Esai was terrified of not living up to his family’s expectations.

The young teen worked hard day and night to keep himself in the best of shape so that he could continue carrying on the path that the gods had given him. He was to help others, to bear the weight of the curse that had killed his grandparents and ruined his mother’s happiness so many years ago. While his father attempted to inspire Esai to live more freely and to have fun on occasion the burden of his role could not be so easily ignored. The villagers who visited constantly reminded Esai of that along with his mother’s tears that sometimes flowed down her cheeks when she didn’t believe he was paying attention. Guilt made her cry so many times over the slightest of his injuries and Esai worked hard to try and keep himself safe so that he would never have to witness his mother’s tears again. He never wanted to be the reason for her sorrow not when he was supposedly blessed so that she could be smiling instead of crying. Esai found himself constantly praying to the gods that he could keep absorbing any ill luck so that she could be happy. He never cried himself, never swore against his fate and never seemed to doubt that he could protect others. But that did not stop the nightmares that he could one day fail and that his family’s curses would return in full force to harm those he cared about. So Esai did his best to continue pleasing the gods and to keep a gentle nature about himself always. He was patient when the village children came by to play games with him, understanding when others came begging for help with tears in their eyes and hardworking when it came to accomplishing any task assigned to him.

At one point in his life there had been rumors that the Sanctum may try and come to claim him from his family because surely someone so touched would be an ideal conduit for the gods to speak through. Esai had also felt terror then because he feared being taken away from his parents. Who would protect them if he was gone? Would he wake up to news one day that the curse had returned to ruin any sort of happiness for the family he worked so hard to protect? What if it took their lives? Could he deal with being completely alone in this world? At least he could say that he had loving parents who gave him the desire to protect others but if they were gone….then Esai did not know what he would want to do anymore. Thankfully no one ever came from the Sanctum and such fears slowly abated as he grew older, well past the age of claiming, and no one came to find him. Perhaps his family had managed to keep his secret in their smaller village away from the city or perhaps the priests and priestesses thought it was best to leave a gift from the gods with the family they had bestowed with it. None wanted to risk the wrath of the two gods, not even for someone as rare as Esai. Imagine how many lives he could bless if he just ventured away from the village! Wasn’t it greedy for Brynae to hide him away like this? What if she had hidden him from the Sanctum and that was why he never left to join their ranks? The rumors had existed for a little while before finally fading away with everything else as his family worked hard to earn the trust and the love of their small village. For Esai the best way to deal with such fears was to continue pushing forward, to keep being true to himself and to keep helping others so that he could feel the warmth of their gratitude and grow in confidence that he truly was making a difference for his family and others. It was the only thing he knew how to do since he truly was afraid of leaving home and allowing the curse to return to his mother. One day he could possibly consider traveling but for now Esai was content staying at home so that he could continue protecting his family. Maybe one day he could try smaller trips, seeing how long he could be gone for and if nothing happened then perhaps it was the gods saying that their struggles were truly over and that his family had been forgiven for his grandparents’ transgressions.

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