Validar paced the room, going from one end to another. Currently that wretch of a wife of his was fulfilling her only purpose of existence some rooms over, and was taking an annoyingly long amount of time. Her screaming had gotten annoying, so not wanting to deal with the ear piercing noise a moment longer he had walked away. Now he just waited for a midwife to come and tell him the news.

He had never wanted to get married. At least, not to her. But, she was the only option.

The Grimleal had for centuries worked to create the perfect vessel for their god, and were getting impatient. Body after body had failed, either not even reacting at the table, or being consumed by Grima's energy when too exposed.

Validar himself had been somewhere in the middle, provoking a reaction but not being accepted either. Traditionally, the previous attempt at Grima's vessel would have several children in an attempt to father or birth a suitable child for Grima to use. The last attempt at a vessel, however, the one that was best compatible with the Dark God, had died as she gave birth to Validar himself. He was her first, and thus only child.

Because of it, the Grimleal leaders had always been especially careful with him. They didn't have any backups after all. When he got to the Table to checked his suitability as a vessel and it began to glow in reaction, the priests had rejoiced. But, just a minute later, the glow turned fierce and erupted into dark flames, enveloping him. As he let go, Validar could've sworn he heard a voice in his head, laughing. He couldn't think longer about it, though. The priests were already dragging his singed body away.

His skin had never been particularly light, but it was tinged an even darker shade in that event. One of the reasons he wore such heavy robes that only revealed his face and hands was because of it. The singe hadn't evenly caught him, and while all of his body was a dark color, there were several versions of brown and even grey that painted his form. Some faded in gradient, some contrasts looked almost like the flames that licked him upon Grima's rejection, but either way it didn't look quite right.

At that moment, the priests decided never to allow him to attempt to contact Grima again. At least, not before he passed on his blood. Grima's blood.

For years he was presented with women of varying caliber, none of which interested him. None of which seemed good enough for Validar or the council. Eventually he met his current wife, Infela. The infernal woman had never appealed to him, but the Grimleal heads would wait no longer. Though there was one line that carried the most of the Dragon's blood, being that of the vessels, there were a few more that held at least a few droplets within them. The line of the vessel had blood and blessing, but other minor families held at least some of Grima within them. That way they could either mother or father, depending on the gender of the current vessel, the next child so that it would have the most of Grima's essence within it as possible. They were banned from having more than one child with anyone else, so there only existed a handful of families that had Grima's blood, each made up of a single parent and child.

Infela didn't have much of Grima's blood, barely a traceable amount, but the Grimleal had kept tabs on her family since the time of Grima himself. No one really knew how Grima had granted his blood unto the people, whether it was by allowing them to drink from him, or if he took human form and mingled with a few, but he had done something nonetheless.

Validar's wife had Blood and that was what mattered. Nothing else. So he was ordered to mix with her and grant the council their next chance at a vessel, lest he suffer for disobedience. Not that they would do anything particularly horrible to him, given he had no replacement, but it would no doubt be unpleasant.

"Validar!" a deep voice called out.

The man in question turned around, surprised. He wasn't aware of any male midwives in the castle, and doubted that the doctor himself would come.

"What is it," the tall man snapped, not particularly pleased with the panting figure in front of him.

But as he looked the man over, Validar realised the messenger wasn't simply some runner fetched to bring him back. He was one of the Council. A younger member who had just taken his place, and thus held the least power of them all, but in a place of importance nonetheless.

"Follow me. Our prayers have been answered!" the council member ordered, a slightly delirious smile on his face.

Validar raised his… well… eyebrow area at the response. After the explosion of flame at the table, his eyebrows had never really managed to grow back.

The messenger kept a swift pace as he guided Validar to their destination. His expression had only become more and more gleeful on the way over, confusing and slightly worrying his companion.

Dark shadows crept up the walls, veiling the tapestries in shades of grey and black that covered their natural purples. Few candles were lit, as no one else was on the side of the castle Validar had relocated himself to when he grew tired of Infela's screams.

When he reached her room, he found it already full of other members of the council. They were all looming over the Hierophant, who was cradling something in his hands. Presumably Validar's son or daughter.

Completely naked, with not even a blanket covering him, was the child, who though Validar's apparent son, held absolutely no resemblance to him. He didn't share his skin or hair with Infela either. The woman had purple hair matching the shade of the tapestries Validar had passed on the way, and was tanned from years spent toiling in the desert and genetics.

The boy was as pale a person Validar had ever laid his eyes upon, and had hair resembling the scenery of Regna Ferox in the dead of winter. But what mattered was his hand, the thing that caused Validar's heart to catch in his throat. There, covering the back of the boys tiny right hand, was the full mark of Grima. In the room's poor lighting, it seemed to be glowing slightly.

"We've done it. Lord Grima's true vessel has been born," one councilmember breathed, reaching for the boy. The Hierophant's Right Hand, Henston, slapped the man's flesh away, however, with a glare. The rest of the Council stepped back, and Validar was allowed to walk up to his new son. His purpose for existence. The Hierophant handed the boy over, and Validar was speechless. This tiny creature was to be Grima's vessel one day. He seemed so weak. So undeserving. Validar should have been the one…

But it mattered not. Validar's time had passed. Now it was time for this boy to take his place, to live and grow to be Grima's new self. To become a god.

"P-please…" a voice cracked, as a tanned, shaking hand reached out toward the child in Validar's arms. "Let me… hold him. Let me hold… Robin…"

Infela looked terribly sick, and Validar didn't feel like giving such an important subject to the woman, whose eyes were fluttering open and closed , and was so coated in sweat it almost seemed she had gone for a jog in the rain. And Robin? Such a pathetic name, but it didn't matter. The boy would only be holding it for less than two decades in all likelihood. But...

"...No."

And with that, Validar left, leaving Infela behind. He could hear her choking and sobbing behind him, but it mattered not. She had served her purpose.

For now, Validar would go to his room which held clothes for the infant he had with him. Once dressed well enough to be safe in the cold night's air, the two would venture out to the Dragon's Table so that the boy could be exposed to Grima's sleeping power. Validar would only hold him out so that The Dragon may feel his new vessel, as Robin was young enough that compatibility might be an insignificant defense against Grima's vast power, but the boy would see the Table anyway.

With Robin's appearance differing so wildly from both of his parents, Validar could only wonder if it resembled that of Grima's original manakete form. There were no records of Grima's appearance as far as the Grimleal could find, so it was entirely possible. Validar hoped it was so, as that would mean Robin truly was Grima's future body.

For now, he had to make it to the Table.

Today was a glorious day.

Author's note: So some of you may be wondering why I'm doing this, and not working on Rebirths and Revelations. Well, I had about half an hour once where I was doing nothing but couldn't use my phone (my battery has been draining so quickly lately), so I ended up writing a good amount of the next chapter on paper. Well, I felt like writing just now but didn't want to get up and retrieve the paper. So, I wrote this instead. This may stay a oneshot, but I might also make it multi chaptered. I'm not sure. It would follow Robin growing up. In Plegia. That's why Infela is so weak, because it was originally going to be a multichaptered fic where she died and thus couldn't take Robin from Plegia so he'd grow up there. I kind of like it as a oneshot though, so I don't know. It depends on how much time I have and the motivation. Thank you for reading, and I may or may not see you in additional chapters. Just under 1500 words.

EDIT: By the way, I made up the name Infela. I just took the word unfortunate, put it in Google translate got infelux, and made it a little less obvious. Or something like that. I can't quite remember...

Eruran out.