I woke up to hear knocking on my door. I looked at the clock and realized I had overslept.

"Hold on a second, I'm coming" I yelled as I got out of bed and dressed myself. I opened the door to see Chandra standing there with her arms folded.

"Took you long enough birthday boy! Mom and dad want to speak to you so hurry up."

"What happened to the messenger?" I joked. "Why are you here?"

"Mom and dad want to talk to you, but it's a family meeting."

"Ok, let me get my shoes on."

I hurried to grab some shoes and walked out the door. Chandra and I made small talk along the way. A lot of people wished me happy birthday as I passed them. I had lived around most of these people for many years, and yet, I felt as close to them as you would towards a class acquaintance. I got along with them, but we never hung out outside of our courses. As we got close to the lift to go up to our father's office, I heard someone shout my name and footsteps echoing in the hall.

"Jalen! Happy birthday! It's your big three hundred! Do you have any plans for today?" asked a dark haired girl.

"Hi Jillian. I'm going to go meet up with my parents right now. I think we're doing something later tonight, but I'm not sure. If there's a surprise party then I'm sure you've already heard about it."

I watched Jillian features closely for any reaction. However, she didn't as much as bat an eye.

"I wouldn't tell you either way. I'll talk to you later!" she said as she strode away.

Jillian has had a crush on me for a while now, but I've attempted to keep my distance from her while still being friendly. I think she's taken the hint, but I still feel that she likes me.

Chandra and I went up the lift and shortly arrived at the office. I knocked on the door and my mom promptly opened it. After a quick hug, she motions us to sit in the empty chairs around the table my father was sitting at. She joined us after grabbing my bag of clothes and stuff I left with her.

"So what was it y'all wanted to talk to me about? I asked.

"Well son, first off we want to wish you happy birthday. 300 years is a great milestone. We couldn't be prouder of you. We brought you here because plans have changed," my mother said.

"What do you mean plans have changed? Am I not going anymore?"

My father picked up where my mother left off. "The plan still is for you to go. Just a bit sooner then we planned. We really wish things could have worked out today, but some things came up. Instead of going in a few days, the new plan is for you to leave today," my father said.

"Today? I'm not mentally prepared to go yet. I thought I would have a few more days to collect myself. Why the change? What things came up?" I asked uncertainly.

My parents looked at each other, my mother nodding her head like she was trying to prod my father. My father looked hesitant and slightly concerned, but started to explain.

"It appears there are some people that aren't agreeable to the idea of you leaving on your Test so early. They're coming here to voice their displeasure, so we're trying to get you sent off before they arrive. We're just trying to avoid the resistance we may get if you're still here when they arrive. I don't see any real problems coming up, but if we wait the delay could be weeks."

"Why do you guys want me to go now? What's this plan? Why do I have to go now? There's something that you're not telling me and I don't appreciate being kept out of the loop."

I had a feeling that my parents were scheming for some reason, but I had no idea why I would be part of their plans. I may have been very advanced for my age, but I was the youngest child my mother had.

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"We don't have a lot of time Jalen," my mother began. "We'll fill you in on some basics. Being the youngest child to a God has its benefits. As you know, I'm not immortal like your father. While I may look young, I probably only have another 50 to 100 years. After which, your father is going to get married again and have more children. The reason that you've been able to pick up on things so quickly and do so well in everything is because you're the youngest child."

"What does having the youngest have to do with anything?" I asked, not understanding what she was getting at.

"It's not something that we understand, but many millennia ago gods came to learn that their youngest child would have accelerated growth and gain special abilities while they were the youngest. Once the god had another child, that benefit would pass on to the next child. Why do you think you're always the top of your class? You have an advantage over everyone else," my mom finished.

My dad picked up where she left off.

"There are some gods who don't like the type of progress you've been able to make, and are even unhappy with the prospect of you doing your Test with such an advantage. Usually by the time a godling takes the test, they aren't the youngest anymore. In fact, I can only recall hearing about this situation occurring once before, but it didn't end well. Apparently they threatened the mother to have another child. I also heard that opposing gods sent their children to the same world to do their Test in hopes that they would kill the youngest. I'm sure that last part is just a rumor, but the threat from others is real enough that we want you gone before they get here."

I looked over at Chandra to see what her reaction was to all of this. Uncharacteristically, she was rather stoic and had furrowed her eyebrows in concern. This was really strange. I had an advantage because I was the youngest? I suppose it made sense when I thought about growing up and how good I was at everything. I was curious if Chandra experienced the same thing. I looked her way again.

"Hey Chandra, did you notice a difference when you were the youngest?" I asked.

"I did. For the first one hundred years of my life or so, I grew really quickly. Then after a while, progressing became a lot harder. I just believed that after growing for a while I had hit a stage in my life where growth was going to be harder. I didn't connect your birth to it," my sister said.

"I'm sorry to cut this conversation short," my father interrupted. "We need to get you to the gate. Your mother brought your things in your bag. There are a couple of things you should know. First, we're having you sent near one of the biggest cities on Relosa. It should have all you need to grow. Second, one of the most important aspects of the Test is to live the Test without memory of this realm."

I almost glanced over at my mother, but stopped myself. I didn't want to get her in trouble with my father.

"Your mind will create fictitious memories of your family and background. You'll still remember the majority of your education and training, but some parts will be blurry with the details. As you continue to grow you'll find clues and other things that help you realize that perhaps you came from somewhere else. Eventually you'll find a gate on the world that brings you back here. The gate is heavily protected, hence the need for you to grow. While you won't remember anything I tell you right now, I want you to know what you'll need to do to return home. I have faith in you my son. We'll take care of things here, so do your best to take care of things in Relosa."

I wasn't sure what to say. I stood there, silent for a few moments, before mom handed me my bag.

"Mom, what did you do to my bag? It looks awesome!" I exclaimed.

My bag looked totally different. Instead of the brown bag with one shoulder strap I used to have, she gave me what appeared to be a heavily modified bag. She had added a strap and adjusted the existing one so I could easily wear it on my back. It also had this golden fabric woven into it that made it look exquisite. To finish it off, she had added a silver buckle on it to keep it closed. I quickly peaked inside to make sure I had all of my items still in there. I noticed that my boots had the golden fabric woven in as well as on the hilts of my two long curved daggers. I looked at my mom questioningly and she gave me a small conspiratorial look.

"I wasn't able to finish fixing up all of your stuff, but I hope you like what I've done," she said.

"Thanks mom, the gear looks great."

I gave her a hug and stepped back to look at the rest of the family.

"Happy birthday to me," I weakly joked.

My dad gave me a hug as well as my sister.

"It's time to go son, let's go."

My father directed me to the hall and we trouped out. We quickly walked down to the gate without stopping. As we got closer we started hearing a small commotion coming from the gate room. As we got closer, we could hear arguing and angry words. My father ushered my mother, Chandra, and I into a small room close to the gate room.

"Hide in hear until I figure out what's going on. If I don't come back alone in five minutes, it's your responsibility to get him through the gate," he said looking at my mother. "Good luck son, I love you," he said before closing the door.

We didn't say anything for the next couple of minutes as we waited nervously in the small room. Pretty soon we could hear raised voices coming closer with my dad's voice mixed in. I couldn't hear what they were saying, and didn't try in case I made any noise. The voices soon died down as they got further down the hall. We waited another minute in silence before my mother looked at me.

"It's time to go."

She brought me in for a hug before putting a ring on my finger. This ring had the same look of the golden fabric woven into it as well as a sky blue metal that was the same color as my eyes.

"Don't forget about us," she said with tears in her eyes.

My sister Chandra gave me a hug and whispered in my ear, "I have your back."

I looked at them both with gratitude in my heart.

"I love you both. Let's go."

My mother walked to the door and quietly opened it. After looking both ways, she motioned for us to quietly follow her to the gate room. Upon arrival, I offered myself for inspection before leaving. The gate security checked me and my bag, stopping to evaluate the items with the golden material in it before motioning me through.

"Name and destination," one of the guards asked.

"Jalen Elendor, Relosa." I responded.

The guard took a moment to look at his logbook before nodding his head.

"Good thing you got here when you did. If you would have arrived a few minutes earlier you would have ran into some mighty unpleasant company."

"Who was it and what did they want?" I asked.

"Some gods from other worlds who were coming to complain your father. Acting like a bunch of spoiled brats, demanding that we shut down the gate. Good thing your father came when he did, it could have gotten ugly," the guard said, receiving a nod of agreement from the other guard.

I shook my head to show my annoyance at the intruders as well.

"Good luck down there. The gate is open, you may proceed when ready."

Was I ready for this? I was leaving a lot behind here to take on a new challenge that I didn't believe I was ready for. I looked back at my mother and sister, waiving them goodbye. My mother waived back with tears in her eyes. Chandra waived as well, although I could tell she was trying to fight back the emotion. I was going to miss them, if I even remembered them. I looked at the ring on my finger and wondered for a moment what exactly my mother had given me. I looked up at the gate and decided I was ready. Fighting nervousness, I yelled, "I'm ready!"

And then I stepped through the gate and everything went black.