Diving down past the Divine Realm was a mistake that Haero should have foreseen. But in his defense, his excitement was too great. Long had he grown bored of the same burning maelstrom of the Sol.

Of course, he didn't dislike Sol or any other reality, but he wanted to see something more, something else. The prospect of a new place with vast amounts of different creatures spoke to him.

That was why he forgot that Ozai would be in the Divine Realm, doing his cosmic arts or whatever.

'Shit.'

A look from Molliwag questioned his language and meaning, but Haero was more bothered by the little boy floating up to meet them. Haero didn't have such a good memory, but he remembered when this boy had not a flicker of hair on his head. Now he, too, was sprouting a good long white growth. Thinking about it, only Freya and Freyr had black hair. Weird, since Haero knew their mother had golden hair. Shrugging, he focused back on the boy and almost convulsed when he saw Tora following behind him. The girl was floating in mid-air, something he couldn't exactly do.

Ozai could, as he had cosmic wings. Molliwag had wings as well. Freyr and Freya did as well. Only he and Tora had none, and he thought that made them closer. But here she was, floating. 'How?'

"She mastered Air," Ozai commented with just a stare at him. Haero didn't bother asking how he knew what he was thinking. Tora might be the smart and intelligent one, but Ozai was the observant one of them.

It was no surprise he was staring right at Molliwag. Not like the humongous entity could hide.

"What's the new pet?" Ozai spoke.

Silence. Haero felt horror rise in him. He'd seen Molliwag act when Draf came to his Sol. Now he'd been called a what.

'Not good.'

A loud chortle escaped the dragon. "A boy no older than a few moments dares to call what was, since the very beginning, a 'what'. Lovely." Before Molliwag could speak or get angered, Haero moved to settle this quickly.

Fire spilled from him, keeping him airborne as he floated between both.

"Molliwag, meet Ozai the second. Or now the Third, I guess. Tora the Fourth. Guys, this is our older brother Molliwag. Say hi."

Both children blinked. Tora very casually looked at her skin and then up to Molliwag. Ozai took it a bit farther as he fearlessly floated up to Molliwag and poked his scale.

"Uhm... brother. I don't know how smart you are, but the dude is a divine beast like Zeus. Doesn't make him..."

"Guys! He was born before any of us. Mother recently brought him home."

"Of course, Mother would do that without telling us anything."

"Of course she would."

"I'm sure she had to leave."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Guys, mum wouldn't..."

"Silence!!" Molliwag roared. All three shifted back as a sense of fear and terror struck them. The feeling abated just as quickly as it had come. The dragon sighed.

"I understand you're children and children act childish. But you're also Primordials. Like me. Don't sully that fact with stupidity. I understand you wish for Mum to be around and cuddle us endlessly. But that's not going to happen. If that is what you want, then grow faster so she can have less to do and more you can help with."

Haero looked away and Ozai frowned. Tora glared.

"I already do a lot. I made a lot of magical spells and made..."

"Yes, Haero told me. Which I believe is a good thing, as Mother won't have to focus on making it again. What do the rest of them do?"

Tora shut her mouth, pleased with herself while facing the other two boys.

"And you, what do you do?"

Molliwag growled. "I was born to... to... protect. To guard. To keep all of you safe." He looked up to the nothingness. "Beyond that darkness, beyond the borders of this universe is my place. Forever killing any who would endanger mother's creation."

He turned to Haero. "You all believe that she is not giving you time. But I argue you lot have had her with you since you were babes. As you grow, she desires nothing more than to see you as babies again. But she knows the truth."

"What truth?" Ozai floated forward a bit.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"You were not born to cuddle or be cuddled. You, Haero, were born to rule." Ozai scoffed and Molliwag glared at him. "Don't scoff at mother's decisions. I'm first-born, yet I know my place and task. Something I didn't know or want before."

"You, Tora, were born to be great. To serve and aid her force. You've done much better than expected."

The girl's fur bristled with pride.

"And you, Ozai. You were born to lead and guide. Protect the weak and help those who can't do it for themselves."

"And how do you know all this?" Ozai asked, eyes narrowed. Molliwag simply showed his fangs.

"He has the Sol. From which all light comes. She has Alasha's aid to make and improve all of the magic. You have the divine realm. You know what you can do, so tell me, am I wrong?"

Silence.

No one said a word for a moment. Tora floated past, and Haero noticed the tufts and blasts of air around her hips and legs. She got to his head and let herself fall on his nose, grabbing around the edges.

"Welcome home, biggest brother. Hmmm, that's too long. How about BB?" She patted his nose while Molliwag looked at Haero.

Said boy was busy floating next to Ozai. "You can confirm from Akasha too, stop being a brat. You know he speaks the truth. Plus, we're going to the Mortal realm. Wanna come?"

That caught his attention, and the little brat sharply flew at Molliwag.

"Mortal Realm. I'm coming as well. Let's go." The four children descended past the Divine Realm and Dream Realm. They noticed the swirls and ripples happening in there.

Haero frowned. "Is that... Normal?"

"How would we know? We don't have jurisdiction there," Ozai pointed out.

"It feels weird. Like something is happening. It feels..."

"Let it be, Haero. Akasha will watch it and make sure nothing happens."

"And if it does?"

"Akasha is mother. You lot seem to forget this. Every single atom and particle here is mother and Akasha. Nothing goes wrong without her knowing."

"That sounds... New." The dragon chuckled.

Past the Dream Realm, they found the mortal planes. Descending onto the circular tapestry with tiny balls of light at the center and a darker but still visible light at the edges, the four children halted at the sight.

Freyr was floating with a bored look while watching Freyja scolding a soul that seemed to be trying to run into the planes.

"I guess we're complete now," Ozai muttered.

Freyr didn't spot them until they were close enough. Only then did he look at them with a perfectly chiseled eyebrow.

"Chasing some wayward soul as well?" Freyja turned and glared at him.

"Nope. Just going to see what's down there?" Ozai shrugged.

"Why'd you tell them?" Haero hissed.

"I don't lie," Ozai commented.

"Then you could have kept your mouth shut," Haero remarked.

"I dislike lies around me," Ozai added.

"Is that why you think Mother isn't here for us? You think she's lying?" Haero asked.

"I know she's lying. The question is about what," Ozai replied.

"Then ask her," Molliwag added.

Everyone looked at him in surprise. He frowned. "You lot see her as this huge being that should be treaded carefully around."

Nods.

"But she's our mother. And from what I've seen of her, she won't bite you for asking."

Ozai nodded. "Then I will."

"If we're done with this, I heard something about visiting there. Let's go. Let's go".

"Yeah. Let's go," Freyja shouted with glee, a spirit held in her left hand. Her eyes twinkled with cute glee. Molliwag chuckled.

"All of you get on my back." The scramble to ascend the dragon was mad until only Ozai was left floating on his forehead like an emperor.

"What?" Noticing all eyes on him, he frowned. "Let's go."

Molliwag rolled his eyes and just dove down. On his back, Haero held onto little Freyja as she whooped in glee at the rush. Tora's eyes gleamed with excitement at the prospect of wonders she could see. Freyr just rubbed his palms manically. Lastly was Haero, who took in all the crazed smiles and shivered.

'And he says I will rule them all.' Shivers.

Tearing downwards and through the tapestry, the children screamed in terror and glee. Like a fast descent, they felt the rush of heat on their faces. Then, with a pop, they found themselves floating right above a beautiful ball of green, blue, and little whites.

"This...?"

"...is Vaustaris," Molliwag announced.

"It's..." Ozai crouched, a hand extended as if to touch the ball. "Beautiful."

"What's beautiful is the amount of space laws here. It's maddening and exciting. I can explain all my ideas by staying up here," Tora cackled excitedly.

"Nope. We're all going down. You can do research later."

"Come, Tora, come," Freyja giggled and shouted.

A pop sounded next to them, and the entire children gasped. Floating right there in a white and blue shimmer was Akasha.

"Wondered how long it would take you lot to find here."

None spoke, just watching her with large eyes.

"Molliwag did tell you your mama won't bite. Neither would I. I am her, after all. Down to the last atom." She smiled.

"Uh huh," Tora muttered. Akasha looked at her and then shrugged.

"Anyways, do you wish to DESCEND?" The word left her in a way that made the kids feel like it meant more than it was.

"What is descend?"

"Oh. Okay. Gods, either weak or strong, can't enter mortal worlds. Their very essence and selves would be like a bug that rewrites and rips through this world's reality."

"You mean my very presence would end them?" Freyr asked with a devilish gleam in his eye. Akasha gave him a look.

"No destroying. Nothing at all." She warned. Freyr sighed and nodded.

"So how do we go down there if we wish?"

"You mentioned descend, which means there is a way to go there without ending this world."

"Yes. The one your mother used to retrieve you, Molliwag," she stared him right in the eye.

"No. I refuse. I will not belittle myself." He shook his head. Everyone stared at him in curiosity.

"It's the only way."

"I refuse."

"Maybe we can figure something out." She shrugged. Her eyes glitched over. The children waited for a few minutes before she opened them.

"All of you except Molliwag can select one of the Eleven races of Vaustaris to descend as. In this body, you will be weaker. Molliwag, you can create a new body for yourself, but it can't be as large as this form. You have five minutes."

The rest of you should choose now.

Templates appeared in their eyes with a list of each race and their capabilities and features. By the side, they saw an image of what they could look like with sliders to change things like height, size, skin color for those that had it, and more.

It took quite a while before all were done. Looking up at Akasha, they waited for the next task.

She simply smiled and vanished. In their visions, a prompt appeared with a single word.

[DESCEND]

"Let's go." Mentally Freyr clicked his. Freyja went next, then Ozai and Tora. Haero, looking down on Molliwag, smiled.

"Time to see these mortals." He clicked his as well.