Memes And Other Fun| Book 2

If You Could, Would You?

Death seemed to falter, just for a second, but smiled again in the end. "Smart man." He commented, clicking his tongue. "Most don't bother, always so eager to bring their loved ones back." Cody tilted his head on instinct and Death seemed to know what he was thinking. "You're not the first I've offered a deal to, but, most can't follow through. See, there's a certain order that must be maintained. I can bend the rules, but only if I keep the scale in check. So to bring someone back from the dead,"

"You need to take a life in its place." Cody finished. His tone dropped flat and his heart pounded. He didn't want to kill anybody but at the same time, this was Joe.

Death nodded at his statement. "You're learning, very good. Now, I could do it myself, but honestly, I do that all the time, give me a break. It's your brother, so why don't we see how much you really love him, hm? Is it enough to kill someone?"

Cody was already asking that question before but now, it was stuck in his head. His mind raced, trying to think of all possibilities before finally mumbling. "There are some criminals who are going to die anyways."

But Death clicked his tongue. "Cody, Cody, Codes- can I call you Codes?- I don't think you're understanding the whole 'Balance of the universe' thing!" He walked close to him and put his arm around the penguin. Cody tensed up, feeling how surprisingly hot he was as he talked. "You're trying to trade a piece of wood for a diamond, that's not fair at all! Joe is a bright soul, but I have to switch him out for someone like him, you get me?"

Cody paused, gulping. "Do you mean like, someone related to him? Or another chicken? Or just a good person in general?"

"Getting closer but not quite, though I suppose a good person would work too but- listen to me," Death drew him in close, whispering in his ear. "You don't want to kill a good person, so I won't make you. I'm a merciful man, and there is another that can easily take his place. I wouldn't call 'em a good person, and I doubt you would either. But, they have similar souls, so the trade will still work."

Cody didn't like how close he was but considering it was Death he didn't move an inch. He wasn't someone he wanted on his bad side. "What... What do you mean by 'Similar Souls'?"

Death smiled at him. "Leader." He whispered.

Cody knew what he was asking in a split second.

"And you can really do this?" Cody asked again.

Death didn't hesitate to raise a hand and point it at an unsuspecting whalegul that was getting closer. A short burst of light came from his hand and in a split second, the animal was on the ground, dead. With another similar burst, it stood back up, and turned around.

"What do you think?" Death asked.

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KrakenKid awoke with a killer pain in his head and being unable to lift his arms.

He blinked awake, squinting through the blurry world and trying to make sense of where he was. It came to him slowly, looking around to see he was in the middle of a rocky dip between hills and his arms were weighed down with chains. There was nothing on him, not even his bandolier that he kept on him, regardless of whether or not it had actual ammo in it.

KrakenKid tried to move but his body didn't seem to want to respond other than his head. His first thought was he was paralyzed, but he could still feel the strain on his arms and the cold water on his body so that cancelled out that theory.

It took him another moment to realize there was some kind of ritual going on around him. He was in the middle of a circle with strange symbols all around and there were ingredients laid out just outside of it. He recognized a few plants he'd seen around but didn't know what they were called.