Chapter Text
As Elias closed the circle he drew in the dirt, he hummed to himself. It was an old hymn from grade school, one they’d been taught to sing at a church concert. Elias had never been good with music, but the hymn had stuck with him and convinced him to become more involved in religion.
There had been setbacks since then. A memory surfaced that had left a rather negative impact on him, but he pushed it down.
Now, as he set up the ritual, he remembered singing in the temple with his classmates. He remembered the smile on his face as he felt a divine presence in the room. And most importantly, he remembered what it felt like to be noticed by the gods.
Elias drew 3 small circles around the circumference of the larger one, hastily sketching the other gods’ symbols. A moon and a closed eye for Vossan; an olive branch and a teardrop for Mira; and two flaming swords for Lirael. In the center of the large circle, he drew another circle, just as instructed. There, he put Caelum’s symbol, the Scales of Justice. His grin widened as he marked the cross over it, and excitement consumed him. He bit his lip as he tried to recall the next part of the ritual, wiping his hands on his robes.
Right, I have to call him. Elias shifted onto his knees, hands clasped together. “Gratias tibi ago pro vita mea. Gratias tibi ago pro libertate et iustitia. Omnes gratias tibi debeo, domine mi.” When barely a flicker of divine presence showed, Elias frowned. “Gratias tibi ago pro vita mea. Gratias tibi ago pro libertate et iustitia. Omnes gratias tibi debeo, domine mi,” he repeated. This time, Caelum seemed to take the hint, as the priest could feel him materialize.
As Elias’s eyes opened, he nearly choked. His god stood before him, still beautiful as ever. His face was set with annoyance, as if he’d been pulled from something important. The priest immediately stood, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from saying something he’d regret.
“What, priest?” Caelum glared at Elias, making the man feel even more empowered.
“I’m sorry for pulling you, but it really is serious.” He fought to keep the overzealous tone out of his voice, trying to calm down. For the first time, he grabbed Caelum’s wrist. The god tensed, confusion flooding his eyes. “I won’t keep you for long. I just need help with a ritual.”
Caelum blinked, a crease forming between his eyebrows. “You need my help with a ritual? How stupid–”
Using most of his strength, Elias pulled Caelum onto the ground. He collapsed next to the god, frantically searching his pockets for the ceremonial blade he’d brought along. From the corner of his eye, he watched the god process what was happening. But in a split second, he was up, trying to get away. Noticing this, the priest pushed him back onto the center of the circle and hurried faster to slit his palm with the dagger. The moment blood poured from the wound, Elias smeared it over Caelum’s chest.
“What the fuck–”
And then the god went still. Too still, like he was being held captive. The priest smiled, his shaking hands calming. Ignoring the stinging pain in his left palm, he fished out the note Vossan had left him, reading it over once more. For a brief moment, his eyes lingered on the last scrawl of text that the shadow god had written. It wasn’t a part of the prayer, instead being a small afterthought for Elias.
P.S. If you’re reckless with this, my sisters will have your head. I think you’ll do fine, though. You’ve been amusing so far.
Elias rolled his eyes. He still didn’t like Vossan, and he didn’t expect to anytime soon. His eyes shifted to the god he actually liked, and he reached up to cup Caelum’s cheek.
“You’ll be fine,” he promised, a hushed whisper that blended into the forest's sounds. “Everything will be okay. You won’t have to worry about your responsibilities anymore.”
He supposed the blood had made Caelum incapable of speech as well, as he just stared at Elias with a vibrant hatred. The priest’s smile only widened at that, and he turned his attention back to the paper.
Elias had read through this a few times beforehand, but in the moment, he’d completely blanked. His mouth moved silently as he skimmed through the prayer, and then he cleared his throat.
“Divinitas eius ex anima eius abluatur. Onus amplius ferre non vult. Grave est onus, immodicum. Alas eius reseca et de caelo cadere sinite, nam minus hac vita magnifica meretur.” The moment he’d begun talking, Caelum had started writhing. Against the spiritual bonds holding him still, he miraculously thrashed. His face was scrunched in agony, teeth gritted and hair falling into his face. Elias’s eyes went wide, words slowing to a mumble as he watched small fractions of light crack through the god’s skin.
Soon enough, the light was leaking out of all of his pores, and the priest could do nothing but sit and watch. He blinked multiple times trying to figure out if this was a dream or hallucination. Every time he tried to clear his vision, though, the picture came back the same. Elias swallowed hard, glancing back at the paper. There was nothing else written, and yet he had a gut feeling that there was something unsaid.
Breaking out of his frozen state, Elias placed his hand back on Caelum’s face. He leaned down, pressing his forehead against that god’s. Going solely off of instinct, he spoke. “Requiesce, amor meus.”
With those words, the entire clearing lit up. The priest wrenched his eyes shut, wrapping his arms around Caelum. The god’s body was hot to the touch, and rising in temperature by the second. Nonetheless, the mortal just sat there, forehead pressing against his shoulder, mumbling an incoherent string of comforting prayers.
Shortly after, the body went freezing cold, and the light dimmed.
Elias pulled back, his hair and eyes wild, trying to hold Caelum’s face up to the moonlight. He turned it from side to side, trying to figure out if anything drastic had changed. Yet, the god’s eyes were just shut, and the dim ethereal glow was gone.
“Hey,” Elias whispered. His mouth pressed into a line. He wanted to see if the ritual had worked for himself. He needed confirmation. For a fleeting moment, the worry that he’d killed the god flitted through his mind. But no, he couldn’t have. Elias would never harm him. “My lord… Caelum. Wake up.”
A relieved smile broke out onto the priest’s lips the moment the god’s eyes cracked open.
Caelum’s eyebrows knitted together, his eyes fluttering open. Where there once were vibrant, blue eyes, now there were gray, dull irises. The divine glint in his eye was gone, leaving him… plain.
Mortal.
Elias couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t believe that this had worked. He buried his face in Caelum’s neck, pressing his mouth against the skin there. He had to stop himself before he went too far, but still managed to place a few light kisses.
“It worked,” He murmured hastily, “It worked. I can’t… gods, it worked.”
The most that the newly-mortal man could do was blink hazily at the priest.
“What?”
“The ritual,” Elias said, pulling back to look Caelum in the eye. In his gray, tired eyes. “It worked. You’re mortal.”
Caelum’s eyes went wide, immediately filling with dread and horror. As tired as his body was, adrenaline seemed to push him to stumble away from Elias, legs shaking. “What?!”
The priest pushed himself up from the ground, calmly walking towards the man. “You’re mortal. I helped you! Now you don’t have to worry about anything else.”
“No,” Caelum muttered, shaking his head, “no, no, no, no, no. That’s not possible. You can’t…” He hugged himself, tears welling up in his eyes. With a trembling hand, he rubbed them away, staring at the tear smudged on his hand with terrified eyes.
Elias stepped forward again, laying his hand on the man’s shoulder. He bit his lip, trying to find something to say. “Caelum…”
“What did you do to me?” He looked like an injured animal backed into a corner. “What the hell did you do?”
Taken aback by the words, the priest paused for a moment. Then, he tilted his head, staring at Caelum like he was being childish.
“I made you mine.”