“You’re obligated to say that,” he snorted.
“Says who? I’d be honest with you if I felt you were lacking at something.”
His cheerful demeanor shifted suddenly. “Sometimes, I feel like everyone gives me too much credit.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I moped as he stood.
He turned his back to me and spoke in a low, painful tone, “It means that I still don’t feel adequate to become a God, especially when I’ve barely scratched the surface of my personal issues. Every day we grow closer, I feel like this is all a huge mistake. I’m nobody, yet I’m supposed to govern the entire universe? What makes me so special?”
“Odysseus…?” I tsked.
He shook his head. “It’s nothing. Let’s get back to the kids.” He whisked away as a flash of light, leaving me to frown to myself on the floor of the couple’s living room.
Chapter fifteen
Gather Photographs I Wish to Never Forget
Nicodemus
Our day to choose our second-in-command was growing closer, and I was nowhere ready for this responsibility. My Elementals were all good in their own ways and picking them like chickens in a butcher shop window made me feel queasy. I still hadn’t picked my final two and felt utterly useless in my ability to do so. Our semester was dwindling, and after our next eight months, we would be eligible to fight the Gods in our final fight. That idea was yet another thing added to my list of worries, as if I didn’t have enough going on.
My usual go-to for advice, Dad, was preoccupied by his own crap at the moment, and was doing everything in his power to avoid me. He even stopped showing up to practice with my Elementals, which was incredibly suspicious, but I didn’t want to press him. Whatever he had going on was important enough, and he was balancing enough, taking care of his God responsibilities as well as training his future murderer.
No matter how many times I tried to convince myself otherwise, I couldn’t shake the idea that this was our soon reality. Everyone acted as if this possibility was so far-fetched, but they didn’t control all the elements and not know the bounds of their own powers. Beyond that, there was also the possibility that our fight could trigger the Four Horsemen, and that made me even more paranoid.
All this paranoia was doing me no good, and with Odysseus in a self-induced coma due to his own swirling depression, I went to my next main confidant: the Great Sebby.
He invited me to lunch with his mom and sister Saturday afternoon, and with my parents and fiancé unwilling to do much, I gladly accepted the offer. I hadn’t spent much time with the Montgomery’s recently and was ecstatic over the opportunity to do so once again. I had so many people pining for my attention as of late that balancing my time between them became a new impossible task. I knew Sebby was mad at me for neglecting him and hoped this lunch would ease some of the tension.
I entered the diner in Valyce’s Realm that Sebastian and his family went to every Sunday, as part of their weekly catch up. Griffin and Soren usually joined their romantic partners, now that this had become their family as well, but today, Soren, Griffin, and Deveraux were preoccupied. Zephryine’s stunning black hair was braided and twisted into a high bun on her head with Sebastian’s hand-grown flowers decorating it, so it was easy to spot her amongst the crowd. I weaved in and out of bodies until I found the table, where Sebastian had saved me a seat.
“Look what the cat dragged in!” he chirped, patting the seat excitedly so I would sit beside him.
“Sorry, I got lost in the plaza. I found some adorable earrings!” I showed the hanging moon earrings I was now sporting, and this made the group light up.
“They certainly compliment you. They match your eyes perfectly!” Zephryine complimented in her sweet voice.
“Thanks. Did you guys order yet?”
“Nope! If you want recommendations,” Praxis pointed to the tuna salad club, “this is one of my favorites.”
“I’m not a big tuna person,” I said with a twisted grimace.
“Live a little!”
“I think I’ll live in the realm of egg salad club, thanks.” I set my menu down and nudged Sebastian’s leg. “Let’s see that ring sparkle in the light, cowboy.”
“What ring? Oh, you mean…” he jutted his hand out, “thisring?”
“My, if that ain’t the prettiest thing this side of the tracks,” I mocked his country accent, making he and his family snort laughter.
He slapped the back of my head for the mocking. “I take it things have been going well for you and your little lover?”
“Barely,” I scoffed as I stabbed at a lemon in my drink. “He’s been super bummed out all weekend. He’s in the self-deprecation stage of becoming a God and has effectively holed himself up in our room for the time being.”
“Every God goes through it,” Zephryine assured me as she sipped her drink. “Trust and believe, all of us certainly did. Deveraux nearly skipped his final exams because he was so worried.”
“Of what?” I questioned.
