The Naming Ceremony had begun. The mayor and the village council were supervising the Ceremony as they did every year. A stage had been set up in the middle of Central Square, right in front of the Pavilion, where an old woman was seated on a mat. The entire village council, including the mayor were standing behind her. A crowd of villagers had formed near the edges of the Square. Every year, many came out to celebrate the Eve and then watch the Naming Ceremony.

The council had split the ten thirteen year olds into two lines: those who did not desire to become Cultivators when they turned fourteen, and those who were willing to try.

It was strange because sometimes the Seer would take one look at a child and tell them that they would have no aptitude for Cultivation. Switching to the Cultivation line was extremely rare since part of what made a Cultivator was desire and no amount of aptitude could make up for a lack of desire.

Of course Mera and Kai had both joined the Cultivation line along with five others. The other three were choosing to not even try, which slightly irked Kai. He believed that not trying at all was just a failure on its own.

The process for the non-Cultivators was much easier than those of the aspiring Cultivators. They would declare a profession and be assigned to a worker in the village of that profession. They would then apprentice under that worker for four years, after which, they would either work with their master, or open up their own place. Most obviously chose to stay with their masters after their apprenticeship was up.

Many profession masters chose to have more than one apprentice at a time, which meant there were open spots for every profession almost every year.

The apprentice would also just take the Second Name of their master, which meant there was no need for the Seer to even get involved. Unless of course, in the rare situation where she wanted someone to switch lines.

The three in that line went up to the stage one after another. One boy declared his profession to be that of a blacksmith, another, a builder, and the only girl in that line wanted to be a seamstress. They were all given masters to train under and left the stage. Their entire process took less than a quarter of a bell.

“If this line would now please start to come up to the stage,” Bovar, the master blacksmith of the town and one of the council members, said.

The first one in line was a large girl, one that Kai recognized to be the daughter of the blacksmith himself and as she stepped up to the stage, Bovar’s face looked thunderous and it was obvious that he’d wanted her to declare a profession instead.

The Seer spoke then for the first time that night. “Come. Sit in front of me, child. I can see the hint of a spark within you, that, if nurtured, could become a true flame to forge steel.”

The Seer was a strange character in the village. She lived in the Town Hall and would only come out in public one night every year: the night of the Naming Ceremony. She always spoke in riddles and much of the time, it was difficult to understand even half the things she was trying to stay. And that didn’t even include the fact that she was the oldest person in the village and that even the second oldest couldn’t remember how long she’d been alive.

However, she was harmless in general and essential to the Naming Ceremony, so her secrets were left alone. Kai didn’t know what Brasbury would do once she passed.

The girl, Kai recalled her name being Para, sat in front of the Seer. The old woman whispered something to her, to which she nodded and then the Seer put two fingers to Para’s head. They both closed their eyes and their breathing softened, to the point that had they not been sitting upright, Kai would’ve thought they were sleeping.

They sat in that same position for almost ten minutes, before they opened their eyes again. Para started breathing quickly, gulping down air, and her father rushed to her quickly and started rubbing her back and whispering to her. The Seer also whispered something to her and when the girl nodded the Seer turned her head to the rest of the village and spoke.

“Her Second Name is Dalar. It means steel in the Ancient Language. From henceforth, this girl shall be known as Para Dalar.

There was a round of applause, as expected, and after a couple minutes, Para was led offstage and the next thirteen-year-old was called up. This was the way the Ceremony went, and since Mera and Kai had arrived last, they were the last two in the line.

The other four took a total of a bell so it wasn’t that long before Mera went up there. The same process took place, where Mera sat in front of the Seer and the old woman put two fingers to her head. However this time, ten minutes in, both Mera and the Seer started to shake.

Kai started to step forward, but held himself back with strength of will. None of the others had had something like this happen tonight. The most movement that had occurred was a few shivers here and there for the Seer, but this time, the Seer and Mera were both shaking simultaneously.

The shaking stopped after a few minutes and both opened their eyes at the same time. However, the Seer was now openly weeping, hordes of tears running down her face.

Mera’s father, the mayor, ran to his daughter, who looked scared, and comforted her, while the rest of the people on stage ran to the Seer to figure out what was wrong. It only took a couple of minutes for the Seer to wave the others away from her and by this time, her face was dry.

She turned to the crowd, and in a soft voice that somehow projected to the crowd, she said, “Let this girl be known as a Free Spirit, Anis, unbound by the rules of the world. Mera Anis shall be her name from now until the end of time.”

It was a strange declaration, and Kai could see the Seer shudder at saying Mera’s second name. Mera was led off stage, and instead of going to her mother who’d rushed out from the crowds, she headed over to Kai first.

“What happened up there?” Kai asked her in a murmur.

“I’m… not sure, actually,” she answered. “I was watching myself as a bird above the clouds and then suddenly, I was forcefully ripped away from the vision and I wake up to see her crying.”

“You looked spooked,” Kai said, noting that she wasn’t telling him everything.

“Yeah, of course I was. I’ve never seen the Seer cry before.”

Kai shuddered slightly at that, realizing that he’d also never seen such a sight. He felt Mera’s hand on his arm and he looked back at her.

“Look, it’s your turn,” she said to him. “They’re calling you up there.”

Kai turned to the stage again, and saw that she was right. They were waiting for him. He walked up the stairs onto the stage and then slowly walked over to the Seer. As he stepped closer and closer, his heart started to speed up and he could hear the thump-thump in his chest getting louder. His eyes met the old woman’s green ones, ones that seemed to contain boundless knowledge, and Kai knew that his mind would easily be lost and would break under the pressure that knowledge could bring.

He sat down in front of the old woman and she stared at him for a second, boring holes into his head.

She finally said, “Well, you’re an interesting one, child, to say the least. I could tell from the beginning, as soon as you walked into the Square. You were overshadowing everyone else with your brightness. I almost couldn’t look straight at you. Almost like that fool out there that thinks he can hide his broken aura from me.”

Kai somehow knew she was talking about Hunter towards the end, but the rest of her words were lost on him.

“Hmm, let’s see here,” she continued. “You are full of golden light, but I see two, no three paths in your future. A trident, concerning. You are destined and the noose will keep tightening. Oh, but wait, a choice that cuts that rope right off, but I can’t see anything past that. Very concerning. I might need to take a deeper delve into your aspiring Soul to gain an understanding of your name. Such an interesting set of paths. The swing of a sword accompanies each one, but I cannot tell what else you are infused by.”

Once again, Kai was unable to understand exactly what the Seer was saying. However, he just nodded along.

“Ok then, child. It is time. Open your mind to me and bare your Soul to the threads of Fate.”

Kai felt two cold fingers touch his head and suddenly, everything flashed blue.

Blink

A man stood on a mountain of bones, staring down at the demons that haphazardly climbed over the corpses of their own dead to get to him. His black sword, exuding chaotic dark smoke slashed out, decapitating another one of his enemies.

The man prayed deep in his heart for reinforcements to arrive. He hoped that somehow, someway, weeks after he’d asked for them, they would come and he would be saved.

Little did he know that they’d already figured out his darkest secret, the one he’d hidden from even his closest friends, his Companions. The gods had found out what he’d done many years ago and so of course they’d left him for dead. For the gods wanted this Eternal War.

They were profiting and using it as an excuse to retain their control over both worlds. The man had figured out long ago that the very Immortals that he’d once seen as all powerful were being used as cannon fodder in this never ending war. And this war truly was Eternal, so long as the New Order ruled both worlds.

He knew they were colluding with the World Below, but he never could’ve expected that they’d betray him so early. It had only been a few decades since he’d joined the War, after all.

The demons kept coming, a never ending tide of teeth and claws that fell to the Black Sword of the man. He was getting tired, and he knew that the people he’d once called his comrades, his light, had abandoned him. He could hear the Demon King laughing in the background, at the betrayal his nemesis had received.

The man sighed in reluctant acceptance, understanding in his last moments, just how cruel even the Immortal World could be.

Blink

Kai was floating in the darkness of a void. In front of him were two pillars, one of gold, and one of silver, that stood out even in the swallowing blackness of the void. The golden one had a thicker base, but was like an ant in height compared to the other. The dark silver pillar, Kai could tell, reached up to the very Heavens themselves.

The golden pillar exuded a feeling of righteousness and confidence, but a closer look revealed that it was hiding something much darker than both the void and the other pillar. The silver pillar, on the other hand, seemed like a gray area compared to the other pillar, as in it didn’t exude any sense of either right or wrong, and instead let the owner decide what to do with it. In the middle it stood, representing choice.

Kai touched the golden pillar first.

Blink

Kai stood at the head of an army, golden sword raised in challenge. Behind him was the Legion of the Gods, the most powerful army ever created. They all wore golden armor with crests representing different members of the Pantheon.

Across from them stood an army of Hell, red and black demons chaotically charging the Legion. At their head charged the King of Demons, in his humanoid form. A red Aura of Blood surrounded him and spread out for miles in every direction.

Kai knew, deep in his heart, that this was the final battle between the gods and the demons, one that would decide who would rule the Mortal and Immortal Worlds.

However, there was something wrong. The gods themselves weren’t there. He felt a slight shaking within his heart, a small collapse of the conviction he’d held for the gods for decades.

He realized, in that moment, that he had been fooled, that the entirety of the worlds had been fooled. He looked closely at the Demon King across the large field and felt a slight tinge of deception, one that finally totally convinced him of the gods’ betrayal. The Demon King, or whatever illusion was across the field from him, smiled, before disappearing with its Aura.

Kai turned around, seeing his army splayed out before him, hope shining on their faces as they readied themselves for the battle ahead. He knew in that moment, that for their sanity, he could not tell them of the betrayal.

Better to let them die, glorified in battle, than to let them despair and lose hope because the very gods they worshipped had decided that a purge was necessary.

Kai turned back towards the opposing army, golden sword having gone dark. He sighed in disappointment, both for the gods for their cruelty, and for himself, because he’d chosen to believe in them. He raised his weapon once again and roared, and then he rushed his enemies, ready for his inevitable death.

Blink

Kai stood in a semicircular, golden throne room, with eight large, imposing thrones in front of him. He squinted his eyes, but was unable to make out the figures that were sitting there. He could only see yellow silhouettes, the lights of which were so bright that he had to look at the ground after a few seconds.

Suddenly, a world breaking pressure settled on Kai’s shoulders, pushing him straight to his knees, and then to the ground. He knew that this pressure was exuding from the eight beings sitting in front of him.

Pain had started to build up across his entire body, and he was unable to push himself off the ground.

He instantly understood that his mind, or his Soul or whatever, had gone into the silver pillar. However, it was much more different than the golden one. In the other vision, he hadn’t really noticed that he was an outsider looking in. He’d been forced to accept memories of decades he’d never experienced, and then forced in the vision itself, to fight an army he’d never signed up to fight.

He understood now that the golden pillar, no matter how much free power it offered him, no matter the fact he would one day certainly become an Immortal from choosing it, none of it would matter in the end. He would die on a battlefield, just like the rest of his men, before the gods would come and sweep it all up.

They would sing songs about him, sure. The General that had sacrificed himself and his men to give the gods more time to send reinforcements. But just as sand slowly pours through an hourglass, slowly but surely, his name would fade from the histories.

He’d become another man who’d joined the Eternal War and fallen on the battlefield, joining the cacophony of tortured souls in the River of Death that had been tricked by that same prospect of glory, crying out in broken betrayals.

He now understood that though the golden pillar offered him power, it also forced him into chains that grew stronger as he did. Just as he knew that the black pillar offered him neither certain power, nor certain Immortality. It only offered him choice. It gave him a path of freedom, but it would take the strength of an unbreakable will and the luck of a trillion Fairies to become as strong as he’d seen himself in the vision of the golden pillar.

And even then, he would face a Pantheon that loathed him and had tried to kill him many times. In the end, he would be forced to the ground by the intimidating Auras of eight gods that had lived for longer than anyone had right to live.

No, this is not how I fail. I refuse to submit.

And slowly, inch by inch, he forced himself up, first to his knees, and then to a standing position. His defiance could’ve taken a few seconds, or maybe even centuries, he himself didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. None of it did.

Only the strength of his will and sharpness of his blade mattered in the end. They would learn to fear his wrath.

Kai roared at the eight beings in front of him, feeling their contempt filled auras turn into fear. He roared at the Heavens for daring to try culling his people, for daring to try to cull him.

He roared at Fate for daring to tie a noose around his neck, one that would tighten the more power he gained, one that would finally end in him standing at the head of an army of false hope, accepting the inevitable death that came with becoming too powerful, too quickly.

No, that isn’t how it goes.

A noose, he corrected, that he himself would cut once he became powerful enough, with a force that the gods themselves feared once, a long time ago.

A small string on the weave of time, one of millions of paths that led to different outcomes. A single string that shone in the darkness of victory, one that he would forge himself, one that proved that even gods could be killed, one that showed the might of a Scion of Chaos.

“I REFUSE TO SUBMIT,” Kai roared through clenched teeth, arms raised to the vengeful Heavens. “I WILL PURSUE THE ONLY PATH THAT OFFERS ME CHOICE!”

Blink

And he was back, in the same void where the dual pillars stood shining in a darkness that seemed to swallow all light. It was different now, however. The golden pillar had darkened and seemed to almost be afraid of Kai.

Unlike the golden pillar, the silver one seemed almost familiar to him now, as if they were long lost old friends, which made no sense to him.

Suddenly, the old Seer appeared in the void, floating in front of Kai. She had a sorrowful expression on her face, one that seemed to be for him.

“You saw?” Kai asked her.

“No,” she answered. “If I had seen, the Heavens would’ve risked Oblivion to tear a passage to the Mortal World. You see, I hold a sliver of a connection to Fate itself, one that made me a Seer a very long time ago.”

Kai didn’t see, nor did he understand anything that had just occurred. And yet he still somehow knew of the potential consequences of what he’d experienced. They were world ending consequences.

The Seer nodded a few times, murmuring something to herself, before looking towards him with conviction.

“A difficult path you’ve chosen for yourself, but unlike the rest of us, at least you were given that choice. You are destined for great things. Terrible, yes. But great. The Spirits already fear you, I can tell, but your goal is to make the Heavens quake. It will take time, time you do not have. I wonder…”

She took a second before continuing. “Never mind. It is pointless to ponder such things. What matters is that you have chosen and so has your Soul. It has chosen the name Eritos. In the ancient language, the word is a mixture between strength and unconquerable, creating a new word. In the same way you have just decided to create a new thread for yourself.”

She then floated forward and touched two of her fingers to Kai’s head once again.

Blink