@lessthan3 I'm sad I don't really have time or motivation to really go into detail with this like I kinda want to. Also please appreciate that Merrit means "deserving of fortune" in Latin and also that Brennan means "sorrow" (not in Latin).
~~~
In a small town in middle-of-nowhere, USA, they worshipped a god. Not a big, mighty god, just one that brought them good fortune until the god fell from his throne, or well, was literally pushed off of it by a god above him on the hierarchy. It was quite the flight that filled him with terror.
There was one important rule he broke when he touched the hot midwestern dust: gods do not touch the ground. They could “possess” things and use their powers to make things happen, but they were not allowed to physically touch the human plane of existence.
No one explained the consequences to him.
He brushed off the dust and headed toward the small town less than a mile away. A place he knew well and had watched over for years. These people worshipped him, how could they not help him?
The first placed he stepped into was a bar, which was the second most popular place in town next to the little church they had built for him. From the ground, it had seemed smaller. More insignificant than above where he could see it all at once. Everything that happened in this little town.
But the bar was another story. It was huge and loud, but that didn’t overwhelm him. He was used to big spaces, like his home in the sky where he could live in luxury and get everything he needed.
“Hello, there. Ain’t seen you ‘round these parts before,” said a middle-aged male bartender. “You seem kin’a familiar. Who are ya?”
“I’m Merrit,” he said with a smile as he offered a hand to shake. It was so nice to sort of recognized by his own people. “And you’re Thomas, or Tommy.”
“What the-- who do you think ya are t’ name yerself after our god?” Tommy stared at him with wide, crazy eyes. The kind that came from conspiracy theorists who believed the Earth was flat and the moon landing was faked and aliens were real.
Merrit thought that part of Tommy’s personality would come in handy, but it did squat. He pulled his hand back to his side and shrugged, feeling a bit sheepish for coming in here and putting himself out there. “Uh. I am your god.”
That got the attention of a man sitting in the barstool next to him, and Merrit gasped quietly when he saw the face. Where humans saw a human face, he recognized the real, demonic face hidden beneath a facade.
Brennan smiled a smile that suggested malicious intent. The two of them hadn’t interacted in centuries. He leaned forward and whispered in Merrit’s ear, “You broke your promise, buddy.” Then Brennan patted him on the shoulder and ordered a beer from Tommy and said something to him that Merrit couldn’t hear.
Three minutes later, Merrit was sitting on a bench in the park near the bar, grumbling quietly about the way Brennan could wrap people around his finger and get under Merrit’s skin.
Of course, they did have a deal that was made to keep peace. As long as Merrit didn’t walk the Earth, Brennan wouldn’t hurt anyone in this town. Because if Brennan did, Merrit would have to call upon one of the higher gods, the one that kicked him out, to deal with the problem.
Someone was paying big money to have Brennan wreck this town while not breaking a contract. The morality that some gods had was lacking to a concerning point. They were all so absorbed in the power and the attention that they didn’t go above and beyond to keep their peoples safe anymore.
He wanted to scream right there on that grey bench, but there were enough eyes on him since he was the odd one out. He rubbed his temple and spoke a short spell to relieve him of the headache that was coming on, but it didn’t work. Not good. This was not good at all.
Now he needed to think of a plan. He glanced up at the sky and cursed, loud and uninhibited, until he felt satisfied. A few people side-eyed him and an older woman walked to him.
“Why are you cursing Merrit? He is good to us, you shouldn’t say such things to him,” she said, eyeing him over. “You look a lot like him.”
On another day, he would have reveled in the praise she had for him. Maggie, after all, had a kind heart. It was interesting that he appeared to them the way they imagined him, since he didn’t look that way when he was up above.
“I’m cursing a different god,” he replied. “One who’s screwed me over time and time again.”
She sat down next to him on the bench, fanning herself in the summer heat. It was sweltering, and it had to be well over 100 degrees fahrenheit. He didn’t understand how anyone could stand it.
“Pray to Merrit. He will help you.”
He tried very hard not to roll his eyes, but he was annoyed by the irony of the situation while also finding the old lady endearing for her positive outlook. This whole town was full of it.
“Sure, ma’am. You have a nice day.”
~~~
Merrit spent two nights the church and feeling like he would die at any minute. He had an insatiable thirst for water now and it seemed that all the wells were drying up, and these people needed to ration it out.
There were no winds. The air was still. A dry heat that slowly cooked the town.
It hurt him to watch their resolve crumble when it had been three days of no water. His heart ached for this town, and it cracked when people were filling up the local hospital and slowly dying. Those already sick passed away.
He found Brennan behind the bar counting a stackful of bills, and Brennan looked up with a big, toothy grin full of pointy teeth ready to bite into Merrit if it came down to it. There was a high chance of that happening.
“You’re awful,” Merrit said, shoving Brennan in the shoulders.
Brennan shook his head, the grin never leaving his face, but Merrit didn’t want to play games. There was a need inside him to fix all these problems, to help these people stay alive in the middle of nowhere. They deserved it.
“I’m going to show you something,” he said, wrapping an arm around the back of Merrit’s neck and leading him, not without struggle, into the bar. There was Tommy sitting in the breakroom chair. Fine and unharmed and nothing binding him there except Brennan’s willpower.
“Why would you do that?” Merrit asked, anger in his voice.
“Because I can,” he answered and he walked away from Merrit. The room was small, claustrophobic, with the three of them in there. A small window near the top of wall brightened an otherwise dark room. “You can’t stop me. There’s no powers left inside you.”
Brennan lacked a soul, so he cared little about the ones that others possessed. Merrit had tried to teach him at one point, thought he was making progress, until he got the upgrade angel to small-level god while Brennan got a downgrade to demon.
“Come further down and join me,” he offered, and Tommy screamed in agony. A noise full of sorrow and anguish that bothered Merrit to his core.
Brennan would lead this town to destruction, until it was nothing more than dust and dirt and ash. No remorse to be found by him.
Merrit shook his head firmly, stepping toward Tommy. Brennan watched in silence, which meant he thought he had the upper hand, but Merrit had a trick or two up his sleeve, like attacking Brennan to distract his focus and allow Tommy to breathe.
And it worked. Merrit knocked Brennan to the ground. He wrapped his hands around his throat. Then Brennan used an arm to grab Merrit. Dug his claws into him until he bled and Merrit let go.
Merrit stumbled up to his feet and smacked his back against the brick wall. He fought against the hold to no avail. Brennan had the power to cause ending misery to this world.
Tommy’s neck snapped.
As a fallen god, Merrit was nothing.
~~~
In a small town in middle-of-nowhere, USA, they worshipped a god. Not a big, mighty god, just one that brought them good fortune until the god fell from his throne, or well, was literally pushed off of it by a god above him on the hierarchy. It was quite the flight that filled him with terror.
There was one important rule he broke when he touched the hot midwestern dust: gods do not touch the ground. They could “possess” things and use their powers to make things happen, but they were not allowed to physically touch the human plane of existence.
No one explained the consequences to him.
He brushed off the dust and headed toward the small town less than a mile away. A place he knew well and had watched over for years. These people worshipped him, how could they not help him?
The first placed he stepped into was a bar, which was the second most popular place in town next to the little church they had built for him. From the ground, it had seemed smaller. More insignificant than above where he could see it all at once. Everything that happened in this little town.
But the bar was another story. It was huge and loud, but that didn’t overwhelm him. He was used to big spaces, like his home in the sky where he could live in luxury and get everything he needed.
“Hello, there. Ain’t seen you ‘round these parts before,” said a middle-aged male bartender. “You seem kin’a familiar. Who are ya?”
“I’m Merrit,” he said with a smile as he offered a hand to shake. It was so nice to sort of recognized by his own people. “And you’re Thomas, or Tommy.”
“What the-- who do you think ya are t’ name yerself after our god?” Tommy stared at him with wide, crazy eyes. The kind that came from conspiracy theorists who believed the Earth was flat and the moon landing was faked and aliens were real.
Merrit thought that part of Tommy’s personality would come in handy, but it did squat. He pulled his hand back to his side and shrugged, feeling a bit sheepish for coming in here and putting himself out there. “Uh. I am your god.”
That got the attention of a man sitting in the barstool next to him, and Merrit gasped quietly when he saw the face. Where humans saw a human face, he recognized the real, demonic face hidden beneath a facade.
Brennan smiled a smile that suggested malicious intent. The two of them hadn’t interacted in centuries. He leaned forward and whispered in Merrit’s ear, “You broke your promise, buddy.” Then Brennan patted him on the shoulder and ordered a beer from Tommy and said something to him that Merrit couldn’t hear.
Three minutes later, Merrit was sitting on a bench in the park near the bar, grumbling quietly about the way Brennan could wrap people around his finger and get under Merrit’s skin.
Of course, they did have a deal that was made to keep peace. As long as Merrit didn’t walk the Earth, Brennan wouldn’t hurt anyone in this town. Because if Brennan did, Merrit would have to call upon one of the higher gods, the one that kicked him out, to deal with the problem.
Someone was paying big money to have Brennan wreck this town while not breaking a contract. The morality that some gods had was lacking to a concerning point. They were all so absorbed in the power and the attention that they didn’t go above and beyond to keep their peoples safe anymore.
He wanted to scream right there on that grey bench, but there were enough eyes on him since he was the odd one out. He rubbed his temple and spoke a short spell to relieve him of the headache that was coming on, but it didn’t work. Not good. This was not good at all.
Now he needed to think of a plan. He glanced up at the sky and cursed, loud and uninhibited, until he felt satisfied. A few people side-eyed him and an older woman walked to him.
“Why are you cursing Merrit? He is good to us, you shouldn’t say such things to him,” she said, eyeing him over. “You look a lot like him.”
On another day, he would have reveled in the praise she had for him. Maggie, after all, had a kind heart. It was interesting that he appeared to them the way they imagined him, since he didn’t look that way when he was up above.
“I’m cursing a different god,” he replied. “One who’s screwed me over time and time again.”
She sat down next to him on the bench, fanning herself in the summer heat. It was sweltering, and it had to be well over 100 degrees fahrenheit. He didn’t understand how anyone could stand it.
“Pray to Merrit. He will help you.”
He tried very hard not to roll his eyes, but he was annoyed by the irony of the situation while also finding the old lady endearing for her positive outlook. This whole town was full of it.
“Sure, ma’am. You have a nice day.”
~~~
Merrit spent two nights the church and feeling like he would die at any minute. He had an insatiable thirst for water now and it seemed that all the wells were drying up, and these people needed to ration it out.
There were no winds. The air was still. A dry heat that slowly cooked the town.
It hurt him to watch their resolve crumble when it had been three days of no water. His heart ached for this town, and it cracked when people were filling up the local hospital and slowly dying. Those already sick passed away.
He found Brennan behind the bar counting a stackful of bills, and Brennan looked up with a big, toothy grin full of pointy teeth ready to bite into Merrit if it came down to it. There was a high chance of that happening.
“You’re awful,” Merrit said, shoving Brennan in the shoulders.
Brennan shook his head, the grin never leaving his face, but Merrit didn’t want to play games. There was a need inside him to fix all these problems, to help these people stay alive in the middle of nowhere. They deserved it.
“I’m going to show you something,” he said, wrapping an arm around the back of Merrit’s neck and leading him, not without struggle, into the bar. There was Tommy sitting in the breakroom chair. Fine and unharmed and nothing binding him there except Brennan’s willpower.
“Why would you do that?” Merrit asked, anger in his voice.
“Because I can,” he answered and he walked away from Merrit. The room was small, claustrophobic, with the three of them in there. A small window near the top of wall brightened an otherwise dark room. “You can’t stop me. There’s no powers left inside you.”
Brennan lacked a soul, so he cared little about the ones that others possessed. Merrit had tried to teach him at one point, thought he was making progress, until he got the upgrade angel to small-level god while Brennan got a downgrade to demon.
“Come further down and join me,” he offered, and Tommy screamed in agony. A noise full of sorrow and anguish that bothered Merrit to his core.
Brennan would lead this town to destruction, until it was nothing more than dust and dirt and ash. No remorse to be found by him.
Merrit shook his head firmly, stepping toward Tommy. Brennan watched in silence, which meant he thought he had the upper hand, but Merrit had a trick or two up his sleeve, like attacking Brennan to distract his focus and allow Tommy to breathe.
And it worked. Merrit knocked Brennan to the ground. He wrapped his hands around his throat. Then Brennan used an arm to grab Merrit. Dug his claws into him until he bled and Merrit let go.
Merrit stumbled up to his feet and smacked his back against the brick wall. He fought against the hold to no avail. Brennan had the power to cause ending misery to this world.
Tommy’s neck snapped.
As a fallen god, Merrit was nothing.
