Call of the Heavens: Josiah!

The baby glanced lazily at the enormous face that suddenly approached.

He thought this would probably be the most impressive person he had ever seen had he not already seen one more impressive. Thinking like this, the baby's face twitched as if it wanted to smile, and then blankly moved his eyes back to the angel that currently held him. Seeing her face, his face finally formed a small smile.

Who knew facial muscles could be so hard to control? Just imagine if he wanted to frown. How hard would that be?

Isis snuggled his nose as she spoke deliberately, "Osiris, do not forget what you have promised me! The baby is a boy, so his name will be Josiah as divined by my father…"

The honored seer had once divined that once "this body" gave birth to a boy, only two names could sway its fate. Isis chose this one, as Niagra would have preferred the other. This felt like the right decision to her.

Lady Isis could only hope desperately that the prophecy would come true.

Smiling at her, her husband, Lord Osiris, stood tall and faced the room.

"Most excellent. Let the heavens hear me. From this day forward, this child's name will be Josiah!"

Lightning struck several times out of nowhere outside the estate, and thunder clapped in the skies nine consecutive times, causing the crowd to reveal looks of awe. 

Isis was stunned. Did the prophecy hold such a destiny?

"The heavens acknowledged him!"

"Only the most outstanding Sage kings in history made the heavens acknowledge their name! The name Josiah will be blessed with a great destiny."

"To my knowledge, there should be a thunderclap for each heavenly layer that acknowledges the name."

"Are you kidding? Wasn't that nine thunderclaps? Could the entire heavenly ennead accept him?"

"Be silent! That's like claiming the little lord is equal to the heavens themselves! Do not forget, his majesty the Pharaoh is present."

"Don't forget Lord Messenger is just the keeper of the divine. You're overthinking it."

Equal to the heavens!

Even Lord Osiris found himself in awe of heaven's response to his very traditional action. Pharaoh Anubis stood straight as a sword and stared blankly at the roof as if he could see through to the heavens beyond the marble. Before becoming Pharaoh, his name had also been acknowledged by the divine ennead, but only when he reached the Mage rank. Moreover, there were only two lightning strikes across two layers.

This little ball of flesh was simply a freak.

"Haha, little Jody! Third young lord Trillwolf! Tomorrow, I will throw a feast in honor of my son! You are all welcome to attend."

As the crowd slowly dispersed, Osiris held his son close to his chest, feeling a swell of pride and protectiveness wash over him. He knew that with such an auspicious beginning, his son was destined for greatness.

But as the night darkened and the stars began to twinkle in the sky, Osiris couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that had been nagging him since the birth of his son. There was something different about Josiah, something that set him apart from other children.

In the quiet of the night, as his wife and son slept peacefully beside him, Osiris couldn't resist the urge to use his most advanced magic this time to scan the infant's body for any abnormalities. He made a hand seal, and eerily grey light suffused from his gaze. What he saw shocked him to the core. 

There, nestled deep within Josiah's chest, invisible to regular detection, was a glowing crystal-like glob of energy that pulsed with the otherworldly Bizarre power. Osiris had never seen anything like it before. He could only see it because the Dread Wolf's Gaze operated under the same divine principle.

He knew that he had to keep this a secret from everyone. He'd prefer not to even know about this, as the implications were too complex.

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More than a year passed in the blink of an eye, and a toddler sat in a massive estate miles away, at the top of a grassy hill overlooking a small river.

His bright blue eyes seemed to shine like gems, and tiny multi-colored star-shaped clips adorned his wavy black hair. The little prince wore luxurious white clothing, but his face was contorted with deep thought, which seemed very strange for a one-year-old.

This child was Josiah of House Trillwolf, yet he could only think of himself as Trill Jody, millionaire playboy and ex-soldier. As he looked up at the sky, his mind raced with a strange scene that replayed repeatedly; it showed a peculiar man in an unusual building pointing a glowing weapon at two women while a young man of about twenty years old stood in front. 

Josiah, or Jody, feels conflicted because he can't decide who he truly is. His thoughts and memories were scrambled, with not much being clear. Was he Josiah Trillwolf, the wealthy billionaire's son, or Trill Jody, the former soldier? Was this some reincarnation? So, did he die that day?

His identity was deeply unsettled as these thoughts raced through his head.

Moreover, when he awoke this morning, he had new memories.

The young man was sure of his hurt as he saw the beautiful girl he loved melt away into nothing. The woman who raised him like a mother, calling herself his wife and promising to save his soul before it disappeared. Then there was darkness.

Years and years of darkness.

Before boom! The loudest voice he ever heard reverberated through everything. Jody could only assume that when he received his inheritance from the booming voice of eternity, it must have come from some kind of afterlife. A creature shrouded in twilight made him sign an agreement with the True Pharaoh of Twilight. Then, out of nowhere, the wolf boy was beside a floating sword and a dragon. What was real? Could this just be a dream conjured by an extremely powerful imagination?

After all, his father often called him a genius.

Confusion swirled in his head, and emotions ran high as one moment, he screamed in the pain of loss, and the next, he found himself cradled in someone's arms. The pure love in those eyes was something he would never forget. Life had never been normal for this young man, but this was beyond anything he could ever have imagined.

He couldn't help but wonder what strange fate awaited him now.