Oya found herself standing amongst the amber grass outside of Trixie's cottage. She frowned while a breeze brushed against her. "Oya." Trixie's voice called out from behind her. She turned to see Trixie, Aevum, the angel who brought her and another woman she didn't recognize. "Miss Trixie, Lord Aevum." Oya greeted. She smiled gently at the woman she didn't know and scowled at the angel. Trixie noticed and spoke up. "Apologies Oya, I asked him to bring you here." The light from the perpetual sunset painted them all in a soft golden hue. "Who are you?" Oya asked the woman she didn't recognize. The woman stepped forward with a soft smile. "My name is Sophia." "Aeon of...?" Oya asked. "Wisdom, on a good day." Sophia joked. Oya turned back to Trixie. "Not to sound rude, but what am I doing here?" "Well it's about young Taivero." Trixie answered. "What about him?" Aevum finally spoke up. "Fate is an anomaly and he needs to be eliminated." Oya's eyes went violet. She summoned her scythe and pointed it at Aevum. "Explain yourself!" "You dare?" Aevum protested, his eyes too went violet. "Unruly indeed." Sophia chuckled to Trixie. Trixie sighed, then the entirety of the sky turned a deep violet. "Enough!" Trixie's voice boomed from every direction. Aevum immediately backed down. Oya recalled her scythe and stepped closer to Trixie. "Explain." "Allow me." Sophia interjected. Oya relaxed and waited for the explanation. Trixie waved her hand and the amber grass braided itself into chairs and a table. A couple of blue birds flew over carrying a teapot and cups and served them tea. Sophia sat down first and took a sip from one of the cups. "We Aeons exist in pairs, or better yet we come into existence together with our counterparts. Of course you being born as a human are the exception." She explained. "But Tai literally had human parents. I was given to Mul as a damn apple...what humanity?" Oya argued. "Taivero is different, let me explain. Like I said, Aeons come in pairs. We govern our aspects, create, protect, destroy, together. But there is a second nature we all possess." "Second nature?" Oya leaned in closer. "Yes. The thing about the second nature, if you feed it, it cultivates new Aeons." "Explain this second nature." Oya demanded. "I am the embodiment of wisdom but there was a time where ironically, I acted without it. I wished to see what I could accomplish on my own without my partner. And in the absence of my namesake, my second nature emerged. Curiosity. I snuck away and flexed my prowess on my own and, unfortunately, I became responsible for the plague of suffering you all are experiencing." "How so?" Oya asked. Sophia took a deep breath in preparation to face her shame once again. "My curiosity, my...foolishness was nothing but a Delusion. A Delusion that manifested." "A lesser Aeon." Aevum interrupted. "A false Aeon." Trixie corrected. "But still an Aeon." Sophia added. "And in my shame I cast it away to the darkest part of our realm." "And within the discreet nothing Delusion took shape." Aevum interjected. Oya could feel the embarrassment radiating off of Sophia. "Yadala is his name and in his ignorance and delusion unknowingly imprisoned the Eldritch when he created the material realm." Oya sat back in her chair. "I've haven't had the pleasure of meeting him. But I fail to see what that has to do with Tai." Trixie put her hand on Oya's. "Well dear..." she swallowed hard, "you did something similar, albeit unwillingly." "But therein lies the issue." Aevum interrupted again. "You are the embodiment of free will. So for you to unwillingly do anything is to go against your nature, feeding your second nature." Oya frowned. "And what would that be?" "Desire." Trixie answered. "What?" Oya asked. "When Mul left you you were lonely, so lonely your desire for a family for companionship manifested." "Wait." Oya said, standing from her chair. "Y'all saying I created Tai?" "Yes and no." Sophia answered "Then what are you saying?" "Like I said before, all Aeons are born in pairs. But there are three exceptions to that rule. Christos the first of us, and yourself." "You said three." Oya reminded her. Trixie stood up and took Oya's hands in hers. "Just because you didn't come into existence together doesn't mean you don't have a partner. Well, that might not be the right word." "Counterpart." Aevum corrected. "Yes, well your counterpart took your desire and infused it into his already prepared vessel and Taivero was born." Oya snatched her hands back. "Apep is my partner!?" Trixie nodded reluctantly. "Wait wait wait." Oya said, backing away. "I need a second to process this." "A second I don't have." Aevum responded standing up from his seat. "I have a very important meeting about cleaning this mess up once and for all. Bilan is on her way to to rectify the anomaly and all will be well shortly." He said, vanishing. "Bilan?" Oya asked looking at Trixie. "Aeon of destruction." She answered. "Destroy...Tai? No, I have to go." Oya stated. "Wait." Sophia called out. Oya stopped and turned back. "Fate is part of free will. He's throwing off the balance of everything and needs to go. On top of that Apep is trying to use Taivero to enter the material. Don't let Apep get what he wants, or we all suffer." Sophia's warning did not go unheard, but Oya vanished without a reply.

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