A.N. The kindred soul am1thirteen acquainted me with the beautiful Mirai Nikki manga, and suggested playing with its plot. I eagerly agreed. She agreed to beta this for me, so if I don't go off the deep end in any way credit goes to her. Of course, any lasting error/ flaw is mine.
Disclaimer: Mirai Nikki/Future Diary's storyline belongs to Sakae Esuno sensei, Dr. John Watson and the rest of the cast to Arthur Conan Doyle and/or to the BBC. I just mess with both.
Prologue
Nobody is really an atheist in war. Everyone needs some sort of God to pray to, whoever He/She may be. John Watson is special though, because said gods do not usually entertain their believers when they dream (or daydream, for the matter). Neither do they send little witty imp-like helpers to point out useful things like 'is that light bouncing off a rifle, what do you think, Johnny?'.
John keeps silent about all that. He's mad, madder than a hatter in truth, he knows. He has to be. As long as Mormor (that's the imp's name, and yes, it's ridiculous – but the thing would hold the grudge of the century if he remarked on that) helps him stay alive, who cares which form his brain chooses to inform the larger, supposedly rational part of him that danger is right there? Honestly, John would commit himself into the nearest asylum if whenever, wherever his hallucinations interfered with his work as an army surgeon. His brothers in arms deserve nothing but the best. But he gives them the best. He is the best. Anytime he has to disinfect, stitch, remove bullets, or generally heal, the mirages leave him alone...and he has many, many grateful friends he has saved. Asylum has never looked less appealing.
His dreams of Dyaus, God of Space and Time and Causality (sometimes John jokes he must be a Time Lord, but he has seen no Tardis yet), began when he was deployed to the front line. As a medic, John had seen worse ways to cope with the stress. Humongous masked human-shaped God saying you were interesting and he was feeling playful? Not so bad.
Which is why, when he does get shot, John feels unreasonably betrayed (yes, he's mad, but that's already established). They have not played yet, not anything remotely engaging, and where the fuck is Mormor when John needs help, and he can't die now. Dyaus won't let him die...will he? Please God, let me live.
P.S. Mirai Nikki had Deus (ex machina). Deus/Iuppiter (Iove pater contracted) in Latin, Zeus patèr/Theos in ancient Greek come from the same Indoeuropean radical (*Dyeus) that generated in the Indian Veda Dyaus Pita. Since John met him in Afghanistan I went for the Dyaus spelling.