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“O god of wizardry,” says Kevin McMillian, the mortal kneeling at Alex’s altar. “I am praying to you for help with separating myself from my previous god, Silvanus.”
“You wish to praise me instead?” Alex asks in the mortal’s mind.
Kevin startles, surprised by the telepathic question. After a moment, he says, “If that’s what it takes, my lord.”
“It will be simple,” Alex tells him. “With a tome of magic at your fingertips, perform a bout of Ambitious Arcana, doing exactly as I tell you.” He goes on to detail the specifics of the spell Kevin should perform, and Kevin nods along, taking notes.
“I’ll be back!” he says happily, and then he bows his head once more and hurries out of the temple.
Another mortal converted, Alex thinks pleasantly.
☼☼☼
“I cannot help but notice that you did not perform the separation ritual,” Alex says conversationally when Kevin next enters his temple.
“Right,” Kevin replies, drawing out the word. “It’s just that- well, the god of chaos told me to do it differently.”
“Of course the god of chaos would have a different way of going about it,” Alex says, thoroughly confused. “We are gods of different domains.”
“Right, but the god of chaos said your way was- um, ‘the nerdiest shit I’ve ever heard,’ sorry.”
“Ey said that?” Alex asks, feeling rather peeved.
“Oh, you know each other?”
“Barely. Tell em my way is not nerdy, simply detailed.”
“Uh, sure. I’ll tell em that.”
☼☼☼
“Ey said eir way was easier and better. Ey also said some choice words that I’m not gonna repeat…”
“Tell em that my magic has the power to move mountains.”
☼☼☼
“Ey said that eir chaos has the power to turn mountains into molehills.”
“What? The idiom goes the other way around.”
“Yeah, I know…”
“That does it, we need to meet up and talk.”
“Oh, good, I was kinda getting tired of being your messenger boy.”
“You will need to summon us both on neutral ground.”
“Malharc’s nice this time of year, they have a sacred hill!”
“It is nice every time of year, but I suppose it will work.”
☼☼☼
“O god of wizardry, o god of chaos,” Kevin chants, his hands in the air. “Grant each other a period of amnesty, that I might summon you both to this sacred hill!” He pauses. “Um… Am I doing this right?”
“You are doing fine,” Alex says, appearing in a mist of magic. He brushes off his robe and looks around, stretching his arms. “It’s good to be out and about again.”
“Phew, tell me about it!” comes an unfamiliar voice, and Alex looks up to see a pale blue elf appearing in a cloud of sparkles. “And, uh, sure, whatever, great job, Kev.”
“His name is Kevin,” Alex says.
“Not anymore, it isn’t!” Ileao replies, and Alex sighs as he steps toward em.
“Magic,” he says slowly, “is a beautiful area of study, one that I believe to be outmatched by any other.”
“But chaos,” Ileao replies, sticking eir nose up, “is an inevitable part of life so beautiful that it can’t be studied.”
Kevin clears his throat. Alex and Ileao both look over at him as he asks, “Hey, isn’t chaos magic a thing?”
Alex and Ileao exchange a look. “I… forgot about that,” Alex says, realizing the potential.
“I’m not, like, anti-magic,” Ileao says, looking away. “I have plenty of followers who do chaos magic. I do chaos magic myself, actually.”
“I’m not the god of magic itself,” Alex says. “I am just the god of wizardry. The studying of the magic is actually pretty important.”
“…I studied,” Ileao admits. “I shouldn’t have had to, but I did. I studied hard.”
“And it paid off, clearly,” Alex says, stepping closer. “You are the god of chaos now.”
“We could try some chaos magic together,” Ileao offers, still unable to make eye contact. “We could free Kevin from his former god that way, if- I mean, if you wanted.”
“Oh, I did that myself,” Kevin butts in. “I’m no longer attached to Silvanus.”
“What- On your own!?” Ileao asks.
“How did you do that?” Alex asks with wide eyes.
“I just did,” Kevin says with a shrug.
“Then why did you keep playing messenger for us?”
“Because you had chemistry,” Kevin replies. “And it seemed like you wanted to keep talking to each other.”
“I did,” Alex admits.
“You did?” Ileao asks. Eir eyes are wide and ey’re finally looking at Alex. “I- I did too, honestly.”
“We could… keep talking. Here,” Alex offers. “It’s sacred ground, so as long as Kevin keeps summoning us-”
“I have to third-wheel you guys more?” Kevin groans.
“Shut up and agree, I’ll bless you with good luck or something,” Ileao says, waving him off.
“Fine,” Kevin says. “I guess I’ll… give you guys your privacy for a bit…”
He wanders off down the hill, and Ileao and Alex step closer. “I would like to get to know you better?” Alex says uncertainly but very sincerely.
“I would love that,” Ileao breathes, and Alex decides that chaos isn’t so bad after all.