The Roving Gate took hold, and Dei was gone. Once more, he was in the nondescript room provided to him by the System, but this time there were no words. The System implanted his soul with its constructs, mussed about to prepare him for Earth, and plopped him down where he needed to go- his family's living room. He was forced to duck down or he'd punch a hole in the ceiling, as he was still eleven feet tall, but that wasn't a huge issue. He plopped down on the floor, cross-legged.

A quick glance out the window showed it was mid-day. A scan around the room gave him all the information he needed.

"Hey Luke," he greeted the worshipper of The Champion, who was sitting on his family's couch talking to them all.

"What's up?"

"Nothin much. What'r we talkin about?"

His sister, mother, and brother in law were all in varying states of bewilderment, but his dad cycled through pain and grief.

"You."

"Good things?"

"...Maybe."

"Did I cause the apocalypse when I ate The Dream?"

"Sort of."

"Damn…"

* * *

It'd been two weeks since Dei left Earth, and a lot had happened. After Dei shattered The Dream, it was all but confirmed that magic existed in the world, and riots broke out everywhere. The governments came clean, and The Champion ended up descending to use his authority over life, forcing sense into everyone's head. It was an odd, all purveying calm that would slowly fade as The Champion let it, just to give the people of Earth time to come to terms with the new revelations.

So, functionally, nothing was different. The riots took place for all of two days before The Champion stepped in, so the damage was minimal.

Everyone was just… ignoring the changes.

Nobody needed to sleep anymore outside of those who strained their minds on their own, and Dei's existence was known to virtually all. Apparently, when he was cracking The Dream, those whose dreams he invaded would see a flash of his body- the formless one he'd had at the time- before everything went dark and they woke up, mentally rejuvenated. People were still talking about it, of the wraith that cured sleep.

The population wasn't exactly told that a slumbering God had died, nor were they told of the parasitic construct that they'd lived with for so long. All they were told was that universe travel was real and magic was real. As for Dei and where sleep went, the governments told the populace that a powerful wizard had passed through and decided to remove sleep on a whim.

People were still… freaking out, so to speak, about the wizard, the new hours in the day, and the actual Dragon God that appeared, but acting different seemed to be discouraged in their minds. They talked to people online, there were podcasts going over all the facts, but it was all far more tame than it should've been.

'That's Authority at work,' Dei thought, 'The Champion is exerting authority over the physical world with his Right. He's commanding them to be calm, and they have to be.'

It was insane, invasive, and absolutely for the best.

Dei also foresaw another Reputational Achievement in his future, though he estimated that he wouldn't start earning them for another two weeks. Iten said it took a month for them to manifest, and Dei had no reason to think otherwise.

The world at large wasn't really Dei's business though. The current moment was, as Luke had come to visit his family to discuss Dei himself. His father was apparently brought into the loop on Dei's actual identity, and they needed to talk about what happened now. There was… no real chance of his family staying in their old home, as too many in the government knew about Dei now. Apparently, they'd "known" from the start, but his paperwork had been buried and the gears of bureaucracy desperately needed to be oiled. When Dei caused the apocalypse, that was lubricant enough to get them spinning.

The NSA director had been summarily executed for letting two catastrophes fly under the radar. One in the form of The Mother, the other in the form of Dei. True, some people knew about them, but not enough, and most certainly not the people that needed to know to do something about it.

All of that was to say that Luke had been sent to discuss with the Hardies what happened next. Luke was, apparently, the face of The Champion's church, and the one sent on all the important social missions, which included Dei's

Ultimately, they came to the decision that his family would be transported to Agartha to remain under careful watch. Too many in the government now knew Dei, and what his family meant to him, so the Hardies were in danger.

Nothing had happened yet though, so there was no harm. They'd be moved today, and that was final.

Before that, he had some business with both Luke and his father. Luke because the man supposedly had Dei's reward for taking the Vow of Silence, and his dad for obvious reasons.

Dad came first. His mom ushered the others out of the living room to give the two some privacy, and he was left alone with his Earthly father.

The man had sat completely still the entire time Luke was explaining the situation, and Dei could see the raging emotions on his face despite his attempts to school his expression. Now that they were alone, neither really knew what to say.

Sitting in silence, Dei found the various walls interesting, while his father kept almost saying something, before closing his mouth and rethinking his words.

After a few minutes, his dad finally decided to just say the first thing that came to mind.

"Leven… Dei… I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

"Dad… I don't blame you. I'm sorry I put you through that pain, and that I… drove you to insanity. I didn't make it back in time." He sucked in through his teeth, feeling his throat sting. "You did everything for me. You taught me to be kind, even if you didn't see the importance of that at the time. I just wish I could've protected that kindness as thoroughly as you protect yours. I wish I hadn't been so naive… if I'd seen it from the beginning, none of this would've happened."

His dad shook his head, "There's nothing to apologize for there either. It wasn't your fault, and even if it was? I'd gladly go through it all again if it meant you end up right back here. Son, everything I've heard about you has been extraordinary. You traveled universes? You're fighting demons? Resurrecting Gods, and curing sleep? I just… I think it was worth it. As odd as it sounds, and as much as I hate what you've been through… you're a better man than I'll ever be. In a better place than… Leven… likely would've ended up. Where would you be if you'd survived? Divorced? She… I know how those things go. Emily would've taken the house, and it would've broken you, if you weren't sent to prison for murder in the first place. It would've been suffering of a completely different type. Hell of another kind. Instead, you're sitting in front of me, a new man- literally."

They both let out a bittersweet chuckle, and lapsed into silence again.

'He's right. I've known it for a while, but it's nice to hear from him, too. I haven't exactly had a good past year either, and if we both know it's better this way.'

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

He wished his father hadn't suffered, but that was life. That's just how it went, and they were both better for it. The pain was real, it tore at them, but it left them stronger. Tempered. If they hadn't fought through hell, they wouldn't have earned the peace they now enjoyed.

Dei's eyes unfocused as a dawning epiphany filled his mind. It was… oppositional- joy and pain, Wrath and Kindness, life and death- but their clash left room for a better future. They were independent of one another, but the space between left room for a better result. If he'd only been content his entire life, he would be weak, but someone who suffers endlessly is fragile in another way.

Dichotomy. The best parts of his life were in dichotomy. His crippling loneliness gave way to an unbreakable bond between him and Clever. All the times he'd been beat down let him protect those he loved, and feel secure knowing he would never experience that weakness again.

This was his truth. This was what it meant to be Dei, because he was Opposition Incarnate. It was… a fragment of his truth.

A gentle warmth spread through him, and his soul shuddered. From his Potential, Dei saw a burst of pale gray mana imbued with a powerful message.

He felt his Achievement, the one stemming from his affinity, grew in clarity. He knew, instinctually, that there would be another clause within it involving this new mana type he saw.

His mana type.

The gray mana didn't come from the gyroscope of affinities, so he knew it wasn't an official affinity, but it still carried his message. It was Null mana, but his definition was strong enough to give it power.

Closing his eyes, he felt his affinity wash over him, speaking his truth into existence.

It spoke of two forces clashing, yet never prevailing over the other. They existed in constant parallel, their battle giving rise to something new between them. Something better, something balanced.

Leven had lived in the gap between Wrath and Kindness, never excessively one or the other. Dei existed in a brutal world, but pushed back with a love that refused to be snuffed out despite the efforts of others, holding onto his humanity with all his might in the typhoon of cruel indifference.

He felt a weight settle over the moment, and reached for that swarm of mana pouring out from his soul, and activated a spell he'd gained only hours before.

[Land Between], something granted to him by the System. It let him create a space imbued with meaning, with message. It was intended for higher powers, but it was Mythical grade. It would be flexible, for his purposes.

The endless energy spilling out from him all fell into his spell, and a space of truth expanded.

Dei didn't know how much mana went into his spell before it was satisfied, but he was gasping for breath by the time it was. Creating mana was not free, straining his soul in a way that was normally negligible. His mana, though, was not powerful enough for him to simply pour a hundred or two mana into Land Between. The message was burgeoning, but weak, and the spell made up for quality with quantity, taking tens of thousands to finally encompass the area he wanted it to- his entire house.

It felt right. This was his first house, the place where Leven grew up. It would be his first… Convergence? He wasn't entirely sure what he'd just done, but it was important to him.

Of course, the fact that he collapsed in his chair sent his father into a state of panic. Dei's thinking speed meant his father had nary a blink, before Dei was in a world of pain.

"I'm okay…" he sighed, breathing heavily but waiving his father off.

"What happened?!" he exclaimed, and the rest of his family burst through the door as well.

His mother in particular seemed wide-eyed. "Dei, what happened to the house?!"

"...I think I just blessed it?"

* * *

"You turned the entire house into an artifact? If your family wasn't already intending to move out, they would've had to do so now."

Dei, for his part, was slightly embarrassed at his lack of forward thinking. It'd just felt right at the time.

"What does it do?" his father asked, looking around, "And can we… still remove our stuff?"

"Er, yes. I think it's more the land itself than any one object. As for what it does? Hard to say. It's a new affinity that I, myself, have created. For me, it's what I use to contain mana and keep my affinities in check. It involves oppositional forces, but that's about as specific as I can get."

"It feels strange…" Sophie said airily.

Dei looked at her, surprised. "You can feel it?"

Jack nodded too, "Yea, it's pretty hard to miss. It feels like I'm standing in front of… something. Something I can't understand." He waved his arms in the air for a moment. "I feel like I should be able to reach out and touch something, but I don't seem to fit a requirement so to speak."

Dei looked at the dazed people, all of them focusing on something distant, when he had an idea.

'If this was a Convergence, it'd feel a lot more forceful to convert people into the affinity, but that doesn't mean it's too far off. Jack said he doesn't fit the requirement, is it perhaps the personality requirements for an affinity? Or situational? Land Between said that people will become closer to the higher power… what if I can do something with the new affinity? What if, in the right situation, I can GIVE someone the affinity, despite it being on Earth? Not in a Convergence way, but in a way that's natural for Avium. I'd need someone who would perfectly fit the bill for my new affinity to test it out. Two oppositional sides. Or perhaps…?'

He looked at his parents, the people he'd gotten his affinities from in the first place. It was his mother that gifted him a variant of Pandora's Box and his Kindness affinity, while his father gave him Wrath. They held a connection too, in the form of a vow. They encompassed his new affinity perfectly, except for the fact that they were distinct. Separate. They each, independently, had what was needed.

'What if the affinity could use their vow as a template? What if they could form a SHARED affinity? It would solve dads Wrath problem, and it wouldn't change their personalities with how my own affinity works to be self contained. Even if it did change their personalities, they aren't that different from myself.'

* * *

The entire family was sitting on the couch again, except his parents were now directly next to each other and holding hands.

"How would this even work?" his mom asked him.

"No clue, honestly. It's really just a hunch based on the feeling I'm getting from the mana."

"It has merit too," Luke added, "Because the reason people on Earth can't get affinities is our universe's close proximity to the Reality Being named Separation. It decides that we are what we are, at birth. If this "Land Between" spell manages to blur the line a bit, maybe Separation will allow it?"

Dei looked surprised, "Really? We know why people can't get affinities?"

"Yea. Well, I do, and The Champion's Church does, but I'm not sure if it's known to the world at large. Either way, it would be an incredible breakthrough if you allowed the people of this universe to gain access to different affinities, especially considering I'm an ambassador and will immediately start begging on my hands and knees to get you to make a few down in Agartha."

They laughed, and Dei said "Don't worry about it man. If this works, I wouldn't mind making more."

Not just that, but Dei thought about how people from across the world might come visit his Land Between to help get their affinities under control. There was a lot of planning that would go into that which he didn't want to think about right now, so he put it in the 'later' box.

"Back to this," his mother cut in, "Sitting next to your father isn't working, nor is holding his hand."

"Didn't you say that you were able to take Wrath mana from him by touch, and give Kindness back through cuddling? Try cozying up, see if that'll… I don't know… complete the cycle?" Sophie speculated.

His dad lifted his arm, and his mom gladly pushed herself closer. When his dads arm came down on her shoulder, both of them simultaneously leapt up like they'd been electrocuted.

"It worked!" his mom shouted, while his dad simply looked curiously at his arm.

"You've got the affinity?" Dei asked.

"Well, no not yet. It felt strange and we stopped immediately. Try again?" she asked Oscar, and they settled down again. Now prepared for it, they both simply let the message wash over them for a time.

"This might take a while. I think it's doing something, but not quickly."

Dei still couldn't help but feel relief at the progress. He couldn't feel right leaving his father on Earth to slowly go insane again. If this was an actual fix rather than his patchwork job, he'd feel a lot more at peace.

"While we wait to see what happens, may I have a moment of your time?" Luke asked Dei, and now it was Dei's turn to step out.

"Is this about the rewards?"

Matthew smiled, "Took a while to get ahold of you, but yea. I've got a fair bit, all of which I think you'll love."

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