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He was brought into existence very suddenly. Moments ago he had been nothing but energy, a crackle of thunder ready to burst down onto the world below. But before he could meet the ground, he was grabbed and shaped into a form that was tangible, solid, and brimming with thought. He came into being with full sapience, and upon the completion of his form, he was flooded with awareness of what he was and his purpose in the world around him. The sheer scale of it threatened to overwhelm him even as his body was still taking its first breath.
He stood up, shaking as the electricity inside his body started to settle. It was still there, contained, but crackling inside the shell he now possessed. He looked around, finding himself in the forest he had been hovering over only moments ago, his body trembled as he was still getting used to just the sensation of standing up.
"Greetings, young one," a soft voice called. He looked up to see a woman, smiling at him. He bowed instinctively, the response having already been woven into his core. After all, that was the level of respect one was meant to show a god.
With his sentience had also come the understanding of who this woman was; his creator, and one of the beings who had crafted the universe and now saw fit to bestow upon him the benefit of existence. He was meant to serve them from now until the end of his being.
"I am Cetrion,” the woman continued, “the Elder God of Life.” Her voice was so melodic. It was nice that it had been one of the first things he’d heard upon being created. She glided over towards him, her form towering over his young and growing form. Cetrion leaned down, and her hands cupped his cheek, lifting his chin so that he would gaze at her fully. Her form was as alive as the forest around them; from hair made of seaweed and shards of crystal floating behind her. Her crackling eyes were kind, and it immediately told him he could relax in her presence.
"You shall be named Raiden, and you have been created for a very special purpose. You will be the protector of this fledgling world. A god of the weather who can control the thunder and wind of this planet."
"I shall do as my duty calls," Raiden spoke, as there was no other response he could give. Now that he had been assigned this task he would not deviate from it.
Her smile grew wider in response, and he was happy he had made her so proud of him.
"This planet is one of many realms that we have created. At the moment this one is small, its lifeforms are not fully developed, but soon they will grow, and once they have advanced you will be in charge of protecting them and ensuring their safety."
"I gladly accept my duty, Lady Cetrion. I am honoured to be given such a task."
Cetrion laughed gently, as if he was something sweetly amusing.
"Very good. For now you will have time to develop your powers, to learn to form your connection to this world and to draw your power from it."
She stepped back and her touch slipped from his cheek. "Now, we shall test your abilities to see that they are working."
She glanced up at the sky, covered in grey clouds. He could feel their thrumming energy even from all the way down on the ground. A part of him yearned to be back amongst the sky and to shed this terribly solid form, but he cast those thoughts aside. Now he had a new purpose.
He focused on the clouds, channelling the electricity he could feel there. He called the thunder to him, beckoning it to answer. The clouds began to swirl, crackling as their energies charged together.
Then lightning exploded from the sky and flew down into his hands, cascading across his body and crawling through every inch of him. It did not hurt, if anything Raiden was comforted by it. It felt good to be one with the lightning again.
Only he realised he had summoned too much. It acted as lightning did; jumping around and lashing out to anything around it. He struggled to bring it back under control, his hands moving to gather up the electricity as quickly as he could.
That still was not enough as it threatened to cascade out again. He threw his hands out and the electricity charged forward, hitting a nearby tree and bursting it into flame.
Raiden shook as he looked at the burning foliage around him. He had failed to control the lightning and instead it had gone and destroyed something else. He turned to face Cetrion's wrath, but he found her still smiling.
"Very good. Just as we'd hoped. I know you will gain more mastery of your powers over time."
He gave a little nod, it was a relief to know he had not failed her.
"Now, let us test your abilities further. Give me a demonstration of your control of the wind."
"Yes, my lady." He turned and prepared to channel the wind's power. He could feel it whipping around him, it was even closer than the thunder. This would be easy.
Raiden raised his hand and tried to call the wind forth.A breeze blew past him, but it was not one that he called. The wind went about its own way and did not bother to heed him. He tried again to focus his efforts, but it refused to listen to him.
Raiden stopped, lowering his hand and looking at it in shame, wondering what had gone wrong. He swallowed and turned to face Cetrion, bowing again.
"I am sorry, my lady. I cannot control the wind."
"What?" She stepped forward, her gaze growing sharper. She took Raiden's head in her hands and gazed into his eyes. "You should have mastery over all elements of Earth's weather. What could be wrong?"
From her touch Raiden could feel something working its way into his body, digging into his core and searching through his form to figure out the cause of his failing. The magic dug deeper into him as Cetrion found no answer, tugging and pulling at every fibre of his being.
"You were created from the wind and thunder of this world. It should be a part of you. What has happened here?" A touch of anger entered her voice.
Her touch began to hurt, and Raiden winced. The magic became more vicious as it dug further into him, it started to rip through his body to find something that was not there. As he experienced pain for the first time a worry started to take hold that the magic would tear him apart. He tried to tell Cetrion this but the magic kept him immobile and he could not open his mouth to speak.
He felt scared. The pain got worse, and he wanted to beg for it to stop. If he couldn't speak then he hoped Cetrion would look into his eyes and he see how much she was hurting him. But Cetrion's gaze wasn't looking at him anymore, it was looking past him. All the kindness he had seen earlier was gone.
Raiden tried to call out to the wind again, begging it to heed his command just so this would all stop. Please! Why wouldn't somebody help him?
Then suddenly, the wind changed. It swirled around him and pushed Cetrion away. Her hold was broken on him, and the pain started to subdue. Now that Raiden could move again he panted heavily, clutching his trembling body as it still reeled from the lingering sensation of Cetrion's magic. He looked up at her, this time with a sense of terror.
Anger was still strewn on her face but then it receded, being quickly replaced with the same kindness he had seen previously.
"Did it work?" Her voice was soft again. It was jarring to see her change so fast, as if her rage just moments ago had not been real. It made Raiden start to doubt what he had actually seen.
It all left Raiden unsure how to answer. He was scared to admit the truth, but even more scared to lie to her. The wind had bent to help him, yes, and yet it didn't feel as if it had been because of his direct command. Instead, it was like something had come to his aid.
"I…"
His words were interrupted as he heard a cry run throughout the forest, very young and distressed.
Cetrion looked with surprise at the noise, as if she could not fathom what she was hearing.
"What is that?"
The moment Raiden had heard the noise he thought it was obvious. He was surprised that Cetrion hadn't figured it out already. He saw that the wind around them had changed and was now flowing in the direction of the cries.
"It is my brother," Raiden said.
"Your what?"
Raiden rushed off into the forest, knowing precisely where to go. He followed the direction of the wind, it guided him closer to the sound of the cries.
When he arrived at a clearing he found the source of the noise. There was a baby, loosely wrapped in a bundle of the same fabric that now adorned his frame. The baby was crying, and kicking, as if annoyed no one had been paying it any attention until now.
Raiden stepped towards the baby, and the winds kicked up and howled, trying to ward off his presence like he was some sort of danger, but he only smiled as he approached his sibling.
The youngling’s gaze fell upon him and almost immediately those cries fell silent. His brother looked up at him, eyes big with surprise. Raiden was amazed; even though he had not managed to see himself he knew they looked exactly alike, only his sibling was much smaller.
After moments of staring a smile lit up upon the child’s face, and his chubby little arms started to reach out for Raiden. Raiden responded with his own smile and reached down to pick up his little brother.
He looked back to see that Cetrion had caught up. She stepped forward slowly, her gaze upon his brother scrutinising.
"See, Lady Cetrion? It is alright. My brother can control the wind."
"This should not have happened."
"What?"
Cetrion neared enough to brush her hand over his brother's cheek. His brother babbled delightedly but seemed unaware of the harsh look on Cetrion's face.
"It was only supposed to be you. There was supposed to be a god of storms. The magic was not meant to split and give us two gods," she said, her hand falling on both Raiden and his brother. "However, there is an easy way to fix this. The two of you can be merged together. It is a simple feat."
Raiden stepped back, free of her grasp. He held his brother close and shielded him from Cetrion's view.
"No, please. We don't have to do that."
"But it would be beneficial. This planet only needs one protector and your power will be weakened if split between two of you."
"Please, don't destroy him." Raiden looked down at his brother, who stared back with only delight and trust. “I’ll look after him.”
"You'll be responsible for his well-being?" Cetrion questioned.
"Yes, I will, my lady."
Cetrion looked at him, her flowing dress trailing behind her as she paced around him, her eyes stuck disapprovingly on the baby nestled in his arms.
"Very well, your request is granted. However, we will not tolerate you falling behind in your assigned duties. If we discover that you have not been keeping up in your duties as Earthrealm's protector then we will be returning to make sure there aren't any distractions."
"No, my lady. My brother will not be a distraction. You have nothing to worry about. I will carry out your will as you asked."
Cetrion nodded.
"Good. This will not be the last time we check on you, Raiden, but there are other worlds I am committed to. I will return."
"Yes, Lady Cetrion."
Cetrion turned, with a mere wave of her hands a glowing portal opened up and she stepped through. Once the portal disappeared, Raiden was left on his own.
He was now stuck in this new primitive world, with no one to help him when its safety rested on his shoulders. As he contemplated this he felt a breeze rush past him, accompanied by a giggle.
He looked down and smiled at his brother, who laughed again in response.
"I am happy I am not alone," Raiden said as he sat down, holding his little brother closer. "I would hate to spend an eternity with no one else." His brother did not seem to understand the words but still smiled nonetheless.
"Thank you for being here." It occurred to Raiden that he would need to devise a name, "Thank you, Fujin."