2. Fata Viam Invenient
Four Billion Syrises After The Creation Of The Universe
Theos
Theos forced himself to swallow the venomous ball of flaming curses that he wanted to spit at Kheos. Instead of giving in – instead of letting his control snap, he meticulously maintained it, replenishing it with a constant flow of new energy that was uncontaminated by rage. He glared into the relatively dark expanse of space beyond the glass walls before him.
But reality and time were twisting into dissociative portals around the point of his visual fixation. The matter present in the path of his gaze was erupting into flames. Meteors, old as the galaxies and wider than the planets, oozed methane at their surfaces and flamed as they veered far beyond the allowances their creator had marked for them. They were all on a collision course with the Olympian castle, the suns behind Theos’ throne, or with the Earth.
Nothing was in its place. Comets were firing at dangerously low altitudes through the Earth’s atmosphere, curving through its sky like bullets. Gazing unseeingly as the atmosphere bent around the flaming masses of iron, tears burned the back of his eyes. The universe was in disarray, and its creator was lost in grief.
───
Regos
In the center of the throne room behind him, an inky cloud was forming. The molecules of the air corrupted, rending themselves apart to produce a slow-moving translucent mass that barely floated in the air as the essence of the ruler of The Hells manifested.
“Your Majesty.” Regos deadpanned, annoyed that he’d had to leave his post. Souls were plummeting to The Gates faster than he could keep up with because somebody was losing control. Regos shuddered at the memory of what Theos was like when he lost control. The entire universe would be better off if that didn’t happen again, ever.
His call went unanswered. Regos’ eyes swept around the extravagantly appointed throne room. Crystal clear glass walls, floors and ceilings. Four massive Corinthian pillars that supported the ceiling, each in its corner. The throne in the center of the room, made of the purest gold in the universe. The dais and walkway that led to the beautiful, absolute seat of the universe’s power sent a surge of derision through him.
It all looked the same it had the last time he had seen it – four billion syrises prior when he’d stood in it and sworn his allegiance to his eldest brother after Theos had almost killed him in his challenge. The memory made his skin crawl with shame, and he shook his head and re-focused his attention on his brother.
The silence in the room was overthrown by the singe of air as comets whizzed past the castle. They were why he had come; why he had abandoned his post. Clearing his throat, Regos tried again, aware with every drop of pitch-black blood in him that he shouldn’t have entered the King’s throne room without being invited in. His call grew more urgent as a meteor rolled right by the glass, coming chillingly close to the castle.
“Your Majesty, you –”
Regos’ eyes widened when Saturn’s Titan went whirling past them, a terrible pale-yellow pall falling over the room as it did. It was rotating at a speed that Regos could hardly focus on, falling on a path towards the Earth. Stepping closer to his brother, he called loudly, trying to drown out the deafening roar outside.
“Your Majesty, you need to disengage.” Fear chilled through him with every new word he spoke.
Every piece of matter on a loose orbit was on a collision course with the sun or with Earth, and Theos was unresponsive. There was only one option left. Regos cursed under his breath, before breathing in and pressing into his authority as part of the godhead. The room behind him descended into darkness as he pulled on his power. Stepping forward, he grabbed his brother by the collar, wrenching him away from the window and around to face him with great difficulty.
Room shaking from the dreadful darkness in his voice, he issued the command. “Theos. Disengage now . ”
He hadn’t been in his brother’s presence in eons. The last words he’d spoken to Theos were a pledge of allegiance. Now, here he was, standing in the throne room of the highest power in the universe, his hands crushing into his king’s lapels, issuing him a direct command. His arrogant brother would no doubt interpret his efforts at peace as a challenge.
Despite his rank and the scope of his power, looking into his eldest brother’s eyes always hammered fear into his heart. Theos’ eyes met his, noticing his presence for the first time. His brows furrowed above his white eyes, some unreadable emotion deepening in them. The longer his silence stretched, the more Regos’ throat closed up. Fuck . He was doomed.
“Do my ears deceive me?” Theos asked quietly, looking genuinely confused.
All the speeding celestial bodies that had been burning through space behind him ceased in their tracks. Regos bristled internally at the glaring reminder of Theos’ power. The way the universe bent to his will. He released his hold on Theos, and Theos straightened to his full height, brows furrowing even further as he stared down at Regos.
“Was that a command that just slipped from your lips, little brother?” he asked, tone rising in curiosity .
Regos’ jaw tightened in irritation, and he willed himself to spit out the words. “It was,” he answered.
“And what is it above or beneath the heavens that has given you enough confidence to issue a command to your king, little brother?” Theos growled, eyes angry this time.
“Look around you.” Regos gestured to the expanse of glass behind Theos that presented them the expanse of the universe.
Turning his head without moving, Theos looked. His expression changed immediately, though Regos couldn’t see what it changed to. He could see his jaw open, but no words fell from his lips.
“I had no choice but to.” Regos finished.
Theos nodded, face still toward the window. Regos waited. After a minux that felt like a thousand mortal syrises, Theos turned back to him, eyes gleaming in the dark room.
The muscles in his jaw rolled as he ground his teeth together. He eventually whispered into the darkness. “Return to your places in heaven."
A chill raced down Regos’ spine as he listened to Theos whisper the command. The glass floors tremored under his feet as the castle jolted violently for a few moments as the meteors and comets swiftly reversed on their paths away from Earth and the sun all at once. It was quiet in the galaxies again, no sounds of burning or of speeding missiles.
Attention still on his brother, Theos spoke again. “Thank you for intercepting the disaster. I imagine you must have been busy with your duties.”
Regos’ eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You aren’t angry that I’ve entered your presence without being summoned? Or that I issued you a direct command?”
Theos grinned, teeth gleaming threateningly. “Incomprehensibly angry. But my anger is not yours to bear.”
Regos nodded, surprise evident in his eyes though his expression remained stoic.
“I take it you know the way out, little brother?” Theos asked quietly.
Regos nodded again, kneeling before him. “Long live the King,” he whispered, before melting into the darkness.
───
Theos
Theos sank back into his reverie before the vast window. The timer on his patience had run out. That much was evident from the destruction he’d been on the verge of unconsciously releasing just a moment ago. He closed his eyes, swallowing down the surge of anger swelling from deep in his gut. Focus and control. They were the two things he could not lose hold of. They were what made him who he was – the difference between his power to destroy and to manifest. The thin line from which his power to breathe life warped into the inciting of death. Those two pillars of his character maintained life in all the galaxies and fortified the structures of reality.
And yet, even as he stared down at the Earth, watching people flit back and forth in their daily affairs, he felt the anger surge back to the forefront. Kheos was intentionally silent. Todahy, of all dahys, it was unacceptable. Mocking. He’d noticed a similar flavor of Kheos’ cold indifference throughout the millennia. Felt the menagerie of mockery that was laced behind all the explicit moves he had made. Just as easily, he could sense the intentionality in the moves he was not making, the things he was withholding.
A thousand times todahy Kheos’ footsteps had echoed down the hallway outside the throne room. The striking of his boots on the marble floors never seemed to cease. It rang between Theos’ ears even when his presence had long faded from the halls. Not for the first time, Theos wondered what he was keeping such incessant track of. His trips todahy were far more frequent than any other dahy they had lived through.
Kheos loved to stand on the balcony that overlooked the Earth. It was his favorite pastime. He could execute his will from any era, any location, but he loved to watch over the Earth as he struck again and again at mortal after mortal. His ego absorbed the sounds of their torment that rose to the clouds as their hearts shattered. As soon as the lives of the mortals descended into chaos, their desperate sacrifices and prayers ascended to Theos’ throne. They pleaded for vengeance, begged for reprieve. For mercy.
On this particular dahy, Theos’ own torment was fresh before his throne. He had been at his brother’s mercy for millennia, and now, the moments were winding down. He would finally be able to do something other than helplessly, pathetically, wait. With the way Kheos had been wielding against him all this time, even the mortals fared better under his brother’s iron hand.
Theos had been staring out over the Earth for millennia. Dahy and nigh were the same to him. He never moved from his position, not even to return to his place on the throne. His muscles ached with restraint and his eyes burned from unshed tears, but he had kept trying to find her. Trying to pierce through the haze over the universe that Kheos had ordained to block her from his view was pointless. He knew it was – but he still tried. Constantly watching over the Earth, his eyes swept back and forth, taking notice of every mortal, every clan, and every tribe. Werewolves in their packs, vampire kingdoms, witch’s dens. Mermaids, pirates, dragon hunters, fae, humans… he knew them all by number, and by name.
It didn’t satisfy him. Not even the first smiles of the newborns though he loved to watch them grow. He didn’t recognize their features. Standing over their beds, looking deeply into their eyes as they stretched tiny hands towards him, none of them made recognition bloom inside his heart. Their eyes all left its’ delicate petals closed. Desperation had taken root under his skin, made worse by Kheos’ silence, and it was no use asking him questions.
** *
It had been two hundred thousand syrises since Theos had last spoken to Kheos. He’d asked him about his mate’s hair – a genuine, gentle attempt to uncover a sentimental detail about her. Something he could hold close to his heart as he waited. Surely , he’d thought foolishly, it wouldn’t be difficult for Kheos to disclose such a fragmented piece of information.
“What colour is her hair, Kheos?” he had asked smiling.
A grin had spread onto his brother’s lips. The glint of his canines had been particularly mocking, and his amusement hadn’t spread to the other gods and goddesses in the room. It hadn’t spread to Theos either. Instead, his eyes had been wide, brows furrowing deeper the longer Kheos laughed. He hadn’t understood. The ringing sound and the bared fangs still burned at the back of Theos’ eyes, much like Kheos’ response did.
“Give it a rest, Theos.”
He’d barely managed to swallow after hearing Kheos’ response. The lump in his throat had refused to move. Though his blood had scalded through every vessel inside him as rage poured into his body, he hadn’t responded. Hail and fire rained down onto the Earth below them while they were still at the dinner table that nigh. The heavens burned. Volcanoes hissed and flamed. Meteors warped through time as they fell past the castle. The blazes of burning light that flashed by them were as bright and as hot as his glare was on Kheos.
Impenetrable cities were laid to waste in the onslaught of fire. Entire civilizations were destroyed, lost to history forever. Nations drowned in the dark sea of ash that billowed down from the skies. Give it a rest? No one else at the table dared to speak. No one seemed to breathe. The screams of the mortals ascended to the throne, echoing in the chamber around them as their flesh burned, tainting the air of the holy castle. Their pleas for rescue were petrified. Every one of them fell on deaf ears. The only thing Theos could hear was Kheos’ mocking laugh, though his brother had long left the room.
***
Kheos had refused all appropriate, reasonable answers to his questions. He’d banned him from speaking with his sisters – all the goddesses were ‘off-limits.’ In his every conversation with them, Kheos’ watchful eyes always rested upon the interaction. If the conversation went on for more than a few beats of the heart, or if he looked too closely into his little sisters’ eyes, Kheos joined the interaction. He’d hated the way his sisters immediately looked away from his eyes when Kheos’ aura manifested in their presence. It had made him bleed from the eyes to do it, but he had resorted to avoiding contact with them. The loss of interaction and connection tore through him like Death tore through condemned souls at The Gates of The Hells, but he’d let it happen. There had been no benefit to rousing Kheos’ spite any further.
The Fates was an unfeeling, spiteful bastard. Even the mortals knew that.
──
Kheos forced his eyes up to his brother’s.
“ Dare me .” Kheos taunted.
Teeth in a gridlock, Theos’ eyes darkened. “Your childish games do not amuse me.” He responded. “Neither do your distractions. You will give me what you promised me.”
Kheos turned away. The quiet hummed. When Kheos met his eyes again, it was from across the room. Glaring over the rim of the goblet of Nehkron he had summoned, he scoffed at Theos.
“Or I can opt to ignore you,” he responded.
He sipped, watching Theos’ eyes darken. Kheos raised his brow at the yawning silence in the room, swirling the liquor in his goblet .
Again, his amusement descended into silent glowering as Theos descended the dais. When his foot touched the glass floors, a hum of quiet energy rattled the room. Chills raced down Kheos’ back as Theos’ brutal gaze pinned him in place as he crossed the room. Time. He was biding for time.
Now at the other end of the table, Theos’ hands were tightening around its corners. Knuckles strained, Theos’ eyes were fixed on Kheos, who was casually looking out at the planets. Since he’d joined him, Kheos had summoned a goblet for him, hoping he would entertain its contents – share a drink with him. The goblet was well within reach, but no matter how Kheos stared at its frosted stem and jewelled rim, waiting for Theos’ hand to circle it and raise it to his lips, it remained firmly planted on the table, untouched. Something in Kheos’ gut soured. He blinked the disappointment away.
“You realize that, right?” Kheos prodded, raising his head to his brother after an eternity of silence passed between them.
Hair falling into his eyes as he shifted his weight, Theos ground his jaws together and tightened his fists yet again. The muscles rolled under his skin. He was still restraining himself. He had to. Eyes never leaving Kheos, whose smile grew wider by the segund, he watched the amusement bloom once more in his eyes. Still sipping slowly, Kheos’ eyes never left his as the ruby encrusted cup glinted in the light of the sun. Theos’ fists tightened around the table even more.
“Theos,” Kheos called, sounding out his name letter by letter, “You do know, right?”
The room was on fire again with the wild glare that burned outward from Theos’ eyes, and thunder resounded across the heavens. The castle teetered like a feather in a whirlwind despite its iron foundations.
“ King Theos.” Theos growled.
Kheos swallowed another intoxicating mouthful, his gaze in the cup in immediate submission. As he lowered the chalice from his lips, the Corinthian pillars at the corners of the room shuddered, cracks racing down their lengths. Lips parting as his eyes traced the fissures to their carved tops where the clouds were born, he started to speak.
“You really need to –”
“I dare you to be so insolent as to even breathe that thought into the realm of the real.” Theos roared.
Kheos swallowed the rest of the unspoken sentence, deciding to reserve the insult. He didn’t want to fight. Glaring at each other, neither of their bodies moved.
“Four and a half billion syrises,” Theos gave out, “that is how long you’ve laughed, jeered and made public mockery of me. For four and a half billion syrises you have barred my interactions with my own sisters. You are so distrusting that you think that even they would betray you by telling me how she looked, as though that information isn’t rightfully mine in the first place.”
“Because they would have betrayed me.” Kheos gritted out.
The bitter edge in his voice was hard, and Theos’ eyes narrowed at him, conscious of his change in energy.
“They are supposed to betray you. Their allegiance is to me . They’ve only obeyed you because I told them to. You’ve paraded around the Olympian Realms and its castle for the better part of the consciousness of our reality as though you are its ruler. I know you don’t need me to remind you who is in charge here. Because I will.”
Discomfort surged in Kheos’ chest. “There is nothing I need to be reminded of –”
“I will remind you how I ripped open the walls of reality with the force of my fists on your body.” Theos barked.
Kheos’ knuckles paled from the sudden pressure of his hands tightening around the chalice.
“I will remind you how time tried to spin backward on its axis, to pull me back to the moments before your screams tore through space. It begged me for mercy on your behalf. ”
Teeth in a gridlock, Kheos’ jaw tensed as the memories lurched inside him, dredged up by the hatred that tinged his brother’s voice.
“I will remind you how you almost ripped the sun in two in your meagre attempts to crawl away from me, body bloodied, broken, and still full of pride.”
Dizzying flashes of light were floating through Kheos’ vision as he stared into the burning gaze of his king.
“Do you remember, Kheos?”
Words had long abandoned his throat, and he stared unseeingly ahead. The collar of his clothes suddenly crumpled in Theos’ fists. He dragged him so close their noses touched. Theos’ breathing was shallow and fast, and in the undertone of his words, Kheos could hear the growling undercurrent of magic curses that wanted to come flooding out to bind him in corrosive fetters. They scratched at the surface of his voice. Poked at his eardrums.
“Do you remember how I destroyed you until you conceded that I am King over everything that exists?” Theos roared at the silent god in his grip, eyes blazing. “Do you remember, or do I have to drive you to the edge of death again until you do?” Theos watched the memories tear through Kheos’ mind the way they were ripping through his own heart .
Kheos swallowed once. “I remember.”
Theos’ eyes searched his brothers’. His fists relaxed, falling away from Kheos’ crumpled clothing. As Theos retreated to put space between them again, Kheos took a sip of his drink. It turned into bitter dust on his tongue.
“I’m the one that wanted her, Kheos. I requested her specifically. I entrusted her creation and life into your care. It was far more of a privilege than you could ever have deserved in any case. I let you tell me how long to wait. I would have waited however long you said.”
His words swept around the enormous room, and the pillars creaked again. Dust rained from the fissures that ripped through their lengths. Limestone crashed to the floor around them. Theos strode forward, cape swirling around him as he moved.
“And I did. I waited exactly how long you instructed, Kheos.” Theos roared, losing grip on his control by the segund. “The final houyra that remains is about to end. I’ve kept relentless track of each minux. I counted them. One. By. One. Challenge me again on the matter and I will destroy all of this, and you. I’ll do it all over, without you, and grant her to myself.”
Betrayal bloomed on Kheos’ features. Hurt swelled in his chest. His eyes never wavered from his brother’s as the throne room destroyed itself around them in the face of the King’s anger .
“Decide segund primordial. Decide .” Theos prodded.
Stone sconces joined the limestone pillars on the ground, spilling the fire from their torches. It blazed across the glass floors, igniting on impact as though the glass was flammable. Kheos’ grip on his chalice tightened until it split into two, his wine spilling across the floor, his blood dripping down with it.
“Decide!” Theos roared.
Kheos flinched. Lightning split the universe around them at the command, and still staring down at the contents of his cup as they crept towards the fire, Kheos’ expression hardened. He looked up, eyes focused beyond Theos to the mountain of angry clouds that had formed. Lightning illuminated their faces again and again where it split the worlds.
Voice low and with somber tone, he answered, completely defeated, the blood from his lacerated hand dripping to the floor. “As you will it, King Theos.”
“Good. I will finally be able to protect her from your destruction. With me there, there’s no way for you to harm her.”
Turning on his heels, Theos’ cape again swirled wide as he stalked from the room.
───
Kheos
After he was gone, Kheos stood silent in the destroyed throne room, disappointment and sadness blooming in his chest, tears burning the back of his eyes, and bile turning the wine on his tongue bitter.
“Even when I am working in your favor,” he whispered, “you still hate me.”
He stared at the empty throne, eyes dancing across the debris in the room as the future danced before his eyes.
“Fata viam invenient.”
The room echoed with his promise even after he left.