I'm the passenger now.

A passenger in my own fucking body.

I feel everything that happens, including the pleasure, but it feels like my body is betraying me and I'm just along for the ride. After Bahamut finishes with the girl, he rolls over, and I slowly regain control. My vision blurs for a moment, my mark burns, and then I'm seeing the world through my eyes again. I move my arms and legs, then sit up and reach for my cloak.

"Is something wrong?" Melanie asks.

"No," I grunt. "I'm going to take a walk."

"Should I come with you?" She looks up at me with a smile on her face. I've never put that kind of satisfaction on a woman's face before. "Or should I wait here?"

"Stay here," I mutter, pulling my cloak tight and moving to the ladder.

Regaining control makes my rage flourish below the surface, but I can't talk to Bahamut here. Melanie wouldn't understand. It was confusing enough with her yammering when Bahamut was trying to get me to fuck her.

I walk outside, glance back to make sure I'm not being followed by Melanie or the other two slaves, then put some distance between us. Once I'm out of earshot, the rage boils over.

"I thought you were a passenger!" I say angrily. "You didn't say anything about being able to take control of me!"

"Did I forget that part?" Bahamut chuckles. "Sorry, Hank. It's been a while since I've been able enjoy the pleasures of the flesh."

"Oh, you're sorry? Just like you were sorry for making me think you raped my sister and ate her children?" I grind out. "If I'm not in control of my own body, then what is the point of living?"

"Not this again," Bahamut sighs.

"If I die, you die," I grunt. "Maybe that's for the best. Neither one of us belong here. You're supposed to be dead. I'm supposed to be drinking myself to death."

"No, you were supposed to stop the ritual and bring a thousand years of peace to Elenos," Bahamut says. "Melanie wouldn't be a slave right now, if you had fulfilled the prophecy."

"But I didn't ask to be a hero. I didn't fantasize about saving magical worlds or being a god's avatar." I stop walking and look up at the sky. "I sure as hell didn't want to be a king or marry some raven-marked maiden."

"Do you think I wanted to die underneath the sapphire-eye?" Bahamut spits back.

"You didn't have to," I growl. "You orchestrated your death. You had the sword hidden in your lair. It wasn't going to stab you on it's own."

"Destiny is destiny, Hank. It's a cosmic force more powerful than any being, even gods," Bahamut replies. "I was drawn to the sword like you were drawn to Elenos."

"What if you ignored your destiny like I did?" I challenge. "I don't think anyone was going to pluck you out of your lair and boil you in lava like you did to me."

"Consequences come in many forms," Bahamut says. "I could already feel my power weakening. It was only a matter of time—eons perhaps, but eventually I would have been so frail a child could have pushed the sword into my heart."

"Why did it have to be me?" I mutter. "You should have left me alone."

"I had dominion over your eternal suffering, because you were destined to be my avatar, but if I hadn't claimed you once the Dying Wish opened a seam, another god would have stepped in—possibly even the god of suffering himself," Bahamut says. "Baal loves torturing the damned. Would you have rather had a thorn-covered dick pounded into your ass for all of eternity?"

"Not particularly," I growl, feeling my rage dwindling while my frustration grows. "Is that still my fate? Once I die, I'll get tortured by some other god for all of eternity?"

"Perhaps," Bahamut says. "Or we could kill them all."

"Kill all the gods?" My eyebrows shoot up.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Bahamut chuckles. "But we're getting way ahead of ourselves, Hank. Right now, the only thing you should be worried about is the lovely girl waiting for you in the barn. You plowed the field better than any slave could have done. You should at least claim your reward."

"No, thank you," I mutter. "You already claimed it for me."

"Once, yes," Bahamut replies. "But she's yours for the entire night."

"The only thing I need is sleep," I sigh, the weariness and exhaustion from the day finally overwhelming my sense. "And for you to leave me the fuck alone."

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"I'll sleep when you sleep," Bahamut says. "Only because I have no other choice. I got plenty of rest today in anticipation of a very long night."

"Then I'll be dead on my feet when the sun comes up." I start walking towards the barn, lowering my voice as I do.

"I could teach you how to function without sleep," Bahamut whispers, which forces a light chuckle from me, because I'm the only one who can hear him. "Then neither of us will need to."

I stop and think about what he said for a moment. "You're limited to what I can do," I say. "If I sleep, you have to sleep, but you still need sleep. Unless I don't."

"Oh, look at you, Hank," Bahamut chuckles. "Solving a puzzle all on your own."

"And you can just teach me how to function without sleep?" I challenge. "A snap of your fingers? You said your power doesn't work here because Elenos is sealed."

"It wouldn't be my power," Bahamut says. "It would be yours. Right now, it's unshaped inside of you, waiting to be molded. The power of a god, inside a man who could trip over a rock and break his own neck before he even learns how to use it."

I swallow hard and turn away from the barn. No way I can sleep right now, because my thoughts are going everywhere. Bahamut's power is inside me? I can learn to use it? I need to know more.

"What other things can you teach me?" I ask, once I'm far enough away.

"What would you like to learn?" Bahamut fires back. "Be creative. Let's have some fun."

I look around and rub the back of my neck. "Teach me how to breathe lava," I say, putting my hands on my hips.

"And when it melts your face off while it's coming out of your mouth… Do you already have a plan for that?" Bahamut chuckles.

"Well, my face would have to be immune to it," I say. "That's obvious. Don't twist what I say. You know what I meant."

"Baby steps, Hank. In order to breathe lava, you would first have to make yourself immune to lava. That starts with heat, gradually, until you can put your hand in boiling water. Then you can learn how to survive fire. Yes, you can eventually breathe lava, but you can't do that right now. Not yet. You can't even breathe smoke without one of those cigars you were puffing on when the seam opened."

"Wouldn't mind one of those right now," I say. "Can you teach me how to make one appear? Out of thin air like a magician?"

"Yes, and after that, I'll teach you how to summon a glock from the gun dimension," Bahamut laughs. "Why don't we just start with me teaching you how to function without sleep? Then we'll go back up to the loft, enjoy sweet Melanie's tight little pu-"

"No," I cut him off. "You had your fun with her. That's done. And you better not take control of me anymore. I'm serious."

"Wow, Hank," Bahamut chuckles. "I tell you how much power you have and you suddenly grow a backbone. I like this side of you. Fine. There will be more women than either of us will be able to count in our future. She's probably asleep by now, anyway. She'll spend the rest of her life begging to get fucked like that again."

"Teach me how to function without sleep," I say, ignoring everything else he said. "Now."

"Go into the barn," Bahamut replies in a flat tone. "We'll need a goat."

"What are we going to do with a goat?" I ask.

"Kill it, obviously," Bahamut says. "How else do you expect to gain power?"

"Hold on." I shake my head. "You didn't say anything about killing a goat. You said the power was already inside me."

"Think of the power as… a hungry child," Bahamut says. "A hungry child that needs to be a fed a goat."

"And after goats, it's going to be something else, right? Like an actual child?" I exhale a sharp sigh.

"Killing children isn't mandatory," Bahamut chuckles. "Elenos was once a world for gods to experiment with new creations. There's all sorts of things here that need killing. That's why I brought you to Elenos, instead of your world."

"Because there's nothing to kill on my world?" I sigh again.

"Not the kind of killing we need to do," Bahamut replies. "You'd need a factory to send babies straight from the womb to their death and men to get the women pregnant again immediately—I guess it would be possible with cows, but you'd need so many cows… so many…"

I put my hands on my face and tap my foot on the ground. Killing a goat isn't that big of a deal. But I'm not going to kill one of the farmer's goats. He treated me with kindness, and I'm not going to be an asshole like the god inside me.

"I could be a hero," I mutter. "Just like the prophecy said. I could save Elenos from… who does Elenos need saving from exactly? King Malakai?"

"I have no fucking idea," Bahamut replies. "I know little about this world, other than the prophecy you were a part of. Gods came here to experiment with new creations, like I said. There are a few of mine running around, too. Hope it's a while before we run into any of them."

"Wait, is that why they were trying to seal Elenos?" I pull my hands away from my face. "Because the gods were creating weird fucking creatures on their world?"

"Hmm," Bahamut says, growing silent for a few seconds. "Maybe."

"Then maybe they were right to seal it!" I say loud enough that I grimace and wait to see if anyone stirs in the house or the barn.

"No, those that walked the Path of Bahamut prayed for me to intervene. Lots of other gods heard similar prayers. I was discussing the fate of Elenos with Dahar when the prophecy was proclaimed," Bahamut replies. "That took it out of our hands, and put it in yours."

"I'm going to sleep," I sigh. "I'm not killing one of his goats."

"What about a few chickens? Would that be easier?" Bahamut asks.

"Leave me alone," I mutter. "I need to think about this."

There's no response. I wait, because I'm almost shocked he listened to me, but then I walk back to the barn. Thankfully, Melanie is asleep when I get back to the loft. I take off my cloak, drape it across her gorgeous body, and sigh deeply.

I could wake her up and do what Bahamut did when he was in control. But it isn't right. Maybe the people of Elenos had a reason for sealing this world, but it isn't right for this girl to be slave. Someone fucking blinded the two slaves sleeping below us. Same with the slaves at the plantation where I pilfered my cloak.

I was destined save this world. A prophecy comes from a place that not even the gods understand. That includes the one inside me. If I have access to his power, then I can use it for good. But there's still the problem of the tyrannical monster that can move from the passenger seat to the driver's seat if he wants. The stronger I become, the stronger he becomes.

I mull it over. Tossing and turning for a while before finding a comfortable position, much closer to Melanie than I'd like to be, but her warmth is nice.

Exhaustion finally wins the battle going on in my head and I fall asleep.