Believe it or not, this is not the first time someone has named themselves my parent without asking. It happened once or twice when I was younger and more easily portable. A random person would just walk up, pick me up, and then try to trot off with me like it was the most natural thing. When they got caught they wouldn’t even bat an eye, just boldly claim I was their kid and try to leave again.

  This is a bit different, I suppose. Artos has already managed to steal me away uncontested and there is no one to challenge his claim of parentage other than myself. So, I guess I’m like, stuck here now.

  As for why he's doing this, I can't really say. It was Gwen and Artos themselves who said I wouldn’t have any parents if I were reborn this way, so it’s not like I have to remind him of the fact. He knows it better than anyone. It hadn’t occurred to me earlier, but perhaps he’s doing this to give me a cover as repayment for being such an ass. Though, divine adoption seems like a lot for just that so maybe Gwen put him up to it.

  Not that doesn't quite makes sense either. If she had a say in things I doubt Gwen would leave me in his hands. She would take me home herself, which begs the question of how did I end up here?

  There’s only one way I’m likely to get any answers.

  I follow quietly as Ja’karis begins leading the way to where this sanctum place is, Rancor, Esther and Kang Soo falling in after. I quickly stop paying attention to where we’re going, focusing perhaps a bit too much on the way the Priest King’s robes sway as his walks. I feel a bit like a cat, hyper-fixated on a string, except for me I keep almost stepping (but not quite) on the back of his robe and I can’t decide if I’m happy about that or disappointed.

  When Ja’karis suddenly stops and my foot lands on his robe I realize it had been disappointment as a sense of relief makes me sigh. Finally got it.

  I have to quickly get off the robe as he starts walking again and it’s only now that I start paying attention to my surroundings. We’re walking down a long set of stairs, at the bottom of which is a large underground room with a pool of crystal clear water taking up most of the space, leaving only a strip of dry ground where we are and another on the opposite side of the pool from us where a closed door can be seen. The ceiling in fairly high with three large circular holes that go all the way up to the outside, letting in bright sunlight and illuminating what would likely otherwise be a very dark place. It makes the place look mysterious and sacred.

  Our group comes to a halt next to the water, Ja’karis turning to me while simultaneously pointing at the far off door.

  “I’m afraid you must proceed from here alone. That is the entrance to the sanctum where only the chosen may commune with Lord Artos.” I look at where we’re standing, then at the door he’s pointing at, and finally at the deep water in between the two. Is he telling me to swim? “The only way to reach it is by walking across the surface of the water. Within it dwells an ancient water spirit that allows any summoned by the Lord to cross, while it consumes all others who dare trespass here.”

  He has an intruder eating moat. I’ve gotten inklings of it before, but now I’m all but certain. Artos is an evil god, isn’t he? Or chaotic neutral at the very least.

  I glance at the water. The light from above makes it shine a vivid, clear blue, making it look inviting. Yet it’s so deep that its beautiful color eventually fades into the kinds of shadow that make you wonder what might be lurking down there. I imagine that if you stared at it long enough it would be easy to get the feeling that something is staring back at you.

  It just turns out that in this case it would be true.

  Sending a silent mental plea for the pool not to eat me (I want to die peacefully in my sleep this life, not via evil pond water), I step off the ground and onto the surface of the pool. I more than half expect my foot to keep going as I fall below the surface, yet it touches the water and stays there. Mildly surprised that worked, I don’t even have time to continue forward before the water moves.

  It starts moving around me like something is circling me, until something slowly rises from the water. It’s not quite a figure exactly, more a person sized shape of water. I can feel it’s a part of something much bigger than what I can see, something alien and old, and that it’s staring at me.

  I wave at it. I’m not sure if it understands what I’m doing, but I think something in it ripples back. Either way, the next instant its behind me, cradling the back of my body like a giant hand until I find myself sitting on it. Then I’m moving sedately across the surface of the water without having to move at all. It seems Artos’ guardian water spirit is nicer than I originally imagined.

  I’m not disappointed, mind you, but- well, I had kind of thought it would be cool to walk across water. In the end I make it to the other side, the water hand lightly setting me down before sinking back out of sight, with not a drop of water on me.

  I don’t even need to approach it before the door begins opening before me, but I still pause to look back the way I’d come. The four figures that accompanied me here are still standing on the other side, but something about them seems taken aback, maybe even a little surprised. Kang Soo is still smiling but their eyebrows are a bit raised, while Ja’karis’ posture is a touch too stiff. The other two I still can’t read very well, but I think they are too. Maybe they thought I would get eaten? Or perhaps they didn’t expect the water spirit to act that way.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Walking through the door there is just darkness and a faint blue light half illuminating shapes. It closes behind me, leaving me with just the blue light as a guide in a room that feels spacious and has the cool hint of stone. Taking a few steps I come to a set of stairs, which seems like a truly terrible design to have here. Stairs in the dark. Is Artos trying to kill me?

  Placing a hand on the wall I proceed slowly. This might be a magical place, but I don’t know if they can fix broken bones yet and dragging one around for a couple months is not my idea of a good time.

  Things do get brighter the further I go up, until finally I reach the top and see a large circular room with pillars lining the edges, a domed ceiling and a bright blue flame burning in the exact middle, floating in the air above my head and about the size of a person.

  As I enter the room the flame flickers, lowering and expanding into a circle. The empty center shimmers and coalesces until an image of Artos appears. Black hair, stupidly handsome and sporting a rather impressive black eye. Considering where I’d last seen him I can imagine how he got it. He’s in a bright place, sitting down and leaning back and looking like a complete asshole. When he sees me he smirks in a way his black eyes make look sinister, but I think that’s just how he looks. PR challenged.

  “There’s my boy. Thought you got away, didn’t you? You sneaky little tyke.”

  I lean back, mildly disgusted by the way he’s talking. So friendly and indulgent- it just seems wrong coming from him. And I had thought I’d gotten away, actually. The level of my disappointment at that not being the case is rather complex to explain. When I don’t respond he grows a touch more serious in a slightly fake way that tells me he’s having the time of his life.

  “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what all this “I’m your dad” business is all about. The truth is, you have a new daddy and a new mommy.” His serious face cracks into a silly grin. “Gwen and I, can you believe it?”

  I point to my own eye and quirk an eyebrow at him. He understands my meaning immediately, looking wryly chagrined. “In all the excitement I might’ve overplayed my hand a little bit. The highlights come down to this. Yes, you are our kid. Yes, I’m sure that doesn’t make sense to you, but gods work a bit differently than everyone else and you’ve got all the right pieces for the claim to be legitimate. And no, Gwen won’t marry me. Not even if I leverage access to you, which, I mean, doesn’t that make her commitment as a mother seem a touch lack- Ow!”

  Something I can’t see hits him in the arm and he looks off to the side. “Violence? Already? Is this the kind of example you want to set for him? Think of the child!”

  I guess that means Gwen is there with him. This must be an Artos specific method of communication if I can’t see her. I’m sure he’s loving that.

  When they’ve settled down I ask what’s been on my mind since I got here. “Why did you bring me here?”

  My own voice sounds strange to me, as it's as new as this body and, based on the glimpses of my new skin tone I've gotten, just as different from my last.

  “It’s just as I said earlier in the great hall. You’ll be safe here and get a chance to learn whatever you need to. It’s not-” he starts speaking louder as if to talk over someone “-because I wanted to hold you over your mother’s head.”

  I don't think he can reasonably expect anyone to believe that, but the upside is that he probably won't have to poison anymore innocent little souls in order to see Gwen anymore.

  “Do you really think I’ll be safe with all these people?” I don’t have a reason to believe he knows about my past life and what it was like, but I can’t shake the feeling that he does know something. He’s seen my soul. He must’ve seen something there. Or, more likely, Gwen did and then clued him in.

  His expression grows considering as his next words confirm my thoughts. “With someone like you, being around people at all will always be a risk unless certain precautions are taken.” I want to ask why he gave me such a grand, eye-catching entrance if he knew that, but he raises a hand. “You want to know why I had you appear like that before so many people, right? It might not mean that much to you, but I am a god. Claiming you as my child won’t stop the effect you have on people, but it will do a lot to make them hesitate. Many will give up on approaching you at all since you are, in many ways, out of reach now.”

  So, it was a form of protection? I guess I’ll have to see it to believe it. I’ve witnessed too many crazy people ignoring all obstacles and reason to get what they want that it’s hard to imagine them stopping just because a god- okay, now that I’ve said the words I guess I can see how it might work. “Do you know why I’m like this?”

  “Yes, but it’s hard to explain. I am a god, but I did not create the world and I am not some bastion of morally meant to guide the sapient races. I and the rest of my brethren are simply the world’s first children, first and strongest. We are not creators, but created. The true creator is a mysterious entity that we know little about, not its motives or origins, or if it even has an origin. It is known only as the Will because by its will all things exist, and vis versa. For all its power the Will doesn’t really take an active hand in things, if it even pays attention at all.

  “This is important because every now and then, the Will gazes upon reality and will see something it likes. This something is usually a soul, and that soul is forever marked by that approving gaze. It carries a weight and gains a solidity it wouldn’t normally and those who encounter that soul can feel that in a subconscious way. And most can not bear the weight of being exposed to a transcendent being’s anything, not even something as gentle as their approval. It forces their attention like a magnet. You saw it yourself in my closet, the difference between your soul and others. Do you think those faint little souls would be able to bear something like that? As you might've guessed, you are one such soul. You are what is known as a Favored.”

  There's a weight in my chest as he explains things. I’m not sure if it’s sadness exactly. I guess things just seem a little hopeless for a moment. I really was hurting everyone around me just by existing. Without malice or intent, I was breaking them. And I guess I’ll always be this way? He said I was marked forever. What if I’m still like this even in whatever happens after I truly die?

  Then there’s the unfairness of it. I’m like this because some unknowable being looked at me and just happened to be in a good mood? I find my gaze meeting Artos' and I don't know what my expression is like, but he almost looks like he pities me. "Is there really nothing I can do?"