“He looked up to Jackson a lot. He feared Jackson would not think he was adequate as a God because of his flighty tendencies, and was ready to give up the position,” she explained.
I snickered wildly. “Look up to Jackson? King of the flighters? Yeah, right!”
She shrugged lightly. “Hey, he may seem like that to you, but Jackson was once a well-respected God.”
“I forget that the second set of Gods are your Shadows sometimes,” Praxis said as she drew hearts on her placement with a broken crayon. “What’s it like having such important people around you all the time?”
“They don’t act so high and mighty. They barely bring it up. If anything, they suck in the mentor department,” I joked with a lop-sided smile.
“That sounds about right,” Zephryine quipped before setting her hands down to play with her silverware. “How are you all hanging in? The pressure on your shoulders is immense, I know, but I don’t want you to fall into yourselves.”
“We’re… hanging in.” Praxis tried to reassure her mother but failed to do so.
Zephryine turned to Sebastian, but he was just as distant, his eyes fixed to his engagement ring. “I’m terrified that… you won’t be at my wedding, because of the final fight.”
“Oh, guys…” Zephryine squeezed his pinky to cheer him up. “My darling, don’t think like that. We all know things will work themselves out.”
“Every God of the past has died fighting their next in line; how are we supposed to believe you won’t do the same?” he frailly whispered.
Zephryine gave him a weak smile. “Seraphine survived, didn’t she?”
“That’s because Atlas is a weak-ass moron,” I joked to break the tension, and luckily, it worked. We all shared a good laugh before I took over the conversation. “Zephryine, while I have you, I have a question.”
“I’m all ears,” she confirmed.
“How did you choose your second-in-command?” I smacked my head to the table and yanked on my hair. “I’ve been running in circles trying to figure out my top two! I don’t know how I could ever replace Magnus and Geneva.”
“You’re over complicating things.” She ruffled my hair gently. “Your second-in-command will stand out to you in ways you never expected. It may be in simple gestures, like how they treat a soul, or how they speak to their comrades. Maybe it’s how they hunt demons, or how well they treat reaped souls. It’s not all about power, you know. They are just as young as you are, and with time, their powers will catch on. Don’t base your decisions on how powerful they are, but how you get along as a group.”
“It sucks that I have to pick one from each side. I like Calvin and Elektra, but they’re both Reapers, and I need at least one Demon Hunter. None of the Demon Hunters have really stood out to me the way those two have,” I admitted as I poked at the plate the waitress delivered.
Praxis took a mouthful of fries as she spoke, “I already have my top two picked. I love Ptolemy. He’s so adorable! He’s a bit shy, yeah, but he’s exactly like Odysseus in a lot of ways and look how far Squeakers has come. I know with some prodding he’ll do great!”
“I’m stuck between two girls,” Sebastian interjected as he cut his chicken strips up, an odd habit of his, but who was I to complain. “I wanted a boy and a girl to keep things even, but I don’t know what girl to choose. I have two in mind, Vanessa and Elodie, but they’re pretty evenly matched in my eyes.”
“I chose a girl, too. Desdemona is my girlie pop for sure. I know I’m a little biased because they’re Xenobia’s friends and I spend a lot of time with them, but they’re a Gehenna of a team. Desdemona is very composed, very certain in herself. She helps boost Ptolemy’s confidence, and I love her gentle nature. My job was easy!” Praxis giggled in delight.
“Way to rub it in,” I snorted with a frown.
“You don’t have any Demon Hunters you like?” Zephryine worriedly asked.
My shoulders rose and fell. “There’s one: Emmeline. She has similar energy to Geneva. A lot of Demon Hunters are standoffish, admittedly, but she’s amazing to watch. She’s very precise, very calculated, but I can’t seem to break through her barrier. She doesn’t talk much, in the sense that she likes to keep to herself, and I can’t really have someone so reserved delegating a huge branch of my Elementals, ya know?”
“Sounds to me that you need to find a way to connect with her. If you’re serious about picking her…” Sebastian traded a wedge of my sandwich for a chicken strip, “then you need to get some time alone with her.”
“Maybe you can take her to Gehenna? See how she does in a Realm she’ll be spending ample amounts of time in,” Praxis offered through a mayonnaise covered grin. Zephryine tsked and wiped the substance off her daughter’s lips with a chuckle.
“I was planning on taking them to Gehenna Monday morning. Geneva is going to join me and give them a grand tour. It’s also my time to check on my new hires. I swear, I spend more time in Gehenna then I do our Realm lately,” I murmured with a heavy groan.
“That’s the gig you got dealt, kiddo. Comes with the territory. You’ll be amazed how little time you have for outside activities when you become a God,” Zephryine admitted sheepishly.
“How do you juggle all of this? I mean, surely you’re backed up on godly duties while you’re trying to get us trained?” Praxis asked her mother.
Zephryine tilted her head at the question. “Yes and no. Our second-in-command can run much of the show while we’re out and about, which is why they’re so important. Anything we have to do we tend to do on the weekends while you all are resting, or after class. It’s a lot to juggle, sure, but we’re used to it.”
“Are we ever going to have any kind of life, being Gods? I mean, is there any pleasure in it?” Sebastian whispered unsurely.
Zephryine was shocked by his words and raised an eyebrow at him. “Sebby, of course you can. Godly duties are very much a nine-to-five when you get into the swing of things. Everything can be accomplished in one day, unless you have something big happening. For example: on days I have massive tornadoes ripping through abnormal areas, or places they don’t spring up in often, then I work a bit of overtime. But I rarely have nights where I don’t go home anymore. When you’re a young God, you’ll find yourself obsessed with your work, and will give it your all, but after a few years, you’ll slow down when you find your rhythm and realize the universe doesn’t need you all the time.”
