Keenan kept vigilant the entire way back to the city, even as he reinforced his left arm with his blackened ki. He wasn’t so much worried about Sammy and her mother turning against him, but rather wary about another ambush. After all, it was clear that Sammy’s mother was leagues beyond him in terms of power. If she really wanted to attack him, there was nothing he’d be able to do to stop her either way.
“What were those arrows?” He suddenly asked as the gate of the city was in sight. At this point, he knew that they had entered the ‘safe zone’, seeing numerous green sylvans walking about. As such, he allowed himself to finally relax.
“Hmm? Oh, the ones on that monster back there? Those were restraining arrows formed from my spirit. Since I didn’t have my bow, I could only make arrows like that.” She shook her head as she explained while letting out an exasperated sigh. “Really, Sammy rushed back home crying that her brother was in danger…”
Keenan glanced over to Sammy again at that, seeming more confused about her than anything. In some sense, he was jealous as well. His aspect as a Demigod had only created havoc within his family, while hers was perfect for creating a peaceful family environment.
“Keenna?” Jace’s voice called out, and Keenan immediately looked forward, seeing Jace standing at the gate of the city. Next to him was Claret of Communication, who offered a friendly wave towards the trio.
“Jace!” Keenan called out, walking over with his arm hanging limply at his side. Jace, still wearing his usual blindfold, didn’t seem to immediately notice the injury his friend had sustained.
“What happened?” Jace asked curiously. “Claret said that you needed help?”
Keenan glanced towards Claret, who only returned a soft smile. Though, it was Sammy’s mother that spoke up. “It’s fine, we handled it. My little girl sensed that he was in danger, so we teleported in. Or, we tried to, but only got to the entrance, and had to rush the rest of the way on foot.” She groaned as she gave that explanation, Keenan belatedly remembering that teleportation in and out of the sanctuary had been forbidden by the Goddess of Travel herself.
That meant that she must have been incredibly fast to reach him during the space of that battle. Granted, that didn’t surprise him too much after witnessing her ability with a bow. “You were in danger?” Jace asked, shock concealed in his words.
“I’m fine.” Keenan said, not wanting Jace to worry, though Jace was already walking over towards him.
Jace’s nose twitched as he got closer, his ears laying flat on his skull. “Blood… you’re injured. We need to get you to a medic.” Jace reached forward, grabbing Keenan by his right arm and dragging him back towards the city, Sammy following along with them. This left only her mother and Claret.
“It’s good that you arrived when you did.” Claret said with a faint sigh. “Keenan’s rather special around here, and I don’t think I would have made it in time.”
“What’s his story?” The human woman suddenly asked, her expression firm as she turned to face Claret. “A Demigod kid his age that hates his mother, living out in the wild like he does… you know it, don’t you?”
Claret hesitated for a moment, and then nodded her head. “It’s the worst kept secret of the Sanctuary, you could say. Did he tell you what his aspect is?”
“Chaos.” The woman confirmed.
“That’s right. To be specific, it is a form of luck-based power. His aspect passively drains the luck from everyone around him, and gives it to himself. The drain is so severe that most people would have a negative statistic simply from being in his presence. I did some digging on your internet here, and found a story about him.”
The human mother’s attention was fully on the Sylvan as she continued to explain. “This is an old story, mind you, but once I knew the name and keywords to look for, it was not hard to find. Several years ago, there was a young boy in a city far from here. Wherever he went, disasters surrounded him, but they were never of his own making. Other children suddenly became ill or injured with careless mistakes.”
“His own mother was unable to hold a job, always seeming to forget crucial information. When it rained, their house would always be the one struck by lightning during the momentary flicker of the city’s mana shields.”
“And then, one day… all of that stopped. His mother was able to work again, the other children no longer got into accidents. All because he had left. Nobody lamented his disappearance. If anything, this story itself came about because they were happy that he was gone. His own mother even went on record saying that she was glad that she didn’t have to deal with misfortune anymore, and she never made an attempt to find her missing son.”
The human’s eyes went wide and shook at the end of the story, glancing in the direction that Keenan had left with her daughter. She was naturally worried for her daughter’s safety with such a character, but at the same time, she wished that she could give Keenan a proper home.
“Don’t worry. The first leaf of the Tree of Fortune is still with him, which is canceling the effects of his aspect. As long as he keeps that on him, he will no longer bring misfortune to others with his mere presence. Though… it also means that his own luck is quite low right now. When I realized that he was in danger, I knew that it was largely my own fault for giving him that item.”
“And… everyone here knows?” The human woman asked with a shaking voice, causing Claret to nod her head.
“Like I said, the information is available on the internet for anyone who tries to search. He’s something of a local celebrity, though nobody openly talks about it out of consideration. We respect his decision to live in isolation, and simply offer him help whenever we can.”
The human woman took a deep breath, nodding her head. “I think… I think I’ll ask him to come back with me.” She said softly, causing Claret to smile wryly.
“You can try, but I doubt he’ll accept it, even with the leaf in his possession. He has been hurt too much by people. I believe that the only person left in this world that he truly trusts right now is Jace, because Jace’s own luck is even higher than Keenan’s without the leaf, making it ‘safe’ to be around him. Today is the first time he has ever stepped so deeply into the city, and that was only because Jace was the one to pull him in.”
“I still have to try.” The motherly woman said, clenching her fists tight. “I can’t just give up on him without making the offer.” After she said that, she marched forward into the city. Claret stood at the gate with a bitter smile, shaking her head.
“Really, what’s gotten into you?” Jace asked, his ears still flat as he sat Keenan down in front of the apothecary. “You can take off that leaf when you’re by yourself, right? If you do that, won’t you still be safe.”
Keenan blinked, bringing a hand up to his chest and shaking his head quickly. “No, I won’t do that.” Even if Jace’s idea was sound, Keenan did not want to lose the treasure that Claret had given him. If he took the leaf off when alone, there were bound to be times when he would implicate someone nearby without knowing. He would rather keep the effect of his title canceled at all times.
Jace let out a faint sigh, shaking his head. An elderly woman came out of the shop, smiling as she saw the three young trio in front of her shop. When she saw Keenan, and the injury on his arm, her eyes went wide in shock. “Ah, Keenan!” She said in surprise, both at seeing him in the city and seeing him wounded. “Stay right there, I’ll be right back with a potion.”
After she said that, she turned around and hurried back into her shop. Keenan lowered his head, knowing that he didn’t have any coin on him to pay for the potion. However, she had left before he could say anything, so he knew that Jace would end up volunteering to pay for it.
Jace shook his head again, still exasperated. He sat down across from Keenan, with Sammy sitting next to her brother. “Uhm, Keenan?” Sammy asked hesitantly, her legs swaying beneath her. “Once you’re all fixed up and stuff… can you come back with us? I don’t want my big brother getting hurt…”
Keenan turned to look at Sammy, his brows furrowing. “I can’t.” He said simply, not wanting to elaborate on the reason. Sammy lowered her head, lips pouting at the blatant rejection.
“I have an alternative.” Jace said, causing both Keenan and Sammy to look up at him. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I think it might be as good of a time as any to go through with it.”
“What is it?” Keenan asked, Sammy nodding her head in agreement as she wanted to know as well.
“What if you become a god?” When Jace asked this question, Keenan’s eyes went wide. “As a true God of Chaos, you’ll be able to have full control of your aspect, with or without that leaf. You can still have your insane luck, but you won’t need to worry about hurting anyone.”
Keenan couldn’t help but pull a face when he heard the explanation, finding something wrong with that. “I don’t know how…”
“Well, there is the divine forging method that has recently become popular, but I doubt that either of us could afford it.” Jace admitted with a faint chuckle. “That’s why I have been speaking with my Goddess. I told her my idea, and she said that she would do it for me under one condition. She would help the two of us ascend, and turn us into her subordinate deities.”
“What condition?” Keenan asked, feeling as if there was something ominous about this conversation.
“I would have to open my eyes.” When Keenan heard that, he gasped, remembering the details about the special blessing that Jace had been given.
“No, you can’t do that. Haven’t you seen what happened to me when I lost my luck?” Keenan refuted quickly, gesturing towards his arm.
“U-Uhm, what’s so bad about opening his eyes?” Sammy asked in confusion, causing Keenan to look over to her.
“His luck becomes stronger the longer his eyes are closed… and he’s had them closed for years now.” Keenan explained patiently, hoping that Sammy would join his side to convince Jace not to go through with this deal.
“Aren’t his eyes already open, though?” Sammy asked, causing Keenan to pause. “He grabbed your arm earlier because he could see under the blindfold, right?”
“N-No, he’s just a felyn, they have really good noses.” Keenan said, as if wanting to convince himself more than anything. However, Jace was already pulling off his blindfold, revealing his bright, silver eyes to Keenan with a smile.
“Do you trust me, Keenan?” Jace asked, and Keenan noticed for the first time that Jace hadn’t been carrying his usual staff with him, adorned with the many different answers to various problems he could face while traveling. “I put a lot of thought into this, and I think that it’s the best way forward, for both of us.”
Nearby, behind the adjacent building, Sammy’s mother stood with her back against the wall. Her eyes were closed, having listened to the tail end of their conversation. She had heard Sammy make the very request that she herself had wanted to ask, and the immediate refusal. Still, for Jace to give up something so special like that without any hesitation… part of her thought it was arrogant of him to be making that decision for Keenan, but another part acknowledged that he was likely doing it out of his sense of friendship.
“Finally!” Terra shouted, her words echoing down the hall as she sprawled out on the bed. “I thought that kid was never going to open his eyes again.” Her words came out with a grumbling tone. She had been the one to design the blessing on Jace, but had done so under the assumption that he would only be able to keep his eyes closed for one or two years at a time. With his luck constantly climbing from the blessing’s power, the events of the world had gradually shifted in his direction.
One example of this was the Tree of Fortune appearing near him, or the Demigod of Chaos becoming his friend. Had the blessing lasted further into his adulthood, it was likely that every major event of the world would have involved him in some form. However, that was assuming that his body did not erupt first. With Terra’s divinity being the fuel of the blessing, that meant that more and more divine power was being stockpiled within Jace’s body. After one or two more years of keeping his eyes closed, it was very likely that his body would have been unable to contain any more of her power.
That was why she had proposed that deal with Jace, under the guise of it being another trial that he had to face. Sacrifice the blessing that she had given him in order for her to assure that the two of them successfully became gods. And as with every other trial she imposed upon him, Jace accepted it without a second thought.
