”It's okay to feel weak sometimes. It's okay to be afraid.
The important thing is that we face our fears.
That's...that's what makes us strong.”
From the beginning of time, humans have worshipped some form of a deity. Where they got the ideology that another more powerful being existed, watching over them and also judging their every movement, their every decision - their every thought - is beyond the understanding of modern day scientists. Some speculate that humans do this as a coping mechanism for when thinking about their inevitable deaths, so that instead of the panic of the unknown, they have something to look forward to. All that is known is that they have worshipped some sort of ethereal being since the beginning of their existence.
Jesus. Allah. Moses. Zeus. God.
Those are but a few of the many, many deities and omnipotent beings that the humans have ‘thought’ of as their creators. Obviously, none of them came close to the truth - the truth that the Sun and the Moon, two ‘planets’, as they were deemed by humans, were the actual creators of all living creatures - but that was partially the doing of said deities. Ever since the humans began to wonder how they came to be, how they were created, or in general question anything related to such a subject, the Sun and the Moon have ventured to Earth to regularly spin stories and spread them across the world in an attempt to slow the discovery of their being. Once their children were born, however, they put far more effort into keeping their existence hidden, into preventing them and their children from being discovered. Any human that came close to the truth was promptly dealt with, usually by the Senior Star given her memory suppression capabilities, and thus far they believe that their web of lies and legends has held up.
The lies were put into place to not only protect the Sun and Moon, and not only their children, either, but also the human beings themselves. If they were to discover the true origin of their beginnings, there is no telling what the outcome could be. What could become of the children and their parents is unknown, seeing as the two deities never once claimed to be omnipotent, and they have lived in slight fear of their existence becoming known one day.
They don’t, of course, plan to hide themselves forever. Simply until they deem the humans to be capable of accepting their existences without any repercussions; and so far, they have yet to prove themselves worthy to know the truth.
The main cause of war in human society stems from religious views. The main cause of disputes between people is caused by their differences in beliefs.
Many, many issues in human society, both currently and throughout the past, can be traced back to religious differences. The Crusades are a prime example of holy wars, during which time countless lives were lost.
The witch trials across Europe and early America are another example of the religious influence that causes mass genocides to take place. World War II, in which Adolf Hitler attempted to wipe out all of those belonging to the Jewish faith.
To sum everything up, human beings as a whole are not ready to accept the truth. They are close - Gods, they are so very close - to being able to hear the real truth and accept it without negative consequences or outcomes.
But they aren’t quite there yet; and so the Sun and the Moon are not ready to take the chance of revealing their existence to any human being, out of fear of them spreading the knowledge of their lives to other humans throughout the world. And so we hide.
We always hide. “Ms. Orako, the Headmaster has finished with your brother and is ready to see you now.”
Velonix glanced up at the Headmaster’s Assistant from the blank, old book that she had been writing in. It had been given to her by the owner of the bookshop that she had just recently been given a job at, as a welcoming present. She had seen it through the window when she had been walking by, and it had prompted her to enter the store, almost as though it were calling for her. When the owner, Mr. Zwemmer, saw her inside and staring at it, he had removed it from its case and allowed her to look more closely at it. While she was studying it, they began a conversation, and one thing led to another, and she ended up with her first real job in the human world. After her third of fourth shift, during which times she would stare at the ancient book, Mr. Zwemmer finally caved and gave her it as a gift, much to her happiness. She had promised vehemently to care for it as though it were a living creature, and he laughed in response, knowing that she would.
Setting down the quill - yes, she still wrote with a quill and ink,
deal with it - she put the stopper into her ink bottle and pushed back her chair, rising from her seat at the desk that she was told to wait at in the teacher’s offices. She placed the book and writing utensils in her messenger bag, slung it over her shoulder, and rubbed her arms absentmindedly.
She could still remember the day that her siblings pushed her into returning to Earth, which was only two weeks prior to the present day. The idea had been hers - a decision that still surprised her, even though she was the one who came up with it.
~’.’~Two Weeks Prior~’.’~
Soft whispers slithered beneath the door that led to the library. They could only be heard if one were to be standing directly outside of the door, and it was almost necessary to press one’s ear to said door in order to actually understand what was being said.
Not that there was anyone to listen to the discussion. Sun and Moon were currently overwatching the Earth, as they did at that exact time each and every new day, and The Senior Star was currently assisting them in their Earthly decisions. The Junior Star was at her side, attempting to intake any new knowledge to be gained from the actions that his more powerful Godly comrades were performing.
Now who, one may wonder, was making such noise in the library?
There could only be one group of culprits behind it; the four children of the Sun and the Moon.
The very embodiment of the Seasons themselves.
Beyond the large oaken door, the children of the Gods sat on the comfortable furniture within. The two eldest were on one couch, while the two youngest had taken seats on the armchairs on either side of the larger furniture. Harmony had taken the liberty to start a fire in the massively beautiful fireplace that adorned the equally gorgeous library, which was quadruple the size of the area that they were currently nestled in, and she folded her legs beneath her bottom on the chair, tucking her skirt underneath her shins in an ever-present drive at modesty. A mug of her ever-present hot chocolate, decorated with whipped cream, marshmallows, and sprinkles of cinnamon, was clasped firmly between her oddly cold palms, which were damp with a nervous sweat. The same wetness was sprinkled across her hairline, both along her forehead and the nape of her neck, and a small tremble of anxiety resided in her hands. In addition, she was doing her bad habit of bouncing slightly as she sat, constantly shifting her weight in an obvious attempt to get comfortable, despite it being a futile effort.
After several moments of silence had ticked by, Harmony, obviously too nervous to start the discussion of why she had asked her siblings to join her in the library, squirmed a bit until her sister spoke.
”Harmy, I understand that you’re nervous, but you should know by now that there’s no need for you to feel that way around us. Whatever’s bothering you - whatever’s weighing on your mind - just speak.” Her voice was gentle, almost a coo, in an obvious attempt to draw her shy younger sister slightly more out of her shell.
In response, Harmony fidgeted a bit more for a moment longer, before forcing herself to settle and heaving a sigh. After a long sip of her delicious cocoa, she lowered her feet to the floor and leaned forward, setting the mug on the coffee table before her. She dropped her hands to her knees, drew in a long breath in preparation, and in one long heave, blurted out what she had rehearsed at least thirty-two times in her mind.
”I … I want to go and visit Earth!”
Almost instantly the girl squeezed her eyes shut, her shoulders hunching in readiness for her siblings expected outbursts of rejection at her wish. When nothing was immediately said, she slowly allowed herself to pry open one eye, and then another when she noticed the blank stares of surprise from her brothers and sister. Squirming a bit under their piercing gazes - they all had equally beautiful eyes in her mind, and ones that could unsettle even the most rigid of people - she gnawed on her lower lip, looking down at her hands on her legs. Her fingers were curled inwards, digging into the flesh of her knees, and she was bouncing her one foot anxiously.
A few more beats of silence passed before anyone spoke, and it was one word.
”No.”
Harmony’s head snapped up, her heart stopping for a brief moment before skipping a beat and regaining its regular pattern. Her eyes met her older brother’s gaze, which was dark and stern, unrelenting in its own way.
”But, Phoebus, at least let me explain wh-”
”No. Absolutely not. This shouldn’t even be up for discussion, Harmonix,” he interrupted, not even allowing her to finish her sentence. Her eyes welled up with tears in immediate response, and she lowered her head once more, her action holding all of the defeat she felt. She had known it was a long shot from the beginning, getting her siblings on board with her idea, but to be shot down so quickly and so assuredly definitely stung.
A soft scoff was heard from the girl that sat beside Phoebus. Her cotton candy hair was illuminated in the glow of the fire, and an eye roll could be seen.
”Oh, come on, Phoebus. At least let her explain why she wants to visit Earth. You can’t just shoot down what she says without allowing her to tell us why she would want to do it. Harmony very rarely speaks her mind about issues that she knows are controversial, so you can at least respect her courage to do so right now, given the subject.”
Harmony glanced up slightly, looking at her sister through her lashes, her gaze holding the gratitude she felt towards the older girl. Aurora definitely wasn’t wrong, though; very rarely would Harmony bring up a subject or idea that she knew would cause an argument or negativity of any sort, so when she did, it was usually for a good reason.
Turning her gaze to her older brother, she allowed her eyes to take on a puppy-dog look, and she jutted out her lower lip. This was her signature expression - something that she reserved only for times that she really wanted something - and her older brother instantly melted like butter.
Quickly averting his own eyes from hers, he looked away, his pale cheeks taking on a soft flush.
”By the stars above, Har - not the eyes,” he groaned. He flicked a glance at the girl, only to find that she was still holding the same expression, and slapping his hand over his eyes, he slowly dragged it down his face, before heaving a loud sigh.
”Fine, I’ll at least listen to this insane idea that you’ve come up with,” he muttered.
Instantly Harmony brightened, her puppy dog look diminishing, and she leaned forward, her previous nervousness replaced with obvious excitement. A twinkle shone in her eye, and she had a gentle smile on her lips. She still did, however, speak with hesitancy, a slight stutter taking away some of the confidence she felt.
”I … I’m hoping that if I were to go to Earth … That it could maybe help me come to terms with everything that’s happened since … Since the incident,” she finished, her voice ending almost in a murmur. What little courage she felt when she began speaking had quickly faded as she finished, and she felt her shoulders slightly slump with dejection. She picked at her fingernails, suddenly extremely fascinated with her hands.
”I know that … I know that I’ve caused a lot of unnecessary trouble and problems over the years, ever since that day when we were children … And I know that because of what happened, I’ve changed a lot as a person ...” She trailed off for a moment, having to pause to garner a bit of bravery. Turning her face back upwards, she met each one of her siblings gazes before continuing.
”I’ve been keeping it hidden as much as possible, but recently … Recently, what Astra did to help me contain the Phoenix … The walls that she built to help seal my two separate minds, or identities, or whatever you want to call them … I can feel them beginning to crumble,” she said softly, her shoulders once more slumped, but this time instead of the cause being defeat, it was more so worry. She pressed her lips together for a moment before continuing.
”I … I’m really scared,” she whispered, tears prickling at her eyes. ”I’m scared of what will happen if those walls disappear completely, and the Phoenix is allowed out and into the physical world once more. I don’t expect any of you to understand … You’ve never had anything like this happen before … But I ...” Drawing in a shaky breath, she felt a ball of anxiety curl in her chest. ”I can hear her … I can hear her voice, in the very back of my mind, hiding behind those walls. She keeps telling me to do things … Things that I know I shouldn’t do, but things that I really want to do. So far I’ve been able to ignore her and push down my urge to do what she says, but … But I’m afraid of what might happen if I can’t get a handle on her.”
There was a lapse in words being said, before Phoebus once more spoke, his voice slightly heavy, given the equal weight of the current conversation.
”And how do we know that it isn’t Phoenix’s idea for us to go to Earth? How do we know that this is actually your own idea, Harmonix?”
Harmony hesitated before slowly responding.
”I just … It might be hard for me to resist the temptation that she gives me to do certain things, and I may not have been able to discern my thoughts and her thoughts before Astra helped me, but … Right now, I can tell which thoughts are mine and which are hers. I don’t really know how to explain how I can, but … But I can. And on that, you’ll just have to trust me, Phoebus.”
Another moment of silence ticked by - there seemed to be a lot of those during this discussion, Harmony idly thought - before anyone responded to her words.
”I think … That if you think that it’s a good idea, and if you think that it really will help you, Sundown … That we should do it.”
Harmony turned her gaze to her younger brother, her lower lip trembling slightly. She had known before even asking for her siblings to meet her that out of all of them, Winston was most likely to support what she thought was best, and he had definitely proved her correct in that assumption.
Turning back to her older siblings, she looked at them with her wide, umber eyes, which spoke volumes over her expectation for an answer. Aurora was studying her nails, and while filing at the tip of one of her index fingers, she shrugged and spoke.
”I think that if you think that it can help you, and that you can handle it, we should at least give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe it’ll prove beneficial for all of us. Wouldn’t you agree, Phoebus?” she dragged out, purposely doing so in order to annoy him.
The boy in question narrowed his eyes slightly at his older sister, a soft growl of sorts escaping his lips, before he turned to Harmony, his gaze a smidge less stern than it was before. After several calculated moments, during which time she could practically see the gears turning in her older brother’s head, he spoke.
”Seeing as I’m clearly outnumbered, I’ll have to say yes. What kind of brother would I be to just let all of you run rampant down on Earth? Someone has to be down there to corral you,” he sighed, rubbing his temples.
Harmony immediately brightened, her skin taking on a slightly golden glow, and she was across the gap between them in seconds, her arms thrown around her older brother’s neck.
”Thank you, Phoebus … You … You have no idea what this means to me,” she whispered into his neck, her tears soaking into his long hair.
Shaking her head to rid it of those thoughts, she smiled at the Assistant Headmaster and adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder. She strode after her, idly turning her head slightly to look forlornly out the window, inhaling deeply in an effort to gather herself.
The sun was shining brightly through the clear window, giving the interior of the building an ethereal glow. Dust mites danced in the sun’s rays, and for a moment, she felt an unwanted sadness in her chest.
Somewhere, far up in the sky and even further beyond that, her parents were looking down at the world below. She could picture her mother, wringing her hands and a worried crease between her brows, and her father pacing with long strides across the hall that enclosed the enormous, hologram-like image that showed them the entirety of the planet. It was used to view in on any place at any time, past, present, or future, and to interact with said reality. There were many a times that her parents had altered the past in order to benefit the future - they went back and prevented world-wide catastrophes.
Why, then, did they allow certain events to occur? Why did they allow countless lives to be lost to the hands of evil humans who wished nothing but death upon the masses?
It was all for a better goal.
To think that they enjoyed watching the humans suffer - you couldn’t be further from the truth. Countless times had Harmonix ventured into the great hall, as a young child and beyond, to find her mother weeping over the hologram of the beautiful planet. She had seen unimaginable things in that hologram, and heard screams that still echoed in her ears to this very day. As soon as her parents spotted her they would shoo her away fairly quickly, of course, but that didn’t stop her from seeing things.
People being torn limb-from-limb by ancient Roman Gladiators.
Children being burned alive alongside their parents during the European Witch Trials.
Animals being killed by toxic chemicals sprayed down upon the humans by large flying machines from above.
Tears pricked at her eyes at the memories, and she squeezed the large umber orbs shut in an attempt to stem their flow, and to shield herself from the visuals flashing before her eyes.
Closing them only prevented herself from seeing, however. It didn’t slow what she could hear, not by a long shot; and the screams continued to echo inside of her mind. Pausing midstep, she dropped her face into the palm of her hand, pressing it against her forehead and letting out a soft moan of pain.
“Stop ... Stop it, please ...” she whispered, her lips a slight grimace.
After a few moments, the screams slowly faded and she had managed to calm her rapid breathing, having only just then realized how quickly she was panting.
“Ms. Orako? Are you quite alright my dear?”
Removing her hand, Velonix turned a small, slightly strained smile up to the woman. “I am alright, my apologies. My head pains me slightly is all,” she breathed out, resuming her stride.The AH smiled once more and continued her walk as well, and they moved in silence for another minute or two before she paused outside a set of wooden doors.
“Right through here, my dear.”
With a slight nudge the door slid open and Harmonix let herself in, announcing her presence as she entered. “Good morning Headmaster. My name is Velonix Orako and it is quite a pleasure to be of your acquaintance.” The Headmaster let out a chuckle, reaching out to pat her hand. “You may drop the formalities, dear, as I have no need for them.” Motioning for her to sit, she did so and he did the same, clasping his hands on the desk before him.
“Your siblings were quite pleasant to meet, and I can already tell from your demeanor that you’re quite the same,” he began, offering her a kind smile. “I do like to take the chance to personally meet each of my new students at least once - I believe it helps take away some of the frightening nature that comes with my title,” he chuckled, a slight twinkle in his eye. “Nothing to worry too much about, of course. As I tell everyone, I do hope you enjoy and value your time here, and take what you can from this place of learning. If you run into any problems or have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask for help, even if it’s from me directly.”
Velonix nodded, a gentle smile on her face, and rose once more while adjusting the bag strap on her shoulder. “Thank you, Headmaster. I appreciate the sentiments,” she said softly, bending forward slightly at the waist in respect. When she straightened again, she gave him another small smile. “Have a pleasant rest of your day.” The kind old man gave her a smile and nod in response, and she turned on her heel and quickly made her way out of the office, pausing once she had closed the door behind her. Letting out a small breath, she groaned a bit. That was stressful and she was more than glad to be over with it. Social interactions, specifically with strangers, weren’t really her forte and she’d much rather observe from the sidelines than be the sole focus in someone’s conversation.
Standing tall once more, she gathered herself together and began to walk while also pulling the map of the school grounds that was provided for her to navigate more easily. It was already a two weeks into the second semester, Summer Break having just come to an end, so they weren’t transferring in frighteningly late thankfully. They would stand out a bit but no more than normal transfer students.
She flicked her eyes down to her map, pausing mid step to gather her bearings. Once she had figured out where she was, she pushed through the doors into a small side-courtyard on the side of the school. Inhaling the smells of nature deeply she followed through with a satisfied sigh, the tiniest of smiles turning up the corners of her lips. A small pond was situated nearby with an empty bench, and further down the path led to the back of the school building, shrouded prettily by the dense leaves of the orange and yellow trees that hung above it. She assumed it would feel nice on a hot summer day and looked forward to finding out if that was the case in a few months - hopefully they would still be there.
As she walked, Velonix tilted her head back ever so slightly towards the leaves, admiring their pretty, calming colors. A gentle breeze caused them to sway a bit, small dashes of sunlight peeking through every so often. The combination of everything brought a soft wave of serenity over her, and for the moment, she was content.
Until she found herself slamming directly into a wall obviously made from a person. Having not been paying attention to where she was walking, she had slammed into the person fairly hard, causing her to stumble back and nearly fall. She somehow managed to catch herself, albeit clumsily, and felt a small warmth of embarrassment seep into her cheeks. Velonix scrambled to straighten and bowed quickly, her hands clasped before her and her braided orange hair falling over her shoulder. “I-I apologize! I did not mean to bump into you! It was all my fault - I was not paying attention to where I was walking!” she breathed out quickly. Once she had finished her apology, she glanced up slightly to see who it was that she had bumped into, and straightened rather quickly when she found it to be two teenage boys wearing the school uniform. A bit of anxiety fluttered in the pit of her stomach but she cleared her throat and clutched the strap of her bag in an effort to ground herself. The boys gave each other a look before small smirks grew on their faces. The one that she had run into leaned slightly to the side to peer into her face as she was quite short as a girl, his own face getting uncomfortably close to hers. It was almost close enough for her to feel his breath on her cheeks and his dark eyes held an odd gleam to them that made her uncomfortable.The colors that glowed ever-so-lightly off of his skin were dark and coiled together with streaks of black and red, and when she noticed his aura a small shiver crawled across her body, goosebumps breaking out. He wasn’t evil by any means - at least not yet - but this type of aura was only associated with those who enjoyed being cruel. Not psychopaths or sociopaths, perse - just people who got off on being, to put it crudely, assholes. Velonix, however, preferred a more gentle route instead of violence and cruelty, so when faced with someone such as this, she grew into a nervous puddle.
“Well hey there …” his voice curled. He definitely had nice enough features, but they were marred with the underlying viciousness that he held about him. When Vel took a step back out of sheer reaction it drew a chuckle from his friend who leaned against a bike rack a few feet away, hands shoved in his pockets. He held a similar air to him but not quite as dark, and she felt an instinctive curl of her toes in reactive fear. Tightening her grip on her bag, and drew into herself a bit, attempting to shy away from him. With each small step she took back though, he seemed to follow with one that was slightly larger, until he had her cornered against the side of the building, hand planted firmly on the wall above her shoulder. Her skin crawled as his body drew a bit too close to her for comfort and she shrank away a bit more, a small tremble beginning in her legs. This drew an amused chuckle from the boy and he tilted his head a bit more, his tongue slightly licking his lips.
“My, my, my … Aren’t you a cute one .. You’d think I’d remember seeing you before,” he drawled out, tilting his head to the other side as he spoke. “Or are you one of the new transfer students that moved to town and took her sweet time joining us?” he inquired, his hand lifting slightly. “Well, I guess you were worth the wait for being able to see the mysterious new students … Because you’re real nice on the eyes,” he murmured, leaning even closer to her and lightly brushing his finger across her cheek and over her hair. He began to follow it down, causing her tremble of fear to overtake her upper body as well. She knew very well that if needed she could defend herself and that this boy didn’t stand a chance, but her years of courage and pride were long past. Even though she knew she was capable of taking care of herself, it was a very difficult thing for her to do as she feared losing control, so not only was she in fear of the current situation, but she was in fear of defending herself and losing herself at the same time.
A small burst of courage slid through her and she grasped at it desperately, flinging her hand up to small his away from her face. “Don’t touch me,” she snapped, attempting to push past his arm at the same time. Before she could get through, however, he snagged her wrist and yanked her back, his other arm twining around her waist. The touch made her skin crawl with disgust and a new wave of fear assaulted her. Despite her Senior Star’s suppression, a familiar feeling of acute terror washed over her when he touched her, his hand sliding slightly under her school shirt and grazing the skin of her stomach. She locked up for a moment before struggling against his grasp, all the while his friend laughing softly nearby. His one hand rose to clamp over her mouth, the same smirk on his face.
“I like them feisty,” he curled out, his smirk turning slightly sadistic. Her eyes widened, her sounds of protest muffled against his palm. “Playing hard to get, hm?” he drawled, pinning her once more between the wall and his body. Tears pricked her eyes as buried emotions from that time so long ago rose up and an innate sorrow filled her chest, and a new bundle of fear hit her stomach as the boy began to move his face down towards hers. She didn’t want this disgusting human boy’s mouth to touch her - she didn’t want
any of him to touch her. A small burning sensation began to broil within her chest, her eyes beginning to take on a slightly-red, somewhat-glowing hue. Her fingers curled inwards, clenching into fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. The ends of her hair picked up slightly in the breeze which began to swirl a bit more aggressively than before, and she felt her jaw clench in preparation for the release of her abilities.
~’.’~’.’~Continued in Cutup x Kura Ravengade Collab Piece~’.’~’.’~[/center]
