chapter 21

'We, the Bacchus, have always lived peaceful lives in the plains of ruins a long side the centaurs. Everything was fine as we had found a way for us to sustain ourselves for generations to come. It wasn't until Sandstorm, a villain from Mobodoon came into the picture.'

'At first, he acted like an ambassador helping with sourcing different things that we couldn't easily get in the barren plains. Later on, he fueled the quarrels between us, the Bacchus and the centaurs. He became the source of all our problems.'

"Then how come you had to move?" Ares asked, curious. He had not heard of these villains and he was still very curious about them. 

"Well, as his name suggest, Sandstorm kept on conjuring up sandstorms whenever we decided to trek the dunes making it hard for anyone to go any further than the ruins. Life became so hard for us that we had to move. Now, we are just nomads looking for a place to settle."

The air was somber as they all reminisced on the old times. Ares could feel their desperation and their yearning for a place and he wanted to help them. But he didn't know how to help them and the only person who could help him was giving him the silent treatment.

"YTA, if you are there, I want you to listen very carefully. These people have done nothing wrong. I really want to help them but I don't know how. Please help me if you are listening." 

Ares was desperate. Not only did he want to help the dwarves but he also wanted to get home as he could only leave after helping them dwarves and completing missions. 

'What am I going to do if YTA doesn't respond?' Ares thought and just as he was giving up, a ray of hope shined down on him.

"You are finally acting the part. What is it that you need?" YTA asked in a tired voice.

Ares was happy that YTA has responded but he was now a little worried.

"YTA, did I overdo it? You sound tired." He asked worriedly.

"It's alright. I just expended a lot of energy fighting you off. I will be fine." YTA responded.

Ares found it fishy but there was nothing he could do if YTA didn't want to say anything.

'I will just find the answers myself.' He thought.

"YTA, how am I supposed to help the dwarves? I really want to get them out of their situation and maybe also head home." Ares asked respectfully.

"What's with the change in voice?" YTA asked suspiciously. He found it strange that Ares was talking with a bit of respect all of a sudden and it was unsettling for him.

"Well, where I come from, we respect the strong and even though I beat you, it was still an interesting fight. You deserve that much." Ares responded and YTA was shocked silly. 

He didn't expect the little brat to grow up all of a sudden and act all mature. It was a bit unsettling but he was ok with it.

"Interesting," he said; "You are one interesting individual, Ares." 

"Why thank you, YTA. Can I call you Adam instead? YTA feels strange to me." Ares said as he headed back to his spot.

He found that they had set up a tent for him and he entered it, finding basic amenities inside.

'No one has ever given me a different name before.' YTA thought. 

'They always just used me as I was.' He added. 

"Sure. Call me whatever you want." He responded nonchalantly though one could detect a bit of excitement behind his voice.

Ares smiled at this as he found the once cold and scary YTA or Adam was now more human as he was showing emotions.

"Oh, look at you now. Not so scary, now are you?" Ares asked YTA while making funny faces and a funny voice.

"On second thought, let's stick to YTA."  YTA said, changing his mind so fast. 

"Well, I will call you Adam in my head and you can't stop me." Ares grumbled to himself and YTA sighed at Ares' immature nature.

"Moving on…Ares, you have to save the dwarves and help them relocate thus completing your first mission set." 

"Great. Now, how can I help the dwarves? I really want to go home and they need a new place to settle that is safe." Ares asked, jokes aside.

"First, you need to learn the terrain and choose a place suitable for dwarves. They like to mine and they like their freedom but you should also pick for them a place that is easy to defend." YTA said. 

"Well, that would be easy to decide if I had a map." Ares exclaimed while laying down. 

His mind was tired and his body was tired. Though the dwarves had laid down a futon, the rich Ares wouldn't have been ok with sleeping on something that was hard like the ground. Somehow, the ground felt very comfortable to him who was used to sleeping in soft and fluffy beds.

'I guess even I can change.' He thought.

"Well, just say map." YTA said. 

"Map?" 

Almost immediately, a floating map materialized in front of him showing the different places in Sol.

"Whoa!" Ares exclaimed with a glint of excitement in his eyes as he sat up immediately, all sleepiness evaporating from his body. YTA appeared in front of him in the form of a hologram as well and started his history lesson.

"Now listen carefully as I am going to say this only once." He starts as he makes the map wider in front of the child like Ares.

"I am going to explain your importance in Mobodoon and Sol while showing you ideal places for the Bacchus to move to and, the main reason for your summoning to this dimension." YTA started.

Ares was attentive, more than when he was in class or riding a bike and this made YTA very happy.

"Ok, so right now, you are in the region between the sand of seas and region of ruins hence it's twisted sense of weather and vegetation. One patch of land might be green, the next one dry. The region of ruins is most suitable for the Bacchus and centaurs due to its green nature and presence of different mining ores. So it will be hard to find them a place to move." 

"Wait, why can't we just send them back to the Region of ruins?" Ares asked an obvious question.

"Well, you weren't listening to Extron then. Sandstorm is terrorizing the area so returning is asking for death and that's where you come in." YTA answers with a devilish grin at the end scaring Ares. 

"What do you mean, YTA?" Ares asked with a quiver in his tone. Even though he didn't like to admit it, he was still a little afraid of YTA, especially whenever he had a grin on.

"You are the game changer."

"Me?!"