Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You have heard the same old tale where the God of Death is jealous of Dura for being the mortal's favorite god. Well that is just a silly rumor the mortals created in order to bring more chaos. He was simply doing his job and wasn't bothered by the mortals as he got more work because their violent actions, none other than the humans, were causing destruction to other races which resulted in more souls coming to his realm. The God of death could have done something like threatening them but he didn't want to interfere with their businesses as he had better things to do, unlike his sister Dura who simply just hangs out with them. Honestly, what made them so unique to her? Doesn't she know they can be cruel and violent? Well it's not like he can just go to her and ask a question he needs to sort the souls to the next afterlife. 

A tint of light glows suddenly, Dura appearing in his realm. 

“Well hello Dura. What’s with the sudden visit?”

“Annih! I'm tired..”

“...From what exactly?”

“The mortals! No matter how much I tell them to stop with their violent actions, they still keep doing it behind my back. My faction, the celestials, don't quite understand my love for humans as they only act when I give them orders. I do not wish to control them but for them to understand what I'm trying to say to them.”

“Dura, why not just tell them and the mortals what you said to me. You're still considered the favorite one aren't you?”

“That's the point, brother! They'll only listen to what I say but not act independently as they still need me. I just want the people of Esperia to finally have peace and freedom.” tears coming out of the goddess eyes.

‘ Wow…I did not expect that from her .’

Dura just crossed her arms with a mix of angry and sad as he never saw her that emotional. Last time, he accidentally killed a small town which in return of apology he brought them back to life with their memories of his destruction wiped off. Even if the mortals were fun to hang around with, she still visits her brother who stays in a gloomy area and the only family member they know for so long. They didn't start off with parents, even if they did, who are they or where are they? They will never know.

“Annih, how about a bet like we always do?” She managed to calm herself down, wiping her tears off.

“Hmm…okay, I'm listening. What's the catch?” Now that he can speak freely as he was afraid if he spoke out sooner he'll face his sister’s wrath. It's surprising that the mortals and the celestials don't know about Dura.

“Since I created the celestials, you'll have to create the opposite. To have two people of different factions that will soon be together. I think the mortals called it “couples”. If this works, I'll be back from my departure.”

“Yeah that seems, wait! You're just going to leave Esperia?! What about your celestials? The mortals? Did you think about them?”

“Annih, I still care about them, but it's time they need to not rely on their god and make their own decisions. I just want my own space.”

“* sigh * Alright then. We just need to create a scene to make it happen. As for a new faction…it'll just bring more work for me. My powers are considered dangerous to them and bring more chaos than before. If we're doing this, there must be weakness for this new faction so that the world is balanced.”

“I agree. I can create one last thing for the humans to find before I go.”

“Then it's settled then. Time to create this new being.”

So the two primary gods got to work as they were working on the hypogean that will be bound to be with a celestial. With just a teaspoon of Annih's blood and Dura's life powers. There they created a “being” that would soon be called hypogean, but Dura suggested it needed a name as they were designing his physical form.

“All life beings deserve something and I know you're terrible with names.”

“Okay then, what do you suggest then? Wait Dura, this is a demon, not a celestial. You can't just paint them with white blue or gold.”

“It was my idea!”

“No! Instead they'll wear black, red, and gold. Does that sound fitting to you?”

“I guess so-”

“Good! Now, what will their name be? Have you decided yet?”

“Their name will be who they are on the inside and not just on the outside. Their name shall be…//////.”

“/////////////,////////////////////////. /////////////////////////////.”

….

….

…

…

…

Those foggy memories were coming back to him as he had one of those “dreams”. Why is he having those dreams? What’s behind his creation and what does it mean he's bound to be someone that might just be a dead wish he can never dream of happening to him. As he continues on his travels, he still questions where he came from unlike the other hypogeans who remember their earliest memory, so why can't he remember his early memories? Why was he different from the others?

It's been years since the two gods that once looked after Esperia, one of them gone and the other hiding in the dark. Not really hiding, the God of Death just closes the gate to the Underworld away from the others making it impossible for Celestials to track down. Not even the hypogeans, his own creation,  aren't allowed to enter nor know the location. To which cause another faction known as the graveborns as their souls can't enter to the next afterlife so they are stuck here with the other races. 

Oh when will their goddess be awakened or will Annih come back with bigger motives. As long as the bet is over then both will come back to fix the mess they left behind.

 Somewhere, in a different universe where the Goddess of Life was at this whole time felt something, a feeling that the bet seems to be over at last.

“It's time to head back to Esperia. I wonder how he's doing?”

Chapter Text

A normal day here in Esperia or should I say chaotic still? Up Where in the mountains where the celestials reside. Some were simply relaxing, others were doing their own work as their respective role, and the majority were planning on the next move of how to defeat their old nemesis none other than the hypogeans. If only their creator, Dura, was here with them as it would make the job more easy but now they can only fulfill her wishes.

In the conference room where the known celestials gather, Athalia, Veithael, Zaphrael, Orthos, and Wu Kong discuss how to track down a group or solo hypogean. Veithael suggests using Zaphrael as bait to catch his ex, Orthos and Athalia disagree while Wu Kong is the only one who agrees with his plan. 

“Come on! Isn't she like one of the strongest hypogeans? If we can managed to-”

“That is a no, Veithael! We can't use Zaphrael like that.”

“Thank you, Athalia.”

“I can assure you the plan wouldn't work the way you wanted, Veithael.”

“Oh come on! Wu Kong, back me up here.”

“Hmm…now that I think about it the plan wouldn't work so-”

“You too?! I thought you would agree with me buddy.”

Arguing left and right until a loud trumpet was heard from the conference room. No one in the god faction though they'll never hear it again since…wait a minute, could it be?

“There's no way.”

*Flash*

All the celestials were gathered at the conference room, most of them confused as to why they were brought here in the first place. Alna was supposedly at the icy mountains, Flora was at the mortal world spreading nature, Titus was guarding the gates, Haelus was busy making tools (he needs to touch grass), and the rest were doing their own activity. The only one who could have the power to do this is none other than the Goddess herself.

“Hello, my childrens. I have returned. Now, let me explain everything to you all as you deserve to know.”

Who would have thought their Goddess that was “killed” by Annih was in a different dimension this whole time to have a vacation to herself. Orthos never felt this such a failure as he never predicted the whole situation, which to those who were close to her felt they weren't strong enough to be called “Gods”. 

“Even if I told one of you of my whereabouts, the hypogeans may also have found me as well. Speaking of which, I thought I had summoned all of the celestials that I remember so far, does anyone know where is Gavus ?”

Meanwhile, somewhere in Esperia, Ranhorn City, Gavus and Eugene decided to visit the Rayne mansion with Baden, Thane, and Estrilda by having a family picnic. Under a tall tree to provide shade and for Baden to not get hurt by the sunlight, five grown ups chatting as Lucilla and Liberta, being normal teens and not training to kill each other, were playing around the grassy field. Luckily, the backyard was big enough for them to run around, it was a nice change for them to be regular teens. If you were wondering if there are other people who might freak out because of a hypogean staying at the mansion were on their vacation break. Gavus was chatting with Baden of how Estrilda was as a child as far as he remembers before being brought back to life as a graveborn. Though Thane fills it in as he trains her to become the head of Raynes. It was going so well that is when the celestial realized his partner, Eugene, being all quiet since they began talking, staring at his cup of tea. 

“Eugene?”

“...” 

“Is he alright, Gavus?”

“He hasn't been like this. Eugene? Are you alright?”

Gavus then grabs his partner's shoulder to give a reaction. Eugene then reacted back as he was lost in his mind.

“Eh? What happened?”

“ You seem to space out, Eugene. Are you alright ?”

“Um…yeah! Anyway, what were we talking about?”

Back to the celestial territory, no one could have the courage to tell Dura of what happened to  the Keeper of Order. Would she get mad? Upset? As a few celestials stay at the conference room to discuss on how to track the hypogean's location as somewhere their blending in with the humans or hiding in unknown locations. They got lost in track and didn't notice that Dura was gone. 

“Where is her holy Goddess at!?”

“She just went outside a few minutes ago. She's not that far.”

“Do you think that she'll get angry with Lady Morgana? I mean, she was his mentor before.”

With the Goddess of Life, staring at the Esperia map as she was doing her own way to find the missing celestial.To her, Gavus, one of the celestials she last created before she left thinking that something might have happened to him while she was away. Given how the celestials weren't able to give her the answers, she might as well either call the mentor that was put in charge as his teacher or just find him on her own.

“So it seems the words were true. You return, my Goddess.”

“It's been so long, Morgana. Do you know why you're here?”

“If it's about him, then yes.”

“What happened to him, Morgana? He was supposed to be in your care and would have been here when I summoned everyone at the conference room but he didn't show up. Since I left you to be responsible to look after him, what exactly happened?”

If Morgana didn't know fear, now she does as Dura looks down at her with the look of irritation. 

“He chose the path he took, my Goddess. He chose to be with that arch nemesis. To summarize, he's no longer welcome in our faction.”

“Hmm…alright then. You may go.”

“Yes, my Goddess.”, the Goddess of Justice took off, leaving the Goddess of Life alone in the balcony area. 

“Back on track, where can he be- hold on! Is that what I think it is?”

Being a primary God like her and Annih, by having mighty vision she was able to find one of her creations, Gavus. Oh how she remembers the last time she saw him, he was a small figure, a child that mortals called it. As she looked up from the mountains, there she saw him with two humans and a…hypogean? Two hypogeans? And is that also another celestial she didn't remember created him before. She felt a tremendous joy in her heart as she never thought the day would come, a celestial and a hypogean got together. 

‘Hold on…could it be what I think it is? How is that possible? Whatever happened when I was gone, it seems coming back was the right moment. I need to tell my brother. I wonder how he's doing throughout my long vacation? I should go visit him .’

Before she goes, she has to leave a message.

“ I'll be off to attend to other matters. I’m off to see my brother, Annih. Bye !”

“Wait what?! Your divinity, please wait! At least bring a bodyguard with you!”

It was a bit too late as she vanished into thin air, heading off to her brother. Wonder what he's been doing this whole time as Eugene who has been again space out once they return back to their unknown location where they live now. He doesn't usually space out as that was truly out of character of him to do so. 

“Um…dad, are you okay? Papa Gavus was very worried when you space out.”

“...Oh? Yeah, I'm alright, Liberta. Nothing is going to happen to us, we know it. I get the feeling something is about to happen soon and I'm afraid that I'll jinx it.”

“Mmm yeah, should I get Papa to have a talk or want to get criticized by Lucilla?”

“...your sister already had her fun teasing me at the picnic, but I'll talk with Gavus later. It seems to be nighttime already. Head to bed, little one. Don't stay up late, don't want your dad to give me another lecture.”

Chapter Text

Dura managed to sneak out from the other celestials, but before she headed off she did tell Orthos that she'll be fine and that her brother wasn’t as bad as everyone thought . It's a good thing that no one knows where the God of Death's realm is as it wasn't recorded in any history books, otherwise every single hero in Esperia would barge his home to “avenge” their favorite God. To respect his rule boundaries, she'll have to enter by the front gates to the Underworld. 

“If I remember correctly, the password is the answer to these riddles.”

There were ancient text words, translating to, “Who is the truth and who is the lie.” Knowing her brother, this was supposed to be possible for others, someone as old as ancient like her and Annih would know the answer. 

“The Goddess of Life is a beautiful lie and the God of Death is the ugly truth.”

*Click* 

The gates open and let her into the underworld. As far as she remembers, the Underworld was way too dark for a mortal eye to see but with her eyes that shine like the sun was able to navigate. The further she went down, it changed as there were more crystals that glowed a luminous light, and a river streaming down to the path where Dura is heading to. She notices the slight difference Annih may have changed bits of the Underworld, she could have been more proud of her brother's small achievement. 

“It looks like I made it at last. This pathway should be where Annih spends his time the most, his work office.”

As the Goddess continued, she finally made her destination. In all honesty, she's a bit nervous to see him again, it has been like years/eons as he did disagree on her plan to leave the whole Esperia people under the celestials watch but also his watch but unnoticeable. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door twice, nothing but silence.

“Annih? Brother? Are you in there?”

“...”, nothing but the echo of her voice.

“I’m respecting your realm's rule bounders by knocking! But as your sister and the Goddess of Life, I'm coming in anyway!”

* Creak *

To her surprise, there were piles of paper that almost reached the ceiling, while there were open scrolls on the ground floor. The book shelves were the only thing that was neatly organized. The Goddess floats over and sees her exhausted brother seated on his chair as he is in a deep sleep. It seems he was in the middle of reading a mortal's life story of how it'll go. Even if Dura was happy to see Annih again she needed to wake him up to share the wonderful news.

“ Annih, I'm back. Wake up .”

“ * Snore* Five more minutes .”

“ Sorry, but I need to listen to the news I need to tell you .”

“Come on, wake up!”, Dura uses her divine powers to light up the room as this was how she managed to wake up Annih before.

“Okay, okay. I'm up.”, the God of Death woke up from his nap and stretched his arms, realizing that his sister really did return from her long vacation.

“Wait! Dura?! Your back?” 

“Yes, brother. I'm back and it's about perfect timing. Now, before the next step, I need to tell you that one of our old bets has finally ended.”

“I’ve been working over the past eons that tend to forget such small things, you need to be specific on which bet was it.”

“A celestial and a hypogean managed to get together! And to make things better, it's the ones who wield the ring artifacts we made for them!”

Took a minute for him to process onto what she had just said, still a bit tired from his work.

“...Hold on. If I remember correctly… out of the two of them…his name is Gavus, correct?” 

“Yes! I'm surprised you remember well.” 

“Because not only I have to secretly look out for the mortals, but also the celestials. Well, only the ones who know and play their respective role and not the spoil ones.”

“Anway, the whole thing is that I came just in time to fix the mess I created in the first place. I told my childrens that we will plan on tracking all hypogeans but I need you to come with me in order to make them realize that you mean harm.”

“Yeah…I don't think those who supposedly kill their Goddess will exactly be happy with me around with them.”

“Come on, brother! Besides, you need to get some sunlight and socialize more. Who knows, maybe you'll find something that will make you have earthly attachments.”

“Dura, I'm telling you this. I have read each of the celestials' life stories. One of them has faced a big trauma that happened before he became a celestial, which caused his character growth to be more distant from others. Not only did he have to kill his own bloodline, someone who used to be obsessive of him turned into a hypogean. I'm pretty sure that goes to some other celestials who used to be a mortal to have that same trauma. I'm not going to your place, that's it.”

“Brother…I have no words to say. You surprise me yet again, you still care for other living beings since we are created to be this way. I know that I came up with this idea, but I need your help as your sister. Please, Annih?”

“...Do I have to? I was reading a good book for once. the next chapter is about to start.”

“Your reading can wait, come on!” You need to attend to your God duties again.”

“* Sigh * Fine, the sooner this is done the better, but let me at least change my outfit to not scare off those pesky birds of yours. It's been awhile since I went out of my realm. And…my office is a total mess right now.”

“No worries, I'll fix your office in the meantime.”

“Once we get to your place, can I get the chance to fight one of your birds if they dare to harass me?”

“If they started first, then yes. Just don't tell them I said that. Also, why would they dare to harass you?”

“Ooohh, like you have no clue, don't you?”

*

*

*

‘ Why can't I go to sleep? It's like what happened back at the old cottage. The night we found and got separate. Could it be…no! That's not going to happen again. Only this time, we will be prepared. ’

Eugene couldn't go to sleep as this weird dream he had recently caused him to space out at random times. He got up as quietly as possible to not wake up his celestial partner and went down to the first floor, heading towards the kitchen area to make himself coffee. He turns on a lanturn nearby and to his surprise he sees his daughter holding the cookie jar, eating a chocolate chip cookie which her twin brother made. Awkward silence between the two. If it were the Keeper of Order, then Lucilla would get grounded.

“Heeey old man.”

“Good early morning, little star. Why are you up so late? No worries, I won't tell Gavus.”

“Well~...I had a nightmare. That's why.” She couldn't look her dad in the eyes, thinking he wouldn't take it seriously. That was not the case. 

“A nightmare? Was it that scary for you, Lucilla?” He prepares the kettle to heat up the water as the two of them won't be able to go back to sleep. Eugene would also get another scolding from Gavus for staying up late, but he'll manage. He then grabs two cups from the cabinet for him and Lucilla, opens the fridge to pour out a fresh apple juice for her. 

“Want to talk about it? I won't judge it.”

“...I feel like we will get separated again.”

“Hmm…I also have that exact dream but different. It's more of a foggy memory that I can't remember well.”

“...Do you think it's going to happen again, dad?”

“If it happens..will be ready this time. You and your brother are now teenagers and have grown strong ever since. Your papa and I will make sure of that. I promise, my little star.”, as he drank a sip of his strong espresso.

“Thanks, dad. Can I please stay up a bit more? I swear I won't make a sound.”, Lucilla finished her apple juice first.

“I'm afraid you can't unless you're brave to face off your papa's anger. You need to have a healthy sleep schedule.” 

“Please, dad?” Lucilla pleaded.

“Fine, but I can't save you from papa's anger. Got it?”

“Hehehe. Got it.”, She put away her cup to the sink, then headed to the living room to draw.

“I'll be here drinking my coffee.”

Now that is something Eugene needs to worry about. His daughter having the same vision and the chances that it might actually happen is possible. Dura above, please let nothing happen to this family or anyone for that matter.

*

*

*

Back at the holy mountains, Dura was able to bring the God of Death, Annih, to come to her place to have a proper conversation to track down the hypogeans. 

“ Her holyness, Dura, has returned safely !”

“Your birds are being dramatic. Why did you decide to create them in the first place again?”

“You already know the reason why is to look after Esperia.”

Since Dura followed his rules, he needed to follow her rules by dressing appropriately. In order to not scare off the celestials he wore a long face veil that covered his entire face, small crystal beads sewn on with a touch of silver lace. A light purple long sleeve, white slacks, and white gloves with faded lilac color by the fingertips. He truly does look like any other celestial thanks to his long silver hair but no one has pointed out the purple hair tip end. It's not like he's trying to hide away his identity, let them figure it out on their own. Oh this will be truly an entertainment for the God of Death as form a smile on his face. 

“Now, let's discuss the next big step that will finally bring peace to Esperia. The Hypogean Extermination .”

*

*

*

“...” 

“Why do I hear boss music?”

Chapter Text

Somewhere in the Esperia world, rumor to rumor, their savior Goddess has been “awakened” little do they know the real truth. From the lightbearer emperor, the deep forest, deserted lands, to the Kingdom of Bantus, everyone wanted a glimpse to see the Goddess of Life.

Random Human: “I could feel her holiness from above. She's truly here to save us all.”

Random Wilder: “That means there will be peace and tranquility at last.”

Random Mauler: “That also means there will be another war between the celestials and the hypogeans. Hopefully we don't have to evacuate…right?”

Random Graveborn: “Oh ho ho ha ha ha! This will be quite the entertainment I have ever seen in all of my living and dead years. Hahahahaha! Bring more drinks here.”

Yeah, some people were filled with joy and excitement while others were concerned for the safety of their homeland, while the dead wanted to have front row seats to see the drama unfold. All is to say, half were correct while the rest are still believing the old usual tale. 

So, back with the celestials, Dura, in the middle of explaining, Annih notices some glares given to him as he was listening all the way without saying a word. Even with the outfit he's wearing, plus a veil, he knows that there are celestials who are smarter than that. All the readings he read about them, there's a few that he honestly respects as proper celestial and not delusional ones. Although he may change his opinion if this all goes well. 

Dura: “Without further to do, any questions or concerns about this? You can be honest with me.”

One celestial took the courage to stand up from their chair, then raise her sword as she suddenly appeared near the figure near the Goddess of Life. Looks like the fun is over.

Athalia: “Why is HE here?”

Dura: “Athalia! Put away your swords, he means no-”

Annih: “Well well well, I shall congratulate you for figuring it out all on your own.” 

The God of Death claps his hands then takes off and reveals his face for the celestials to see. The only resemblance between the two primary Gods were the golden yellow eyes. Pale skin as he spent almost eternity in the dark realm and swollen checks for using his blood to create the hypogeans. To their expectations, they thought he'll have demonic face features like scales, thin pupils, and pointy ears but surprisingly he looks… normal.  

Athalia: “You shouldn't be here! Especially in front of her holy presence! So you better leave this place and control those demons of yours!”

Oh that really got to his nerves. Luckily he can use his free pass.

Annih: “And YOU shouldn't be here as well but here we are.”

Athalia: “Why you-”

She almost swung her sword if it weren't for Dura to stop her.

Dura: “Enough! You two.”

Annih: “No no, let her be. I want to see her as well as the rest get destroyed in front of their Goddess who swore to follow your words.”

Athalia: “What makes YOU be in here!?”

Annih: “I'm simply a God, while you and the rest are simply… pigeons .”

Though it's true that the majority of the celestials were once humans who were recruited by Dura for the Divine War, which was part of the plan for her departure. There are only a few that are created by the Goddess herself and considered to be the third generation of the gods. The first generation was Honas, primordial of life and order, and Lutos, primordial of disorder and extinction. Now, back to the drama fight. 

Athalia: “What makes you think you're any better?” 

Annih: “Oho?~ Then let me tell this to her. Dura, are you sure you summon all of your celestials here?”

Dura: “Annih… what do you mean by that?”

Annih: “Where is this Vyloris person?”

Dura: “!?”

Athalia: “!?”

To give you a better understanding, there was once a celestial who was considered the “favorite” out of all celestials. Not only because she was the top elites nor she's not that strong but she was the perfect ideal of what a celestial should be and that made Dura favor her more. If you think the hypogeans tend to be evil as well as the other seven sins, some of the celestials were jealous of Dura's favoritism but they hide it so well, wanting nothing more for Vyloris to get out of the picture.

Annih: “When your birds heard the news that she was captured, they didn't even try finding her as the hypogeans kept torturing her every day and night. The light she once had in her heart then turned to pure darkness.” 

Dura: “...Is this true? Tell me, my children…IS THIS TRUE!?”

Nothing but a couple of silence as the Goddess of Life couldn't believe what they did consider for them is a  “sacrifice” when she was not looking. She thought they knew how to do their jobs, she put her faith in them, she treated them with the true kindness she offered them. Was that never enough for them? 

Annih: “On that night, I went to visit her to give her a choice. Either I set her free to let her return to her brothers and sisters to never set foot on the mortal land, or become a hypogean. Unexpectedly, she willingly chose to be a hypogean only to get her revenge for those she once trusted.” 

Dura: “So…how is she?”

Annih: “The one who used to be cheerful and energetic, she's now a professional actress to lure people in her tower. Also you forgot another bird of yours, luckily, she's fine, just somewhere in Esperia.”

Dura: “At this point I'm going to believe what you said for the time being.”

Athalia: “But your holiness-!”

That is where a random celestial decides to bring doom for the faction. Annih could have sworn this was more entertaining than the readings he read. 

Random Celestial: “Well aren't you the one who killed our Goddess?”

Anniih: “ Excuse me now ?”

Dura: “Wait, Annih-”

Random Celestial: “You call yourself a god but clearly you haven't anything other than abandoning your duties and let those hypogeans bring chaos and destruction! You are no better than us-”

With those final words, Annih snapped his fingers as the celestial fell to ground. The holy body figure is now turning to a pile of ashes. Annih could have done so much worse but he managed to hold it in. 

Annih: “ Who wants to be next ?”

At that point, no celestials wanted to challenge the God of the Death as he can literally swipe them off with one single blow. Not even the ones who hold huge grudges. 

Annih: “Dura, I have a proposal for you.”

Dura: “I'm all ears, brother.” 

Annih: “Since your pigeons couldn't do one SIMPLE job, I'll handle my own to hunt down the hypogeans. They are my creation after all, I need to restore my full power and attend to my god duties once again.” 

As he was about to take his leave, his outfit changed to his original outfit and a large scythe as his signature weapon. Oh just by looking at his deadly weapon was truly beautiful to him as it was gifted from the creator. The only good thing Honas did for Annih. Now onto a killing spree!

Dura: “Wait a minute there! Brother, what about the ones who aren't violent? Are you going to kill them too? What about Vyloris?”

Annih: “Dura, Vyloris has changed, a lot per say. Even if you use your magic to turn her back to a celestial again, it would only harm her. Besides, she has killed tons of innocent lives that can't be forgiven or ignored. Well, the majority of the hypogeans have brought me an abundance of paper work to do. If there are some hypogeans who are smart enough not to cause so much trouble, I won't drag them into this mess. Unless they bring themselves to this mess.”

The God of Death vanishes to thin air, heading down to the ground. He remembers his first time back when he and his sister were given their roles and getting to explore around the Esperia world, which their creator last requested them to do. Now was not the time to reminisce about the past, he is now back to clean the mess of his sister and the hypogean’s destruction, great. 

Annih: “It's open season bitches!”

*

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*

23 hours began, early in the morning .

 Eugene didn't get a wink of sleep. As for his daughter, she’s the only one who went back to sleep before Gavus caught the two of them. For him, he did get caught as he found him sleeping on the living room couch. 

Gavus: “ Eugene …”

Eugene: “Morning, Gavus~”

His celestial partner gives him the biggest stare as he tries to not go back to sleep, knowing fully well that if he did he'll never hear the end of it. 

Eugene: “I didn't want to wake you up so I ended up staying awake the whole night.”

Gavus: “Then why didn't you return back to bed? Or perhaps waking me up to comfort you.”

Eugene: “I didn't want to bother you, especially in the middle of the night. But, now that I think about it, I do need to tell you something and it's serious.”

Since it was still early the twins were still asleep which leaves the two dads to have adult conversation. Gavus set up the kettle to boil water to prepare early breakfast. 

Eugene told Gavus about the possibility that their family will get separated again and that's the reason why he's been spacing out recently, but he never told him that their daughter is also having the same thought to not let Gavus be too worried. As the usual Gavus, he listens carefully to his husband's words. With a bit of tea refreshment, Eugene was able to calm down a bit with the tea his pretty pigeon prepared for him. Although the hypogean was still tired from staying awake, Gavus carried him in bridal style to their room. 

Tucking him into bed, Gavus gave Eugene a little “warning”.

Gavus: “ you better be prepared for your punishment because tonight…you'll not be able to walk for a day . Understood? ”

That really made the Fool of Chaos wake up from that warning. 

Eugene: ‘ Should I be scared or hard? ’

*

*

*

20 hours left

The sounds of screams bring so much delight for the God of Death as he slaughter low ranking hypogeans, he could almost feel his powers coming back.

Annih: “hehehe…I need more .”

*

*

*

15 hours left

In Kuilin City, an Earl was doing his paperwork as he was feeling…off. As if he goes outside, he'll never come back. 

Leofric: ‘ Am I the only one who can't help but worry too much? Or is it just me ?’

The Malevolent Menace wasn't the type of person with much worries, but he can't help but worry about Eugene who can be an idiot sometimes. In the end, he decided to write a quick letter to his old friend to make sure he didn't do anything reckless, or perhaps letting him know he's still alive out there.

Hopefully he’s alright…

*

*

*

11 hours left

Unname Hypogean: “P-please…my lord..”

SLASH

That was 99,997 Annih had tracked down. Yes, he did say he was going to slaughter them all but not the way you expected it. For Annih to regain his full power, he'll need to drink the blood from the hypogeans. Yeah…not so edible delicious. Does his sister know? It's best to tell her after once he's done. But where do the hypogeans go exactly? 

The Underworld of course, where no one can hear their screams. 

This would be the part where Annih goes back to Underworld to prepare a “feast” but the murderer inside of him was still on. 

Annih: ‘ One more check to see if there are any pesky bugs . Just one last check and that's it .”

Wandering around he ended up in an unknown forest. If he knew the name of this location from the books he would have already left. Just then he felt an ancient magic aura nearby and surprisingly he also felt a hypogean nearby as well. 

Annih: ‘Well, well, well. There you are .’

*

*

*

10 hours left

Eugene and Lucilla were outside of their dimensional house to collect fruits and vegetables for the next week. Gavus gave out chores for everyone to do, and for those to look out for fruits and vegetables by two people while the other two stayed to guard the house.

So far, they collect pomegranates, figs, berries, and walnuts. The Fool of Chaos could have sworn he saw an apple tree somewhere but he can't figure where he last saw it.

Lucilla: “Hey dad? My basket here is full. Can we head back now? ”

Eugene: “I could have sworn I saw an apple tree somewhere here..”

Lucilla: “Maybe you have finally reached senior year, old man.” 

Eugene: “Very funny, little imp. But seriously though..”

Lucilla: “Dad! We can ask Papa and Bert to find it when it's their turn. Can we please go home?”

As a result, Lucilla managed to convince Eugene as they headed back to their house. The young hypogean girl didn't recall any apple tree anywhere nor did her twin brother. Maybe Eugene needed more sleep to get back to a healthy sleeping schedule or drink some healing potions. Almost reaching the house, Lucilla looked back seeing her dad not with her. 

Lucilla: ‘ Oh no… ’

She hurries to the house to get her father and brother to look for the missing family member. Gavus was in the middle of making dinner with Liberta as he was washing the plates, now running outside with the girl hypogean to find Eugene. 

Gavus: ‘ Where did you run off to, Eugene ?’

Meanwhile with Eugene, he finally found the apple tree. He didn't bother to tell his daughter, or more like he was “forced” not to tell her as the whispering voice lure him closer to the apple tree, telling him to take one for a bite. Mesmerizing him by the magical apple tree right in front of him. 

???: “ Go on…take your time .”

He took what he believed to be the most delicious apple from the tree branch, but inside of him tells him to quickly leave as this seems to be a trap. Whatever type of magic this is can easily manipulate anyone, either a celestial or hypogean. 

???: “ What are you waiting for? Go ahead, take a bite. ” 

Eugene: ‘ I…don't want to .’

Annih: ‘ Oh~ You're one of the intelligent ones I see. I, the God of Death, your creator shall congratulate you for that…but it seems you're little one won't be spared .’

Eugene: ‘!’

And with that, the apple he was holding was just an illusion but the apple tree turned out to be a big carnivorous plant ready to attack him. 

Eugene: ‘ Well…it can't be that bad. As long as my family are back home then I can quickly -’

Gavus: “Eugene!”

Eugene: ‘ Oh no! Pigeonehead? Wait, why did you bring the kids here ?’

“Gavus! Kids! Get back!”

It was too late, as the plant quickly grabbed Eugene with its vines. He tried to use his powers to set himself free but no luck. Gavus used his balance scales to set a light beam at the monstrous plant, if it wasn’t for his son he could have hurt Eugene in the process. Lucilla summoned her scythe to have the upper hand by slicing the vines off from Eugene as Liberta prepared to use his Gemini Equilus to help out Lucilla. 

It was working until the monster plant started running away with Eugene as the hostage, but with a tacky surprise. As it was running away, Lucilla scythe was still on the vines so she had to get it back. What a mischievous plant as it was not only luring Eugene with the apple but capturing the young hypogean girl by taking away her weapon. 

Gavus: “Lucilla!”

Liberta: “Dad!”

With that, the carnivorous plant took away both of them to the depths of Esperia ground. Deep down to the underground, where no one, not even the graveborns, knew that the Underworld was just 10 floors down where Annih had been this whole time.

*

*

*

9 hours left

Annih: “Well, that could have gone worse if my murderous persona kept going on longer. Now, time to make myself a fine drink ”

The God of Death was reading the whole scenario happening to the family while he was sitting back at the Underworld. He did not expect Eugene, a hypogean, to refuse to let his family get into danger as well protecting that hypogean teenager. Sadly, the young girl has to go because of the crimes she did when she was used as a weapon for the hypogeans. 

Maybe…he can put up one last test for them. To see if this father would do anything for his daughter.

*

*

*

8 hours left

The hypogeans are now in a glass container, all cramp together as they all thought they were dead from their creator's scythe. What did they do wrong? They followed his orders, what could have possibly done wrong? 

Annih: “To prepare the finest beverage is to have all the necessary recipes.”

He grabbed the glass container to pick a hypogean and to everyone's shock, he didn't hesitate but murder his own creation.

Random Hypogean 1: “Wait what- AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH !”

Other hypogeans just witnessed someone getting crushed by God's hand like he was crushing a fresh fruit. The blood coming out poured what seems to be a bowl container. 

Annih: “One tablespoon of blood, and 99,997 tablespoon to go~”

Random Hypogean 2: “Were fuck…in a bad way.” 

*

*

*

7 hours left

Another hypogean who had no idea what's going on as he slept in his place to get full rest for the next upcoming concert.

*

*

*

6 hours left 

Lucilla woke up in a very dark environment. Her head still has a concussion from that fight of the  monster plant. 

Lucilla: ‘ Where I’m I? Where…where's my dad ?’

She tried looking around but it was still dark to see until she ran into a…invisible wall? 

She gave it a punch but nothing. A knock, nothing, a simple touch, nothing again. Lucilla knew she had to get out, to find her dad and get back with the others but so far she has no clue where she is. This isn't the Infernal Gaol, where Eugene was kept in prison nor any place she remembers back when she was being used as a weapon for the war. Her head finally came clear and her vision getting used to the dark, the young hypogean realized she was in a glass container all alone. 

Lucilla: ‘ No…this isn't…I want my dads…my brother…I want to go home .’

A tear drop of water grew under her mismatched eyes, overflowing down to her cheeks. She wasn't the type of person or child who cried so easily but she couldn't help herself. It's like what happened before, being  from her fond family, training without stopping, and having her memories sealed away.

Lucilla: ‘ No! Pull yourself together, Lucilla! I would find my way to escape and find that old man! I just…need to find a way to get out .’

From her point of view, she was the size of a small ant in a glass container so reaching to the top will be tricky. Nothing to worry, she learned this from her papa, by doing something reckless. She pushes around the corners with all her might to move the glass container to any possible cliff. If her dad was with her, he would totally not agree with his daughter's foolish plan as he might say, “ You got that from your pigeon father .” Yeah, something like that.

To her luck, it looks like she managed to fall off with the glass container and got out before the glass container fell to the ground and shattered to pieces. Though with how loud it was, she'll have to hide for a while and try to search for her dad or get any information of where she is.

Lucilla: ‘Okay. Time to find my dad, again. Only this time, I'm by myself. Papa Gavus, Liberta, I’ll definitely bring back that old man like he was supposed to be before !’

*

*

*

5 hours left

Luckily neither the hypogean teen girl wasn't with the rest as Annih kept squishing their bodies. That is until a loud shutter noise was heard from the distance. 

Annih: “Oh? I wonder what that could be? There shouldn't be anyone roaming freely in my own domain. I'll have to pause here and see who is inside my house. Be good for me while I'm gone.”

A sigh of relief for the hypogeans, though after some where killed off, it still feels cramp inside of the glass container. One of the hypogeans noticed that there is no lid covering the top so this was his chance to escape. He saved up his energy in order to not look suspicious as the rest were either too dumb or hadn't noticed it yet. 

But what's stopping Eugene from escaping? One of his other close friends is with him as well, the Betrayed, Lucretia. He felt bad that he'll have to abandon someone who once abandoned before. So before he makes his decision, he goes to Lucretia's side once more to have one last talk.

Eugene: “ Heeey, Lucretia .”

Lucretia: “ So…you ended up here too? If you're here then where is your daughter ?”

Eugene: “ That's what I want to talk about. I'm afraid she'll probably end up worse, so I WANT to get out but can't be noticeable .”

Lucretia: “ I know what you mean by that. By all means, get out while you can to save your daughter before he finds her .”

Eugene: “ You're not… ?’

Lucretia: “ Unlike those idiots over there, I willingly wanted to rest at last. Perhaps, I'll finally get to see my son in the afterlife. Or perhaps not. So go, Eugene .”

Eugene: “It was a nice chat with you. Farewell, good friend.”

He whispers to his companion to not let anyone hear their conversation as he tries to make his escape just like the last time.

*

*

*

4 hours left

Annih: “Now where could that little one run off too? It may as well be a whole labyrinth to them.”

The Maiden of Dusk was hiding in the shadows as she tried to sneak quietly without getting caught. If it were someone else then she could have tried to fight but her crimson scythe is gone and clearly wouldn't try to dare challenge the God of Death himself. 

She needed a distraction, but what can she do alone? 

Annih: “Oh well. It's probably just a crystal that somehow fell to the ground by its massive weight. I'll check it again as I can't let my drink get too cold.”

Lucilla: ‘ So…that's the God of Death? He does not look the way I expected, but why… ?’

Lucilla couldn't help but question God's action. Why did he not just take their life away in the first place when he had the chance to? But that would mean she and her dad wouldn't be with their family again. Oh hell no, she's not giving up! She has to try to find Eugene so that they could get out of here together alive.

Lucilla: ‘ Old man…where are you? How am I supposed to find you in this dark place ?’

*

*

*

2 hours left

The Maiden of Dusk kept wondering, wondering, and more wondering that felt non-stop. Whatever this place is, Lucilla definitely hates it as her eye vision wasn't good as a pure blood hypogean. One minute, she accidently hit her head on a wall, fell into a river, and went around in circles. If her brother were here with her, he would try to not laugh at her and possibly the two would get scolded by their papa while their dad also trying not to burst out laughing. She misses them already. Who knows how long it'll take for her to find Eugene and the exit.

Good thing she didn't run to some monsters who could be lurking around, but the bad part is she has to rely on her hypogean magic as she still can't find her signature weapon after all that searching. Who knows if these opponents could be more threatening than ever. 

Lucilla: ‘ Hmm..nothing here. Nothing there -’ 

Eugene: “ Lucilla .”

Lucilla: “Ah!”

In her instinct, she straightly punched Eugene in the face as he did scare her off with his crimson glowing eyes. Lucilla then realized she ran into the person she wanted to see. 

Lucilla: “Dad!”

Eugene: “ Lucilla! Keep your voice down. Oh! I'm glad I found you, little star . Also, a good punch there. ”

Lucilla: “ Sorry .”

A father and daughter rejoice as he hugs his daughter and in return she hugs him back. How Eugene got out of his situation was not easy as some of the hypogeans begged him to help them escape, but he didn't as he clearly remembered that he was told that he would always be an outcast to them. Luckily for him, he found his daughter who seemed to be not hurt anywhere, little does he know she tried to use Gavus old tactics.

Eugene: “ You're not hurt anywhere are you? You know Gavus would kill me if I didn't check any wounds you might have ?”

Lucilla: “ I'm okay, dad. Now let's get out of here while we can .”

ROAR

What a way to ruin the moment for the two as now they have to face a new kind of monster. Eugene, now on dad mode, might pull a risk here in order to not let a single hit on his daughter. 

Eugene: “Lucilla, get behind me.”

Lucilla: “There's no way I'm watching from the sideline, I'll help too!”

Eugene: ‘ You got that from your pigeonhead, huh ?’

“Just stay behind me for your own safety, okay little imp?”

Lucilla noded, though Eugene would have to protect her at all cost as he noticed she doesn't have her scythe with her assuming she lost during the battle with the monster plant.

An unknown monster found its new prey and launched its attack.

*

*

*

1 hour left

It was no use. Whatever this thing was was too much for the two hypogean. Eugene was badly wounded as he took all the hits. Lucilla may just witness her dad die right in front of eyes as she did what she could to support her dad.

Lucilla: “H-hey old man! Get up! We can still win.”

Eugene: “Lucilla…”

The monster was about to start attacking again 

10…  9….

Eugene had no choice but to use all his energy he had, carry her out to safety.

Lucilaa: “W-what?! Old man, what are you doing!? Dad?”

Eugene didn't answer as he kept running and running, away from whatever that it's called now chasing after them. 

8… 7…. 6…

Lucilla: “Dad! Whatever you're thinking, please! We can get out together. Please don't tell me your planning on to-”

ROAR

Eugene: “Lucilla…promise me that you'll never fight with your brother and always listen to Gavus’ words.”

5… 4…

As they were running, the darkness almost faded away as they were almost reaching to what seemed to be the surface. It brings questions as to how they were able to find their way out, as for her, she searched everywhere with no luck. 

3…

Eugene: “Meeting the two of you and getting to know more of Gavus was the best thing that ever happened. I want to let you know that I love and care for you and your brother.”

Lucilla: “Dad, stop!”

2…

Eugene: “Tell Gavus that I'm sorry for not returning back home.”

Lucilla: “Dad…please. We have come so far. Why are you leaving?”

1…

Eugene: “Take care of your brother and pigeonhead while I'm gone.”

Those final words, they managed to find the exit as it was just right there, waiting for them. Well, waiting for Lucilla to be free and not get killed for what she did with the rest. 

Lucilla: “EUUUGGGEEENNEE!”

And 0… The Hypogean Extermination is over…?

Chapter Text

It's not that Annih wanted to bring destruction for a show for himself, but to teach a valuable lesson. It's part of his and her role as a God to look after Esperia by the primordial God, Honas. He did care for them, but there were those who misjudged him mainly being associated with death while the majority favored his sister for bringing light and fill their 

One time, he talked with Dura about it. Talked about how it would have been fine if he didn't exist.

Young Annih: “It would be better if I wasn't created in the first place so that I wouldn't be hated for what I was-”

Young Dura: “Annih! You know that's not true! We're not only created so that we can compete for their favor but as their Gods to look after them. I would be lonely here without you, brother.”

Young Annih: “But… you still have the mortals as your company.”

Young Dura: “And you're still my brother, as well as I'm your sister, Annih. We practically look alike with our yellow eyes. From what I learned from the humans, they called it twins for the two pairs of siblings who look alike.”

Young Annih: “I don't know how you can still see them as they are also can be greedy, even going agaisn't to one another.”

Young Dura: “Not all humans are bad, Annih.”

Young Annih: “See? That's the problem there. Just please Dura, promise me this one; Never let those humans or anyone for that matter trick you that may bring you down in the future. I'm saying this because I also care about you, but those humans can disguise themselves to act innocent with a fake smile.”

Young Dura: “Okay, brother. Oh, wait! I want to give you something. It may help you understand more about the mortal kind.”

The two God's then go to the God of Death's realm as Dura wanted to show her brother about how the mortals of Esperia do in their daily lives but in a different approach. 

Young Dura: “I got this idea from the dwarfs and I think you may like it.”

In front of them, a two dark crimson door with silver door knob that opens to a room of bookshelves, a black cushion couch with a coffee table, and lastly a fireplace. To think that soon this library room is one of the few things he would soon enjoy the most. 

Young Annih: “This looks amazing. When did you have the time to do this?”

Young Dura: “The time you went out to the mortal world guiding the souls to the afterlife. The colors I picked out, I thought would fit with your aesthetic being red, purple, and black being your favorite color.”

Young Annih: “I also love green and blue too.”

Young Dura: “Hehe, I'll keep that in mind. With this, you don't have to be present but can read about their life. Every single moment with every little detail. Once their time is up, the book finally ends with its last chapter. When a new life begins, a new book will appear.”

Young Annih: “Hold up… Even our own lives too can be recorded?”

Young Dura: “Hmm… maybe? I haven't thought about that either.”

*

*

*

*

That was eons ago as the library expanded bigger for more books to read and store to the bookshelves once it's done. Recently, he had just sent out a demonic beast after Eugene and Lucilla to see if they'll abandon each other, but no, he now knows how Eugene would do anything for his daughter by sacrificing himself so that his daughter can continue to live the fullest. 

If only he had that kind of relationship with his creator who he thought was their parent, but they saw nothing special about him while Dura was seen to have more potential. That's probably the reason why he's like this now. 

Annih: “You do well…Eugene. I shall get the ones who survive and soon she'll come to have a talk with you.” 

*

*

*

Meanwhile, with Gavus and Liberta, they were still in shock that half of their family got taken away without a trace. It took them by surprise as a bright light gleam, teleporting them back to where they used to be; the holy mountains. (sorry I couldn't think of something other than thinking the celestial’s place would be the mountains)

There were a couple of stares from other celestial's as they were also surprised by how one was once the top powerful celestial and the other was once used as a weapon for the war against the hypogeans. They were obviously not happy that these two are here but can't do anything about it as Dura came to the room overjoyed to see Gavus again.

Dura: “Gavus! It really is you! Oh~ How do I remember back when you used to be so small!”

What did he miss out on? First, his husband and daughter got taken away by a demonic plant and now the Goddess of Life, Dura, is here?! Also, would she be the one to judge him for being with a hypogean? It wasn't until Liberta broke the silence.

Liberta: “Are you…perhaps Dura?”

It wasn't that Liberta questioned her, but he didn't expect the Goddess to be so tall. Around 10 feet tall he would say but didn't want to sound rude in front of her. This would be the Scion of Dawn first time meeting the Dura herself.

Dura: “And you must be Gavus’ son, Liberta, correct?”

Liberta: “Um…yes. Your holiness.”

The young teenager reminded her how Gavus was when he was first created and how shy he was. Dura couldn't help but pat Liberta's head gently as Dura thought she's like a grandmother finally meeting her grandchildren with him. Speaking of which, where's the other twin? She knew that Gavus and his partner were raising two kids. Perhaps the other twin got caught between the hypogean extermination. Dura needed to check on Annih again.

Dura: “I know you two are still confused at the moment, but where is your twin sister?”

Great…How are the two supposed to tell her that they are living with a hypogean, two hypogeans in fact. Will she be the one to decide Gavus' punishment for simply being with his fond family? Luckily, someone came to interrupt the moment.

Random Celestial: “Your divinity, there's seem to be a lost child who somehow ended up here. How should we deal with it?”

Dura: “A child?”

More like a teenager to be honest. By the entrance of the mountains, Lucilla ended up there as she escaped from that nightmare which ended up being real. She saw her dad’s “death” and that will forever scare her life. As more celestials gather around her, she realizes she ended up in their place as this was far more fancy to her taste. White there, white there, pure white and gold everywhere. 

It also came to her realization that she felt almost weak as she tried to get up but her legs refused to work. 

Lucilla: ‘ Why do I…feel different ?’

That's when she realized her marks were gone. She checked her shoulder, nothing, her leg, also nothing. She even checked on her head and her horns were gone. 

Lucilla: ‘ D-did daddy really die? Without him, the magic he gave me is now all gone! My horns…wait! What about my eyes ?’

If there was something that she could find to see her reflection but there wasn't anything. Once she gained half of her strength, she managed to get up. Dust off her…dress? Her usual dress is now a plain gray dress, Lucilla felt she wore this before.

The stares from the celestial got worse as some recall that she’s still a hypogean. Though Lucilla would gladly take the chance to fight, she suddenly felt out of character. She started trembling in fear and wanted nothing but to go back home. 

Home…but without Eugene the house is most certainly gone by now.

Lucilla needed her Papa's comfort.

Gavus: “Lucilla!”

Lucilla: “...?”

Whatever Gavus and Liberta ended up back here, she was glad she wasn't alone here. 

In Liberta's point of view, Lucilla looks normal like a regular human being. No horns, one red eye, thin pupils, and red birthmarks. Now, Lucilla almost looks very similar to Liberta but her hair is still longer than his. 

Dura: “Oh…you poor child. You must be Liberta's twin sister. I'm Dura, the Goddess of Life.”

Lucilla didn't know if she should be scared as she is a formal hypogean or hide away. It wasn't until the Goddess bent down to consider her and Annih being so tall, gave Lucilla a warm hug. The young girl couldn't help but let her tears win as it poured down on her cheeks. Gavus and Liberta were glad that Dura didn't seem to be upset about Lucilla being up here as the rest of the celestials who were scaring Lucilla left to go do their own matters. Leaving only Dura, Gavus, and the twins by the entrance gate.

Dura let go of Lucilla as she ran to Gavus’ arms, still crying as she couldn't help but let her emotions come out. 

Lucilla: “P-papa…I'm sorry * sniff * I couldn't bring daddy back * sniff *.”

Gavus: “It's okay, my little starfire. I'm sorry you have to go through it.”

Liberta wanted to say something to his sister, but he didn't know what to say as he too wanted to cry for losing their other dad. 

Dura: “If I recall, his name is Eugene, correct?”

Gavus: “It's true, your holiness. But, may I ask you a question?”

Dura: “Go ahead, my child.”

Gavus: “How are you…well here? I thought that you…died?”

Dura: “It's a long story, but I do need to tell you three things. One, I'm not angry at you, just the other celestials who may lose their immortality. Two, I know your daughter was a hypogean as I saw how lovely your family is Gavus. And three, Eugene is still alive.”

As the Goddess explained to Gavus, she then took off leaving the single father with his two kids puzzled. Eugene, alive? Well that's good…but will he be alright? 

*

*

*

Back to the Underworld, the God of Death has summoned Leofric and Lavatune out of the blue. While their creator was occupied at the moment, the two men were looking around the room as the ceiling was filled with crystals, walls covered in vines, and a long desk with a couple of chairs as the two men were sitting near the front, facing each other. 

Lavatune: “So…how have you been?”

Leofric: “I say it's been..stressful.”

Lavatune: “Not for me. I never had the best sleep in my life.”

Leofric: “Hmm… anything but sleeping?”

Lavutune: “Nope!”

Well…that's strange. With Leofric, he's been feeling different back to his estate as well feeling unsafe for some reason. To which feels off as he was focused on knowledge instead of destruction like most of the hypogeans. 

Hold on! Perhaps…being less violent is the reason why. 

Leofric: “I think I may know why…but I need you to cooperate with me on this.”

The two men now start to talk to each other, breaking the early silence. Leofric question Lavatune about what activities the he's been doing, learning the fact he was once a human who made a deal that led to becoming a hypogean. Yet so far, he has not killed or caused destruction like any other hypogeans but spreading his rock music. 

Lavatune: “Soo, what have you been doing throughout the years?”

Leofric: “I’ve been studying magic and history as I left to get involved in their shenanigans. That is my way to get to the high ranks.”

Lavatune: “Huh…so how is this explain everything?”

Leofric: “...It doesn't seem to matter for those who are full blood hypogeans or those who were human before…but I have a theory, which is connected to the only person. Annih , God of Death and the creator of the hypogeans.”

Lavatune: “Oooh…shit.”

Leofric: “But that leads to more questions. Why is he active now?”

With Leofric's question, the room got colder and the lighting flickering. The two felt a tremendous power as the room now went to normal. There, a figure wearing a black rope, gold accessories, shoulder pads, waist corset, and a long red cape that had multiple eyes underneath it. His hair ties up to a bun as his long white hair bangs loose, he truly looks unexpectedly handsome as he is a God. Lavatune had never met Annih in person, and Leofric only heard old tales of him but never had contact with him. 

Annih: “That I can answer, but it'll take away a lot of time. To summarize, me and Dura had a bet which took a lot of planning, and afterwards, a long vacation. Recently, I took care of the mess those reckless hypogeans did by eliminating them, but you two were spared because your records show good results .”

Leofric: “I beg your pardon?”

Lavatune: ‘ She's back? I thought she died or something .’

Annih: “Go ahead, Leofric.”

Leofric: “Your Majesty, what have you been doing throughout the years?”

Annih: “Simply looking after everyone quietly. Anyway, just because you are spare doesn't mean I'll be merciful the next time. If I catch you causing more work for me, you'll be facing so much worse than death .”

* Gulp*

Although, they should be fine as long as they stick to their peaceful life and not be part of the chaos. 

Annih: “Good good. But before I let you two go. I shall grant you a reward as you meet my expectations. I'm proud of you two.”

Who would've thought that the God of Death could show a bit of kindness. He snaps his fingers to give them a boost of magic. The way he intended, the hypogeans are stronger on the outside but on the inside they are still weak. It was surprising to him that none of the celestials could figure out the hypogeans weakness. Yes, the celestials have the advantage but are also weak agaisn't them. Well, he's going to have to talk about this to Dura later.

Annih: “Now, I may need your assistance in the future. I'll let you know in advance. Don't forget about my warning. Goodbye, you two. Lavatune, if I have enough time, I'll come to your concert.”

Lavatune: “Wait, really?”

Annih: “Really. Oh! One more thing. You're welcome to come to my realm anytime. You'll know the location in the meantime. Goodbye, gentlemen.”

Annih snaps his fingers again, teleporting them back to their place. He then brings his liquor that he freshly killed the hypogeans he caught, filled with blood in a large tea cup. Now that he deals with the survivors, next is the other one. 

Annih: “* Long Sip * Mmm, this is a fine drink if I do say so myself.”

Dura: “Brother?”

He didn't realize his sister was already here as he choked on his drink and quickly put it away for later.

Annih: “* cough, cough * How long have you been here?”

Dura: “I just got here. Anyway, you didn't kill him, right? His daughter is with her family, but is he alright?”

Annih: “He just fainted from exhaustion. I do say, he's become a decent father figure; he even wants his daughter to escape first.”

Dura: “Why did you do that?”

Annih: “Because of this dear sister. You never know of their true intention until it's too late, but I wanted to see if he'll be like the other hypogeans. I was wrong about that.”

Dura: “* big sigh * I'm glad.”

*

*

*

At the Celestial Mountains, Gavus and the kids were still by the front entrance, not wanting anyone to take away his children. He doesn't know if Eugene is alright or if Dura was just saying that to not worry him. 

Lucilla finally stopped crying as she fell asleep in her father's arms. Liberta, sitting next to Gavus. If Eugene was with them, they wouldn't be so quiet. 

Gavus: ‘ Eugene…if you're still out there. Please come home.. .’

Lucilla: “Papa…”

He looks at his daughter who is now awake and feeling better from crying. 

Gavus: “What is sweetie?”

She pulled something out of dress and had Eugene's signature weapon; trickster cube. 

Lucilla: “Papa Eugene may have given it to me when we were running away from danger. I thought…you may need it the most.”

Gavus: “Thank you, but you can hold onto it.”

Actually, the dads discuss giving their artifact to their kids once they reach adulthood. But the trickster cube is now just a regular cube as it holds Eugene's magic. The young girl now awake as her twin brother, deep sleep. Even with all that is happening, Gavus let out a small smile as he remembered how Liberta was when he was a baby who loved to sleep. 

If Eugene were here, he would hum them a lullaby…

*

*

*

Dura: “Crystals?”

Annih: “We're using purple agate this time. Check.”

Dura: “Okay…next is giving him a new look by adding this.”

The two God siblings were in the middle of redesigning Eugene. The crystals they mention was how they created him in the first place in order for him to be less violent. Amethyst was used in the beginning of his creation, now using a different kind of crystal.

Dura: “One cup of life dew for the blood, purple agate for the body…hmm. Are we missing something?”

Annih: “Perhaps…a new ingredient?”

Dura: “Like what?”

He thought for a moment to think of something to Eugene. Obviously he can't give more of his blood as it leads to a violent hypogean. Maybe…a different way.

Annih: “I was thinking of giving him a bit of my magic, but I'm not sure how that will turn out.”

Dura: “That may be a good idea…I was thinking of adding something like a star.”

Annih: “That actually was interesting there Dura.”

Couple hours passed, the Fool of Chaos woke up from his “surgery” finding himself in a new look as he looked at his hands now tinted with azure instead of crimson. He was confused as to how he’s alive.

Eugene: ‘ ...How am I still here? Is this the next afterlife? What is going on now ?’

The one thing he recalled was he let Lucilla escape as he knew she would end up with the rest of the hypogean's actions. He tried to get up, but his legs felt numb from running away that beast he's never seen before. What in the hell is happening?

Dura: “Oh! Annih! He's awake.”

Eugene: “Huh!?”

Annih: “Hello again, Eugene. Had a good dream?”

Eugene: ‘ What the fuck is happening !?’

As Eugene was busy panicking, he didn't realize he had new features. A pair of feather wings by his slight pointy ears. Whenever he’s feeling nervous, the wings cover half of his face. The Goddess of Life, Dura, is here, with the God of Death who presumably killed her centuries ago. How and why!?

Dura: “This feels like it was just yesterday I gave Annih the drafts to create you.”

Eugene: “Wait what?”

Annih: “The Goddess of Life, had already had a rough draft of you while I was the one who created you. You probably didn't remember, it was a  time ago, and your memory problem too.”

Dura: “It's exactly as he said. We wanted to create a pacifist intelligent hypogean to be paired with a celestial. We even gave you a ring to show you are already taken even if you haven't met them until later on.”

Took a minute for Eugene to process what he just heard. Him? Created by two God's, set him up with a partner- wait a second, he was meant to be with a celestial in the first place? 

Eugene: “Um…when you said I was meant to be paired with a celestial, but who exactly?”

Dura: “You should now, Eugene.”

Eugene: “Huh?”

Annih: “He also has an artifact ring  just like you.”

Eugene: “....”

*

*

*

No one kept the time in check (that's on me) as the night dusk set down as the morning sky rose. Gavus and his kids are still at the celestial mountains as Dura told them to relax and can freely walk around. It's not like they can go back to their house which is now gone. They stay at a guest room as no one can disobey their Goddess command. 

Gavus didn't get a wink of sleep though it's a “safe place” but there are other celestials that want to take the ancient weapon back. He doesn't know how long Eugene would return back but he's not going to let their kids get taken away again. That is until the young boy woke up early before his sister who returned back to sleep. 

Liberta: “Father…you can take a rest while I stay guard.”

Gavus: “* sigh * I can't let you do that. It's my job to protect you two…I can't lose you two again.”

A whole minute of silence in the room as Liberta wasn't going to have an argument with his dad. He understands that his father is very exhausted from that demonic plant, the news of Dura's return, and protecting his children. They waited until Lucilla woke up at last. She touched her head to realize her horns were indeed gone, thinking this was just a nightmare only to be reality. 

Lucilla: “...Why are we still here, Papa?”

Gavus: “Her holiness let us stay here for a while as she left somewhere. So far, she still hasn't returned.”

Liberta: “Um…father?”

Gavus: “Yes, my son?”

Liberta: “Is it true that you met her holiness before? I was just curious about it.”

The room now filled with conversations about the Goddess of Life, how she was loved by everyone and cared for every single living in Esperia. Which now that he realized, did the God of Death really murder her during the war? What's the real truth between these two Gods?

His question was answered as the sound of the trumpet alerted the mountains. The forbidden family didn't know didn't know what it meant until they heard cries of joy.

Random Celestial: “Her Divinity has returned safely!”

Random: “Everyone! At the front gates to greet her grace!”

Lucilla: “Are the other pigeonheads over dramatic, Papa?”

Liberta: “I don't remember them being like this before. They were all…serious individuals.”

Gavus: “Let's go then, but hold my hand you two.”

At the front gates of the Celestial Mountains, half of the celestials were there as they were worried about how long Dura had been gone. Soon this would become the Celestial's habit.

Dura: “You all didn't have to come to greet me anyway.”

Random Celestial: “But…why is HE here?”

She didn't return alone as Annih also came along, again with the dress-code but with a head veil as he thinks it makes him look more handsome.

Dura: “He can come to my place whenever he likes it.”

Random Celestial: “B-but-”

Annih: “You heard her. I can visit you birds whenever I like.”

He sure was having fun messing around these birds, and he will as he tells Dura on who are definitely trouble. 

Dura: “Anway, we have a new reborn Hypogean, now a divinity figure. Eugene, you may show yourself.”

If there hasn't been a hypogean who is now a celestial (will come out with a name for it).  Replacing the red streaks now color in dark shade of blue at the tip of his wavy hair. The feather wings at his head that cover those mysterious eyes which are now pure white pupils but kept the sclera the same. His outfit was different as well, a black top that covers the neck and arms, a long pearl toga that covers his lower area leaving his chest area a bit exposed. And with the final touch, silver accessories for the belt, necklace, and shoulder garments. 

To be honest, this is why it took as long as Eugene needed a brand new outfit and having trouble on what outfit that seemed more Celestial-like. 

Random Celestial: “Wait…he's a hypogean?”

Random Celestial: “Your holiness! We can’t accept someone like him!”

Now that there were some who were showing their true colors, she knew what to do. 

Dura: “Well to fuckin bad you pieces of shit! I was the one who had the idea of him! I gave him my blessing, a spouse, and my approval! At this point, WHERE THE FUCK IS MORGANA?! I need to have a talk with her! MORGANA”

Eugene: “...wow”

And that is how the Celestials were destroyed as Eugene reunites with his family while Dura goes to punish half of the Celestial faction. Annih still has his giant tea cup, enjoying every single moment of chaos. Trying his best to not to smile.

Annih: ‘ At this point, can I finally have a vacation for myself or do I have to go back to my old job? ’

Annih: “Oh yeah…Eugene, I'll probably need to have a talk with you about the Hypogean faction going down, but that will be another time. Anway, you and your family can go as Dura…is going to stay angry for about a couple of days.”

Eugene: “Yeah yeah, bye.”

Finally, the dads can go back to their normal lives with their kids. Though there are a lot of questions that will be explained later. Knowing that the two primary God's have their approval.

Chapter Text

Finally, home at last. Well, technically this would be the third time having their second house gone and now moving in a new one. An hour ago, Dura was busy with Morgana and the other Celestial's who didn't “follow” her orders, Annih gave Eugene a new signature weapon that she was supposed to give to him. 

A long silver staff which turns out to be a pen with the point having a tint of black. This would allow Eugene to make anything with his creativity and attack at long range. With this he can surely make a house for the family to live in at last and hopefully no interruption…

In a brand new house, the twins were playing in the backyard, Eugene in the living room writing his diary, and Gavus preparing lunch.

Eugene: ‘ Finally…peace and quiet .’

That is until the God of Death came out of nowhere.

Annih: “Heeey Eugene. Whaaat's uuuppp? It's meee.”

Eugene: “God fucken damn it! What is it this time!?”

Annih: “Yeah, I also don't want to be here but my sister is still attacking her faction so that's why I'm here to bring her message as well to inform you.”

Eugene: “* big sigh * Make it quick!”

Annih: “Don't rush me! Anyway, you and the other three Hypogeans are off of my list. As for those who are hiding, I will find them eventually . If you and your family don't get involved then you all will be fine. With the Hypogean's population going low, a new faction will replace them.”

He magically summoned his tea cup that had different liquor instead of blood. Before he slaughtered them, he had swollen cheeks and a couple of wrinkles that made him appear old as time. Now, you can say he and Dura look so much alike, beautiful glowing skin, long hair, and eyes that were like the stars of the night sky. Eugene couldn't believe this is the person/God who created the Hypogeans in the first place.

Eugene: “Wait wait wait. There are other Hypogean's that are not on your list?”

Annih: “Yeah, there's Leofric and Lavatune. I already gave them a warning as well giving them a boost to congratulate them. Are you familiar with them, Eugene?”

Eugene: “Yes, they are my friends…”

Annih: “ *takes a sip from his tea cup* With the new faction, they are the Draconis and they will fight alongside the humans to fight the remaining Hypogeans. That is the message from me. As for Dura's message…well…”

Eugene: “Well what?”

Annih: “She wanted to know if you and your partner are planning to have another kid.”

Gavus hearing the conversation almost spill the teapot and the kids who were listening to the conversation have different reactions. Lucilla could be the cooler older sibling and teach them about pranks just like how Eugene taught her. As for Liberta, he was puzzled as to how his dads will be able to do that if both are male. Overall, if they do bring another kid to the family, he would cherish them like an older sibling. Lastly, Eugene was also confused. 

Eugene: “...She does know we're both males, right?”

Annih: “I know she's the Goddess of Life, but from where she stayed for vacation she might have forgotten. Once she visit's, she'll probably ask the question. You may also want to expand your house as she'll bring lots of gifts considering you're her son-in-inlaw. Alright, I'll head out, bye!”

With that, the God of Death teleports away and now back to his realm. Now that is settle, he goes back to reading and waits for his sister to calm down. Knowing her, it'll probably take months or years for her to cool down. 

Annih: ‘ Hmm…I should probably do what they call “skincare routine” if I want to look more youthful. As well for a brand new outfit .’

As the Celestial Mountain where they are facing their Goddess wrath for the very first time but that is for those who are like Morgana are the ones in trouble. Luckily, there was one or should I say two Celestials who were able to ease down the Goddess.

Lailah: “Your Holiness, should we try to focus on other matters now that you're back?”

Dura: “* Big sigh * You're right, my children. Why didn't any of you tell me!?”

Elijah: “Um… you were still angry even right now, your Holiness.”

Dura was more calm before and more forgiving, from what universe she learned it from, now she’s no longer her younger self. Finally, the Goddess has calmed down thanks to the Celestial twins as the three head to the conference room to talk about other things they need to deal with; the Graveborns. 

*

*

*

Meanwhile with Annih, he's been relaxing as he took a bath, candles lit up the area, the facemask on, and a large cup of tea. He's living the dream until his break comes to an end shortly. Whenever the two Gods need a fast way to communicate, they use a crystal orb to call each other even if one of them were busy to come in person.

Annih: ‘ Right when I just got inside the water .’

“What is it now, Dura?”

Dura, on the call: “Hello brother! Can you please come here for a moment?”

Annih: “...Do I have to?”

He really didn't want to as he was “busy” right now but then again he had to do his duties and his vacation will come sooner once he's done.  

Annih: “I'll be there in a minute.”

Dura, on the call: “Ty! See you in a bit!”

The call ended as he removed his face mask and did his hair. It's surprising how much Dura learned those slang words from a different universe that he'll need to ask where she stays. He got his Celestial outfit ready and headed to the mountains.

Annih: ‘ Wonder if half of those birds are still alive? Meh! I'm sure they still have their immortality within them .’

Chapter Text

https://www.tumblr.com/orginllazyblog/750156204182028288/afk-arena-drawings-i-did-d?source=share

Chapter Text

Annih: “So…you want me to fight ALL these Celestials. At one time?”

Dura: “Pretty much yeah.”

The Celestial faction never could have foreseen this happening in front of their eyes. Some were at fault like Morgana while the rest were doing their best but were dragged into this.

Annih: “Hmm…I have one condition. If you allow me, Dura?”

Dura: “What is it?”

Annih: “If one of them can land a single hit on me, they'll gain back their godly powers. That's it.”

Dura: “Really? Okay. Oh! By the way children, if any of you accidentally get killed, I won't revive you. Have fun! Hehehe.”

The Goddess gave a warm smile as the God of Death counted down for the Celestials to get ready for the attack. 

Now you may be wondering, this is also a Gagene/Eugavus fic. Where are they? Well, the family were joined with Dura to watch the fight. The dads were more focused on Annih's movement as to how he was able to take one of the Celestial's down with a stick. A wooden stick instead of his scythe. Lucilla was really into the fight like watching an intense tournament as her twin brother Liberta was at awe of how well Annih fighting skill was considered his body built is a bit skinny. 

Liberta: “Um…Dura? How long will this fight be going on?”

Dura: “When someone lands a single scratch on him.”

Gavus: “Hold on, your Holiness. Wouldn't a single scratch lead him to bleed and create a new Hypogean?”

Dura: “Oh no. He can control his blood to not accidentally create a demonic deity, but that is he's willing to create one. Which I don't think he'll do as he did say they gave him a huge pile of paperwork.”

Eugene: ‘ ...was I one of them ?’

The fight kept going on to the remaining fighters. Annih himself and five Celestials. Athalia, Veithael, Wu Kong, Zaphrael, and Alna were the only ones who managed to fight for this long. They were surprised how Annih was able to knock their comrades with just a stick. 

Let's see who will win.

Athalia: “Me and Wu Kong will be at the front while you three think of a plan. Anything will do.”

Veithal: “Hold on there! I want to be at the front. For I, the Shining Sword, shall-”

He didn't get to say his intro as Annih sneakily got close to him and hand chomp at the back of the neck. One down, four more to go.

Annih: “Out of every Celestial, you were the most annoying one.”

And the fight continued as the remaining Celestials were going to have work on their own. Wu Kong thought he could manage to win with his clones but Annih figured it out, and so, the monkey was out. Even with Zaphrael lighting speed, it was no use. Alna tried to freeze him, but for someone who's used to the cold was nothing to him. If Alna and the rest didn't lose half of their God powers then they might have stood a chance. 

Now it's Athalia, Harbinger of Justice and Truth, against the God of Death, Annih. If this was a real battle, she would have tried to slash his neck for killing Dura. Now that was a lie, she wanted to know the real truth but won't forgive the creator of the Hypogeans.

Annih: “I'm impressed by how you're still standing. To keep fighting till the end, Athalia.”

Athalia: “I will win this fight…for the Goddess, Dura.”

He could tell how angry she was just by her eyes. Reading about her life story, he knows she was one of the Celestials who were once humans and had a huge hatred of him who supposedly killed her. This was never mentioned before but he never wanted that to happen but they have to in order for everyone to believe their act.

Annih: “How about this? I'll give you a real challenge.”

He turned the stick he was using as a weapon, now changed to his signature weapon; Dusk Reaper. (I'll come up with a cool one. I know it sounds cringe) His eyes turn to the opposite of his sister’s eye, a dying star in a dark void.

Annih: “If you win, I'll let you see the young girl again.”

Athalia: “!”

Now that may seem impossible as the souls either reincarnate to a graveborn or vanish into thin air. That was one of the problems Elijah and Lailah had.

Athalia: “I accept. Don't you dare pull any tricks!”

In his mind, this one was a real Celestial who swore to Dura and understood her curiosity of the mortals.

Annih: “Now that is a true Celestial right there.”

He quickly approaches Athalia to land a single blow but she manages to block with her signature weapon, Sin Purgers. Blades keep slashing, deflecting, and blocking making an intense battle of the blades. With Athalia, one of the awakened heroes, was able to keep fighting and to keep up with Annih's speed level. With the family reaction, Gavus was shocked to see Athalia's stamina as the rest were really hype about it. 

As for Dura, she was worried if one of her children were to be able to hurt her brother. She would be able to heal the wounds, but to be able to bring him back is something she doesn't know if she could. 

With the worries starting to go high, she calls out to stop the fighting. That was a bit too late as Annih stopped but Athalia kept going. She managed to get close to the God of Death and cut his long silver hair.

Athalia realized this late but had no regrets. 

She won the fight… Did she?

Annih had a blank expression as he touched his ruined hair. Everyone was startled as they didn't know if he was mad or disappointed that Dura wanted the fight to stop. To the Celestials faction and the family were then shocked to see Annih using his magic for his hair to grow back, still having a blank expression.

Annih: “He…hehehe. Well fought, Athalia.” 

He said with a genuine smile.

Annih: “As promised, you'll see that child again. Do you want to come to the Afterlife Realm? Where I put the souls to rest. ”

Chapter Text

Annih: “How many are there?!”

Dura: *who create/adopt someone*

Dura: “56,000, count myself.”

Annih: ‘ What did I expect? She's the Goddess  of Life, of course she would have many children .’

*Eugene, Lavatune, and Leofric trying to summon their creator, Annih* 

Leofric: “What happened to you, my Lord?”

Lavatune: “How many pickles can you shove up in your ass?”

Leofric: “How did-” 😠

Eugene: 🤨

*the curse board game there using, the triangle piece starting to move*

Leofric: “Nine!?”

Lavatune: “Pfft! Hahaha!”

*moves to another number*

Leofric: “Ninety one!?”

*then again*

Leofric: “NINE HUNDRED TEN!?”

Eugene and Lavatune: *Wheezing so hard* Hahahaha!”

Leofric: “... nine hundred ten pickles…”

It was Annih the whole time xD

*The Celestials having an argument*

Dura: “Children, children-”

*Nobody listening as the room was getting loud*

Dura: “MORGANA!”

Celestials: *dead quiet as that name was mention*

Dura: “My children, please focus on the meeting as I'll not be merifull the next time :)”

The Hypogean faction: *Terrified of the name “Athalia”*

Their God, Annih: “A worthy Goddess that I can respect.”

Speaking off Athalia:

Lucilla, as a Hypogean: “Hey Papa Eugene. I saw this pigeon wearing a feather helmet and wielding two swords. Can I fight her?”

Eugene: *knows who it is* ‘ Shit… ’

Eugene: *scared as shit* “No! Out of all the people, no.”

Gavus: “You can fight any Celestial, but not her.”

Annih if he was playable: “Dura has let me live another day and I'm going to make the Celestial’s problem.”

Canon Annih: *who witness Dura’s death*

Canon Annih: “I'm glad that's over. Thank damn finally! Been trying to kill her off all these eons and now it's over.”

Lilith: “You know, I be embarrassed, you didn't get to kill her.”

Canon Annih: *thinks*

Canon Annih: “... Nah! W.”

Lavatune: “Hey, can I get a sip of that water?”

Annih: “It's not water.”

Lavatune: “Vodka! I like your sty-”

Annih: “It's “vinegar.”

Lavatune: “... What?”

Annih: “It's “ vinegar ”, PUSSY.”

Dura, on a call: “What's up, brother?”

Annih: “I'm sitting in a pool of blood.”

Dura: “...Um, is it YOUR blood?”

Annih: “I think so.”

Dura: “Do you know where the blood's coming from?”

Annih: “Probably the stab wound.”

Dura: “YOU'VE BEEN STABBED?!”

Annih: “Oh, yeah, definitely.”

Annih, trying to comfort someone: “What's the problem? Anxiety? Low self-esteem? Obsessive thought of random arson? I've been there.”

Annih: *gets set on fire and screams in agony*

Annih: “Nah, I'm just kidding. Fire does nothing to me.”

Dura: “A party is a celebration of a life, bringing people together to let the guest of honor know how much they’re loved. The God of Death has done so much for us. This is our chance to do something for them.”

Annih: “By forcing them to have fun at a party that they don’t want to be at?”

Dura: “I knew you’d understand.”

*Lotos, the primordial God of disorder and extinction. The true creator of the Hypogeans, now destroying the world of Esperia and holding the two God's hostage*

Lotos: “If you had to choose between your so-called sister and all the money I have in my wallet, which would you choose?”

Annih: “That depends, how much money are we talking about?”

Dura: “Annih!”

Lotos: “63 gems.”

Annih: “…I’ll take the money.”

Dura: “ANNIH!”

*In the afterlife realm where the souls Annih took them to rest*

Random human soul: “He's beautiful.”

Random Wilder soul: “He's grace.”

Random Celestial: “HE CAN DESTROY THE HUMAN RACE!”

Morgana: “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Annih: “I have this weird self-esteem issue where I hate myself but still think I'm better than everyone else.”

Eugene, to Annih: “All right, let's tell each other a secret about ourselves. I'm going to go first - I hate you.”

Annih: “:)”

Annih: “Love makes people do stupid things.”

Dura: “I love everything!”

Annih: “That explains a lot.”

Chapter Text

It's canon that Dura and Annih take inspiration from Persephone and Hades only to make them as siblings. The mortals first think that Annih is secretly in love with Dura, which gives Annih one of the reasons to “hate” them, specifically the humans.

If Annih is Hades in the game, he definitely has daddy issues… sort of? Well, Dura sees Honas as a father figure. With Lotos getting out of control, Honas had little time to teach them so they gave Dura more “attention” than Annih.

When the two Gods were created, it took some time to control their power. Especially Annih who had anger issues when he was young. While Dura learns quickly and may have also created an abomination living thing.

They weren't created as infants, they were born in an adult body but have the mind of a child.

Elijah and Lailah were their vision if they were started as infants or in this case, kids. In the canon lore, the Celestial twins are the picture of what could of if Annih didn't drive to jealousy. 

No

If the mortals gave him decent respect like Dura, then maybe he would have been different. But hey that's just a game theory.

Back then, there weren't any mortals who had a good influence. They were all greedy and would want to get their hands on their godly powers. Or worse, touching his only relative.

Which is why he destroyed their supposedly birthplace and they went off to find a safe place. And that is how the realm of the afterlife paradise was found.

If Dura is the mother figure, then Annih is the absent father/uncle figure that he learned from Honas. 

Annih's game sprite (the loading screen), he seems to have two flames by his side. One is the gremlin and the other is more chill. That chill flame was gifted to a wizard, his right hand man, Quaedam. Everyone thought Quaedam took his place, but Annih took the time to learn about the mortals. 

Annih = Batman  ,  Quaedam = Alfred, the buttler

Quaedam was the one who suggested the God of Death to know about the mortals during his “absence”. 

But it was mostly Dura who wish he could learn how to love something.

Meanwhile the Celestial's focus on protecting the mortals from the Hypogeans but do not understand Dura's love for them. Well, some of them do but not all of them. While her brother took the time to understand them and that hatred then slowly disappeared. 

Dura would have burst into tears for her brother’s achievement.

Hold on…if Dura's tears can bring back the fallen heroes back to life (only for the labyrinth) then what does the God of Death’s tear do? Will it instantly kill that person? That depends on his true emotions. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Happy tears: Tear drop gems, the user won't die by holding the gem but it only works at the Labyrinth.

Sad tears: ???

Angry Tears: Pure acid. Would instantly kill the opponent.

___________________________________________________________________________

Out of all the Celestials, Annih favors the ones who are worthy like Athalia. Even though she was once a human, she descended to a demi goddess.

Honas and Lotos use they/them/it pronouns. I'm not sure.

Lotos being that one relative that no one wants to talk about. Not only are they God of Disorder and Extinction, they are the real creator of the Hypogeans. Only a few Hypogean knew about this, which they call the Demon King. Making Annih the Demon Prince.

The library, that holds every mortal's life written, also holds Honas and Lotos records too. But Annih didn't feel like reading about them until later on.

After reading their records, he began to question if Lotos was the one who created him, which explains why Honas never gave him order. Once he meets them in person, he'll see why his creator never favors him.

Literally “You are not the Father” / “You are the Father”

The reason why Annih “abandoned” his Godly duties was that he was getting weaker. Meaning he wouldn't keep up with his work as the mortals keep misjudging him. The only ones who worship him are the cults. Yikes.

In comparison, Dura is stronger than Annih by god power but Annih is physically stronger and experienced than Dura.

Kind of like an old phone, Annih needs to recharge which would take a full year of recovery. Once he's full, he'll go collect the souls in a speed of light, judge their actions either guiding them to paradise or the Underworld to be eaten by demonic beasts. After that, he goes back recharging. As well as doing paperwork.

He knows there are mortals that are way more freaky than a Hypogean, which is why he distances from them or lets them view him as a cruel person. 

Annih shapeshifts to a more Hypogean like to not let anyone (except Dura who knows) know his actual appearance. Later on, Dura would try to convince him to just show his true look that got most of the mortals surprised while a few fell for his feminine beauty.

Annih wears full clothing, not revealing any skin showing. Main reason is to not get a single scratch that would cause another Hypogean to be born by accident. He still has old wounds that are still recovering.

He would make re-entrance by taking a graveborn to the afterlife and that would be Princess Theowyn. 

Back to the Gagene/Eugavus family, Gavus has earned the title of being the favorite because out of all the Celestials, he gave Dura grandchildren. 

“So, Gavus. When are you and Eugene planning to have another child?”

“I can share great details as to how-”

“Your Holiness! I can try to talk to Gavus about this. I'm just glad that you accepted and gave a blessing to my family.”

Eugene never did tell Gavus about it. Lucilla had a fun time teasing her papa and Liberta may perhaps want a younger sibling. Gavus wonders why Eugene is blushing so hard. 

The Hypogean dad was getting used to his in-law, Dura, as she somehow always caught him off guard. She means no harm.

As for Annih, he simply hates him for almost killing him and Lucilla. Also was caught off guard too with how Annih doesn't look too demonic (except the small pointy ears) that he looks so much like a Celestial.

One good look at the two Gods, you can tell they're siblings. Outstanding beauty✨️ 

By your's truly, their absent father/creator.

If Liltih hires me as a scriptwriter (which will never happen) Lotos, the final showdown villain and it's up to Espeira heroes to take him down. Dura was somehow alive and was just seal away with ancient dark magic by her brother:

Lotus: “You remind me of someone…little Goddess.”

Lotos: “Ah yes…hehehe. I do remember. Your brother .”

Everyone was so confused as to why bringing him out. 

Lotos: “Like father like daughter. You two abandoned him like he was nothing. So I was the only one who reached out to him.”

Lotos: “He was like the son I never had. Too bad I already killed him before anyone of you all get the chance.”

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Anyway, that’s another story I might write way later

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The dimension Dura ended up where not even the Queen of the Stars or the Seer of Origins have predict; Dislyte

She has changed from being a graceful Goddess to a feisty Goddess. Knowing the characters in that game, Dura had a great field day:

“My goodness, who is  he?~” 

*sees a hot women in the distance*

“Who is she?~ She looks so cute.”

Reason why it took a long time to return back to Esperia was not because she was distracted. The grinding materials, battles, and quests that she had to complete. 

The Goddess of Life would definitely convince her brother to go to the world of Dislyte at all cost not only she'll see her crushes but to get Annih a partner. 

“Brother! There are tons of hot women and men over there! Please, brother! Can we go to Dislyte? Please! Please! Please!”

She would also teach Annih about the advanced technology and would soon gift him a limbo for making his job easier. 

As Annih return to his godly duties, most of the mortals weren't that happy because he wasn't given any punishments. 

That soon punishment was granted. The God of Death will soon face something terrifying…

Parenthood

Chapter Text

No, no, no!

This shouldn't be possible! How did this happen?! Oh wait! I happen to go out in the mortal realm to “socialize” and get hit by a meteorite. It didn't leave any physical scars on me but as days went on, I felt… different? 

Usually I wouldn't feel any attachment like Dura or show any remorse, but I didn't know until Quaedam saw my strange habit.

“My Liege. I see your acting…different.”

“I'm not.”

“Then why are you eating sweets? You even said to yourself that you aren't a fan of sweets.”

Again, this is something Dura would do. 

The next thing, I threw up. Yep, not a fan of sweerts. I say that while eating a bucket of ice cream with pickles.

Why am I acting strange? I'm the God of Death. Even though she claimed to be siblings as were both created by Honas at the same time doesn't mean we're both alike. 

…

Okay maybe I was a bit exaggerated so I thought this would be over.

 That is until I was hanging out at the afterlife paradise, Quaedam brought in a soul who once was a doctor. I didn't know what's on their mind but suggested bringing in more doctors as they weren't sure if their hypothesis was wrong. Two more doctors were brought in, one of them being scared of me. There are a couple of souls who are still frightened, most of them were fallen Celestials. 

As two doctors checked on my condition, they too were surprised by the result. Whispering to each other as they weren't sure if they would tell me this to me as I could get angry but I also wanted to know their results. The first doctor who examined me took courage to tell me.

“My Lord, it seems that you show signs of pregnancy.”

Instead of getting angry, I fainted in shock.