There's school tomorrow, and she really doesn't want to go to bed yet, the book just got good, but she will, she supposes. She walks up to her mum, kisses her on the forehead, then goes back to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
...
........
She grabs the book again, goes to bed, and resumes her reading. Just one more chapter.
Suddenly, there's a weight on her body, knobbled and digging painfully into her chest. Gnarled fingers yank the book from her hands: a noseless, mouthless face smiles down at her.
"You are imprisoned and tortured by a friend who betrayed you. When presented with the opportunity to escape, do you flee and try to forget, or do you hunt down your former friend and take your revenge?"
She screams.
Her scream dies before it reaches her own ears. The creature smiles wider.
"A scream is not an answer."
"What are you? What are you doing here? What do you want?"
"I want an answer. And now you owe me one. Go on, tell me."
She feels the answer reach her lips and tries to not let it out.
She fails.
"Flee and forget."
The creature leans in close. "Now we are even."
Idly rubbing two of its gnarled fingers together, it asks almost casually: "Do you believe that you can change the world?"
"Yes. Why are you here asking me questions?"
"Because the Law requires it of me. A hated foe comes to your door in dire need of aid. If you turn them away, you will be seen as breaking the laws of hospitality and shunned by your peers. Do you give of yourself to your enemy, or refuse?"
"I give. What Law is this?"
"The Law that the Creator set down at the beginning of the world. You're in the middle of delicate negotiations with one of your rivals when a crisis arises that needs your personal attention. Do you entrust the negotiations to one of your trusted followers, or postpone them until the crisis passes?"
"Depends a lot on context but assuming I'm me I trust them for a reason, I entrust them with it. Creator of what world, are you saying there's a god?"
"The world that I come from. They are less and more than a god. Is well-meaning incompetence at one's duty a sin?"
"Depends on what you mean by 'well-meaning incompetence' and 'sin.' To repeatedly blunder your way through things with the best of intentions is bad but that's because you're not learning from your mistakes, but if you mean well and do wrong and then learn and improve then that's how it should be. What's the world you come from, and how are they less and more than a god?"
"The world I come from is the Creator's world. I do not know what they call it.
Is it justified to kill in the service of a good cause?"
"You didn't explain what you meant by more and less than a god. It depends on the cause, but if it's a good enough cause that you're very certain you'll save more lives and you've checked that fact to exhaustion then yes."