Atzi had her worst dream yet. Her throat was being mercilessly sliced open, blood flowing back into the wound.

  She awoke screaming, clutching at a wound that wasn't there.

  Yet, despite the fact her eyes were open, all she saw was darkness.

  The Saintess drifted out from the darkness as if it were water.

  "... huh? How? What happened?" Atzi asked.

  "I didn't know blood would feel that way in your throat," the Saintess replied, fascinated.

  Atzi groaned. "It must have been that asshole Shapeshifter prophet! He's the only new thing I messed with. Now I know never to trust him."

  "What is 'trust'?" the Saintess asked.

  Atzi blinked. "Uhh... it means, y'know" - she tried to figure out what to say - "knowing someone won't betray you. That they'll do something they said they would, even if you're not watching. You don't know for sure, but you hope they're not lying to you."

  "So I can't trust you because I'm always watching you?" the Saintess asked, confused.

  "Huh? No no, you can trust me. I mean, you gotta, right? I'm your prophet!" Atzi quickly argued.

  "Do you trust me?"

  Atzi looked at her, and scratched her scales. "I trust... you, but I dunno much about who you were before. You picked me out for some reason and don't know it, maybe that was some scheme that would have screwed me over for all I know."

  The Saintess seemed to think about that. "I think I just picked the closest thing to me."

  Atzi turned that over in her mind, picturing where she used to live, and the distance and direction she traveled to get to the gate of the underworld. Is it possible that was just below my house? That was all it was?

  Finally she looked up. "That... makes sense. Wow." Of course that was the only reason anyone would pick her. She laughed. "So it's just bad luck you got me as your prophet."

  "I don't know what luck is, but you've been interesting. I enjoy watching you," the Saintess said. Those words faded with her, back into the void.

  Atzi braced herself.

  -

  "Out, out!"

  Atzi pulled herself upright with a growl. She had nothing to say to the stupid old bag. She just wanted to go to the inn and sleep.

  When she got there, she didn't bother greeting Hemm. But the cyclops looked up at her and said, "You look tired, Atzi."

  "Yeah. I feel it. G'night." Atzi slumped up the stairs and crawled into bed.

  That night she did not dream, nor die.

  ===

  Come afternoon, Atzi was downstairs, eating at the table, though she really just poked at her food while thinking about what to do.

  I'm going to fuck over that asshole. But should I see the Serpent first? She's been more reliable than the other gods. But, then again, I've never tried meeting with the others much.

  Her food was starting to get lukewarm, but she barely even noticed.

  I bet I could meet the Ancestor using that info about Jewel's idiot brother. If nothing else, he didn't seem like much of a schemer. Maybe I can even become a priest again, temporarily. Can't hurt. Though blessings can be detected by other priests, found that out the hard way before...

  "Something wrong with the food?" Hemm asked. "You're eating pretty slow."

  "Mm?" Atzi looked up, twirling her fork a little more. "Just thinking about stuff, sorry." Then she thought to ask Hemm a question. "If you didn't follow the Saintess and had to throw your lot in with some other god, which one would you pick?"

  Hemm gave a patient smile. "I wouldn't abandon the Saintess."

  "Well…" Atzi looked to the side. "Okay, I'm sure she appreciates that, but I mean like, say something happened to her and she told all her followers to go out and find someone else, something like that. Which one sounds the most trustworthy to you?"

  Hemm tapped her chin, humming. "I don't know much about the other gods' beliefs, but the Star has always been a firm ally since joining. The only god who joined Sostra willingly, without having to be shown the error of their ways."

  "The others had to get brought in?" Atzi asked. "It doesn't really get brought up in the Water temple how we became part of Sostra or anything."

  "Well, you know, Sostra is really old, the Saintess founded it to help the people of this very swamp. They followed her and she led them past sickness and famine into glory. And then she showed all the other gods they should join. She's… really cool." Her one big eye sparkled.

  Atzi held back a laugh. "She sure is."

  "I'm really cool?" the Saintess asked in Atzi's head.

  Atzi closed her eyes. "Clearly," she said internally. Then she opened her eyes again. "Hm. Alright, I think I know what I gotta do today." The Star's procession is in a few days time, I think. Why not double dip with talking to gods? Can't hurt. I could probably get hold of the Water through Jem... maybe. But for now I could try the Ancestor. "Thanks for lunch, Hemm. I'll be back later."

  Hemm smiled. "Have a good afternoon Atzi!"

  "I probably will." Atzi said, and slinked away to the temple district.

  -

  Before Atzi stood the large priestess of the Ancestor she'd seen last time she visited. She wore furs and a horned helmet over her scruffy red hair. Leaning on a large axe like it was a walking cane, she asked, "Yeah? Whaddya want?"

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  "I wanna talk to Jewel," Atzi said, back straighter than usual. "I know her brother, she's been looking for him for the last few days, yeah?"

  "You know of that coward? Yes. She will be happy to hear. And infuriated if he's gotten into trouble."

  "She's gonna be pissed then, but she'll wanna hear this."

  "I will find her," the priestess said, and left to the back of the temple.

  Atzi waited, tapping her clawed feet against the stone floor. The people of the temple prayed around the large burning braziers, and soon Atzi had already run out of details to look at on the tapestries hanging down from the walls, or on the statue of the Ancestor. After far too long had passed, Jewel ran in from the entrance, and the priestess walked in behind her.

  "Sorry, I-" Jewel huffed, out of breath. She inhaled and shook her head, her messy blonde hair shifting. "You found my brother?"

  "Hey Jewel," Atzi greeted her casually. Then she remembered they hadn't met yet. "Uh, my name's Atzi. Yeah, I found him. He's in jail."

  "He's in- that low life!" Jewel's face twisted. "I'mma strangle him!" She let out a frustrated grunt. Several worshippers in the temple looked towards her. She blinked, looking back at them, and shrunk back in on herself. "S-sorry."

  Atzi nodded. "Yeah, him and Karl got locked up for trying to mug someone. Can we talk, though? This was kinda more of an excuse to talk about something more important. In private."

  "Allie, go get my brother. Please," Jewel said, speaking to the large priestess.

  Allie nodded. "Yes." She immediately trudged back out.

  Jewel lead Atzi into the back of the temple, away from the worshippers. It was a simple waiting room, with tables, chairs, and a small kitchen adorned with a banner of the Ancestor.

  Once they were alone, Atzi thrust a claw forward. "You can check that someone else is a prophet, so why don't you do that first. Go ahead."

  Jewel blinked a few times. "Y-you're a prophet?" She quickly grabbed Atzi's hand and closed her eyes. She gasped. "You're a prophet! Of who? Did someone else die?!"

  Atzi gave a short laugh. "Sort of. Look, uh, no offence but can you keep a secret? I mean, really keep a secret?"

  "Y-y-yes?" Jewel responded with uncertainty.

  "Look, if you don't know, don't risk it. I need to talk to the Ancestor. Directly. Tell him it's about all of Sostra. And I know a little about what happened in Novae, too, which I bet he wants to hear about."

  "Do you know who did it?!" Jewel looked up at her in hope.

  "Nope. So you don't really think it was Cthargictha either, huh?"

  Jewel closed her mouth. "I didn't say anything."

  Atzi shook her head. "No way am I telling you who I'm a prophet of. Don't mention me to anyone, really. I mean that. Anyway, the Ancestor, is he around?"

  "He's busy but… you did help me find my brother… but I don't want to make him mad… um. If you want to talk to him I could relay? Unless it's something you can't tell me..." She looked depressed.

  "It's something huge that you'd need to keep totally quiet about until the godscouncil. I can try telling you, but if I see Malus show up out of nowhere, I'll know you screwed up." That's what happened last time, Atzi didn't say.

  "Huh? Malus?" Jewel looked her, curious. "What's she got to do with it?"

  "... Fuck it, let's just try it. Relay all of this. I'm the prophet of the Saintess."

  Jewel gasped. "No. That's impossible!"

  "It's not! There's two situations where that whole god-prophet link can end. The prophet dies, or the god dies. Well the Saintess was in Novae that day with enough fire gems on her that whoever set them off took her out.' Atzi wagged a clawed finger. "Malus brought her back. Sort of. She's barely hanging on. Except she reached out to the first person she could find nearby and that happened to be me."

  Jewel's eyes went wide as she stared past Atzi, seemingly at the wall. Then she stammered out, "Th-the Ancestor wants to talk with you. I-in person."

  "That got his attention, huh? Sure. But not a word to anyone! About any of this! Really! If Malus finds out she'll kill me really horribly."

  "I won't! I won't!" Jewel raised her hands defensively.

  "And maybe even you too," Atzi decided to add, to scare her into keeping quiet.

  Jewel looked like she might die on the spot from fear.

  Sorry, but you have a big mouth and I can't be getting blown up in a day or two.

  "W-wait here, he'll be here eventually!" And then Jewel ran off.

  -

  The door to the room burst open. The Ancestor thudded his way inside. Muscles bulged as he crossed his arms and stared down at Atzi. "Speak."

  Atzi took a deep breath and started, "The Saintess died in Novae. Carrying several hundred fire gems. She said there was some disaster she had to try and prevent but that's all I know. She's lost pretty much of all of her memories now, sadly. Someone, no idea who, set them off and killed her. And... Novae. Sorry."

  The Ancestor stood as still as a statue, making no indication as to whether he believed her.

  Atzi continued, "A-anyway, Malus freaked out and tried to bring her back, and sort of managed it. This morning, in fact. The problem is, her ritual also pulled open a gate to the underworld. In six days the city's gonna be destroyed. All of Sostra, even. Unless all the gods work together and seal it. Which you can. Um, but not everyone's here yet, so I don't know if it'd work yet..."

  Finally the Ancestor replied. "You are afraid of Malus." His voice wasn't loud, and yet it rumbled.

  "She'll murder me on the spot if she finds out. She's really, really committed to the Saintess, after all, and the only way that I'll stop being her prophet is when I die… If this gets announced in front of the godscouncil, she won't be able to just do it then and there." Atzi blinked. "I think. Depends how it's brought up, maybe."

  The Ancestor turned around. "You will follow me. We will speak with her. I will protect you. We will confirm your words."

  Atzi leaned back. "Eh? R-right now? Sh-she'll definitely kill me, you know?"

  The Ancestor's wild hair swung with his head as he looked back at her. "I am a god. She is an old woman."

  "She's the strongest fire mage alive! C-can you stop her if she tries to burn me? I don't wanna get burned alive again..."

  If the Ancestor noticed her slip-up, he didn't show it. “You trusted me to speak to me of these things. Trust me to protect you."

  Atzi wanted to argue, but she couldn't bring herself to do something so suicidal. "Al... right. Alright. I'll do that." She shook as she stood up. "Um... thank you."

  The Ancestor walked and she followed. "You are not human. You do not worship me. Why approach me?"

  "Because you seemed... honest? And... because I knew I could talk to Jewel easily to relay the message. Some other prophets would probably sell me out immediately."

  "You have good judgement," the Ancestor replied.

  "You're the first person to ever say that about me." Atzi gave a small, self-deprecating laugh.

  As they left the temple, everyone stared, but made no motion to approach the god. Meanwhile, the Ancestor asked, "What do you know of my faith?"

  "Not much..." Atzi replied.

  "I am the father of all humanity. From me did they spawn and cover this world. I was once a bare human, a freak among all inhumans, impossible and weak at a glance. But it was through my children I became great. They worshipped me, and so I protected them. All humanity is my children." He spoke with a total and absolute assurance.

  "Wow. So... we lizards were around before humans were?"

  "They were. Skulking in the mud. It is humans who brought them society. Allowed them to see reason. You are not of my children. But you are my children's friend."

  Atzi blinked. "Wow," she repeated. "Well..." She tried to think of something to say to the god of humanity that didn't sound utterly stupid. "I like humans, so... thank you for that...?"

  "You are welcome."

  "The lack of a tail is kind of a missed opportun- uh, never mind, never mind. I like the whole 'making their own heat' thing! It's a great idea, no wonder they can live in the cold just fine. I couldn't do that, aha..."

  The Ancestor did not reply.

  Atzi felt awkward and went silent.

  Finally they entered the main temple, the guards saluting as they stood aside.

  They entered the main chamber, the circular table where the godscouncil would be held sitting in the center. The room was otherwise empty. The Ancestor uncrossed his arms. He cupped both hands around his mouth.

  "Malus!" he roared, and the building shook.