...…..☆.....
The small, golden-eyed boy, draped in oversized ceremonial silk that trailed behind him like a royal cape, marched toward the still recovering Kael. Aki followed close behind, his face still a lingering shade of pink, while Axiom hovered nearby, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently on the moss.
The Serene God stopped in front of Kael, who looked up with hollow, weary eyes. The child reached out a tiny hand and poked Kael's forehead with a clinical, almost bored expression.
"Ugh, look at this," the Child God chirped, his voice light and airy, as if he were discussing a poorly cooked meal rather than a cosmic violation. "My brother always did have the aesthetic taste of a moldy basement. He's left all his 'angriness' and 'doom' cluttering up your mental foyer. It's quite dusty in here, mortal. Honestly, the smell of cheap shadow magic is giving me a headache."
Aki blinked, his jaw dropping slightly. "Clutter? Dust? Aki, he literally possessed him and used his body to try and kill me!"
The Serene God waved a hand dismissively. "Details, details. It's like finding a bunch of old, smelly socks under a throne. Now, Aki, stand behind him. I need to use a bit of that Echo-essence you're hoarding. Think of it as a divine vacuum cleaner. We're going to suck out the bad memories and patch up the holes in his spirit."
Aki hesitated, then stepped forward, placing his hands on Kael's shoulders. The golden-eyed child grabbed Aki's wrists, pulling him closer than strictly necessary, his eyes glinting with a teasing possessiveness that made Aki's collar feel tight.
"Don't be so stiff, champion," the Child God giggled, though his eyes remained sharp. "Now, let's see what's behind door number one..."
The "healing" was anything but gentle. As the Child God channeled Lyra's light through Aki and into Kael, the room filled with the sound of static and the scent of ozone. Kael's body arched, his eyes rolling back as jagged flashes of the Architect's memories, dark blueprints of Acheron, secret gateways, and the location of the Divine Core , flickered in the air like a broken film strip.
"Oh, look! There's the secret pantry where he keeps the forbidden Void-snacks," the Child God pointed at a terrifying image of a soul-shredding engine. "And that? That's his 'I'm-sad-because-Dad-liked-you-better' room. Very dramatic. Needs more windows."
Axiom stared at him, horrified. "You're talking about the collapse of the multi realm order like it's a home renovation show!"
The Serene God shrugged, his small face suddenly becoming eerily still as he yanked a final, jagged memory from Kael's mind a map of the Architect's final ritual. "Humor is the only thing that doesn't burn in the sun, Axiom. If I don't laugh at my brother's stupidity, I might actually have to admit how much he's broken everything."
....☆...….
With the memories extracted and Kael stabilized into a deep, healing sleep, the Serene God's playful energy evaporated. He let go of Aki, causing the boy to stumble back, and wandered over to a dark corner of the cavern. He sat cross legged on the cold stone, his small frame looking even more diminutive in the shadows.
"Leave me," he commanded, the funny, chirpy voice gone, replaced by the weight of eons. "I need to... organize the trash I just pulled out."
As Aki and Axiom retreated to the other side of the grove to check on the defenses, the Serene God closed his golden eyes. But he wasn't looking at the Architect's maps. He was looking back.
In his mind, the dark cavern vanished, replaced by the blinding, crystalline splendor of the God Realm. He saw himself, thousands of years younger, his hair a flowing river of gold even then. Beside him stood his twin. They were identical in stature, but opposites in essence. His brother had hair like a moonless night and eyes that held the deep, unsettling purple of a coming storm.
He remembered the way the High Angels would bow to him, showering him with "Light blessings" and "Sun songs," while they would pull their robes away from his brother as if his very shadow were contagious.
"Don't worry," his brother had joked one afternoon, leaning against a pillar of living light. The young Architect had a crooked, sardonic smile. "If they keep calling me a 'void stain,' I might just have to become a villain. It's a growth industry, you know. Good benefits. Great outfits."
The Serene God had laughed then, thinking it was just another of his brother's dark jokes. But then, the laughter had died. His twin had turned to him, the purple eyes filled with a raw, agonizing curiosity that hurt more than any blade.
"We are twins, brother," the young Architect had asked, his voice barely a whisper. "We were born of the same spark at the same moment. So why is it that you are more loved and cherished than I?"
The Serene God, sitting in the dark corner of Axiom's sanctuary, felt a phantom tear prick his eye. He hadn't had an answer then. He didn't have one now. He had been the "Serene" one because the universe had given him peace. His brother had been the "Architect" because he had to build a world of his own just to find a place where he belonged.
The possessiveness he showed toward Aki, the teasing, the arrogance, it was all a mask. He wasn't just guarding his champion; he was guarding the only person who looked at him and saw something other than a distant, perfect sun.
"I'm coming for you, brother," he whispered into the dark. "And this time, I won't just laugh at the jokes."