Aurelia looked exactly like the kind of place where gods would live.
Which is to say, dramatic.
Huge marble towers that looked like they were carved by someone who had something to prove. Golden archways reflecting sunlight in a way that felt personally aggressive. People wearing clothes that cost more than my entire existence.
Meanwhile, the three of us looked like travelers who crawled out of a forest and had been partially eaten on the way.
Tessa: mud on face, frog in her hood.
Lune: clothes ripped, hair tied with a shoelace and rage.
Me: probably glowing faintly like a haunted lightbulb.
As we passed the gates, the guard looked directly at me.
Then at my eyes.
Then just… stepped aside.
Didn't ask for name.
Didn't ask for purpose.
Didn't even ask if we were carrying illegal screaming frogs.
Rude.
Or considerate?
Unclear.
Tessa whispered, "Wow. They didn't stop us."
Lune responded, "They didn't stop him."
I grimaced.
Yeah.
That was becoming a thing.
---
Bureaucracy: The True Ancient Evil
We went to register as adventurers, because apparently you can't buy food here unless the government acknowledges your existence.
Inside the guild hall: marble floors, cathedral ceilings, and clerks who looked like they fought death itself to remain bored.
The clerk didn't even look up as she said, "Name?"
"Rei."
"Rank?"
"F."
The pen paused mid-line like it just had a nervous breakdown.
"…F." she repeated.
"Yes," I said. "F, as in Failure. Feral. Frog Incident Survivor. Pick whichever is accurate."
Tessa nodded. "He turned a rock into a frog."
The clerk blinked once, very slowly.
"…Of course he did."
She stamped something.
Then slid papers to us like she was pushing cursed relics across a temple altar.
"You may now take quests," she said.
Translation: Try not to destroy anything. We will NOT clean up after you.
---
Aurelia, Up Close
The streets were packed.
Priests blessing people. Merchants shouting prices that felt like robbery with extra steps. Kids running around with toy swords shaped like actual divine artifacts.
And above everything — the Sanctum.
A shimmering tower of pale light.
Where supposedly the gods watch. And speak. And choose people.
My stomach twisted.
The god inside me shifted.
Not loudly. Not dramatically.
Just a subtle awareness.
> "Home."
The word brushed my mind like cold fingers on the back of my neck.
I stopped walking.
Lune noticed. "Rei?"
I swallowed hard.
"…He knows this place."
Tessa looked up at the Sanctum.
"Oh cool. So we're willingly walking toward the giant god radio tower. Love that for us. Very normal. Totally safe. No anxiety here."
The frog screamed softly from her hood, like commentary.
---
The Market Incident (I Am Not Allowed to Touch Fruit)
We tried to buy apples.
Keyword: tried.
I picked one up.
Just… an apple.
Simple.
Normal.
Low-risk.
The apple turned into a small, pulsing sun and began orbiting my head like I was the world's least intentional demigod.
The fruit seller fainted.
Tessa wrote in her notebook without hesitation:
> "Rei also cannot touch: produce."
Lune took the apple-star gently and placed it on the ground. It turned back into an apple. She kicked it into a storm drain.
"No more touching things."
"Yes ma'am."
---
Evening — The Whisper Returns
We found an inn with a creaky wooden sign that read:
"The Resting Goat."
A good sign. Nothing dramatic ever happens in places named after goats.
We sat in the room.
Quiet. Warm. Firelight flickering.
Tessa meditated with the frog.
Lune cleaned her blade.
I sat on the floor and tried to breathe.
And then—
The room shifted.
No sound. No warning. Just him.
Not a shape. Not a figure. Just: Presence.
Cold. Ancient. Watching.
> "The shell strengthens."
My chest tightened.
I whispered, "What am I turning into?"
The fire dimmed.
The walls stretched like fabric.
Stars flickered in the corners of my vision:
> "Not turning. Returning."
Returning.
Like I was something before this.
Someone.
Someone heavy.
Someone vast.
My breath shook.
"I don't want to lose myself."
Silence.
Then:
> "Then don't."
The room snapped back.
Lune was staring at me.
She had a hand on my shoulder.
She had been there the whole time.
Her voice was quiet.
"We're with you. Understand?"
My voice cracked.
"Yeah. Okay."
Tessa nodded, placing the frog on my knee like a ceremonial offering.
The frog screamed.
But like… gently.
---