
"What's the matter, brother? Sometimes it's better to speak plainly when something's weighing on your heart."
"If you don't believe me, look at how lively things are inside, everyone's fighting and shouting."
One Ear hesitated, then finally nodded. "It doesn't matter anymore. I don't have much time left anyway."
Garfield's ears perked up at once, expecting some juicy revelation.
However, when the other party spoke again, his voice had changed…
"But there are things you're still too young to hear. These are the secrets of the gods."
"Tch."
Garfield's face immediately darkened. "Secrets? Isn't it just Odin and his daughter smashing you with a hammer?"
"Everyone on Earth knows that much."
A trace of cold sarcasm curled at the corner of the wolf's mouth.
"Odin?" One ear scoffed. "Him?"
"He was the first one to kneel and admit defeat. I can't tell you everything, but you should at least understand this."
His eyes glinted as his voice dropped.
"The reason the gods all chose to withdraw at the same time… is because we provoked something that led to the annihilation of an entire family."
Laughter echoed through the pyramid halls.
Garfield fell silent, his thoughts racing. These were not weak beings. What kind of monster could drive the gods into hiding?
"One Ear." Garfield pressed, "You're still a god's clone. Stop dodging the question."
"What really happened?"
Anubis took two slow drags from his cigar before squatting down. "Tell me, orange cat, do you know what the multiverse is?"
Garfield nodded. "Countless timelines. Countless worlds. Occasionally intersecting."
One Ear lifted his gaze to the ceiling and pointed. "Then look."
Garfield followed his gesture. Carved into the stone above were two spherical celestial bodies linked by symbols of passage.
Around them were depictions of gods descending and war erupting.
"The gods discovered how to connect worlds." Anubis said quietly. "And then they did what gods always do."
"They fought for territory, for creatures, for faith."
Garfield studied the carvings, then frowned. "So you lost?"
"No. We won." Anubis shook his head. "That was the problem."
Garfield immediately pulled out a small notebook. "Then explain it clearly, Brother One Ear."
After a moment's thought, Anubis spoke again. "We found a world with no ruling pantheon."
"No sovereign gods. So every faction sent down avatars, preparing for conflict. But when we arrived, we discovered something unexpected."
"That world was unifying."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Garfield blinked.
"A unified world, stable civilization, peaceful humans. Perfect conditions to cultivate believers."
A mocking grin split the wolf's face. "If the gods had been as intelligent as you, we wouldn't be like this now."
"Instead, they decided to each back their own faction and compete… winner takes all."
"Why not peace?" Garfield scratched his head.
"Because arrogance always loses." Anubis replied flatly. "One by one, the gods' pawns were crushed."
"That world was on the verge of complete unification. And when it happened, belief itself became unnecessary."
Garfield stiffened. "And then?"
Before Anubis could answer, a furious roar erupted from deep within the pyramid.
"NO!"
Anubis rose slowly, staring at the cigar between his fingers. "It seems we're out of time."
"You're leaving?" Garfield asked.
One Ear shook his head.
A wild, manic smile spread across his battered face. "No. I just realized something."
His eyes burned with sudden clarity.
"Why shouldn't I do something unforgettable… and let this world remember that I existed?"
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream