They were camped outside a burnt orchard when the chicken arrived.
It just... walked into camp.
Red eyes.
Weird aura.
Didn't cluck.
It stared.
Kazuki was mid-sentence, trying to complain about being narratively sidelined, when the chicken hopped onto a rock, tilted its head...
And spoke.
"Kazuki. Vessel. Vessel. Child of the Spiral. Listener of Breakage. Borrowed Identity. Failed Potential."
Kazuki dropped his mug.
Vera dropped her spellbook.
Kaelith grabbed her bow and said, "I'm shooting it."
Mistral hissed. "Don't. It's divine."
The chicken flapped once, glowing with celestial light.
"I am Seravex. God of Unwritten Threads. I possess this chicken because the last mortal I tried to speak through exploded."
Kazuki, pale: "Am I hallucinating? Did I get food poisoning from divine fruit?"
[System Alert: Divine Presence Confirmed – Mental Stability Test: Failed]
"You are unstable, yes," Seravex-the-chicken said. "But you are also important."
Darin whispered, "Why is the chicken so wise."
The others backed away. This was Kazuki's mess now.
Seravex clucked once.
"The threads of your story have frayed. You were meant to ascend. Instead, you stalled. Rejected. Questioned. The system was not designed for doubt."
Kazuki glared. "Sorry for not wanting to become a cosmic nuke."
"You were made to choose. That was the only rule."
Kazuki stood. "What if I don't want rules? What if I want to be something new?"
The chicken blinked.
"Then you will suffer."
"But you may also win."
Kazuki sat down. "Why are you even here?"
Seravex rustled his feathers.
"Because the other gods want you removed. You are the itch in the prophecy. The fracture they can't seal. The wildcard they fear."
"I voted to keep you."
"Because I like chaos."
Kazuki looked away.
"Does this... end with me turning into that throne-sitting psycho version of me?"
"That is one ending. But not the only one."
"What you are now—the Unchosen, the fragment-walker, the unresolved spark—this is new."
"I came to warn you. And to tell you…"
The chicken leaned closer.
"You're no longer in a story."
"You're writing one."
Then Seravex blinked and exploded into feathers.
Just poof.
Gone.
Nothing left but a faint divine sparkle and one egg.
Silence.
Mistral padded over, picked up the egg, and said:
"So. A chicken god gave you a motivational speech. How's your self-esteem?"
Kazuki stared at the sky.
"I think I need to sit down forever."