Now that I could look at it in detail, the house was beautiful. It may have had yellow walls, but it was big and Ivy told me that it had significance in the city. It was the house of the old leader of the community, Axel. After he died, the house was left like it was back then, as was his wish. She said that most of the buildings I saw throughout the village were constructed during his time, before he died.

We entered the building through the back door. Heading forward and on the right there were stairs. The old wooden stairs squeaked when we stepped on them.

“We practically live here, since Axel never had kids or siblings, and nobody checks on this place anymore.” Ivy said.

She opened the door to the room with the round table before sighing. On the table was Harlem, sleeping on the table.

“He fell asleep after drinking again…”

The girl walked up to him and raised her arm. Green vines faded and they wrapped around his neck. The vines pulled him up into a strangle position. I wanted to shout that he’s gonna choke, but he turned his head up. Ivy lightly slapped each of his cheeks before the branches let him go, and he fell on the floor. The same thing from before happened. He fell on the ground, but it seemed like he didn’t even exist.

He coughed a bit, before saying:

“What the hell, Ivy!?”

A punch was formed from the same yellow gridded pattern, but vines faded in again, from Ivy’s shoulder, blocking the hand. 

“No, cause you’ll hit me three times as hard.” she replied while smirking.

“Hey, Ivy, isn’t he thirteen or something like that?” I asked suddenly.

She bursted out laughing.

“I know he looks like a toddler, he’s 16. I know he’s still not old enough to drink, and we’ve told him repeatedly to stop drinking, but he won’t listen.” she responded.

“He said I look thirteen, not like a toddler.” he told us in a sleepy tone.

“You’re an addict, Harlem.” I said smiling.

“Oh shut up.” he replied as he got up and gave me a jealous look before laying down on the table again.

“I was about to say that it’s one of those times that you don’t act like a jerk since you are drunk and sleepy, but nevermind.” Ivy said.

She pulled one of the wooden chairs to sit on it and told me to sit down and don’t mind him.

“So what do you want to talk about?” she asked.

“What is it with that muscular guy? He punched me in the face for no reason.”

“Oh!” she started laughing quietly. “He’s Kage. I know he can be a little strange sometimes, but he’s like this with everybody he doesn’t know, and some people he does.” she continued, pointing to herself.

“Oh, okay, I guess… Also, I saw Harlem’s powers, and I was wondering. Is it some sort of magic?”

“No, Ark. You can’t cast a spell and teleport hundreds of meters away from where you are. That’s just not how it works. We’re not wizards. Our powers come from when we were born.” she started. “Every person is born from their biological parents, but spiritually, everyone is assigned to a god at birth. They’re the children of a specific god. For example, I’m a Child of Skye, the Goddess of Nature. The gods give you fractions of their power to use when needed.”

“Am I the child of a god?” I asked.

“Want to find out?” Ivy replied with a question. “Although we already know.” she whispered to herself.

“Um, yeah sure, why not!” I responded, trying to act like I didn’t hear what she murmured.

She got up from her seat and made a hand gesture for me to come.

“Oh, and if you’re wondering, Harlem is the Child of Genesis, the Goddess of Creation. He can create anything he wants, but it will be like a ghost. With a golden, gridded pattern.” the girl said.

She took me outside through the back door. We walked a bit into the forest. There were bird sounds and rabbits hopping around us. Suddenly, a fox jumped into Ivy’s hands, but she was ready.

“Hey!” she said.

The red fox started licking her face and trembling in her arms. I could tell that it was excited to see the woman.

“You can come with us if you want.” she said to the fox.

In front of us was a big pile of trees blocking sight of what was in front. Ivy swiped her palm in the air and the trees blocking our way bowed in front of her. Behind the trees was a beautiful meadow. Out of the woods animals approached us with joy on their faces. The red fox started jumping around as Ivy and I settled.

“Drop your daggers on the ground.” Ivy started as she sat down.

I took the daggers out from my sheathe and placed them on the ground. They started burning dark purple colors on the grass. At that moment, the fox started screeching.

“Pick them up!” the girl shouted.

I quickly got them and put them back in their designated pocket. Where they stood was a burn mark in the dirt. Some bits were still on flames, but Ivy placed her right hand on the damaged ground and all of a sudden, green and blue particles came from under her palm. When she took it off, the grass looked untouched and the damage was undone. I widened my eyes.

“So the power of my daggers is basically useless against your power?”

“It’s not infinite, like any other healer. And a correction, it’s not “the daggers’ power”, it’s yours, dummy.” she said while punching my shoulder lightly and giggling a little. “You’re the Child of Onyx, the God of Darkness. Your power is the opposite of mine, I heal people and I’m nature’s friend, while you burn and destroy everything in your way from the shadows.”