“Hey, kiddo. Wake up.”
Litvir blinked, then rubbed their eyes. Once their eyes were somewhat cleared, Litvir glanced around. They weren’t in the same place. Someone had moved Litvir while they were asleep. They hadn’t moved far though. They seemed to be in a medical-related tent. But there was commotion outside. Whispers. Lots of emotions. Too many for Litvir to sift through. But more importantly, there was someone standing… well, floating… above them. And the tent walls were all weirdly black and shadow-y.
“Hello, mama…” Litvir muttered, still half asleep. “What have I done wrong now?”
Elkay sighed, then perched on the edge of the bed. “Well, first thought, we need to work on your self-esteem. But really, I came here to congratulate you on your heroism.”
Litvir rolled onto their back. “Was nothing special. Just my job.”
You went into a burning building and directly saved four people, and your actions beforehand, hitting fire alarms and calling the firefighters… Well, Dalosisaar and I had a chat, and according to him, you saved pretty much all the students here. You didn’t delay at all, you went straight into protector mode and did all the right things.”
Litvir shrugged, staring up at the ceiling. “It is my duty to protect people. Why should I be congratulated?”
“You made a difference to the universe. You went above and beyond your general duties. And you also did pretty much everything perfectly.”
“Oh…” Litvir thought for a moment. “Did I genuinely do good? Same way Kyr Aesop did?”
Elkay nodded. “You did exactly that. Had you not acted properly, far more people would have died, and the Torr would have tried to blame the fire on the Rethans. But you found that last kid, who had caused the fire by accident, and you cleaned everything up neatly and with a bow. Although you do very much need to clean yourself. Your plating looks more grey than white.”
“Huh. I did good. I… I like that…” Litvir trailed off, then fell completely silent. “Do I… have to change my sub-legion now?”
Elkay opened his mouth to speak, but he needed a moment to consider what Litvir just said. “Why… why would you need to change schools?”
“Because… everyone knows I am here now. I was supposed to keep a, uh, low uh… low profile. Also, the place caught fire. It is broken and burnt.”
“Well, thankfully, you don’t need to worry about the cleaning up. Aesop heard what happened and came here to help fix things up, since there were Torr involved and he wanted to make sure they didn’t get lawyer-y.”
“What about vok knowing me?”
Elkay smiled. “You’re openly a hero now. Your fellow Rethans are now properly accepting of you, because you saved a lot of kids. Can’t really be more heroic than that! It does mean our plan of keeping you on the low down has backfired, but it doesn’t matter what school they move you too, you’re… pretty damn obvious now.”
Litvir frowned, then sat up straight. Elkay took this as an opportunity to sit down next to them.
“Dalosisaar told me about your last conversation. That you were unhappy and you were considering giving up being a deity.”
“I… have been thinking about it. Yes. But now…”
Litvir closed their eyes, then seemed to drift off. Elkay wondered what Litvir was doing, but they opened their eyes again before Elkay could ask.
“You were using your telepathy.”
“I am learning. But I can hear everyone outside. They are thankful for me. I do not hear the whispers, where they all talk as if I am a freak. I think… they actually do not hate me now.”
“Well, of course!” Elkay exclaimed. “You saved a lot of lives!”
“I was mostly disliked up until… uh… whenever the fires were. I was considered creepy, strange and asocial. And stupid.”
“So, how do you feel about being a deity now?” Elkay asked.
“Um…”
“Take your time.”
Litvir fell silent again, just for a moment. “I think… If I have proper breaks… and when I have finished Junior Stratos… I think I can do more good as a deity. But I… this uh, feels… selfish… I want to do god stuff now, because I feel like others appreciate me more. I am a weird Rethan. But I am a weird Rethan who does their best to help. And now everyone knows that.”
“So you want to stay being a deity?”
“Yes.”
Elkay suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. “I am so glad you said that.”
“Uh, why?” Litvir blinked in confusion. “Did you not want me to say no?”
“Yep. I’ll be very blunt, no one wanted you to decide to be mortal. The rest of us like you, and we didn’t want to have to bring in a stranger to replace you. But… also… Well, Dalosisaar and I spoke to Kairos and… uh… if we made you mortal, you would die within six months.”
“Why???” Litvir was clearly shocked. “I would just be normal!”
“Being a deity means you don’t properly age, you sort of reach a final adult age and stay there, with little variation. But since your ageing was sped up to make you into a teenager, if we took away your divinity, you would go back to ageing at the speed you aged before you were deified. You’d age so fast that you’d get old and die within only a few months.”
“That… is terrifying…” Litvir stuttered. “I do not want to properly die.”
“None of us do. But I am happy that you chose to live and be a deity on your own. You learned that you do make a difference, that your presence is wanted, and that you are a good being. Admittedly, you should have learned that yourself over the course of the last few months, but I’m glad you’ve worked things out.”
“Thank you, I guess?”
“Thank you too. Anyway, do you want to come outside with me, so everyone can say how great you are?”
Litvir smiled, properly. “I would like that, yes…”