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Levi knew he was tall for his age, but it was still sometimes a struggle to reach the cabinets in the church kitchen. Stepping onto an open drawer, he struggled to keep his balance before managing to climb onto the counter. Standing up, he was able to reach into the cabinet and pull out the ramen cups. Grinning, he jumped down with the cups in his hands and set them onto the small kitchen table. He grabbed one of the glass measuring cups and filled it with water before heating it up in the microwave.
Levi hummed to himself, silently praying to the Divine to thank them for the meal and for the safety of the church he called home. After a few moments, the microwave beeped and Levi collected the slightly-boiling water. Pouring it into the ramen cup, Levi bounced his foot with impatience, wanting his breakfast before the church service. Freezing at the thought of the service, Levi felt his hands begin to shake with nerves. He looked at the papers spread across the kitchen table, he had his holy text and his sermon prepped, but he was still nervous. This was the first time he’d be giving a sermon since the rest of the church members left him for his training with the Divine.
He prayed again and was met with silence this time. Levi sighed, knowing he was still too weak in his connection to constantly receive words from the Divine, but he missed the company of others. He had spent the past week alone and, while he was excited to nurture his connection to the Divine One for his purpose, he missed people. The church leaders had instructed him to not leave the church with the exception of buying himself groceries, fundraisers, and other community outreach activities. He had plenty of groceries in the church the past week, being unable to use the stove quite yet, so he didn’t plan to go to the grocery store until after the service.
Slurping up his noodles, kicking his feet at the table, and reviewing the speech he wrote for his first solo-sermon, Levi felt somewhat content in his little life.
Levi heard people entering the church for service and grew more nervous. He felt his magic shaking in his veins and didn’t know how to get his eyes to stop glowing gold. He shook in the bathroom, door locked behind him, as he tried to calm down. His notes for the service were at the podium and he knew what to do and say, he just needed to do it. He missed the other priest’s gentle hands on his back as he led a youth-sermon or sang a hymn. Levi wished he still had their reassurance as he gripped the edges of the bathroom sink.
Eventually, Levi was able to settle enough that when he opened his eyes they were the normal blood-red rather than the piercing gold of his Divine connection. Breathing in and out, he slowly adjusted his collar and cape, wanting to present his best self forward. With one final check, making sure his small braid was neatly in place, Levi turned away from the mirror and exited the bathroom. Entering along the side-wall of the church, Levi watched as the congregation slowly filed into their seats. Two of the other town’s children, Diana and Tobias Palmer, waved hello as they noticed him, entering with their parents. Levi grinned brightly and waved back with excited energy. He had recently learned how to summon the large floofy stray cat, Beelzebub, with his magic and wanted to show his somewhat-friends sometime soon. Levi’s smiled dimmed a bit as the recalled the church leader’s warnings to limit the people who could be made aware of the magic he held.
As the congregation continued to arrive, Levi looked down at his small minecraft-themed watch. He had 2 minutes until the sermon was supposed to start, but he wanted to get it going as soon as possible. Walking to the front, Levi stepped onto the step-stool behind the podium and spoke into the microphone.
“Welcome to the Church of the Divine. Thank you for coming to our service!” Levi spoke, voice higher pitched than he’d like to be for the sermon. Whispers flooded the crowd and concerned glances were passed between many of the adults. Levi’s eyebrows furrowed as he wondered what they were discussing. Shaking his head and grinning, he continued, “I have been placed in charge of this chapter of the Church and will be leading sermons from now on.” He spoke with as much confidence as he could muster, only able to see a few people over the podium. As he began the sermon, he was interrupted by Dr. Alex Palmer approaching his right side of the podium.
“Hey, Levi, right?” He asked, bending down to meet Levi’s height.
“Yes, Dr. Palmer?” Levi asked, tilting his head in confusion at the interruption.
“They didn’t… they didn’t leave you alone here, did they?”
“They had to!” Levi shook his head. “The Divine chose me and they need me alone most of the time to learn to communicate.” Dr. Palmer’s eyes widened in shock and a hand reached up to cover his mouth.
“Levi.. that’s not a good thing.”
“What do you mean, Dr. Palmer? Can’t this wait, I have a sermon to run.”
“Levi, you’re just a kid”
“No, I’m not. I’m the Divine’s chosen. I don’t get to be a kid anymore.”
“That’s not how that works, Levi.”
“Yes it is! Father Connors told me so before he left!”
“Father Connors was wrong. And, Levi, please, come with me. We can help you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me and Nathan worry about the details, but how would you feel explaining this to someone and possibly staying with us for a while? So you aren’t alone?”
“But the divine-”
“I’m certain the Divine wants you to be healthy and live a long life right?”
“Yeah?” Levi hesitantly nodded.
“You can’t do that if you don’t have an adult taking care of you, making sure you eat the right foods, and do all the things you need to, right?”
Levi hesitated again before replying with a small nod. “I guess, Dr. Palmer.”
“Okay, so how about we end this sermon and we’ll take you to where Nathan works and they can ask you some questions and then we can take you home, okay?”
“Okay…” Levi replied, anxiousness filling his soul.
“Shows Over, Folks!” Alex shouted to the crowd. “I’m gonna make sure Levi gets adult supervision and a home.”
The crowd cheered at the announcement leaving Levi in shock as his parishioners greeted them as they walked down the aisle, telling him how brave he was and how much he was loved. It all felt overwhelming and Levi couldn’t help but hide behind Dr. Palmer’s legs.
After a quick hospital visit and discussions with CPS, Levi was placed into the care of the Palmers and the church of the Divine was being investigated for child neglect, abuse, and murder. Levi was confused by the last bit, as the members had willing sacrificed themselves to the divine, but the police seemed to think he was confused and misremembering what had occurred. Dr. Palmer told him it was fine and normal for them to not understand things like The Divine and they would discuss it at home.
“Home” Levi spoke to himself in the back of Dr. Palmer’s car. The idea felt warm to him. He had never truly had a ‘home’ since the Church was.. The Church and his parents had given him up immediately to his role as the chosen.
Pulling into the driveway, they were greeted by Diana, Tobias, and Nathan. Diana and Tobias were excitedly claiming him as their new sibling and dragged him to their rooms to review toys while Nathan and Alex stayed behind to talk.
“We’re keeping him, right?” Nathan asked, leaning down to kiss Alex’s forehead.
“As long as you’re willing, Sexy.” Alex replied, pulling him down for a full-kiss. After they broke, Nathan nodded.
“Of course.”
A few weeks later, Dr. Palmer revealed to Nathan and Levi his role at Delta Green after a mission with a woman looking for help from Levi’s church. He didn’t intend to reveal this to Levi, but the boy seemed to always appear at the worst times and the church things were really his realm.
Another few weeks later, Levi had started to form a bond with Olive, who had been possessed by the spirit of the dogman but seemed happy to teach Levi pop-culture underneath the sullen-teen facade.
Now, a group of magic-sucking vampires seemed to be harming people within the town and Levi was demanding to help.
“But I’m the Divine’s chosen, Dr. Palmer! I can’t just sit at home!” Levi insisted, gesturing wildly as he swished his cape.
“Levi, listen to me, you are 10 years old.” Alex spoke, dropping down to grab Levi by his shoulders. “You may think you are special because of what you've been told, and trust me, you are.” He continued, making Levi look at his face. “You are a wonderful kid and I love you so much, Levi, but you are still just a kid. Please, let the adults handle this!” Alex spoke, trying his hardest to get Levi to understand the danger he would be placing himself in if Alex permitted him to come along.
“You’re gonna get hurt and I can heal you!” Levi insisted, tearing away from Alex’s grip and lighting up his hand with the golden glow of his magic.
“So can the hospital, Levi, I’ll be okay.” Alex insisted, standing up.
“No, no no! You don’t understand!” Levi cried, tears streaming down his face as he stomped his foot like a tantrum. “The Divine TOLD ME. If I don’t go with you, you will die! I can’t lose you!”
“Levi…” Alex whispered, looking over to Nathan for support.
“Levi, you can’t trust everything the Divine says.” Nathan advised, taking his turn to kneel on the ground and hold Levi’s shoulder still.
“But they’re the Divine!” Levi whined, clutching onto Nathan in fear. “They know everything!”
“Do you trust everything your teachers say?” Nathan asked.
“Well… no.” Levi replied, thinking of the teacher who told him the Divine wasn’t real.
“Do you trust everything Nathan or I say?” Alex took a turn to ask.
“... no” Levi replied, looking down at the ground.
“You should always question things, Levi. It’s good. It’s part of what makes us human.” Nathan advised, pressing a kiss into Levi’s forehead.
“Please, Levi, stay home and stay safe. I’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll have Ananiel and Shark and Molly and Mabel, and Hugo to help me, okay? Aunt Karen might even show up and help.” Alex advised, holding his car keys and preparing to meet up with Ananiel.
“... okay.” Levi replied.
“Come on, Levi. We can watch a movie and wait up for Alex, okay?” Nathan offered as a compromise, tilting his head towards the couch.
“...okay.” Levi hesitantly agreed as Alex raced out the door.
“...Nathan?” Levi asked, leaning into Nathan on the couch, half-heartly watching the animated Barbie movie on the screen.
“Yeah, Levi?” Nathan opened the conversation, gently running a comforting hand through Levi’s hair. Nathan’s heart was still beating fast, worried for Alex, but - right now - the kids were his priority.
“...can I start calling you and Dr. Palmer… Dad?” Levi asked, not looking at Nathan’s face. If he had, he would have seen absolute shock quickly followed by pure delight.
“Of course you can, kiddo!” Nathan exclaimed, hugging Levi’s shoulder tighter with his free arm.
“Thanks, Nath-... Dad.” Levi spoke softly, fidgeting with his hands and staring at them. “I’m gonna go to bed, okay?” He asked, leaning away and refusing to look Nathan in the eye. Nathan smiled to himself, relaxing a bit as Levi appeared to lie like the other two kids when they wanted to play video games or watch TV in their room.
“Bed, already? It’s only 7?” Nathan questioned, quirking up an eyebrow and trying to hide his smirk.
“The Divine spoke to me and it made me really tired.” Levi lied through his teeth, nearly making Nathan lose it laughing as the lie was obvious.
“.. well, okay then, Levi.” Nathan agreed, nodding and smiling before relaxing into the couch. “Just make sure to brush your teeth.”
“I will!” Levi replied, jumping off the couch and bouncing down the hall. Nathan chuckled to himself, watching his son for a moment before flipping the TV to an old show from the early 2000s. He tried not to watch it around Alex, too much death on-screen, but it was funny and heartwarming to Nathan. He couldn’t help but see a little bit of Alex in one of the leads personality.
After a bit of time, Nathan found himself sighing as he washed his hands in the bathroom sink. He looked at Levi’s toothbrush and realized it was bone-dry. “Levi, what did I say about-” He started, opening the door to Levi’s bedroom before freezing. The window was left open and a note was on the bed. Nathan quickly ran over, picking up the note in a panic.
“Going to go help Dad. Love you, Levi”
Whipping out his phone, Nathan called Alex.
Alex’s phone rang and rang from where he sat, crumpled against the wall, eyes barely open as tears poured down his face, watching his little Levi trapped in with a monster, overlaid with visions of his other friends who died.
Levi stood in his magic bubble, blocking the creature from hurting his dad or Ananiel or the others further. They were all looking at him in shock as he gave a thumbs up before feeling a sharp pain in his neck. He would have screamed or cried, but everything quickly went black.
Alex roared as he watched his son crumble into a pool of his own blood. Regaining energy from the adrenaline, Alex shot at the creature over and over again while Shark helped attack it. As it went down, Ananiel continued to kick the rotting corpse in anger while Alex raced to where Levi’s body rested, blood coating his little pikachu pajama top and a chunk of his throat was ripped out. Alex sobbed, clutching Levi to his chest and rocking back and forth.
The only sounds for the next few minutes were Alex’s sobs and the wet kicks Ananiel made at the creature’s body.
Levi awoke in a haze inside his bedroom at the Palmer’s house. He lay in his comfortable plush mattress, head resting on his pokemon-themed pillowcase. He sighed in contentment, snuggling his face into the fresh-smelling pillowcase and cuddled under the warm blanket. As he was drifting back off into the inky darkness of his odd-dream, he felt a gentle hand shake his shoulder. As he opened his eyes, he was temporarily blinded by the beaming gold of the Divine’s form sitting on the edge of the bed.
“This is a nice space, Leviathan” The Divine spoke, brushing a hand through his hair. “But you need to return soon.”
“What do you mean?” Levi asked, his voice still filled with sleep.
“It was not your time to die yet, Leviathan. You still are needed for my mission.” The Divine spoke, a harsh tone entering their voice, causing Levi to shiver.
“.. so that wasn’t a dream?” He asked, refusing to look at the Divine.
“No… no Leviathan, it was not.” The Divine spoke, brushing Levi’s bangs back and they ran something similar to an arm but not quite through his hair.
“Oh…” Levi replied, looking down at the pillowcase, squeezing the blanket closer for some semblance of comfort. It felt cold now.
“Are you ready to go back now?” The Divine asked gently.
“Yeah..” Levi whispered, nodding his head lightly. The Divine leaned down and kissed the top of his forehead, filling the space with a golden light.
As Levi closed his eyes to shield them from the light, he felt a light tingle on his back and he felt the divine whisper in his mind, “You are my chosen, you are my sword, you are mine and no one will take you from me, Leviathan.”
Gasping for air, Levi awoke in Alex’s arms.
“Dad!” he cried out, smiling and tugging him into a tight hug. Alex’s grip loosened in shock.
“Le-Levi?” He whispered, questioning the child in his arms.
“I’m here, I’m alive, Dad. I’m the Divine’s chosen! He brought me back and he always will!” Levi beamed, childish smile brightening Alex’s darkened mind before clinging to his father in a tight hug.
Alex was not ashamed to say he sobbed into Levi’s blood-soaked shirt as he felt the heart beat once again.