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Everyone got to work straightening things out. It was like an intermission in the middle of a stage show. Every single person felt a bubbly of excitement for what was coming next. Kat rushed off to move the bookcase into Sylvie’s room, Callisto and Vivian started to carry off the books and Roxy helped with by moving the bracelet kit as well as DDK. Bruce sat back and watched it all until he realised that someone needed to move Sylvie’s new chess set… but Lily got to it first. She left behind a suspiciously large backpack Bruce hadn’t seen before.

It didn’t take long for everything to find itself a new home. That home was the bookcase for basically everything. Proper places for the non-book presents could be found later, for now though it was all neatly out of the way and the big present was calling to everyone. Lily snuck back into the room first and transformed, taking her backpack with her.

Everyone had returned except Callisto, but it didn’t take long for the ‘maid’ to make her presence known, as well as show off exactly what she was doing. Callisto walked in with a stool in hand so that Sylvie could stand on her own for this last present. “I believe this will be better then simply carrying Sylvie around for this last present. This is your day Sylvie, the fact that you cannot reach the table is a blunder on my part. One I hopefully will not repeat in future years.

Sylvie nodded and hopped up on the stool, a small tear in her eye. It was hard to notice sometimes, but Sylvie was a smart child. Sylvie knew Vivian adopted them mostly on a whim. Sylvie knew that getting adopted was no sure-fire way to obtain happiness. She knew it wasn’t even a guaranteed way to receive a family. Still, Callisto’s blunt, factual words were a wonderful gift made all the better for the fact that in Callisto’s mind it was such a minor thing.

Sylvie had long since accepted the fact that she had a home here. She didn’t doubt that she was loved by Vivian, or doted on by Callisto. Her mind had catalogued how their interactions had… well to say Vivian’s changed would be a lie, Vivian had treated her like a daughter since day one. Callisto had tried certainly, but now… now Sylvie knew that regardless of what happened in the future, she would always be part of this family.

A dark part of her mind wanted to poke at the fact she’d ever doubted the fact she belonged, but it was easily pushed aside. Nobody here had given her those doubts, they were simply the product of reading a number of studies about the adoption system and how often kids would get shuffled around. Finding a house to leave, and a couple to take care of you for a bit was not the same as finding parents and a home.

Sylvie ran her hand gently over the large present as she wondered what exactly was going to be hiding behind the wrapping paper. That was the other reason she totally wasn’t crying. Kat had been distant lately, only in the literal sense of course… but that didn’t mean Sylvie could entirely suppress her displeasure at the circumstances. Kat didn’t come home every day, or even every week now. Whenever she was home, they’d spend time together, and Sylvie knew that Kat couldn’t lie so Kat had to mean it whenever she threw out compliments…

.....

This was something else though. Her first birthday. Based on the expression she could see on Kat’s face, this was the big one. Not the first board game, not the wonderous chess set, this box. Whatever it was, Kat clearly believed it to be something she’d love. *I wonder what Kat decided upon. Likely a board game… but I’ve never heard of one this large. I can’t wait any longer. I have to see what it is.*

Sylvie started slowly, digging a finger into the corner to start peeling off the wrapping paper. A small voice in the back of her mind informed her she could have started at the tape to keep the wrapping paper but she squashed it. This was going to be an awesome present and it needed to be revealed properly, not in big chunks to save paper that cost so little and couldn’t be re-used anyway.

Sylvie didn’t wince, she didn’t, as the paper slowly peeled away to reveal a shockingly detailed box art. Even just the corner contained more things then a standard box had on its entirety. It was a hill with a little house in it and banners on the side. Sylvie kept peeling to reveal more hills with houses, and a fence around the edges of the box. At the top of the hills was a man and a woman clashing swords. Both eyes glowing gold and a wave of pressure emanating out from them, but flowing upwards to the next section of the box.

Sylvie ignored how proper it was and hopped up on the table to keep peeling away. The next section of the art was a bundle of castles with portrait shots above them. There was a funny looking beastkin with a monocle, a proud king with his sceptre, an elf queen that smiled wide… but it was all sharpened teeth and the dagger she held hidden in her breast pocket seemed to glimmer as Sylvie’s eyes traced over it. A cranky old man with three faces surrounding him, the sailor, the tavern keep… the spy. All of them had their own glow. Their own halo, and even though it was smaller then the fighters below, the cumulative glow seemed to brighten the entire picture.

Sylvie didn’t waste any time on the last part, ripping the whole top third of the paper off in one clean swing. Sure there was still a little covering the top corner, but a swift gesture from Callisto had that falling away as well. At the top, two groups of glowing hands, filtering around clouds. Some locked in combat, some throwing stuff down to other parts of the picture, and on those clouds, written in big, bold letters was the words ‘Clash of Gods in a Mortal World’

“What… what IS this?” asked Sylvie with a little bit of awe in her voice.

Lily took this as her queue and hopped off of Kat’s lap, transforming in one swift motion and slamming down a large tome that looked like it was an ancient religious text. The pages looked worn, and the covered had cracks all across the leather bindings. Only the words Clash of Gods in a Mortal World Rulebook, let the onlookers know Lily wasn’t just showing off rare tomes. It was MASSIVE. “That Sylvie, is considered to be one of the most complex board games that demons have ever invented. It has been popular for centuries and can take days or weeks to finish a single match. This, this is your big birthday gift from Kat and I!”

Sylvie looked across the whole ensemble mystified. “This… this is a board game?”

Lily nodded eagerly, “Yup, and it’s all completed unenchanted so it will work here on Earth perfectly well. The materials are all top notch and the paints are great quality. I had a bit of a glance into the rules myself just to see what it was all about… and it’s very complex. It… honestly it might even be a bit beyond me. Maybe not if I had the time to properly research it… but a glance… I’ve got nothing. I’m hoping that you can learn the rules, understand them, and then play it with Callisto, and maybe others? It’s really big in the demon world but I’m not sure how we’d work with that,”

“It looks and sounds wonderful,” whispered Sylvie in a hushed tone, “Thank you so much, Lily, Kat… can you um… tell me a bit about how it’s played?”

Lily nodded, “Yes, even though the rulebook is rather complex the idea is simple enough to explain. You’re a god and you want the world to worship you instead of your rival. You get to play what is essentially three smaller games that effect each other. The Divine Champion level, completing specific tasks and objectives. The Empire level where you try to make favourable deals and keep the empire that starts off worshipping you happy. The final step is your godly domain where you can… well I’m not totally sure, but I know you can somewhat directly effect the other two and attack your opponent,”

Sylvie nodded, “Yes… this sounds very interesting indeed. Callisto? Will you do me the honours of learning this game together?”

“I’d love to,” said Callisto softly, but voice brimming with emotion. She turned to Kat and Lily and gave them a strong nod, a small tear in her own eyes. It was one thing to get Sylvie a board game. It was another to get her something like this… and then a step further to make sure it really suited Sylvie’s tastes even to the point that Kat herself would likely never play CoG herself. Lily would likely be able to as she gained power… but that would be some time from now. For now, this was a chance for Callisto and Sylvie to have something special… and Sylvie wasn’t the only one that was brimming with happiness this day.