There was a newcomer to the world of Empires. Fifteen strangers had come through the rift, some excited, some nervous, some flat out confused. None of them gods. At least, they didn't think so. Pearl had some mild confusion about her, but she couldn't be a god. She was just a cleaning lady. Right?
Then there was a new presence, in Dawn. A shiny coated, wide-eyed, smiling presence. The smile seemed friendly enough, looking at it straight on. It looked like any other smile to Gem.
"Hello!" It called out cheerfully. "What's your name?"
"Gem!" The princess of the sun replied with a smile of her own, warm and welcoming. The new figure smirked.
"Gem, of course. My child of light. I'm the god of the sun, and of sleep."
The god of the sun. See, Gem's people in Dawn worshiped the sun, that much was true. But it never had a name to attach to it. Maybe that was why there was a hint of skepticism in her when the supposed deity told her his title.
See, it wasn't completely out of the ordinary for gods to announce themselves and their presence. Hell, Joel made his presence quite known. But there was something off about this one. Even still, who was Gem to question what the sun wanted.
The god of the sun said he wanted a church built to him, she built a church to him. That seemed to make another certain god upset.
"Dear Gem," The letter started, already a start that the sun princess was dreading. It droned on and on for a few pages, about how nice of a god he was, and why didn't she build a church for and worship him (in Gem's opinion, worshipping friends, which she considered Joel to be, was a bit odd in itself). But a few pages after it, behind the façade of bravado and arrogance, laid the true reason for this letter.
"In all seriousness, are you alright? Things seem a little off. If you need me to come take care of it, I will.", she read, and tossed the letter almost instantly. Everything was fine. Why would it not be? There was no need to worry!
Something compelled Joel to make Hermes a special present that afternoon. A little iron necklace in the shape of a lightning bolt, which the little child absolutely loved. He showed it off to everyone who passed by, especially when he went to Sanctuary to stay with his other parent. Though, in staying with Sausage, that made the guardian of Sanctuary question some things. Namely, the iron. If Joel were to make someone a gift, and it weren't a toy, it would be made of gold. Sausage had the mini Stratos-sphere to prove that much. But iron? Something was up. So he whistled for a bird friend to tell him what was going on. Birds always had the most interesting of gossip.
And that gossip is what had his typical sunshiny disposition turn cloudy. Keralis paused his conversation with the allay to take a look at their host, squinting a little.
"Hey- Daddy sausage!" He called out and waved him over. "What's gotcha looking so down, sweet face?"
"Nothing, nothing.." Sausage waved a hand dismissively and tried to smile. "Just... there's a new god in Dawn, and it's not sitting right with me. They said he's called Bdubs, or something..?"
"Bdubs?" Keralis snorted, trying his best not to laugh. "There's no way. He's just some little guy. Everyone's little guy! He wouldn't be some kind of god or anything."
"You know what they say, mi amor." Sausage shook his head. "Beware the little ones.."
That comment made Keralis stop. Could it really be possible? For Bdubs to be some kind of god in this world? Or at the very least to declare himself a god. Why not ask the lore man about it! The lore man might know something!
So Keralis resolved himself to ask Pix the next day, finding the strange man somewhat in recovery, from the loss of his deepslate emerald ore. He could take time out of his grief to speak with Keralis though. Wasn't that thoughtful?
"There's some kind of god in Dawn? Or at least, he says he's one." Keralis tried to explain. "I don't know if he really is a god."
"Well, there's many different possibilities." Pix hummed in thought. "He could've became a god in his arrival to this world. You said the rift is closed.. If it were, how would he have gotten in? He also could be creating a cult."
"If he were, he wouldn't put himself as the leader.." Keralis shook his head. "I dunno... it's weird. It's like we're seeing a new side to him."
"Apotheosis can often be revealing. Just like power."
"Apotheosis." Pix brushed his hands off and stood to fix the glass casing, which previously held his beloved emeralds. "Or deification. Turning or declaring someone a god."
"Right..." Keralis nodded slowly, laughing to himself under his breath. "It's so weird seeing Bdubs like this. I'm used to him just being the little guy."
"Bdubs?" That made the archeologist turn to look at the hermit, who just stared back in confusion, wide eyes unblinking.
"Uh.. yeah? That's who it is. It's so weird, seeing him sorta "become" a god. Why?"
"It's just odd... I don't think the fae can become gods."
