It all began with a dance, a beautiful enchanting dance. Two beings danced along the orchestra of creation.

“Come here!” A warrior said to her teammates. She pointed at the carvings on the wall. The language was strange to everyone but the historian. “I found something!”

Every step created a universe. Every spin created life.

The team gathered around the wall, its writing weathered down as the ages passed. A faint pulse of magoi by the magus cleaned the dust and debris, making the writing legible.

“Oh…This is a discovery of a lifetime,” The historian murmured as he read the tale. “This must have been here for a very long time.”

“Translate it for us!” The priest said impatiently.

Their names are forgotten by all but their children…

“Yes, yes. Let me begin…”

Beware, beware, for once reality remembers them once more, the end has already begun.

————

He has always been obsessed about what happens after the end. The end of life, the end of the sun, and even the end of their universe. Will everything in end in eternal darkness as many scientists believe, or will end in fire as many religions prophesize?

Philosophical thoughts usually greet Cody Michaelson at night, but these thoughts meet him early on his nineteenth birthday. It was a normal day, Samuel had gone to work and leftovers were kept in the fridge for him to eat. There were no presents, no cake, and certainly no party. Perhaps if his brother hadn’t spent all the money on college and his career, there would at least be a small present.

“I needed it to make a better future for ourselves. With a good job, I can earn more money and we don’t have to worry about our future.” Cody could hear his brother say. It made sense, but sometimes, in the deepest corner of his heart, he wished Samuel would make time for him. His brother was rising fast through his career as a business analyst, making enough to earn them a comfortable living. Yet, this was such a recent change that they haven’t had time to celebrate and Samuel was busy all the time trying to get a promotion.

Cody wandered over to the new TV they got. His fascination with the technology hasn’t waned a bit. Sure, it was less than his, admittedly creepy, obsession with endings, but it came to a close second. He had a phone for a few years, everyone got one when they were old enough, but a full-on holographic TV? That was something exciting and new. Every morning, when he got up, he put it on and watched the news.

A few weeks ago, the news host announced that a meteor shower was going over their city. It was one of the biggest ones in a century. People all over the solar system are coming over to watch. There was going to be a huge festival, although only those who paid an entrance ticket could get in. He was already dreading the crowds on his way to work. It would also be a longer commute as the festival was right in the way of his destination.

“…Make sure to come outside from 21:05 to 1:00 for a glimpse! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All lights will be turned off. Last minute tickets are being sold for the Meteor Shower Festival...” The news host said as he turned the TV on. Cody was planning on going outside to watch it as his balcony had a good view of it.

The morning passed quickly, like any other day. The traffic was horrendous, but he made due as he went to work. He worked as a paid intern as a Technological Researcher at the biggest Technology Research Company on Earth, Gaia United Technology, or G.U.T. for short. It was sponsored by the government. They helped create new technology and tested existing ones. He saw so many new things that he couldn’t help but smile whenever he entered.

While he couldn’t help research anything official just yet, he tested many of the new gadgets the employees made.

“Happy Birthday, Cody.” A fellow intern, Derrik, said as he entered the building. His eye bags were huge and he was cradling a coffee like it was his last lifeline. He yawned. “Hannah wants you over by the virtual bodies. I think they are trying to figure out the guts of the movement. Hah!”

“I’ll be right over. Say hello to Rose for me.” Cody smiled. Derrik was a night shift worker and was constantly looking tired when Cody came in. He makes terrible puns when he is tired. Cody had heard from Derrik’s girlfriend, Rose, that Derrik was usually very energetic when he started his shift. He was good friends with Rose, but couldn’t see her often because their schedules constantly conflicted. Rose was always complaining that G.U.T. was working Derrik to the bone.

“I will. Come over when you have time, we have some things to give you.” Derrik said.

“I’ll probably not be able to come today, but I do have free time tomorrow around 15:00?”

“Yeah, that works, see you then.” Derrik waved and slowly left the building after checking out.

It was a stressful work day. The current project that most of the employees here are working on is a new virtual training simulation. The military wants it train muscle memory instead of practicing on the field. It was getting closer to being completed, but the military was getting impatient and rushing it. Everyone was getting overworked and it made them make more mistakes that they’d have to fix later.

At around dinner time, his shift ended and he rushed home. The traffic was somehow worse than when he went to work. It took around an hour and a half to get home when it was usually only a fifteen-minute commute. The smell of take-out sushi greeted him when he got home. He crinkled his nose at the sight before sighing at the sight of his brother.

“At least it isn’t burgers this time, Sam,” Cody relented, slowly eating the sushi. “It would have been the fifth night in a row if you did.”

“It is your birthday,” Samuel softly smiled, his soft blue eyes twinkling. He was sitting on the table, his straight brown hair a stark contrast to Cody’s curly blond hair. If others ignored their similar olive skin and blue eyes, they wouldn’t be considered blood-related at all. Their body structures were completely different. Samuel said Cody looked very similar to their father’s side of the family while he took over their mother’s. “I even got you a cake!”

“What kind?” Cody narrowed his eyes suspiciously. The few times they got cake, Samuel would forget he was allergic to hazelnuts and get hazelnut cake. He would always profusely apologize, but the allergy only got life-threatening a year ago. Samuel stood up and opened the fridge to take out a cake.

“Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake!” Samuel said proudly. “I made it myself. No hazelnuts!” He slowly put the cake onto the table. They ate slowly, finishing the sushi fast before moving on to the cheesecake.

“Hmm, this is good. Anyway, how was work?” Cody asked. Samuel was usually very private about his work life—something about lots of NDAs and other contracts.

“It’s a surprise, you’ll see on the Saturday news,” Samuel said, sparkling in excitement. Cody smiled, looking forward to the news now. It seemed important to be featured on the only day of the week when the news features interplanetary news.

With the meal finished, the two slowly parted ways. “Oh! Do you want to see the meteor shower?” Cody remembered. “It’s happening in a few hours.”

“I can’t. I have some things I need to finish off.” Samuel said to the disappointment of Cody. He was looking forward to looking at it with him - like always, Samuel’s work got in the way. Sometimes, Cody wishes that he would take some time off. Every time he wanted to do something casual with Samuel, he made some kind of excuse.

Cody sighed before brushing it off. He should be grateful that his brother hung out with him as much as he did currently. It…just feels lonely without him. He feels incomplete and Samuel helps ease the burden of it. They wandered away from each other and Cody started scrolling on his phone to pass the time.

Once the clock turned 21:00, he got up and went to the balcony. The crowds below him were loud as everyone bustled around in the festival. He cringed at the screech of a microphone. The Interplanetary Space Corporation was commenting on the facts about meteor showers and how they had to move the space domes out of view for them. As the time got closer to the shower, the crowd quieted down.

“3, 2, 1!” The first meteor shower came across the sky. Cody was instantly entranced - perhaps it was because it was the first one he’d seen, but something about it called to him. He could swear he could just reach out and touch them. His eyes stayed on the meteors, even as hours passed.

Finally, the last one came - this one felt special though. One of the meteors was extremely bright - like a mini sun. He heard the commentator exclaim something in surprise, but he couldn’t get his eyes off the meteor. Yet, just as fast as the meteor came, it went away.

Cody bet he’d remember this day for the rest of his life.

——

“Have you seen him!?”

“Not since I got off work. Have you?”

“Where is he…”

——

Mysteries surround a lot of things; Kostas knew this to be true. He might be biased as the Ceaser, surrounded by secrets as he is in his position. His empire might seem Utopian on the surface yet underneath it all; it is anything but. Fight among patricians was expected and the Augustus Imperator was indifferent to it all. His father’s cunning might keep them from rebellion, but he knew once his father stepped down, the patricians would try to rebel. It felt like the empire was slowly devolving into something undesirable.

He could do little to quell them right now. Kostas was not the Augustus yet, let alone the Augustus Imperator. Just a lowly ceaser, even with all his accomplishments. With these worries, he stared at the ceiling. The empire was going to a point of no return. By the time he took the title, he would have a lot of work to prove himself.

“Ceaser Kostantinos! Wake up!” His lictor called from outside the door. “The Augustus Imperator is calling for you in the Basilica!”

Kostas - or Kostantinos - growled at the intrusion. His lictor, Hypatia, basically raised him. She’s probably the only one he could trust in this despicable nation besides his family; raising him as she did. They would’ve been closer if he hadn’t called her mother on accident and she was sent away for the rest of his childhood. “I’ll be there in a cycle!”

He got ready in his clothes that were laid out when he was asleep. His pale skin greeted him whenever he met the mirror. It was more exaggerated than all the other members of his family - well perhaps his mother. His mother, had white skin, white hair, and red eyes, a body said to be blessed by her gods. He got all that but with green eyes. As he grew up, his father seemed disappointed in him for his pale skin. His father, had the blackest skin in the empire - a point of pride as it was a sign of blessing by his gods.

The couple was in a political marriage after a harsh war between the two empires. Eventually, as they had kids, they grew to love each other. It was a story told throughout the empire to give the common folk a more relatable view of the family. Kostas sighed before exiting his room.

The Basilica was a short distance away from his rooms. As an important meeting only allowed to be entered by the trusted, it was hidden right by the throne room. He knocked on the door, waiting for his father to ask him to enter. A shuffling of paper was heard before he heard a, “Come in.”

“Greetings, Pater.” Kostas bowed his head, “Why have you called me?” Meetings in the Basilica were usually vitally important. It was shrouded in so many wards that when activated, a meeting took up the surrounding magoi in a fifty-meter area.

“Wait for your siblings and Mater.” Cassius Aurelius said. Kostas sat down as his father worked on his paperwork. His father only really had paperwork for important decisions so it was strange to him to see a mountain of papers beside him. A minuscule passed before the rest of his family entered.

The next members who came were his twin brothers. They looked the same - dark skin and black hair but with different eyes. Adrianus, the older twin, has red eyes that seem to always observe his surroundings. Always looking for a moment of weakness. Arkyn, the younger twin, has green eyes. Cocky and a future powerhouse in his use of Corpus Mageia. If the twins could get along, Kostas would fear for his heirship.

The last who came was his mother, Inkeri, and his little sister, Revna. His sister looked identical to his father - just female. These similarities made her spoiled and naive to the world. His mother though was the opposite of naive. There was a glint in her eyes that told him that she knew something he didn’t. Yet, even with these eyes, she looked oddly red. That must be because she's been sick the past few weeks.

“Now that you are all here,” Cassius started his blunt statement, his cold eyes analyzing everyone in the room, “Inkeri and I have an important announcement to make. We are stepping down from the throne in five years.”

“Wait, what!?” Arkyn yelled; his eyes wide. “Why!?”

“Yes, why?” Adrianus said. Kostas could hear his teeth grind from agreeing with whatever his foolish twin said.

“What does that mean for my responsibilities?” Kostas asked. The only one silent, besides his mother, was Revna. She looked confused as she was only ten years old and didn’t understand why it was a big deal.

“Ah, perhaps I should have started somewhere else.” Cassius mused, before continuing. “Inkeri is sick with magoi deficiency. She only has ten years to live so we decided to live the last five years of her life in retirement.”

“Mater? I thought you said it was a simple cold?” Revna furrowed her brows. She didn’t know what magoi deficiency was, but it seemed serious from the expressions of the people around her.

Magoi deficiency is a deadly disease with no cure. Even with the greatest of healers, the best they could do was prolong the patient’s life. It’s when your body stops absorbing the magoi in the air and so you turn to your life force to function. The longest anyone lived with it was fifteen years, but that was only with constant support from a magoi infuser.

“Yes, well, we only found out a week ago -” Inkeri started coughing and leaned on the table. “Th-The throne will of course go to Kostantinos. We are looking for matches for him.”

“Ah,” Kostas helped Inkeri lean on him. “You don’t have to explain. Pater, I think we need time to digest this.”

“Yes, of course. Do not tell anyone of your Mater’s condition or of us stepping down. Dismissed.” Cassius said, taking Inkeri off Kostas’ shoulder. His cold eyes looked worried down at his wife. The siblings left slowly - shocked by the suddenness of the announcement. For all that this family was dysfunctional, they still ultimately loved each other.

Kostas looked worriedly at his siblings. Adrianus, expected to be the least emotional, was the first to choke on a sob at the implications. Arkyn quickly went over to him to hug him. Revna was the second to start crying - getting pulled into a hug as a result. They still had ten years left with her, but the inevitability of it startled them.

Perhaps it was cold-hearted of him to stay here, not crying at the inevitable death of their mother. Yet, while his little siblings all had a present and caring mother, Kostas still remembered the resentment and callousness his mother had when he was growing up. Inkeri hated Cassius for their arranged marriage and the deaths of her empire. It was only when years passed and they solved their differences that they grew in love.

She became more present in Kostas’ life and had more children. Even though Kostas grew to love her, he could never quite forgive her. He sighed, before getting into the group hug after making sure no one was watching.

———

“Augustus! Ceaser Kostantinos is nowhere to be found!”

“Huh!? Guards! Gather everyone into the throne room! Kostantinos has gone missing!”