“You met Gaia today? What did she say?” Luna asked curiously.
You let out a sigh and gave Luna a smile. “Nothing of value. She just wanted to tell me how glad she was when she heard that I was back.”
“Are you sure that’s all she said? She didn’t say anything else?” You gave Luna a serious look causing her to look away, despite being the stronger one here, Luna still seems to display the same level of respect she did all those years ago. Something of which you were glad to see in her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s alright, you did always have a habit of asking one too many questions that didn’t concern you.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that, I know the history between you two and...” Luna trailed off as she saw you narrow your eyes. You didn’t mean anything by it but Luna seemed to think otherwise. “So how’s everything going with your little mortal friend?” Luna fake smiled.
You raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “Who? Do you mean Zeal? He’s a good mortal, there's just something strange about him. There’s nothing really different about him, yet I can still feel that something is off. ”
Luna tilted her head in confusion. “Maybe he’s one of the rare ones?” She suggested.
You raised another eyebrow. “Maybe…Who was the last hero of old?” You asked.
“A young mortal named Starswirl the Bearded. He was born about a thousand years ago. He helped formulate hundreds of magical devices and spells that allowed mortals to progress through day to day life. He also discovered that some cults were trying to bring revive the dead god, Leviathan, and helped stop it.”
“Holy Crap! Why in Tartarus would someone want to do that?” You asked no one.
Leviathan was a Neverwere(a being outside of time), one of the beings you defeated during the last days of the First War. Being a being outside of time, time itself A.K.A Endless had no power over him, leaving your younger sister Forever to deal with this faction, while he dealt with the Meanwhiles(beings outside of space). Your powers affected both sides, so you were the main reason why the whole fabric of reality is in shambles, as Death affects all beings, whether those that were meant to exist or not.
The last time you seen him was during the Discordian War(Third Primordial War, which included the suspected partnership of Discord and The Primordial), when one of Discords followers released him into the universe. The first time you met and battled him was at the dawn of the universe. Not long after Forever’s birth. The first time you two battled, you were left brutally beaten and on the verge of dying, it took the intervention of Endless and The Primordial to drive him back so that you could seal him in Tartarus. The second battle ended in a draw, with the both of you left unconscious and Leviathan getting away.
The final time you two met was during the Third Primordial War. You were supported by all of the gods then, so beating Leviathan was far easier than the other times.
Luna shrugged her shoulders as a sure sign that she didn't know. “Corruption tends to last through generations, Brother. Many of the mentally insane mortals in this time period had ancestors who had been exposed to Discords corruption.”
“That would explain how everyone is a lot weirder in this time period.” You blinked.
Luna nodded her head. “Discord wanted to create a more fun world, while his methods were wrong and resulted in the near extinction of the divine and mortal, he actually succeeded.” You both nodded at Discord attempt.
For a time, the two of you spent a long while in awkward silence. For the immortal life of you, you tried to remember something Gaia mentioned to you. When you finally did, you succeeded in scaring Luna. “Sorry, I wanted to ask you about my grandson Ladius.”
“Ladius?” She asked as if she didn’t know who you were talking about.
“Yes, Ladius. My only known grandson. The Immortal Loser?” You said prompting a snicker from Luna. The immortal Loser was a nickname both Luna and Delirium came up with, when the three were discussing his frequent idleness in divine politics, as well as mortal.
“Ah yes, I remember now. He’s been doing well since the last time I checked. When you ‘died’, he was the first person to volunteer to be the new Grim Reaper. Apparently, he felt a bit responsible for your death.”
You scoffed. “Him feeling responsible? I don’t know why. He rejected my proposal to be the new Death for centuries before I died.”
“You are correct, but the two of you didn’t really start connecting with each other until the final days of the war.”
“Yeah! Because he was so butthurt about him dying at the end. Mythic really had it out for him. He just tried to suck up to me so I could give him an extra life.” You said, growing a tad bit furious at the way how your grandson used to behave. “His whole world was about to burn and the first thing he asked me when I tried to recruit him was ‘Will you ensure that I survive in the end?' Such a coward! I don’t understand who he got if from because it sure as hell wasn’t me or his mother.”
“Well, he’s the spitting image of how you were.” This statement caused your lips to curl up with disdain as you narrowed your eyes.
“Excuse me?” You said wanting her to repeat what she said.
You could see the seriousness in her face. If there was one thing about Luna that was true, it was her respect for family, no matter how distant. The Goddess of the Night did not tolerate the way you were speaking about your own flesh and blood. “You used to act the same way.”
“When?” You said, standing up to her. You were not about to have your name slandered by being called a coward. “Explain to me how Ladius and I used to be the same, so I can see the correlation between the two of us.”
“During the Discordian war, you were so fearful.” She said putting emphasis on the word fearful. “You were always looking over your own shoulder. You never trusted anyone, not even Endless. The one person who's been with you since the beginning. No one else noticed it,” She began to nod her head. “but I did. I knew you had been corrupted by Discord. You did your best to cover it up and it worked well, to a point, but your fears often manifested into your dreams Letum, something of which, often happens to lapse over into my domain. Discord changed us, he infected us with our opposites. You used to be so brilliant and brave, but during the war you were indecisive and easily frightened. I thank our Creators that your love for the mortals remained untampered with or the war might have ended a lot differently. The only difference between the two of you was that Ladius had a choice in matters of whether or not he wanted to help us, you however did not. Because we all knew that If The Primordial was to ever be set free, all her fury was going to be directed towards you.” She said, poking you in chest. “So before you start talking about other people, how about you stop and look into the mirror first.”
You could only look at Luna in horror. Not because she had just talked back to you, nor because she intruded into your dreams without your permission, but because she was right. You had changed dramatically over the last few thousand years. While you had nothing to say, you just sat down on a dream rock and silently thought to yourself.
“Ohhh, that’s got to hurt. Are you just going to let this 'lesser god’ speak to you this way?” A voice said, popping up in your head. “She said you’re a coward. Maybe that is what you are. A coward.”
“Not now...” You said accidentally out loud.
“The truth hurts, doesn’t it, Brother?” Luna said, overhearing you.
You quickly looked back up at her. “What?“
“I said you’re a coward.”
“I said the truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
You pinpointed the two voices and realized that Luna wasn’t the one who called you that. You realized that the voice hasn’t been messing with you until you were told about the prophecy from Delirium and when Luna just spoke to you. The voice only talks to you during times of distress, meaning the more anxiety and sorrow you begin to feel the weaker the cage gets. Not a good sign. Not a good sign at all.
“Yes. Yes it does.” You said faking a smile.
Luna seemed to had noticed this. “I can sense yours emotions, Brother. ever since Delirium told you about that prophecy. You've been scared. You've had a lingering bout of the fear following you around. I just want you to know, Brother, that I understand how you feel.”
"No she doesn't. None of them know how you feel. You are all alone. And you better start getting use to it."
"No you don't. None of you know how I feel. I'm all alone, but I guess I better start getting used to it, because in the end you will all fail to be there when I need you the most. It has happened before, it with happen again. So I shall not put my faith and trust in the hands of others, especially towards the likes of you." You hissed suspiciously, showing that you were starting to grow a lot angrier than you should be. Luna seemed to pick up on this as well, because she began to step back a little.
“Do you really feel that way, Brother?” She said, showing sadness by your words.
“Yes, you do. You are spineless and weak. Nightmare Moon was a better Goddess than you, and she was just a piece. Tell her Letum. Tell her that she will never amount to the glory that is her sister. Tell her that she is not worthy of the worship and praise of the mortals. Tell her.” The voice said growing darker in tone and louder in volume.
Seeing as she was visibly hurt by your words you let out a sigh and began to shake your head. “Yes...No, No! No I don't. I don't know what I'm saying. All I have are you guys. You've always been there for me in my darkest of times and I've been there for you in yours. I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I've just had a lot on my mind, lately.” You smiled sincerely.
Luna smiled and gave you a hug, which you happily accepted. The voice in your head let out what felt like a snarl as well as a snicker. “Be careful of whom you trust. She’ll betray you in the end. They all will. Every. Last. One of them. Until only I remain, because in the end all you can really trust is yourself. Right, Letum?” The voice snickered, once more.