Anton noticed the people's disdain almost immediately. Looking at him with something more than disgust, bordering on hate. He was used to that look, he had been getting it for almost three decades at that point. If he was being honest with himself, it was why he was so interested in the new man, Marshall. The absence of hatred in his eyes was an all too alluring prospect...

"Um... anyone else needing to be healed?" Marshall asked, face reddening as the others turned to face him. "I can sort of... well, I sort of feel pain radiating from you all, it's like a dull ache outside of my body. My body, my blood is tingling with power. I need to do something, to move and use it."

Amara, the woman leading them, turned with her warm gray eyes. "Magic comes at a cost, I would be careful how and who you heal. It could burn out your life force or worse."

Marshall nodded, eyes focused with brilliant intelligence. "I could feel Anton's pain before, like the wound was mine."

"That... actually clears up a lot. Your patron, they must be an empathic deity, their powers not elemental but astral. Hmm... fascinating." She smiled, shaking her head. "I forgot to mention, I am Amara. I am the High Priestess of Lord Zeus' temple." She tipped her head, looking awfully bird like with her hawkish features. "Hmm, perhaps... yes, your power does feel familiar. I cannot quite sense it, the power is being muddled by the state of transition you are in." The raw intensity of her eyes startled Anton, as it always did, there was a reason that the male preferring Zeus allowed her to be High Priestess. Amara was wise and powerful, an elemental force all her own. Few could match up to her in any real way.

'You already know his patron, Amara, you are too clever not too... I wonder who it would be, who would sponsor a boy from another world.' Anton considered, and few gods if any came to mind. 'Most goddesses rightfully loathe men, and fewer gods are empathic. Really, I cannot think of anyone that would choose to help a mortal, especially one that while cute to me would not be perfect enough to be chosen by a picky, judgemental deity.'

It was true though, the man he was guarding was not great beauty nor athlete. He was tall, round and thick, with alabaster skin. Well, not counting his face which had a hint of pink, a constant flush to his rounded cheekbones. Contrasting well against his bushy brown beard and thick ringlets of curly hair. His eyes, soft and sad, were a greenish blue with a ring of cold around his pupil. He had a jolly sort of air about him, until you got close and it was clear that he had not slept a lot, he looked dead exhausted and entirely without the luster of life.

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Anton wanted nothing more than to keep him safe. 'I want to take his pain, as he did to me...he would and is the first to look at me without disdain, fear or loathing.' Eager to make some connection, Anton could not help but start talking as they moved through the houses of the village and moved toward Zeus' temple. "So... Marshall... how did you end up here, exactly?"

The other man turned, smiling with a radiance and intensity that left Anton breathless. No one, not even his divine mother, had ever gave him such a look of emotion. "I fell on the blade in our Museum, and I ended up here."

"What is a Museum?" He and Amara asked, though the words echoed around the small crowd of failed hunters.

Hunters that, now that Anton was paying attention, seemed jealous and angry. Some were looking at Marshall with that look, and even more disgust. It was a difficult thing to not slice them in two with his new blade.

"Oh, it is were we collect artifacts from other times and places, though... to be honest, a lot of it was stolen via threats or actual murders." He sighed. "I like seeing the past, especially myths. In my world, far as I know, the gods are just stories of the ancient past."

Amara nodded, eyes wide. "I see... you are from... I know what is going on." She stopped at the edge of the great temple of Zeus, something Anton had never been allowed into due to his... tainted heritage.

The temple itself was massive, painted in a dewy silver color. Etchings of Zeus' so called great feats, like defeating Kronos for example, were everywhere. Up a large set of stairs was the temple proper where Amara ruled over their village, fulfilling Zeus' will. The place smelled of storms, and a waiting, predatory presence filled the air around it. Even pure mortals could feel it, proof of which was in Marshall's stunned face.

"Wow... that... should I be able to smell ozone and feel like the air all static?"

"Lord Zeus' power is ever present in this place." Amara intoned. "Now, as to where you are..." She walked up the stairs, until they could all see her. "Our world, the Divine Realm, is but one of two worlds. One where magic lives and breathes, where Fate and the Gods reign, where those blessed with the marks of the Divine live and prosper. The other world is the Mundane realm, where the gods have banished those without divine ties." She turned to Marshall, whose eyes were wide. "You were given a chance to be here, why I cannot say but you were freed from the Mundane and blessed with power. It is up to you to find that purpose, perhaps Anton as your Guardian will be able to help you... until then, you will stay and act as healer here. Learning to master your craft,... Anton, you will be his guard and ensure he survives long enough to be of value. So be it."

And the air thundered, marking Zeus' approval for all to hear.

Nothing Anton could find himself wanting to disagree with.

Marshall on the other hand laughed. "I hated my old life, this is better already... let's get me settled in." Just like that, Anton liked the other man far, far better.