“Humanity only worships one god. One god that rules the heaven and the world. Humanity lived peacefully with the protection of God.”

“One day, the 7 Kings of Hell demand that God entrusts humanity to them for the humans have a delectable soul that demons and devils find enticing and delicious. Furious by their selfish request, God abandons them. As if to add fuel to the fire, the 7 Kings of Hell wage war on heaven and God.”

“On the day the war was declared, for the first time in the history of civilization, humanity laid its eyes on the 7 Archangels that were personally created to end the war. There was no need for God to make a move himself. Without a doubt, God's power was stronger than the 7 Kings of Hell, 7 Archangels, and all of humanity combined. All living beings would be demolished if God released even 1/1000th of his power.”

“The war waged on for hundreds of years. Humanity prayed to God to end it once and for all as the world was being destroyed slowly because of the constant clashes between heaven and hell.

Humanity figured the kind, merciful God they knew wouldn't abandon them. However, there was no answer from God.”

“As a result of the prolonged war, humanity was reduced to more than half, and all but only one of the Archangels was alive. On the other hand, the 7 Kings of Hell were still alive and unscathed. It was as if God had abandoned humanity and left it in the hands of those terrifying and repulsive devils.”

“The 7 Kings of Hell winning the battle was a forgone conclusion. As such, humanity was forced to worship the 7 Kings to stay alive and survive. Under the 7 Kings rule, humanity that was reduced in half was separated into 7 different groups and each group was given to one of the 7 Kings. This event was known as The Establishment of The 7 Sovereign State.”

“Are you listening to me? This book might be hard for you to comprehend.”

I looked up and saw my brother who was reading the book to me.

“Hehehehe….you caught me. Honestly, I don't understand a single word you said.” I smile at my brother. I only wanted him to read me this book because he was always reading this. Why would he even read this thick book that only the adults and teachers read?

“I knew it. You look like you were about to fall asleep. I'll make it easy for you to understand. So, you do know the 7 Kings, correct?”

“No.”

My brother looked shocked and speechless. After a few seconds of silence, he opens his mouth.

“Teacher Lin taught us this yesterday in class! How did you forget this already? The 7 Kings were called Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Pride, Sloth, Wrath, and Lust. The place where we live right now is governed by Lust.”

Brother was always like this. He would always say something about the things I said or did. It's never right with him. He acts as if he's older when we are twins. He is only older by a few minutes!

“I don't care about the Kings or war or anything like that! Why do I need to know that fact?!”

I lashed out at my brother. I was just trying to get to know him better, why did he have to scold me?

“Why are you mad? I didn't even do anything …”

Yes, you did! You clearly did!.... My brother looked bewildered, trying to determine the cause of my anger.

“I hate you, brother! I hate you!”

I screamed my lungs out and cried. All the kids playing near the orphanage area were startled. After a few seconds of crying and my brother trying to calm me down, I heard the sound of someone running towards me.

“Goodness, Luna! What happened? Did you fall? Did you hurt yourself?” Teacher Lin said to me while checking my condition. Her voice is full of concern about me.

Teacher Lin is one of the teachers that was in charge of teaching kids like me and my brother at the orphanage. After checking my condition, she turned toward my brother and asked him what had happened.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I didn't even do anything. I was reading this book to her because she asked me to…” My brother's voice was shaking indicating that he was scared.

Teacher Lin sympathizes with him and hugs me in an attempt to calm me down.

“Luna, you're almost 8 years old. You're already a big girl. Big girls don't cry. Let's calm down, okay?”

I tried to stop crying but failed miserably. It only resulted in me wailing and screaming at my brother.

“I only wanted him to read me the book! I don't want him to get mad at me! I was just…. Waaahhh!!”

“I understand, Luna. Let's get you back in your dorm. You must be tired from playing all day and it's also getting late. Kids! Let's head back in for dinner alright!”

Teacher Lin picked me up and carried me in her arms. All of the kids that were playing complained to Teacher Lin and begged her to let them play a little longer. Naturally, she said no.

I accidentally caught a glimpse of my brother while I was being cuddled by Teacher Lin. He looked guilty and scared. But above all else, he was worried about me.

……..

After dinner, I went to my bed to get ready for the lights out. My bed was right beside my brother. While all of the kids are getting ready to sleep, he is the only one reading a book.

Why is he always reading that book?.... Curiosity got the better of me and I went to his bed to ask him what he was doing.

As soon as I approached his bed, he looked guilty and a little scared. I stopped in my tracks.

“Brother, what are you doing? It's almost lights out. You should get ready to sleep.”

My brother looked at me and signaled me to sit on his bed. I smile at him and quickly get on the bed.

“You know Luna, I love this book so much. It teaches me so much about the outside world. One day, when I'm older, I'll travel around the world and write a book about it. I'll also use a pen name! You may not know what a pen name is, um, it's like a fake name an author uses.”

Brother looked so excited when he was talking about the outside world. Though for me, Teacher Lin, the other kids and him were already enough for me

“Having a pen name sounds super cool! I wanna have one! Give me one. Then maybe, we can share the name!”

My brother laughs at my idea. Usually, I would find it insulting but he looked so happy which made me laugh. After a few seconds, we stopped laughing. He wonders for a second about that idea.

“That's a great idea, Luna. Let's see, since your name is Luna which is related to the moon, and mine is Lucius which means light. What about the name Nova? It's related to the star and means new. It could signify a new beginning for both of us!”

Nova….. As soon as I heard that name, I fell in love with it. It's beautiful and simple but most importantly, my brother was the that came up with that name

“I love it. Brother! You're the best!”

My brother smiles warmly. After a while, he gets back to reading his favorite book. His action once again piqued my interest. Once again I ask him the same question.

“What are you doing? That book is so boring”

He kept quiet and didn't entertain me. After a long period of silence, I finally asked him another question.

“Can you make it so that I understand what you are reading? Oh, I know, why don't you tell me a story from that book?

He looked at me as soon as I said those things.

“If you're just gonna fall asleep, then I don't want to.”

But it's supposed to be lights out any minute now… I didn't say that to him but instead, begged him to tell me a story. After begging him more than once, he finally agreed to tell me a story.

“You know how there are 7 Kings of Hell right? All of them decided to choose one human from a young age to be their…”

He was quiet for a while, trying to think of a suitable word.

“Let's just say to be their assistant. Each of the chosen humans has a mark on their back corresponding to the symbol of the king they belong to.”

As I heard him telling me all of this, I thought to myself… This is not a story. It's just another history lesson!... He did not stop and kept on telling his ‘story’.

“As you know, Humanity was forced to worship the 7 Kings. As such, the chosen humans are scorned and hated by humanity because they serve the 7 Kings even though they are humans”

“But those poor people didn't ask to be chosen. That's not fair! They don't have to be so mean.”

Hearing that. Brother smiles at me warmly

“That's just how humans are, Luna”

His sentence was short and simple, but somehow, it echoed in my head, leaving a deep impact on me.

“Kids, get ready to go to bed.”

Teacher Lin said to the kids outside the room that were still playing. Hearing her voice, I quickly get off my brother's bed and head to my bed. On the way to my bed, I heard my brother calling out my name

“Luna”

I turned around facing him.

“I'm sorry for what I did today. Though I'm still not sure what I did wrong, I think my words hurt you. Sorry. I hope you'll forget about the fact that we fought…”

I was surprised at my brother's words. He usually just ignores my complaints or when I'm crying. But it seems he feels more guilty than I thought. I smile at him.

“Hm? We fought? When? I don't remember a thing!”

I giggle at him and head to my bed. I hope he understands what I meant to say. It doesn't matter because my brother is a genius. He must understand!

“..... thank you, Luna”