Re:Creation Book 1: Allegiance

Twenty: Four

Reif opened his eyes to find himself no longer in his guest room, but in the center of what appeared to be an enormous tower, the top of which could not even be seen from the bottom floor. Shelves tightly crammed with books were etched into the walls, lining the entirety of tower. What little space there was between shelves was taken up by luminous violet crystal affixed to the walls. Above Reif, stone pathways bridged the corridors of higher floors.

Immediately, Reif knew exactly where he was, as it was where he'd spent most of his life--it was where he was truly raised. The tower was a part of the realm of the gods, Arz'vita, specifically where Bellias, the god of wisdom, fate, and judgment, resided.

Reif glanced down at his clothes to find that they'd been replaced by a purple chiton with nothing underneath, not even shoes. The sound of someone clearing their throat caught Reif's attention. To his left was a man with incredibly long hair sitting in one of the few wooden rocking chairs around the room. Reif recognized the man instantly, scrambling to a bowing position in reverence the moment he saw him.

"Blessed be the sixteen guides," Reif greeted in Gvoriyan, the language of the gods, for the stone-faced man before him was none other than the god of calamity himself, O'Rin.

"Rise, elkyrie," O'Rin commanded in the same language.

Reif did as he was told, bringing his gaze to meet the god's. O'Rin's awesome power swirled like smoke in what would have been the whites of his eyes, dyeing the entirety of his eyeballs a deep blue, save for his lighter irises and his pupils.

In keeping with his traditional color, O'Rin was dressed in dark blue pants with extremely wide legs and a matching sleeveless, skin-tight shirt with a lighter trim. The shirt's collar was low enough to expose O'Rin's sigil at the base of his neck resembling a vertical line with a dot on either side of it. The mark matched his clothing in color.

"Divine O'Rin," Reif breathed. "If I may ask, why are we in Bellias's library?"

"Because we're waiting for them, of course," O'Rin's stern tone never failed to strike fear into Reif's heart. "They went to retrieve Tererra, because the three of us need to speak with you."

Reif felt air catch in his throat. "A-And Divine Solgeara?"

"What about Solgeara?" O'Rin shot back, causing Reif to flinch. "You've lost her power. You weren't expecting to remain connected with her, were you? How could she possibly meet you now?"

"I-"

Just then, a pair of large wooden doors behind Reif swung open. In walked a slender young woman, extravagantly donned in a green transparent fabric similar to the kind draped around Syllict. Golden cuffs dangled above her bare feet and wrists with more of the green silk dressed around her shaved head. Given her complexion and poise, she would fit right in with the Ralhana family if she were human, but Reif knew her to be the goddess of earth, Tererra. Her triangular sigil was stamped on her left palm.

With her was Bellias, someone who was neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine, draped in a simple violet robe that covered everything beneath their shoulders, including their hands and feet. A matching colored sigil in the shape of a closed eye was visible on Bellias's forehead. The moment Reif's eyes fell on Bellias, he felt the urge to hurry to their side like a frightened child seeking his parent's protection. However, he refrained from doing so, as such behavior was unbecoming of one in Reif's position and he didn't want to embarrass Bellias in front of the other gods.

"Good, you're already here," Bellias said as they and Tererra took their seats.

Reif bowed again. "Blessed be-"