When Al gingerly stretched his hand forward to the little thing, he couldn't help but remember everything the old man had done to them.
He saw flashes of memories that he had tried so hard to forget. A floor littered with money. A house being ransacked. And blood, blood, so much blood.
Yet… all of these images floated away when the dagger transformed back into the puppy. Cocking its head adorably, it looked at his hand with curiosity, and as he reached closer and closer with his heart beating faster and faster in his chest… it reached forward and licked him.
"Oh! It likes you! That will at least make the bonding process easier."
Al didn't even hear what the old man had said. During that moment when they had touched… he had experienced something pure that he had thought he had forgotten.
Trust. Absolute, undeniable trust.
It was a trust borne of innocence, but still, it's preciousness could not be denied. The little thing even tried to jump out of Eric's hands to get to Al, and seeing this, he used his other hand, too, to try and catch it.
It entered his hands as if it was something that it had been doing for years. "Arf! Arf!" It barked, its tail wagging to and fro like a pendulum while it kept trying to reach his face. Granting its wish, he brought it closer to himself, but he had to laugh and push it back when it licked him all over.
"I heard that even the weakest armaments inherit the qualities of their race, and even have them strengthened. If so, the natural intuitiveness of dogs that let them smell the innermost heart of humans must be present in this little one, too. See, it didn't really like me or my son… he's always concerned about girls, so I reckon that he didn't even give it a thought, and as for me… here, boy!"
He whistled, and a moment later, a loud sound made them turn to the door that was supposed to be closed. It had been made of metal, and Al had seen even Eric take a moment to gather strength to push it… but now, it hung on its hinges with a deep indentation in the center of it as if something had burst through.
The sound of flapping wings made Al realized that he was right. A gust of wind blew back his hair, and as he turned to his side, he saw that the old man who had been standing alone until now had a companion beside him.
It looked like an eagle, at first glance, but if so, it was larger than any eagle that existed before the descent of the gods. Hunched over, the old man wasn't very tall, so Al compared it with himself… And saw that it was only a few inches shorter than him.
'An eagle, 6-feet tall? What the fuck?'
He couldn't help but curse. He prided himself on being on top of all information regarding the world of heroes and villains, but nowhere had he heard that it was possible for armaments to grow this much.
When he studied it, it turned its head to gaze at him. That was when he saw the rippling plates of metal under its feathers.
His jaw almost dropped, but he managed to stop it at the last second. His eyebrows rose, though, with shock, and seeing this, the old man grinned and said, "I knew it would be able to surprise even scholars like you. Meet Betty: one of the first successes in the government's research to create armaments that could be used even in their beast form. I'm testing it secretly, and I trust that you won't tell anyone about it…"
Still dazed, Al nodded. The analyst in him had come out, so he was intently studying each and every part of the eagle that he could see.
'The metal looks silvery. Must be an alloy. Talons are also made of the same material. No change in flying speed… no, it might have been just a bit slower. Beak-'
A sound distracted him. Looking down, he saw that the puppy was whining while trying to borrow into the blanket, and into him.
Turning to the old man, he saw a flash of sick satisfaction on his face.
'I was right. He has some ulterior motive behind giving this gift. But should I let suspicion get the better of me, and give it back?'
One look at the puppy was enough to make him decide.
'It looks… just like me, when I had no one to rely on. And just like I was, it is the target of schemes that it cannot understand… how can I ignore it, like all those people who ignored me? No. No matter what he's planning, I'm sure that I can overcome it.'
His jaw set with determination, he nodded to himself and said "Of course not, Mr. Westway. Thank you so much for the gift. I will treasure it well. As for training, I'm sure that I have enough time… after all, a bond can only be made with someone who has been Blessed. That day cannot come soon enough… but it is still a few weeks away, at least. I'm eager to get to my second odyssey. Can I take your leave, Sir?"
"No, you may not. There is one other thing that I need to tell you… and in fact, this can be called a gift, too. I found out about it a week back, but I was waiting to tell the two of you together in the hopes that my useless son would stop fondling whores in his odysseys if he had you to compete against. The government… is initiating an official hero and villain program. Until now, it has sat back, watching, waiting for brilliant heroes and villains to emerge. Sadly, too few have the natural ability to create incredible odysseys. It is public knowledge that one of the primary goals of the government is to figure out the extent of what the gods can give us. And for that… the best of odysseys are required. Hence, these official programs will pit the best of the best against each other. They will also be paid hefty amounts and given cutting edge weapons, among other things. Yes, weapons like my dear Betty, right here."
On the mention of the phrase 'cutting edge weapons', Eric had turned to stare at the eagle. Noticing this, his father raised his hand to stroke the beast… before flicking his fingers, and making it transform.
A moment later, the reason behind its massive size became clear. Eagles were supposed to be fast, so Al had wondered whether it was wise for it to be so big… but now, he saw that he had been thinking about it all wrong.
In its place stood a brilliant, gleaming suit of armor. There were no chinks to be seen anywhere. Made of flowing plates whose joints could hardly be seen, it covered a user from head to toe. The helmet had the shape of an eagle's head, ferocious and mighty, and a weapon unto itself in the form of the sharp beak.
"Alright, enough gawking. The method of choosing will be simple: not many know this, but the odyssey system is capable of collecting much more data than just the victor and the loser. All of this data is being assessed by the government to rank heroes and villains based on how perfectly they finish their initiate odysseys. So, my useless son, keep your head in the game and aim for the best outcome."
"Ow! Always the head! All right, I got it. It's not like points will be docked if a hero lies with the maiden he's supposed to save…"
"What was that?"
"Uh…nothing! I'll do my best, dad!"
The exchange between the father and son was something that Al had seen many times before. In fact, even one of Al's earliest memories of the two had been that of the old man knuckling his son's head.
"You can go now, Al. I have something planned for Eric, so he'll be staying… be sure to drop off the armament at home. Proper armament storage facilities haven't been implemented in the odyssey station, yet. You can use my personal teleportation station, over there."
Nodding to the right of the room, the old man sat down and began to read one of the documents lying on the table. Al knew that it was a sign that he was dismissed, so he waved at Eric who sighed and waved back.
The teleportation station was a small podium with a digital display on which he could select the place he wanted to go to. He had to wait a few seconds, but after that, he stepped forward to reach the station he had teleported to last night.
His hands caressing the puppy that was hiding in his jacket, he held his head high, and with his thoughts brimming with excitement, he walked home.