1 Prologue

In the beginning there was only nothingness.

Then from that nothingness, light suddenly sprang forth and the dying Goddess Carys descended into the void. Heavily injured, the goddess bled ichor from almost every pore on her ethereal body. Golden droplets swirled around her as she grew weak.

The Goddess realized that she didn’t have much longer. So, she made a wish, as was the birthright of any celestial at the time of their death. Next, she pulled from the void three items and placed a seal of protection on them before casting them away from her. She watched them as they flew further into the void and disappeared from sight.

It was only after she could no longer see the sacred treasures, that she allowed herself to finally relax as she knew, once this was over, those three items at least would be safely hidden away and out of his reach. She only hoped that eventually a champion would rise, and that they would finish what she and her brothers could not.

The prayers of gods held power and she knew the moment her wish had been fulfilled.. She had felt the tug in the ether.

With a shuddering breath, her eyes began to close. However, just as she was about to welcome her end, ripples formed in the nothingness that surrounded the goddess and someone else stepped into the void.

A strikingly beautiful man appeared beside the goddess with a vicious expression on his face, and a dark, cold energy swirled around him like a tempest. The cold energy that hugged him like a second skin, and the warm, golden light emitted by the goddess clashed in a war of color as he closed the distance between them in a flash.

At first, the golden light battled bravely against the cold energy, but it wasn’t long until it was completely snuffed out. The goddess wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. Had she been in better condition, things might have been different. She could have put him in his place.

She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. No, she probably wouldn’t have been able to do much even if she had been at her prime. The darkness that surrounded the man had grown far too much and he was too far gone.

The man continued to move toward the goddess with an agility unknown to mortals.

“Where is it?” He grabbed at the goddess’ throat in anger. She coughed, ichor spilling from her lips as a grim smile pulled at her lips.

“And why would I tell you that, Traitor!” The goddess bit out through gritted teeth.

“Are you proud of what you’ve done, Arkus? To our brothers and sisters? To your own twin?! We are your family!” She cried.

“Family?! Is that what you’d call us?” Arkus growled, his eyes glowing dangerously.

“You all are nothing but self-centered, overly righteous swine unworthy to even be called gods! Do you know how much I’ve had to take from you all and father over the millennia?”

“What are you talking about? We loved you, and you betrayed us! You are a being of light for heaven's sake, but you’ve even allowed yourself to be tainted by darkness! It has corrupted your power. You aren’t thinking clearly. How-”

“Enough!” he snarled, “I betrayed no one!”

“All of this, every bad thing that is happening now, is a product of your own making.” Arkus waved a hand, gesturing at the void around him.

“The silliest part is that you all are so blinded by your own righteousness and honor that you can’t even see it. And don’t get me started on the hypocrisy!”

“You can’t be serious,” Her voice trailed off. Carys could see the madness swirling in his eyes as he spoke and did her best to keep a calm demeanor.

“You know…Father curses the humans for not worshipping us, but why should they when we’ve given them nothing but our wrath and fear.” His eyes glistened as he looked away from the one being who he used to be closer to than anyone.

“Hell, he even imprisoned and killed Namari just for speaking on their behalf!”

Goddess Carys was silent for a moment as she looked at him. Really looked at him.

“Is that what this is about, brother? Revenge?” Her voice came out in a whisper.

“I miss her too, but she broke the laws and she was punished for it.” Her heart still cried daily for her twin star.

He aimed his glare back at her.

“Did you know? I visited Namari on the final day of her imprisonment. She wasn’t supposed to die.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, like you don’t know! You were always Father’s favorite so I am sure you are aware of his disgusting behaviors.” He continued as the goddess’s face scrunched in confusion.

“He used her, Carys.”

“What?”

“He took something from her, that she could never get back,”

“He wouldn’t. That’s not-“

“He abused her and used her to his heart's desire while she was imprisoned with her powers sealed away. His own daughter! ”

“There’s no way he-”

“Oh, but he did. She couldn’t even protect herself, and you all are partly to blame!”

“I-i didn’t know! I-”

The goddess gasped in horror as tears spilled from her eyes for the first time in over a millennia as she thought about what her sister must have endured. She struggled to catch her breath.

Oh Namari.

Abhorrence and self-loathing bubbled in the goddess’s chest as she thought about how their father had comforted her after Namari’s death. At the time, he seemed so unaffected by her loss. He simply pretended as if it had not happened, which bothered her a lot at the time, but she had written it off as his way of grieving. However, she now understood. He wasn’t grieving. He truly just did not care.

Her heart broke further. Namari was the youngest of all their sibling and she should have been there to protect her.

“She was defenseless to stop him and it drove her to madness. In the end, she slit her wrist then hung herself from the ceiling of her prison cell. That is how she died,”

Carys knew what he was trying to say. As celestials close to godhood, they were long lived, nearly immortal beings. Death didn’t come for them easily even if they were to lose their powers. Their bodies were strong, and only decapitation or removing the heart would mean immediate death. That meant Namari had probably suffered for a long time before finally succumbing to her injuries. Carys couldn’t listen to this any longer.

“Please, no more!” The goddess whispered.

“She died alone.”

“Stop!”

“Weak.” He circled her like a lion circled its prey.

“Please!” Carys sobbed.

“Helpless.”

“Enough!”

“No, you should listen. After all, it's all of you and your complacency that allowed that to happen to her,”

The goddess swallowed hard, forcing back her inner turmoil and her tears. Instead she thought of the rest of her siblings and focused harder on the rage that was slowly beginning to build in her heart. It would be her fuel to do what needed to be done.

“Arkus, I-I am sorry for what father did and I am sorry for not noticing, but you have to know that what you’ve done isn’t right!”

“So you say,” He drawled as he continued to circle her.

“Our brothers and sisters didn’t deserve the fate to which you’ve sentenced them. Father? Maybe. But not them! You do realize you’ve hurt too many in your pursuit for revenge, including the humans that Namari fought to protect, right? You have to see that she wouldn’t want that!”

Carys felt pity for her lost brother, but she was also angered by what he had done. She understood the reasons, of course. If she were in his position, she might have done the same. Gods and celestials were wrathful beings who could not control their anger well. So, she understood what led him here, and his choices, but she also knew that she had to end this.

“Arkus, please do not let this change who you are. We can make things better. You can make things better, for our people and the humans. It’s too late to save Namari, but we can still protect what she stood for. Now that father is gone, the king’s seat is open. You could take the throne and change everything! Just come back to your senses,” She pleaded.

“This. Isn’t. You!”

“ I have no interest in the throne of a coward,” He scoffed.

“And I hate to break it to you, but you don’t know me. You haven’t known me for a long time, Sister. ”

“Please Arkus, don’t let the darkness destroy you. Be better. Namari wouldn’t want-”

Arkus’s eyes grew angry as lightning crackled between his eyelids, and before Carys could even finish her sentence, he yanked the goddess’s arm with unimaginable strength. His power flowed through her body, raging through her meridians and causing her body to convulse as they were destroyed one by one.

She screamed in agony as it stopped where her shoulder-blade met her torso, and with a final yank, Arkus ripped her arm away from her. A river of gold spilled from her body and her vision grew dark.

“Don’t you dare speak her name!”

As the goddess tried her best to orient herself, she spat at him, the power in her blood searing his skin where it made contact.

Arkus cried in pain as he cradled his cheek. It was then the goddess realized that the darkness finally succeeded in polluting him completely. There was no chance of saving him now. The dark tendrils that caressed his skin, shook and shrank away from her light much more noticeably than before.

Not wasting a moment, Carys took the opportunity to move away and put distance between them. If she couldn’t save him, there was only one other option.

“HOW DARE YOU!” he growled and moved to grab her again.

She did her best to reign in her emotions and gave her brother one last sorrowful look. Then, drawing on what was left of her already diminished power, she focused it all into every cell of her body and into every drop of ichor that ran through her veins.

Arkus panicked when he realized her intentions, but by then it was too late.

The goddess’s body had already turned into pure golden energy, glowing brighter than any star. Fear echoed through him as she spoke her final words.

“I will free you, brother.”

Then suddenly, she exploded. Her light expanded and dispersed outward with frightening force. Arkus, who had been about to approach her, flew back as his arms began to disintegrate on contact with the light particles. It didn’t take long before everything, including Arkus himself, was completely bathed in this golden light.

Soon, the only thing that remained was the goddess’s warm light that continued to expand out in all directions, covering every corner of the void.

That light would eventually become the flames to create a new world reborn of her blood.