Chapter 1; Eos; Hemhir 21st, 329SR; 12:20
The red toy dragon obscured the gentle light from the ceiling, a child's tiny fingers gripped and held it up. The toy's jet black eyes were horrifying, its hands and other features were bizarre. Three fingers, black claws, a head shaped like a snake. It was majestic, perplexing, different, but most of all, monstrous. Yami stood up on his short legs and raised it as high as he could, then tilted it toward Eos and ran forward.
"Rawr!" Yami grumbled as he brought the toy closer.
"Ah!" Eos squealed.
The boy named Yami wore black shorts and a loose green T-shirt. He was only six years old, with dense blue hair and blue eyes, he was also the tallest sibling. Eos shut his eyes and turned away, shielding himself with his small hands. After nothing happened, Eos peaked out of his left eye, only to see the dragon there in front of him.
"Arr!" Yami grunted loudly with a deep voice.
"Ah haha!" Eos cowered with a smile on his face.
"Stay back monster!" Zeus jumped down and took a stance. "You're fighting me, idiot!"
Yami grinned as he ran away and jumped over the bed. Zeus followed, pulling his blue shirt off in the midst of a roll. He was a year younger. His crooked teeth had a noticeable gap in them. He crumpled his blue shirt and threw it at the dragon, however the clothing simply unraveled after it missed, flopping onto the floor without a sound.
"Don't say idiot Zeus!" Nova, the second oldest yelled from under the covers of her bed.
"Ah- Wait! Wait timeout, let me get my shirt-"
"Rawr!" Yami grumbled as he ran for it first and picked it up with the same hand that held the toy.
"Hey, my shirt!" Zeus cried as he chased after the eldest brother.
"The dragon is too fast! Haha!" Yami shouted.
Eos was on the edge of his boosted seat in the middle of the room. His eyes followed Yami and Zeus running around the wide open room. It was big enough for four beds with an attached nightstand, four closets and two windows on the left side. Yami ran towards Eos's left, when they ran behind the chair, his head whipped to the other side. However, he was met with the dragon instead of his brothers.
"Ah!" Eos shielded his eyes and cowered, Zeus and Yami ran circles around him.
"Haha, fire..." Yami laughed before chanting something behind Eos.
"Fiya?" Eos mumbled in confusion as he tried to turn, but the back of the booster seat obscured his view.
"Ball!" Yami shouted as he threw the shirt rolled into a ball.
As Eos was trying to look back, the blue shirt was already in flight. Zeus's shirt struck Eos's face, and he suddenly found himself blinded. It wrapped around Eos's head, causing him to panic. The shirt was damp from sweat, and smelled bad.
"Aah!" Eos cried excitedly, pulling the shirt off. "Hahaaha!" Eos chuckled and kicked his feet as he tried to cover his eyes, his heart beat rapidly.
"Hey... Mom told you to stop teasing him all the time..." said Nova. "If Eos cries again, I'm telling Mom..."
Nova was the same age as Zeus but three months older, she had loose long hair similar to his, however hers was a vibrant red. Her feet kicked back and forth as she laid down on one of the four beds, she was reading a boring book. She turned the page, and continued to scan through the book diligently. Zeus stopped and turned to her as he raised his arms in confusion.
"What? We're not even doing anything though!" Zeus stomped his tiny foot down, it barely made a thump. "And look, Eos is laughing... Why are you being a party pooper..."
"Don't call me that!" Nova shut her book and sat up.
"I'll tell, i'll tell... You always ruin our fun..." Zeus mocked her voice with a girly tone.
"Mom!" Nova shouted.
"Oh, brother... Here she goes again..." Zeus groaned.
Eos felt the energy in the room become tense, he found himself skipping his breath. Nova got off the bed and walked up to Zeus. A sense of dread rose within Eos as he watched, he gulped as he felt himself sink into his booster seat. Nova pulled his ear and yanked it as hard as she could.
"Ow- ow!" Zeus cried. "Don't pull my ear!"
Zeus pushed Nova down, she fell on her rear and looked visibly shocked for a moment. Eos's head shot up, Yami gasped. Nova's expression became angrier as she quickly sprang back up and ran forward. With all she could, she pushed Zeus. The black haired boy stumbled backward before falling, his head hit a wooden cabinet. Eos gasped as he saw Zeus grasp his head and curl up. Eos held his own head and grimaced, imagining the pain.
"Hey, mom said we shouldn't-"
"Ow!" Zeus exploded with anger and cut Yami off in the middle of his sentence, his eyes became slightly glossy as he held back his tears. "You idiot, that hurt!"
Eos and Yami immediately went from tense to shocked, they both gasped as they heard Zeus swear.
"I'm telling mom!" Nova shouted, she immediately ran for the door. "Mom!"
"Mom said you can't swear Zeus!" Yami also scolded him with a worried tone.
Zeus kissed his teeth as he realized he couldn't take it back. "Wait! Don't tell her, I'll let you off the hook for pushing me! Aw! Why is she such a tattle-tail!" the boy groaned as he got up and stumbled to the door.
Yami and Zeus stood by quietly as they heard Nova make her way to their mothers room. Zeus turned to Yami and shook his head in disbelief as they listened to a door open, followed by Nova immediately blurting out Zeus's crimes. The annoyed sigh from their mother meant she was on her way. Zeus looked to Yami, who simply shrugged.
"I'm not involved..." Yami opened his palms and took a seat on his bed.
"We weren't doing anything though, right? Right?!" Zeus tried to confirm his side of the story with Yami. "She always-"
Zeus stopped as a sniffle cut through every other sound in the house. Yami and Zeus turned to each other as they heard a somber whimper from the other child in the room. Eos's chin quivered as he pursed his lips, tears were rolling down his cheeks. Eos tried to wipe them, but a wave of emotions overcame him. He tried to hold it in, but couldn't.
"Oh no..." Yami uttered, his expression sank.
"Oh shit..." Zeus whispered, his face filled with dread immediately.
"Aaaaaaaha!" Eos cried, his voice echoed throughout the whole house.
"Ah!" Zeus and Yami both grabbed their heads in a panic.
"Waaahha-" Eos snorted a glob of mucus off his lip and back into his nose. "Aaaaha!"
"Stop crying! Stop crying!" Zeus shook Eos back and forth.
"You always make Eos cry!" Yami scolded.
"I didn't even say anything to him!" Zeus shouted back. "It's not my fault he's a crybaby!"
"Don't shake him! He'll just cry mo-"
"Aaaaah!" Eos's pitch became ear piercingly loud.
"Zeus!" Yami shouted.
"Eos stop being a wimp! No one is fighting, stop crying!" Zeus scolded the upset child.
"What the heck do you mean wimp? He's only four?!" Yami shouted.
A hurried pair of steps came from the hallway outside, and the children's mother quickly stopped at the door. She wore a black and white nightgown. She was much taller than Yami, about twice his height. Her black hair was tied back in a bun as her bright red eyes analyzed the situation. She hurried across the room and hoisted Eos up from under his arms, he stopped crying immediately. Eos stretched his hands out with tears and snot running down his face, his mother held him close and patted his back. Her embrace was warm, soft, he felt safety like nothing else. Eos's chin rested on her shoulder as she softly spoke to him. Nova entered the room with a somewhat confused look as she noticed Eos crying.
"It's alright baby, it's okay, shh, shh," his mother spoke softly to him. "Zeus, you get another hour in time out. How many times have I told you not to swear?"
"What?!" Zeus yelped. "But I didn't-"
"Yami, Nova, go study, playtime is over."
"But... Mom, I tried to stop them..." Yami whined.
"Yami, don't make me repeat myself," their mother said sternly.
"He didn't do anything!" Zeus shouted.
"Zeus pushed me first!" Nova pointed at her sibling.
"Yes, I did, and then she pushed me into the drawer!"
"Zeus, why is your shirt on the floor, why isn't your bed set? After that hour is up, clean this room from top to bottom! Nova, what did I tell you just now?!"
Zeus reared his head back from the wave of scolding. "But- But my head-" Zeus tried pointing to where he bumped his head on the cabinet.
"No buts! Now go!"
Zeus's shoulders slumped, he almost looked like he wanted to cry. Nova gathered her books off the bed and walked out of the room. She shot one glance at Zeus, pulling her eye lid down, and sticking her tongue out to mock him. Zeus's head whipped back and forth between his mother and Nova, the red haired girl stomped out of the room with a huff.
"Wha- Huh- Mom! Nova just made fun of me!" Zeus complained.
"Zeus, what did I say!" their mother spoke with a strict tone.
Zeus audibly groaned as he pulled a book off the floor and another one off the edge of his bed. Eos watched everyone exit the room, his chin resting on his mother's shoulder. She lightly bounced him up and down as she looked around the room. Eos listened to her quiet hum as she comforted him, he looked down at the red toy dragon on the bed. The spec of light reflecting off its pupil vanished as Eos's shadow covered it.
"This place is filthy... Ugh..." she shook her head and groaned.
His mother knelt while holding Eos, reaching down with her other hand. Dirty clothes, toys, and puzzle pieces were scattered around most of the room. Nova's side of the room was rather tidy, but she had stacks of books on either side of her bed. Theresia sighed as she set Eos down on his bed.
"Give me a minute, your brothers and sisters are ridiculous, you know that..." she groaned.
Eos looked up with a blank expression as she made her way around the room and picked up the fallen clothes. 'I'm bored...' He tugged his white quilt and then rolled over, wrapping it around himself. Theresia quickly piled all of the clothes onto one arm and crossed the room. Eos's gaze followed her to the door, she turned and made her way back before stepping on something.
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"Yow!" his mother clenched her teeth as she lifted her foot.
She knelt down and picked up the brown toy horse she stepped on. Then picked up the red toy dragon and set it down on the headrest next to Eos. The quilt was very hot, but he still felt comfortable being wrapped up in it. Eos's eyelid started to fall, closing his eyes slowly before quickly reopening. 'This is boring...' Eos kicked the sheets off and stood on the bed. He lifted the quilt and threw it over his shoulders like a cape, then turned to the bed frame as his feet sank into the soft mattress. The red toy dragon was now on Eos's level, its eyes looked menacing.
"I will beat the dwagon!" Eos grinned.
"Eos, don't jump on the bed or you're going to fall..." Theresia advised in an annoyed tone as she continued to clean the room.
Eos jumped to the side as he pretended to dodge a fireball. He swung his cape around over his back and rolled along the sheets. He stepped on the pillow then threw the bed sheet over it. Then dived onto the quilt, pummeling the toy under with light swings.
"Wah! Take this! And this! What, ah!" Eos pulled the blanket over himself as he continued to play fight with the pillow, imagining that it was the dragon itself.
Eos started to roll the other way, unravelling himself from his blanket. A wave of cold air washed over him as he unraveled the blanket. His heart skipped a beat as he rolled past the edge, falling off the bed entirely.
"Ah- Ow!" Eos yelped as his forehead hit the corner of a wooden block on the floor. "Ah..."
"Huh- Eos! What did I just tell you!" she groaned again. "None of these kids listen..."
Eos slowly pushed himself up on all fours, the front of his head was numb. The fall didn't seem to hurt, but he felt a throbbing in his forehead. A red bead dropped off of his head and hit the wooden block. It silently splattered outwards in all directions.
"Huh..." Eos touched his forehead, and winced slightly as he did.
"I can't take my eyes off you for one..." His mother grimaced as she looked at Eos.
Her hands shook, she huffed in and out as she looked at him. Anxiety overtook the child, his heart beat quickly as he saw his mothers expression. Eos felt a trickle run down his head, he looked at his hands and noticed the vivid scarlet color.
"Wa! Aaaha!" Eos started to cry uncontrollably again as he saw his own blood.
The sudden sound shook his mother out of her daze, she quickly angled Eos's sobbing face toward her and put her hand on his forehead. Her thumb and palm felt warm, Eos sniffled as he tried to hold in his snot and tears. Only for it to all flood out.
"Ah, it's just a scratch, don't cry, it's okay... I Need... Need, what do I need... What do I do when they get hurt, uh..." She looked around as she whispered. "Bandages, and disinfectant! I'll go get those, just a second Eos, wait there! It's okay!"
She ran out of the room quickly and turned left into the hallway. Eos continued to sob and cry, he tried holding his head to stop the blood. He sniffled as he tried to stop crying, but the tears kept coming. He bawled loud enough to be heard throughout the house. Suddenly, a warmth comforted Eos, it made him forget the pain momentarily. He opened his eyes and noticed the room was a lot brighter, a light hit every surface. The shadows all stretched away from the child.
"Huh..." Eos looked around in confusion, then down towards his hands. "Mom... Mom!"
Eos didn't know what to make of what he saw. Patches of light blue flames floated off of his skin slowly. The strange substance was extremely bright, but it wasn't hot. The substance floated strangely, it was slow and very viscous. The puzzled infant tried to shake it off, but couldn't.
"Eos?" Yami called from the hallway. "Are you okay, what is that light?" his older brother murmured.
Eos turned to the door as Yami came around the corner, his jaw dropped and his eyebrows lifted immediately. Eos lifted his arms with a strangely puzzled look to show Yami more of the flames.
"Uh-" Yami paused.
"Fiya!" said Eos with his arms raised .
"Mom! Mom!" Yami cried.
"Yami, I told you to-
"Eos is on fire!" Yami shouted to the left and pointed at Eos.
"What!?" their mother shrieked, her tone sounded both shocked and scared.
"Eos is on fire!"
"I heard you the first time, what do you mean he's-" her expression lit up as she turned the corner, she appeared genuinely shocked. "On... Fire..."
"Fiya!" Eos grinned, a stream of blood still dripping down his head.
Yami approached slowly, raising his hand toward Eos to see if it was hot.
"Yami- wait..." their mother turned to shout at him, but couldn't take her eyes off of Eos.
His mother's eyes were wide open, she held one palm over her mouth. It was as if her entire world just stopped. She dropped the box of bandages and looked at Eos. She fell to her knees, tears rolled out of her eyes, but she also cracked a slight smile. Eos didn't think much of it as he continued to play with the strange flames.
"What is this stuff?" Yami moved his hand closer to Eos, then felt daring enough to poke him. "It's not hot? Does it feel hot?"
"Mm..." Eos shook his head left and right.
"Oh... Oh wait! Mom! This is it!" Yami turned to Theresia. "Nova! Zeus! Eos is going to get his gift! It's happening!"
"What?!" Zeus and Nova both shouted from the hall as they heard that.
Theresia was still by the door, looking at Eos with a dazed expression. Zeus stormed into the room and looked at Eos. Nova hurried into the room, she was caught off guard by the bright blue light. As Nova walked forward, she noticed her mothers expression.
"Mom? Are you okay-"
"Let's go! That's what I'm talking about!" Zeus jumped for joy and cut Nova off. "Eos! Eos, what can you do with your gift?! Is it strong! Let's fight!"
"I dunno?" Eos shrugged.
"He didn't even get it yet..." Yami spoke under his breath as he smiled at Zeus.
Eos was a little surprised by Zeus's reaction, he never reacted like that before. It made him happy, Eos wanted to try and do more. He looked down and tried to touch the flames. At that moment, a gold light phased through the ceiling and struck Eos.
"There it is!" Yami and Zeus both hyped up the moment.
A single name came to his mind, a word to call upon the Celestial gift he had just received. 'Wubble?' As he thought the word, a golden light flew out of his stomach and landed in front of him. It appeared like a fuzzy ball, only to stand on two feet and raise its tiny head. It was a golden rabbit, similar to the animals Nova showed him in her books. It sniffed the air, then frolicked around Eos as it continued to observe the room.
"Huh-" their mother shook herself out of her daze as she saw the golden rabbit.
"Ah! And he's got a spirit too! Woo!" Zeus cheered. "Just two days after his birthday! He got his the earliest!"
Eos turned as the rabbit hid behind him, it was slightly startled by Zeus. Eos tried to pick it up, however the moment before his hand touched it, the rabbit vanished.
"Huh- Oof!" Eos fell forward and onto his face.
"What the! Where did it go!" Nova yelled, clutching her mother's arm as she hid.
Eos looked left and right, he scanned the room to find the rabbit. He stood up while the bright fire made his hair rise. His mother approached from behind and turned Eos toward her. The look on her face was still a mix, it confused Eos, he didn't know if she was upset or happy. She hesitantly brought a cloth towards Eos's face. As she noticed the flame wasn't hot, she started wiping the blood off. She pressed a cloth swab onto the wound, then wrapped a bandage around Eos's head.
"Up there!" Zeus pointed toward the top of a shelf.
Eos looked up to see the golden rabbit wiping its eyes as its nose bumped up and down. Zeus shoved Yami's arm as they all looked up at the golden creature. Theresia held Eos's arm up and observed the flames.
"Hey... You think Azure can get up there?" Zeus asked.
"I don't know if he'll be able to catch it... Azure..." Yami chanted.
A blue bird shot out of Yami's back and flapped its wings. The gold rabbit saw the bird and immediately got on all fours. Yami pointed towards the rabbit, Azure flapped its wings and flew up. However, the moment before Azure could touch it, the rabbit vanished again.
"It did it again!" Zeus jumped.
"Mom said you can't use spirits in the house-"
"Go Yycan! It definitely can't out speed you!" Zeus shouted over Nova.
A white substance stretched off of Zeus's shoulders and landed on the ground. The white blob suddenly pounced for the rabbit with the head of a wolf. It landed on all fours, sinking into the bed sheet before bouncing airborne and nipping at the rabbit. Yycan fell onto the desk, then immediately kicked its feet and knocked papers off the desk. The violent spirit then jumped for the ground and then jumped for another table. The rabbit pounced out of the way, narrowly avoiding Yycan, landing on Theresia's head and then jumping back into Eos's body.
"Huh- Hey! What did I tell you about spirits indoors!" their mother snapped out of her daze.
Eos looked at his hands, the bluish white flame floating off his palm was mesmerizing. Eos smiled happily as his mother scolded Yami and Zeus. The thoughts of how much he'd get to play with his siblings made him grin with excitement. Eos summoned the rabbit to his shoulder, then ran toward the hallway.
"Let's play!" Eos decided in a hurry.
"Huh- Eos! Where are you going! It's dark out!" their mother scolded him.
"That's the spirit, Eos! Let's see who is stronger!" Zeus shouted, not caring about his mother's scolding anymore.
"Hey!" their mother yelled.
The golden rabbit phased into Eos. A bright yellow ear sprouted off Eos's head. Eos ran to the door as fast as he could. However, everything went black at that exact moment.
***
"Ah, you're getting heavy..." Eos's mother whispered to herself as she stretched her shoulder. "My shoulder still hurts... "
"Huh..." Eos slowly came to, he opened his eyes and stretched.
Eos's feet were covered by a soft quilt, his face was planted against a pillow. Eos slowly turned his face into the pillow, then pushed his groggy self up. He looked around and noticed he was in his mother's office. They were the only ones in the room.
"Okay, let's see... Where is it..." she muttered as she reached around the top of a shelf.
The room had papers all over the floor, it wasn't usually this messy. Eos's mother opened the cupboards of her desk in a hurry, she was sweating heavily and breathing even harder. She walked to another dark-brown drawer and pulled it open, and started shuffling through the pages impatiently. Eos was puzzled by her behavior, she didn't ever seem this stressed before.
"Here!" she pulled out a glass panel with a golden mark on it. "Hello! Lucifer, are you there?! Lucifer!" she shouted into the device.
"Theresia? Why are you using this gift to communicate... I don't like being reminded of its user..." a voice came from the glass device. "If I wasn't in my office I wouldn't have even heard it... Why have you called... Why are you out of breath?"
"Because this is urgent!" Theresia stressed as she walked toward the door and opened it.
"What is this about... I'm busy right now..."
"Project Archangel... It's a success..." Theresia's voice faded as she closed the door behind her.
"What?!" the voice from the device sounded very concerned all of a sudden.
Their mumbling continued as Eos slid off the bed. He landed on his two feet and made sure to avoid the papers on the ground. However, one of the letters that had fallen from the shelf caught his eye. It was brown, darker than most of the other papers or books. The edges were slightly torn around the corners. As Eos touched it, he heard an audible crinkle. Eos gently picked up the paper and held it up, the light went through it, he turned away from the light and looked at the contents.
Leazra,
It saddens me that it has come to this. The fact you even would go as far as to think about trying to perform this experimentation using the Darkeater... I cannot support this, you know I can't. You two are trying to create monsters. Monsters with the sole purpose of fighting the divine beings...
Did neither of you learn a thing from Jalrog? We are disturbing powers far beyond ourselves! And our meddling has cost us the lives of thousands, angels and demons! We don't even know what may have happened to the survivors, those who were left behind, to fend for themselves against Ragnarok's rampage! The fact you can even sleep soundly, knowing that you may bring about our destruction once again... Is simply revolting. The giant that emerged from the sea, it made the divine being remember, it made him remember who he was. And look now, House Rafael is gone! Written out of history like they never existed! I cannot accept this.
I am taking the demons and leaving Helios. My people and I will have no part in such foolish actions. If you are reading this, I promise you, the both of you, harbingers of Jalrog, I will kill you. If you do not cease this madness immediately Leazra, I will not hesitate to do what must be done. The blood is already on my hands, this is my burden, as the one who gave you this life. Don't make me do this...
Abaddon.
Eos didn't read the entire letter, he struggled to get past the first word. He turned the paper in his hand and tilted his head. He squinted as he tried to read the first word.
"Lee... Leah? Leez?" Eos stuttered, he was still learning how to spell, and he didn't recognize the word.
"Stay in touch... I'll send someone down there soon... This has not been for nothing Theresia... I promise..."
"Yeah, you better get me the hell out of here..."
Theresia opened the door and stopped the moment she noticed that Eos was awake. Her shoulders tensed up immediately, but they lowered as she heard Eos's stuttering to pronounce a word on the paper he held.
"Oh, Eos... When did you wake up?" Theresia said with a soft smile.
"Le... Leazra..." Eos tried to read the name on the beige letter.
Theresia dropped the glass panel. It shattered against the wooden floor, startling Eos.
"Eep!" Eos yelped.
"What did you just say..." Theresia asked with a mortified expression.
"Glass!" Eos pointed with a concerned look, the paper crumpled in his other hand.
"What- Why did you say that... How... You can't... You can't possibly..." Theresia muttered to herself, she huffed between words.
The look on her face was different from before. Eos could almost feel how afraid she was from her eyes. Eos held the paper up to her.
"Leazra..." Eos pointed to the name on the letter.
Theresia immediately clutched the letter and pulled it close to her chest. Her expression looked frightened for a moment as she took a deep breath. Eos looked around, observing more scattered papers. He looked up to the window, and noticed that it was dark out now.
"What? It's night time? But it was just bright out... I wanted to go play with Wubbles..."
"Eos..." Theresia called him.
"Hm?" Eos replied.
"It's time for bed. Go back to your room and go to bed," Theresia said with a blank expression as she read the letter.
Eos stared at her face up close. Theresia's eyes were wide open as she read the letter, her fingers shaking. Eos was used to hearing her warm and inviting voice. However, she sounded different this time.
"Oh... Okay... I'll play tomorrow!" Eos's confused face turned to a bright smile.
Eos walked out of the room, he looked down and made sure not to step on any glass. He pulled the door to the side and walked into the hallway. The look on Theresia's face was still on his mind. Eos stopped a few feet away from Theresia's office. 'The glass...' Eos turned around and walked back toward the room.
"Mom-"
The tear of a piece of paper made him flinch, followed by crumpling and heavy breaths. Eos slowly pushed the door open. Theresia's back was against the sofa, but she was sitting on the floor. She held one hand over her eyes as she looked up with her head leaned back.
"Mom..." said Eos.
Theresia barely tilted her head as she saw him standing in the doorway. Eos gulped as he saw her bright red eye, almost glowing underneath her palm.
"Yes, Eos?" Theresia replied.
"Uh... Don't... Step on glass," Eos advised.
Theresia took a deep breath, and then smiled softly as she looked at the ground. Eos's eyes widened, something about this smile was different from all the others before.
"I won't, it's very sweet of you to worry about me, Eos," said Theresia.
Eos slowly crept backwards, he turned and walked down the hall toward his room. As he reached his bedroom, he could hear the audible breathing from his two loud brothers. Eos looked past Nova's bed and toward the window, it was pitch black outside. Eos turned to the hallway, he looked at the wall and noticed a dent in it. It was at his eye level, but he didn't think much of it.
'Tomorrow, I'll finally get to play with everyone else!'