Chapter 3

I walked out of my room and down the luxurious hall of our big home. I followed Livia, who was constantly urging me to walk faster her nervous excitement practically overflowed from her as she constantly adjusted the position of her hands. I was less nervous since I pretty much knew roughly what to expect. Still, the idea that in a few minutes, I would have a superpower excited me quite a bit. As we came to the end of the hallway that fed out into our ostentatious living room, Livia forced herself to calm down, coming to a stop. My brotherly instincts kicked in, and I walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder before I led the way toward our waiting family and family friends.

I looked toward the most imposing figure in the room first, our father. He stood at the center of the gathered group of people and stood well above most of them in terms of height. He was a two-meter-tall aging man seemingly carved from an ivory-like material. Of course, that material wasn't ivory but a metal with anomalous properties that allowed him to shrug off any and all damage. He was definitely a striking sight due to his resemblance to ancient Roman and Greek statues depicting the lord of the heavens, Zeus. Our father was well aware of this effect, so he leaned into it by dressing in togas and wearing bronze laurels on his head.

Beside our father stood Uncle Neptune. That wasn't his true name, but after he had drunk his elixir, that was what Livia and I only ever called him anymore. He didn't seem to mind. In fact, like our father, he embraced his new alias and dyed his long hair and beard blue, which suited him well and matched his eyes. Next to him was our aunt, Pluto. Like her brother Neptune, she had gone all in on just letting us kids call her Aunt Pluto. She looked exactly like an older version of Livia. 

I was drawn to a figure that I didn't recognize from the story but knew extremely well due to my new memories, my mother. She was the most normal-looking person in the bunch, with simple dark hair and average height. Her eyes were a dark grey which I had inherited instead of the rest of the family's crystal blue eyes. She turned as we approached and gave Livia and me a wide, loving smile. However, before she could speak, two children around the same ages as Livia and I came forward first.

The first was a blonde girl with tanned skin and hazel eyes. She seemed to be around my sister's age and was clearly going to grow into a top supermodel level of beauty in the future. The other was a boy, probably my age or a year younger, who was extremely handsome. These were Livia and my closest friends, as well as the only kids around our age, Fortuna and Felix. I could tell from the way they were fidgeting just as much as Livia that they, too, would get their elixirs today.

"Why don't you go greet Livia and Aurelian Felix?" I heard a woman's voice come from one of the large couches in the room, clearly stressing Livia's name more than mine. 

I turned and glanced at the man and woman seated on that couch. First, I inspected the blonde-haired woman that was clearly the two kid's mother. Her hazel eyes glanced toward my father as she had called out, and I turned quick enough to catch him giving a subtle nod of approval. It was clear that our families were already beginning to try and match Livia and Felix together. None of the children seemed to recognize what was going on, which made sense. I turned back to look at the last man on the couch, Uncle Luca. He wasn't technically our uncle, but he was one of my father's earliest and most loyal lieutenants, which had earned him a very trusted status in my father's inner circle.

It spoke to how trusted he was that Dad was even trying to match Felix with Livia since he was very protective of us. Finally, Felix and Fortuna arrived, and we almost instinctually separated by gender. While we were all close, there was still the gender gap and the differences in interest that it brought with it, which made Felix and I more alike while Fortuna and Livia were closer. 

"Hey," Felix said as he approached and stood next to me. 

I gave him a nod and said, "Excited for today?"

I could see the nervousness and excitement resurface in his eyes even stronger, but I could also see a hint of anxiety in his young eyes. "Yeah, but I'm pretty nervous too. I wasn't able to go to sleep last night,"

I nodded and was about to say more when my father's commanding voice interrupted my thoughts, "Fortuna and Aurelian, you two approach first and wait with us while Luca grabs the Warchest."

I noticed the other adults wince at how blunt and unsubtle he was in forcing Felix and Livia together, but I could also see how the way they glanced our way that they were cringing at how blatantly he was pairing Fortuna and me together as well. Of course, the others didn't think anything of it since they were too young to understand that we were already being paired with each other to bring the families closer together, but I wanted to groan internally. Truthfully, I couldn't put myself on too high a pedestal compared to my peers since I had only been 17 before my rebirth, which was only a few years older than I am now. 

While she looked somewhat confused, Fortuna responded immediately and began to head toward my father, with me a step behind her. As we walked forward, I noticed a large mirror hanging on one wall and decided to take a good look at myself as I walked. The first thing that struck me was how handsome I was. Even compared to Fortuna's beauty and Felix's handsomeness, I was somehow still on a higher level than them. I had my mother's striking storm-grey eyes and long platinum, bordering on white, hair from my father's side of the family. That, paired with my strong build and sharp jawline, would make me extremely attractive in the future.

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I focused back on my father as we stood at his feet, looking up at his towering figure. He looked down and put a hand on my shoulder before gesturing for Fortuna and me to talk amongst ourselves as he turned and began speaking to Uncle Luca. With his permission, I turned and looked slightly up at Fortuna, who was a bit taller than me due to her being older than me. She smiled as we stood looking at each other silently for a moment before breaking the silence between us. 

"What color elixir are you going to take?" she asked me as she practically quivered with nerves and excitement.

I thought for a moment since this was something I had been considering ever since making my wish to have three elixirs, and then I answered, "Violet or Green."

Of course, I would be taking a Violet and Green elixir once Livia took her Blue elixir and found that she and our father could wild two elixirs, and I would sneak a white elixir on top of my Violet and Green ones. Fortuna looked intrigued by my answer before she spoke and revealed her choice to me.

"I think I am going to go for Yellow, I think it would fit me best!" She said as she took a deep, calming breath once she caught sight of her father, Luca, carrying the Augusti Warchest of elixirs into the room. 

I wanted to whistle in appreciation as I saw a stockpile of around 30 elixirs in the chest. That was a good amount, especially since most people can only take one, and after Last Easter, they got progressively more rare over time. I wondered where they had managed to get so many elixirs, but it didn't really matter. Uncle Luca set the chest on a table in the middle of the room and stepped back as Dad gestured for Fortuna and me to take a step forward. I turned and watched Felix and Livia walking closer, both in excited discussion with one another. 

Despite us being children, there are some social cues and dynamics that are so blatant that even children notice. Fortuna took a step back to let me get the first pick as my father nodded approvingly at her action. I looked down at the chest full of all sorts of elixirs and noticed the stark disparity between the colors. While there were many Reds, Blues, Greens, and Oranges, there were only a few White and Violet elixirs. Never one to be too indecisive, I reached down and grabbed a violet one. I knew that I could undo the syringe and drink the elixir, but I chose to inject the needle into my thigh and depress the syringe instead.

The effect was immediate. I felt the elixir rush into my bloodstream and instantly bond with my body as it began to saturate every cell of my body. As I took the elixir, I closed my eyes and wished for an ability to control space like Gojo from JJK, Pain from Naruto, and Jean Grey from X-Men. I knew that the elixir would listen to my thoughts and wishes as we bonded. Then, it would select from some sort of list of powers in the purple dimension, then once I had my ability, nobody else would be able to get it naturally ever again. 

After the bonding process, which was completed in a moment due to my chosen method of injection, everything changed. The world no longer seemed bound by the laws of gravity and static. I could sense the potential for movement and change in everything. Space itself seemed to sing and beg for my attention. I couldn't help but lift my hand and manipulate the space around me. One of the couches began to float as I took control of the space it occupied and forcefully shifted in location. Now that I had my power, it was as simple as breathing to use it.

I snapped back to reality as I heard Fortuna gasp at my display and carefully lowered the couch back down. Again, my father rested his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze of approval. Next up, Livia stepped forward and selected a blue elixir from the chest. Unlike me, she opted to pop the needle end off and drink the elixir. I watched as her eyes flashed with internal blue light before fading as she stood. She stumbled back as she looked around in confusion, causing me to step up and catch her. 

As she looked at Dad, she spoke, "We can take two elixirs safely!" she said suddenly, confusing and alarming every adult present.

"Livia, honey, taking two elixirs turns people into Psychos. They become monsters!" Uncle Neptune said as he kneeled beside us.

"No, I can see into alternate timelines now," She said urgently, "In them, I can see Me and Dad wielding two powers!"

"Not your brother?" Dad asked, clearly interested in the prospect of more power but clearly not willing to risk becoming a Psycho.

"I don't know why, but I can't see him in any of my visions!" She said, clearly confused, but I understood that my black elixir was interfering with her power and took this as my queue to step forward.

"I'll test it since this is too big not to know the answer to. Even if Livia can't see me for some reason, it stands to reason that if she can take two, then I can too. I don't want to risk you, Dad, or her, so I'll do it!" I said, snatching a Green elixir and injecting myself in the other leg before anyone could argue. 

Everyone except for Livia and my father took a step away and readied for something horrible to happen, but from their point of view, they saw nothing happen except for a brief spark of green energy in my eyes. There was no big change in how I saw the world now, but I instinctually knew what my power was after taking it and knew that it was not inferior to even my father's power, which makes him invulnerable. When I had taken this green elixir, I had pictured Mahoraga and Doomsday's adaptation abilities, and I had received something similar.

"See, I'm fine!" I said to the stunned group of people, but before anyone else said anything, someone else moved, my father.

He reached forward, grabbed a red elixir, and then tossed the entire thing into his mouth, glass, needle, and all. There was a cracking sound as he broke the glass with his teeth, and then I was blinded by a halo of crimson electrical energy surrounding his body.