Tommy sat on the grass with a sword resting on his thigh and a whetstone pressing into his hand. He carefully maneuvered the whetstone against the edge of the blade, listening to the hissing noise as metal rubbed against heavy stone. It was easy work to do, a sort of mindless and numbing experience that allowed him to focus on a straining task without his thoughts getting in the way. If left unchecked, his thoughts were a shambling mess of rabid, starving dogs trying to fight each other for a scrap of food. Heavy labor was a high-frequency whistle that shot through the air like an arrow into the torn, half-deaf ears of the dogs, not quite taming them but certainly making them settle down.

"This should be the last of it," Eryn called out, dragging a huge axe behind him by the shaft. He tripped forward, releasing the hilt of the axe as he tumbled to the ground. Tommy laughed as he watched Eryn scramble off the ground, sand drifting out of his hair as he turned to glare at the axe. "Fuck this. This axe is too damn heavy for me. If Techno wants his weapons sharp, he'll have to do it himself."

"I'll do the axe if you finish the swords," Tommy bargained, his eyes flicking over to the pile of swords that still needed a turn with the whetstone. All the swords he had sharpened had been placed back in their scabbards or hung back on the walls. He had actually finished more than what was left. This technicality didn't make the task before him any less daunting.

"Your scrawny arms aren't going to be able to move these axes any better than I did," Eryn huffs, but he takes the sword out of Tommy's hand. Tommy rolls his eyes, walking over to the axe. The heavy blade pushed aside packed dirt, and there was a clear line in the ground following along the path that Eryn had taken to drag the weapon over. Tommy pushed the axe onto its side. It was as heavy as Eryn had implied it was, and Tommy felt a rush of pride run through his body as he remembered how easily Techno used his axe. He ran his fingers along the edge of the axe, feeling the indentations of a phrase. Something clicked in Tommy's head, and he was naturally able to identify the phrase even though he didn't know the language.

Sic semper tyrannis

Thus always to tyrants. It was supposedly the words the Blood God proclaimed when he pledged his allegiance to the pantheon. Although he was a god of war and violence, he saw no meaning in senseless slaughter. He reveled in war heroes and rebellions. He despised those who abused their power and spread cruelty, forcing children and farmers and those unfit for battle to die with their innocence ultimately tainted. He was one of the first deities to join that wasn't present in the initial formation. The stories painted his acceptance in many different ways- some describing more resistance than others- but he was ultimately given a place among the pantheon and a house within Origins.

"I hate chores. I thought being a child of the Blood God was about killing things. Instead, I'm having to sharpen weapons and clean up after the archery kids. Tubbo leaves his throwing knives everywhere. I'm going to strangle him in his sleep," Eryn snapped as he picked up an extra whetstone to finish off the swords.

"What was it like? Y'know, getting picked?" Tommy asked, trying to be as nonchalant about it as he could. He kept his vision pinned on the blade of the axe. He was horrified when he saw how disgustingly desperate his expression was, and he was grateful that Eryn couldn't see it.

"I think it was a few days after I arrived in Origins. I guess the Blood God picked me because in the outside world, I had been learning how to be a mercenary from my father. I already had some fighting skills," Eryn said with a shrug. He sounded as careless as Tommy wished he was about the subject. Eryn had been a half-demon living with his father, abandoned by his demonic mother, and he had been ready to fight the whole world if he was paid enough. He was the poster-child for a child of blood, and Tommy wished it was that simple for him. Would the Blood God see how Tommy's destiny was to fight and win? Would he see how hard Tommy had been fighting his entire life? Or was Tommy not bloodthirsty enough? Was his lack of skills against human opponents a deterrent?

Tommy didn't have a suitable response for Eryn. Anything he thought of sounded pathetic or jealous to his own ears, and he didn't want to sound like either of those words to anyone, let alone Eryn.

Thankfully, Eryn seemed ready to fill the silence without a response. "I don't know why we have this many weapons. We have enough for a small army. There's way more weapons than people at Origins. I mean, Origins never has an exact number of people since others can show up or leave or die, but we're never going to have this many people. But no, we have to keep all these weapons and sharpen them almost as much as we breathe. I hope you get picked by the Blood God, Toms, because you're doing all of this by yourself the minute you arrive to live with us."

Tommy was about to retort when he noticed someone standing right behind Eryn. Techno leaned down, and Eryn visibly jumped as he realized that the hybrid was leaning over his shoulder. Techno grabbed the sword before it hit the ground. He twisted the hilt in his hand, the blade as fast as a silver wind. Techno inspected the edge of the sword with a thoughtful gaze. "At least Tommy knows how to properly sharpen a weapon."

Eryn shot to his feet, grabbing the hilt of the sword to yank it out of Techno's hand. Techno allowed it, looking unaffected by Eryn's puffed up chest. "I can sharpen a weapon! I've been doing it for months now! You're the one that can't sharpen a weapon."

Techno raised an unimpressed eyebrow. He walked over to Tommy. The blonde stared up with a growing grin on his face. Techno effortlessly lifted the axe off the ground and took the whetstone from Tommy's weak grip. Techno ran the whetstone across the edge of the axe. He pulled the whetstone away from the axe to reveal an edge sharp enough to cut glass without shattering it. Eryn leaned in close to the weapon with disbelief rising in his red eyes. "Now, how the fuck did you do that?"

"Finish the weapons. We need them done before the festival," Techno said without answering Eryn's question. He placed the axe shaft in Eryn's hand, his expression unchanging as Eryn fell with the heavy weight dragging him forward. Tommy started laughing, growing breathless as he watched Eryn fail to stand back up with the axe in his hands. Eryn grumbled angrily, dropping to his knees to sharpen the weapon from the ground.

"Why do you need them for the festival?" Tommy asked. The upcoming festival had been a recent topic in Origins. Everyone was preparing for it in various ways, and Tommy was getting lost in the business. He frequently went to different cabins to do his best with helping out. The members all seemed appreciative, allowing Tommy to help with what he could. There were certain things he couldn't help with, of course, since he wasn't an actual member of that cabin. There were some secrets he wouldn't be privy to unless he was chosen.

"The Blood God's House puts on a show during the festival. It's some fancy weapon dance. I'm going to do it with a sword, but Techno does his dance with an axe. That's why we have to make sure his axe shines," Eryn explained. Tommy furrowed his eyebrows together. He didn't understand why dancing and weapons were put side-by-side in the same sentence. Eryn continued speaking, "You'll just have to see, Toms. It's gonna be great."

"Get back to work," Techno dryly said. He started to walk away, but he stopped when he was a few feet away, tilting his head over his shoulder. Tommy stared for a moment before he realized that he should be following along. He rushed forward to walk at Techno's side. Surprisingly enough, the silence wasn't broken by Tommy. "I grew up on a farm. I grew potatoes. I had to protect the land from monsters. When the land was corrupted by the abyss, I came to Origins. The Blood God chose me, and he gave me that axe. He called it the Axe of Peace even though it was stained by blood when he placed it in my hands."

"Do you think he'll pick me?" Tommy whispered, afraid his voice would break if he spoke any louder.

"I believe that the god you are meant to serve will be pleased to have you. If that is the god of war, I would not mind," Techno admits, his own voice rather quiet. It wasn't soft, because when is the Blade ever soft, but there was no edge to it. There was no hidden roughness or a snake lying in the grass. It was a blatant, honest truth that was as close to sweet as Techno could get. It wasn't gentle, but it was kind.

-

Sam leaned down on his knees right beside a metal box underneath the stage. Dream was hanging up in the rafters, carefully stringing the velvet curtains to the metal bar they would slide across. Tommy was standing on the stage with Nook poised on his shoulder. He stared out across the empty ground in front of the stage. In a few days, it would be filled with chairs and benches, and even more days would see to it that the seats were completely filled by the people of Origins. Each house will sit with each other, all lined up in easy rows. If Tommy didn't get chosen in the time between now and the festival, he supposed he could sit with Wilbur. The child of insanity wouldn't mind, and he didn't think anyone else from Wilbur's house hated Tommy so much that they wouldn't let him sit with their row.

"Toms! Do me a favor and pull that rope over there," Dream yelled from the rafters. Tommy followed the instructions given to him. He grabbed hold of the rope, tugging it down. The curtains started to move from the wings towards the down-center. When the curtains fully closed, something clicked and Tommy could no longer pull the curtain. He reached for the other rope, starting to pull that one down. The curtains opened, and Tommy heard another click.

Dream audibly cheered. He swung both his legs around the metal bar he had been sitting on. He pushed off the metal with his hands and feet, jumping through the air. He managed to grab a metal pole attached to a divider in the wings. Dream scrambled down, jumping around and grabbing hold of things that shouldn't be supporting heavy weights. Dream finally made it to the ground, landing with a loud thud and a bright smile. Sam peeked his head above the stage to shake his head, and Nook reached for Dream. The brunette grabbed the raccoon, twirling him around in the air before depositing him back into Tommy's arms.

"You are fucking insane. I'm telling Puffy," Tommy said, his eyes still wide from watching Dream gamble with his life. They had a ladder on the other side of the stage that Tommy would have gotten for Dream if the brunette had simply asked for it.

"Please don't tell Puffy. She'll lecture me for an hour before grounding me. I'm a grown man. She shouldn't be able to ground me," Dream said with a groan. Tommy stifled a laugh. He had seen Puffy lecturing Dream, Foolish, and Drista before. She was incredibly kind to everyone, but she was weirdly motherly to those three. Tommy didn't know if everyone noticed or if he was making things up, but he remembered that during his first few days in Origins, he thought all four of them were family. He wasn't completely wrong since Dream and Drista were siblings, but they weren't Puffy's children. Foolish wasn't their sibling or Puffy's kid, either. Puffy had no children, which was odd considering how experienced she seemed at being a parental figure.

"I love having power over you," Tommy said with a wink. Dream glared at him, but the look didn't stay for long. Dream merely huffed, throwing an arm over Tommy's shoulder. Tommy cursed as he tried to scramble away from Dream, but the brunette was putting all his weight on Tommy. The blonde started to go down. Nook was smart enough to jump out of Tommy's arms as he crashed into the stage with Dream on top of him. "You fucker! Get your bony ass off of me! Sam! Sam! Dream's being an asshole!"

"When is he not?" Sam asked, not looking up from the metal box he was working with.

"I would say that the people who are unfairly calling me an asshole are more of one than I am," Dream said. He had finally sat up, letting Tommy roll out from under him. Tommy hit Dream in the back as hard as he could, but Dream only wheezed.

Tommy scooted across the stage to sit next to Dream. Nook crawled into his lap, settling down with a content expression on its little face. Tommy scratched Nook's head, listening for the noises his companion made when he was happy. Dream watched, tilting his head with a small smile on his face. "I really think the god of nature will pick you."

"Oh, yeah, why not XD?" Tommy asked, though he didn't mind the god Dream had chosen. Tommy had spent most of his life alone in nature. He had several pets throughout his time. He loved spending time with Henry the cow, Hetta the chicken, and Nook the raccoon, already having three pets in Origins. Plus, Tubbo and Shubble were children of nature, and Tommy wouldn't mind being part of their family. Callahan was there, too, and Tommy didn't mind having conversations through sign language with the silent fellow. Tommy didn't hate the other people in the house. Hannah had given him a rose once, and Boomer had a nice frog sitting on top of his head. He didn't know Tina and Skeppy that well, but he imagined they would learn to like him if he was part of their house.

"It would be nice if you were in our house. XD mainly chooses two types of people. He chooses the creators, builders or inventors, like Sam. He also chooses the natural leaders. The ones who are able to protect XD's favorite creation: life. That's why I was picked since I can't build at all. I think you fit in that category with me. You have the fighting skills and that intrinsic need to protect the people you care about. You're stubborn and loud, yes, but for some reason, people keep you around. They keep you around because you have a way of making people laugh and smile and love like they've never done before," Dream said, looking up at the curtains he had put together. Tommy's mouth went dry as he looked at the tattoo on Dream's arm. The tattoo was a golden X surrounding a metallic green D with angel-like wings bursting from the sides of the D. It was a symbol of life and creation. He wasn't a protector, especially not of life. He was meant to destroy it. He was meant to ruin everything he touched. How ironic would it be if XD chose him?

"He's not wrong. You've only been here for a few weeks, and you've already become friends with almost everyone. If XD doesn't choose you, you will definitely get his blessing. Make sure to come visit us with Nook when it happens," Sam said, crawling up on the stage. Nook jumped out of Tommy's arms to grab the leg of Sam's pants. Sam leaned down to pick up the raccoon. Apparently, the raccoon had been Sam's at one point. He had let it go into the wilderness, and Nook never bothered anyone until Tommy came around. Tommy pestered Sam for what he named the raccoon, but Sam stubbornly told Tommy that his name was Nook every single time. Tommy had given up on trying to find out the true identity of his companion.

"This little shit is playing favorites. I'm the one that gives you snacks!" Tommy said, glaring at Nook. The raccoon snuggled closer into Sam's chest. Dream and Sam started laughing, and Tommy couldn't help that a laugh came from him, too.

-

Tommy ducked his head as soon as he walked into the greenhouse. A bowl of whipped cream with strawberries slammed against the glass behind him. The bowl slid down the glass with the cream before dropping to the ground at Tommy's heels. He stood back up.

"Hannah, stop throwing the food!" Shubble said as she rushed to the table with a pan in her hands. She sat the pan down on the table, turning to the bowl of cream and strawberries now on the ground. She frowned slightly, lifting her hand up. The bowl and whipped cream were left on the ground, but the strawberries started floating in the air. Shubble twisted her hand, purifying the berries. They whizzed by Tommy's head as she telekinetically placed them in another bowl on the table.

"Boomer threw a plate of cookies at me!" Hannah argued, gesturing to a metal tray on the ground. The cookies were all fractured underneath the metal tray, some of them leaking out different kinds of fillings.

"I did not!" Boomer said, lifting both his hands up to show that they were clear of holding anything. Tina ducked behind Callahan to point at Tubbo, and Skeppy blatantly pointed at the hybrid. Everyone's attention shifted to Tubbo who was munching on one of the cookies that would have been on the metal tray.

Tubbo swallowed the cookie, tilting his head to the side innocently. "In my defense, I thought I saw a bug."

Shubble lowered her head into her hands with a long sigh. "Come on, guys, this is our first dinner together in a while. We even have a guest this time. Let's not ruin all the food. I grew most of the ingredients, and Niki baked a lot of it."

The house of nature occasionally had meals with each other in their greenhouse. It was something they did when the greenhouse and nearby farm had grown a surplus. Shubble would present all the berries, fruits, and vegetables. Niki would bake them some food, and Tommy knew that each member of the house was required to bring something they had prepared. Tubbo had invited Tommy to this one, and the others never explicitly said he couldn't join them. His bare mark meant that he could enter the greenhouse attached to the house's backside whenever he wanted. It was how he frequently watched Shubble perform magic and snuck into Tubbo's room to prank the boy. Tommy had even followed the custom of bringing food. It had taken him more time than he would admit, but he had made some pancakes for his friends.

"Henry and Hetta provided some ingredients, too," Tommy piped up as he scooped up the bowl that had been launched at him when Hannah threw it at Boomer. Tommy came to the table, putting down the pancakes and the bowl down on the table. Tommy then smeared the cream he had gotten off the floor onto Tubbo's cheek. The hybrid flinched away, leaning so far in his chair that he almost fell into Skeppy's lap. Skeppy chuckled, pushing Tubbo into Tommy's hand. When all the whipped cream was gone, Tommy plopped into the seat on Tubbo's other side.

"Tell them thank-you for us," Shubble said, getting situated in her seat at the head of the table. She wasn't the oldest of the group, but she was the one that usually took charge. She was the closest out of all of them to the plant-part of their god's portfolio, so it was frequently assumed that she was just the closest out of all of them to their god, Aeor. Plus, she was usually the most responsible.

"You act like I can fucking talk to them," Tommy replied, immediately loading his plate up with food. Tubbo threw a pancake at Tommy, and the blonde kicked him from beneath the table.

"You might as well be able to talk to them considering how close you are with all your pets. When the nature god picks you, I bet you'll be able to talk to animals," Hannah said thoughtfully. She didn't hesitate when she used the word 'when' instead of 'if', and Tommy tried not to let his heart soar as high as it did at the thought.

"Oh, how cool would that be! We could go talk to the bees in the meadow!" Tubbo said, grabbing hold of Tommy's arm with wide eyes. Tubbo's wings fluttered behind him in rapid excitement.

"I haven't even been chosen yet," Tommy said, more so telling himself than the people around him.

"The god of nature will probably pick you. Most of us were chosen just because we have a close relationship with nature. I can talk to frogs. Hannah is a Fae, the god of nature's favorite species. Shubble is a gnome. Callahan, Tubbo, and Tina are all good at planting and taking care of animals even if they don't have magical powers. Skeppy is more about the precious metals and gems the god of nature precedes over," Boomer explained, going around the table. Tommy knew that about all of them. Boomer kept a frog on his head that he frequently spoke with. Hannah had butterfly wings with roses growing across her body. He had seen how close Shubble was with nature. Tubbo loved running around the woods, rolling around in the mud and playing with bees. Tina was frequently seen near the farm with domestic animals like cats and dogs. Callahan disappeared into the forest a lot, and his reindeer horns were constantly decorated with flowers to match the appearance of their god. Skeppy's crystalline eyes reminded Tommy of diamonds every time he peered into them. They were all so sickeningly like their godly parent.

"It'd be fucking pog as shit to talk to animals. I can finally figure out what the fuck is going on inside Nook's head," Tommy said, leaving it all at that. The conversation moved on from the subject, but it held Tommy's thoughts in a vice-like grip. He was ready. All he needed was to be called.

-

Phil was the only child of death and destruction. Kristin rarely picked people, after all, so it wasn't a surprise. The real surprise is that Kristin's House didn't seem to be the home of one person. There was a ukulele sitting on the coffee table. There were several extra weapons littered around the house. There were drawings and writings pinned to the wall. There were multiple opened doors leading into bedrooms that one man simply couldn't live in all of them. It was a house that was filled with mementos and scratches from a family. The reason was that while Phil was Kristin's only Chosen one, she had blessed Wilbur, Techno, Tubbo, and Ranboo. The four of them lived as much of their lives in Kristin's House as they did their own.

Tommy wished he felt out of place in the house. He wished he felt some amount of awkwardness in napping on the couch or rifling through Phil's things. He wished that some part of him didn't feel like this place was so much better than the cabin in the south that he called home. But his wishes didn't come true. Tommy felt fine and comfortable in Phil's house. He didn't hesitate to throw the door open and kick off his shoes. He grabbed a drink before he found wherever Phil was at, and he helped Phil with whatever project he was currently working on. If Phil wasn't there, Tommy would wait for him while exploring the different parts of the house.

He was sitting with Phil now in the man's office as he went over the final details for the festival. Phil was in charge of making sure everything went smoothly. He wasn't technically the oldest- that title belonged to a child of honesty- but he was the most mature out of everyone. He took great pride in making sure that Origins functioned as a flourishing community. He settled conflicts, helped with repairs to the buildings, and manufactured potions for anyone who was being sent on a mission. He also took charge when planning festivals and parties. Everyone helped out, of course, but Phil was the one that helped organize all of their efforts.

Tommy had similar skills, he supposed. By visiting Phil often, he found that he naturally possessed an affinity for paperwork. He despised being stuck at a desk for the majority of the day, but if Phil needed help finishing up some last minute papers, Tommy's complaints were only surface-level.

Today, he wasn't helping out. He could have, but he was half-asleep on Phil's desk. He would have gotten up and started working if Phil told him to, but the avian was running a hand through Tommy's hair, sending the boy deeper into his sleep.

"Hey, Toms, I have a question for you," Phil asked. His voice was quiet, but when the only other noise was a flickering candle, Tommy could hear it loud and clear. The words trickled into his ears, as slow as honey and just as rich. His brain took several seconds to fully comprehend what was being told to him, but Phil paused to allow the sleepy teenager leaning against his wooden desk to understand. When Tommy nodded his head, Phil continued. "We have yet to speak about the other day. I was hoping that you would come to me, but it seems that I will have to ask you directly. As far as I am aware, you are not an avian. Do you know why you chirped back?"

Yes, he did know why. Creatures like him usually immediately mimic an animal or plant in their surroundings, simply referred to as imprinting. He had enough common sense to not to imprint on the first few creatures he saw, but he never felt comfortable enough to allow himself to imprint after that point. Animals and plants came and went in his life. He was never able to grow close enough to anyone else to imprint on them. It had never bothered him before. It never made him unstable. He would have continued to be fine if he hadn't gotten sick, letting his guard down when Phil held him like no one else had ever done and no one else ever would. His mind took on some of the attributes of an avian, and he was suddenly chirping back to fulfill this new instinct buzzing in his head.

"I grew up in the forest with all sorts of pets, so I had to find some way to communicate with them. I had a few birds. They weren't as antsy if I would chirp with them. I'm as good as I am because I'm a fucking natural, Philza," Tommy smoothly lied, though... it wasn't entirely untrue. He would sometimes make animal noises towards his pets to calm them down. Birds and fish were the hardest. Cats rarely listened to him even when he meowed. Dogs would bark back so much that Tommy wondered if he said a cuss word by barking. He didn't imitate his other pets, instead using a soft human voice with them when they were agitated.

"That makes sense. You are exceptionally good at it," Phil said with no particular tone surrounding his voice.

"Since you asked me something, I get to ask you a question," Tommy said, his brain too tired to tell him to shut up. He didn't hear any reasoning, just Phil's hum to continue. "What was it like getting chosen?"

"Hmm... I was a resident of the dark forest, the closest inhabitable place to the abyss. Death was a common companion to anyone who remained within the forest. Most people considered it her forest, after all. I was no stranger to it, having to kill for my own survival. For that reason, I saw her before it was my time or I was a Chosen one. I knew who she was when I saw her. Part of me knew to run away, but the other part was rooted in place. She was the goddess of death, but I felt like I was seeing the most beautiful person in the whole world. I tried following her, but she would always smirk at me before disappearing. She really played hard-to-get. But eventually, this mark appeared on my head, and I knew that if I followed the feeling, I would find her. I found Origins back when half the people that are here now weren't there. She immediately picked me. It was rare for someone to be picked that quickly, and it was even more shocking that she was the choosing someone. The goddess of death may be part of the pantheon, but she is often resented by mortals. Perhaps she found worth in my skills as a fighter and leader, or maybe she was a little lonely. I will never understand what drove her to pick me, but I hope she never comes to regret her decision. I love her in a way that I cannot put into words, so vastly and deeply that sometimes I am afraid of just how much I am willing to give to her simply to see a smile," Phil said, something wistful and emotional burning in his voice like a beacon illuminating the cold tundra. Tommy felt tears prick his eyes at the thought of caring about someone like that. It was beautiful, in some ways, but it also caused Tommy's stomach to twist uncomfortably with ancient regrets that did not belong to him. He just closed his eyes, pretending that Phil's words had no effect on him.

He was pretty much asleep when he heard Phil blow out the candle. Phil wrapped his arms around Tommy's shoulders and lifted the lanky teenager up. When Tommy woke up the next morning, he was in a bedroom he had never seen before, bare except for a few trinkets. It pulled the pillow to his chest, hoping that even if she didn't choose him, Kristin would bestow her blessing upon him. He would like to decorate the room to fit his personality, having a secondary home along with his Chosen House.

-

"Ow, stop stepping on my toes, gremlin," Wilbur snapped, but it was hard to hear his voice with how much he was laughing and how loudly Oli was playing his lute. Tommy tried following Wilbur's instructions as they moved through the motions of the dance, but he kept stumbling and stepping on Wilbur's feet. The brunette kept complaining through his wide smile, but he didn't stop dancing. He continued to drag Tommy around the small ballroom located in Festival's House.

"Stop getting in my way!" Tommy snapped back, trying to calm down his own giggling in order to pay attention to the steps. He looked down at his feet to make sure they weren't stepping on Wilbur's feet. He didn't care if he stepped on them or not, but he needed to make sure he got the dance down so when he danced with the others, he wouldn't step on their feet. The ceremony for the gods' appearance would be in a few more days. Tommy didn't want to make himself look like a fool in front of all of Origins plus the gods that had so graciously not killed him yet.

"Look at me. Keep your eyes on your partner. Stop worrying about the movements, just have fun," Wilbur said, his eyes practically glowing in the candlelight of the ballroom. Tommy stared into them, hoping they wouldn't lead him astray. Wilbur seemed so confident even when he had been the victim of all Tommy's mistakes. Tommy was less sure that he was getting any of this down. He didn't want to let Wilbur down. He had spent most of the afternoon trying to teach Tommy the common dances for the festival. Tommy was technically exempt from the dances, but he wanted to participate. He wanted to prove that he belonged in Origins; prove to the others, prove to the gods, and most importantly, prove to himself.

But Wilbur was laughing joyously. Oli had a large smile on his face as he watched on. Tommy felt the swelling feeling of enjoyment rising in his chest. He was having fun dancing even if he was pretty terrible at it. His hands, made for taking lives and crushing hope, were holding Wilbur's hands without breaking them. His legs, made for dodging attacks and delivering him to his enemies, were lightly bouncing around the quartz floor of the ballroom. His voice, made for war cries and delivering a message from his creators to the world, was laughing and crudely singing.

Then, Wilbur tried to dip Tommy, and they both crashed into the ground. Tommy felt pain blossom against his back, but it fuelled his hysteria as he allowed a loud, cackling sort of laughter to explode from his mouth. Wilbur was giggling beside him, their hands still intertwined. Oli ran over, fighting a smile as he tried helping them to their feet, instead ending up on the ground right beside them.

"Oi, fuck you, Wilbur, I wasn't ready!" Tommy said, squeezing Wilbur's hands and relishing in the way Wilbur squeezed back. Tommy stared up at the dome roof of the ballroom, a sigh leaving his lips as he calmed down. "I'm never going to be a child of dance, am I?"

"Maybe not dance, no, but I think you'd be great as a child of music like me. I can teach you how to play the lute, or maybe we can get you a piano. You told me you know how to play that. I would love to hear it! We can create epic ballads together about faraway lands and dashing heroes!" Oli said, still breathily laughing at the series of events that had happened. When Tommy arrived to ask Wilbur to teach him how to dance, Oli insisted that dance needed music, so he brought his lute to play tunes for the two dancers.

"I knew I was fucking right in saying you're a child of music!" Tommy said, pumping his fist up as he laid flat on the ground. Festival, like HD or Aeor, was a multifaceted goddess. She took on the aspects of entertainment and insanity. Her entertainment portion allowed her to cover music, singing, dancing, art, writing, theater, and even some sports. The people chosen by her usually fell into one specific part of her portfolio. Some could fall into more than one, but it was almost impossible for someone to be in all her many categories.

"I am! I used to have dreams about the goddess of agriculture. She told me to go to Origins. I followed her directions. It was only after I arrived at Origins that I received a question mark on my hand. With my lute in hand, I sang and played until Festival chose me," Oli explained, casually mentioning that he had dreams of a neutral god. The goddess of agriculture had not sided with the pantheon or the abyss. She was one of the few deities strong enough to not be coerced to either side by any number of means.

"I'm a child of insanity," Wilbur whispered without prompting. Oli's face twitched. His smile remained, but happiness leaked out of his eyes. Oli turned away, looking down at his lute with a renewed interest. Wilbur was staring into Tommy's eyes, some sort of challenge there. Tommy, in his head, usually referred to Wilbur as a child of insanity, but he never had this sort of confirmation that Wilbur was not accepted because of his guitar skills. Although he had a beautiful voice, it was easy to see that there was something broken and glued back together resting in Wilbur's soul. There were certain things he said that didn't add up, and looks that everyone else would give him when he began acting a certain way.

"I might be, too," Tommy admits, quietly, beneath his breath, beneath his extreme voice and attitude and bravado. He wasn't insane in the conventional sense. His only claim to madness was his inability to distinguish reality from falsehoods. Hallucinations appearing the corner of his eyes, voices brushing past his ears, phantom hands spreading across his skin as light and cold as the wind. He was sometimes possessed by feelings that weren't his, and he often woke up in a cold sweat from nightmares that were someone else's memories. He was good at pretending to be sane. He was good at keeping his delusions from hurting him or hurting others.

"Let's get back to dancing," Oli says, as if doesn't hear the admission. Perhaps he doesn't, but Wilbur's eyes prove that he did.

-

"I will throw you out of the window," Sneeg said, deadly serious as he glared at a cackling Beau. She leaned forward to move the figurine that was meant to represent her across the board. She landed right behind Sneeg's figurine. He eyed Beau suspiciously as AntFrost reached for the dice, rolling it in both of his hands. He dropped it down on the board, a slow smirk rising on his face as he moved his figurine to the place where Sneeg was located, hitting Sneeg's figurine away with his own. Sneeg slammed his fists down on the table, "That's it! You are all sleeping outside!"

The room filled with laughter, except for Drista who threw her hands up innocently, "What did I do?!"

"Don't even act innocent, you little snake. I see you cheating over there," Sneeg said, pointing a finger at her.

She pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. After a few deep breaths, her face melted into one of practiced neutrality. She spoke simply, "You cannot prove it."

"I will tape you all up on the outside wall of this house. Don't test me," Sneeg said, glaring at everyone around the table, even Tommy who was practicing solitaire instead of playing the board game with the others. The blonde looked over at Sneeg with his eyebrows knitting together. Sneeg didn't blink when he returned the stare. "Don't test me."

"I didn't even fucking do anything!" Tommy tried to say, but he was cut off by Drista happily cheering after a dice roll. She knocked another one of Sneeg's figurines off the board, leaving Sneeg with no caricature to represent him in the game. The hybrid lowered his head into his hands. When he lifted his head back up, his eye was twitching. "That's it! I am taping you all up outside of Origins, even you!"

They all laughed as if Sneeg wouldn't legitimately try to drag them outside the gates of Origins to stick them to the outer wall, leaving them out there until he remembered what he had done. A few members of Origins might try to stop him, but he was Phil's best friend. As long as Phil didn't know what Sneeg was doing, no one would dare question the effortless liar that was Sneeg. He would simply say it was a new type of training for the children of chaos. He probably wouldn't even come up with a separate lie for Tommy since the blonde spent so much time playing pranks with Beau and Drista. He was an honorary member of the house until the time came when one of the gods picked him. Who knows? Maybe SD herself would pick him after he was hung up on Origin's walls with the rest of her children.

"You act like I wouldn't be able to get back into Origins," Beau said to him. She leaned back in her chair, pressing her shoulder against the back of Tommy's shoulder. She held onto the table to keep her from falling onto her back as she stage-whispered to him. "I went on a date with this fucking coward one time. He smelled like shit and was bipolar as fuck. It was his great plan to have our date at Origins. He got spooked as soon as we came to the gate, but I was super interested. I kind of wanted to blow the place up, but then I saw this chicken. Just a fucking chicken in the middle of the forest. I followed it, and it led me to a slight crack in the wall. Once I entered Origins, the chicken pecked by hand, and a question mark appeared on my hand. No one knew how or why that hole was there. I think it was because that chicken was SD."

"SD is fond of shapeshifting, so it could have been her. She and the goddess of insanity were the one that designed the enchantments on the walls. The goddess of the home and the god of the ground made the actual walls, but it was those two that put the final touches on the walls in order to drive anyone who doesn't belong insane. SD is the only reason you could have gotten that close to the walls without going crazy, and she probably made a hole in the wall to let you in. When SD wants someone in Origins, she never does it the easy way," Sneeg explained. His eyes had stopped twitching as he rolled the dice across the board. Beau snapped back to the table, her chair booming as it hit the floor. "I didn't live that far from here when I got bit by a bug. It transformed my height from what I am now to a singular inch. I came to Origins for a cure. It wasn't until she revealed herself at the beacons that I was given my natural height back."

"She turned me into a housecat. I was on the streets for a year before Bad came into town on a mission. He somehow noticed that I wasn't entirely what I appeared to be. When I came to Origins, she transformed me back. Not without leaving a few details," AntFrost said, gesturing towards his head where a pair of working cat ears peaked above his black and brown hair. The sclera of his eyes were a solid light blue, and the iris was only a shade darker. He didn't seem to have a pupil, but he moved around like he had the ability to see the world. Though Tommy couldn't see them at the moment, he knew AntFrost had a tail and paws for feet.

"I came in through the front door, but I ended up in Origins because I accidentally fell into a kayak that was tied to a dock I was trying to steal from. I tried getting out of the kayak, but the rope broke. I started drifting. Before I could swim to the shore, a freak storm hit. The river was rocked with plunging waves, and I don't know how I didn't crash several times. In the end, I didn't stop until I was super close to Origins. The question mark had appeared on my hand, so I figured I might as well find out where my instincts were trying to take me," Drista explained with a shrug.

Tommy looked down at his solitaire cards. The reason he came to Origins wasn't special, but he only came into the place because he had been struck by lightning- SD's gift to Clara, the sky goddess. Was that enough for SD to choose him? Did that look she gave him when she was in the middle of Drista's ceremony mean something significant?

"It seems SD already knew she wanted to pick you guys before you came," Tommy casually mentioned, hoping that they were all engrossed with their game to not notice his facial expression.

"I suppose she did. Most people can fit into any number of houses, but those who are in SD's House sort of just... fit, I guess. It's hard to explain. She's probably the only goddess who personally selects her people, though. Other than Kristin, who actively advocated for Phil to be given a mark, most of the gods discuss who they'll pick after the Chosen one arrives. No one really knows who gives out the marks. It technically isn't SD. It's just that whoever she shows an interest in gets one. It's someone else that bestows the marks. If the gods know who it is, they don't tell us," Sneeg answered thoughtfully as Beau took her turn again. His thoughtfulness ended with that statement as he jumped up from his chair. "Godsdamnit!"

-

Tommy kicked on the casino's door instead of knocking. He was holding board games and playing cards in his arms. The children of chaos had borrowed- he suspected thievery was involved- the games from the children of temptation and luck. Tommy had been the one stuck with returning them. He didn't mind since it was an excuse to see some of his friends.

The door swung open to a grown man with a growing beard wearing a maid's dress with fake cat ears in his hair. He smiled at Tommy, and the blonde resisted the urge to cringe away. "Tommy!"

"What the fuck, HBomb?" Tommy said, pushing the man out of the way to enter the house. HBomb closed the door behind Tommy, struggling to catch up with the blonde as Tommy trekked through the familiar house. He finally came to the main room where Schlatt was drinking in one of the reclining chairs. Quackity was sitting at the gambling table with a sewing machine, working on what Tommy hoped was not the finishing details of HBomb's outfit. Tommy called out into the room, "I brought the games the children of chaos sto- I mean, borrowed."

"Tomathy!" Quackity said, jumping up as soon as he saw Tommy, his buttery gold duck wings flaring up behind him.

"Big Q!" Tommy cheered happily, dumping the board games on the coffee table beside Schlatt's feet. Tommy and Quackity shared a quick hug, pulling apart to engage in their special handshake.

"Why aren't you ever that excited to see me?" HBomb asked, flopping down into the chair opposite to Quackity's spot. Tommy leveled him with an unimpressed stare. Schlatt burped loudly. The sound leaned more into Schlatt's nature as a goat than a human, and Tommy's gagged when the stench of the burp paired with heavy alcohol filled his nose, burning his nose hairs.

"You get used to the smell," Quackity said with a shrug, kicking Schlatt's leg. The goat hybrid's head fell forward, finally peering at Tommy. He nodded his head in respect before leaning his head against the back of the chair, his drink never far from his mouth.

"I think it smells lovely," HBomb offered. Quackity turned around, but Tommy couldn't see his face as he tried not to vomit. Gambit's House always smelled like alcohol and poor decision-making skills, but Tommy knew that the people within the house weren't as bad as they were made out to be. Gambit was, after all, part of the pantheon and not the abyssal gods. His children weren't automatically evil or prone to horrible choices.

Except for HBomb, Tommy decided. HBomb was nothing but poor decisions.

"I don't think I will ever get used to a stench that fucking horrible. Dear gods, does Schlatt drink garbage water mixed with shit?" Tommy asked, closing his fingers over his nose to protect himself. He regretted putting the board games next to Schlatt. They would just soak up the horrible smell.

"I guess you'll be praying Gambit doesn't choose you. Such a shame, I would have loved to be housemates with you," Quackity said with an easy smile, taking a step away from Schlatt. He was walking into some sort of parlor that smelled like smoke, but it was much easier to bear than Schlatt's drinking habits. HBomb stayed in the room with Schlatt, and Tommy didn't know if he was more disgusted with the smell or the fact that HBomb liked it.

When the door behind them closed, Quackity sighed. He sat down at the bay window, looking out at a world that wouldn't be able to look back at him. "Don't worry about Schlatt. He normally doesn't drink this much. He only does when it's around the time for the festival. For some reason, Gambit makes Schlatt feel drunk every time they meet, so Schlatt tries to build up a tolerance before the god arrives. It doesn't happen to me and HBomb, but Gambit said it wasn't supposed to work on us. I don't know why that is. I guess I should be grateful. I would not like to be Schlatt's position right now."

"Who the fuck would want to be?" Tommy asked, dragging a chair to the bay window. He sat on it backwards, crossing his arms over the back of the metal chair. He noticed, subconsciously, the tattoo on Quackity's hand. It was a playing card overlaid with a die and a poker chip. It seemed to pulse and glow, the pieces moving when the light danced across it. The one constant was the :] placed on top of the tattoo. Tommy had seen Schlatt's and HBomb's, they did not have the :] like Quackity's tattoo.

"I meant what I said. I wouldn't mind having you as a housemate," Quackity said, looking down at where Tommy was looking. Tommy turned his gaze sheepishly, ignoring the way his cheeks burned red. Quackity leaned back against the window. "Schlatt came to Origins with Puffy. They're siblings, you know. She was a Chosen one, and he wasn't, but he came anyway because they never went anywhere without each other. When Puffy was picked by the god of the ocean, Schlatt wandered into Origins with a question mark on his hand. He stayed with Puffy, waiting for the god of the ocean to pick him. Totem didn't do that, but Gambit did. HBomb was already living here when Schlatt arrived. I came about a week after Schlatt was picked. I had lived in a small fishing town, so I thought I would be picked by the goddess of freshwaters or the god of the ocean. Neither picked me. Gambit did. I don't really know why. I'm a good poker player, sure, but I feel like I was chosen for more than that, just like how Schlatt was chosen for more than his drunkenness and HBomb for his eccentricity. Gambit isn't one to give answers. You must win each answer and understand that he is always wearing a poker face, no matter what the form that mask takes."

"You think Gambit would pick me?" Tommy asks. Gambit was a former abyssal god, like Festival. Some stories made it seem like the two came to plead their case to the pantheon together. In those times, Festival was merely a goddess of insanity and Gambit was a god of temptation. It was only after they were accepted onto the pantheon that their portfolios expanded to incorporate entertainment and luck, respectively. Tommy was pretty similar to that. He had just as much a chance at becoming Gambit's child as he did Festival's.

"I won't pretend like I know why the gods do half the things they do. The one thing I know is that they want to defeat the abyss. Some are a little more willing than others to give up everything in this pursuit. Be careful, Tommy," Quackity said using a serious tone and face that Tommy barely got any glimpses of. Quackity was usually happy, excitable, and ready to party. He laughed and played along with jokes like it was his only nature. Sometimes, though, Tommy was able to see past the poker mask the children of temptation and luck were notorious for. Schlatt could be caring and sweet, HBomb was a lot more dangerous than he let on, and Quackity sometimes gave unnervingly genuine advice. It scared Tommy to face these facts, but it made him realize that he could be part of this house just as easily as any other. Tommy, too, wore a mask to hide the alarming truth.

"I better start practicing poker, then," Tommy laughed, hoping that eased the tension in the room. Quackity narrowed his eyes at Tommy, something dark and unforgiving in the charcoal gaze.

A smile split his face after a second, and his eyes brightened into something Tommy was more familiar and comfortable with. He hopped down from the bay window, reaching a hand towards Tommy. "Come on, Tomathy, I'll teach you how to play. If you bet all your money, I'll make sure to go easy on you!"

Tommy took the hand, trying to convince himself that it wasn't the same as shaking hands over a deal with the devil.

-

Tommy laid on the dock with his feet poked into the salty water. Puffy was right at his side, her shadow protecting him from the sun. She sat with a fishing pole in her hands, waiting for the fish to come to her. Foolish was standing in the shallows towards the sandy beach. Last Tommy checked, he had been collecting seashells or interesting rocks. Tommy wasn't sure if he was still doing that.

"How long do we have to fucking wait for?" Tommy asked, acting like he was also fishing beside Puffy. He could have been. She did offer a spare fishing pole to him. Tommy decided against that. He had never fished before. The most he did was accidentally catching fish in his clothes when he was trying to wash them at the river. After that, he started taking the fish home to his cabin, hoping the natural swimmers would liven up his cabin. They were silent creatures, but he could spend hours watching them swim from one side of their tank to the other. Tommy had even watched some of the fish kill each other before. It was not a pleasant experience washing fish guts out of his makeshift tank or draining the bloody water to put fresh water back in.

"It could be hours. The fish will come when they want to. I have no control over it," Puffy told him in a soft tone that Tommy hated more than anything else in the world. Puffy possessed the patience of a saint and the strictness of a mother. She loved wholly and unconditionally. She had the incredible talent of talking someone through their chaotic emotions, helping them see the world around them for what it actually was. Tommy wondered what she would say if she told him everything about his past. Would she look at him with those sympathetic parakeet green eyes? Would she still find it in her heart to care about him, or would he find that the first weapon raised against him would be by her hands?

"That's too fucking long," Tommy complained, throwing one of his arms over his forehead as soon as Puffy leaned forward a little. He wanted to tell her to lean back, but he couldn't find his voice forming the words. It was too difficult to be mean to Puffy. He knew she could take it, but he didn't know if his own heart could. It was easy to make fun of everyone, even people like Wilbur or Phil who showed Tommy the same sort of easy love Puffy did. It was not easy to make fun of Puffy. He wasn't really sure why.

"You can leave if you get bored. I don't mind," Puffy told him, looking over her shoulder to give him one of her winning smiles. Tommy pulled his arm down to cover his eyes, forcing their eye contact to cease. He heard Puffy laugh beside him, and Tommy wished it was just the sun on his skin that made him feel warm inside.

"Nope. You're stuck with me all day, Captain Pussy- I mean, Puffy," Tommy stuttered on her name. He heard her sigh, but she didn't say anything more about the subject of his mispronunciation of her name. He peered up at her, catching a glimpse of the tattoo gracing the back of her hand. A shimmering, blue-white trident overlaid with a fishing net, an image of a wave crashing against rocks set behind it. Tommy almost reached for it, but he kept his hands- the question mark- to himself. He instead asked. "What was it like getting picked?"

Puffy hummed, perhaps organizing her thoughts. She reeled her fishing line in, and threw it back out. When it plopped in the mystical ocean that someone existed inside Origins even though the land was landlocked, she began speaking. "When I was younger, my mother was a pirate captain. Everywhere she went, she left behind bastard children. Out of all those children, she took me with her. I grew up on the ocean. I was eventually able to succeed my mother. I love the ocean, but one day, I woke up and realized I wasn't happy. I wasn't content. I wanted more out of life... a purpose. I left my ship and crew behind. I eventually met Schlatt. He was my half-brother, another bastard child my mother left behind. We spent our days together, and I realized that I was happier. I liked being with someone I knew wouldn't sell me out for a few gold coins. I ended up working at a palace. This is where I met Eret. They were the child of the king and concubine, given no power and no purpose. I offered to be their guard, and they hired this sheep hybrid they knew nothing about. When Eret was sick of that life, I offered them the same chance I got. We escaped that palace, marking us both as traitors. Schlatt, who had been working as a local politician, left his post to come with us. He won't admit it, but my brother loves me just as much as I love him. He even came to Origins with me and Eret when we received our marks, and he stayed in a nearby village until his mark came. I regret not being in the same house as Eret and Schlatt, but I guess we all ended up where we needed to be."

Unlike with everyone else, Tommy wanted to pry more. "Yeah, but what did getting picked feel like? Did you know that it would be the god of the ocean picking you? Are you sure you're a child of the ocean and not of undeath? What are the qualifications for getting picked by Totem?"

"You sure are quizzical this morning," Puffy lightly chuckled, but she didn't leave Tommy scrambling for apologies in embarrassment. "I was fishing like I was doing now. It was a simple day, nothing special about it. I was suddenly struck with this... this feeling. It was all encompassing but not overwhelming. It's like the force that compels you to Origins. I just knew that I needed to walk to the turquoise beacon. Once there, he revealed himself to me. He was a small totem, at first, but then he whirled in front of me to show his true form. He gave me his mark, and I was suddenly struck with an intense feeling that everything was... right in the world. I don't know what his criteria is. I grew up on the ocean. Foolish is a totem and shark hybrid. I didn't know I was going to be picked by him, but I knew he was a possibility. There aren't many other houses I would fit into. Not like you, Tommy. You could be picked by any of the gods, and I wouldn't bat an eye."

That didn't make Tommy feel much better. If he could have been picked by anyone, why didn't someone just pick him?

"I knew I was going to be picked by the god of the ocean," Foolish said, leaning over so his shadow covered Tommy's head. He was smiling at Tommy as he held a bunch of seashells in his arms. "I was floating in the ocean when I arrived at Origins. I landed on the beach with fuzzy memories and a question mark on my hand. Puffy is the one who found me, she took care of me. When I was healthy enough, I was chosen by Totem. Although, I have the distinct feeling I was chosen for both aspects, not just the ocean. I don't remember much from before I came here, but... I don't think I was a good person."

"You can be, though, if you want to," Puffy reminded Foolish, looking away from the bobber to stare up at Foolish.

The smile he wore grew softer, his emerald eyes shining with happiness and affection as he placed a seashell in Puffy's lap. She smiled back at him, pressing the seashell against her chest. "I know I can be a good person. I like being a good person."

Foolish placed a seashell on Tommy's chest. The blonde's eyes widened as he found himself grabbing it, holding it much more tenderly than he thought he was capable of. If he wanted to, he could smash it into pieces. The thought crossed his mind, so he made sure to keep his grip relaxed as he held the seashell to his eyes. It was a light creamy pink color with a swirl to it. Tommy smiled at it, his gaze turned to Foolish. "Thanks, Foolish. I like that you're a good person, too. And even if you aren't... you don't give up on people, I've come to learn. If you love someone, you hold them close and tight no matter what."

"That's some sage wisdom from you," Foolish comments, ruffling a hand through Tommy's hair as he settles down in the spot behind Puffy. His shadow continues to cover Tommy's face as Foolish leans the side of his head onto Puffy's back. Tommy tilts his head up and Foolish spreads his legs out. Tommy leans back down on Foolish's calves. He closes his eyes, listening to the gentle rocking of the waves and he holds the seashell given to him.

-

Tommy walks into HD's House. The blonde hasn't taken one step into the house before Ponk looks up from his paperwork to say, "I am not healing you again."

Tommy narrows his eyes at the man, sharpening his features into a tough glare. He places a hand on his hip, trying hard not to walk up and scatter the papers in a way that Beau would be proud of. "Hello to you, too, Doctor Ponk. I'm not here for your bitchass, anyway. Where's Gogy?"

"I'm not healing you, either!" A voice calls. It doesn't come from within the house. It comes from an open door at the very end of the main hall that leads to the great outdoors. Unsurprisingly, George was in the same place he always went when he wasn't hanging out with Dream, SapNap, Karl, or Quackity.

Tommy marches down the hall, huffing in exaggerated anger on his tongue. He walks out of the door with a glare already on his reddened face. "I do not need a fucking healing, thank you very much. All I require is a lot of your time."

George looks up from the flowers at Tommy with an unimpressed stare. Tommy shrugs it off, plopping down beside George. He is handed a pair of gloves as soon as his knees hit the dirt. Tommy audibly groans, but he doesn't argue when he starts pulling the weeds out of the ground. Any time he wanted to hang out with George while the brunette was gardening, Tommy was forced to help out. He couldn't be like Shubble and just let Tommy watch. No, Tommy had to assist in weeding. He couldn't even help with watering. He definitely wasn't allowed to cut any of the medicinal parts off the plants that George grew.

As the house of healing and sleep, HD had a small garden planted behind the house. It wasn't as grand as Aeor's House or XD's House, but it was enough that it took up most of George's time to maintain it. Fundy sometimes helped out, but it was mainly George who made sure that everything was healthy. Tommy respected that sort of effort, so he didn't argue when George started forcing him to help out. Tommy didn't mind helping if it meant he got to spend time with 'Gogy'.

"You both sound like you don't want me here. That is fucking preposterous. I am the best there has ever been. I am the Biggest of Men, even more than you Gogy. Just you wait, one day, I'll be a child of healing and sleep, and I won't need you or Ponk," Tommy said, nudging George's arm as he pulled out a weed, setting it aside on the dirt path that ran throughout the different rows of herbs meant to assist healing or sleeping.

"I don't think you'll be a child of healing or sleep," Fundy said from the entrance back into the house. He was wearing a gardening outfit with grass stains covering the knees and elbows. There was a hat over his head, but it was slightly off balance with how his fox ears shot straight up. He had his arms crossed over his chest, a good-natured smile on his face.

"And why the fuck not?" Tommy asked, his tone joking but his ears waiting for a serious answer.

"Other than the fact there are several houses better suited for you?" Fundy said with a laugh, walking down the stairs to work right beside Tommy at pulling out weeds. As he passed, Tommy's eyes zoned in one the tattoo on Fundy's hand. A mushroom glistening a neutral shade of blue with all sorts of swirling lines framing it. The tattoo disappeared as Fundy pulled his gloves on. "I can tell you aren't a child of sleeping or dreams. George and I had prophetic dreams before we were picked. I had some even before I came to Origins. All of them have already come to pass except one. It was a dream about this man made from shadows sparking a fire to help dozens of colors shaped like people from other shadows."

"All the shadows, even the one who sparked the fire, died to the light," George continued. Tommy shuddered as he heard the dream. His dreams had always been plagued by memories, some his and some not. He never had a nightly vision that was ambiguous in any way. George continued, "You might be a child of healing. You may not seem like the doctorly type, but you care about people in a way that not many others do. I am sure you would be more like me with the magical ability to heal instead of Ponk's natural ability to understand medicinal principles."

Tommy smiled at the thought. There was something special about George saying those words. When Tommy first came to Origins, George had been opposed to interacting with Tommy. The blonde had wondered how anyone put up with George. He later learned that George's love was like a tree. It must be planted with care, and it took patience to watch it grow big and strong. But like trees, it was sturdier than most, able to withstand the toughest winds and the hottest fires. That sort of love didn't come easily, but it made anyone who had fought to receive it feel like they were worth more than flesh and blood, a shining gemstone instead of rocky coal. Tommy had not yet reached the highest level of love and loyalty George could offer, but he was alright with being acknowledged and partially liked by the brunette who was sitting right beside him. He was alright because it made him feel like he was more than his creation, that he could do more than what he was made for.

"Even if HD doesn't choose me, I'll still come to help you weed the garden. If he does pick me, though, you have to let me do other stuff!" Tommy offered, leaning close to George. The brunette pushed Tommy away, but his smile did not lessen on his face. Tommy swelled with pride.

"Okay, Toms... okay."

-

Tommy had been working on Nook's outfit for a little over a week. He finally finished the outfit for Nook with one last stitch. He held it up with a bright smile, slipping the bright orange and yellow vest over the raccoon's little arms. Nook didn't seem to mind the new outfit. In fact, he seemed to like it so much that he burrowed his head into Tommy's chest as a sign of gratitude. Tommy laughed, petting the raccoon's head. He leaned over the side of the table to show Niki Nook in his vest.

"It looks amazing!" Niki said with a little clap. She pressed her hands against her chest, the tattoo of an inferno surrounded by a wave of lava flickering like actual lava on her hand. "What are you going to do next?"

"I don't know. I could make more stuff for Nook... maybe I could make a sweater for Wil. You do have a fuck-ton of yellow wool," Tommy said, rubbing his chin with his fingers. He hadn't thought about what would come after making Nook his outfit. He rarely thought about the future, working as hard as he could in each single second he was given. With the way his life worked, tomorrow was never a promise. Wasting time planning for it was useless when each extra second should be spared thinking about how to survive that day. Origins wasn't as dangerous, until he remembered what he was and where he was.

"We can work on it together! I'm sure Wilbur will love it," Niki said with a smile appearing on her face. She leaned down to grab the yellow wool from the basket at her feet. She began to unwind it, chattering about how Wilbur was always in need of a new sweater considering his body temperature ran lower than most people.

"You two seem really fucking close. I wonder how you two met," Tommy asked, trying to engage in small talk. He realized he stepped on a minefield when Niki's hands slowed, her face falling as her lips pressed firmly together. She allowed the yellow wool to land on the table. Her hands were still mixed up in it, but she was no longer paying attention to it. Tommy rushed to remedy the situation, "No, wait, you don't have to tell me! It was a stupid question, just a stupid-ass question, let's move on-"

"Tommy," Niki whispered. The blonde slammed his mouth shut. Niki looked tired as she stared up at him, grabbing onto his hand. Tommy squeezed it to reassure Niki, and she seemed somewhat grateful. "When I first came to Origins, I had just been a simple baker in a small town. It wasn't much, but it was a good life. I didn't think I had a place at Origins. I wasn't a hero, after all. But when I met the people here, I realized I didn't need to be a hero. Wilbur, especially, showed me that I didn't need to be this grand person. I just needed to help out who I could. I was super happy when we were picked by the same god."

Tommy opened his mouth to argue that they weren't. Niki had been picked by the god of fire and lava, and Wilbur was picked by the goddess of entertainment and insanity. Tommy knew why Wilbur was picked, but he had always questioned why Niki was there. Everyone else in the house were Nether-born hybrids. Some, like SapNap and Jack, had naturally fiery personalities. Niki wasn't like that. She was softer and sweeter, like the warmth of baked goods fresh out of the oven. Tommy shut his mouth when Niki gave him a look.

"We were both the children of Sally, the goddess of freshwaters. She opened her arms to me when I received my mark, and I fell into them. She was bold and kind, quick to smile and laugh and joke around. During this time, she loved me and Wilbur like a real mother would love her children. Then... one day, we felt it. She had died. She had been slaughtered by one of the abyssal gods," Niki said, her voice drifting into a pained whisper. "Not only could I feel it in my heart, but I also became a human. Before, I had been a merling... but with her death, I wasn't a merling anymore. There have not been many cases where a god has died while they had children. In my despair, I set the Origins tree on fire. I had nothing left but this empty feeling in my chest. I felt like everything was wrong with the world, and I needed to make everything right. My solution was to burn it all to the ground. From the flames, Pyre spoke to me. He promised that he would make everything right if I let him. I eventually did, and he made me one of his children."

Niki paused for a few seconds as Tommy took in all of that. He heard Quackity mention the goddess of freshwaters before, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He probably should have. He should have asked questions so he didn't make Niki relive her horrible memories... so he didn't have to relive a few of his own.

Niki continued. "Wilbur... he... he went crazy. He started whispering about things that no one could see or hear. He started destroying things for the fun of it. He howled with deranged laughter. He set TnT beneath Sally's House. He blew it up, and then he hid in a ravine just outside of Origins. I visited him there once... there were a million buttons carved into the wall. At the time, I wasn't in a much better mental state, so I helped him plant TnT around the ravine. It was Phil who came to drag us both back. He kept us in his house. I escaped to set the tree on fire, and later became a child of Pyre. Wilbur, however, escaped the house in the middle of the night. He was going to cause an explosion all over the camp when he was saved by Festival. I don't know what she did exactly, but she was the only god capable of speaking to him even with his fractured mind. She found a way to save him, and Wilbur became her first child of insanity. Everyone before Wilbur had been children of entertainment."

"I'm... fuck, Niki, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up such a shitty topic or to make you tell me-" Tommy began rambling, trying not to envision the way Wilbur looked as his whole world fell apart. Tommy had heard hundreds of stories of how the Chosen ones felt complete with their god that he couldn't imagine what it would feel like with their god being gone one day.

"It's okay. I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to know. Even after Festival saved Wilbur, he wasn't... Wilbur hasn't been happy in a long time. You changed that. He took an interest in you when you were a stranger living outside Origins. He held onto you, and by some miracle, you held on just as tightly. I'm grateful for you... truly, I am, because you also make me smile," Niki said, placing her hands on his cheeks. Her hand was warm as she held his head in her hands. Tommy closed his eyes, putting all his trust in Niki's capable hands. If she wanted to twist his neck or sneak a dagger into his throat... he supposed he wouldn't mind. Not when she comforted him like this, not when she was ready to tell the painful truth about her past. Tommy opened his mouth to confide in her, to tell her that he knew what insanity felt like, but he couldn't get anything out as he felt someone wrap their arms around his shoulders.

"Where's my hug?" SapNap said directly into Tommy's ear. Tommy elbowed the man. SapNap crumpled onto the bench seat beside Tommy. He heard Jack laughing from behind him, and Niki was smiling humorously in front of him as she drew her hands back. Tommy sat down on the wooden bench, cutting a glare over at SapNap.

"Now, now, boys, let's all be nice," Bad said, sitting next to SapNap on the edge of the bench. Jack sat right beside Niki, shoulder to shoulder with the other half of his rocket duo. "What were we talking about?"

"What it felt like to be chosen," Tommy admitted, tilting his head towards the others. They each adopted a rather somber look as they probably thought about Niki's two choosings, one with a dead god and one with a god that saved her from a life of emptiness.

"I was chosen some time ago. I had been a creature of the Nether who did not enjoy unnecessary fighting. I was drawn to the Overworld for the humans here do not engage in excessive fighting as the Nether-born creatures do. When I was brought to Origins, I was waiting to be selected for some time. It was only after much debate from the gods that I was chosen for the house of fire and lava. I believe this choice was only made for my affinity for runic magic, including several powerful fire spells," Bad said, taking the attention away from Niki. She smiled at him, and Tommy came to realize why Bad was the one in charge at Pyre's House.

"Bad found me on one of his missions. I was just a street-kid with a thieving streak. I got into too many bar fights for my age, and Bad knocked some sense into me. He lectured me so badly I got a question mark on my hand. I made him promise to take care of me when we came to Origins, and he did even after we both belonged in the same house," SapNap said, following up Bad's words.

"I was being hunted by some people in the Overworld because of my blaze heritage. I ended up at Origins, and this mark appeared on my hand seconds before the hunters would have gotten me," Jack shrugged. He pressed his hands together, looking up at the sky. "Thank you, Pyre."

"Suck-up," SapNap coughed into his elbow. The whole table burst into laughter except for an annoyed looking Jack and Bad who began lecturing SapNap. Even Nook let out some noises that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

-

Tommy ran through the forest, his feet quickly leaping from one shadow to the next. The darkness easily accepted him, hiding his golden hair and metal spearhead from the glimmer of sunlight. Tommy pushed off one tree trunk to jump into the low branch of a nearby tree, landing as swiftly as a dancer across the stage. He leaned down onto his knees, the shaft of his spear pressed against his shoulder blade. He searched the misty ground for signs that someone was approaching. He heard soft footsteps and the quiet exchange of gasses. He spun around, bringing his spear up. Although he was able to deflect the sword, he was pushed off the tree branch. He landed on his back with Purpled holding the tip of his sword at Tommy's chest.

"We should play in the actual forest, you p-named piece of shit," Tommy said as he swatted the sword away. Purpled made a disgruntled noise as he lifted his hand to help Tommy. The younger blonde reluctantly took the hand. "I still hate you, and I hate this godsdamn game."

"Sure, Toms," Purpled uttered dismissively, pulling Tommy back onto his feet. Tommy stretched his muscles as soon as he was upright. He grabbed onto the shaft of his spear, pulling the spearhead out of the ground to wield the weapon properly again. Tommy sighed, and Purpled continued speaking, "You say you hate this game, but you keep playing it. You aren't bad at it, either. Not as good as me, obviously, but you're getting better."

"Watch your record, pee-brain, I'll fucking get you one day," Tommy said, glaring at Purpled. They were playing a game that was similar to hide-and-seek or tag. Most of the players would run into the shadowy forest surrounding Shade's House in order to hide. One player would be 'it', and they would have to hunt down the other players. There was an element of fighting to it. If the players who were hiding were caught, they could fight the person who was 'it' in order to survive longer in the game. Tommy was out the minute he accidentally put himself in a compromising position.

"I highly doubt that day we'll ever come," Purpled said as they started walking deeper into the forest. Another rule of the game is that when someone was caught, they would have to join the hunter's team. Tommy didn't exactly mind. Hunting was his favorite part of the game. He hated being part of the hunted. Something in his brain wasn't able to fully differentiate the fact that he wasn't actually being hunted down by a predator waiting to kill him. The panicky fear would set in, and he would suddenly feel like he was fighting for his life. This gave way to his natural instincts, and that was a worrisome thing. He could accidentally hurt someone if his mind didn't realize where he was and what he was doing.

"It will come when your god picks me!" Tommy cheered merrily, walking between the shadows. He stepped with the pools of light, allowing the sunlight to bathe his body through the mist in a silvery glow. Purpled stuck to the shadows, but he was a child of them. He was given a tattoo with a gray skull partially obscured by black mists, the one visible eye socket filled with a singular white dot that represented Shade's impenetrable gaze.

"You'd never beat me, even with Shade's help. You would be a child of secrets, you know, not a child of shadows," Purpled told Tommy, his voice much quieter like the void-like shadows around them were absorbing Purpled's words.

"Hey, what was it like being picked?" Tommy ventured to ask, turning left without anyone's input. He heard Purpled leap over to the shadow right next to him, following along without questioning why Tommy suddenly turned.

"Punz and I were mercenaries for a long time. Dream hired Punz to help him with a mission, and suddenly, they were both gone. I did my best to find either of them, and I accidentally met Quackity while he was on a mission. He offered me information about Dream and Punz in exchange for helping him on a mission in the town of Las Nevadas. I took the deal. During the mission, the question mark appeared on my hand. Quackity pointed me in the direction of Origins, but I had to go by myself. It was a long journey, but my brother was at the end of it, so I kept moving. I stayed at the house of shadows with Punz when I didn't have a mark, and I guess I found out so much about the house that Shade had to pick me," Purpled told Tommy.

"I passed Las Nevadas on my way here," Tommy mentioned, remembering the city. It had been illuminated like a neon sun in the middle of the night. Even from across a small pond, Tommy could hear booming laughter and loud music. The smell of alcohol and drugs floated across the breeze. He saw a few people wandering in and out of buildings in the gaudiest outfits they probably would ever own. There was a reason Las Nevadas' patron god was Gambit.

Their conversation stilled when they heard a soft noise. Purpled and Tommy shared a look with one another. Tommy launched his spear forward. He heard someone squeal, and Tommy ran forward to see that his spear had pinned Michael McChill's collar to a nearby tree. Michael squirmed against the spear, but he fell limp when Purpled pushed the blade of his sword to Michael's throat. He lifted both of his hands up to show that he was forfeiting. Purpled stepped away, and Tommy pulled the spear out of the tree. Michael frowned as he inspected his torn collar.

"I can fix it," Tommy offered, knowing that he had thread in a color similar to Michael's shirt. It would be a little darker, but it would be in the shadow of Michael's head, so maybe no one would notice it.

"I would appreciate that," Michael said, pulling a dagger out of his boot as he joined Purpled and Tommy on the hunt for the other players. "What were we talking about?"

"Getting chosen," Purpled said, and Tommy was grateful that he would have to be the one to ask this time.

"It's a strange experience. I've lived my entire life in Serenity. It's extremely far from everywhere, so I haven't had much social interaction before I came to Origins. I accidentally received a letter from Dream. He was actually sending it to Techno, but it came to my mailbox instead. I thought he was inviting me somewhere, so I ventured all the way from Serenity to Origins. When I reached the gates, I was given a question mark on my head. It was really awkward when I walked in, saying that I got an invite from Dream. I was allowed to stay since I had the tattoo, and Dream did let me go with him and Techno to make up for the trouble. No one knows how the letter ended up in my hands. Everyone thought the goddess of chaos would choose me since most of her kids end up at Origins through weird circumstances, but I became a child of secrets, instead," Michael explained to Tommy with a half smile on his face, an embarrassed blush illuminating his cheeks as he remembered the moment.

"Punz is that way," Purpled pointed. The three of them began walking that way until both Purpled and Tommy stopped. Michael would have continued forward until he noticed that he wasn't with the others anymore. He turned around with a quizzical expression on his face. Purpled looked around with narrow, sharp eyes. "Punz is this way, but someone else is definitely that way. It could be Eret or Alyssa."

"I'll go this way then. You two can get Punz," Tommy said, running in the direction Purpled pointed. Part of him doubted it was Alyssa. Unlike the others, she was both a child of secrets and shadows. When she wanted to hide, no one could find her but the god who gave her the power to hide. That meant it had to be Eret, the former royal family member. Eret was a child of secrets, but in the same way Tommy could be one, not the way Michael was. A child with so many secrets held tightly to their chest that it could be argued they were made of secrets. Tommy knew what secrets he possessed, but he probably would never know what Eret didn't want anyone knowing. From what Tommy knew, Eret was a traitor to their home kingdom and possessed the blessing of Pyre. Those were two mysteries Tommy would never be able to solve.

He could hunt Eret down in a game, though.

Tommy returned to his method of leaping from shadow to shadow instead of walking in the light. He kept running until he saw the former prince trying to escape. Tommy threw his spear in front of Eret, halting the person from going any further. Eret tried to dodge to the side, but Tommy landed to his right, kicking up dirt as he slid. Tommy kicked the shaft, watching the spear spin in the air into his hand. He pointed it at Eret. The brunette huffed a laugh, shaking his head. "It seems you have bested me."

"You act like you don't fucking always lose to me," Tommy said with bright laughter falling from his lips. He lowered the spear, letting Eret walk beside him as they returned to Purpled and Michael.

-

Tommy laid flat on his back. He stared up at the glass dome and the brilliant night sky just past the glass. Ranboo was lying right by his side with Aimsey on Ranboo's other side. They had been watching the stars dance around with the occasional shooting star passing by for a little while. Tommy broke the silence to ask, "Are you guys ever weirded out that your goddess just... fucking watches you? All the time? That she has like a million eyes?"

"I thought she had two eyes- the sun and the moon," Aimsey replied, rising up on their elbows to get closer to the stars. They seemed to be searching for something in the glass dome, some sign that the stars were eyes.

"Clara is the goddess of a million eyes. She can use anything in the sky to help her see," Ranboo informed Aimsey before he turned to Tommy. "I don't think she's watching us all the time. She could, if she wanted to, but her vision is usually pointed at the abyss."

"That's still fucking creepy," Tommy said. He hated being outside of Origins, knowing that Clara and Aeor were both viewing him from their respective eyes. Aeor could watch anything that happened in nature, looking through the eyes of animals and memories of plants. Clara had the entire sky to peer down at the ground. He hated that feeling of being watched.

"I guess you get used to it when you're a child of the void," Ranboo said.

"We used to have a dragon watching our every move, so Clara isn't as bad," Aimsey said, dropping their arms so they plopped down on the ground.

Tommy turned his head to look at both of them for further explanation. Aimsey chuckled at his wide eyes, and Ranboo waved his hand. "The End, where Aimsey and I were born, is populated by the Ender Dragon. She is meant to govern us, but honestly... I sometimes feel trapped by her."

"Clara is a lot better than the Ender Dragon. Clara is kind and loving. The Ender Dragon was always cold and distant," Aimsey continued. "When we first came to Origins, I wondered why anyone would willingly want to be the child of a god. It felt more servitude to me, and I am no one's servant. It wasn't until Clara beckoned me into her warm embrace that I realized I was truly her child. She loves me as much as my mothers did."

"Aimsey and I were picked around the same time. I was chosen during the late hours of the night, and Aimsey was chosen during the early hours of the morning. We were both children of the void," Ranboo said. Tommy looked up at the night sky still shimmering with bright purples, reds, and blues. He wondered if the void would pick him since it was so close in nature to the abyss.

"Are we talking about our goddess?" A voice sounded as the metal doors to the observatory opened. Tommy tilted his head up to see Jordan Sparklez and Scott Smajor walking into the room. Tommy plopped his head back down as the two adults of Clara's House entered into the room.

As Jordan settled down on Tommy's other side, he started talking. "I was chosen a long time ago. I was a Starborne from the mountains, having spent my entire life as a prince. I despised the idea of being under a god's control. I did not want to stay at Origins. I tried acting tough, but I was a little terrified. When Clara called me to her beacon, I realized that I could do so much more at Origins than I could at my parent's palace. I will return one day to inherit the throne, but I believe I am getting a worthwhile education by being here."

Scott sat on the other side of Aimsey, the purple sparkles floating off his body as he settled into the spot as comfortably as he could. Jordan wasn't lying back, instead ruining his neck by looking up in a sitting position.

"I came before everyone here. I accidentally crashed outside of Origins. Phil found me in the ruins with a question mark on my hand, so he brought me in for some healing. I didn't know anything about this place, but I didn't mind being a Chosen one. Part of me wanted Aeor to pick me, but I like being a child of the sky," Scott said, gesturing towards the stars thousands of miles above their heads. Tommy watched as the purple sparkles around Scott's body shot up towards the glass to make the purple stars glow brighter for a second. "I get a lot of neat gifts."

Jordan brought both his hands up, throwing them outwards. The red sparkles around his body exploded outwards, mixing with the purple sparks to create a makeshift galaxy all around them. Aimsey and Ranboo jumped to their feets to enjoy the galaxy. Tommy sat up slowly, cupping his hands around a bright red sparkle that floated right above him. The sparkle clung to his hand, allowing him to guide it down to his chest. He looked down at it with a small smile pulling at his lips. He closed his hands around the star, pressing his lips against his fingers to whisper a wish. He opened his hands, and the star zoomed out of his hand. Tommy watched it go for as long as he could before Aimsey and Ranboo were dragging him around the observatory.

-

Tommy stood in the middle of a huge library. He held a couple of books in the crook of his arm, delivering them to a table he was working at. The table was packed with even more books, haphazardly placed in stacks that were soon to fall if Tommy wasn't careful. He dropped his new books on one of these stacks. The stack wobbled but remained steady as Tommy grabbed onto his pen. He took one of the new books he got, opening it to the first page as his pen hovered above one of the many sheets of paper lying on the wooden table.

"What are you doing?" A voice broke Tommy's concentration. He looked up to see Karl standing at the other side of the table. Conner was standing along the bookshelf opposite to Tommy with his blue hedgehog hood pulled over his head.

"I'm fucking making a sandwich. What does it look like I'm doing?" Tommy said, looking back down at the book he had brought with him. He flipped through the pages until he got to what he wanted. One side of the page was filled with words that Tommy could naturally understand. The other side had a man painted on it. Well, man was the wrong word. It was a figure wearing a mix of white and red full body robes with a diagonal slash along their chest. They were holding a blue and green sphere in one hand and an hourglass in the other hand.

"History of the Gods, The Ancient Battle, A Dive Into The Pasts of the Pantheon..." Karl read out a few of the books that Tommy had brought along with him. "Why are you researching the gods?"

"Why the fuck not? I've been in this damn place for so long, and these bitches haven't picked me," Tommy said as he wrote down what he could about Overseer, the god of time and space. He peered up at Karl, sighing, "The festival is at the end of the damn week. I don't want to make a bad impression."

Karl quietly laughed. He began organizing the books on that side of the table, putting a few of them away as he listened to Tommy scrambling to write down every little factoid the book could provide about Overseer. Eventually, Karl began talking. "You could ask me about the gods. I know a lot about them. I've met them before... especially Overseer."

"You're his fucking child. Of course, you've seen him," Tommy told the child of time. His vision flickered over to Conner, a child of space. It wasn't the same as Clara's space; it was more locations and cross-dimensional movement.

"Then, you know my information is accurate," Karl reasoned as he placed away the books Tommy had pulled off the shelf about Kristin. He didn't get much from those books. They all painted Kristin in a rather ugly light, and Tommy knew that Kristin wasn't like that. Phil, Wilbur, Techno, Tubbo, and Ranboo had assured Tommy time and time again that Kristin was a good goddess despite presiding over death and destruction. She was responsible for keeping the world in balance, and she was the one who welcomed spirits into the underworld. She aided ghosts in their pursuits to pass on, and she comforted those lost in a broken world. Tommy wondered if he had ever met her before.

"Shit, fine, tell me about Overseer. Top ten facts I need to know before I meet him," Tommy asked, leaning back. His eyes were starting to hurt from how much reading he was doing, and he wasn't entirely sure what language he was thinking in. He was pretty sure he was talking in the same language Karl knew, but his thoughts were so scattered he was pretty sure he was thinking in a forgotten tongue.

"Overseer is the god of time and space. He's a little scatterbrained at times. He practically knows everything. That's why he's also the god of wisdom. He cares about his children, but he places extreme importance on preserving the timeline. He cannot see the future so much as he can see the most likely outcomes. For small things, he can predict them easily, but he cannot determine the fate of the world... or the war, for that matter. He can send his children forward or backward... or even sideways in time to ensure the best timeline comes to fruition. He even gave HD's children the ability to prophesize through their dreams to help in this endeavor," Karl explained. "Throughout the world, there are those born with the natural ability to read fate-lines. These fate-lines are basically what forms the timestream. No fate-line is permanent, but... Some are harder to circumvent than others. We call the hardest ones to stop 'destiny' because it would take the power of the head god to stop it from happening. The people who can read fate-lines are known as prophets, seers, fortune tellers, or any other number of things. Most receive an invitation to Origins, though. I was one of these. I was able to see visions of the future and past. Overseer directed me to Origins so I could hone my abilities. He picked me almost immediately when I came because I have one of the strongest abilities in seeing through time. I have a book where I can write down all the fate-lines I see, and I use it to help make important decisions."

"What the fuck? That sounds so pog!" Tommy said, nearly jumping to his feet. The books had told him nothing about seeing the future and past. He would love to have that ability, hoping it would put him a few steps before the gods trying to use him or kill him.

"It sounds that way, but it also messes with my memories. Sometimes, I get confused if I'm in the present or if I'm somewhere else in time. The people in all these locations sometimes look like the people at Origins, so I get their names confused. I saw someone who looked like Tubbo die once, and I... I thought he was really dead," Karl whispered, a tightness appearing on his face. Tommy's face dropped immediately. He couldn't imagine Tubbo dying. He didn't like a world where he was dead. He was Tommy's best friend. How could Tommy live in a world without him?

"It isn't all bad. I've taken a page out of Ranboo's book in writing down all the things I need to remember. It's been a big help. There was one time when I could barely remember Quackity, and I thought he had tried to murder me. It was a huge misunderstanding, but I really broke him with that," Karl said, tapping his hand against the table. He began to stand up, "I should go write this conversation down. I want to make sure I remember it."

Tommy was about to call out to Karl when the brunette rushed out of the library. Conner had left, too, at some point, leaving Tommy all alone in the library. The blonde swallowed thickly as the silence began to grow thicker, a solid weight holding him down. He wanted to say something, but his voice felt trapped in his throat. He felt trapped. A thousand thoughts came and went in his head.

"Tommy from Nowhere! How are you!" Someone broke Tommy out of his spiraling. Tommy looked up to see the brunette child of honesty with gooey green eyes. Tommy smiled slightly at Charlie. It had taken a while for Charlie to start calling him 'Tommy from Nowhere'. It had taken a lot of begging on Tommy's part to get Charlie to realize that Tommy from Nowhere was a much better descriptor, a much more honest one, than his previous title. Tommy had given up that old life. He didn't need anyone reminding him of it, and he didn't want Charlie inadvertently telling the others.

"Hey, Charlie. I'm doing pretty pog. How are you? How's the honest living?" Tommy asked, trying to force the shakiness out of his voice.

"I am doing great, Tommy from Nowhere! I have discovered that you are questioning others about their choosings. I decided to find you to tell you about mine!" Charlie said. Tommy huffed with laughter, wondering how obvious he was being for Charlie to come talk to him about it. "I came to Origins before everyone that is here now, even Phil. I was here long before anyone was at Origins, actually. I was placed here by Slime, the god of honesty, to make sure that Origins runs smoothly. I was made from his goop. I am the only child of honesty there has ever been. I get to go to any house I want, but I usually stay in the Pub or Slime's House."

"I have read that Slime is the keeper of immortality," Tommy muttered, gesturing to all the books around him. Slime had been repeatedly mentioned as being the one who governed the right to eternal youth and limitless power. He was given this responsibility by a force that not even XD and Kristin could fight, not that anyone would want to take this from Slime. He was perfect for the job because he was extremely strong and loyal. He would not dare to abuse the power given to him.

"He is that. I am not a keeper of immortality, but I am the keeper of the powers that govern Origins. I am responsible for their uptake," Charlie said with a bright smile lifting up his face. "Seeing as I have answered your question, I shall be on my way. Goodbye, Tommy from Nowhere. May you find your somewhere someday soon!"

Charlie walked away, leaving Tommy alone with his papers and books. He leaned back in his chair. He stared up at the roof, waiting for something to happen. When nothing was done, he cleaned up his mess and left the library in Overseer's House.

-

Tommy was walking to the Pub. It was late at night, and everyone else had already gone to bed. The festival will be in a few days. Everyone was completing their final preparations, and they needed as much sleep as they could handle. Tommy had been going through a walk in the forest to clear his head. The festival was all anyone was talking about, all he could think about, and it was making him extremely nervous. He was terrified about what would happen when he was surrounded by all those gods. He couldn't help but imagine a public execution.

Tommy stopped walking when he got to the base of the ladder. His hands were holding the rungs, but he let go immediately. He turned around, walking back to the forest. His thoughts had stilled, and the shaking in his limbs was gone. The wind stopped moving, and the clouds were covering the entire sky. The forest was bathed in shadows, but Tommy didn't need any help navigating it. He didn't stop or trip, his feet continuing to walk the unfamiliar path. He took a step out of the forest, and he saw a broken beacon on the ground. The base was made, but there was no light being emitted from it. Tommy climbed the steps to the broken beacon. When he came to the top step, he placed both of his hands against the beacon.

Sound and light returned to the world in one large explosion that seemed to shake the ground and puncture a hole in the clouds. Tommy stumbled down the stairs, suddenly asking himself why he was there. He didn't really remember walking all the way to the beacon.

Tommy looked up at the pure white beacon with a faint rainbow creating a double-helix around it. The light expanded into a small enclosure around Tommy, and a woman stepped out. She wore an iridescent white dress that shimmered with the colors of the other gods depending on how the light hit it. She had light purple hair that fell down her back until it reached her bare feet. Although her eyes were completely whited out, a thousand emotions could be seen in them like the cut of a diamond. She landed on the ground, shrinking from an overwhelming size to a little taller than Tommy. She peered at him, a slow smile lifting up her blood red lips.

"Oh, hell, no. Not you. Anyone but fucking you," Tommy demanded on his knees, tears staring to build up in his eyes. The goddess before him was not officially part of the pantheon. She had a dilapidated home hidden in the far corners of Origins, but she had decreed an eternity ago that she would not participate directly in the war. She didn't want to, for she presided over all the gods- even the abyssal ones. She was the goddess of endurance and prosperity. She was the goddess of value, too, and she had given every god their true name and their domain. It was her love and care that equated to a god's power. Without her, nothing would exist. The gods would just be beings of intense energy. It was her attachment to these gods that gave them their powers.

She looked at him sadly, reaching her hand to touch him. He flinched away, the tears starting to fall from his eyes. There was a reason she did not have any children. It was more than just her insistence on not joining either side of the war. It was because all the gods suffer a curse for their powers- the Blood God must hear the voices of those he has slain, Overseer's memories fade with each fate-line he reads, Kristin is unable to hold that which is precious to her- they all suffer. The goddess before him possessed the curse of loneliness. She could hold people close to her, but they will always leave. She can give a creature their name and value, but they will not give her a reason to exist. Most of her children were dead, and she was stuck watching the remaining ones fight an endless war. She was everything Tommy never wanted to be. She was the one goddess he never wanted to choose him.

"I am Prime, my child," She spoke with a voice that was far too human for Tommy's liking. She was making herself seem like a natural part of the world for his sake, but he despised it. He would have rathered her to be the size of a titan with a booming voice and empty eyes.

"I am not your child. I am not any of your children," Tommy snapped, a feeling rising in his body. Dozens of voices were screaming for Prime, reaching towards her and begging for a release. Tommy breathed out heavily, trying not to give a voice to any of the spirits crawling in his body.

"I know. You are your own person. You may have been forged from shadows and given life from death, but you are a being capable of free will. I do not wish to take that from you. As much as I miss my children, I know that you are not them," Prime said softly, finally able to touch his cheeks. The spirits came to a stop, all of them going silent and still as Prime wiped Tommy's tears away. "You cannot be chosen by the other gods. You are fit for them, but you are... you are more like me than you will ever know. You are my last child. You will be the one to save all my children. Allow me to assist you in putting all your siblings to rest."

Her hands slid down to grab onto his hands. She pulled them forward, holding both of them in her grasp. She dropped onto her knees in front of Tommy. She wrapped both of her hands around his own hands, covering up the tattoo completely. "I have been idle for too long. I have allowed hatred and injustice to thrive while I bemoaned my own failings and emotions. It is time that I make everything right. It is time that we put an end to those who would carelessly mess with the balance of the universe. It is with all the kindness in my heart that I decree that the abyssal gods, my precious children, must be stopped. I have been too forgiving for too long. It is time that I put a stop to this, and I require your help. Please help me right my wrongs, Tiberius of the abyss, Theseus of Origins, and Tommy Innit of House of Prime."

As she gave him a true name, a source of power more precious than a thousand rare gemstones, Tommy felt something warm sprout against his hand. Prime released his hand to show him that the question mark was gone. On one hand, he possessed a huge black circle with the fourteen circles, each filled with the symbol of one of the gods- even the god of honesty. His other hand possessed a similar large circle, but the smaller circles were filled with the symbols of the abyssal gods that Tommy had spent so long trying to escape. This was the marking of Prime, the goddess who created the other gods and gave them their power.

"I will return during the festival. You do not need to do anything for me. I understand that you might have some negative feelings toward me. I know that I have taken a great opportunity from you. I will apologize for that. However, I am firm with my decision. You are my child," Prime said, standing up. She smiled warmly at him as tears slid down her cheeks. She stepped back into the light, and the enclosure around Tommy fell back into shadows. There was a new beacon alight, and Tommy was sobbing at the base of it.

-

A blonde haired teenager with tear tracks on his face and hiccups buried in his chest crawled through a window. He could have landed softly on the floor, but he made sure he was being a little louder than necessary. His eyes adjusted to the darkness to see that a figure was slowly waking up on the bed. The brunette leaned up on their elbows, squinting as they watched the blonde whisper into the cold room, "I don't wanna be alone."

The figure tilted his head to the side, possibly noting that a question mark was no longer on the blonde's hand, but he just scooted to one side of the bed, lifting up the comforter for the blonde to slide into bed right beside him. The figure wrapped his arms around his younger brother, holding him tight as if that was enough to chase away the monsters plaguing his brother's head. "Good. I don't want to be alone, either."