《War of the Gods》


 Prologue

    Alone in the empty expanse of nothingness, existed a being. This being existed long before space expanded and time flowed. There was no shining light or looming darkness, as it too, was nonexistent. He is the origin point of all things. His name is Xero. From the nothingness, Xero created light and darkness, balancing them out to achieve harmony. From the light and darkness, he formed the elements and sub-elements, the concept of good and evil, conscious thought, and emotions. Light received good and darkness received evil, however, a piece of the other was placed in them to balance it out.


    When that was finished, he brought forth space and time to tie everything together. Once that was complete, Xero created lesser beings to fill reality with various worlds and blessed them with an element that they can control. He called them ¡°gods,¡± and out of reverence and respect, they all called him the Original One, as he is the origin point of everything. When the various gods created their worlds, Xero brought forth life and death.


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    When everything was done, he rested and began watching over everything he created, keeping order and balance within reality.


    ?????????????????


    Eons passed and worlds and their creators have come and gone, and Xero continued to watch and maintain balance. Everything was perfect, that was... until the Great Calamity.


    An evil entity decided to try and destroy everything Xero created. A vicious battle ensued. Xero was victorious, but at a cost. The evil entity had gotten one final attack in, and shortly after the evil entity was sealed, Xero split into two halves, causing a mighty cosmic explosion. The one of light and space was called Yang, and the other of darkness and time was called Yin.


    The two kept the balance of reality and all was at peace again. However, that peace didn¡¯t last for long.

 Chapter 1

    When I opened my eyes, the first thing I did was look around. I saw the endless expanse of interdimensional space. All the universes looked like stars dotted across a night sky. There were countless! All ruled by their own gods. The sheer beauty of it amazed me. I flew around for a bit looking into other worlds and exploring. I never entered, I didn¡¯t have to. I used my powers to look into the worlds. All of them were beautiful, filled with life of all sorts ranging from cute little animals to giant monsters. The people that inhabited them all looked very different and I found it unique. I heard the gods of those worlds call them ¡°mortals¡± or ¡°humans.¡± Personally, I thought calling them that was quite rude, even if that is what they are. I eventually went back to where I was born- formed- uh... came into existence.


    I saw someone else there, I immediately knew that his name was Yin and that he was my brother, technically. We¡¯re two halves of the same entity, Xero, so I guess that makes us the same person? I¡¯m not entirely sure, to be honest. I refer to him as my twin brother, even if we look nothing alike.


    He always wore a hood over his head so I never really saw what he looked like. The bit of hair I can see is pitch black and I saw that his eyes were a beautiful shade of purple, like an amethyst. He¡¯s also got large and quite beautiful black wings. A stark contrast to my white hair, gold eyes, and gold wings. I¡¯m a light skin tone and he¡¯s fairly pale. He was just staring off in the distance, seemingly deep in thought.


    ¡°Hey, Yin!¡± I called him. He barely looked in my direction.


    ¡°What?¡± he replied coldly.


    ¡°What do you think of everything? Have you seen the other worlds? They¡¯re beautiful!¡±


    He scoffed slightly and turned away. He was never one for talking much.


    ¡°Sooo... what¡¯s your opinion?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t concern you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just curious,¡± I retorted.


    He glanced at me again with a raised eyebrow. His eyes were full of loathing.


    ¡°You want my opinion on these worlds?¡±


    I nodded, smiling.


    ¡°Yep! You know, to have something to talk about as brothers! I want to get to know you and form a relationship with you.¡±


    I noticed a spark of surprise in his eyes, but the loathing quickly came back after that. He turned away again.


    ¡°I could care less about these insignificant worlds.¡±


    I was very taken aback by what he said. Insignificant? I knew we were opposites but I wasn¡¯t expecting this.


    ¡°Can you elaborate?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not.¡±


    I nodded, respecting his decision. We fell into a rather uncomfortable silence. Yin didn¡¯t like the other worlds. I began wondering why. I knew asking was going to be pointless because he would refuse to answer. So I began thinking, trying to come up with ways for both of us to get along. We¡¯re both incredibly powerful. The idea of creating our own world together came to me like a slap in the face. We could make the world how we both want it, and both of us would be happy!


    ¡°Do you want to create a world with me?¡±


    He looked directly at me this time, with utter shock all over his face. He quickly composed himself and went back to his cold, unfeeling expression.


    ¡°Create?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    He thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because it looks fun! Sure it¡¯s going to be a lot of work creating and ruling it, but I think we can do it together!¡±


    He stared at me for a while, seeming slightly hesitant, before he grew annoyed.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°I said ¡®no.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    He was quiet for a moment. Fury crept into his eyes as he spoke again.


    ¡°Why bother creating one when we have enough power to take one for ourselves?¡±


    I was shocked by his response. Take over a world? We indeed have that kind of power, being the two halves of Xero, but forcefully taking a world for ourselves is just wrong.


    ¡°We can¡¯t just do that!¡± I told him, exasperated.


    ¡°Yes, we can. No one will be able to stop us.¡±


    ¡°Do you not see how morally wrong that is?!¡± I retort, getting angry. He scoffs.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about what¡¯s right or wrong. You shouldn¡¯t either. We command all of light and darkness respectively. Space and time also bend to our will. Why shouldn¡¯t we show these inferior beings that they should bow to us?!¡±


    ¡°What is wrong with you?! They¡¯re gods like us!¡±


    ¡°In case you have forgotten, we are the two halves of Xero.¡± A black aura formed around him. Darkness swirled him as he grew increasingly angry. ¡°We forged the very fabric of reality with our bare hands! We created all the gods, and by extension, the mortals.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t Xero though. We are Yin and Yang. Why can¡¯t we just make a world together?!¡±


    ¡°ENOUGH!!!¡± He blasted his dark energy at me which I wasn¡¯t able to avoid. It hit me directly in the chest, throwing me back a few feet. I looked at him, shocked. I saw a very brief look of horror on his face but he quickly replaced it with anger. His hands began glowing with his dark powers and he made his way over to me and grabbed my neck.


    ¡°We can either fight, or you can agree with me,¡± he growled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you.¡±


    He hesitated slightly before suddenly getting extremely angry. He gripped my neck tighter


    ¡°I do.¡± Yin was about to blast my face with his darkness, but I quickly blasted him back with light. He let go of me and doubled over in pain for a moment. I blasted him again, but he countered. We both missed each other and our blasts destroyed two worlds. I was horrified. Yin just had this malicious grin as he stood back up. I heard him laugh slightly.


    I grew very very angry.


    ¡°You think destroying worlds is funny?!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re fighting over something we rule over. You should just agree with me and end this before it gets out of hand. If we fight, then countless worlds will be destroyed. I assume you don¡¯t want that now do you?¡±


    I hesitated. I knew he was right. I didn¡¯t want to destroy any worlds and if we fought, that¡¯s what would happen, but I couldn¡¯t just give in to his ideals. I could tell he¡¯s gone mad, and I wanted to be there for him. I was stuck between wanting to protect everything and wanting to be there for my brother.


    ¡°If you join me and conquer, I¡¯ll leave the inhabitants of the worlds alone and they can proceed as normal. We will have a say in the order of things, however. We can make reality have true balance.¡±


    I could sense he was lying. He wouldn¡¯t let things proceed as normal. Yin would¡¯ve made everyone suffer. I couldn¡¯t allow that. I looked him dead in the eye and firmly stated my answer.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to agree with your ideals.¡±


    He scowled, but that scowl turned into a small grin as if he was expecting my reply.


    ¡°So be it.¡±


    Our vicious battle began. We fought and fought for what felt like eons. Countless worlds and gods were obliterated in our battle. The more worlds that were lost, the more horrified and guilty I became. I wanted to stop, but I knew I couldn¡¯t. If I gave up, then Yin would have his way. I couldn¡¯t let him have his way.


    Towards the end, we were both exhausted, heavily injured, and bloody. I collapsed. I couldn¡¯t move, everything was hurting.


    Yin made his way over to me again and lifted me up. I was far too exhausted to fight back. I could see that his black blood was pouring out of his gaping chest wound and his left eye. He looked even paler than he already was. I could tell that he was also on the verge of collapsing. The fact that he had any energy at all was astounding. I had no energy whatsoever and couldn¡¯t even fight his grip.


    ¡°You lose, brother,¡± he stated, his voice filled with venom. He let go of me, charged his fist with his black energy, and punched my gut so hard that I coughed up my golden blood, rocketed towards one of the remaining worlds and crash-landed on a planet, forming a huge crater and kicking up extreme amounts of dust, smoke, and fire. I was in extreme pain, exhausted, and severely injured, yet I had gained enough energy to take myself to another part of this strange planet. From what I could tell, it was a forest.


    After a while, my body gave out on me, and I passed out, falling into a deep slumber.


    ?????????????????


    I slowly opened my eyes. I had no idea how much time had passed. Was it a few days? Weeks? Months? Years? I couldn¡¯t tell. The only thing that registered was the extreme pain I was still in and the blue sky. The dust and smoke must¡¯ve settled. I was extremely dizzy and my eyes couldn¡¯t focus. I passed out again.


    When I woke up again, my pain diminished greatly. My eyes focused and I wasn¡¯t in a forest anymore.


    Cottage my mind told me. I¡¯m in a cottage, wrapped in cloth.


    Bandages.


    I noticed that I was on top of something far more comfortable than the ground I was on earlier and was raised off the wooden floors a bit. I was covered in soft cloth too, and my head was raised on something soft.


    Bed. Blankets. Pillow. My mind told me. It seems that my powers are granting me the knowledge of passing time. Weird. Time is Yin¡¯s domain. Maybe I have a little bit of his powers?


    I took a deep breath through my nose, and I was hit with a wonderful aroma.


    Food. My mind once again told me.


    I don¡¯t need to eat, as I am immortal and do not require sustenance to live, but I wanted to try whatever food was being made.


    I sat up, fighting the pain. There wasn¡¯t much pain but enough to be very uncomfortable. I took the blanket off of me and see two wooden planks against my left leg, holding them straight.


    Splint. Used for broken bones to help them heal properly.


    So my leg was broken. I was covered in bandages around my chest and some on my head and right forearm. I noticed another splint on my right wrist.


    I wasn¡¯t aware of how injured I was until I saw all the bandages and splints on me. I must¡¯ve been severely injured.


    A groan escaped my mouth because of the pain. I tried to stand up, but that wasn¡¯t happening.


    ¡°Woah woah woah woah!¡± I fell over and pain shot through my body as I landed with a thud on the floor. ¡°Ow!¡± I tried standing back up with no success.


    I heard someone rush over and enter the room.


    ¡°Art thou- I mean- are you okay?!¡± A woman''s voice asked me, very worried and helping me up. I looked up and I couldn¡¯t form words. My stars, she was beautiful. Her hair is light blonde and her skin is light. Looking into her beautiful blue eyes, I can see that she¡¯s a sweet and caring woman filled with nothing but kindness. However, her eyes were filled with worry and I didn¡¯t like that. I didn¡¯t want her to worry.


    ¡°I...¡± I started, just staring. I was absolutely mesmerized by her.


    ¡°You...?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m, I¡¯m Yang.¡± I told her.


    ¡°I¡¯m Helena... and art thou- uh- are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Uh... y-yeah I¡¯m fine.¡±


    I was curious as to why she kept changing her dialect, but I didn¡¯t want to ask for fear of being rude.


    She helped me up and back into the bed. I finally noticed that I was only wearing some pants with the left leg sleeve thing torn off to just above the knee. I think it was to make putting the splint on easier. I gingerly reached towards my back and found that my golden wings weren¡¯t there.


    They¡¯re hidden. Your powers hid your godly form.


    I put my hand down.


    ¡°Are you hungry?¡± Helena asked.


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    I nodded my head yes, even though I can¡¯t feel hunger.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get thee- you something!¡± She smiled. Her smile... my stars my heart just flew at the sight of it. So radiant and kind, brimming with comforting warmth.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    After she left the room,  I began internally processing about all the events that transpired. Yin and I fought. I lost. I crash-landed on this planet. Then I passed out and have been asleep for who knows how long. I knew for certain that it wasn¡¯t just a few days. The amount of dust and smoke I kicked up wouldn¡¯t have just settled after a few days.


    I grew sad that Yin and I didn¡¯t form a relationship, and instead were at war with each other. I knew I had to stop him from taking everything over. Countless worlds, people, gods... all of them would suffer if he succeeded. Darkness will fall and consume everything. But his eyes... there was something other than loathing in them. I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it, as the glimpses were very brief- at least half a second but I knew there was something else. It bugged me.


    I didn¡¯t have an army or the energy to fight him. All I knew was that I had to stop him somehow. I had no doubt he had already started his conquering campaign with whatever worlds remained after our battle and there was nothing I could do at the time. I felt completely helpless.


    Helena came back with something in a bowl, distracting me from my thoughts. It smelled amazing and I was very eager to try it. I looked into the bowl and saw soup. It had vegetables and some chicken in it. The flavor just exploded in my mouth as soon as I tried it.


    ¡°This is amazing!¡±


    Helena beamed.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it!¡±


    I continued eating the soup, savoring every bite. It wasn¡¯t too long before the bowl was empty.


    ¡°Dost thou want more? I mean- do you want more? I made plenty!¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯m fine for now.¡±


    ¡°Thou hast been asleep for at least a few weeks, probably longer. I¡¯m getting thee more food, and I shalt not take no for an answer.¡±


    Before I could say anything, she took the bowl from me, left the room, and came back with more soup, which I ate.


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I will eat in just a moment. I want to make sure ye- you are okay.¡±


    I nodded, not entirely sure what to say. I just kept eating the bowl of delicious soup. I would¡¯ve eaten it all day but I knew I couldn¡¯t do that. She needed to eat too.


    ¡°Hold on Yang, let me get something for thee.¡±


    Helena left the room and came back a few minutes later with a wooden crutch for me. I wasn¡¯t even done with my soup yet. She placed it on the side of the bed.


    We began conversing. We got to know each other a little bit. She made an abundance of soup to bring to the local church to help feed the poor and the homeless. She often visited an orphanage not far from her cottage to help with the children. She did a lot of charity work.


    ¡°As any good person should!¡± she said proudly. I smiled. ¡°So what happened to you Yang?¡±


    I didn¡¯t know what to say to her. I couldn¡¯t just tell her that I¡¯m an immortal deity of light and basically started a war with my brother. She¡¯d think I was insane! I just made something up, however, I¡¯ve always been extremely bad at lying.


    ¡°I was mugged and left for dead,¡± I said, blank-faced. She raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°It has been noted that thou- you are, in fact, a terrible liar. What really happened?¡±


    I confessed the truth... well... part of it.


    ¡°I got into a fight with my brother over what we should do with our home,¡± I started, being partially truthful. ¡°The fight turned into a violent brawl that I lost. Next thing I knew I woke up here.¡±


    Helena nodded.


    ¡°Thy- I mean- your brother sounds like a horrible man.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like saying unkind things about people... but he really is not a good person on the surface,¡± I said. ¡°But I think he is really deep down.¡±


    ¡°Thou hopes to find the good in him?¡±


    ¡°Everyone has it, deep down. That¡¯s what I believe,¡± I began. ¡°There¡¯s always a light in the darkness, and there¡¯s always darkness in the light. One cannot exist without the other.¡±


    Helena nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    We discussed this topic for a while before I smelled something burning.


    ¡°Is something burning?¡±


    She gasped loudly.


    ¡°I left the bread in the oven!¡± She raced to the kitchen. I heard some clamoring as she got the bread out of her oven. I heard her sigh in annoyance. ¡°It¡¯s still edible at least.¡±


    She remained in the kitchen for a little bit longer before she came back in. She handed me the crutch and helped me up. With the crutch, I was able to leave the room and go with her to the living area. It wasn¡¯t too big, just a single room with a small table on the left wall, a fireplace on the right wall with a small brick oven next to it, shelves stacked with dishes, pots, pans, and various utensils for cooking and eating with. The floor had a large soft rug on it dyed white and golden yellow. In the corner by the door, there is a spinning wheel thing that is used for fabric making I believe. On the walls are paintings, beautiful paintings of fanciful scenery, various plants, angels, landscapes, and... me.


    ¡°So, what is this painting?¡± I pointed to the painting of myself.


    ¡°Oh... that,¡± she started sitting down at the table where her bowl of soup and some bread were at. The bread looked a bit charred on the edges, but otherwise still edible. ¡°I... saw it in a dream once.¡±


    Now it was my turn to be skeptical. Before I could ask, she turned to her food and whispered some sort of prayer before she began eating.


    I just sat there silently as she ate. I just admired her demeanor and personality. I also admired the paintings she made. I looked by that spinning wheel thing and saw some art supplies and the beginnings of a painting.


    ¡°So you saw that angel in your dream?¡± I asked, referring to the painting of me again.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She answered that a little too quickly.


    ¡°I¡¯m a little skeptical...¡± I said to myself quietly. She heard me and tensed up and continued eating. ¡°Helena, please, tell me the truth. I don¡¯t like lying.¡±


    ¡°Thou- uh- you lied earlier.¡±


    ¡°Valid point and I¡¯m very sorry about it...¡± I let my voice trail off. I hate lying but I felt I had no choice.


    ¡°Thou art- I mean- you are forgiven. Please don¡¯t lie to me again.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t. I promise.¡±


    I went over to her and sat down on a spare chair, wincing in pain with each step.


    ¡°Please.¡±


    She sighed.


    ¡°That portrait... it¡¯s you. I was amazed by how divine you looked, so I painted it.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°So, can you see through my human disguise then?¡±


    She hesitated for a moment before nodding her head slightly.


    ¡°Sorry for asking so much,¡± I said, feeling pretty bad for being so pushy.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You would have found out sooner or later.¡±


    We sat in silence as she ate. She could see past the human disguise. I didn''t know what it looked like, but I was sure it allowed me to blend in enough to not arouse any suspicion.


    I wondered what the world looked like now. Last I saw it, I was barely conscious and kicked up a lot of dust and debris in the air. I didn¡¯t know how I remained on the surface for so long. The passage of time should¡¯ve buried me, literally. Then again, I had no idea how much time had passed. It may have been at least a few centuries or a few thousand years. That amount of time should¡¯ve put me underground with all the changing conditions of the world that piled up over that length of time. My powers kept me on the surface.


    ¡°How long ago did you find me?¡±


    ¡°About two or three weeks ago,¡± she replied. ¡°You know, you ask a lot of questions for a god.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. Wait, how did you-¡±


    ¡°I figured it out on my own,¡± she replied. ¡°I was born with the ability to see things no normal human can see. When people found out a few years ago, I was called a witch and nearly executed, but I escaped. I¡¯ve been hiding here ever since.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s horrible!¡±


    ¡°As you said yourself, in every light, there is darkness. I¡¯ve always known I was different. I¡¯m able to see otherworldly beings and creatures that are considered fantasy.¡±


    ¡°Such as?¡±


    ¡°Merfolk, fairies, elves, and such.¡±


    Helena kept telling me about her powers and all the stuff she¡¯s able to see. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she explained it all. I was utterly mesmerized by her.


    ¡°Magic exists on earth Yang! Humans are unable to see it, but it exists!¡±


    Our conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. A woman¡¯s sing-songy voice called from the other side.


    ¡°Oh, Helena~ I¡¯m here~!¡±


    Helena jumped from her seat and ran over to the door, answering it.


    ¡°Celena! You made it!¡±


    Celena has long black hair with silver highlights, light skin, and silver eyes. She¡¯s quite beautiful, otherworldly so. She had a huge smile on her face.


    ¡°I come bearing welcome gifts for your new boyfriend!¡±


    ¡°Boyfriend?¡± Helena and I said in unison. We looked at each other and our faces flushed red.


    ¡°Aww don¡¯t deny it you two. Yang clearly has feelings for you, Helena. And you sent me page after page of letters gushing over him.¡±


    We blushed even more. Celena was carrying a basket of jars filled with what looked like really thick oily stuff and small bottles filled with liquid. I assumed it was medicine or something used for cooking. It was all labeled in a language I couldn¡¯t recognize.


    ¡°I went to visit Hana about your request for medicine and the woman went into a frenzy preparing all this medicine,¡± Celena explained. ¡°I think she went a little overboard.¡± She took a good look at my horribly injured self. ¡°Or she was absolutely justified because, oh my stars, you look awful. And I mean that nicely. As in, like, you look very physically awful. Not that I¡¯m calling you ugly! You are incredibly handsome actually. What I mean is-¡°


    I raised my non-injured hand to stop her, which she stopped. I was also trying to keep myself from laughing.


    ¡°I know what you mean Celena. I am very wounded.¡±


    She sighed, relieved that I took no offense to her rambling. If anything, I found it quite amusing. She¡¯s very energetic.


    It took a moment for me to register what Celena was wearing. She had a crystal bow and a quiver of silver arrows strapped to her back. Her outfit was white and silver, form-fitting, and had shoulder pads, a chest plate with no sleeves, and a white armor skirt. Her boots were made of leather, colored silver, and went up to her knees. She had white arm guards on her forearms. On her forehead was a small tiara with a crescent moon gemstone on it.


    In other words, she¡¯s a goddess, literally.


    ¡°So Yang, you and your brother made quite a stir among the other gods in the multiverse,¡± Celena started.


    ¡°Yeah...¡±


    ¡°Not only that, but Yin has conquered like two worlds already-¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!¡± I shouted, utterly shocked. It startled Helena and Celena.


    ¡°Yeah. And he¡¯s been trying to attack this one as well,¡± Helena explained.


    ¡°Wait, I thought you were from a town here?¡±


    ¡°I was. I just recently found out why I have this ability. I always knew I was different. I can also do this.¡±


    Helena let her hands glow in a radiant light. She formed a small orb of light in her hand. I hobbled myself over to her and added some of my own to it, albeit rather weakly due to the state I was in.


    ¡°Celena,¡± I started. ¡°Do you know anything about healing?¡±


    ¡°I know enough.¡± She began rummaging through the basket and pulled out a bottle of liquid, colored grassy green. ¡°Thank goodness, she labeled these. This one is... oh, the all-cure potion. Heals any and all injuries and ailments. Okay then. Drink this.¡± Celena uncorked it and handed the bottle to me. I grabbed it with my good hand and drank all of it. Immediately I felt a change. My pain went away completely and I was able to move my leg and wrist again. All of my bruises and cuts faded away. Some of my energy was also restored.


    I felt almost good as new. Helena took the splints and bandages off me. All that remained were some very noticeable scars on my chest. Celena whistled.


    ¡°You, good sir, are very handsome. Wanna share him, Helena?¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Helena shouted defensively. ¡°I- I mean-¡°


    Celena laughs.


    ¡°I¡¯m just teasing. I know he¡¯s yours.¡±


    Our weird conversation was interrupted by a few ravens swooping in cawing frantically. I did not know ravens could sound that frantic. I see Celena and Helena¡¯s faces pale


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I ask.


    They looked me dead in the eye.


    ¡°Hana is in trouble. She¡¯s being threatened.¡±


    Helena surrounded herself in light and her traditional colonial American dress was replaced with an outfit that¡¯s similar to Celena¡¯s, but the skirt is longer, the shoes are sandals that tie up to her knees, and the outfit is gold and white. She also has beautiful white wings.


    I changed to my godly attire, white robes with a gold sash, and let my golden wings come out. It felt good to have my wings free again. We all raced out, flying as we were following Celena.


    ¡°Sooo Yang, how do you like the outfit I made Helena?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s perfect for her. And did you ¡®made?¡¯¡±


    ¡°The girl had no godly clothes so I made some for her.¡±


    I looked over at Helena.


    ¡°I found out I was a goddess about a month before I found thee- I mean, you. Celena and the others have been helping me.¡±


    ¡°There are others?¡±


    They nodded.


    ¡°The others are Hana, Virgo, and Pisces. They¡¯ve been trying to keep Yin¡¯s forces out of this world. Though it seems Hana is having problems.¡±


    ¡°You guys don¡¯t talk the way people here do, at least I assume so.¡±


    ¡°Well when you hang out with a god that¡¯s half fish and his hot-tempered wife, you tend to pick up the way they talk,¡± Celena said.


    ¡°Humans where we just at spoke in what Virgo calls ¡®the boring dialect,¡± Helena explains. ¡°Using words like thee, thou, thy, doth, ye, and stuff like that. I¡¯m still trying to break that habit.¡±


    ¡°Where were we just at?¡±


    ¡°The people there recently declared themselves as the ¡®United States of America¡¯ not that long ago,¡± Celena told me.


    ¡°Ugh, King George thinks he can tell us what to do. I didn¡¯t fancy having to quarter some of his soldiers. They ruined my carpet and my paintings. And let¡¯s not forget having to pay a tax for buying sugar and paper!¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t your problem Helena... you aren¡¯t human.¡±


    ¡°T¡¯was my problem a few weeks ago!¡±


    Our conversation was interrupted by a burst of energy shot towards us. We all barely avoided it. We looked in the direction of the blast and saw a man with light red skin, sharp pointed teeth, and blood-red eyes grinning at us madly. His hair was short and white, with horns like a ram, as black as night. Behind him was a huge army of beings made from pure dark energy.


    He was one of Yin¡¯s servants.


    ¡°¡®Bout time y¡¯all showed up. Had me waitin¡¯ for too long. I was gettin¡¯ mighty bored,¡± he said with a thick county accent.


    ¡°Abaddon,¡± Celena growled low. Helena looked rather nervous. Abaddon cackled.


    ¡°Pleasure to see ya again missus Celena,¡± he said with a mocking bow. ¡°I¡¯m afraid introductions will have ta wait. Master Yin don¡¯t want any interferences. I¡¯m plenty strong enough for y¡¯all, but since ya kept me waitin¡¯ for far too long, my army will have some fun rough housin¡¯ instead.¡±


    Abaddon snapped his fingers and the weird energy beings lunged towards us.


    Celena whipped her bow out and fired her silver arrows, charged with energy. That one arrow soon split into hundreds of arrows, eradicating the beings they collided with.


    Helena summoned a spear, the staff portion was made of solid gold and the blade was long and intricately designed. It looked beautiful and deadly. She charged head first blasting light, slashing at them with her blade glowing and charged with energy.


    I have no weapons. I don¡¯t need them. Instead, I fought with my powers. Blasting at them, manipulating the light as a deadly weapon, striking those creatures down with every blade of light I conjured. It seemed that for every one we destroyed, three more would take its place. There¡¯s only so much we could do.


    We fought them off for hours. By the time we destroyed them, we were exhausted and drained.


    ¡°Heh. Seems you are strong Blaine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Yang,¡± I retorted.


    ¡°Whatever. Since yer all weakened, master Yin will be mighty pleased to hear that you¡¯ve been crushed under his glorious name!¡±


    He charged at us but was stopped by a large blob of hardened lava being hurled at his face with an audible crunch as soon as it made contact. He plummeted to the ground cursing as he fell.


    ¡°Next time you decide to pick a fight, make sure it isn¡¯t near an active volcano you dumbass!¡± Someone shouted at him.


    We turned around.


    ¡°Virgo!¡± Celena shouted happily.


    ¡°Glad I came over in time!¡±


    Virgo has long black hair, dark tan skin, and fiery orange eyes. She was barefoot and had a long red skirt going down to her ankles with a slit on the left side. The skirt had lots of flame designs in gold. She had a red and yellow tropical flower on the right side of her head and an orange and yellow sleeveless top on. On her wrists were plain gold bracelets and was also wearing gold anklets. Her necklace was gold with an emerald in it. She looked like she came right from a tropical island.


    Then she came right up to me and slapped me hard.


    ¡°That¡¯s for making this whole debacle happen.¡±


    ¡°Virgo was that necessary?¡± Helena scolded.


    ¡°No, but still.¡±


    ¡°Damn wench!!!¡± We heard Abaddon shout as he came back up to us. He had blood pouring out of his nose and a few broken teeth that grew back instantly, a rather disgusting sight to see. I nearly gaged. Virgo looked at him with a furious blaze in her eyes.


    ¡°What did you just call me?¡±


    ¡°Ya heard me! A damn wen-¡±


    He didn¡¯t even get to finish that sentence before Virgo went up to him, grabbed him, and chucked him into the volcano with such force that it nearly broke the sound barrier.


    ¡°That outta keep him occupied for a bit. Now then, let¡¯s head to Hana. I have a feeling that Moloch is there with her. Beelzebub is currently thirty miles underground so he shouldn¡¯t be a problem for now... I hope.¡±


    ¡°We have no time to waste. We¡¯re almost there. I hope we make it in time...¡±


    We nodded and continued heading to where Hana is.

 Chapter 2

    After about another hour of traveling, we made it to Hana¡¯s kingdom. It¡¯s a beautiful place, all built in the trees. Various flowers are blooming and butterflies are fluttering about.


    What didn¡¯t look good was the massive army of those dark energy beings lurking outside. There were so many, like one massive wall of darkness, radiating this disgustingly evil energy. All four of us charged through them like a freight train. Virgo used the ground itself as a weapon, pulverizing every dark being that came her way. Helena, Celena, and I also used our powers to destroy them, but there were so many of them. For every one destroyed, three more would take its place. We became pretty exhausted, pretty quickly. Those things were sapping our energy. Yin knew we were coming to help Hana and specifically made these beings to drain us of our powers. That was honestly clever of him.


    We heard a familiar crazy cackle and up came a horribly burnt Abaddon. Parts of him looked charred.


    ¡°Ya think hurling me into a volcano would keep me down? Hate to break it to ya toots, but that ain¡¯t gonna stop me!¡±


    Virgo formed and hurled a large boulder at him, hoisting it over her head with her bare hands as if it was just a pebble. He barely dodged it. I made a mental note not to anger her. Helena was a bit freaked out and I was just stunned at her strength. Celena looked as if she''d seen it many times before.


    ¡°I gotta stop underestimatin¡¯ you,¡± Abaddon said, very freaked out. He held his hand out and shouted in a commanding voice ¡°ATTACK!¡±


    The dark creatures began attacking us once again. We fought them off as best we could, but our energy was being slapped by those things.


    Suddenly, I had an idea. Before anyone could protest I used my space powers to summon a black hole big enough to swallow that dark army. Using my powers, I controlled the black hole to only suck up that army and nothing else. Within ten seconds, the army was destroyed and I closed the black hole. Everything else was untouched.


    Helena, Celena, Virgo, and Abaddon all stared at me in complete and total shock. No one could form words for a solid five awkward minutes.


    ¡°Um, is anyone going to say something? I asked, breaking that awkward silence.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m outta here. My stallin¡¯ job is done.¡± Abaddon stated with his hands raised in a defensive posture. He was absolutely freaked out. He teleported in a burst of red and black energy.


    The girls regained their bearings and we all started heading towards the palace, easily destroying more of those weird creatures within the town.


    When we arrived, we saw another man looming over Hana while she was trapped by ice against the wall. The man was threatening her. I impulsively shot some light at the man and hit him in the back, causing him to stumble. He turned around. His hair was pale blue, his skin was ice blue and his eyes were dark blue. He looked at us with pure hatred.


    ¡°Don¡¯t disturb us! We¡¯re having a civil negotiation.¡±


    Hana was struggling to break free. Her hair was long and green, wearing a flowy white gown with green accents. Her eyes were pink like a rose and her skin was olive in tone.


    ¡°Yeah, freezing her against a wall is sooo civil,¡± Celena said sarcastically.


    ¡°I¡¯m not giving that tonic to him, Moloch,¡± she growled, still struggling. Virgo ran up to the man and nearly slugged his face.


    ¡°LET HER GO YOU-¡± she proceeded to call him every vile name known. Everyone in the room stared at her in shock. That was the day I learned that she has a tongue as sharp as a knife and as hot as the flames of hell.


    Virgo kept trying to punch Moloch, her fists burning with fire. He kept avoiding her, causing her to get even angrier. She blasted two fireballs at him, which he avoided.


    ¡°You missed, how pathetic.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t aiming for you,¡± she retorted with a smug grin.


    We heard something shatter. Hana managed to free herself. It was then I realized what Virgo did.


    She was intentionally trying to maneuver Moloch to a position where she could easily free Hana with her powers.


    Hana ran over to us.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°Now let¡¯s send this jerk back to Yin!¡±


    All of us went after him, but due to previous battles and our energy being sapped, we struggled a lot.


    Hana¡¯s power over nature helped us quite a bit. She was able to use the energy of nature and life as a weapon, creating little magic orbs that exploded with energy that damaged Moloch greatly. He counters with his ice. I made a barrier of light to protect us and buy us time to regain our energy. Hana used some sort of healing magic to restore some of our energy. Her powers must¡¯ve been sapped as well. We¡¯re gods, but even we aren¡¯t immune to energy drainage.


    Moloch just kept attacking us trying to break the barrier I made. Holding the barrier was taking up a lot of my energy.


    ¡°Everyone, I¡¯m going to let the barrier down. You need to attack all at once. Ready?¡±


    They nodded. I let the barrier down. Celena shot a glowing arrow and the rest of us combined our powers with it, turning it gold. It shot Moloch directly in the heart. He fell over, dead. At least, that¡¯s what we thought. As it turned out, it was just a copy. The body immediately turned into ice and shattered.


    ¡°It was just a copy,¡± I said.


    ¡°I knew something was off...¡± Helena said, her voice trailing.


    ¡°If a copy fights like this, can¡¯t wait to see the real one,¡± Virgo said with a frown. She looked at Hana. ¡°What happened to your wings?!¡±


    ¡°Beelzebub happened,¡± she stated. Her face suddenly drops and color drains from her face. ¡°Oh no...¡± Hana immediately rushed to another part of the castle. We followed close behind.


    We made it to a gigantic garden filled with all sorts of plants, all of them were dying and decaying, being eaten by these tiny, monstrous looking flies. Hana looked like she was about to burst into tears at the sight of it. Fury engulfed me and I charged through the garden, heading to the center.


    ¡°Yang! Wait for us!¡± Helena shouted to me. I was too in the zone to stop and wait. All I could think of was finding who was responsible for the destruction.


    Up ahead I saw someone, another guy who is also one of Yin¡¯s generals. His hair was dark grey with a black streak, shaved on the sides with short bangs. His skin was a pale yellow and his eyes were a darker shade of yellow. His wings were shaped like a wasp¡¯s and colored dark yellow and black with small splotches of white mixed in. In one hand I saw the all-cure potion, in the other was a small orb of black and dark yellow energy, radiating a suffocating aura of decay.


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    Without thinking I rammed into him, knocking him over and causing him to drop the potion. He quickly grabs it before I could even move, but the orb of energy was gone.


    ¡°Damn it! Why did you do that?!¡±


    ¡°To stop you, obviously.¡±


    He took a good look at me.


    ¡°For a second there I thought you were Abaddon or Moloch. Whatever.¡± He stands back up. ¡°The name¡¯s Beelzebub, you must be Yang.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be thirty miles underground?¡±


    ¡°I had a little help from my babies.¡± Some of his demon flies landed on his hand as he said that. He petted some of them gently.


    I charged after him again. He flew up and I followed. In a lightning quick move, I take the potion from his hand. I notice that the girls are up with us. A mischievous idea came to my head.


    ¡°Hey, give that back!¡± Beelzebub shouted as he charged after me. I tossed the potion to Virgo. She immediately knew what I was doing. Virgo put a hand on her hip sassily.


    ¡°You want it that badly,¡± she began. ¡°Then come get it!¡±


    ¡°Damn bitch!¡± He shouted at her.


    Beelzebub chased Virgo around before she tossed it to Helena. Beelzebub chased after her for a bit too and she tossed it to Hana. She flew around with it- with her powers- but was stopped by the swarm of Beelzebub¡¯s demon flies. She looked for a way around, and finally just tossed it to me. Beelzebub and I were chasing after it. Just as I was about to grab it, some of his demon flies swarmed around it and carried it over to him quickly.


    ¡°Thanks for the present babe,¡± Beelzebub taunted Hana with this malicious grin. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to write you a thank you note... after this world falls under Lord Yin¡¯s command.¡± He teleported away with a laugh, and his demon fly swarm went with him.


    We all immediately went down to assess the damage. Hana began weeping, which quickly turned into crying. We all tried to comfort her as best as we could. She turned to me with pure anger in her eyes.


    ¡°This is all your fault!¡± She shouted. ¡°If you and your brother didn¡¯t have your stupid fight, none of this would be happening!¡±


    ¡°Hana-¡±


    ¡°GET OUT!! GO AWAY!!!¡± She cried. Virgo and Helena consoled her. I tried to console her too but she kept shoving me away. Hana eventually just caused some plants to literally throw me out of her kingdom.


    I waited patiently for them for a few hours. While I was waiting, I thought about what Yin told me regarding his plans.


    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t we show these inferior beings that they should bow to us?!¡±


    I began to doubt my capabilities as the light half of Xero. I felt as if I should admit defeat and surrender to him. But that would make all of reality suffer. Me surrendering to him would mean that he would be free to conquer every world he can get his hands on, knowing I wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him.


    I couldn¡¯t just allow him to win. Hana is just angry and I understand why.


    Yin and I have opposing ideals and values. He wanted to conquer everything and I just wanted to live in harmony with everything. The entire war started because of our ideals and values. It¡¯s almost as if we were trying to see whose values are right. I thought that maybe if I could just talk to him again, we could reach some sort of understanding and end the fighting before it gets out of hand.


    At sunset, the girls came out.


    ¡°Hana, are you feeling better?¡±


    She nods, her eyes red from crying so much.


    ¡°Yang. I¡¯m sorry for yelling at you. I know you were just trying to stop him... I let my emotions get the better of me.¡±


    I went up to her and hugged her.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. The anger is justified honestly.¡±


    She looked down.


    ¡°Dark powers took your wings, correct?¡±


    She nodded, not meeting my gaze.


    ¡°Let me try something.¡±


    Some of my golden light went to her back, and her wings grew back. They¡¯re green butterfly wings. She smiled brightly.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± She hugged me. I returned the hug. ¡°And about the garden. I need your help. Do you have enough energy to clear the rest of the darkness in it? Helena managed to clear about a quarter before she was too exhausted to continue.


    ¡°I should have enough.¡±


    We walked to the garden. I did see that the dark aura was somewhat cleared and the plants looked a little more alive.


    I radiated my light and holy aura. The dark aura subsided after a few minutes and the plants came back to life, somewhat. Hana used her powers to fully restore her plants to their original beauty and vigor.


    We all cheered. The battle was won but the war was far from over. What we didn¡¯t know was that the battle was just a diversion away from a massive storm that was building over the ocean.


    ?????????????????


    Abaddon and Beelzebub arrive at the throne room of a large and intimidating temple, surrounded by a dark and barren wasteland littered with skeletons of people unfortunate enough to be devoured by the monstrous creatures that roam the land. Sitting on the throne was Yin, bandaged and weak with an eyepatch over his missing eye. His cloak was wrapped around him and the hood was still over his head, with his remaining eye he glared at his two generals. Abaddon and Beelzebub knelt before him with heads bowed.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Moloch?¡± Yin inquired.


    ¡°Dealin¡¯ with Pisces m¡¯lord,¡± Abaddon replied.


    ¡°I see... and where¡¯s the army I gave you two? I expected some of it to return.¡±


    ¡°Fang used a black hole to suck ¡®em all up, yer majesty.¡±


    Beelzebub looked at Abaddon surprised.


    ¡°He can do that?!¡± Beelzebub asked.


    ¡°I was surprised too.¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Yin commanded. The two shut their mouths and looked down. ¡°My brother is the god of light and space. If he so desires, he can easily cause massive black holes strong enough to swallow entire universes. Abaddon, his name is Yang. Get it right,¡± he scolded with a frown.


    ¡°But m¡¯lord. He¡¯s yer enemy, why should we give him proper respect?¡±


    ¡°Are you questioning my authority?¡±


    ¡°N-not at all! I¡¯m just... curious.¡±


    ¡°Regardless of whether or not my brother is my enemy, purposely mispronouncing my brother¡¯s name is quite insulting to me. If you recall, we are two halves of the same entity,¡± Yin explained angrily. ¡°If I hear word of this again, I¡¯ll send you back to where you came from.¡±


    Fear flooded Abaddon''s eyes and he gulped.


    ¡°Are we clear Abaddon?¡±


    ¡°Crystal, m¡¯lord.¡±


    ¡°Good. Now, Beelzebub. The potion.¡± He held a hand out, demanding the potion.


    Beelzebub struggled to uncork the potion bottle for Yin. Abaddon took it from him and opened it easily.


    ¡°I weakened it for you.¡± Beelzebub said to Abaddon. Abaddon rolled his eyes.


    Beelzebub walked closer to Yin, knelt again, handed the potion to him before going back to his original spot and kneeling again. Yin took the potion and drank it, fully healing all of his wounds and causing his missing eye to grow back. He took off the eyepatch, stood up from his throne and stretched.


    ¡°Ah, that feels better. Too bad my energy isn¡¯t fully restored yet. You two did well.¡±


    The two demons smiled, happy about being praised.


    ¡°However, daring to show your face to me after failing to destroy Atlantis isn¡¯t going to be without consequence.¡±


    Beelzebub and Abaddon¡¯s faces dropped in utter terror. They know that Yin¡¯s punishments are always severe and leave people mortally injured or dead.


    Yin gave a small yet cruel smile. He enjoyed how terrified his two generals became. He used his abilities to cause darkness to strangle the two of them and to give them the sensation of their insides being torn apart


    Neither of them could breathe as they writhed with agony. Their faces were pleading as they tried to beg him to stop. Eventually, he stopped. Beelzebub and Abaddon inhaled air and were coughing as they regained their breath. Yin laughed slightly.


    ¡°Next time, I expect whatever area I command you to destroy to be wiped from the face of that pathetic little rock. Is that clear?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± they replied in unison, still catching their breath.


    ¡°Good. Now leave my presence.¡±


    Abaddon and Beelzebub teleport out of the throne room.


    ¡°Incompetent fools,¡± he muttered as he sat back down on his throne. He sighed, annoyed. His mind turned to another matter he¡¯s been dealing with on the side. ¡°He will accept my invitation to join me, regardless if my brother meets him or not.¡±

 Chapter 3

    For a few weeks, we helped Hana get everything back in order. Repairing buildings, restoring plants, helping the people, and getting rid of any stragglers of the evil army. During that time, Virgo was very anxious.


    ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m... I¡¯m okay.¡±


    I raised my eyebrow.


    ¡°Something is bothering you.¡±


    She was silent for a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried about my husband,¡± she admitted. ¡°He¡¯s very strong and can hold his own, but Moloch has been a thorn in his side for a while. He hasn¡¯t sent me anything that signals if he¡¯s okay or in trouble.¡±


    ¡°I would assume that no news is good news,¡± I told her. She nodded in response.


    ¡°Hopefully. Thanks for listening to me.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem!¡±


    ¡°Virgo! I need some help!¡± Helena called out. Virgo headed over to her.


    I headed over to Hana to help with the orphaned children. My heart broke for them. They lost their families in the battle and having to deal with that at such a young age is horrible. I loved taking care of the children and helping them find new families. Seeing their smiling faces when I played with them or made up stories for them always brought joy to me. It made me wonder if I was ever going to start my own family. I loved the idea of being a father and eventually a grandfather.


    I was startled by a clap of thunder overhead. A few of the kids got scared too. I was quick to comfort them and kept them entertained while a torrential downpour began. Well, we were in a rainforest so rain is a common thing. But this rain seemed too heavy. Lightning flashed across the sky in a very peculiar fashion. The younger kids got scared and I managed to comfort them as best as I could.


    ¡°YANG, HANA!! WE NEED TO GO NOW!!¡± Virgo shouted at the top of her lungs as she came into the building. She was full of panic. Celena and Helena came in after her, just as panicked. Hana came over just as swiftly.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?!¡± I asked them.


    ¡°Pisces needs help! Dost thou not see the torrential downpour? Virgo told us what it meant.¡±


    ¡°I would love to help but I can¡¯t just leave my people while they¡¯re recovering from the battle,¡± Hana said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay behind to help her.¡± Helena offered. ¡°I just can¡¯t leave her in this state! She needs the help and it would be good practice for me for when I someday become ruler of my own people,¡±


    ¡°I would protest and ask you to go with them, but I know you well enough to know that when your mind is set on helping someone, you will not take no for an answer which is a trait you need to work on. And I really do need the extra help.¡±


    Virgo grew frustrated.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any time to waste! We gotta go help him!¡±


    ¡°Will you two be okay?¡± I asked.


    They nodded.


    ¡°Give us a sign if you need any help!¡± Celena said. All three of us raced out of the building and followed Virgo to Atlantis.


    The sight we saw when we arrived was horrifying. What used to be a seemingly beautiful island city was burning. There was a hoard of those dark beings and other fiery beings as well. I could hear the screams of the people. It was pouring rain, most definitely an attempt to put the flames out, however, it wasn¡¯t doing much. It wasn¡¯t long before we were soaked.


    We saw Moloch in the air, watching over the carnage and smiling cruelly. Virgo charged at him with the fury of a million erupting super volcanoes while screaming in rage.


    Celena and I headed down to help deal with the creatures, doing as much damage to them as we can.


    In the distance, we saw flashes of aqua blue energy. Celena and I tore through the creatures toward the direction of the blue energy.


    We saw who I assumed to be Pisces battling a large, fiery, lion-esque monster, and struggling a lot. It seemed his energy was drained too.


    He has long blue hair tied up in a high ponytail and light olive skin. In his hands was a platinum trident. He was wearing aqua blue boots, an aqua blue chest plate with sapphire blue wave designs, and dark blue breeches. His eyes were bright green and it hurt to look at them as if my eyes were being soaked in briny water.


    He glanced at us and gave a hello nod.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Virgo?¡± He asked as he blasted the fire monster with energy charged water. It hardly did anything.


    ¡°She¡¯s fighting ice brain up there,¡± Celena replied, helping Pisces battle the thing.


    ¡°You¡¯re Yang right?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied while fighting the creature.


    ¡°You¡¯re more equipped to fight this thing. My powers barely do anything. I think holy light would do more damage than holy water,¡± he explains, still using his powers on it. ¡°I need to help my people and try to save the island.¡±


    ¡°You do that. I¡¯ll cover for you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± He raced off deeper into the burning city.


    Celena and I began battling the monster. My holy light was indeed doing more damage. Adding Celena¡¯s arrows and magic and we were beating that ugly creature quickly. Well, we were, until it began glowing a black aura. The aura healed its wounds and turned its flames from red to purple. All of the fire on the island turned purple.


    ¡°What the-?¡± I began coughing from the dark smoke, as did Celena. The creature roared. The shockwaves of the roar knocked us back, crashing into broken walls. I looked up and saw Yin. He came to us and stood next to his creation.


    ¡°What a marvelous sight, don¡¯t you agree?¡± he asked with a cruel grin while stroking the fiery lion-like creature¡¯s side. It purred and nuzzled him a bit.


    My blood boiled. Rage filled me as I charged at him.


    ¡°You sick and twisted bastard!!¡±


    We engaged in another fight. We¡¯re on equal terms of power, so our fight lasted for a long time. He threw me to the ground and rocketed towards me to punch me with his fist charged with his dark energy. I teleported out of the way as the force of his punch tore the ground up. I sent bolts of light made from my fists at him. He avoided most of them but some did manage to hit him.


    Yin charged at me again but was forced back down by a horribly injured Moloch being thrown at him with such force that an even bigger crater was created. I looked up and saw an angry Virgo. I looked down at Yin and saw him throw Moloch to the side, calling him a worthless pest. The fact that Yin treated his own general like that sparked a huge surge of energy in me, fueled with divine rage. Moloch may be the enemy, but no one deserves to be treated like that.


    Celena shot an arrow at him which he easily caught, corrupted, and threw back at her. She ducked, barely avoiding it.


    I felt my body glow in light and in an instant Yin was flung halfway across the ocean. I chased after him and began pummeling him with my light. He could barely fight back and became a bloody mess again. I blasted a huge burst of light at him which he tried to block, but couldn¡¯t and it hit him directly. I saw him fade with a smirk. It was just a copy.


    My rage subsided and I fell into the ocean, losing consciousness as I sank into the abyss.


    I woke up again sometime later in an underwater palace. It was a beautiful palace made of white marble and very well maintained. I saw that I had a white fish tail. Helena was in the room with me with her eyes closed and holding my hand. From the looks of her puffy eyes, she was crying. I hated seeing her so sad and crying.


    ¡°Helena?¡±


    She looked up at me.


    ¡°Yang!¡± She immediately hugged me and started crying into my shoulder. I hugged her back and comforted her. Embracing her felt so right like we were meant for each other.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for worrying you.¡±


    Pisces swam in upon hearing I was awake. He had a dark blue blindfold over his eyes and his tail was a beautiful shade of sapphire blue. He came over to me


    ¡°Thank the stars you¡¯re awake.¡±


    ¡°What happened to the island?¡± I asked.


    Pisces was silent for a moment before shaking his head.


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t save it. The island of Atlantis was destroyed,¡± he finally said. His voice was full of pain and he clenched his firsts.


    I was stunned silent. I felt horrible that I couldn¡¯t do anything to save it.


    Sensing my distress, Pisces tried to cheer me up.


    ¡°Hey, don''t feel bad Yang. When you became cloaked in that very bright light, all the dark creatures and fires were eradicated.¡±


    ¡°But how did the island sink?¡±


    ¡°Moloch managed to free my mortal enemy temporarily and he destroyed the island. I couldn¡¯t do anything to stop him.¡±


    I looked down, feeling relieved that I wasn¡¯t the one who destroyed the island. But I still felt awful because I couldn¡¯t do anything to stop him.


    ¡°I wish I did more to help. I feel utterly useless.¡±


    Helena looked into my eyes.


    ¡°Thou did all thy could. I mean- you did all you could. I need to break that style of speaking.¡±


    I laughed slightly. Virgo and Celena came in after.


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    ¡°You¡¯re okay!¡±


    ¡°Oh thank goodness.¡±


    ¡°What exactly happened to me?¡±


    They began explaining. Pisces found me at the very bottom of the sea, a good 7 miles down, after about a week of searching. He brought me back while Virgo brought Hana to heal my apparently awful wounds. Helena came with them upon hearing of my condition. Hana couldn¡¯t stay for long due to her kingdom duties and Helena stayed behind, worrying about me for nearly a year.


    Yep, I was asleep for an entire year. I must¡¯ve been super drained.


    ¡°What happened while I was asleep?¡±


    ¡°Well, for starters, you were sleep talking about wanting to marry Helena for a month,¡± Pisces said with a mischievous smirk. I was absolutely mortified and completely embarrassed. I was pretty sure that my face was redder than a lobster. Then he started laughing hysterically, along with Celena. Virgo rolled her eyes and Helena was blushing. The two laughing hyenas named Celena and Pisces eventually calmed down.


    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding! While you were in a coma, the rest of us helped get the surviving island citizens settled in with the ocean citizens and during that time our powers came back.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah, Atlantis had two parts of it, the ocean and the land. Somehow the ocean part was untouched,¡± he explained.


    ¡°Yin probably only wanted the island destroyed,¡± Virgo chimed.


    ¡°That could be it,¡± Pisces replied


    ¡°Or he couldn¡¯t find it,¡± I said.


    ¡°That could also be true.¡±


    ¡°My bet is on the first option,¡± Helena stated, moving herself to sit next to me. We still held hands.


    ¡°Sorry to ruin the mood, but damn it you two, just kiss already,¡± Virgo said, annoyed. ¡°It¡¯s so obvious that you two are both made for and hopelessly in love with each other.¡±


    Pisces and Celena nodded agreeing with her.


    ¡°Well not everyone is as forward and blunt as you, Virgo,¡± Helena scolded.


    ¡°She has a point honey.¡± Pisces said.


    ¡°They do have feelings for each other, but I don¡¯t think they¡¯re ready for a relationship,¡± Celena informed her.


    ¡°Hmm. True.¡±


    ¡°I wish to wait until we kick Yin and his little minions out of Earth,¡± I told them. Helena agreed with me.


    ¡°My concern is what to do when we do kick them out. I don¡¯t want to leave you guys,¡± Celena said. ¡°And we also can¡¯t just leave our kingdoms here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true...¡±


    ¡°And all of us are supposed to make a world together,¡± Hana said, appearing from seemingly nowhere, startling us all.


    ¡°What makes you think that?¡± Celena asks.


    ¡°Well, remember what the Rosetta Stone said?¡±


    ¡°¡®Seven deities, five from our world, two from outside, will join forces to build a new world, a bridge to connect all worlds to each other.¡¯¡± Pisces recited. ¡°Either some humans had exceptionally powerful clairvoyance or it was a remnant of Xero.¡±


    We all shrugged.


    ¡°The two from outside are obviously Yin and Yang,¡± Hana said.


    ¡°My brother is the God of Time, so anything to do with the flow of time is his domain. So he¡¯s obviously going to be governing time in the universe we¡¯re supposedly going to create.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t allow him in our world,¡± Pisces said, a bit harshly. I agreed, but I was worried about it. Light and darkness are two sides of the same coin. One can¡¯t exist without the other. So regardless, Yin was going to spread his darkness into our world too. The least we could do was prevent it for as long as possible. I wanted our world to be a safe haven for people whose world was lost to his evil. But how would they get there? Perhaps my power over space would help.


    I also began worrying about Yin¡¯s time powers. Him having power over time would mean that he is able to look through time, which meant that everything he was doing was precisely and carefully calculated to ensure his success. He knew our every weakness and what we would do in the future. I opted to not say anything though as I didn¡¯t want my dear friends to worry and feel that the situation was hopeless.


    The six of us discussed it for a long time, trying to figure out what to do in the long run.


    ¡°Maybe I can use my space powers to connect the two worlds?¡±


    ¡°Is that even possible?¡± Pisces asked me.


    ¡°I can bend space to my will. If I want to rip open a portal to some random place in the multiverse, I can.¡±


    ¡°You could¡¯ve just said ¡®yes¡¯ ya know.¡± Pisces retorted.


    ¡°He can be rather showy at times,¡± Helena said. ¡°I can tell.¡±


    I blushed. I knew she was right, even if I wouldn¡¯t admit it.


    We all laughed a bit and continued chatting for a while.


    ?????????????????


    Yin POV:


    I looked at my brother and his friends all happy and smiling. The very sight sickened me. It was all pointless. They could try all they wanted to suppress it, but darkness lurked in their hearts. It lurks in all hearts.


    Abandon, Beelzebub, and Moloch, were absolutely useless at their jobs, but they were all I had so I put up with their annoying antics, knowing that I would have significantly better, more ideal, servants in the future. They would also have antics, but they would be more amusing.


    I monitored the worlds I had enslaved and made sure they were all groveling and worshiping me. Their gods were statues, decorating the halls of my temple. Others served me willingly with the false hopes of having dominion over their worlds. Pathetic.


    The three idiots employed under me were the only ones willing to serve me, as I had freed them from their hellish prisons. Beelzebub was particularly interested in that stupid pebble Earth for some unfathomable reason. Then again, he had a great fondness for devouring life energy and was hoping to kill every life deity he could find. Abbadon only wanted destruction and chaos while Moloch desired to turn any life-filled planet into his personal frozen paradise.


    I would get rid of them one day, but at that point, they were still useful to me. I would have to be patient, as the time of their demise was coming, and a new world was going to be born, becoming a bridge to many worlds of reality.


    All I had to do was wait.


    ?????????????????


    Yang POV:


    My friends and I spent many hours discussing what we wanted in the world we were going to create.


    We unanimously decided that we wanted a world where everyone is equal, obviously. We also wanted to share the gift of magic to our future people. Why should us deities hoard all the magic and powers? Obviously, there are going to be limits to what people can and can¡¯t learn. Limits are a good thing. Even we have limits... that we sometimes ignore or push. We aren¡¯t perfect. We have flaws. My flaw is my anger and impulsivity. I have a small anger problem and can get very jealous and very overprotective. I also tend to do things without anyone¡¯s input or say. It¡¯s something I needed to work on to be the best ruler I can be for my people and among all the gods of the multiverse, as the light half of Xero. Knowing that means that all gods born from the light are under my care and protection. However, I can¡¯t be everywhere at once, and Yin knew that. He used it to his advantage to conquer a handful of worlds, knowing that I wouldn¡¯t be able to help.


    His intelligence honestly made me a bit jealous. I felt utterly helpless knowing that.


    Helena noticed that I clammed up and stopped talking.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, nothing really,¡± I said, not wanting to burden her and avoiding her gaze. She frowned and made me look at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±


    I avoided her gaze again.


    ¡°You can tell us what¡¯s wrong,¡± Hana said.


    It took me a few minutes for me to gather my thoughts.


    ¡°I feel like a failure,¡± I admitted. ¡°Any god born from the light is under my care and protection and I can¡¯t be everywhere at once! Yin knows this and I can¡¯t do anything!¡±


    I began crying, full on ugly crying. I hate being helpless. I hate feeling useless.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything to help Hana or Pisces. Atlantis was destroyed, Countless worlds are undoubtedly under Yin¡¯s control AND I COULDN¡¯T DO ANYTHING!!! What use am I if I can¡¯t protect everyone?!¡±


    I just kept crying and crying for probably twenty minutes or something. The others comforted me, especially Helena. I am eternally grateful for friends like them, however, I was crying uncontrollably and hardly anything could stop me. That is until Virgo took my face and slapped me. That definitely made me stop ugly crying but I was still sobbing, and not because she slapped me... again. The others looked appalled at her. Then she grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me.


    ¡°Yang! Pull yourself together!¡± she made me look at her. Her fiery orange eyes were burning with a serious blaze of passion... and annoyance. ¡°If you keep sitting here feeling sorry for yourself and doing nothing then, of course, nothing is going to happen! None of this is your fault!¡± she yelled at my face.


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°Nah ah! No more negative talk. You are the freaking god of light! No- the CREATOR of light! Light also brings hope! You are LITERALLY a beacon of hope Yang! If you lose hope then so does everything else!¡±


    I stopped sobbing gradually as she was talking. I knew she was right.


    ¡°Yang,¡± her voice was calm now. ¡°Please, for us, try to be positive. You can tell us if you need help. Stop acting like you have to be perfect. We know you aren''t. No one is.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Pisces chimed. ¡°Also Virgo, please stop slapping people to calm them down.¡±


    ¡°What other option did I have? I can¡¯t let Yang be a sad sack of ¡®woe is me¡¯ when he is literally the only one who can knock sense into Yin!¡±


    ¡°True, but slapping him is not necessary whatsoever.¡±


    ¡°Guys, It¡¯s fine. I needed that,¡± I said, finally calm. ¡°Don¡¯t make this a habit Virgo.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try not to. I tend to not respond well to intense emotions. Pisces knows that.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I do,¡± he said with a laugh. Virgo shakes her head slightly with a smile.


    ¡°I admit that I have some... anger issues. But I try not to direct it at people. And I blurt things out without thinking,¡± Virgo admitted.


    ¡°You all know mine by now,¡± I said. ¡°Overly emotional.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention a bit of a short temper,¡± Hana chimes.


    ¡°And impulsive,¡± Celena adds. ¡°I admit that I can also be pretty vain and appearance driven and bitchy.¡±


    ¡°I tend to bottle up everything and be nitpicky,¡± Hana admits.


    Helena thought for a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m rather naive and too trusting.¡±


    ¡°Well, you are pretty young. That will probably change as you grow older and gain more experience,¡± I said to her. She nods in agreement.


    ¡°I¡¯m clumsy as hell and don¡¯t often think this through... and I¡¯m also impulsive,¡± Pisces admitted,


    ¡°At least you¡¯re good in bed,¡± Virgo chimed.


    Pisces¡¯ face turned lobster red and he buried his face in his hands, utterly embarrassed. Celena snorted. Hana rolled her eyes. Helena sighed. Virgo laughed hysterically and hugged him.


    ¡°I¡¯m just teasing! You know I love you, honey.¡±


    ¡°I know but still. That wasn¡¯t cool.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± she said. She kissed his cheek.


    ¡°You don¡¯t just say that in front of people.¡±


    ¡°Poor judgment on my part...¡±


    We all nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Let''s never speak of this again.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, this will be talked about,¡± Celena said with a laugh. Then all of us broke into fits of laughter. This whole scenario was quite fun.


    I got out of the bed and stretched.


    ¡°Sweet mercy I¡¯m extremely sore,¡± I said, as I cracked everything in my body that was crackable. ¡°That¡¯s better.¡±


    ¡°Those were some really loud cracks,¡± Hana said, concerned.


    ¡°I bet they felt good though,¡± Helena said.


    ¡°Heck yeah it did,¡± I replied, still stretching.


    I swam out of the room, as we were still underwater. My tail was gold fading into white and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that I didn¡¯t have my wings before remembering that wings don¡¯t exactly work well underwater. Then I just felt dumb.


    I didn¡¯t know how or when we were going to make our new world. There were many factors to consider such as bringing over Hana and Pisces¡¯ kingdoms if that was even possible.


    They still had to manage them. Add their duties as gods in our new world, then they would be twice as busy. We could bring their kingdoms over, but that would be tricky. It was the best solution. But having to take into consideration their enemies on earth. It would leave earth completely defenseless. I swam back inside and began pacing around the room.


    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Hana asked.


    ¡°How we¡¯re going to bring over both yours and Pisces¡¯ kingdoms to our new world,¡± I reply. ¡°We can¡¯t just leave them on earth. Your enemies will attack them. Not to mention earth will be defenseless. It¡¯s too risky and dangerous.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± she says.


    The thought of leaving earth completely defenseless scared me. What if Yin attacked again? We wouldn¡¯t be there to defend it as we would be too busy with our own world. Although I had this feeling that It wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Still, I wanted to be cautious. I managed to convince them to give some magic to earth as a way to protect it. Only a few humans will be able to harness and use it properly but knowing that makes me feel at ease about its safety.


    Then afterwards, I took them to interdimensional space. We all have our full powers back, so we¡¯re able to begin the creation process.


    ¡°You guys ready?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m kind of nervous,¡± Helena admitted. Celena patted her back.


    ¡°You got this,¡± she said with a smile.


    ¡°I was born ready!¡± Pisces exclaimed excitedly.


    Hana nodded eagerly.


    ¡°Why are we stalling? Let¡¯s go!¡± Virgo stated.


    I looked back at the universe Earth resides in and felt somewhat nostalgic. I was there for ages and was only conscious for a few weeks. But I knew that we didn¡¯t belong there. It wasn¡¯t our world. I thought we could visit from time to time in the future. I looked at my friends and smiled at them.


    Then I used my space powers to form the foundation for our world, our new home.

 Chapter 5

    I began the process by creating a bubble of space energy around us and expanded it outwards. Helena was nervous but managed to use her powers to create all the stars and galaxies. Virgo and Pisces created all the planets and Celena created the other celestial bodies such as moons and asteroids. Hana and Pisces together filled everything with life, both simple and intelligent. I brought forth conscious thought, goodness, light, emotions, and all that stuff. It took a total of one week. At the end we all created heaven and our kingdom. Then we brought over Atlantis and Hana¡¯s kingdom. We took extra care and gently eased them into our new world. Then we gave the universe magic, so now our new people are able to use it. I felt a surge of Yin¡¯s time powers entering our world, which was needed. The others felt it too as it was quite strong. We grew worried that he would manipulate time to use it as ransom to get us to surrender to him, though I had a feeling that he wouldn¡¯t do that. Somehow I just knew that he isn¡¯t the type to mess with the flow of time, only create, monitor and maintain it the same way I do for space. However I quickly learned, via monitoring space of the multiverse, that he is extremely strict regarding time, almost to the point of obsession. The last person who tried to mess with time was killed in the most horrific way possible and I deeply regret witnessing that.


    Regardless, with everything situated and done, we all heaved a sigh of relief. The creation was done now we had to rule it, which was not easy but we somehow made it work.


    We¡¯ve been building our armies and training them. I¡¯ve also been training and spending time with Helena. The more time I spent with her, the closer we grew. A true romance blossomed between us and I eventually mustered the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend. She said yes and I was the happiest deity in existence.


    All six of us maintained order and balance while further developing our domains and armies. Our world was still very young so the planets didn¡¯t didn¡¯t have much development. We taught them literature, music, art, culture, and the like. We taught them how to cultivate crops, tend livestock, cook, how to utilize magic, and live a fulfilling and sustainable life.


    We helped our people. We received their love and praise and answered their prayers. It was very busy, but peaceful.


    At the ten year mark, we decided to throw a party. It was a lovely party with a live orchestra, wonderful food, and lots of people. We all conversed with the guests and had fun dancing and playing games. It was lively and fun. Virgo danced with the music. She¡¯s a fantastic dancer. People joined in with her and everyone was laughing and smiling. Pisces was dragged in by her and the two danced together. It was cute seeing the two together, smiling and laughing.


    When the song ended, we all applauded and cheered. Then a slow clap rang through the room, causing everything to go dead silent.


    ¡°Bravo. Bravo. What a lovely performance,¡± a familiar voice rang out. The mood of the party shifted from lively to fearful. From the darkest shadows against a wall, Yin walked out. He made his way over to me. Guards tried to apprehend him but he stopped them.


    ¡°Get out. You¡¯re not welcome,¡± I stated firmly. He thought about it for a second.


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t think I will,¡± he said with a small dark grin. ¡°Am I not allowed to partake in the festivities? They look quite fun. Honestly, I¡¯m quite offended that I never received some sort of invite.¡±


    ¡°You know full well that you aren¡¯t welcome for a reason,¡± Pisces retorted. Yin let out a small, empty laugh.


    ¡°How insulting,¡± he mocked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll take my leave. Before I do, allow me to give you all a small parting gift.¡±


    Before any of us could react, he released a powerful wave of dark energy. It merged with the foundation of the world, bringing forth all evil and misfortune. I charged at him, furious that he tainted our world. He teleported away with a laugh. I cried in rage. Everything we worked for, everything we did, all tainted with darkness and there was nothing we could do about it. The party was ruined. I was enraged. It had to end early. I stormed outside and went to a secluded area. I just broke down, furious and upset.


    I sat on a large branch of a tall tree for what seemed like hours, just bawling my eyes out and sobbing. Our world was tainted.  Our people now have to suffer. I hated it. Calming myself down was very difficult. As soon as I felt that I was beginning to calm down, I thought about what happened and the waterworks started again. The scenario was seared into my mind and I couldn''t- didn''t- do anything. I was angry about what happened. I was angry at Yin for ruining the paradise my friends and I made. Most importantly, I was angry at myself for being unable to stop him.


    I had no idea how long I was just sitting there crying, but it was most definitely way past midnight. I heard someone come up to me, scaring the living daylights out of me and nearly punched their face.


    ¡°Woah! Relax! It''s just me!¡±


    It was Pisces. I lowered my arm and sighed, relieved.


    ¡°You scared me!¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Didn''t mean to.¡±


    ¡°It''s fine. Sorry for almost punching you.¡±


    ¡°Nah it''s fine. My fault for sneaking up unexpectedly.¡±


    We began talking about the events that had transpired. We expressed our frustrations, our anger, and our despair over the whole thing. I cried on his shoulder. By the time we finished the venting, the sun was peeking up over the horizon. We watched the sunrise for a bit before heading home.


    Helena immediately ran up and embraced me as soon as she saw me. I returned her embrace. She began fussing.


    ¡°We were worried sick! Are you okay?!¡±


    I couldn''t put exactly how I was feeling into words, but I tried my best.


    ¡°I''m just... very upset over what happened.¡±


    ¡°I''m quite sure upset is just an understatement,¡± she said.


    I nodded.


    ¡°It''s the closest thing I could describe to how I''m feeling.¡±


    We remained like this for a few more minutes before we headed off to work and help our people. Hana and Virgo were off ensuring the safety of others and helping the people of heaven settle down. Once my head cleared up enough, which took a surprisingly short amount of time, I relieved them of that and proceeded to continue the process of settling them down, reassuring them that we will protect them.


    ?????????????????


    Forming my domain was a simple task. Situated below the mortal realms, hell was formed with a single wave of my hand. The burning pits, flowing rivers of lava, dark oceans, fields of jagged stone and thorny brambles, large mountains looming over, and forests of thorns all formed. The life I filled it with were demons of all kinds ranging from humanoids who worship and serve me in communities to large, grotesque creatures that roamed the lands.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I had a number of palaces and castles constructed for me to live in whenever I pleased. My largest and most grand is the one I mainly lived in, right in the center of hell. It was decorated with only the finest of decor and the most luxurious furniture. The idea of anyone else enjoying luxury pissed me off. Only I deserved it. Everyone else could suffer for all I cared.


    My three idiotic generals actually made themselves useful and maintained order within my domain and spread my influence, allowing my powers to fully taint the universe. They are unaware that their clocks are ticking. I awaited the day of their execution and I could finally be rid of them and their constant insufferable bickering with each other. Just listening to one of them talk gave me a headache. I couldn''t tolerate all three of them shouting at each other over nonsensical crap, and I let them know quite often. At least they managed to take it outside.


    It took a few years, but my domain eventually became populated with the souls of the damned. Their eternal suffering greatly pleased me. My army grew in size and power, rivaling my brother¡¯s and his friends. I received praise and worship from people and they spread my influence as best as they could. The wars they started, the destruction they caused, everything that my brother and his friends built began to crumble and they desperately tried to preserve it.


    ?????????????????


    It had been at least a few tens of thousands of years since that incident and it was hard for us to get back into the groove of things. Counteracting Yin¡¯s power wasn''t easy. We eventually managed to find a way to balance it out and we coped with the new normal. His three generals were a nuisance, constantly interfering with not only our daily lives, but our people as well. We sent our soldiers to stop them and it led to some nasty conflicts. Some of which we lose. Both sides fought hard but sometimes Yin made it very difficult to assist our people. His followers sometimes took over their planet and he prevented us from helping our followers. We did manage to help them free themselves once we got past his barriers. It infuriated him each and every time. I felt bad for how badly he punished them. He really did hate them quite a lot. Then again, he hated everyone, like, really hated everyone. I didn''t see a single person that he didn''t utterly loath. Most of his loathing went towards me however.


    We constantly clashed and fought and it always ended in a draw. Many planets became battlefields and casualties for our wars. I always fixed it but the guilt I felt for it gnawed at me. I hated that so many innocent lives were caught up in our wars. Yin was absolutely relentless. I''m ashamed to say that a few galaxies fell under his command and I was unable to see what he was doing to the people of said galaxy. We tried to reclaim them but he pushed us back so hard that only a fraction of our soldiers came back and whichever one of us led them came back badly injured. We needed to get stronger. Much stronger.


    ¡°How the hell did he get so strong in such a short amount of time,¡± Pisces asked as Hana was bandaging him up. ¡°It''s only been a few millennia since that incident and he''s already even more powerful.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± I admitted. ¡°Both of us are equal in power so as he gets stronger I also get stronger.¡±


    ¡°It''s a balance thing, I would assume,¡± Hana piped up. ¡°Also it''s been about 80,000 years at this point- Pisces stop squirming, you''re making it difficult to put the bandages on.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. It just feels so weird.¡±


    Hana rolled her eyes at him.


    ¡°Why can''t you just make the all cure potion,¡± he whined.


    ¡°Because it''s for emergencies only. Plus the ingredients are hard to find.¡±


    ¡°You''re the goddess of nature! Can''t you just grow them instantly?¡±


    ¡°I would if I could.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that? It can''t be that difficult. It''s a plant.¡±


    Hana looked like he wanted to slap him.


    ¡°I''m sorry, what?¡±


    ¡°I''m not wrong though...¡±


    ¡°Oh my stars, Pisces, just shut up!¡± We heard Celena say from another room.


    ¡°Excuse me?!¡±


    ¡°You heard me fish breath! I have a headache right now and your complaining is making it worse.¡±


    ¡°Well sorry for wanting to recover as quickly as possible to try and kick Yin¡¯s ass again! As the god of water it is my duty to keep my domain safe!¡±


    ¡°You''re acting more like the god of complaining right now,¡± Celena shouted back. ¡°We all have a domain to protect you idiot!¡±


    ¡°Guys I know we¡¯re all stressed about the entire situation, please try to calm down,¡± I said, trying to mediate.


    ¡°Pisces I''m beginning to wonder why I married you,¡± Virgo said, poking her head in.


    That certainly didn''t help the situation, but it at least made Pisces clam up. I sighed, just glad that the situation was temporarily over.


    ¡°You gave Yang the all cure potion,¡± Pisces retorted.


    I stood corrected.


    ¡°He was at least a hundred times more wounded than you are! He was in a 65 million year coma!¡± Virgo shouted at him.


    ¡°I''m sorry, how long did you say I was asleep?!¡±


    My question went unnoticed as everyone began bickering. I tried to stop it but nothing helped. Finally I just got fed up.


    ¡°ALL OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!!!¡± I screamed.


    The entire castle went dead silent. I haven''t ever yelled like that before... or since.


    ¡°You''re all arguing like a bunch of damn toddlers! We are all stressed from the entire effing situation! Now quit fighting, act like adults, and let''s just work something out!¡±


    I stormed away and into my room, slamming the door. I grabbed a pillow and screamed into it for at least thirty seconds. I hated seeing my friends fight like that. It sucked and it hurt. After I finished making the pillow lose its hearing, I heard Helena come in.


    ¡°Yang honey...¡±


    I sighed heavily, turned to her, and hugged her. She returned the hug. Just her being with me calmed me down. I have no idea what I would do without the love of my life.


    ¡°I love you. I love you so much Helena. You have no idea how much I love you.¡±


    ¡°Aww honey. I feel the same way.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear the bickering?¡±


    ¡°I did, and the shouting at the top of your lungs. It startled quite a lot of people in the palace.¡±


    I felt awful for doing that. She helped calm me down. For ages I''ve been working on managing my temper. It''s gotten better but it''s not perfect. I get so emotional so quickly. We cuddled and talked for about half an hour before we got up to resume our duties.


    A few planets have fallen into absolute mayhem due to Yin¡¯s followers assuming power. One was a particular disaster, Arragothia. I''ve noticed that Yin highly favored a leader of one of his cults and granted that cult leader dark powers. His name was Alexander Sinclaire and my stars the absolute madness this man possessed. He had taken over the entire planet and began a mass genocide against everyone that wasn''t his bloodline or his cult. We¡¯ve been trying to help them but the dark barrier Yin put up to prevent our intervention was difficult to break.


    The people who rebelled against him struggled. Helena and I managed to finally break that barrier and granted our followers the strength and blessings needed to dethrone that vile person.


    We assisted other planets the same way, breaking the barrier and giving the blessings that our people needed and deserved. The entire thing infuriated Yin, even if he didn''t show it. I just knew, and we collectively decided to infuriate him even more by taking back some of the galaxies he conquered. And I decided to do it alone.


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Helena said to me when all of us were discussing it.


    ¡°Wha-?¡±


    ¡°I''m coming with you!¡±


    ¡°Helena-¡±


    ¡°No arguing. I''m coming with you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t-¡±


    She pinched my lips together to shut my mouth.


    ¡°I''m not a damsel. I can handle myself.¡±


    I moved her hand off my mouth.


    ¡°Alright then. I''m just worried about you.¡±


    She rolled her eyes.


    ¡°I know. I''ll be fine! What can go wrong?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t say that,¡± Virgo said. ¡°Because when people say that, things tend to go wrong.¡±


    ¡°Guys, she''ll be fine. I''ll be there. Besides, she''s a lot stronger now. Nearly my strength.¡±


    ¡°My baby is all grown up!¡± Celena exclaimed, being her dramatic self. Helena rolled her eyes with a smile and laughed slightly.


    ¡°Good luck you two. If you need reinforcements, we''ll send them over,¡± Pisces said.


    ¡°Thank you. Are you guys sure that you''ll be fine?¡± I asked, still worried. I knew they would be able to defend heaven if anything went wrong, but I still worried for their safety.


    ¡°We¡¯ll handle things here. Don''t worry,¡± Pisces reassured. It comforted me a little bit.


    Helena and I gathered our forces and headed to a group of galaxies that he took from us a few years after he brought evil into our world.