A New Bond

“You know Mira, you can just admit you made a mistake.” I gave her a jeering stare.

Mira’s face went from serious to annoyed rather quickly.

“I didn’t make a mistake! I’m telling you, the gods have chosen you!” Mira was flailing her arms about like a child having a tantrum.

I looked towards Tiaria and gave her a slight smile.

“Thanks for bringing me here Tiaria, even if we didn’t find out my magic capacity at least I know a few other things about myself now.”

Tiaria gave me a nod before speaking.

“Do you really think Mira made a mistake? I mean sure she can be a little lost in her own thoughts and ditzy and sometimes make bad choices, but her card reading is usually very good.”

“Come on, I’m right here!” Mira looked like she was almost in tears.

“Sorry, even if it is true, I’m not sure what use that information would be to me right now.” I gave a more serious answer than usual.

It was the truth, after-all, I had no memory of what had happened even a day ago, being chosen, being good or evil, none of that meant anything to me right now. Tiaria looked at me for a moment.

“You must be exhausted, it has been a long day.”

“Yeah, can we get food and that room in the Inn now?” I answered her with a slight smile.

Mira gave a sigh, likely due to how nonchalantly we had brushed off her predictions.

“Thanks as always, Mira.” Tiaria waved at Mira as she tugged on my sleeve and led me out of the door that we had come in through.

“There is an Inn near the Tabernacle that also has a restaurant, let’s head there.” Tiaria looked at me with a very soft facial expression.

I once again walked behind her, following her down the ornate halls until we reached a back exit. As Tiaria pushed open the wooden doors the twilight’s light glistened around me. Once again I was greeted with the pastel buildings welcoming me to a city which was a marvel in its own right, and the ragged citizens which occupied it. Tiaria must have noticed me staring at the people that parted around us as we walked.

“Let’s chat a bit as we walk.” Tiaria had taken on a serious tone.

“A long time ago by human standards, but recently by the standards of civilization, the gods ruled over the world. These gods looked over many different aspects of nature, and governed them to the advantage of humanity.”

I was listening to Tiaria intently and almost ran into a pole, which she pulled me away from at the last second.

“There were seven gods which ruled; life-and-death, fire, earth, water, air, time, and magic. However, one day an invader god, one from beyond our planet, attacked us. The gods sprung into action to defend all beings of this planet, however, the invader god was far superior to our gods. Finally, after six gods had given their lives, the invader god was destroyed. However, he could not be killed. The invader god was split into seven parts and spread throughout all of space and time.”

Tiaria looked down at the ground for a moment before continuing.

“Only Lord Ariet, god of life-and-death remained, as she could not be killed by any known means. Lord Ariet took on the role of all of the fallen gods and has attempted to govern their realms since. However, the burden is simply too much for a single god to handle.”

“That is why humans are being selected to become gods? To replace the fallen gods?” I asked with sincerity.

“Yes, that’s right. I will be the assistant of God-candidate Lord Eric. He will take over the duties of the god of fire or earth. As his assistant I will take on the role of a lesser god while he reigns.”

“What would you be the lesser god of?” I asked.

Tiaria seemed to look away from me and blush.
“It’s a bit embarrassing, but I will become the god of love.”

“I wasn’t aware that you had a husband.” I said with a bit of a tease.

Tiaria laughed. “I don’t, before I ascend I need to find love, or I will be a bit of a useless god of love don’t you think?” Tiaria looked at me with both a hint of a laugh and a hint of sadness.

“How were you chosen?” I realized I had not touched on an obvious question.

“I don’t know, Lord Ariet chose me.” Tiaria picked up her pace a little bit as we rounded a large fountain.

Tiaria and I held an awkward silence for a little bit before we finally arrived at a large building which, by the bustle of people and loud cheering inside, was obviously the Restaurant and Inn.

“Lord Apprentice!” The cheers towards Tiaria came from several patrons as we entered the Inn. Tiaria was obviously beloved by the people. She waved back to them and held quick conversations.

“Over here, Yu!” Tiaria waved at me as she pointed towards an empty table.

“I’m sorry it took us so long to get to this point, I know you must be hungry, I certainly am!” Tiaria gave me an excited smile. This was perhaps the most excited she had been all day.

I had no idea what I was looking at on the menu, even though I could read it everything sounded like gibberish to me. I asked Tiaria to order something for me and she obliged.

“Hey, Yu.” Tiaria gently called out to me, I had been lost in thought about the happenings of the day and snapped to.

“Things must be really hard for you. I know I have been very eccentric today getting you into all kinds of stuff. Thanks for putting up with me, and I’m sorry for treating you like a demon when we first met.” Tiaria was being oddly soft with me.

“Maybe I am, I just have a very high resistance to magic.” I suggested with a smile.

Tiaria rolled her eyes at me.

“But really, I’m glad you found me, I appreciate your company.” I said with a mix of sincerity and sarcasm.

Our food came and we both ate it very quickly. It was a fantastic meat, potato, and apple stew. Nothing like anything that I had ever eaten before, not that I remembered any other meals that I had eaten before. Tiaria paid for our meal and made sure to grab a room in the Inn for me. We both got up from the table and walked towards the stairs that lead to the Inn portion of the building. Tiaria dug through her side bag before grasping something in her hand.

“Hold your hand out for me.” Tiaria said.

I obediently put my hand out, palm up, towards her. Tiaria dropped several coins in my hand.

“I’ll try to come by tomorrow, but if I don’t I would feel bad if you were starving because you had no money.”

“Thanks Tiaria, I appreciate it.” Even though it had only been a day, I felt strangely warm towards Tiaria.

I took one step up the stairs before I turned back towards Tiaria who was still standing and watching me.

“I feel like we forgot something.” I said to her as I narrowed my eyes, trying to remember something that had slipped away.

“Can’t be that important then.” Tiaria said with a big smile.

“I hope to see you tomorrow.” I said to her. She smiled back at me.