That night, the atmosphere in the Arrakis home was as tense as a battlefield.
Claire never spoke to her children once after dragging them back home all the way from Tak Town.
Of course, she didn't have the power to lead them through the wilderness back home alone, so she paid money to join a traveling merchant group. This was how they got back home to Turuk Village.
Paul still had no idea how his mom got the money but he couldn't ask yet, this was because he could tell that she was not in the best of moods.
Since arriving home, Claire abandoned her children, leaving them guessing wildly as she knelt before her idol right there in the sitting room, a graven image of a Thyrsus which was one of the symbols of the Divine, Dionysus.
It was 2 hours already and yet; she kept on praying.
It got to the point that she started crying, making the two 18-year-olds even more tense yet, they could not confront her.
They knew better than to confront their fiery mother when she was like this.
Kneeling before her God in prayer, Claire mumbled. "Why?"
"Why?" She asked this question repeatedly with so much emotion and reluctance that Paul was left feeling like he was going insane.
"Why?"
"Why does he have to be like him?"
The more she mumbled like that, the more confused and concerned her children became.
In the end, no longer able to hold himself in, Paul turned to his twin sister for answers but before he could speak, she spoke first.
"What happened?" Sophia whispered as she stared at her brother. "What happened inside the pool?"
Hearing that question, instinctively, Paul thought back to everything that happened after he emerged out of the pool.
The water around him glowing with many colors, the confused looks on the other awakened warrior's faces, and the shocked look on the bald-haired emissary's face, all of it horrified Paul.
In the end, before he could ask the emissary what faction he belonged, the emissary spoke first, sternly warning every one of the awakened to keep their mouths shut regarding what they just saw.
Then the emissary told him to follow him away.
Paul was left to wait inside that room for hours with the 4 awakened guarding the door while the temple master was away. Throughout, he kept on thinking about his unusual awakening process.
What was it?
Was there a 10th Divine God of many colors that he didn't know about?
Was it normal for his water to glow in many colors?
Paul had so many questions and no answers and they left him worried. When the temple master eventually came, he was relieved.
But before he got to ask the questions nagging at the back of his mind, his mom came, interrupting everything.
'Curses!' He cursed in his head.
"What faction do you belong to?"
His twin sister's question broke Paul out of his reverie. Staring at her, he had a lost look on his face. "I don't know," he answered.
"What?" Sophia was stunned. "You awakened but you don't know your faction? That's…, that's just illogical".
"I know," Paul scratched his head. "Instead of the normal colors associated with the 9 Divine Gods, mine didn't settle on one color, it glowed in many colors".
"That is why I am confused, and the temple master never got to tell me too before mom came".
Now, Sophia was stunned. "You met the temple master?"
Paul nodded.
Hearing all that, Sophia became even more worried as she connected it to her bad feeling since her brother awakened.
'The many colors, is it why I feel like brother is in danger?'
'What is happening?'
'Dad, I wish dad was here right now,' she lamented. 'I hope we're not in danger, I can't afford to lose another one after losing dad'.
Right at that moment, a 3rd voice interrupted their thoughts. "Your brother, he is a Cosmopolitan".
Silence.
Paul and Sophia turned to the side where their mom was already seated. They didn't know when she left her praying position and came here.
At this moment, Claire already wiped off all her tears and there was a look on her face like she was resigned to something. For some reason, seeing his mom like this was scary and it left Paul feeling even more confused.
Paul gulped. "Mom, what is…?"
He was interrupted. "Paul, tell me everything that happened, tell me all the divine images that you saw during your awakening".
This time, Paul was not interrupted, he told everything.
The more he said, the more flabbergasted Sophia became; was all this even possible? How can one receive the images of so many Divine Gods?
While Sophia was flabbergasted, the look on Claire's face only became more grim as she stared at her son.
"Mom, what am I?" Paul finally asked the question that had been lingering on his mind since.
Claire looked at her son. "You're a Cosmopolitan". She answered.
"A Cosmopolitan? What's that?" Sophia was the one to ask this time. "That's not part of the 9 factions, what is it?"
Claire took a deep breath. "Paul, Sophia, what I'm about to tell you now is knowledge that is known to very few in the Age of Gods".
"There are 9 recognized Divine Gods and 9 factions corresponding to them, but there is a 10th division that is known to very few in the world".
"They call them the Cosmopolitans".
'What's a Cosmopolitan?' Paul wanted to ask this so much at this moment but he waited, knowing that his mom would explain and she didn't disappoint.
"Cosmopolitans are awakened who are acknowledged by more than one of the 9 Divine Gods".
Paul's eyes widened. "Is that possible?"
Claire looked into space at this moment. "Your dad was a Cosmopolitan".
Now, it was Paul and Sophia's turn to be flabbergasted.
"That was why he was hunted," she continued. "And killed".
"Your dad was not just a Dionysus; he was also an Ares. There are no more than 10 of these enigmas in the world, but your dad was one of them".
"Now, you are one of them". Claire stared at her son, a look of determination creeping up her face.
"I want the 2 of you to get your things prepared". She stood up. "We'll be leaving this night before they can come to hunt us".
"But mom…"
"No buts". Claire turned to stare at her son with a ruthless look in her eyes that sent a chill down his spine. "Go and get set, now!"
Paul did not dare stay stubborn.
"Hurry!"
"Yes, mom".
The two children immediately rushed to their room to arrange their clothes even as they still had so many questions in their minds.
20 minutes later, they carried their bags and went back to the sitting room to meet their mom, but she was not alone.
There were 6 other people in this sitting room, 6 strangers cloaked in black.
Paul was stunned. 'W-what is going on?!'