“An arena god doesn’t seem the type to ever be content with his lot,” my father agreed. “Makes sense he’d be gunning for someone else’s territory, especially if he saw them as weak.”
“Can he do that, though?” I asked. “I mean, gods are gods of what they’re gods of, right? Life in the city can be hard, but the DFZ isn’t actually an arena. He can’t just come in and take over, can he?”
“I don’t know what he can do,” the DFZ said quietly, inhabiting Dr. Kowalski’s body again as she sank down to sit defeated on the garden’s upturned dirt. “Mortal Spirits are made by humans, and if there’s anything humans are good at, it’s changing their minds. I’ve been using that same talent to try and change myself. That’s why you’re here, don’t forget.”
She lifted her head briefly to smile at me before sinking back into her slump. “But I don’t think it’s working. I’ve been trying so hard to be a better city, but social improvements don’t get nearly as much attention as death arenas. You’ve seen the tourists. The Gameskeeper is famous all over the world, and he’s only getting bigger.”
“But he can’t get bigger than you,” I said. “I mean, he’s just a venue. You’re an entire city! The city he’s inside, I might add. That makes you bigger by default.”
“Geographically yes, but I’m not a Spirit of the Land. I’m a human god, the face of how people see the DFZ. Everyone who lives here knows me, but the world’s a lot bigger than Detroit. If the Gameskeeper’s arena is the first thing the rest of the planet thinks of when they hear my name, then he’s the spirit of the city, not me.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You mean he can actually replace you? Shouldn’t you have done something about this earlier?”
“What could I have done? I don’t exactly have a lot of laws, and he followed all of them! He’s also someone who came to the DFZ to go up in the world, which is what I’m all about. I don’t know if that was his plan all along or if he just lucked into my perfect blind spot, but he’s played my own nature against me. I can’t crack down on someone for chasing their dream, even if that dream is replacing me. It goes against everything I am!”
I ground my teeth so hard my jaw ached. Goddamn gods. Why were they never powerful when you needed them to be? Seriously, what did it take to get some good old divine retribution?
“Why can’t you fight back?” my dad asked, voicing my thoughts. “It’s not your nature to block someone’s dream, but it’s also not your nature to give things away. An invader has built a fortress in your territory. Why can’t you smash it down?”
The god sighed in frustration. “You think I haven’t tried? Why do you think that arena’s at the very bottom of Rentfree under a ring of constantly moving buildings? I’ve been shoving him down as hard as I can for years, and he still sells out every night!”
“Then move a building into him,” Yong suggested. “Aren’t you the city where only the strong survive? If he’s taking your land, collapse the Rentfree chasm on his head. That’s what I would do.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a dragon,” she grumbled. “And I’m trying not to be that type of city anymore. Equal enforcement of the law is the line between a free city and a corrupt one. If I ever want to be a good place where people are free to chase their dreams, I have to follow my own rules. That means no dropping buildings on someone just because I don’t like them.”
“He trapped my dad in a blood cocoon and then tried to kill us both with a pack of armed guards,” I reminded her. “Surely that’s cause for some divine punishment?”
The DFZ made a face. “Technically, it wasn’t entrapment because you never actually asked to leave. Also, you began the physical altercation when you broke his door, so all the shooting afterward could be classed as self-defense.”
My father snorted. “Are you a god or his lawyer?”
“Cities are all about laws!” she cried. “Seriously, what part of ‘defined by my domain’ do you not understand? If you wanted to stick it to the Gameskeeper by ruining his view with a parking deck or burying him in exorbitant water bills, I’m your metropolis, but I can’t take him out directly. I fought Algonquin for my city because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t exist. I fought for you because you were my priest and White Snake was very obviously breaking my laws, but the Gameskeeper situation is complicated. Fighting him requires fighting part of who I am, because he’s not entirely wrong. I am a city where things like him can thrive. If I crush him, I crush myself, and I can’t do that.”
I heaved a long, frustrated sigh. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand her point. I was actually proud of my god for sticking to her laws instead of acting like the corrupt, chaotic city so many accused her of being, but her insistence on taking the high road was seriously biting us in the ass, and it was only going to get worse.
“I understand what you’re saying,” I said, striving to keep my voice patient and even. “But we have to do something. The Gameskeeper’s already taken a bite out of Rentfree. If he actually pulls off his dragon fight, who knows how
