You can change the world.
These divine words reverberated in Silver's thoughts, as the light dissipated, and he stood in a chaotic vortex of books and paper sheets torn from the books scattered across his bedroom. They quickly disappeared into ashes, and another bright light emerged from nowhere, entering his body, and a shining star appeared before him.
"…" Silver gazed upon it with eyes that resembled a mixture of fear, awe, and euphoria all at once.
There was not a single trace of doubt in his eyes. The Gods had spoken to him, and right now in front of him, a Sign of the Gods had appeared!
"The Sign of the Gods…!? Aren't they the oaths of the Gods…?! Written in Destiny, this sign is a foretelling of the divine fate that awaits me! This means that I, Silver Arche, may become an Archon!" Silver's brimmed with excitement, after too long.
Archons had incredibly high positions in the lands, second only to the Great Monarchs at the peak of their power. However, to find an Archon was inconceivably rare, as only those with a profound fate and destiny could become one. But, somehow, Silver Arche, on this night, had achieved it, earning the gaze of the Gods.
"…What do I do next? The Gods have given me an oath, but, since they are the Gods, I suppose that they can also take it back at any moment…"
To those who were lowly from birth, those who were above the normal knights could do almost anything. The High Priests and the Royal Guards were positions all out of his reach. Yet, with this oath, this could change, certainly.
Just then, a small piece of paper floated onto the ground before him. And then, Silver noticed that ink began to drip onto it, from the ink bottle that had probably been tipped over by the force of the light.
"Oh… I shouldn't waste it, my father will get mad…!" Silver went to pick up the ink bottle and upturned it, yet, when he went to see the small piece of paper on the floor, he saw something strange.
The ink that dripped onto it flowed oddly as if it was being painted on by an invisible force. The ink soon flowed into a strange symbol, a flower-like shape, that looked most similar to a lotus.
"…" Silver picked it up and stared at the piece of paper deeply. "Is this a foretelling of the future by the Gods? This is too intricate of a symbol to be made from a mere mistake…" Again, he noticed another piece of paper on the floor, and it also had a symbol on it, of a strange-looking tree.
He picked it up as well, and stared at the two symbols for a few minutes, before concluding that they were some sort of sign from the Gods. But, before he could figure out what the symbols meant exactly, the room to his bedroom door opened, and there, his twin sister was.
She had the same red hair that he had, matched with a great beauty that she had, unfortunately, inherited from their late mother, and they also had the same kind of eyes.
"…Big brother? What are you doing awake at this time?" Ariadne muttered, rubbing her eyes with a yawn bursting forth from her mouth. "I thought you had already gone to sleep, but then I heard some noise…"
"Ah… don't worry, I just… slipped, while heading to bed." Silver nodded, rubbing his ankle. "You don't have to worry about it, so please don't tell father."
She glanced at him oddly, inspecting him for any sort of injury.
"…Okay. I wasn't planning on telling our father anyway, since he's blackout drunk from spending a few hours in the tavern." Ariadne said, shaking her head. "But, keep yourself safe, please. I don't know what I would do if you got yourself hurt, especially with how our father is right now."
Silver nodded. "Of course I will. It's not like I've gotten myself hurt that badly before."
Ariadne smiled. The reason why she was so worried was because their father, Kremiel Arche, was a knight. All knights and most warriors, regardless of their capabilities, would have reinforced their bodies with mysticism, the most common way of doing that being elixirs, formed from several rare ingredients across the lands that could prove to even be fatal to the human body if ingested on their own.
Mysticism reinforced the bodies of knights to a significant degree, which is the reason why the chivalry code existed, from the old ages until now.
Yet, their father was a drunkard and somehow wasn't laid back from being a knight yet, meaning his strength was easily enough to strike through a brick wall.
"…Ha…" Silver rubbed his face. "I'm gonna go to sleep now. See you tomorrow, Ariadne."
"You too!" Ariadne replied. Yet, as she began to go, a loud bang could be heard downstairs, and it sounded like a collision with a strong force.
They both widened their eyes simultaneously and rushed to where their father was, in the living room. And then, what they saw first was horrifying. Their father had collapsed headfirst, and as he did, a strange, gaseous, blackish-green substance began to emit from him. One that reeked of blood and bile.
It took a second for the two of them to realise what was happening, just before great darkness also emerged from his mouth and eyes. It was a Manifestation, a malevolent spirit that lurked silently, and one of these beings had somehow managed to invade and take over their father's body.
"Father… what is happening to him?!"
They both stepped back in fear, while their father began to convulse heavily, before abruptly stopping at once.
"…At long last… the Gods…" He raised his hand towards the skies, just before he fainted. The two of them immediately went to pick him up back from the floor.
"Quick, we need to pray over him! The Gods will surely heal him!"
Then and there, they clapped their hands together and got ready for a prayer to the Gods, even daring to utter their divine titles. They chanted the exact prayer that they would often hear the priests sprout as they walked through the town's streets and slums, from time to time.
"O Divine Lords of Lifegiving, the Tri-Gods who give us lungs to breathe and brains to think, creatures to feed and nature to yield, give us your divine blessings! O Divine Lords of Earth bearing, the Tri-Gods who give us land to stand on, the sea and rivers to drink from, and the ingredients of the land to eat from, give us your divine blessings!"
"O Supreme Lords of Soulshaping, the Tri-Gods who give us the ability to feel our emotions, the ability to have souls, the ability to discern, make love and create strife and war, give us your exalted blessings! O Supreme Lords of Creation, the Tri-Gods who shaped time, and everything else in the beginning, give us your highest blessings!"
Upon the prayer of the Tri-Lords, Kremiel Arche awoke instantly, in a pool of sweat. The Gods had answered their prayers, but yet, their father didn't look happy and almost looked… scared. Frightened, even.
He dashed outside their home, and into the freezing midnight chill.
The shining stars illuminated his visage, and, beyond them, he could see something entirely horrifying that was invisible to the eyes, which made him scream like never before.