"When one lay their eyes upon a Godserpent, their body reminds them of their place - it reminds them that they are not capable of being an equal to that beast portraying itself as a God. Even the greatest Magi, the finest sorcerer, they pale in comparison to the power of a Dragon. Even the mightiest of our warriors take a moment's pause and freeze in their sabatons when they see the last of the blood of Ispadasker, when they are faced with the overwhelming majesty of a beast of indescribable, primordial power. It is a wonder that the Decimation happened at all. For, should their Father have turned on us as he should've, I doubt any of us would still draw breath."
- Darius Rendell, Finest Scholar of Our Modern Age.
Introductions, and the beginnings of a new era for the Gethi.
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The whole of the world shifted. Darkness turned to light and then to darkness again. A pair of eyes wrenched themselves open with a great amount of effort and saw nothing but bright light. They closed once more, and when they finally found the strength to draw open their eyes again they were rewarded with the beautiful sight of a night sky. Stars danced in the aether about them, and they looked down at themself. They could see a shapeless form of light.
They remembered their name. Robert. He could vaguely remember the last thing that had happened to him, and only when that memory began to replay did the world fill again with light. With a shout and a roar of pain his eyes once again opened for true. They snap open to reveal a large stone room, faintly lit by braziers with flickering blue lights. Robert lifted his head up and immediately noticed something was wrong. He blinked his eyes and could feel his head swimming. He noticed that, when he blinked, he saw three sets of eyelids.
He could also see much more than he was used to. His face didn’t feel the same, and his body felt off. That was the best way he could describe it. He could feel a groan bubble up in his throat, and was surprised to hear the guttural noise that came out - something like a mixture between an alligator and a T-Rex. His eyes snapped fully wide now, his attention was fixed on his confusion now completely, and he realized that he could see almost the entirety of the room perfectly. Quickly, though, he realized his vision was horrible when he tried to look straight forward. At this rate a headache was starting to come on, and he groaned once again. Then he lifted up his hand.
His body had felt odd from the start. Like he was now wrangling with a ton of sore body, heavier limbs, and a general weight increase. He figured that getting hit by a semi must mean he was in the hospital, but he shouldn’t have gained weight should he? And he wasn’t even in a hospital, he was in some freaky dungeon! So when he lifted up his hand, he didn’t know what to expect. To put it bluntly he only just barely stopped himself from screaming - instead, he did what any sane adult would do and that was promptly silently freak out. His hand was large, scaled, and had giant claws on each digit. It was built like a human’s hand had merged with the webbed foot of a crocodile. He was starting to hyperventilate now, a thousand thoughts running a mile a second in his brain.
His eyes bounced around the room, suddenly taking in many more details than he should’ve been able to. He could see light dancing in the far corners, the wisps of something immaterial in every corner, he could see the lights of the braziers ebb and flow with uncanny accuracy, every notch and scratch in the walls he could tally. It was like his brain was running miles quicker than it ever should’ve. His vision from his right eye came to rest on something moving, however.
To his side was a familiar figure, that of a human - she stood up, dressed in rags that barely covered her pale skin, and she had raven black hair. She started to look around the room, then down at herself, and he recognized the voice that came out of her. “What the fuck!?”
Oddly enough, she was shimmering - a light golden glow outlining her, like a soft sunlight.
Tina quickly turned about as Robert shifted, and her face went even paler than it normally was and her mouth opened wide - and she screamed. A shriek that showed just how terrified she was. In response to this Robert screamed too, but what came out was a more primal roar.
Tina scrambled up against the side of the room, frantically placing her palms on to the wall and pushing against it with her back in some feeble attempt to make room away from the gigantic lizard, and Robert responded by taking some distance himself. Shakily, he raised up a clawed hand and tried to speak - the voice that came out was nothing like his old one. It spoke with such authority, such force and power that it made Tina’s bones shake. It instilled in her a primal fear, that same fear you feel when a bear is barrelling down on you or a dog is biting you.
“Tina, it’s me! Robert!” Instantly, he clamped a palm over his snout and felt hot air leave his nostrils. He started to feel his face, feeling the scales and scars and malformations of his new body. He was desperately keeping himself from breaking at the seams, and he felt that getting an idea of what exactly he had found himself being was probably the best bet to stay lucid.
Tina, for her part, was shaking violently and close to passing out. She pointed up a finger at the actual, literal dragon standing before her and meekly pushed out a, “R-Robbie..? No.. that..”
Robert's singular eye, reptilian and cold in nature, locked on her face and any further words seemed to stop in her throat. Robert's head bobbed like he was trying to nod. “It’s me! But.. It's not me. I.. I am just as freaked out as you are. I’m just trying not to scream and thrash around. I d-don’t think that’d be good for your health, pheheh..” His laughter came out like a rumble, shaking the room slightly. Everything about him was large, his voice, his body.
Tina lifted up a pallid hand to grasp at her throat and tried to steady her breathing, slowly forcing herself forward. The words coming out of the dragon’s mouth were definitely structured like it would be her friend’s, but she was not entirely sure yet. She quickly noticed that her walking up to the reptilian monster had not escaped its vision, and Robert was intently staring at her with an unreadable expression. Tina spoke quietly again, “This is.. This can’t be real, this is..”
She walked up and placed her palms onto the dragon’s side, and watched in tense silence as its head snaked about on that way too long of a neck to get a better view of her. “This is surreal. Rob, if that is seriously you, what did I say to you this morning?”
Robert scoffed, which came out as a gust of hot smoke from his nostrils and a chuff from deep within his throat. “Something-something slow-ass, be late again?”
Tina stared up at the giant eye investigating her and couldn’t help but crack a smile and snort, laughing aloud. The tension dissipated from her shoulders and she leaned into his scaled side, still belting out laughter. The mood of the room instantly calmed. “Holy shit, dude, it really is you! What the hell happened? We got hit by a semi truck, and now you’re.. this! You’re the size of a fucking house, man!” She was gawking at him now that the fear was gone.
Tina waved her hands about at his eye, and it blinked in response. Robert shifted his head about and tried not to give in to the headache that was now pounding between his new eyes.
“I don’t know, Tina, but this is something I need to get used to. I think my eyes are on both sides of my head.” Tina nodded in response, and Robert let out a low growl. “And I feel like I’ve done nothing but lay in bed all day. Where are we even?” Tina slowly meandered around the massive form of New Robbie, and stared out at the great wooden doors of the chamber. She turned her gaze to the braziers, and then to the giant pedestal Robert was on.
“Well, it’s definitely a room. Maybe it’s your bedroom?” She quickly took this opportunity to let her shaking legs rest, what with the tension now gone. Promptly she sat down on the stone tilework below her feet. She let herself fall back into the side of Robert's new body, and found that he made a firm, scaly pillow. He was even pleasantly warm. She wasn’t expecting that, him being a reptile, but she figured that if he was an actual dragon he would probably be warm.
Robert's head kept swiveling about the room, his neck below it letting him spin it about all over the place without his body even moving. He kept his clawed hands firmly planted on the large stone dais he was lounging upon as he inspected everything. “This is.. I can’t even begin to know how to describe it, Tina, but this is overwhelming at best. I can see so much more now, and it’s all just giving me a really bad migraine. It’s like I can suddenly see the world in a higher resolution than I could before, and it’s.. Well, it’s amazing and annoying.”
Tina absentmindedly patted the side of Robert's massive frame, “I can’t imagine it, honestly. I didn’t get to transform into a dragon like you did, man.” She fell silent after that, ruminating.
Robert snorted, “Don’t be jealous. It’s not that fun, honestly. I've been basically on the verge of a panic attack this entire time, and it is killing me.” He started to poke at his face again, digging his claw into scales. He grabbed onto something on his head and pulled out a fletched arrow. He peered over it for a moment, examining every bend and crack, every minute detail the carved wood held - he could even tell how well the steel was forged. And then he flung it like a toothpick across the room, disinterested after a few moments.
Tina then spoke up, “Do you think we died? I’m starting to think about this now, and uh.. I know you didn’t watch any anime, I kept trying to invite you over, but I watched a lot of that stuff, right?” Robert gave a nod, his left eye now focused on her. She continued, “Right, so, there’s this whole brand of anime called ‘isekai’, which is basically someone dying and being reincarnated into another world. Obviously the idea is fictional, everything about it is fictional, but..”
Tina looked up at Robert, and gave out a light, hollow barking laugh. She continued on, pointing a finger up at him. “Dragons aren’t real, either. And yet here I am, staring at my best friend being turned into one. This feels like some stupid isekai plot, and we’re the protagonists.” Robert, rumbled, looking about the room again.
“I didn’t watch any of that stuff because I never had the time to. Besides, I wasn’t ever really interested in any of that. Well, what else do you know? Maybe this is similar to those shows.” His gaze fixed once more on Tina, who was now standing up.
Tina had a resolute look on her face now, and she started to look up. And then she held her hand out, and looked like she was concentrating. “Okay, that doesn’t work..” Robert kept watching, now confused, as she moved her hand about and started to speak. “Skills. Skill menu. Abilities? Come on, give me something!” She stamped her foot, and that’s when Robert spoke.
“Maybe it’s like our world? We didn’t have game mechanics, Tina.”
Tina nodded, “Maybe. But, then a lot of my stuff I know about that genre might be entirely wrong here, then! I mean, it’s obvious something happened, dude, I’m looking at a dragon! And I’m not in a hospital, I’m in a giant.. I don’t know, mausoleum?!” She waved her hands about in frustration, “Unless we’re both in some kind of linked coma, or something. Maybe it’s some kind of shared hallucination? Oh, we could both be next to each other in the hospital imagining this!”
Robert shook his head, and Tina took this as her opportunity to start investigating the room further. Robert opened his mouth to speak when he heard something in the back of his mind.
You shouldn’t be here, interloper. Festering in my own body.
Robert flinched, casting his gaze around the chamber. His frantic searching went unnoticed by Tina, who was still exploring the contents of the chamber. Spread about the walls were a handful of twine boxes and baskets sat on offering pedestals, and directly across the way from the dais that Robert sat upon was a wooden chest with no lock. She honed in on that chest immediately and was now ruffling around inside of it, intently interested on the innards.
Robert spoke to himself now, trying to be quiet. For him, such a thing was nearly impossible but he still tried - he didn’t want to look like a lunatic. “Who are you!?”
I am you, as you are I. I am the soul that once inhabited the shell you now draw breath in - I am Istolenonys, and you are an interloper, demon. Begone, now!
Robert could feel a force acting upon his mind, and desperately clamped his hands to the sides of his head. Unconsciously he started to whine and groan in pain, and this prompted Tina to stop her frantic searching to turn and regard him. She quickly stood up and rushed over, now panicking. “What is going on!?” She started to drag herself up onto the dais, “Robbie?! ROB!”
Robert angled his snout up toward the ceiling, and spoke aloud. “STOP, STOP! PLEASE!
The pain left as soon as it came, and Robert's head fell down onto the dais with force. He was breathing heavily, and Tina quickly came to rest on the side of his face. Clawed hands struggled to sit himself up, and his head came to lazily rest next to a frantic Tina. “Rob, what the fuck was that?! Are you okay?” She stared into his half-lidded eye, and he whimpered out a - “No.”
Hmh. It seems you do not wish to clear from my sight, and I am unable to spirit you out of my corporeal form. Then we are at an impasse, interloper.
This is troublesome.
Robert grit his teeth, “Who even are you, asshole? I wasn’t put into your stupid body by my own choice! I just woke up in it!” Tina stared at him with a deeply confused expression.
As I have said, I am Istolenonys. You know of your own reincarnation, so I must assume you remember your past life? You have an.. odd name, demon. Roh-burt. Is that Aean? Oh, by grace, I do hope you are not a human. Tell me you are a spirit, Rob-ert.
Robert quickly noticed how he was saying his name, but didn’t comment on it. Row-burt.
Robert stared at Tina, and let out a choking gasp of a laugh. “I have a voice in my head, dude. An honest to God second person in my head. Please, what did I do to deserve this..”
Nevermind, you are most certainly a human. Well, in that case.. you should be honored! You are now dwelling within the mightiest of the Godserpents of the East! Rejoice, for you have I to shepherd you!
My earlier admonition of you might have been hasty, but I make no mistake in saying that it was justified - after all, would you abide a demon in your mind? No! I do not believe you would. From what land do you hail.. Robert?
Tina was just staring at Robet now, who had his eyes closed and was focusing entirely on the splitting migraine that was wracking his head. The sudden arrival of his mental roommate was not helping matters at all. Tina spoke quietly, “Calm down, Robbie, please. Take it slow.”
Robert took this moment to try and focus inward, and found it was quite easy to visualize.. well, himself. His old self. He visualized himself sitting in a room across from the current form he inhabited, at least how he roughly saw it. A red-scaled dragon with yellow eyes. The visage of the dragon looked upon itself, scoffed, and started to motion a claw about and it grew more detailed. It was silent as the grave as it did so, before an eye flickered to meet Robert.
Truly you must have the most lackluster vision of me, hmh? Nonsense, but expected. You were once a man, and as such you must be quite afraid. A new body is nothing to trifle with, and such things are hard to accept for even some of the most learned men.
It looked upon Robert, who was now sitting in a hazy idea of a chair. He looked up at the dragon and spoke in his normal voice. “You said you’re.. Istolenonys? I’m going to call you Istol, is that okay?” Istol looked at him, and most definitely took on a sour look. This visage of the dragon was cartoonishly expressive. Robert felt that would be appreciated so communication was just a little easier.
If Istol noticed, he either didn’t comment or just didn’t care.
You butcher my language, but such things are to be expected. Now, you did not answer my question - from where do you hail, Robert?
The depiction of the dragon leaned just a tad bit more forward, a clawed hand reaching out - and one of his dagger-like claws tapped down on Robert's imaginary chest.
I’m curious as to the soul before me.
Robert bit the side of his imagined tongue, and spoke quickly. “I’m from Michigan. And, uh.. why do you keep saying my name like that? Row-burt? That isn’t how it’s said, can't you hear Tina?”
The dragon shook its head and sighed.
Michigan. Hmh, no, that.. bah! What you are named is of little consequence to me, as you will be taking my name from this moment forth. Your old life is long since gone, and you are no longer some peasant from Michigan. You are I, and I am you. Best to learn it now.
And, to answer your question, I only now just took notice of the outside world again.
I can see your human friend, but I would recommend not growing so attached to them.
It tapped its neck, and drew a claw across it. Robert grimaced, and instinctively ran his own hand over his throat as the dragon continued it's tirade.
They live like mayflies. Blink, and thousands will have died.
The dragon then ran a hand over it's chin inquisitively, before it's gaze was fixed entirely on Robert again.
I seem to be still stuck on your homeland, I have never heard of this ‘Michigan’. You must not lie to me, interloper.
Robert raised up a hand, “Well, it’s because I’m not from here! I’m not from wherever we are! I’m not, what did you say, Aean? I don’t even know what that is! I didn’t think dragons were real up until just a few minutes ago, and now I’m having a conversation with a dead dragon spirit!”
Istol rumbled, tapping it’s chin a few times.
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I have heard of this concept. Other worlds.. but, such a thing should be impossible, I’d believe. Ator only made this world, and for other worlds to exist, such a thing would mean that They are not the true Creator. They are but one of many. A worrying implication, if such is the case..
Robbie grabbed at his hair, “You keep chucking names at me, I don’t know these people!”
Istol looked again at him, his gaze settling firmly on the imagined human form.
Then you should begin learning. If you wish to stay alive, you will have to play a part. You must be an actor, and act as I. For your benefit, I will be there to shepherd you in properly emanating my majesty and power, in cowing the tribes who once prayed at my altar. My might will be shown once more!
Robert waved his hands about, “Woah, woah! I’m not some God! I’m just.. I’m me! Just like you said, I’m a peasant. I, I-I’m not some God, I can’t imagine being a King or-or even being something as simple as a Mayor! Why am I even here? Why are you not still in control of your body!?” He was hyperventilating again, even in this dreamscape.
As Robert asked his final question his eyes snapped open to the sound of wooden doors creaking open. His gaze fell firmly on the sight of a new person entering the room, an older woman dressed in fine robes. The expert artisanal work was easy to see, with the beautiful runic inscriptions, depictions of art on the shawl about her shoulders, and the beautiful iron crown sat on her brow. She stared up at Robert, her face going pallid and showing primal fear like Tina did.
Her face was skinny and chiseled, her nose and the left side of her face were covered in scars. Her forearms and hands had tattoos, rough and shoddy ones that left marks in her skin. On her palms were burned sigils, which he could see still faintly glowed with.. something. Her skin tone was a deep bronzed tan, similar to any kind of person of Levantine descent.
To say she was beautiful was an understatement, but that was not what Robert was focused on. It was the fact she was shaking like a leaf in the wind, and he could see an odd aura about her. She shimmered a slight golden tint, like an outline of pure sunlight surrounded her. This immediately made his other eye's gaze flicker to Tina, and notice that Tina's aura was stronger than this new person's.
Robert opened his mouth to speak and watched as the new lady collapsed onto the ground.
Tina, who was watching from just around Robbie's head, quickly rushed out to check on her.
“She’s fine, but uh, well. Good to know it ain’t just me that is terrified of you. Was. Was terrified of you.” She looked up at Rob with a smile, “You aren’t scary. The body is.”
She quickly sat the person up against the now closed doors, and placed her ear against the aforementioned doors. To this Robert slowly shifted to sit up. He put a hand on his snout, rubbing it in frustration. That migraine was still there, and everything was so madly confusing.
And then Istol returned to only bring him more stress.
I was dead for a century or so, Robert.
You must act as if I had just been asleep, hibernating. Should there so be any questions, I will be here to teach you! Like a little advisor sat on your shoulder. Now, isn’t that quite useful? This will be good for both of us. You won’t die again, and I will not have my form burnt and my soul scattered. Now, a few important notes - you are in the Valley of Getha, and these cultists who worship you are the Gethi.
They are one of thousands of tribes, and are the only one who pay homage to me.
This must change, but for now such a thing is there to simply be accepted. I hope this has been informative.
Robert gulped unconsciously, feeling his body shudder. “Thanks, I guess."
I will be watching. Follow your instincts, Robert - they are your strongest tool.
Tina looked up at Robert again, “So, you talking to yourself. That’s you talking to this uh, voice in your head, right?” Robert nodded, focused on the new lady. “Well, I’d recommend you probably think some words at the guy inside of your head instead of speaking aloud. I can hear a whole concert’s worth of people on the other side of this door, and I don’t know how they’d take you talking out loud to yourself, chief.” She lifted up a hand and lightly smacked the new woman, attempting to rouse her. “Might be better to just avoid that topic altogether unless it’s with moi.”
Robert could feel himself flinch subconsciously, and he was unsure how that translated into his new form. He moved to slink off of the dais and found that he had no idea what he was doing - he shot out a hand and promptly tumbled forward, spinning his whole world around in circles. His head collided with hard stone and he groaned aloud, wrenching open one eye in his pain.
He saw the form of Tina looming over his eye, “I don’t think you should leave bed yet, Rob.”
Robert couldn’t much respond to that other than with a groan of acceptance, and slowly pushed himself back up with his forearms. He could feel the weight of two more limbs jutting from his back, presumably his wings, and flexed them out to try and stabilize himself. He could feel the wind rush past them and over them when he flexed them out, and he watched as Tina jumped when they did so. He then slowly began to wheel himself back again, clawing hands planting themselves in backwards steps, until he came to rest fully on the dais again.
“I think I’m getting a bit better.” Tina gave a short nod, and then turned to the woman behind her. Both the dragon and the human in the room turned to look at their guest, who was awake.
She stared up at them with eyes as large as saucers, and slowly raised up two hands that conjoined together to make a circle. In a fierce hurriedness she prostrated herself before the form of the red-scaled serpent and began to fervently pray under her breath. Tina loomed next to her, confused, before putting two and two together. She then stepped back and slowly slunk her way back across the room to the chest she was showing interest in prior.
After a few moments of staring at the lady Robert watched her stand up and slowly make her way over to his Dais, and she spoke - a silky, calm tone that did not betray her fear, even if her body did that for her. Her shaking hand came to rest on the edge of the stone. She looked up at him with warm eyes, ones filled with trepidation and a hefty amount of well-placed fear.
“I’m sorry for intruding, Your Majesty, but this is the first time you have awoken in generations.”
Her accent was foreign, and it wasn’t something he could easily place. A rough approximation of something Eastern? Somebody that was having a jolly time trying to mix Russian and Turkish together?
Robert regarded her, unsure of how to respond, before he swallowed and responded. A single clawed hand came to rest next to her, “I am still tired, sadly. Who are you?”
He put on airs, trying to speak in the same tone and voice that Istol had spoken to him with.
“I am Caretaker Aaris, the one responsible for your upkeep during your hibernation. You had demanded us not to disturb you, and so we had left offerings within your chamber.” Her gaze fell onto the altars, all of which still held the same wicker baskets and offering boxes. “Even if you had not partaken in them.. I assume you must be quite hungry, Your Majesty! I can procure you a fine banquet fit for a being such as you, it will be of no consequence.”
Aaris tried to keep up her jovial smile, and deftly hid her shaking as well as she could. A practiced sense of calmness overtook her, as if she had been practicing for this day for years.
Robert waved a clawed hand, “Have one of the,” he searched for the right words, “- servants, gather me my meal. You shall eat with me, alongside my companion.” His head turned slightly to regard Tina who was now looking at a set of robes she had pulled out of the chest. A crimson set of linens, outlined in silvers and golds and specks of sky blue. She was ignoring Robert for the most part, to which Robert ignored as well and focused back on Aaris.
Aaris clumsily nodded her head, swallowed, and made a slight sound before speaking - “Y-yes, Your Majesty, I would n-never dare to say no to such an honored invitation. T-To dine with the Stormbringer himself, w-why that is an honor! A mighty, powerful one!” She clasped her hands together, forcing the smile even harder. Robert blinked in response.
“Good. Go and bring two seats, and return only when you have the food, Caretaker.”
Aaris soon returned to the great doors, rapping her knuckle upon their construction, and was let out of the room. The doors slid closed right after and Robert's gaze turned to regard Tina. She walked up in her new robes, looking like she’d fit in right next to Aaris - if it wasn’t for her skin.
Tina and Aaris were like night and day; moon and sun, respectively. He couldn’t deny that she did look good in the robes, though. All she was missing was a crown or some kind of hat. Tina threw her arms out, watching the many tassels of linen follow her. “This is so cool.” She spun about in place, and seemed quite content to watch how the robes moved.
Robert gave out a short bark of rumbling laughter, “Well, at least you’ll look good for the little introduction dinner we’re about to have with the Caretaker. Her name is Aaris, Tina.”
Tina bobbed her head, “I heard, I just didn’t really have much to contribute to the conversation. I have a feeling I’m definitely gonna pop up as a question - ‘why is she here’? I mean, you’ve been in hibernation for over a century, apparently, and now you wake up and suddenly there’s some random human she’s never seen standing with you? That has to look fishy.”
Robert nodded along, watching as Tina now meandered over to one of the offering altars. She reached out to one of the wicker baskets, opened the top, and promptly slammed it closed. Her other hand clamped down on her mouth, and she bit the back of her hand. “Gawd! That is.. Augh!” She steps away from it quickly, “Yeah, this stuff is vile. It’s probably been here for.. God, I don’t even want to think about how long that stuff has been there. Months at least.”
Robert leaned his head down, his neck long enough to be able to let his forehead touch the whole of the walls of the room. His head angled down to look at the wicker basket, and he leaned his nose up to it - a sniff revealed that, indeed, it smelled rotten. But.. it didn’t make him retch or fall back in horror. No, it made him hungry. That thought alone disgusted him.
He quickly returned his head to the dais when the doors rolled open again. He started to salivate when his nostrils caught the scent of freshly cooked meat, and a whole ton of it. Brought in on dozens of wooden platters, carried by men and women in various more rough looking robes and tunics, was the food. A handful of men dressed in finely made looking armor carried in a large table and two chairs. The table was sat down, covered in platters, and then two chairs were sat down next to one another. All of this was set up so that Robert, or Istolenonys in their eyes, did not have to move a single muscle. He could just stare straight ahead at the Caretaker and his human companion.
The guards left with no complaint, and so did many of the villagers, and soon the wooden doors rolled shut again. The only people left in the chamber were Robert, Tina and Aaris.
Aaris and Tina took their seats next to one another, and when Aaris motioned at the food Tina began to ravage the selection as if she had not eaten in days. By contrast, the great serpent in the room daintily picked up a large platter between his index and his thumb and craned it so the food would fall into his gullet. The food was delicious, and from the smell alone he knew it was beef, venison and several cuts of sheep. It was basically a badly spiced smattering of meat and some vegetables that were haphazardly left on the platter most likely by mistake, but it was practically heaven for him.
Aaris let out a strained laugh, “I’m sorry that the platters are not large enough for you, your majesty. We couldn’t find any animals on short notice, and I-"
Robert's gaze fixed on Aaris again, who stiffened under the gaze. “It’s no problem, truly.”
To Robert's relief she seemed to loosen up after those words, and she slowly started to eat alongside Tina and him. It was a comfortable silence, before she spoke up again. “Your Majesty, I do hope that I do not overstep my role when I ask who I am dining next to?” This made Tina stop eating for a moment, regarding Aaris with an uncomfortable glance, before continuing.
The serpent’s gaze jumped from Aaris to Tina, and then rested on Aaris. “She is my valued companion, Caretaker. She is, ah..” He started to rack his brain when Istol spoke up.
Ah, the first of your truths. Say.. she actually looks quite similar to the last Caretaker I had seen before I wasted away here. State that she is Caretaker Eria, and that you had extended her life for her valiant service to you. Such a thing is possible, even if I had never done so. All of the Caretakers are burnt after their death, so they do not have a body to refute you. And, should they still try, remind them of their place. You are a God, after all.
Blessing that voice for giving him the correct lie to pursue but still mentally admonishing the bastard for planting horrible ideas in his head, Robbie rolled forward with his deception.
“She is Caretaker Eria, the Caretaker that I had relayed the instructions to leave me alone to. She spoke my words, and I summoned her to personally care for me in my slumber.”
Aaris took this at face value, even if the shifting of her eyes to try and sneakily inspect Tina betrayed her suspicions. She wasn’t about to call out her God for lying to her, he must have his reasons, so this was not her place to pry. She nodded, and put more food into her mouth.
It was another few minutes of comfortable silence before all of the food was gone, and Robert was stretching himself out on the dais. Aaris rose to her feet, Tina followed suit, and then Aaris cleared her throat. Robert locked his gaze on her and she seemed to only grow confident under that gaze now. She must’ve grown used to his staring, or learned how to better hide her emotions before the fake Godserpent. Even if his new eyes helped, reading someone’s emotions wasn’t his strongest suit. She spoke quickly, raising a hand to motion at Robert.
“Your people wish to see you, Your Majesty. I beseech you to go forth and show them your glory, and reaffirm their belief. None of them alive have seen you before, and only know of you from the tapestries and the stories of your glories and victories. Your Vigilants and Oathkeepers will join you. It will be awe-inspiring, I assure you, my master.” She gave a deep bow.
Robert stared at her, running everything in his head. He could barely walk, and denying her was entirely his right, but he wanted to get up off of this dais. Stretch his limbs, his wings, get out into the open air. And, something inside of him really wanted to see cheering crowds. Such a thought filled the deepest parts of his rather miniscule ego with enough air to start inflating.
He gave a sage nod, and the happiness that overtook Aaris was easy to notice. She bounced on her feet over to the doors, slamming a palm against them, and they rolled open slightly to allow her to leave. She slipped through, and shortly after the doors started to roll open completely.
Robert, for his part, lifted himself as tall as he could and stepped off of the dais. To Tina’s surprise he hadn’t fallen over yet, even if his legs were shaking. It was like someone that hadn’t left the couch in a few hours and he had pins and needles, but he kept walking forward.
The doors opened to their greatest extent, and the dozens of men dressed in bronze armor and large skull helmets laid their shields atop one another in a sort of parade formation, and they thrust their spears into the sky. “STORMBRINGER! STORMBRINGER!” The resounding bangs of leather drums were heralding his approach to the people down below.
Robert felt dizzy with the pride he was feeling, and that was when Istol’s voice returned.
Oh, I oh so remember that name! It’s quite literal, I assure you -
Robert listened absentmindedly as he strode out of his bedchamber, his every footfall shaking the world of the small humans. He was the size of a three story building, his head the size of a small car, and to see him standing at full height and marching was something of beauty.
- it was an age ago, while I was battling with the hordes of Charri, that I brought the skies together in a great conflagration and rained down thunder and lightning upon the writhing mass of insects they called their army! It was a beautiful day, something that was praised for years after.
Robert's form breached into the open air, his eyes closed then fluttered back open to let in the rays of sun. He could feel that glorious light roll over his body, warming it even further than it already was. Tina shielded her eyes with her hand, and could only faintly notice as the many men dressed in bone and bronze marched out in two straight lines flanking the Godserpent.
Truly, such a thing is worthy of remembrance. I am still pleasantly surprised that title stuck as it did, for there were so many fitting ones.
Robert's eyes widened as he turned his head to regard the crowds gathered at the base of the valley, standing between yurts and huts. They threw their hands up in the air, they threw up flowers and grains of rice - they chanted out prayers, they cheered his new name. They exalted him, praising him for the deity that he was, and it was intoxicating. Nothing like his old life.
That pride and joy from having his ego stroked gave way to a sobering realization - how much of this feeling of ego was him, or the body he was now in? He was no God, he was a sham.
He swallowed uneasily now, forcibly put upon a pedestal as an idol. Still, he drank it in.
Go on, give them a show Robert! Flare out your wings, puff out your chest. Show them the majesty of the one they so love.
Robbie did as he was asked, and arched his back to puff out his chest. Once he was certain he wasn’t about to slam his wings into anything they flared out to full size and cast a shadow down the side of the mountain he sat halfway up. This act made him nearly stumble, but he righted himself. He then threw his arms out, a wicked smile on his snout. Such a thing would fill any man's heart with terror. For his people, it only excited them.
The crowds cheered, roaring in adoration and devotion. Their God had finally returned.
Good, good. Bask in it. You deserve it.
Today was another day. Today was a new day.
---
Fear and adoration go hand in hand;
two sides of the same burnt and rusted coin.