After forever came neverness...

- So?, said Grenth. Is everybody sure we want to do as the son of the past One and Only did? I mean... We all remember how it ended....

Dwayna shed a tear.

- Aye, we do..., she said, in a low voice.

- Balthazar, you're nuts!, said Lyssa, suddenly taken by fear. Yes! Coo coo horned beast!, added her sister.

- It is the way it should be, he responded, in an unusual calmness, not too relevant of his everyday personae, thus adding to the unusual tension that was reigning over the room.

All turned to Melandru.

- It is the way it should have been for long. It is the way it will be forever.

Lyssa shivered and her shoulders trembled.

- Hoohohooooo. Don't use such heavy words, I beg you...

- It is set then! said Balthazar. Let us meditate...

They all paused and concentrated on the choice they were about to make. They knew the consequences. The equilibrium was about the endanger their eternity. For the bound to be secure, all of them had to put their immortality at stake, so that if they would not consult other gods before taking a decision, they would disappear from the Heavens and be born human, after which life they would die and suffer the fate of any human.

There was an aftermath to this decision however, an aftermath that would either immediately or in due time strike at the world of men as a gigantic plague, an aftermath for each one of them. When a god renounces to its immortality, it renounces to its uniqueness over humans to be able to watch over them and to be their superiors. Thus, when a God abandons its 'forever' over the world, it creates a direct counterbalanced effect called 'neverness.'

Such a decision has always been tough to make for past gods. Some pantheons never agreed to sacrifice their eternal substance and in the end plunged the world into a series of conflicts for personal interest, conflicts that ended up being worse then any 'neverness.' Other gods decided to bind before and it led to disasters that were overcome in due time, followed by peace in the way they would rule their followers.

The last example the 5 could think of was that of the son of the One and Only, who gave his eternity away in order to try to reason men, but who declenched in doing so a future 'neverness' humans of the time remembered as 'The End of Days' or 'The Apocalypse.' Other examples of lesser importance happened in the past. They all led to the rise of tyrants, the fall of empires, the engulfment of isles or the creation of new plagues.

However, the 5 had no choice. Not binding now would prove as disastrous as ancient pantheons were, not to say more, and would lead to worse consequences. The 5 had dwelt the earth the earth a few times in the past, thus spreading the belief they were mortals, but truth is they were other avatars of their cosmic self. Havoc was to come sooner or later, and making the oath now would only accelerate it, not avoid it. They needed the Keepers.

They all seized a knife, 6 of them since Lyssa had to suffer the pain twice, which explained her previous fears. These knives were made of Alba, the original matter of all things, and were the only artifacts that could harm the gods.

- You will have to do it for me, said Dwayna. You remember that I am still somehow an Angel, and the One and Only made us so that we could not take our own lives. Come here, Grenth, I'll stab you while you stab me.

- You creatures of heaven do not change... Always suspucious... he said with a smurk.

And it came to pass that these two stabbed each other, as did Lyssa and Balthazar, as did Melandru and Lyssa's other half, so that they could be sure to all strike at the same time and avoid a last minute resignation from one of the gods.

Dwayna's eyes flashed and her mouth let out prophetic words: 'A great politician, being the lone survivor of a past neverness, will rise and seek to plunge the world in the same cataclysm that took his past Kingdom.'

Lyssa's eyes flashed and her mouth let out prophetic words: 'A great affliction will rise in Cantha, followed by a legendary warrior seeking vengeance.'

Grenth's eyes flashed and his mouth let out prophetic words: 'Once a demon serving in Pendomonium, a new god will rise in Elona and seek to destroy us 5.'

Balthazar's eyes flashed and his mouth let out prophetic words: 'Hordes of creatures will rise from the depth of the earth, having only one goal: to destroy.'

Melandru's eyes flashed and her mouth let out prophetic words: 'And from deep beneath the sea, dragons shall rise again.'

All 5 understood what to do and said in unison: 'let all send a message to the Keepers of the Equilibrium.'