That white fox had a smile so wide it looked like it was enjoying the fear on Ebon's face when he heard he was going to hell.
"Hey hey, there's no need to go that far, I know I wasn't very religious, but I was a good person," Ebon replied while trying to crawl away from the fox across the wet floor.
"Nah, maybe a little, I won't deny it… But you killed yourself, so hell it is for you, my friend, aa" the fox answered as it stopped smiling and began licking its fur.
"Man, that's bullshit… I didn't take my own life, I admit it might've been my fault trying to punch the wall, but come on, that's not the same thing, that was an accident!" Ebon shouted, fear trembling in his voice as an uncontrollable dread welled up from the presence of that fox.
"Let's see, let's see, let's see, I rely on evidence" said the mischievous god while staring intently at the young man, his red eyes glowing intensely as if they were on fire.
Suddenly, the watery floor reflected the exact moment when Ebon had been talking with his teammates, as if it were a magical screen.
"Nonsense, they're just girls, what's more, if we lose against a girls' team, may lightning strike me!" the fox said, perfectly imitating Ebon's voice before returning to its original one.
"That's what you said, Ebon Young… You see, in the universe there's something called the Rule of Causality, it's complicated, but I'll summarize it for your poor understanding" the fox's voice was mocking as it then closed its eyes.
"You see, your words carry weight in your destiny, there are people who by merely believing in those words influence their achievements, or in your case, your own death, at least fifty-fifty" mentioned the god of mischief while stretching its paws.
"Hey hey, that's not fair… I… It's true I said it… But it was a damn joke, what kind of god judges me for that?"
"Judge, huh? Sounds fun, what a great idea!" said the fox before letting out a powerful roar like a lion, suddenly twelve stars fell delicately from the sky into the water.
Upon revealing their true forms, they were living flames that looked like blazing spheres, each with two small black openings like eyes, and each one had a different color.
"Who thinks she deserves to go to hell?" the fox god asked, and then all the spheres changed to a vivid green as the flames shifted, forming hands that raised their thumbs.
"Fuck off! That's not a trial, at least let me defend myself!" Ebon shouted as he stood up angrily, pointing his finger at the fox.
"Well then, speak, Mr. Goathman," said the fox between laughs.
"Listen, you bastards, my life was shit and I ended up dying in an accident! I don't deserve hell, my own mother reported me to the police more than once!" Ebon shouted, his voice on the verge of breaking.
"If my words have so much weight on my destiny, then why didn't my dreams come true, the ones I repeated so many times? Why?! I died in debt, I couldn't finish college… For God's sake, I even died a virgin!" the young man yelled before letting a tear fall.
"At least let me go to another world… Give me another life, another chance…" said the brown-haired boy as he wiped away his tears.
"Are you sure? If you go to another world, you'll go as a mortal, no advantages, just you and another life where you might still fail to achieve anything" the fox replied, tilting its head in curiosity.
"If I don't achieve anything again?… At least this time I'll have given everything I had without being lazy, without being petty, without regrets!" Ebon shouted angrily, staring at the fox with determination.
The spheres then began talking among themselves with sounds that were more like the crackling of a campfire, and whatever they were saying seemed to amuse the fox, drawing brief laughs from him.
"Okay, okay, okay. It's true that it would be unfair to let such a funny existence die without at least letting her fulfill one dream," the fox said before starting to play with the spheres, trying to catch them as they began to scatter and flee.
"I'll give you a chance… But wouldn't you prefer another option? I don't know, I could send you to purgatory" asked the fox as it approached Ebon until they were face to face.
"I prefer to live… Please… I beg you, Mr. Fox" Ebon said with a look of desperation and pleading.
"Yeah, I suppose humans prefer anything before seeking forgiveness for their mistakes to enter heaven" the fox mentioned mockingly before rapidly growing in size, smiling ear to ear as its jaw grotesquely deformed.
"What? Wait, let me expla—" Ebon was cut off as the fox opened its jaws and devoured him in a single bite, its form distorted into a mass of fur and fangs.
Inside, an endless darkness wrapped around the young man's soul, completely silencing his thoughts.
.
.
.
Ebon slowly opened his eyes, the blue sky being the first thing he managed to see with his new eyes.
Dazed, he blinked several times, his headache felt like three nights of heavy drinking, he could barely form coherent thoughts.
However, upon feeling the grass beneath him, he raised his hand toward the sky and smiled before shouting with joy.
"Thanks, fox! I'm… alive… huh?"
Ebon fell silent when he heard the tone of his voice, and when he looked at his hand, it was slender, pale-skinned, with long nails, in a rush he touched his groin and felt the absence of his loyal companion that had abandoned him.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"