Sorry, Ali, but I lied to you. Thankfully, Tanner convinced her to take them to a secret safety shelter that was set up. They should be safe there until things are taken care of, and will be even if it takes a month.

Tanner must have sensed my emotions and realized it was best for me to go off on my own. No doubt he's going to tell Ali, but I have absolute confidence in my ability to sort things out.

And they both know me well enough to know that I'm aware of my limitations. If I believe I can handle an Immortal, then I can.

I reach up to my left ear after I'm far enough away that Tanner and Ali won't notice, and a sudden weight forms on it as my comm appears.

"Ian, it's happening now," I say while continuing to run.

"What?" Ian asks.

"I should have known it would be suspicious!" I swear. "I mean, giant trees like that? It's happened in a few places, but that combined with the setup, the high amount of plants in the area, the animals that go in and out… any observer would realize the disturbance zone was deliberate!"

"They found Jay?"

"Wyatt's taken him over," I say. "He's using Jay's powers to collapse nearby buildings to get my attention, which suggests he doesn't know my exact location. I told Ali to get Tanner to the safety shelter, so they should be fine."

"So we're doing the Revelation now, then?"

"Get the other gods, and get your asses over here," I say. "The timetable's been moved up to now."

"Will do," he says. "What should we do about the prophecy?"

"If I cared about actually stopping it, I'd have made sure they couldn't do it," I say. "But what better way to start the Revelation than to let the Klen achieving their goal blow up in their faces?"

"Got it," he says. "So you think they've found the empathic healer?"

"I'm sure they know exactly where he is," I say. "The only thing I haven't calculated yet is whether or not they actually manage to kill him before we get there and initiate the Revelation."

"And the odds?"

"Fifty-fifty at the moment," I say. "I'll finish the math while dealing with Wyatt."

"Got it," he says. "I've alerted the others. We'll be there shortly. I've already set things up to broadcast across the globe."

"Good," I say. "See you soon."

"See you soon," he says.

"Love you," I tell him, and he echoes it before we end the call.

Almost time. We're almost there. The event I've been waiting for these last eighteen years is about to happen, and it's making me almost giddy with excitement. It's also filling me with relief. The limitations of this body have been so annoying.

I reach Jay's area soon enough, and find that Wyatt's begun to turn it into a forest. Vines are creeping up buildings, the road has broken up even more as plants grow through, and trees in various stages of growth are here and there.

The moment I'm inside, vines shoot at me. I dodge them with ease, as with everything else that attempts to kill me. Wyatt's only controlling Jay's ability over plants at the moment, but that's going to change as I get closer, I'm sure.

I gesture with my left hand, and a sword appears in it. The bracelet that Ian sent me contains its own personal pocket dimension, which has a few different weapons in it, ready for me to call out at will.

As vines, trees, and other plants attempt to kill me, I jump off of them and rubble, slice through what needs it, and dodge what else needs dodging. I soon find myself close to Jay's lair, and the boy himself is standing in front of it, dressed in a pair of grey swim trunks. Wyatt must have taken him over while Jay was swimming, the kid likes to do that for hours on hot days like today.

Through Jay, Wyatt throws lightning at me, but it misses with a well-timed step to the side from me. The next blast hits my sword, which sparks for a few moments after absorbing the lightning, and I flick my wrist to the side. Lightning blasts out of it and into a summoned tree.

A few more failed blasts of lightning and dodged vines later, Wyatt realizes he needs a different tactic and tries to freeze me. He also tries to burn me, suffocate me, and drown me, but nothing works. The ground opening up in an attempt to swallow me is just a jump away.

Actually sending Jay at me to try and kill me fails, too.

"How?" Jay asks, though I know it's really Wyatt. "How are you able to dodge everything? What is that sword? JUST WHO ARE YOU?"

"Who am I?" I ask as the sword gets knocked out of my hands by a vine I wasn't able to dodge. "Maybe you should have learned that before attempting to kill me."

I punch Jay square in the head, and he drops to the ground. At the same time, there's a loud cry of pain not far to my left. Wyatt was close, then. For the moment, I ignore his pained cries and focus on Jay, catching him and gently laying him down.

Closing my eyes, I press two fingers to Jay's forehead and focus. All limitations are off now. The time of the Revelation is here.

Jay gasps, his eyes opening once more.

"I didn't want to!" He immediately launches himself into a hug. "I couldn't control myself! I tried to take back control, but-"

"I know," I wrap my arms around him. "You're fine, Jay. He's not in your head anymore."

"But-but-but-"

"You weren't the one trying to kill me, bud," I murmur. "You're okay, Jay. Here, I've got a present for you."

I let go of him and hold out my right hand, which has a green-and-brown friendship bracelet in it.

"…this is not the time to be giving presents, Nick," Jay gives me a stern warning. "He's still here, you know. You can hear him, I'm sure."

"He'll be suffering for a few moments longer."

"H-how did you get him out of my head?" Jay asks. "You just… punched me. I shouldn't have been affected at all!"

"This bracelet has a special spell on it," I tell him. "It will shield your mind from further intrusions. I should have given it to you before, but I didn't consider the possibility of you being found. So I'm sorry, Jay."

"A spell?" He asks. "Like the one you had your boyfriend place to prevent infrared?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Yup," I say. "But this one's to shield your mind instead."

Jay examines the bracelet, then slips it onto his left ankle. I guess it's an anklet now.

"Why don't you take care of this mess?" I ask Jay. "I'm going to go handle Wyatt."

"Okay," he says, and we stand. "Sorry for attacking you. He made me do it."

"I know," I ruffle his hair. "And be strong now, Jay. You're going to need it for the coming days. And if you need help, just ask Ali and Tanner. They'll help you handle things, okay?"

Jay gives me a confused look, but agrees to do that. He has a walkie and can contact Ali, even if she doesn't know it. With the Revelation happening, I can't help them out anymore.

Not the way I've been doing, at any rate.

I walk over to where Wyatt was hiding near the rubble of a building he'd collapsed. The fifteen-year-old Immortal Sigil-Bearer has stopped rolling around in pain and is now curled up in the fetal position.

Without mercy, I kick him in the stomach so that he's on his back, then I press my foot onto his chest and point my gun at him. Immediately, Wyatt stops the whining and stares at the gun, though there's still pain on his face and in the tension within his body.

"That gun can't hurt me," he says. "But you… you're not a human. You're a Sigil-Bearer. A heathen who had his Sigil removed."

"I was never born with a Sigil," I tell him. "I'm not a Sigil-Bearer. I'm more human than you could ever be, and this gun? It was designed with the purpose of taking down Immortals."

"Sure," he smirks. "But it's too late. Even if you kill me, we've already killed the empathic healer. We've been watching you all day, you and those monsters that see you as a friend. Though maybe you're the monster? What are you?"

"So you did know who the empathic healer was."

"It took some time," he says. "But we figured it out. They were ordered to kill him as soon as you were out of range, so that thing is dead now. Wanting to get rid of his powers? Pah! A disgrace to all Sigil-Bearers. That heretical bitch is dead now, too. Even if you let your boyfriend know, there's not a chance he got here in time. It's too late, too, because he failed to meet that freak before we killed it. The prophecy won't come to pass."

"Actually," I hold up my phone to show him a picture of Tanner, Ian, and I sitting on my bed, the picture of the three of us from the shoulders-up, with Ian and me leaning our heads together and Tanner leaning against me. "Tanner already met the youngest god."

Wyatt's eyes widen, but then he sneers.

"Too bad it won't save the fucker's life," he says. "No matter how powerful the Sigil God of Death is, he can't bring them back to life."

"You'll find out just how good his powers over life and death are," I smile at him. "But in the afterlife."

I pull the trigger, and Wyatt dies. Then, I tap my comm as my gun disappears back into the bracelet.

"We have confirmation," Ian says. "They figured out it was Tanner. He and Ali were slain shortly after you left. There are forces still around, including three more Immortals in order to catch you. How's the Blue Jay?"

"Alive and confuse," I say. "Shed your masks. I've already shed mine, it's time to show the world our true faces."

"How do you want to do this?"

"Are you recording?"

"It's already set up so we can broadcast live," Ian says. "We're waiting for the signal to warp in."

The true prophecy, which the Klen and Federation never learned, is "should the empathic healer die while friends with the youngest god, his slayers will know true destruction". Maybe if the Klen had realized this, they'd have known to not kill Tanner.

I'm about to show them why that was a very bad idea. Not out of friendship with Tanner, but because it will help with the Revelation.

"Alright," I say. "I'll teleport in and wipe out the forces, making sure to avoid your drones. You three then wipe in, and bring back Tanner and Ali. We'll do the Revelation now."

"The broadcast has now begun."

The comm cuts out, and I teleport over to the roof of the parking garage Ali lives in. There are over two hundred Klen soldiers here, including the three Immortals and more than fifty Sigil-Bearers. Hundreds more of their agents are on the ground, dozens of drones are flying around, and Tanner and Ali are both collapsed on the ground, bullet holes in their heads.

Strong bullets, then. They were probably caught off-guard and killed.

"What the-," one of the Immortals jumps, a boy about sixteen or seventeen. "You're human! How did you teleport in? No! You had your Sigil removed!"

"Actually," I say. "I never had a Sigil in the first place. I was supposed to, but then I decided not to while waiting for my birth and nixed the formation of it. It put a lot of limitations on this body, but I decided to remove those and be who I truly am now."

That earns me a lot of confused looks.

"But you can find out the truth in the afterlife," I say.

As if an invisible wave washes out all around me, every last one of the Klen members here starts to vanish.

That's not really a good word for it, however, as it's more like their bodies are destroyed by this invisible wave as it travels through them. It doesn't destroy them instantly, instead, only eliminated what it touches. An invisible void which consumes all, one might see it as.

Even their clothes, weapons, and other equipment are all eliminated.

Once the wave ends and the Klen members are dead, Ian and the other two so-called "Sigil Gods" appear. I spare a glance to the cameras, then watch as my boyfriend resurrects Tanner and Ali.

"What the-" Tanner jumps to his feet, then hastily backs up. "Sigil Gods? Wait! We were dead!"

"You were," I confirm as I point at Ali, whose Sigil reappears on her cheek.

"Wait," Tanner frowns. "The confusion grows more. You were being honest when you said you never had a Sigil! But then… you're a Sigil God, too? That's the only thing I can think of, especially if you can trick my empathy!"

"He's not a Sigil God," Ian gives me an amused look. "My boyfriend here decided not to be one after we were told to be. He's going to get into a lot of trouble for that, by the way."

"The Elders can deal," I roll my eyes.

"You put my Sigil back," Ali says. "I'm still confused about a lot of things, but why restore it?"

"Because I'm about to leave," I say. "You see, there are no Sigil Gods."

"Uh, there are three right-"

"Nope," I say, and the other three reveal their Sigils, which fade away. "We are gods. Actual, true gods. The four gods of Earth, to be precise.

"Almost nineteen years ago," I switch to addressing one of the drones which drew close. "The world performed a revolt against humanity, angry at the way it was treated. That is the event you know as the 'Calamity'."

Tanner and Ali are now switching between looking at us and the drones, no doubt having realized that we're broadcasting this.

"When that happened," Ian says. "The Elders – high gods of the universe – awakened the four of us, who have been slumbering since our formation at the very first moment of Earth's life. They initiated a sequence that resulted in the existence of Sigil-Bearers."

"You are the next step in human evolution," I say. "And every year, the amount of humans born as Sigil-Bearers is fourteen percent higher than the previous year's. All children born to Sigil-Bearers will be Sigil-Bearers, and they are not counted in the increases."

"Once ninety percent of the world's 'human' population are Sigil-Bearers," Ian says. "The marks will fade from the new generation and appear on the old – those who are inferior, instead of those who are superior."

"We were told to live among you mortals," I say. "Until the day we choose to reveal the truth to this world. That time and day is now. We are gods, true, authentic gods. We have helped guide and shape humanity these last eighteen years, and we will be leaving now to watch the world. Use the information and resources we have given you, and flourish."

"When the shift of who has the Sigils occurs," Ian says. "We will make an appearance once more. We will give the world our first Judgment. When that happens… we will either allow it to continue, or we will erase all life and restart."

"Act wisely," all four of us gods say at once, and the drone flies back.

"You guys… are gods?" Ali asks.

"Yes," I nod. "And now that we're leaving, we'll become but faint memories to all who knew us or of us. You'll still have pictures, but you won't quite remember who we are or where we went."

"We've spent the last few years," Ian says. "Making sure the world is ready to handle things without us acting directly. Even our site, Myths and Sigils, was created to act as a source of information for you mortals. To discuss what is and isn't true about the Sigils and powers."

"Ian's set things up to continue to publish my articles," I say. "Until the last of them have been made public. There's enough to last almost three years."

"So we're going to forget you guys?" Tanner asks. "I mean, I don't know the ladies, but I do know you pretty decently, Nick."

"Yeah," I say. "The world won't remember us, the people, but they'll remember the God of Light and Darkness, the God of Order and Chaos, the God of Life and Death, and the God of Creation and Destruction. They'll remember that they're being watched and judged. They'll remember the important information we've given."

"It's why we don't allow ourselves to get too attached to people," Ian elbows me in the side. "Because once we return to the divine realm that is our home, we're limited in how much we can influence the world. Until such a time as the Elders authorize it, we are not able to return here directly, except for when we pass a Judgment."

"Don't worry," I tell Tanner. "You'll remember the fun bits. Now, it's time for us to leave, or we'll annoy the Elders. Goodbye, you two. Make sure to have a lot of fun."

I dip my head to them, then the four of us gods shimmer and vanish from Earth.