The world was shrouded in shadows, sneaking in, encroaching like a demon that was in the process of awakening after a millennium-long slumber.
In the shadows, there was a frightened young man sitting on the ground with a fearful look on his face, horrified as he stared at the existences hidden in the shadows. 'W-what is going on?'
He saw black cloaks and gray masks, sharp daggers that dripped with blood, including bloody symbols of the number 6 drawn three times in the black cloaks.
'What is going on?' He thought, frightened. 'I-is this a dream?'
Right at that moment, one of the existences in the shadows spoke. "That's the boy, he fits the description".
"Capture the Cosmopolitan and kill the 2 women".
'Kill?!' The boy thought, even more horrified yet at that moment, he was jolted awake from his daydreaming by a familiar loud voice.
"Paul!" A mature feminine voice called loudly.
Silence.
"Paul!"
Silence.
Tension…
"In the name of the Divine One, Dionysus, if you make me leave our morning wine devotion, I swear to the divine I'll butcher you in a thousand pieces!"
"Paul, come here, now!"
There was a slight pause, then, "ok mom". A deep masculine voice answered in a grumbling tone, still baffled by the dream he just had.
He didn't pay more attention to it though. 'It's just a dream'.
Stumbling out of his room with hollow eyes, clearly from not getting enough sleep the previous night, Paul crashed into the sitting room only to be met by the stern glare of his mom.
The sitting room was a simple one with a wooden table, 4 wooden chairs, and a ceiling fan that kept on making creaking sounds as it rotated above.
A few years prior, subjected to that glare, Paul would have flinched in fear but not anymore, he was a man now.
At least, he would become a man today.
Paul's mom was a brunette wearing brown casual commoner clothes. The apron on her clothes gave a hint to her profession.
Just like his dad was, Claire, Paul's mom was a wine brewer. They both belonged to the faction of the Divine, Dionysus.
After almost 2 decades of living, hoping and waiting fervently for it, finally, it was the D-day.
Today, on his 18th birthday, Paul finally became eligible to take on the light of the divine to determine which faction he would fall under.
He was excited for it.
"Tell me where the time is!" His mom's stern voice broke him out of his daze as he fantasized about the faction that his fate decided for him.
As soon as she asked the question, the third person in this sitting room, another brunette who looked exactly like the mature middle-aged woman, Sophia, Paul's twin sister walked closer to her brother.
She sniffed slightly, and then she grinned deviously before turning to their mom. "Mom, he didn't perform the wine ritual last night before sleeping".
"You!" Paul glared at his sister.
"You what?!" Claire raged the next moment.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" With a livid expression on her face, a clearly fuming mother stomped towards her son before grabbing him by the ear. "How many times do I have to sound it to this stubborn ear of yours?"
"You know the family that you're coming from".
"We're Dionysus! That's who we are".
"You must perform the wine ritual before going to sleep every night, and you must take part in the morning wine devotion every morning; that's the only way to increase your chances of falling into the faction of our divine, Dionysus".
Paul shrugged, shaking himself from his mom's firm grasp. "But I'm not immune to intoxication like you mom, I get drunk and I hate getting drunk".
"You stubborn child!" She raised her hand threateningly to hit him, Paul did not flinch though, only staring back at her and in the end, with a sigh, she dropped her hands before turning back to the table.
"Besides, I never said I wanted to be a part of Dionysus". Paul added, inciting her fury even more.
Claire turned to face her son; her eyes now almost blood-red in rage as a red aura surrounded her. "What did you just say?!"
Paul chuckled and finally raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry".
Claire calmed down and palmed her face. "You stubborn boy, you're just like your dad, why do you have to be like him?"
"Do you want to end up like he did?"
Hearing that, the expression on Paul's face contorted and turned slightly cold. "That is exactly why I don't want to join the faction, Dionysus".
"I don't want to spend the rest of my life brewing wine while the people who killed dad are still out there somewhere, living their lives peacefully".
Claire stared at her son, this time, she could not say anything.
Paul looked into her eyes. "I love you mom but in this, I won't budge and thankfully, we're not in control of it".
"The gods decide our fate and which faction we are fated to join".
"If left to me, I would want to join the faction of Odin the Divine, Thor the Divine, or maybe even Poseidon the Divine".
"I don't want to be a Dionysus".
Silently, Claire stared at her son for a few seconds, then she wiped her eyes and turned away. "Let us pray," she muttered resolutely.
Paul obeyed this time and the family of 3 held hands, facing the table.
On the table was a freshly brewed bottle of palm wine.
Holding her children's hands, Claire closed her eyes with devotion. "Oh Great Dionysus, the Divine of wine and pleasure, we ask for your favor today".
"Look upon us with your benevolent eyes of wisdom".
"Grant us grace to partake in your divine blessings".
"This we pray in the solemn name of wine," she bowed and her children followed suit, then in tandem, they chorused. "Amen".
Opening the bottle of wine after, Claire poured into the 3 wooden cups on the wooden table, especially filling her son's cup to the brim.
Paul grimaced but as the 2 others drank, he also drank from his cup.
Immediately after the morning wine devotion, Paul and Sophia went to take their baths as they got set for their big day.
Once they were ready, their mom kissed them on the forehead before sending them off. "May the Divine be with you".
"And also with you". They responded and left.
Walking out of their mud house, Paul looked back and thought. 'Let me be the favored of the gods today,' He hoped.
'I pray to get a good faction and change our fortunes, a faction that will grant me powers to make money for my family!' He clenched his fists.
"What? Are you tensed?" Sophia teased on noticing his clenched fist.
"No". Saying simply, Paul led the way.
Their village, Turuk, was just one of the many villages surrounding Tak Town which was the nearest town to own a temple of the 9 Gods.
That was where they were going for their awakening.
Every human being was supposed to be in a faction. From the age of 18, your faction is determined by the gods and if it doesn't align with that of your parents, you are mandated to leave home and join your faction.
Like the saying goes, 'faction before family'.
Of course, it was just a saying, not everyone necessarily bought to the idea and Paul was definitely one of those people who didn't buy to the idea.
To him, family was everything and was why he yearned so much to get revenge against his father's murderers.
This was why he didn't want to join the faction of the God of wine.
It didn't take them long before they met with the entourage of the Divine Emissary sent from Tak Town that was to take every eligible teenager who was becoming an adult from Turuk Village to the temple for their divine awakening.
"Hey Paul, over here!" A boy with black hair of similar age to Paul called as soon as he arrived with his twin sister.
The boy was not alone, there were 3 others around him.
They were Paul's friends and like his mom, they were all from a family rooted in the faction of the Divine, Dionysus.
"Hey George," Paul called before looking at his sister, confirming that she would be ok with his eyes before walking over to meet his friends.
Sophia also walked over to meet her female friends.
About 15 minutes later, the bald-haired Divine Emissary finally gathered all the awakened seeds that came out from Turuk Village.
They numbered about 20 or so.
Once they were all gathered, the Divine Emissary finally led them away.
Traveling from village to village was not an easy task in the Age of Gods, this was because of the demonic beasts that roamed in the wild.
As a matter of fact, Paul had never left Turuk Village before now.
His dad was supposed to take him out as a man for some adventure before his 18th birthday but unfortunately, his dad never made it to his 18th birthday.
Leaving his village finally after 18 years, Paul was excited.
Instinctively, he made the protection sign of the God of wine. Afterall, he was a boy who grew up in a family factioned to the Divine, Dionysus.
And with that, Paul left his village for the first time.
What awaited him outside Turuk Village?