Masters of Death

In 1865, Tom Parker I talks to another soldier about his plans to marry Betsy, the girl next door. He tells the soldier that he would like to speak to Death about the purpose of war. The soldier says that he heard there was a medium in Chicago who could contact Death. When Tom gets to Chicago, he learns that Fox touches his ring when he speaks to the dead, which is how he identifies him in the bar. After a few drinks, Tom helps Fox out of the bar to take him home. Tom leads Fox into his house, and as Fox lays unconscious, Tom takes the ring from Fox’s finger. A man appears behind Tom and tells him to put the ring back on Fox’s finger. Tom realizes that the man is Death. Before Tom can ask him his question, Brandt appears. Death is not happy to see him. Brandt eats an apple and asks to speak with Fox, but Death tells him that he cannot. Brandt tells Tom to give the ring back to Fox since he gave it to him as a gift. Death says that Brandt should not have gambled Fox if he did not want to lose him. Death says that Brandt must stop looking for Fox, but Brandt refuses. Irritated, Death disappears before Tom can speak with him. Tom asks Brandt what the immortals’ game is, and Brandt explains the game and then takes him to the tables.

Tom wins the game against Death and asks for wealth, while Death attaches the condition of insatiability. After a few months, all the crops die, except for Tom’s. He makes a fortune and moves to Chicago. Brandt visits Tom, but Tom does not feel happy because his hard work took a toll on his body. He asks Brandt if he can play the game again to ask Death for youth. Tom hears voices in his head telling him to play again. Tom thinks that this is a good idea, and the voices in his head say that they can make a deal.

Tom wakes up to see Betsy’s dead, bloody body next to him and a knife in his hand. Suddenly, Betsy’s eyes snap open, and she laughs. Tom asks if it is a demon, and Volos in Betsy’s body replies that he is the king of demons. He reminds Tom of his deal: Tom would give Volos a mortal body in exchange for his youth. Volos says that if Tom wants to live longer than 40 years, he will need to make another payment.

Tom tells Brandt that he met Volos, but Brandt warns him against making a deal with Volos. Tom tells Brandt that his son Ned thinks that he killed Betsy. When Ned is 16, Tom realizes that he is dying. He hears Volos’s voice in his head telling him that he gave him the appearance of youth, but his organs are that of an older man. Tom says that he will not sacrifice Ned, but Volos explains that he wants Tom to play for him in the game since his name is already on the ledger. However, Death refuses to let Tom play with Volos in his head. Years later, Tom goes to kill Ned for Volos. Ned asks Tom if he has come to kill him or come for Brandt’s book. Tom does not know about the book, but he apologizes to Ned as he stabs him. Ned’s murder gives Tom another lifetime of youth. Volos tells Tom that the book that Brandt gave Ned must contain the ledger, meaning that Tom could play the game again. Volos says that Tom must find the book.

Tom finds Brandt and tells him that he needs the ledger. Brandt says that he cannot give it to Tom because he left it with Ned for safekeeping. Tom tells Brandt that he killed Ned. Tom begs Brandt for help because Volos keeps demanding more to pay off his debt, but Brandt refuses to help. Before Tom murders his grandsons, he demands that Volos give him magical powers. Tom returns to Brandt and asks for the ledger. Brandt refuses, but Tom says that Volos will give Fox back to Brandt if he beats Death. Brandt does not want to make a deal with Volos, but Tom reminds him that it is his only chance of seeing Fox again. Brandt says that he must kill Tom’s bloodline because he wants to make sure that he gets the ledger alone, without Volos trying to double-cross him.

Volos screams as he experiences the intensity of Tom Parker I’s guilt. Volos collapses as Fox asks him what he regrets. Tom Parker I’s voice responds that he regrets everything. Fox says that this is a human impulse. The archangels announce that Fox wins the game.

Volos floats after leaving Tom Parker I’s body. The immortals he trapped escape from their cages. Volos wanders, looking for a body to inhabit. Isis traps him in a gold crown that she puts on her head. Viola asks if it will hold him, and Isis says that he will escape eventually, but she will be there to defeat him.

Fox does not want to play the game against Death, but the archangels explain that if he does not play through the tournament, then Volos can challenge Death again. Fox sits at the table, and the final game begins. Death repeats that he has a regret, which will make him lose the game. Fox sees a memory of Death and Brandt sitting across the tables. Brandt begs for the truth back, but Death refuses to give it to him because Brandt gambled Fox. Death says that Brandt will never see Fox again because of his actions and bans him from the tables. Fox tells Death that he understands, but Death says that he also regrets underestimating mortals and making Fox feel like he was less important because of his mortality. Fox asks what happens if he wins the game, and Death says that he can ask for anything in the world. Fox wants Tom and Viola to have what they want. He also wants Mayra and Cal to be happy together. Fox says that he does not want immortality because he thinks that it is overrated. Death agrees and tells Fox that he loves him. Fox realizes that being mortal is a powerful thing because it allows him to love. Fox knows that love is not a weakness, even if the immortals believe it is. He smiles at Death and tells him that he loves him, too. Raphael announces that Fox wins the immortals’ game.

The archangels tell Isis that they need her to rule as the queen of virtue to keep Volos in check. Afterward, they tell Mayra and Cal that they can pass together into the afterlife. Mayra says that they want to keep their jobs, but they want more miracles and a relationship, which the archangels agree to. When the archangels get to Tom and Viola, they tell Viola that her ledger will not allow her to pass into the afterlife with Tom. She tells Tom to go to the afterlife and that she will meet him there when she works off her ledger. Tom does not want to leave her, and he asks the archangels if a world exists where Viola can live. Later, Viola wakes up in the Parker mansion. She realizes that she is mortal and can experience emotions. Tom walks through the door in his human form. Viola cries, and Tom takes her into his arms and kisses her.

After the game ends, Fox finds Brandt. Brandt can finally speak the truth to Fox. Fox shows Brandt that he took the watch off so that he could age again. Fox says that he wants one lifetime with Brandt rather than an eternity without him. Fox explains that he gave Time his watch back in exchange for Brandt’s ability to speak the truth. Brandt never thought he would grow old, but he will do it with Fox. Brandt takes the apple out of his jacket and places it on the table. He asks Fox if he will love him for the rest of his life, and Fox promises that he will. They kiss.

Fox and Brandt stand before the archangels to discuss their ledgers. The archangels tell them that their ledgers are in the negative. Brandt says that he knew that the archangels would pick Fox as their challenger and that Fox would defeat Volos. The archangels do not believe him, but Brandt tells Fox that he always had faith in him. Later, Brandt takes Fox to visit Iðunn, where they tell their story. Fox says that they will come visit her without the trade of immortality. They give Iðunn the book of Fox’s mastery of death, and she blesses them with a life full of wonder. 

Death tells the reader that only a mortal could have defeated him. Death knows that Fox is trying to right his ledger, even though the title of master of Death has gone to his head. Death asks the reader not to take it personally when he comes to visit them. According to Fox, Death knows that the true reward is living well, even if it comes with an ending.