my plans aren't changing, not for you

once my hands had touched the bottom of my pants pockets, cosmic appeared before me, rounding the corner quickly, intentionally, he wanted to put himself in my path.

great, I could tell, this was going to be SO much fun.

I thought sarcastically to myself with an eye roll as he began speaking.

"where are you going?"(cosmic) asked, practically interrogated, his arms crossed, his tone the usual stick up the ass.

"where do you think, it's my fucking castle, I'm going wherever the hell I want."(Granularr) I spat back in reply as I moved through him, my shoulder smashing into his, his body stumbling to the wall where he attempted to correct his stance.

wow.

just.

wow.

here I am, actively fighting a curse made by gods, and this asshole can't even stand properly after I casually walk into him.

fuck me, training them was going to be harder than I thought, what did the gods DO to them, I'm pretty sure they weren't always this weak and bitchy.

"pathetic, you're a pillar, yet you can't even stand on your own two feet, *scoff*, and to think I ALMOST respected you."(Granularr) I spoke with heavy disappointment to the sad sight before me, something that only enraged the humanoid being with an English accent for a personality.

I was done caring about what was done to who, they can blame someone on their own time, this shit ends here, I WILL beat it out of them.

but he had something to say about it first, they always do.

"I am cosmic, THE most powe-"(cosmic) began, only for me to cut him off before he could finish his very incorrect sentence.

I mean seriously, did he NOT remember the last couple decades we've known each other?

"HA! there's no way in hell, which I now own by the way, that YOU are the strongest pillar, there's no fucking way, do you really not remember the fact that I'm currently training you all because YOU forgot how to fight, I mean seriously, you have got to be kidding me, are you retarded or does your brain just not work?"(Granularr) I interrupted as footsteps began echoing their way down the hall, making their way straight for us.

noises that would draw my attention, stopping cosmic from rebutting, he was focused on the steps too, he should thank god for that, the less he spoke the less I wanted to kill him.

"my lord, news from the scouts on the western front-"(Ope)->(old pillar) began, only to stop herself as she noticed cosmic standing right behind me.

"ignore him, continue."(Granularr) I assured her as I made it clear I couldn't care less what he knew about me or my plans.

"the scouts on the western front are being ambushed by temple forces, someone is leaking information, what should we do?"(Ope) asked, concerned, those were HER people, those were lives she valued.

that and her pride was directly challenged, she took great care to ensure the strength of our command and information networks, this was a personal challenge, one I would help in, but ultimately it would be one that she would completely take into her own hands.

"find the leak, kill them, publicly, brutally, mercilessly, and then offer a reward to anyone willing to rat any others out, we prioritize loyalty before all else, hunt down every leak down and "fix it"."(Granularr) I ordered, an order she nodded her agreeance to before scurrying off down the hall, leaving me alone to deal with the objections of someone who doesn't matter.

"those are lives you're talking about, PEOPLE!"(cosmic) roared as he tried, and failed to attack me, his fist swinging wide, too wide, missing me by a large margin, I didn't even have to move.

"here's the thing, I don't care, see, I brought you all here for one reason, to help you get strong enough to kill gods, that's it, my life is still my own to control and I still have shit to do, you don't have the right to tell me to do ANYTHING, especially not here, in MY realm."(Granularr) I reminded him as I shoved him into the wall, the stone cracking as he coughed, wheezed, and stared back at me angrily.

"if you don't like it."(Granularr), I continued before pausing as I waved my hand in an arc, a portal opening before us, the mortal world on the other side.

"then you can fuck off."(Granularr) I finished as I motioned through the portal.

---

gravity pov...

this was my first time in the realm of darkness, that was true for all of us, none of us were ever able to see the true extent to which darkness had progressed, what he had created.

although we didn't like him much, we couldn't deny, he was onto something, I mean, he had power, loyalty, structure.

he was respected, feared.

while we were stuck withering away in our realms, he was constantly working to achieve what he wanted, sure I didn't personally agree with the things he did, but you had to admit, he got results.

which is why I was struggling right now, because he and cosmic were fighting, the two most capable people I've ever known my entire life, fighting.

one disagreeing with the effective methods of another because they were wrong, and the other defending his stance with calm and overwhelming strength, cosmic was literally against the wall.

"boys will be boys."(lost sister) sighed from beside me, scaring me nearly half to death, my body jolting airborne while my hand shot over my mouth to muffle my shriek of surprise, I didn't want cosmic to know I saw him in a moment of weakness.

"don't do that!"(Gravity) I forced through grit teeth as I worked to calm my racing heart.

"sorry, habit."(lost sister) apologized, although abrupt, it was nice to see her again.

"I know, it's just been so long since anyone with the power of darkness has been in the realm of magic, you forget."(Gravity) I reminisced on past memories, memories from the times of her death and from the time a new darkness emerged and refused the realm of magic as if his life depended on it.

"he sure has been busy, not much time for social visits."(lost sister) admitted as if it would be more than enough to explain the absence of a literal pillar.

"social visits?"(Gravity) I found myself asking in bewilderment.

"sorry, habit, picked it up from him, look, we've been busy, the war, the realm, our goals, his absence, we haven't had much time."(lost sister) defended, although I hated it, she, in a way, was right, we were all busy.

"what do you mean our goals?"(Gravity) I found myself asking, unsure as to why my focus was pulled so far to that one topic, it just, I don't know, it stuck out to me, it didn't sound right.

"he's a simple person, he does what he wants, a part of that rubbed off on me I guess, and with how much we trust one another, how much we rely on one another, my goals and his, over time, overlapped and eventually, became one."(lost sister) informed, her tone almost....happy?

"but he KILLS people!"(Gravity) I found myself exclaiming as my inner cosmic reacted to the news, unable to accept that someone I loved deeply was actually allowing and participating in such evil.

"yeah, so do I, so do humans, so do animals, so do gods, everything kills."(lost sister) said nonchalantly in her defense, shrugging off murder as if it was just breathing or blinking.