The God and The Youth [IdentityV JosCarl]

Routine

It was a quiet morning that day. The sun had barely risen, but he was already awake, for he did not sleep. Aesop Carl stared listlessly at the burgeoning light; his mind stuck at one thought. The lake and its song haunted him to that very moment. The melody had brought him peace, and yet it also left him broken. He appreciated music, but never to this extent. Will I hear it again? he wondered. Time paced slower than usual. The sun was taking its time to rise and the pacing wasn't something Aesop could stand.

So he stood up and went to work early, bathing before he left. He went to the kitchen, seeing a group of people making food for the table. One of the women saw him and said, "Ahh, good morning dear, did you get enough sleep?". The youth chuckled nervously, helping by preparing the plates. "I'm afraid it's the lack thereof." A few plates clatter when he stumbled. "Aesop!" Her voice sounded distressed. "I'm sorry Ms. Dyer. I—it's the lack of sleep." Aesop started feeling bad for stressing the woman. Ms. Dyer sighed, a look of disbelief plastered on her face.

"Aesop, I think you should rest for today. I know you have good intentions, but your helping may cause problems instead." One of the women suggested. However, Aesop still stubbornly declined, "It'll be okay Ms. Zelle." Then, he took the plates and rushed them out to the long table of the hallway. Thankfully, this time, without mistake.

His Adopted father, Leo Beck, had established a school of sorts to monitor and train budding warriors after being crossed by a cunning fiend. The estate started out small, but due to what he could only call as luck, it grew bigger by the years. Leo Beck had churned out many outstanding warriors. And in between those years, Aesop came into the picture, an orphaned child who was able to fit into the hole his daughter had left the moment she disappeared.

One would expect that Leo Beck would adopt a child befitting that of a warrior, or maybe a little girl–same as the one he had lost. However, he chose a softer child, one he cannot bear to harden despite the fact he was old enough. So Aesop stayed as he is. A simple youth with a penchant for medicine and oddly enough, death—in a sense of preparing for it.

As soon as the plates were placed, he checked the time. "Almost there, might as well wake them up." Aesop muttered softly, his footsteps echoing all the same. He knew his father would have already been awake so he directed himself to his fellow brothers' quarters.

He stood at the arch, eyebrows knitted, eyes twitching at the sounds of snoring coming from the mountain of limbs. Only one way to wake them up the quickest he thought. He stomped towards one of the sleeping bodies, and yet it still did not wake them. Eyes scanning through the bodies to spot the shortest one of the bunch, and without shame slapped the ass of one poor Naib Subedar.

"AIYOOOHHH—"

A howl echoed as all of the sleeping bodies jolted up. "Wah- what the- " Naib mumbled with sleep still in his mind. Aesop came closer to Naib, whispering "Wake up, there's food." At this Naib completely awake Jolted from his bed, not even bothering on fixing his clothes he yelled

"FOOD—"

And so, as if the underworld broke away, the rest of the warriors clamored their way out to get to the dining hall. However, one was left. "Good morning Hyacinth." The man smiled brightly, despite his messy brown hair and his haphazardly placed blindfold, he looked decent. "Good morning Zephyr." Aesop greeted before the other shook his head. With a pout, he said "I told you to call me Eli didn't I?". He watched as the youth shifted almost playfully. "Well? You called me by my 'appellative title' too didn't you?" Aesop replied with a smile before leaving the poor man stunned. Eli chuckled, "Touché."

Appellative titles, for all their worth, were just names given by oracles when visiting temples. Some have them, some don't. Aesop knew that his title was meant to mean something, but that meaning was lost the moment he lost his first family. So now as he was, he doesn't put much thought into it. If anything, he felt far from that name. Eli on the other hand, seemed much more inclined to believe in its meanings.