The golden halls of Aidonai shimmered with perfection, but Love felt only dissonance. He stood in silence, framed by the great window of his chambers, watching the symmetry of the Ailes of Order stretch into the horizon.
The view opened to the inner sanctum of Aidonai - symmetrical, golden, majestic - yet nothing in the realm calmed the turmoil in his spirit. This prince, second-born of Order, stood silent, gaze resting on the perfect horizon. Aidonai had not changed, and yet it had.
Fourteen omnia had now passed since Alpha left.
In the beginning, they all believed he would return shortly. His journey was one he had always meant to embark upon. Though, we did not expect him to do so when he was meant to be crowned. The crown of Order was a heavy one to bear, so delaying his coronation for this sojourn made sense at the time. But as the omnia went by, so did the distance between them.
Lust had grown sharper.
Life - restless.
And Anarchy...
Anarchy had grown comfortable.
Love traced a finger down the cold marble sill. He remembered when all five siblings stood together in court. Back when Order was more than the throne. Back when they trusted each other. That trust was fraying.
A faint ripple stirred his thoughts - the sensation of a mind brushing against his own. The air buzzed faintly. The doors creaked open behind him. He didn't need to turn to know who it was.
"Still brooding, Lolo?" He closed his eyes. "You know I hate that name, sister." "That's precisely why I use it," Lust smiled, folding her arms.
She didn't need to speak for long. Her mind was already brushing against his. He had long given up trying to block her. Their bond was old. Too old. Too close.
"Anarchy summons you," she said finally. "To the throne room." Love turned slowly. "What does he want?"
"What he always wants. Obedience." Her tone shifted, colder. Formal. "You will answer him, brother. Or the courts will."
She left without waiting for his response. She's changing too, he thought. Her edges were sharper, her gaze more veiled. But he would deal with that another time.
For now - he would go.
The Throne Room - The Palace of Aidonai
The seat of Order had changed.
The throne that once emanated wisdom now cast a shadow of authority. Love stepped across the marbled floor, each step echoing with old memory.
Anarchy sat on the throne like he belonged there. Wings draped. Crown half-formed.
"Brother!" Anarchy called, gesturing wide. "Good of you to come." Love bowed slightly. "You summoned me."
"The outer gates have fallen. A raid approaches."
Love moved toward the balcony. His tentacles twitched. He squinted toward the edge of the horizon. "That is no raid," he muttered. "That is Croon. Of Luyten."
Anarchy laughed. "Then let us greet him, as we once did." He launched into the sky with two mighty flaps. Love followed, vaulting into the air with his tentacles, caught mid-air, and hurled downward with precision.
The Battlefield - The Outer Rim of Aidonai
The air reeked of heat and tension. Croon’s battalion had assembled swiftly, but not stealthily. Their pride betrayed them.
Love landed with practiced grace, rising to meet his brother who hovered midair with wings flared.
“You’ve gotten… showy,” Love said. “I’ve gotten ready,” Anarchy replied, then flung Love across the battlefield. With a flip and a roll, Love landed precisely where he needed to be.
Croon’s forces drew close.
"What happened to the winged beasts of Crozine?" Anarchy taunted. “What a disappointment.” “Luyten,” Love corrected again. “They're of Luyten.”
“Then they’re even further from home than I thought.”
Croon himself emerged — regal, armored, determined. “I come not as thief, but as heir,” he announced. “This universe has long gone unclaimed. Its prince fled. Its throne weakened.”
“And you aim to exploit that?” Love asked calmly.
Croon smirked. “To restore it.”
Anarchy’s voice was low - dangerous. “You’re in the wrong multiverse, prince.”
Without further warning, he charged.
Love flanked.
What followed was chaos made art, a dance of death and fury. Anarchy was ruthless — elegant and cruel all at once. Love moved like a whisper, targeting weaknesses, disarming without unnecessary blood. The two princes moved like echoes of judgment across the battlefield.
But Anarchy... Anarchy relished it.
By the end, Croon lay bruised and battered. His forces scattered. The battle was over — and still, Anarchy stood with his blade raised, eyes wild. Though valiant, Croon was no match for the brothers of Order. Not before. Not now.
“You should go,” Love said to Croon, stepping forward.
Croon bowed in bitter silence.
He fled. Defeated. Disgraced. Once again.
As the dust settled, Anarchy seemed invigorated. He grinned, breathing heavily in his blood-stained robes.
“Was that not glorious?” he asked, chest heaving with adrenaline.
Love did not answer. His gaze lingered on the bloodied earth.
“You’ve changed...” he said at last.
Anarchy turned, still grinning. “We all have.”
Love’s voice grew low. “There is a hunger growing in you. Not for justice, not for peace. For power.”
Anarchy laughed. “Then perhaps I’m finally worthy of the throne.”
Love stared after him as he walked away, wings slowly folding behind him.
Order is fracturing, he thought. And it begins at the heart.
He knelt, touching the cracked stones beneath his feet.
Alpha… you must return.
The blood of foreign warriors stained Aidonaian soil. Order was no longer kept through law. It was demanded through violence. It no longer reigns in Aidonai.
He rose and turned back toward the palace.
Twilight - The Palace of Aidonai
Love returned to the palace at twilight.
The golden halls of Aidonai, once vibrant with tradition and reason, now felt quiet — too quiet. It was not the silence of peace, but the silence of tension. Unspoken words. Unseen divisions. Unsettled loyalty.
His boots echoed softly as he passed beneath archways of stone and light, each one a relic of their lineage. He passed beneath archways etched with ancient glyphs of law and loyalty, the same archways he had walked through a thousand times before. But tonight, everything felt... shifted. He walked alone, but the walls seemed to whisper.
Then, a shadow.
He paused.
At the end of the western corridor, just beyond the gardens of the inner sanctum, a cloaked figure slipped between pillars and vanished into the dusk. He recognized the gait — elegant, deliberate, conflicted.
Life.
He froze.
She was leaving. Not for the first time — and perhaps not for the last. But tonight felt different. She moved like one who did not intend to return.
Before he could call out, another presence.
Above — high on the terrace, silhouetted in the moonlight — stood Lust. Still. Watching. Her eyes met his across the chasm of distance. She did not flinch. Did not hide. She simply... observed.
And then turned, vanishing into shadow.
Love’s chest tightened as a chill brushed down his spine.
What is happening to us?
Gardens of Order - The Pavilion of Legacy
He didn’t go to his study.
Not yet.
Instead, Love turned toward the eastern grounds, where the Pavilion of Legacy stood beneath the still stars. There, seated in ritual contemplation beneath the tree of law, were his parents — King Atomus and Queen Radiance.
They did not speak as he approached. They rarely did these days. Their roles were not what they had once been. Alpha’s rise had long ago begun the silent withdrawal of their authority. They offered presence now, not rule. Reflection, not decree.
But tonight, Love needed more than presence.
He knelt before them, head bowed.
“Mother. Father.”
Radiance spoke first. Her voice was quiet, but unwavering.
“Is your heart at war again, my son?”
Love lifted his gaze. “The realm is fraying. Anarchy grows more comfortable on the throne. Life has left. Lust... watches everything but says nothing.”
Atomus’s eyes remained closed. “Order must not fear chaos. Only in contrast does clarity arise.”
“But clarity is slipping,” Love replied. “We speak of structure, of law, of purpose — but none of us walk in it. Not anymore.”
There was silence.
Then Atomus opened his eyes.
“You seek Alpha.”
Love hesitated. “I do.”
Radiance’s expression softened, almost imperceptibly. “Then speak to him from the place where all law begins. Not the court, not the crown... but the soul.”
Love exhaled, standing slowly. “Thank you.”
As he turned to leave, Atomus said without looking, “When you write to your brother, do not ask him to fix us. Ask him to remember us.”
Love paused.
Then walked back through the halls of the palace — this time with purpose.
Love's Chambers - The Palace of Aidonai
The room was cold. It smelled of old parchment and memory.
Love sat alone, quill in hand, staring at the parchment before him. The words did not come easily.
His thoughts were loud.
He could still hear the clang of blades. Croon’s retreating form. The glow in Anarchy’s eyes, his laughter. The veil across Life’s face, her silent exit. The silence of Lust, her stare. His parents, wise and distant, content to remain in legacy.
And beneath it all: the growing wrongness he could not name.
They were fraying — not just as a clan, but as a family.
Only Alpha could bring sense to this unraveling. He had always believed that Alpha’s return would restore the balance. That his presence alone could realign the stars above Aidonai. Not by force - but by memory.
But now…
Would even Alpha know what to do?
Still, he had no choice. The tide was rising. If left unanswered, it would drown them all.
He dipped the quill in ink and began to write:
"Dearest Alpha, The clouds have grown dark since you left. I fear our house has become unrecognizable. Anarchy wears the crown like it was always his. Life has left without a word. Lust… she watches us all like a predator over prey. I write not in desperation, but in duty, in remembrance. Of who we were. Of what we stood for. If there is still any bond left between us - Come home. Remind us. Before we forget ourselves and what we are is lost."
He set the quill down. His hand trembled slightly.
Then, folding the parchment, he sealed it with the sigil crest of Aidonai — the flame-braided circle of Order.
Then, whispering the name of one who still walked the winds between worlds, he released the letter into the ether.
