(Niko, 16)

When I step through the gate, I find myself higher up, on the top of mountains I do not know. The peak of the mountain spans several miles around, and we are located around half of a mile from a castle of black stone. There are no castles of black stone in the mountains, at least none which I know of. I am standing on a path that seems well-used for a place unknown to me. Where in the mountains are we? It must be to our west or northwest, as I doubt Aiden has been past the northern kingdoms to our east.

Aiden and Lina step through the gate as I realize where he took me.

Mostly because of the gargoyle that jumps off one of the castle walls and flies towards us. I do not recognize her, but she bows to me when she lands before me.

"Lord Benjamin," she says.

"I am Niko in this life," I state as I look back to the castle to find several other gargoyles standing up on the walls to look at me. "You will need to forgive my memory, I am still missing much of what occurred in that life."

"Such is the burden of reincarnation," she says. "Welcome back to your home, milord."

Before discussions can continue, my comm plate signals someone is attempting to contact me, so I pull it out and check it, then look at Lina.

"I think Sage Samuel has finally learned we abandoned your guards," I tell her, and she smiles. I pull out my comm plate and confirm it is him, then answer. "Hello, Sage Samuel. How are you today?"

"Niko," he says as my brother and the gargoyle stare at the comm plate in confusion. "Lina does not have her comm plate on her. She also does not have her guards with her. I know this because they are currently standing before me, in the room where you two locked them up."

"Aiden wished to take us to the warfront," I say. "And they were protesting for Lina's safety. My brother is with me. Protocol is followed."

Jason says that in his past life on Earth, in their version of our era, it was only women who needed an accompany, and it generally had to be a male family member. Here, it should typically be both of them having an accompany, and if not a family member, a member or two of the same sex.

"We also have a woman with us," I say, then look at the gargoyle. "Introduce yourself, this is Sage Samuel, one of the most powerful mages in the land."

"Such an interesting device," she says. "Hello, Sage Samuel. I am Keloa. How did they make you able to talk?"

"This is an enchanted device," I say as Lina chuckles and Aiden gives me a curious look. "Created by Sage Samuel's son, Jason, and one of the other Sages, Sage Jared. It allows communication across large distances."

"Niko," Sage Samuel says, his voice firm. "Lina is not supposed to go anywhere without her guards. You and she are both aware of this."

"Hundreds of soldiers do not count?" I ask.

"Niko…"

I open a gate to the room we left her guards in, and a moment later, Sage Samuel steps through, then both of Lina's guards do, all three looking quite furious. Sage Samuel pauses when he sees the gargoyle and castle, while the guards freeze up.

"This is Keloa," I indicate the gargoyle, speaking in Varilan so that Lina's guards may understand me. "She is a gargoyle I made as Benjamin, though I currently do not remember doing so."

"Where are we?" Sage Samuel asks as I close the gate.

"Erm," I look at my brother. "Where are we?"

"Niko!" Sage Samuel exclaims. "You took Lina somewhere unsupervised and unknown?"

"Aiden is the supervisor," I point at my brother. "And he knows where we are. He opened a gate here, so he clearly has been here."

Sage Samuel lets out an aggravated breath, and I realize that I am likely acting like Jason at this moment. It does not matter to me, Lina and I were enjoying our time together.

"We are around twenty miles northwest of Fort Kelnalt in Kelrar," Aiden explains. "The ocean is about six miles north of here. These are rough estimates based on straight travel, not accounting for the terrain. Several ruins I have found outside of our borders contained texts and carvings referencing this castle, and I was able to locate it around a year ago. I never drew close after noticing the gargoyles guarding it."

"It seems," I tell Sage Samuel. "That sometime after the war, I built this castle. Even from here, I can feel the curse magics imbued into the walls of the castle."

I did not notice them at first, but the longer we stand here, the more I can feel the powerful curses I set into my castle.

"Until such a time," Sage Samuel opens a gate. "That this place is determined free of hostility, Lina should not be present. Lina, if you would kindly return to the castle."

"I am going to look at the castle," I tell Sage Samuel. "It is full of gargoyles, so hostility towards me or my allies is doubtful."

"That does not matter," Sage Samuel says. "This is not an outing that has been approved. It is not permitted. She will not be present, unless you wish to discuss this with her father. She will already be receiving a stern talking-to by him."

"Sorry," Lina tells me. "I am already going to be in trouble as it is."

"I will see you when I return, then," I kiss her. "I will check the Marran castle first."

"I will stay as long as I can," she tells me, then steps through the gate, her guards following.

"You can be sure your parents will be discussing this with you as well," Sage Samuel tells me, then steps through the gate, which vanishes afterwards.

"Do you mind if I explore this alone?" I ask Aiden.

"Tell me how it goes," he opens up a gate, likely to return to camp. "I trust you'll be fine, based on what you said earlier."

I nod, and he leaves, then I turn back to Keloa.

"Hello," I say again. "As I was speaking with them, I remembered that there were four towers on the four mountains surrounding us, yet I do not see them."

"They are concealed by illusion spells," she informs me. "They can be seen from within their range, as well as from within the boundaries of the castle. Otherwise, they are hidden from the eye. Those who are at grey magical power will also be capable of seeing them."

"Okay," I say. "Can I enter the castle? I wish to look at it. I do not remember much of how it was when I lived here before."

"You may," she tells me. "You arrived during the celebrations."

"The celebrations?" I ask.

"Yes," she says. "The day of the solstice, and the day before and after, are part of celebrations. Hunters returned from their hunts yesterday, and there will be great feasting today, tomorrow, and the day after."

Feasting? Gargoyles do not eat.

Confused, I follow her to the castle. When the great wooden doors barring entry open, I am greeted by a giant statue of Benjamin, along with people. Actual people. Humans, not gargoyles. They are dressed in furs, with dark brown hair and light blue eyes. There are around thirty of them, and even with my sense for magic only just beginning to bud, I can tell they are all around as powerful as I am, when I am acting in a more normal way and not a Magus way.

When they see me, they give me a curious look, which I am grateful for. It seems that we interrupted some ceremony involving the statue of my past life.

"Lady Keloa," a tall women approaches, giving a reverent bow. "Who is the outsider? He appears related to the one who drew near last year."

So they noticed Aiden as he approached previously, but he did not notice them.

"This is," Keloa frowns for a moment. "What is it you go by now?"

"Niko."

"This is Niko," the gargoyle indicates me. "The current form of the Benefactor."

And they gave me a title. And now they are giving me quite startled and reverent looks. This reminds me of places where angels brainwashed humans into believing everything was well and the angels were their protectors and heroes. Nasty mind magics that disturbed me.

"The Benefactor?" The woman gives me an appraising look. "While I respect you, Lady Keloa, he does not resemble the Benefactor, and nor does he seem like him."

Another gargoyle lands beside us, dropping a bear with black fur and silver horns. The bear roars, and the people prepare spells, but wait for a signal from the gargoyles. They wish to know why a beast was brought here.

"Milord," Keloa gives me a light bow. "Would you demonstrate your power?"

This other gargoyle must have left while my attention was focused on Sage Samuel, likely through the back so that I would not notice its departure even if I were paying moderate attention.

I boost my speed using the Magus Layering Enhancement Technique to allow myself extra time to focus and think over what to do.

If these people have been raised to worship my past life as Benjamin, then they likely know much of my power, and in an exaggerated way. A very, very exaggerated way. Gargoyles practically worship me, which means they are less likely to keep to the truth and more likely to forget it while expanding on it, the same way humans do.

That means I will need to do something beyond my temporary gargoyle spell. Even with my power a fair bit greater than at the battle because of the spell for my leg, I am not yet grey yet, which means I am unable to perform most of the spells that are unique to me or other Magi. Even that sword earlier is something which can be learned by ordinary people – I even taught it to my followers, after the war.

Oh, there comes a memory of me living here. I remember raising this place up, along with the towers. Plus the curse magics I imbued into the land. Or rather, which Benjamin imbued into the land.

I could use my Sacred Sword or Magus Sword, but those would cause a fair bit of damage, even for a castle built through grey magical power. Plus, three thousand or so years have passed since then, which means the magics have likely weakened enough that I cannot be sure that holding back would protect this place. The attack spells of my weapons might not be destructive the way the swords of the others are, but they do still hold a lot of power.

The mithril sword Jason forged for me would not be sufficient to demonstrate my power as a Magus.

I am not sure why I am contemplating doing this, but it should be harmless, considering this is literally a society built around me by me. Well, by my past life. With the gargoyles loyal to me, there is no chance this will turn out too negatively.

I turn my gaze to the statue of my past life, frowning. Why did I choose to make a statue of myself wearing the cloak I wore when I first met Nolan? Statues are typically of the bare form, not a clothed one., both now and then. They would not be clothed without…

A reason.

"Til mel val kul," I intone in a sacred tongue as a memory returns to me. "Kol lal vel mal."

The statue comes to life, stepping off its pedestal. In a flash, it is at my side, crushing the bear's head with a single hand, barely parting its cloak to reveal the glowing golden lines throughout it, forming runes older than Midlaris.

A series of memories return to me when I see them, and I hold back a laugh. I must have done that as Benjamin intentionally for if I returned here before recovering all of my memories.

"Nil aal sil zel," I say, and the statue returns to its spot, then returns to an innate state, back in a neutral stance that reveals nothing beneath its cloak.

None of the powerful runes that reveal vast secrets. Secrets of magic and of my past. Of what we Magi really are. I only saw a few runes, and it nearly ripped me apart as well. The two gargoyles beside me have completely disassembled, reverting back into pure magic, and the bear has turned to mush.

I am only barely powerful enough to have resisted the power in those runes. My past self must not have thought I would return here until I was far stronger. Grey magical power, at the minimum. The humans were protected only because the cloak covered the statue's runes once more when it turned around.

As my worshipers bow in reverence and awe, I can only think about the revelation I just found. The fragments of truth I just remembered.

Does Jason know who and what we truly are? Is he aware that we are not just immortal entities, but the Divine Beasts themselves? That we came to Midlaris because of his own wrath at the heavens and underworld of this universe?

Does he know any of the stuff I have remembered as a result of this?

(Alex, 16)

My crew listens silently as I explain things to them, but I can already tell they're in. Adjusting to lives of proper people ain't easy, and now we're being told we can let loose a little. And this time, it's against nobility. We have all been itching for this one.

"What's the job?" Barry asks when I finish explaining.

"An estate half an hour out of town," I answer. "Has a hidden basement. There, a party is held where a young boy or girl is sexually abused. Every day. The sort of thing that needs an end put to it. The order is to rescue the current victim and kill everyone everyone else, from the bastards to the guards."

"Why ain't the Royal Guards or investigators taking care of it?" Jeddy looks uncomfortable, and I don't blame him. "If they know this, they should-"

"They can't," I say. "While they know it's happening, they ain't got proof of it. They've already gone after all known and proven avenues of this organization, but the actual central location – this estate – is one they've no actual proof of. King Zachary could issue the orders, but it'll cause others to question his authority, claiming he's using it to eliminate his enemies. Without proof, he's in a bind. That's why he wants us to deal with this."

"Doesn't he have an organization already?" Sarah asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "But that organization has its limits, and nobles know it's official and under his command. What His Majesty wants is a wild force. An outside party he can contract without a trace."

"And because of your history," Barry says. "And your friendship with people he interacts with regularly yet clear dislike of royalty and nobility, that makes ya the perfect agent."

"Yeah," I say. "There will be no tangible ties between us that can be used to say I'm actually working for him, especially if the majority of what we go after are bastards like these ones."

I'm not happy with the job, but it makes me glad I ain't got the experiences of my past lives, just the memories. Otherwise, I'd likely be dealing with some trauma right now. People who abuse children, especially young ones, disgust me to no end. It's probably for the best Jason's at the lake right now, or his temper would likely explode, and he'd no doubt level the estate after rescuing the child or children there. What he'd do would make it obvious who was behind things, which would make things difficult for Jason.

No, this is best. We go in, rescue the kids, then kill the bastards.

"We'll need to acquire-" I begin, and Barry opens up a spatial storage, pulling out clothes, cloaks, and masks. "-Barry?"

"We ain't fully left the street," he starts handing them out.

Black and dark blue clothes, black boots, dark blue cloaks, dark blue masks which we can see through while wearing, but others cannot see our faces through them. Enchanted. Expensive.

"Ya've been preparing."

"Not for this," he admits. "But for the day ya'd have to leave and change your identity. We'd follow ya anywhere, Boss, no matter what."

I nod, then we all change into the outfits. They're light and fine, and quite expensive. The crew must have been putting anything they ain't spending on this place or necessities into this. They must have had to take longer than they wanted just to keep up appearances with their drinking, too. Just how hard have they been pushing themselves while I'm in university, the training group, or other stuff so they could afford all of this?

The crew pulls out new weapons as well as I send my sword into my spatial storage. If someone recognizes our weapons while we are like this, then things could be traced back to us.

"Sorry, Boss," Barry says. "We had weapons made for us first, and didn't have time to get one made for ya yet."

"Crew rules," I say as I open up a dimensional space. "Self first, crew later. Ya followed the rules and had your own weapons made first. It's your money, so that's how it's supposed to be."

I pull a sword out of it, and my crew stares at it in confusion and shock. They know about my Sacred Sword and Magus Sword, and this pales in comparison to them, but it is still something rare and expensive.

Sheathed in simple leather, the white-gold hilt gleams in the light of the light crystals illuminating the apartment. A blue-green gem rests in the pommel and another in the crosspiece, and I can feel the power flowing through the sword.

"Is that from your time as a Magus?" Mikey asks as I fix the sheath to my belt.

This isn't a sword I wanted to ever use, because of the history behind it. Originally, I had it forged for a certain day, but then when I finally paid off the job, I felt regret. Deep regret. I never wanted to think of this weapon again.

But with what it will be used for now… maybe I can atone for that.

"No," I answer.

"When did ya have it made?" Collin asks. "That ain't a cheap weapon, boss. It's mithril. We were wanting to make one for ya, but that runs in the hundreds of thosuands of varru."

"Remember," I look at Barry and Sarah. "When I took that trip up to the border a few years ago?"

Varilar ain't that far from the Marran border. A few days' trip on a standard carriage ride. Shorter by horseback, longer by foot.

"Ya had it forged there?" Barry asks. "Ya were gone for a month."

"No," I answer. "I wasn't actually at the border. I'd gone into Mar. One of their lesser nobles had a secret mithril mine I'd caught wind of. I wanted a mithril sword to cut through pretty nobles with. A specific noble: the former duke of Varilar. The only way for me to get one was to make a deal with shady people."

"But even still-" Barry continues.

"Ya sold yourself," Sarah says, and my crew looks horrified. "Not like that, ya dolts. Alex hates pedophiles as much as we do, and he was eleven at the time. Most of ya weren't even with us then."

"Back in the beginning stages of the Leviathans," I nod. "At least, the beginning stages of what it was. I sold my services as a rogue to the noble. He didn't trust my skills at first, since I was a kid. Tried to have me thrown out."

I let out a cruel smile.

"He wasn't aware he was dealing with a reincarnated badass," I say. "I killed the two guards and put a blade to his head. Told him that I wanted a mithril sword, and he had two choices. Hire me until I paid off what was needed for it, or have his mine exposed, left ear removed, and right eye plucked. He chose the smart move and hired me. I had to work for a few weeks, with light work at first until he recognized my skill, even as a child. With techniques from those memories I didn't fully understand at the time, I was on par with professional dagger souls. The stuff he had me do was tough after that, but it earned me what was needed.

"When my time finished," I touch the sword. "He had this commissioned for me. He originally wanted to make it a short sword, fit for a child. I told him nah, make it a proper length, as it wouldn't be used for a few years, and I'd be bigger and more capable then. It's enchanted with techniques and styles from the northern mountains and the eastern islands."

It's also worth far more than I worked enough to pay off. I got impatient, though. I had friends waiting at home for me, and asked the noble if there was something I could do to pay it off faster. He told me there was a girl passing through in a few days. If I killed her, he would consider the debt paid.

She was a few years younger than me. He didn't tell me that. When he said 'girl', I assumed he was talking about a young woman, like normal. I wasn't expecting an eight-year-old. I'd frozen up, but I'd already gone that far. That was the one and only time I ever cried over one of my kills.

I never asked who she was, and I never looked for the answer to it. I've done my best to not think about it with Niko here – it was easy to. I'd already spent five years not thinking about it. With me pulling out the sword, though, I know I'm going to. A lot. Every time I see Niko or one of the other Marran teens, I'll think about her again. That much is inevitable.

But with this job, maybe I can start to recover from what I did. It's doubtful I can even find out who her family was, but at least I can save other children.

"Alex," Barry says, and I realize the crew's giving me a knowing look. They know me too well. "There's more to the story."

"Yeah," I move my hand off the sword. "Part of the payment I'm not proud of. Let's go rescue those kids."

Then I realize that we changed in their apartment. We can't simply leave.

"Wait," Jeddy realizes the same thing. "Uh, it'll be obvious to people if we leave here like this."

"Maybe," Barry smiles, then holds up a hand, a shimmering yellow gate appearing. "It ain't able to go as far as your boyfriend's, Boss, but it's enough to get us out of town."

"How long have you been yellow?" I ask in surprise.

"A few weeks," he answers with a grin. "Ya've been so gloomy, I felt it'd be wrong to bring it up."

I need to hurry up and get stronger, then. At least I have the advantage of Magus knowledge to keep me stronger.

We step through the gate and find ourselves not far outside the city walls. In the fields.

"Where are we going?" Barry asks. "We've been training hard outside of the city, so I can take you most places. Including most noble homes within a two-hour trip."

"Do you know the Haldira mansion?" I ask, and he opens up a new gate.

We pass through and find ourselves in some woods, the gate quickly fading behind us. It's a cold, cloudy night, and the ice from earlier this week has already melted. The seven of us make our way to the mansion as I relay the plan through telepathy. They're close enough I can manage that much.

As soon as we arrive, we scale the wall, activating the cloaks. They're enchanted to create illusions around us. Black market cloaks. The illusions will last for around five minutes before the cloaks need to rest.

We split up, the crew moving in pairs while I move alone. First, we'll appraise the security, then find our way inside. I enter on the second floor, through a window. After killing every guard and staff member on the first and second floor, as well as outside, we meet up in a study, Jeddy having already killed its guard before she could signal to the others that there was an attack.

It only takes a minute to locate the lock enchantment, and I push my magic into it. The technology to key things to mana signatures is restricted, so it's doubtful they have it. That's confirmed a moment later when the rune appears on the stone, and a bookshelf sinks back into the wall, then slides to the side, revealing a stone staircase leading down.

Jeddy stays behind as the rest of us make haste down, where there's lots of cheering. At the moment, it sounds like they're describing their current victim. A girl, eight years old. Bastards. I can feel my crew's rage rising with my own. This is disgusting, and these bastards deserve death. Fortunately for them, we can kill them, and their punishments will only just begin. Dragon has a hell for one specific group of disgusting people, and these are them. They are the only one who get an afterlife, and it is to punish them for eternity. A punishment far worse than any they can suffer in a mortal life.

We enter the room – effectively a large hall – where dozens of men and women are feasting, a girl chained up at the front of the room, a man beside her as he sells their disgusting habits. My rage peaks, and I grip my sword. Immediately, I create a lock on everyone in the room not wearing one of these cloaks and not the girl, then draw my sword.

Shards of ice explode out as the guards and servants attempt to react. A few are powerful enough to stop the attack, as it's dependent on my magical power level. Their strongest is a blue, but they have two greens and a yellow as well.

Doesn't matter. The ice killed more than half of the bastards. I sheathe my sword and make my way to the girl as my crew begins fighting the others. One of the greens attempts to block me, but I cut through his shield with my sword, beheading him. Disgusting bastard.

I reach the girl, and she flinches at my sudden approach. Her chains are steel, easily broken with force magic. She drops down and scampers back, and I open up my spatial storage, pulling out a simple, plain cloak. It's several sizes too large, but that doesn't matter right now. I offer it to her.

"It's okay," I tell her. While my voice sounds normal to me, I know it's distorted to others. I force a neutral accent as I speak. "We're here to rescue you."

She's clearly scared, and I don't blame her, not after what they were wanting to do to her. Not after what she's likely experienced or seen. I manage to get the cloak around her, bundling her up in it.

"Are there any others?" I ask her as my crew finishing the slaughter.

She nods, and I look around. There's no obvious signs of another room, but I manage to convince her to show me where the opening is. She takes me to a wall, but won't speak. It takes me a minute of searching to locate the access rune, which reveals another room behind it, half of which is taken up by a series of cages with other children in it. There are five cages, four of which each has a child in it. Three boys and two girls. There are also four guards in here, but they're quickly corpses.

I break open the cages and wrap the kids in cloaks. I always have a bunch in my storage, just in case. They're all simple, neutral, and untraceable. No one can link them to me or my crew, as they can be found on many other people as well.

With the children rescued and bundled up in warm cloaks, we take them upstairs. Only my crew and the children are coming up in my scanning spell, which means we did an efficient job. A quick and efficient one. Here's hoping all future jobs go that well.

Upstairs, we gather the kids in the foyer, then I step outside and raise a hand, releasing a spell of light into the sky. A red streak soars up, then explodes, the light hovering in spot for a full minute. The universal sign for emergency, no matter which world we're on. Someone from the city will see it.

I reenter the mansion, then gather up with the crew.

"Guards should be on the way," I tell the children. "They will be here shortly to take you somewhere safe."

The children are terrified.

"Not the kind of guards who forced you here," I promise them. "Royal Guards. Protectors, like us."

"Wh-who are you?" The girl I rescued in the first chamber asks, the first time any of them has spoken.

"I am a god," I tell her. "And these are my champions."

She stares at me, confusion on her face. She's still scared, too. They all are. Barry is about to speak as a memory comes back to me. A spell which no human should be able to use, but we Magi could. Angels, demons, and gods could as well, and it had a varying effect based on who did it and their intent behind the spell. They were always unique to the caster.

I hold up a hand, and Barry falls silent. Then, I shape my mana into the spell as I visualize it with my magical mind. I then implement it, and the eyes of the children widen as the aura expands outwards. Even my crew is affected, but I can tell by their thoughts they're trying to hide that for the children's sake. Not that it would matter, as the children are all staring at me.

This aura is unmistakably something not of this world, and right now, it has a comforting aspect to it. A comforting and reassuring aspect which tells the children everything will be alright.

"The guards coming," I say. "Will protect you. They will clothe you, feed you, and if possible, find your families. If they cannot put you into a safe situation, they will find a safe situation for you. That much, I promise you."

"Which god are you?" The girl asks.

"I am the Leviathan," I tell her. "The great beast of the celestial ocean. I have come to Midlaris to punish evil."

I can sense guards approaching in my scanning spell, so I activate the illusion again, disappearing as I release the spell. My crew activate their illusions again, then we exit through the back, just as silently as we came. I stay just long enough to verify it's Royal Guards showing up. Their response time suggests either they had a way to quickly move here, or they were already on standby.

The crew and I travel further into the forest, leaving no trace of our movement behind, stopping when we come to a cluster of rocks. We sit on it, and I stretch my scanning spell out as far as possible while erecting an invisible barrier around us. Another spell I've remembered from my past, to prevent scrying. I have enough mana and mental energy to sustain it for around half of an hour.

I push back my hood and remove my mask, and my crew does the same, all of them giving me confused looks.

"Two things," Barry says. "What was that aura, and was it a good idea to call yourself something like that? People will make connections, you know."

"Some might, but that will dispel, in time," I state. "The Leviathan is my emblem, my callsign. I won't throw it away. Publicly, I'll be curious about the Leviathan who claims to be a god. Meanwhile, the Leviathan will strike fear into the hearts of evil. Especially those who dare to abuse children like that. The seven of us are street rats. Our ability to perform such actions will be dismissed, even with my current status. In time, a gap will be driven between the Leviathan and Leviathan Alex. As long as the cards are played right."

"And the aura?" Sarah asks.

"A trick from my time as a Magus," I answer. "The other Magi and any beings from the heavens and underworld will likely recognize it immediately, but to normal people? You felt that. What would you say about it?"

"It's a god's aura," she answers. "Even if it doesn't tell me like people say Enaveka's made it clear. It felt comforting and reassuring."

"And I can change how that feels," I say. "And only I can give it that specific feel. If someone else did it, it would feel different, even if still comforting and reassuring. Come on, let's change now, then head back to the apartment. No one will notice us here, but I can't sustain the spell for too long."

As we change, a thought comes to me. When we started this job, a thought had come to me about the Divine Dragon and his punishment for predators like those. I don't know how I knew that, but somehow, I knew for an absolute fact that the Divine Dragon has a hell specifically for pedophiles.

Without any memory that would give such information.

Have I met the Divine Beasts before?