ONE (Book 1 in the Amnesia Archives)

Chapter 2

"Come on, you're pulling my leg," I argued against the man who was dealing cards in the tavern. "There is no way that Vesper themself was here." I was referring to the deity Vesper, who was associated with gambling and parties, along with a select other things.

The deities of the world didn't have one specific subject which they're in charge of. Rather it was a whole load of little things which added up to create immensely powerful beings who nobody wanted to fight against. But if anyone did decide to go up against them, they would be considered foolish and shunned from society. We needed the deities to live, and there were no doubts in people's minds that they existed. Most of the deities were travellers, apart from Odon, the deity of knowledge, and Dwi, the deity of curses. The latter being the reason my siblings and I are on our quest in the first place.

"I don't suppose a creature like you believes in the gods," the card dealer snarled, still continuing to shuffle. The only reason I'd not been kicked from their table was probably due to the fact I was winning, and I was boastful. I gathered most of the tavern to challenge me, and I hadn't lost yet. I'd been searched by the man a few times. But he had yet to find a way for me to cheat. "Here they are valued and worshipped."

"Where?" I asked casually with a shrug, trying to rile the man up so that he could tell us where their deities are worshipped. "I don't see any grand temples, at least I haven't so far."

"Then you are a blind as a bat and as blunt as a ball," the man retorted. "There is a large hall in the centre of the city, and there are several churches spouting off from it like spider's legs." He pocketed his cards and stood.

"The centre of the city is ages away," I commented with a groan and a wave of my hand as I stood and took the money from the middle of the table. "Is it in the dead centre?"

"Aye." The man pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "The deities are the heart of the planet, and so they shall be the heart of our city." He sounded so much like a preacher it was irritating. My siblings and I had dealt with many religious folk on our trips, claiming that our appearances were nothing more than a curse upon our bloodline and that we should be ashamed for existing, that we would be cured if we joined the church of Jora or Abner.

And as much as we hated to admit it, that's what we were doing.

We had been on the hunt for the deities, Dwi in particular, in hopes that we could understand why we looked different. We could've sought out Roseo, which is a deity I would adore to worship, but Aknon simply wouldn't allow it. He claimed that I would end up with a child, due to Roseo's reputation to have children with their worshippers.

"Thanks for the game," I said quickly, standing and using my tail to knock the cards out of the man's hand. The man gasped and stumbled back in shock, but I'd already moved into the shadows, making my way to the back corner where my siblings sat. "You'd think that if it were that obvious, we would've seen it when we last came here," I mumbled, slumping down in the empty seat.

"Where is it?" Sarphi asked between bites of the chocolate she had persuaded the tavern owner to give her at a discounted price, two bronze coins and a kiss. "It can't be invisible or something."

"Well, it could be," Aknon argued. "But that seems to be counter-intuitive when they want people to visit."

"It's in the centre of the city," I informed and sipped the ale which had grown warm. "The dead centre of the city. How could we have missed it?" I then gulped down the pint quickly, making a disgusted face at the end of it.

"Because we actively avoided the centre of the city," Aknon reminded me. "It's where the market and the people are, where everything is so much busier."