Rasthath, the eternal being with no gender, has endless knowledge and is ever patient with the followers of its teachings. From the Rite of Recognition, my people have learnt that our bountiful splendor and cultivation came along as a result of the praise and piety we demonstrate as appreciation for our current state of living. I’ve long since known from when I was close to five-years-old that living a life dedicated to the being that oversees us was the one and only real way to ensure that our spirits were not sent astray and would continue through our family lines. Our memories would be forged into stone, to be accessed whenever we needed guidance from those wiser than us. It was said in one of the epithets: “May the light of gods yield to my glory, kindness, and omniscience, for it is with my guidance that a new beginning shall continue from whence it disappeared, never to be abandoned nor forgotten.”

Even if I didn’t have it memorized, the text was readily available for any person interested in brushing up on their history and followings. There was also absolutely no one in the entire village who wasn’t aware of our teaching, especially as Rasthath allows its power to only grace those who follow the Sun -- in other words, we humans are the only one who should know of that guidance.

“So, how,” I murmured, my hand supporting my chin as I looked down at the tome in front of me, “did that beast know about it? Maybe it was just a coincidence? Awfully exact coincidence, though.”

I groaned as I rubbed my face with my hands and right as I’d determined that I’d been thinking about this issue for far too long, I heard the soft thumps up the staircase. My hand fell onto my desk with my knuckles rapping hard against the top as I turned around to see my door burst open.

“I have ARRIVED! I’m here! For you! Did you miss me?”

I’m not sure I could have looked any less enthused than I did right then.

“Axel,” I grit out with a sigh.

“Hey, come on!” Axel pleaded with a toothy grin, his auburn hair clashing hard with his bronze skin. “I came to praise you! Thanks to the O Holy One, those dumbass veritas didn’t have a chance! Should’ve seen them run away as fast as they could when their poor, little summa died.”

“Hah,” I scoffed, turning my gaze away. “If it weren’t for their transcendental cognizance, we would have a lot more difficulty killing that trash.”

Axel crossed his arms over his chest, still grinning in that annoying way he always does. His bronze armbands glittered from my candle’s flickering flame and I focused on that to calm my nerves.

“You seem happy, at least,” I muttered under my breath.

The ever-present smile that I always seemed to see him adopt, no matter the situation, slowly slid from his lips as his crystal-blue eyes bore into me. My heart caught in my throat as I felt his anger flow through me, but he relaxed barely even a moment later. Axel looked over towards my bookcase, the muscles in his jaw popping as he ground his teeth. I swallowed slowly, leaning forward and reaching out for him.

He breathed in and out carefully. “If only you had been coronated just a bit sooner. Or if you had been born earlier. Or if we could have just…”

“Axel,” I besought him, “there’s no way we could have prevented that. I just didn’t have the power yet.”

“But you would have, if they would have coronated you, on time, instead of squawking and squabbling for months! We will never get that time back, and I will never forgive our elders for their fucking stupidity.”

He turned towards me, his eyes glinting dangerously with enough hatred to send shivers down my spine.

“So I will kill every, last, goddamned veritas bitch out there until there is no blood left to spill. I’ll bathe in their blood and dance upon their corpses, and when they beg for my forgiveness, I’ll slice through their stomachs and hang them with their own fucking intestines. So, it’s a good damned thing you’re the Holy One, and not me.”

With that said, and with the tension far thicker than I was ready for, he suddenly smiled again like usual, his teeth bright and pearly.

“But yeah, I’m pretty damned happy. Hah!”

“Hah,” I repeated after him, almost feeling myself burst into a cold sweat. “That’s good to hear. So, after that long monologue, mind telling me why you’re actually here?”

He glanced down at me with wide eyes before smirking. “Oh, you know. Mom wants to talk to you. Something about a medallion that was left behind. Not that I’d know a damned thing about that.”

I felt like my heart was going to permanently wedge itself into my throat at this rate and I buried my head in my hands. “That stupid medallion, I swear…”

Axel laughed blatantly at me with no remorse, but as he turned away, I stopped him with a hand on his wrist. His blue eyes flashed back towards me expectantly, and I gestured towards the tome.

“Hey, so,” I started, not sure of how to articulate my thoughts, “you can recite the epithets by heart, right?”

“Uh.” He looked confused, for good reason, I suppose. “Yeah? I mean, I would like to forget that bullshit, but they kind of slammed my head into the book so many times, I think I learned by osmosis. What about it?”

“Do you think…” I paused, my eyebrows narrowing as I flicked my gaze back down at the text, “that a veritas is capable of knowing about Rasthath?”

I couldn’t blame him for the look of complete distaste, disgust, and concern that fleeted across his face that second. He rubbed his left hand over his face, still full of bewilderment.

“The fuck, what?”

“Do you think that--”

“I heard what you asked, but fuck, what?” he exclaimed. “If there was even an ounce of intelligence in those beasts, they’d have laid down like the dogs they are and let us kill them quickly. Rasthath? Them? The fuck you on?”

“I’m just wondering if they’re more intelligent than we give them credit for.”

The look he gave me was as cold as ice. “If they were, that means they probably planned to aim at our family to throw our village into chaos, which means there’s no reason not to kill them and set them aflame.”

I’m not sure why I thought that would go in any other direction. I eventually nodded, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Of course I am. I’ll see you downstairs.”

I watched him head out of my room afterwards and took in a deep breath before letting out a long, slow sigh.

“Yeah,” I whispered as I stood up and walked towards the door.

“I must be crazy.”