Autumn, Chrónia 565
Quietly, Nathos was reading a book on the bench while thinking about the dream from a few days ago. The question kept lingering in his mind and he couldn't stop thinking about it. The book he was reading right now was about the Immortal Houses; it explained everything about the gods and goddesses who watched over the earth since the fall of the ancients deities. He had found it aging away on the top shelf in his mother's study and this was already the eight book he had read since he woke up that night. He had barely slept these few days, but his curiosity and desperation kept him fully awake. He wasn't even tired.
His mother, Thyia, had always told him that it was the reason he had one green eye. Apparently, it radiated wisdom and intelligence, while the other eye, his blue one, was said to radiate power and mischief. He had never understood what she had meant, but after the dream, he had an idea.
One for the mind, one for the body, as his grandfather had once said. To him, it never occurred to him that his eyes actually represented more than just eyes, if he understood correctly they were his heritage and they stood for who he was, or better said what he was. He wasn't a normal child, that he understood fully now.
But who was he? Or what was he? That dream, it felt nothing like a dream. It was like a vision, it was something real. He couldn't wrap his head around it and continued reading the book to look for answers. Maybe the gods would be able to help him.
As he finished reading the first page he flipped it over and read the chapter that explained the elders; Kraven, Aldarr, Sevella, Ihmen, and Ethella. It was said that they were the direct descendants of the seven Ancients who had created the world ages ago. Born as immortals, raised as brothers and sisters they grew up together and gained stronger, faster and more intelligent over the decades, ultimately leading to them gaining mysterious powers and control and thus being born as the first gods. They figured out their real identity and for a time they happily ruled the world, but not all went well as time flew by. Grudges appeared amongst the brethren and when the Ancients slowly began to wither and fade the Great War broke out.
Kraven and Sevalla, God of the earth, earthquakes and Goddess of the skies, heaven, storms and thunder, strove for total dominance over the world with their children, while the other party, Aldarr, and Ihmen, God of the Underworld and the dead and Goddess of the seas, the moon, waters, and rain, wanted to rule in harmony. The youngest descendant of the Ancients, Ethella Goddess of fire, the sun and light, remained neutral and tried to stop her family from fighting each other. She took care of the wounded and comforted the ones affected by the war.
After fighting for decades both sides finally came to an agreement and as of that day the family split and the Immortal houses were instated. A new era began and together, although not always in peace, the two houses ruled the lands in harmony.
Silently Nathos flipped through the book as he tried to take in all the information at once. It now occurred to him that the gods were once actually immortals who slowly gained power, wasn't that exactly what was happening to him now?
He wished his grandfather was here. He would probably be able to push him in the right direction.
He read about the gods and goddesses living in the Halls of Immortals. There were a total of twenty-eight gods and goddesses living in those halls and while each of them represented their own godly domains they all had one thing in common. They were immortal. They couldn't die and if they were wounded they would heal extremely fast.
Nathos flipped the page and on the next one, it told all the tales of a certain god. All gods had lots of tales, but this one had by far the most adventures written in this book.
It was Renar, the god of war, violence, and thieves. A god with an unquenchable thirst for conflict and yet being a kind immortal. It was said that his true self was hidden behind a mask. While being one of the most popular gods he possessed great courage and was extremely skilled in battle. Nathos quietly admired him as his eyes wandered over the page. This was the definition of a true hero in his eyes.
He read the stories of battles the god had fought as he turned the pages. Nathos hissed as soon as he felt the paper cutting his finger resulting in dark red blood beginning to slowly pour out of the small cut on his thumb. He cursed, closed his book and ran to his mother.
"Mother! I'm bleeding!" Nathos shouted across the farm and his mother, who was working with the weaving table in the sun, stood up with a sigh. She planted him on a chair and told him to stay put and keep his thumb in his mouth until she was back. She returned quickly with a piece of cloth and she sat on her knees in front of him, as she told him to remove his thumb from his mouth Nathos noticed that he wasn't bleeding anymore.
He confusedly looked at his thumb and clearly remembered that he was bleeding just a second ago. He inspected his thumb and could find nothing. There was nothing there, no scratch, no slit, no nothing.
He looked at his mother with a frown and he noticed that his mother was quietly trying to suppress her emotions. Her face went from a smile to a frown to a very sad look. She even looked frightened. With a shiver in her voice, she asked, "Where is the wound, Nathos?"
Nathos wasn't listening and as he stared into his mother's eyes he remembered a line that he had just read in the book. It explained that immortals can heal really quickly. Did this mean that his premonition and thoughts from the last weeks were true?
"Mother?" Nathos began. He didn't want to do this to his parents, but he just had to know the truth. The signs were there, everything pointed in this one direction. The direction of immortality.
His mother answered with a "Yes, Nathos?", and Nathos could see the fear in her eyes, she was afraid of losing him. He hesitated for a moment but pushed his hesitation away and asked the question he had been dying to ask "I am not like you am I?"
Thyia let out a sob. He was their baby, their boy and now he knew he wasn't. They had always known that their son was one day going to get the grasp of it, but she had never imagined that he would find out so soon. He was just thirteen summers old. Thyia didn't want to reach a conclusion immediately, so she asked with a shivering voice, "Why so, Nathos?"
Nathos was silent for a while as he eyed his mother's wandering eyes. "I've been having these dreams, no vision, lately. Telling me things I maybe should not know. Also, I'm faster, stronger, smarter and now this, the wound closed before I even could take a good look at it." He paused for a while, Nathos cast his eyes to the ground and asked with an almost inaudible voice, "I am not your son, am I?"
Although Thyia had seen this coming as tears rolled down her cheek. A lump was stuck in her throat and before she replied she called Crethos to help her out with this. They were all in this together after all. He hurried to his beloved wife and their son. Crethos immediately know what was going on as he saw the redness his wife's eyes. He pinched her shoulders as he stood behind her.
"He knows." Thyia simply said.
Crethos sighed, "Well Nathos, you're old enough to know the truth now son, but before I start I want you to know that you're our son, and that will never change. We love you very, very much."
Nathos moved around uneasily about the direction the conversation was heading, even though he knew that his guess was in the right direction it made him feel lonesome in a sort of way. "I am correct am I?"
Suddenly Thyia began to sob loudly. Tears rolled down her face as she tried to not look at her son in the eyes. Crethos tried to keep a straight face but Nathos could see his eyes watering. Crethos cleared the lump in his throat and said quietly. "We indeed aren't your real parents, Nathos. We found you when you were little."
Nathos frowned. So, it was true. He was a stranger, even to his own family.
Nathos looked up and saw his parents staring at him in despair. They wanted to know his thoughts, desperate to know if he still loved them.
He stood up, walked forward and hugged both of them tightly. "I love you, mother, father." Afterward he began to cry in their arms.
"We're sorry, son." Crethos said as he pressed his forehead against Nathos'. Thyia didn't speak, she couldn't bring words out of her mouth, instead, she just hugged Nathos tighter than ever before.
"Please Nathos; forgive us for holding this information back for such a long time. We did what we thought would be best for you." Thyia said quietly.
Nathos replied with a quivering voice. "I understand, mother."
"Nathos can you do something for us?" Crethos asked and Nathos nodded, he would do anything for his parents. "Could you keep this secret and hide it from others?"
Nathos nodded again, he had read enough stories and legends to know that being an immortal mostly meant bad things. "Of course I can. It will only cause pain and trouble if I would tell anybody."
Both of his parents nodded approvingly and after a few heartbeats of silence Crethos opened his mouth to ask something else "Nathos, would you like to join your mother and I to Rouge next spring, visiting your grandfather?" He already knew the answer, but just wanted to be sure.
Nathos' eyes widened as he nodded rapidly. "Yes, father! That would be so exciting!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. He had never been outside the area around the farm. He was home-schooled by his mother who had studied at the academy in Rouge but left when she fell in love with Crethos, a handyman who was a skilled fighter and quite handy with tools. Apart from finally getting outside of the farm area, he could finally go and ask his grandfather for advice. He knew the truth now, but in essence, he still didn't know anything.