Augustus was watching a replay of Aurelius’ fight with the Orc Chosen on one of his many screens when he heard a knock on the door of his room. He didn’t answer, because he knew there was only one person, or being, that would come to knock on his door at this point in time and in his remote area of space.
The person continued to knock on his door, and Augustus continued to ignore the sound. Soon enough, Augustus knew that the person would break down his door and enter whether he liked it or not — as she always did.
“Augustus, come on, open up,” Came a slightly muffled feminine voice from the other side of the door. Augustus started to feel somewhat bad about his actions, but then he remembered the constant headache she had caused him and firmly continued to watch Aurelius instead.
It only took a couple of minutes before the person obviously decided they had waited long enough. There was a boom at the front door, and Aurelius turned to see his wooden door flying across the room, disintegrating into microscope pieces all the while. Augustus had an annoyed look on his face as he turned to watch the person who had kicked the hinges of his door walk into his room with a triumphant smile on her face.
“Can you stop kicking my door down, Queen Sylana?” Augustus said with a deadpan expression, as he addressed the person with their proper title — a title he knew she disliked.
“Will you stop ignoring me?” Sylana shot right back, a beaming smile on her face. “Besides, I know it doesn’t cost you anything to fix it.”
Augustus grunted in acknowledgement, muttering a quick incantation that turned back time and brought the door to its original state, moments ago.
“Also,” Sylana continued, “How many times do I need to tell you to stop calling my Queen Sylana?” She asked with a cheery expression. “We’ve been friends for millennia, there’s no need to address me as such.”
Augustus just grunted once more, this time in false humor. He turned back around to his screen of Aurelius, ignoring Sylana once more.
She didn’t seem to care, however. Immediately she bounded up to Augustus, materializing a chair in thin air and taking a seat down next to Augustus.
As Sylana settled into the chair, she cast a glance at the screen displaying Aurelius' battle. "Watching Aurelius again I see,” Sylana said with some hint of interest. “I swear this is the only thing you do now. Constantly watch Aurelius.”
Augustus didn’t respond.
Sylana seemed to take Augustus’ silence as a signal to continue talking. “Watch Aurelius do this; watch Aurelius do that. You hardly interact with the outside universe anymore — it’s truly sad. All you want to do is sit in your little house on your little moon in a desolate corner of the galaxy.”
Augustus let out a sigh as Sylana started up an argument that they had many times before. “Is that what this is then? You coming here to try and recruit me once again for whatever scheme you've cooked up this time?" Augustus' voice carried a note of weary resignation as he glanced briefly at Sylana before returning his attention to the screen.
Augustus was able to catch the flash of fury in Sylana’s eyes with his brief glance, however.
Here we go again.
Sylana’s tone began to take on a slight edge. “Scheme? Is that what you see this war as?” she said, her eyes narrowing. “Quintillions of liv — no, the entire protected universe — hangs the balance of this war and you see it as some scheme?”
Augustus sighed once again, not yet looking at Sylana. However, he could feel her burning gaze shooting daggers into his side. “No, but you know what I mean. Besides, I’ve done more than my part in that accursed war, it’s time for others to carry the burden. Furthermore, I am a part of one of the system’s games, I might die next week depending on this kid's actions,” Augustus said, pointing at Aurelius.
Sylana continued to stare at Augustus. “Augustus, you know as well as I that will not happen. Besides, I also know that you could have easily prevented yourself from joining this game if you really wanted to. But no, you decided you just wanted to have some fun,” Sylana continued, her voice turning derisive."Augustus, we both know that your self-imposed exile is just your way of hiding from your responsibilities."
"Responsibilities," Augustus echoed bitterly. "You mean the endless cycle of conflict, power struggles, and petty squabbles? No, thank you."
That seemed to really piss Sylana off. “Yes, responsibilities.” She let out a humorless laugh. “Maybe it's better you’ve decided to shirk your responsibilities. After all, you were never good at taking care of them anyway.”
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Augustus started to feel a knot of fury well up within his chest, but he didn’t respond.
Instead, Sylana briefly glanced at the screens that played Aurelius’ exploits before continuing. “I doubt you even care about this Aurelius, despite how much time you spend watching him. This is just another one of your silly games” Sylana let out another laugh. “What if he ends up defeating this Maledakor? Did you tell him what would happen? Did you tell him what he signed up for? Does he know anything about the outside universe?”
“He does,” Augustus said, answering Sylana’s last question.
She looked at Augustus for a couple of seconds, then let out another laugh. “Yes, but how much does he really know? Does he know about the war? The purpose of the system? What will he become?”
“He does,” Augustus repeated. However, he had never been a great liar. Especially not in front of Sylana, who had powers specialized in the heart that could vaguely detect intent even from a being like him.
She was able to see through the lie instantly.
“He doesn't, does he?” Sylana said, some shock entering her voice. “Just what did you tell him?”
Augustus grimaced, but he decided to respond. “I told him that there was a war between the gods and that the system, and the resulting games, are a product of the universe.”
Sylana sat there, stunned for a few seconds. Then, she started laughing again, this time actual humor entering her laugh. It took her a few seconds, but she started to calm down. “This poor kid,” she said. “Navigating his whole life based on the lie of some god that just wants to be entertained. It seems as if you can’t even treat your own descendants with a modicum of care”
Augustus turned to look at Sylana, fury starting to enter his voice and aura. “I’ll admit, there are some half-truths, but I kept most of it a secret for his own good!” Augustus said, his voice starting out as a seething whisper but finishing with a thundering shout that could be heard throughout the room.
“For his own good?” Sylana questioned mockingly. “For his own good?” Sylana questioned again, now an octave higher. “Tell that to him when he finds out the truth.”
Augustus gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with barely contained rage. “He’s not ready for the full truth, Sylana. If he knew the entire extent, he might lose hope, lose the drive to fight. Sometimes, a little ignorance is necessary for survival.”
Sylana shook her head slowly, chuckling to herself, ignorant of Augustus’ barely contained rage. “Is that what helps you sleep at night? I’m starting to see a pattern here, what’s about to happen to this poor boy is the same thing you did to sector 301—”
This time, Sylana wasn’t able to finish her sentence as Augustus exploded, literally. Green light exploded out from Augustus, instantly evaporating both Augustus’ house and the moon that it had inhabited. In its place, Augustus floated in empty space wrapped in a bright ethereal green energy that seemed to dim the nearby stars.
Augustus opened his mouth, a booming voice echoing out across the now-empty space.
“You think you can berate me about the past?” Augustus roared, his voice echoing through the void. “You think you know the barest inkling of what I’ve sacrificed, what I’ve endured?”
Sylana's expression changed from mocking to serious as she floated in the vacuum of space. Despite Sylana’s Queen-ranking status, a status that denoted her as one of the strongest beings in the protected universe, even she had to take a couple of steps back under the furious power that emanated off of Augustus. Her voice was calm, but her eyes betrayed a deep anger; anger and exhaustion.
"I know more than you think, Augustus," she said, her tone measured. "I’ve seen the records. I’ve felt the echoes of your decisions reverberate across the cosmos. Your actions have consequences, and you cannot run from them forever."
Augustus' ethereal form flickered as his rage ebbed slightly, the green energy around him pulsing with his emotions. "You speak of consequences as if I haven't lived with them every day. You weren't there, Sylana. You don't know what it was like."
Sylana crossed her arms, her gaze unyielding. "No, I wasn't there. But I’ve seen the aftermath. And now, you’re doing it again with Aurelius.”
"Aurelius is different!" Augustus snapped, his voice a mix of defensiveness and guilt. "Aurelius has the potential to change everything. He could end this war."
Augustus and Sylana continue to glare at each other for a few minutes, both of their anger slowly dissipating. With no words spoken, Augustus waved away the green light that surrounded him and slowly turned back time once again. It wasn’t long until the moon and his room was restored to its previous quality.
Taking a seat in his chair, Aurelius turned his head back to the screens. Sylana followed suit sitting back down next to him.
The silence between them lingered, a fragile truce formed out of mutual exhaustion and old wounds. Sylana finally broke it, her tone softer but still firm. “Augustus, you need to understand that isolating yourself won’t change the past. And it certainly won’t help the future. Aurelius deserves to know the truth about the universe and his potential purpose.”
Augustus sighed deeply, the weight of centuries pressing down on him. “He’ll know when the time is right,” he muttered, eyes fixed on the screen. “For now, he needs to focus on his training and survival.”
Aurelius’ image on the screen showed him locked in fierce combat with the Orc Chosen, his moves precise, his determination palpable even through the display. Augustus watched intently, a complex mix of pride and a hint of worry etched on his face. “You don’t understand, Sylana. I don’t want Aurelius to follow the same path as those before him.”
Sylana watched Augustus for a moment, a mix of sympathy and frustration crossing her features. She knew Augustus well enough to understand the depths of his fears and the burden he carried.
“You fear he’ll become like you?” she asked, an understanding tone in his voice.
Augustus didn’t say anything.
“Well, if Aurelius succeeds in his current path, he’ll become the universe’s second Sovereign. At that point, there won’t be anything either of us can do to alter his fate,” she finished.