"Rather, Lord John and...?"

"...Andrew. His name is Andrew." JD replied, almost choked up.

"Lord Andrew." The man continued, slightly bowed, one hand hovering over his chest.

"Aven..." JD couldn't help but mumble.

Zalden's CEO, Zedekiah Mitchell, raised his head, eyes directly on JD's.

"Aventurreal..." Zedekiah squinted. "...is long dead. Just like the Gemini gods of Paradise, the Libra God is no more."

With trembling hands at the expected but shocking revelation, JD clenched them. Then he brought one over his mouth, forehead creased and eyes searching Zedekiah's.

"So, you really are...."

"If I may be so bold as to ask," Zedekiah's tilted his head to the side. "Can I see your other half?"

"Drew?"

"..Mhm."

JD lowered his head and relaxed his body. Followed by that was the surge of pale-yellow strings from his nape, forming a body right beside JD. When the light had achieved complete form, it shattered, and there stood JD's mirror image wearing the same hairstyle but a different outfit.

"You look very identical." A solemn glint gleamed over Zedekiah's eyes. "Just like the last time I saw you southwest of The Great Gemini."

JD and Andrew gazed at the floor with almost equally melancholic gazes, but then both perked up, exchanged shocking wide eyes, and then turned towards Zedekiah.

"You..." JD took a step forward. "You're not Aven."

"The last time we saw Aven was in Paradise. Not in Julisie." Andrew added, the last sentence ringing the tone Zedekiah had been expecting.

"Indeed. I never said I was him." Zedekiah turned his back and stared at the empty frames up the wall. "But he was someone very dear to me."

"Who are you?" Andrew started, his words rushed. "Did you come down from Paradise simply to play with human lives?"

"Garnet would never allow that," JD said. "Drew, you remember what Ms. Jaser said. This man helped humans. And yet, proceeds to exploit Abarly."

With no response, JD's heartbeat grew quick, impatience wrapping around his head.

"It's me, isn't it? You've been searching for me for a while now, I've heard." JD squinted. "What do you want with me? You should have access to Paradise's eyes, right? So, why didn't you just go straight to me? Why involve Abarly?"

"I do not..." His voice was slightly hoarse by the end. "...have access to that."

"How is that? Even the lowest standing of gods can use it."

Zedekiah drew a sharp breath and turned his head towards them, his eyes almost empty, but the longer JD stared, the more his confusion snarled at him.

"I am just like you." His hands clasped together tightened. "A god reincarnated into a human."

Clenched hands and jaws, JD didn't answer.

Zedekiah sighed. "I apologize for the fiasco I caused you last night, Lord John. But it worked better than I had hoped."

"Worked?"

"You met him." Zedekiah's eyes jumped to Andrew's, startling the latter. "And you made contact. And now you're here. It went smoother than I imagined."

"What?" JD shouted, taking two more steps forward. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I won't ask you to calm down, but please give me enough time to tell and show you everything."

"Talk," JD replied quickly.

His eyes shone turquoise, prompting JD to stand guard. But Andrew's hand on his shoulder got his nerves relaxing as he turned his head to his younger brother's glowing blue eyes.

"Drew?"

"It's not harmful magic." Andrew's eyes squinted. "It's a type of memory magic."

"...Which one?"

Andrew closed his eyes. "The magic to show one's memories."

JD's eyes widened as he looked back at Zedekiah, with turquoise auroras of light flickering around the room until everything darkened.

"I was the minor god of a distant island in The Unified Scales...." He partially closed his eyes. "...Eveopal."

-

"Eveopal."

A child woke in the evening of his tiny room with tear-stained cheeks, dilated eyes, and quivering body as he stared at his hands. Every second he stared, his vision glitched into a different pair of arms with blood streaming down.

When he looked up, the heavy world trembled. Right there, a blonde man, one would immediately assume a god with one look, lied in the arms of someone with the same hair and face. Two people so identical it would be natural to think they were twins.

But to assume the younger one would go down like his older brother after being infected by the same poisonous magic was a mistake.

As the world blurred, the darkness consumed the corners of his vision. Even as he lost hearing, he would surely hear the younger twin screaming. Such a shrill, tragic screech, almost to the point of losing his voice, to the point of breaking his voice.

Then the daylight and everything around them faded to a lifeless assortment of monochromatic colors while a mixture of onyx and crimson flare seeped from the died-down scream of the younger twin. And for some odd reason, he, the child called Zedekiah, wondered why he wasn't dying.

The spell he used was the Libra God's forbidden magic only meant to operate in extreme situations—a passing green light that renders every living being it reached several hundred meters to decay from the inside.

The older twin's life force had run out, but the younger hadn't. The cracked and barely human voice echoed the pain from his scream. Pain from the magic light's poison and the loss of half of his soul.

He was dead. He was supposed to be dead. But in Zedekiah's last vision, plenty of other inhuman beings clad in mesmerizing armor, dresses, and exotic weapons clashed with the still-moving younger twin. It shouldn't be called a battle—for countless major and minor gods struck him.

And yet, his darkened form did not falter. Every strike against him, he blocked, deflected, and returned. When the noise had somewhat gone down, all the beings descended from above were gravely injured. So was the younger twin.

Blood spilled everywhere to the point where his unrecognizable, darkened form looked like it had crimson skin. And deep inside him, the poison slowly killed him. But he still stood, prepared to defeat everything and everyone that came his way.

Amid the fight, he had unintentionally and unknowingly cut down parts of the land, rendered many gods immovable, and ruined everything Garnet had created in that area.

Zedekiah closed his eyes, desiring to no longer see more of the tragedy he had caused. This was all his fault.

When he opened his blurry vision again, all he could see were the glitching identical bodies next to each other, bathing in the blood of everyone that fought that day. But the younger twin's eyes still flickered. Tears. Tears streamed down from his almost lifeless and hopeless eyes as he struggled to stay awake, hands barely reaching his older twin's corpse.

Before he succumbed to death, a hint of red shone in his blue eyes. And in that instant, the entire land crumbled; colorful and monochromatic colors of light simultaneously swirled around his dying body. Before knowing more about how it ended, Zedekiah felt warm. Too warm. As if he and everything else there were burnt from the light that the younger twin's death caused.

Zedekiah shut his eyes and hugged his small frame with small arms and tiny fingers gripping his skin. But he forced his eyes open once more in hopes of laying his eyes on something else: anything but this nightmare.

When he did, everything stayed dim. He turned his head everywhere and to himself, finding himself tucked in his bed, with nothing but the terrifying feel and gaze from somewhere he couldn't see.

"Eveopal."

The same voice called, prompting Zedekiah to cover his mouth to avoid yelling his reply.

"..Gar... net?"

"You have displeased me greatly." The voice of Garnet echoed in his head. "For that, you will suffer this nightmare for the rest of your life as you walk into the land of Aventurreal as a human."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"N-no... please..."

"This land your uncle loved," Garnet's voice deepened. "has been ruined."

"W-what..?"

"War. Slavery. Chaos. Utter insanity." Garnet sighed. "The Unified Scales fell into anarchy during your soul's slumber. But I have decided to awaken you with all these nightmares in this vile environment."

Zedekiah didn't answer and kept sobbing, hands clutched tightly against his nose and mouth he'd suffocate. But it was the only way to ensure his parents wouldn't come knocking, and then Garnet would be angered by the disruption. And then, he might kill them.

"Your punishment doesn't end there." The voice tickled Zedekiah's ears as if Garnet stood beside him. "In due time, your parents..."

"No... no, please-"

"...will die in the war."

"Please... I-I..." His tiny voice squeaked as he knelt on his bed and stuck his forehead on the mattress. "I..."

"You will not die."

"Huh?"

"If you ever try to escape everything through death, forget it." Venom lingered in Garnet's voice. "I will make sure you never die until you've truly regretted and repented."

It didn't take too long. All the years of his childhood had gone haywire. Everyone he ever loved died in ways he didn't want to remember. And yet, he remained living. Physically unharmed. By the time he reached adolescence wandering alone in The Unified Scales, searching any soldier camps in hopes of being taken in as a slave, to be tortured physically and killed.

"You will suffer psychologically until you've atoned for what you did."

Garnet's words rang back to his senses, almost assuring him he would never encounter any danger to end his suffering. Even as he tried to commit suicide, Garnet blew the wind or personally snatched the weapons from his hands.

"..Just kill me. Please."

He begged as his body slammed on the grovel somewhere in the land. His stomach growled in thirst and hunger, but it couldn't kill him—it wouldn't. Garnet made sure his body was immune to every physical death possible.

"Garnet..." His dried lips hurt at every word he spoke. He yelled, "Garnet!"

"Do you repent?"

He mustered all his strength to raise his body, turning his head towards the cloudy and polluted sky of The Unified Scales.

Tears raced down his face. "I do not know."

"Fine. I shall help you figure it out."

Soon after, the kindest souls in the land of survival or being killed came across Zedekiah and kept him in. They had nothing but a small business to ensure they remained helpful to the local mafias. But as Zedekiah grew to adore them like his own parents, fear struck his core at what Garnet might do to them next.

"They will die."

"Why?" Zedekiah yelled as soon as he was alone in the well near the humble home of the Zalde couple. "What have they ever done to you?"

"Do not misunderstand. They will die of old age." Garnet's words calmed his veins down briefly. "After that, you will take on their business as their adopted child."

A nineteen-year-old Zedekiah gripped the well tightly and lowered his head, watching his reflection twist into a mixture of revenge and atonement. And then it blurred, the reflection on the water, as stray tears dropped onto the water's peace and calm.

He bit his lip. "I should've listened to Aven."

Garnet did not reply.

"But how could I? The Geminines dared to kill him when he visited The Great Gemini!" Zedekiah shot his eyes up to the gray sky. "Garnet! Why did you not mourn Aventurreal's death? Why did you do nothing to the Geminines that slew him?"

"So, you finally admit to taking it out on my twins' land altogether." The clouds sped up together, hiding the light of day from view. "You should've known better than to mess with Julisie's affairs. I will not tolerate a god coming after humans for any reason."

"Hah..." Zedekiah cupped his head. "Aren't you just biased because that land was your favorite gods' land?"

With no reply, Zedekiah burst into a low chuckle.

"But I can't blame you, either. The Gemini gods...." He closed his eyes. "...were your masterpiece. You have never truly cared nor looked at anyone as if they were your own in the entirety of Paradise or Julisie. Until those two came forth."

"Indeed, I am not impartial," Garnet replied quickly. "My judgment is not wrong. And it will never be wrong for as long as I remain distant from everything I've created."

"And yet, you loved them. Like a father would his sons." Zedekiah whispered. "And now part of your decisions is geared for their sakes."

"Hmph. That does not mean you deserve less punishment."

"I know. I never said that. I..." Zedekiah stared at his reflection again; part of it was a looming ball of malice, and the other a clearer view of himself. "...I was angry."

He closed his eyes and allowed his tears to blur his reflection again.

"Because Aventurreal died."

"His death was truly unfortunate," Garnet said. "But it was his fault."

"What do you mean?"

"He... messed with humans." Garnet's voice came as a whisper as he repeated, "I will not tolerate any god coming down to Julisie to perform any harm against humans. Humans will kill each other. That I allow. But I will not allow a god to kill a human. Nor will I allow a human to kill a god."

"But he didn't kill anyone, he was the one who-"

"Eveopal." Garnet's voice grew loud. "Rather, Zedekiah. You do not know everything that Aventurreal has done."

"Are you saying he murdered humans?"

No answer.

Zedekiah shook his head. "No way."

"Deny it all you want. Your nightmares will continue either way once we're done talking."

"Tell me!" He yelled. "Tell me the truth! Please! So that I-"

"So that you may atone for doing the same things your uncle did?"

Zedekiah's throat went dry, and body went numb.

"If you cannot repent without knowing your uncle's vile acts, then you can never truly repent."

Zedekiah yelled out to Garnet after, but Garnet never answered again until the Zalde couple that took in Zedekiah drew their final breaths.

"Garnet," Zedekiah whispered as soon as he got home from the funeral. "How?"

No answer.

"How can I get rid of it?"

Still no response.

"I... have sinned." He fell on the wooden floor of the cold and bleak house. "And I can see it clearly. But I still see that darker part of myself that remains inside me. How... how can I get rid of it?"

"Of the darkness inside you?" Garnet scoffed. "Every being in this world has that. You can't sever it from your soul."

Zedekiah lowered his head and allowed his tears to drench his arms to the floorboards.

"You no longer hold the same hatred you had in you the last time we spoke," Garnet said. "Nor there is resentment towards me. Tell me. What do you think made your feelings change? Was it all the suffering I had you experience?"

"I don't know." He mumbled. "Perhaps, that is part of it. But every time I recall what I did, something grips my heart, and I cry out, but sobs remain stuck in my throat. So thick that my chest feels heavy and... I wish not to make it stop, but I wish to forsake what drove me to have done such a thing."

"Sorrow and abandonment of such acts." Garnet's voice slowly faded away. "But is that all?"

"..No. I want to..." Zedekiah answered, but Garnet stopped replying. Yet, he continued, "...do to others what Pedro and Rosemarie Zalde did to me."

-

"So, you've made the Zalde's business mobile to save slaves?"

Zedekiah's eyes widened at the voice in his head. He covered one ear and excused himself to the restroom from his co-workers.

"For that, I shall give you pieces of good news."

"Garnet..!"

It had been years. Plenty of years since Garnet last spoke to him.

"One. Your soul will awaken inborn magic in a few days. And you will use that to continue doing the least you could do for humans, but also...." Garnet's voice softened. "...for the Gemini gods."

Zedekiah's eyes shot wide.

"Lord Hysta and Whist? They... they're..."

"The second news I have for you is your final punishment. A mission."

"A mission...?"

"Despite how I view them, I made impartial decisions to punish my younger twin after what he did to the rest of the gods and goddesses back then. And for destroying nearly one-fourth of The Great Gemini." His voice reeked of silent melancholy. "I separated Hysta from him and gave him no body."

"..!"

"The first part of your mission is to find and reunite them. I will allow you to use your inborn magic in ways I normally will not allow for as long as it helps you achieve that goal."

Zedekiah cupped his head with both hands as he stared at himself in the mirror, ignoring all the worried calls for him from his co-workers outside the restroom.

"Once they meet, Whist will take the same form as Hysta. And they will remember everything."

"Garnet..."

"They will want revenge, just as you used to when their people killed Aventurreal. Especially Whist." Garnet's voice hastened. "Now for the second part of your mission."

"...Yes?"

"Know that even if you die, the nightmares and darkness in you will continue to haunt your soul. Only when you've truly repented will I give you hints of their location."

The overwhelming pieces of information got him grunting and breathing heavily. He slid to the floor, trembling, all the shouting from outside falling on deaf ears.

"Just as you've learned to forgive Aventurreal for the unspeakable acts he did to humans, and the Geminines who killed him, only when the Gemini gods have forgiven you will this mission be marked complete." Garnet's voice reeked of pride as if he believed Zedekiah would undoubtedly do well. "Only then will your soul be free again."

Zedekiah's eyes widened.

"The second part of your mission is to give them what they want. This is for you to regain utmost redemption and freedom."

"Hah..." Zedekiah chuckled. Relief and a clear goal frantically entered his heart and soul, and even at what Garnet last said, his resolve to make things right remained.

"So, if they want you dead," Garnet's voice slowly faded. "Offer them your head."

-

Overwhelming emotion filled JD and Andrew as the dimmed room returned to normal. All the flares of soft turquoise dissipated, and as Zedekiah opened his eyes, sincerity shone upon them.

"It pains me that Aven's last words to me were to not blame the young Gemini gods or their land for whatever may come." Zedekiah smiled. "And yet... I didn't listen."

He breathed deeply, strengthening his mind in preparation for what was to come. Zedekiah knew what was coming, and he had been preparing and waiting for it. At long last, he might not achieve freedom immediately, but it didn't matter. The Gemini gods stood right ahead of him, and for them to do to him what they wished to do, was all that mattered.

"I don't... know what to say," JD muttered.

Zedekiah knelt on both knees and dropped his head to his hands before him, bowing in the highest form of respect.

"Please." He said, "Judge me."

"W-what?"

"Do unto me what you wish to. Torture me, or kill me. Anything."

Even after knowing everything, JD's thoughts juggled. He initially wanted to save Abarly, and he could do that now. Not only that, but he could avenge his and Andrew's deaths. Right here, right now.

"My only condition is for you, my lords, to spare Zalden and its members. They have nothing to do with the sins I've committed. They have only done Abarly wrong with my instructions. They are not bad people." His voice shook. "Please pardon them."

"What will happen to Abarly and Zalden?" JD boldly asked.

"All my magic in the minds of Abarly's people will disappear once I perish. And Zalden... I have already made precautions so they will continue to advertise at face value and help those in need... under your and Lord Andrew's orders."

"Hah!"

JD wanted to ask more, but as Andrew chuckled, then laughed even louder, JD froze.

"Garnet knows me so well." Andrew sang, his blue eyes glowing, and bright colors stained with dark light flared from every step he took toward Zedekiah. "So, so well."

"..Drew-"JD cut himself off.

Unable to decide whether he should stop Andrew, the heavy and tempting flicker of vengeance flickered in his soul like a bunch of broken track lights. There was still much more he wanted to know. About Garnet, his and Andrew's souls being lightless, inborn magic existence, and just so much more.

JD reached out one hand, but his hand trembled and slowly lowered. He turned his head to the side and gritted his teeth, his hands clenched tightly on his sides to suppress the quivering, but it wasn't working.

He turned towards Andrew again and took one step forward, forcing his heavy arm to reach out. But it weighed so much that JD couldn't figure out if he wanted to stop Andrew. Whether he wanted to avenge their deaths or not. Whether doing this would give him peace or not.

Whether letting Andrew stain his hands would bring Andrew the peace he desired. Whether Andrew would feel better or be happy after this. Or not.

Not.

"Drew!"

JD leaped forward; his heavy arm felt lighter as he stretched it as far as he could to get ahold of Andrew's jacket and pull him back.

Gigantic dual blades made of darkened rainbow colors manifested above Zedekiah as Andrew took his final step in front of the former. He raised both arms on his side swiftly and swiped his arms, crossing them to cover his face. Even with the cover, the evil glint in his eyes and side smirk peeked through.

"Drew, no!"

After a shout in the air, the swish of blades hissed and cut through the white noise of the room, rendering the world silent.