[...…]
The world didn't just break; it dissolved into a kaleidoscope of agonizingly bright light and suffocating darkness. As the Shard of True Reflection pulsed between the twins, the very fabric of Acheron began to weep. The Architect ,no, Iva ( architect) ,let out a guttural snarl of defiance. Even as the artifact tore at his mind, his instincts remained predatory. His massive, dark hands moved with a mind of their own, sliding down from Zuriel's ( serene god ) throat to grip the small god firmly over the waist.
Zuriel gasped, his back arching against the cold marble. The contact sent a jolt of electricity through his recovering divine core. Despite the gravity of the situation, a familiar, chaotic spark flared within him. A flush that had nothing to do with the Architect's violence crept up his neck. He felt that old, dangerous hum of excited pleasure, a side of his divinity that had always been a bit too "obsessed" with the visceral thrill of Iva's touch.
Control yourself, Zuriel, he thought, his golden eyes flickering wildly. Don't get carried away by these pervert pleasures now. There's a universe at stake.
He looked up at Iva, whose face was a mask of agony and confusion. Zuriel forced a shaky, teasing grin. "Brother," he whispered, his voice trembling with a mix of strain and mirth. "If you keep holding my waist like that, I might start having very dirty thoughts. And we're about to see our parents; it's hardly the time for a scandal."
Iva's eyes widened in a flash of pure, disgusted horror, but before he could retort, the Shard's light swallowed them whole.
[ The Memory ]
The palace vanished. They were no longer in the dark heart of a nightmare, but in a garden of infinite crystalline lilies. Two young boys stood by a fountain of liquid starlight.
"IVA! Look!" the golden haired boy laughed, chasing a butterfly made of solar flares.
"Wait for me, ZURIEL!," the black haired boy called out, his purple eyes bright with a rare, untainted joy.
Zuriel watched the scene with a heavy heart. He skipped through the trivial memories the lessons, the laughter, the games. He searched for the crack in the foundation. Finally, he found it.
They were in the Great Sanctum of the High Guardian, the being they called Father. He was a towering figure of cold, blinding light, a creator who viewed his children not as sons, but as tools. The memory showed the Father standing over a sleeping Iva.
Zuriel watched as the Father produced a vial of Primordial Malice,a poison designed to turn a soul into a vacuum, a hunger that could never be satisfied. He watched as the Father poured the dark ink into Iva's spirit, whispering, "The light must have a shadow to define it. You will be the hunger that makes your brother's satiety meaningful."
Iva's young form convulsed in his sleep, his black hair turning a shade darker, his heart hardening into the first brick of the Architect's throne. Zuriel, watching this, didn't look surprised. He had always suspected their "Father" was the true author of their misery.
[ The Awakening ] [ The Growing God ]
The memory shattered.
Back in the crumbling vault of Acheron, Iva roared as he broke through the Shard's influence. His consciousness snapped back, fueled by a new, burning rage at the revelation of his betrayal. He surged forward, his strength tripled by fury. He pinned Zuriel against the wall once more, the impact so violent it drew a fresh spray of blood from the child god's lips.
But something had changed.
As Zuriel's back hit the wall, the divine feedback from the Shard finally integrated. A surge of his half restored power erupted from his core. His small frame glowed with a blinding, renewed brilliance. Before Iva's eyes, Zuriel's body grew slightly in height, his limbs lengthening, his presence becoming more commanding even as he remained in the form of a young boy.
Zuriel didn't struggle. He leaned his head back against the stone, a bloody, beautiful smile spreading across his face. He looked at Iva, who was breathing heavily, his face inches away.
"Oh, Iva," Zuriel cooed, his voice vibrating with a new, deeper resonance. "You're so aggressive. Did you miss me that much? You didn't even wait for a kiss to wake me up from that little trip down memory lane."
Zuriel's golden eyes then drifted. They stopped looking at Iva's face and began looking somewhere else,a slow, hungry, and deeply inappropriate gaze that traveled down Iva's body with a terrifying, possessive focus.
A cold chill raced down Iva's spine. It was the "Obsession." He recognized that look,the predatory, "handsome male obsessed" side of Zuriel that was far more dangerous than his light. Iva's smirk faltered, replaced by a flicker of genuine fear. He realized that while he wanted to destroy his brother, his brother wanted to own him in ways that were far more unsettling.
"You're a monster," Iva hissed, though his grip on Zuriel's waist didn't loosen, fueled by a subconscious terror.
"And you're a victim, brother," Zuriel replied.
Then, Zuriel's golden hair began to move on its own. It grew longer and brighter, flowing like liquid sun. It snaked out, defying gravity, and began to wrap itself firmly around Iva's dark, silken hair, binding their heads together in a knot of gold and shadow.
Zuriel leaned in, his nose brushing against Iva's. The playful sarcasm was gone, replaced by an ancient, absolute certainty.
"You asked me once, back in the garden... why you were never loved as I was. Why I was the one cherished while you were cast aside. I didn't have an answer then, Iva. But I saw the Father's poison. I saw the design."
Zuriel's hair tightened its grip, pulling Iva's face even closer until they shared the same breath.
"Ask me again, Iva," Zuriel whispered, his golden eyes burning with a love that was indistinguishable from a threat. "Ask me anything. I have the answer to everything now"