Ranryu

"Yeah, I did. I hugged you because I'm glad you're back, and I punched you because I'm mad at you."

Wynn reigned herself in. The punching could wait until he had his bearings. "Yes, my name is Wynn. I hope you aren't just realizing that. How was your trip to the afterlife?"

"Lerac!" Wynn hugged him. "You're alive again!" Then she punched him. Not too hard, though. "Never do that again! From now on, there will be no more heroic sacrifices from you. I highly doubt anything could convince Death to give you back a second time."

Hmm... Death wouldn't break a promise. It's against his nature. Wynn scanned him with her duel disk. He's alive, barely. What if I...? Very carefully, Wynn channeled some of her energy into him. Not Shadow Magic, but pure energy, straight from a harvested neutron star. Just a little should do the trick. I don't want to fry him.

Death better have kept his end of the bargain. "Lerac, can you hear me?" Wynn dug through the flowers.

Wynn's heart raced. Was this for real? She put her hand on a control panel on the wall. "Tree, take me to the End of Time."

Wynn covered her ears. "Not to me it isn't. I know better than to lie to the council. Everything in this letter is true, according to my perspective, if you get my drift." Wynn tied the paper with a piece of string, then fastened that to the raven's leg. "Deliver this to Anastasia of the Wild Hunt, please." The bird squawked and disappeared. "Now you need to keep your end of the bargain."

Wynn slipped a card she had taken from her room into her duel disk. "Raven, a message." Wynn pulled a piece of paper out of the raven's talons and wrote a quick paragraph on it. Dear Anastasia, As a trusted informant of the Hunt, and as your friend, I am asking the Hunt to call off their investigation of Death. After further discussion with the god in question, I realized that I misunderstood several of Death's actions, and my request for an investigation was not justified. The vast majority of souls in his domain come from deceased space daemons, which as you know do not require the same afterlife system as other mortal souls. Sincerely, Wynn, Bringer of Storms. Wynn gave the letter to Death. "Is this acceptable?"

Tricks? No. My tricks are a lot more complicated and usually end in disaster. "Yes." Wynn nodded. "I do. And you should know, a certain god of destruction is poking around right now, so we may need to speed things up."

A little bit murderous. How about you? Feeling proud of yourself? Your day is coming, Malum. Coming swiftly and soon. Wynn unlocked the realm and made her way back.

Wynn nodded and walked away. My people really did outsmart themselves. They never intended to build a realm that could trap a god.

Wynn thought for a second, then sighed. "This deal is acceptable. I'll send Anastasia a raven asking her to call the investigation off. Just give me a minute to get back to the security chamber to unlock the realm."

Wynn chuckled again. "I hate you, you know that, right? Once again, I do not control the Wild Hunt. How the heck would I gain control over thousands of vengeful undead? I don't think you understand what I'm saying. You can't win against the council. They control all of the primal forces, plus a few others. And whatever aspect of you that is here will be unable to return once you leave. This realm is unbreakable. Now if you have nothing to offer, then goodbye." Wynn turned and walked away.

"You have no involvement with him? Well he certainty doesn't think that. And it's still funny that you think I can stop them. I merely pushed a pebble off the cliff. I can't stop the rock slide that follows. You made your bed, and now you have to lie in it. I'd gladly watch you take what's coming to you, but I'm still open to deal-making. You are, after all, in the one place that no one can enter, not even gods. I locked the door just after you slipped in. My people really had no idea how ingenious this realm's design was when they crafted it. "Take this deal or leave. I will give you this realm in trade for Lerac. All yours, golems of death included. You can even have the key. Take it or leave it. I win no matter what."

Wynn considered. "I could put in a good word for you. They don't know about your involvement with Malum yet, however. How about this? You give me Lerac permanently, and I give you ownership of my memories that could incriminate you. I'll still have access to them, but I literally will be unable to tell the council, even if they scan my mind."

Wynn pulled herself back a little. "I forgot. Death bows to no one, not even Malum. So why have you come?"

Wynn laughed. "A fool? Yes. A terrible person? Most likely. The person who got you busted? Definitely. "What's wrong, Death? Did you have to abandon your Underworld when the council set the Wild Hunt on you? It's funny that you would come here, to a place where only one is living and only one has died. The Aos Si are happy in their undeath. Have you come to let me join them?"

Kill Death? I don't know if that's possible, but it sounds fun. Wynn shivered.

"Impudent? Nooooo." Zephyr stumbled but caught herself. "Everyone deserves to be tickled. It's fun! You know what I think? Truly dignified people don't care if the things they do are dignified or not, because by doing the things, they become dignified. And you seem like a truly dignified dragon!" She flared her pitiful wings, pleased with her sound logic.

Well, I think you passed the audition. The team's called "Really Annoying Inconveniences That Will Never Actually Amount To Anything". Wanna join? I think you could be co-leaders with Purple and Nathan. Tors... I think they just destroyed Lerac's soul. Here's the plan: Step one, destroy Malum Step two, trap Death in a pit of eternal agony and laugh as he suffers for eons. Step three: go to Haly's and commit mass murder. Step four, bring Lerac's body back to his family. Actually, maybe we can do step four first. His body probably won't decay in the End of Time, but I don't want to take any chances. And also we need to brainstorm ideas for step one. Malum deserves a lot worse than an easy destruction. Snuffle yipped and butted her head into Wynn's arm. Wynn smiled faintly and stroked her silly metallic fur.

And that one little action just sealed Death's fate. The Hunt's chains are off now. Not even Death himself can stand against the fury of the interdimensional justice system. What Malum, were you trying to make me cry? You really need to get it together if you ever want to be a full-fledged member of the team. "And you, Death. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, you should be afraid. Be very afraid." Wynn felt calm, like the misty land underneath the trees. "Class fives are so much more fun to get revenge on than mortals. They could trap you in a pit for eternity, or break you into tiny pieces and scatter you everywhere- ooh! They could make you mortal! You'd like that, wouldn't you? "And both of you. Don't you know that it's better to build up walls, instead of tearing them down? I get that you're the gods of death and destruction, but you'll be able to destroy better if you pace yourselves, spend more time planning and less time trying and failing to make teenage girls cry. Honestly, how have you both been around so long without figuring that out?" Wynn stroked Snuffle calmly. Perhaps it was better to forget humanity- go back to how she had been eons ago.

Wynn looked sad. "Bye for now. The future is never what you expect it to be. I... well please wait for me, if you can. I'm sorry." That was cruel of you, Malum. If you want to be a helpful member of this team, you need to stop doing things like that. Wynn addressed Tors. She's a puppy. All she wants is to be with me. When I called her spirit back, she came running.

"I never got to see TAAron. Death will literally not allow me past his doors again. Believe me, I tried. The only reason I went back for TAAron was because Haly needs him. You might not understand now, but mortal death isn't something I mess with lightly. Unless you'd like to try undeath?" Back when she was a real puppy, I was allergic to her. Unfortunately, puppies don't last very long. She agreed to let Orange make her into a robot after she died.

"And they made you not perfect. Real." Yep. Snuffle here is the best treasure-finder I've ever come across. Wynn patted the puppy's head, and Snuffle yipped happily in return.