Ludo was all smiles as he walked beside Teffania in his human form. His latest followers had been extremely productive in generating Faith for him. As much as he hated them, he couldn’t argue with the results. The morning of the fourth day since they’d left the village had already come and gone. Now, the trio walked alongside fields of shimmering gold as the sun bore down on the surrounding wheat.
The sun feels good.
It was this sort of thing Ludo missed when he was an orb. The simple sensations of
feeling
something. Luckily, despite the many layers he was forced to wear, he didn’t overheat. Hell, he didn’t even seem to sweat.
Still, it would’ve been nice if I could’ve picked my own look.
Teffy glanced at him, then back at the road. She’d been doing that quite often ever since he took this form again. Quick little sneaky looks in his direction.
“What is it?” Ludo asked.
“You’re still here,” she replied.
“Wow, thanks, Captain Obvious. Don’t think I would’ve realised that if you hadn’t said anything.” Ludo grinned.
“What?” Teffania frowned. “Who’s Captain Obvious? Are they here?”
She looked around them, expecting another god to pop out of nowhere.
Guess it’s lost on her.
Ludo shrugged as she looked at him for an answer.
“Fine. But I meant, well, aren’t you a god?”
Ludo sighed. “Sure am.”
“Then, don’t you have somewhere else to be? Like, other people to help, or something?”
“Not really,” Ludo shrugged again.
Teffania remained quiet as she seemed to think about something. A short distance away, Lusa in her faded brown dress was chasing something.
A beetle?
The tiny thing was bright blue as it flitted through the tall grass at the edge of the road.
“She really can’t see me,” Ludo blurted out.
“I don’t think so.”
Ludo hadn’t expected an answer. It was more or less something he was saying to himself. But right now was a good time to think about it.
“Hm, you’re the only one who can. I wonder why that is?”
“You’re the god, shouldn’t you know?”
Ludo let out a sharp snort. “Sure, I know about as much about being a god as a turtle knows about being a bird.”
Ahead of them, Lusa glanced back with a confused look on her face. The little girl jogged over to them, looked around a bit, and then stared at her sister.
“Sis, who’re you talking to?”
“Just myself.”
“Oh.”
Lusa didn’t seem to believe her though. She kept looking around trying to spot someone. Her eyes passed over Ludo without stopping several times. Eventually, she grew bored and skipped ahead of them again.
Ludo took his time to enjoy the rolling countryside as they walked on in silence. The road curved gently to the left to avoid a hill. Then, they came across a low stone bridge that crossed a river. As Teffy led them over it, she gazed at something up ahead.
“That used to be a watchtower,” she said as she pointed at a ruined, circular stone wall. “From the old wars.”
Ludo raised his eyebrows as he looked at with interest.
You wouldn’t know that from what’s left of it.
“Which war?” he asked.
“Don’t know. It was my grandmother who told me that, and they were old even to her.”
Naturally, Ludo was disappointed. He’d quite like to know a bit more about this world. It’s history and culture. But he doubted a simple village girl really knew anything he’d be interested in.
A few minutes later, Ludo saw the concerned look on Teffy’s face as she stared at her sister. When he glanced at Lusa, he saw her staring at nothing, talking to thin air.
“She talks to herself,” Teffania said quietly.
“What?”
“When she thinks I’m not listening. She makes up conversations. With our parents.” Teffy’s gaze lingered on her sister. “It’s been hard for her. Since they died.”
Ludo didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much you could say to something like that. He wanted to help her though. That was when he had an idea.
“What if she could talk to me?” he asked.
Teffania stopped walking as she stared at him. “What?”
“Hm, I was just thinking, maybe you can see me because you’re one of my followers? Believers? Not really sure how to phrase that.” He paused as he rubbed his chin. “I was just thinking that maybe that’s the reason you can see me.”
Teffania frowned as she seriously considered it. “You want me to convert my sister into one of your followers?”
“Oh, I didn’t think about that. Is there another god you two follow?”
“Not really,” Teffy chewed her lip. “We just sort of went through the motions. Same as everyone else.”
“Then, what’s the harm? She already talks to people who aren’t there. At least I’d answer her.”
His words seemed to strike a nerve. Teffy clenched her jaw, and for a moment, he thought she’d refuse. But her expression softened as she looked at Lusa again.
“What… do I tell her?”
“The truth,” Ludo shrugged. “That you’ve been talking to a god. And she might be able to do it too.”
Teffania sighed. “And you really think it will work?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
It didn’t take them long to catch up to Teffy’s sister. Her face was red from all the running around, but she stopped playing when Teffania asked her to stop for a moment. Teffy sat down at the edge of the road, and patted the ground beside her. Lusa immediately sat down next to her, still fiddling with the flowers she’d picked.
“Lusa, I need to tell you something.”
“Is it about the man from the village?”
“No, it’s about something else.” Teffania paused and looked into the distance. Most likely trying to choose the right words for what she had to say. “Do you remember the stories Mother used to tell us? About the gods?”
Lusa nodded with a cute frown on her face.
“Well, there’s another one she didn’t mention. He’s called Ludo.”
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“I don’t think many people have,” Teffania glanced at Ludo, then back at her sister. “He’s the god of games. And… he helped me win the Noble tournament.”
Lusa’s brow creased as she thought about that. “How?”
“He gave me his blessing.”
Lusa considered this for a long moment. She twirled one of her flowers between hers fingers. “Is that who you’ve been talking to?”
“Yes.”
“Can I meet him?”
“I hope so. You see, he’s here. Right now. But you can only see him if you really believe he exists. You’ll have to pray to him.”
“What should I pray for?”
Teffania looked at Ludo, unsure of what to say next. He stepped closed and crouched down, making sure he was looking Lusa in the eyes.
“Tell her to say my name,” he said. “To ask to meet me. She’ll have to mean it though.”
“Just say his name,” Teffania replied to her sister. “Ludo. And ask to meet him. But this is important, Lusa. You really have to believe in him.”
Lusa set her flowers down and clasped her hands as she closed her eyes. She wore an expression that showed she was trying to be serious. Her lips moved silently. But Ludo heard her as he opened up his mind.
Ludo, please, be real. I really want to meet you. If my sister’s going crazy, I don’t know what to do.
The god in question burst out laughing as he heard that, startling the small girl.
You have gained a new follower.
+1 Faith
Ludo wiped his eyes as Lusa stared at him with wide eyes. He grinned mischievously as he glanced at Teffy. “Well, I’d say that was a success.”
“What are you laughing at?” Teffania asked with a look of bewilderment.
“Oh, nothing. Just a little secret between Lusa and me.”
He winked at Lusa with a grin that split his face. To her credit, she didn’t flinch or scream. She just stared at him in amazement. The same way she did when she discovered a pretty new flower.
“Lusa, you’re being rude. Say something to Ludo.” Teffy chided as she rubbed Lusa’s head.
“You’re real!”
Ludo chuckled as he looked down at himself. He picked at his clothes, then looked at Lusa with an utmost serious expression. “It would seem so.”
Now it was Lusa’s turn to laugh. “You’re weird.”
“Lusa!” Teffy stated sharply with shock.
“Just a little bit,” Ludo replied with a gentle smile as he pinched two fingers together leaving a small gap.
Lusa chuckled again as she studied his clothes. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“It wasn’t my choice.” Ludo sighed exaggeratedly as held out his hands to show he was helpless about it.
“Did your parents make you wear that?” Lusa asked with a gasp.
Her honest, childish question warmed Ludo’s heart. She honestly sounded affronted that anyone would be made to wear his clothes.
“No, I don’t have parents.”
“Oh, you’re just like us then. Did something happen to them?”
“Lusa,” Teffania groaned as he flushed red. “You shouldn’t ask people that. Besides, Ludo’s a god. Gods don’t have parents.”
“They don’t?” Lusa glanced at Ludo with a questioning gaze wanting confirmation.
“Hm, I don’t know about other gods, but I used to have parents.”
Lusa shot a triumphant look at her sister, who, in turn, looked at Ludo with a questioning gaze of her own. But it wasn’t something he wanted to get into. After all, he only had vague memories of having parents. He didn’t know how close he was to them, nor could he remember their names.
“Are you really a god?” Lusa asked as she turned her gaze back to Ludo. “You don’t look like one. You look like a man.”
“Oh, and what should a god look like?”
She scrunched her face up as she seriously thought about it for a moment. “Shiny, and bigger. Much bigger.”
“Oh really? Bigger, huh?” Ludo rubbed his jaw as he raised an eyebrow at her. “Maybe, I’m short for a god because I didn’t eat my vegetables.”
Lusa looked absolutely horrified at his little joke. He already knew she didn’t like vegetables with the way she did her best to avoid them every time they stopped for a meal.
That might make things a little easier on Teffania.
Still, Lusa’s excitement at having someone else to talk to soon got the better of her. “Sis, can Ludo walk with us? He doesn’t have to go home yet, does he?”
Teffy sighed. “He’s been with us this whole time. You just couldn’t see him before.”
“What?” Lusa’s face scrunched up again. “That’s so strange.”
“There’s a lot of strange things in the world,” Ludo said as he tussled her hair. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”
The trio soon set off on their journey again. It wasn’t long before the ruins of the watchtower disappear from their sights. The whole time, Lusa walked beside Ludo. The quiet walk was quickly replaced by a bombardment of questions. What is a god? Could he fly? What was his favourite food? Did he know the other gods?
Ludo answered everything he could, but dodged anything he couldn’t. When she finally seemed satisfied, she skipped ahead of them again to find the next thing to catch her interest. However, she did tend to abuse her prayers whenever she wanted to tell him something but he was too far away. Still, Ludo wouldn’t complain. It was just nice to see a bright smile on her face.
The Faith she kept sending his way didn’t hurt either.
Eventually, the road meandered over a low hill, and Teffania pointed to a lone thick tree just off the road. “We’ll stop there for lunch.”