Where light is, darkness has been first.

Everything in this world has a balance, otherwise, its existence wouldn't be possible. Positivity and negativity, good and evil, life and death, proton and electron, and finally, light and darkness.

There once was a goddess residing inside The Thrones of Elysium, she was frail and petite but she was not to be underestimated. No one knew her exact age but everyone knew that she has been here almost since the beginning of the world. The reason for this was simple, she was known as the Goddess of Shadows, a woman who actively participated in the well-being of the universe.

Many of her kind did not like her, for the simple reason that what she represented was the opposite of what The Heavens did. The light was to reign supreme there, in their eyes, that goddess known as Layla had no reason to stand by their side.

Because of the gods' inability to accept her mere existence, she was alone more often than not. Which made her heart ache as like any living being, the desire to be loved, at least by one, was impossible to avoid. Countless times did she find herself standing alone in her domain of darkness, her vision blurry as tears streamed down her face and her body rocked with sobs, for only company, her children who were as equally outcasted as her, if not more.

She talked to them often but they did not possess anything that made them able to speak so they stayed silent at her words, only looking up slightly whenever she would say anything to show they were listening.

Of course, only hearing her voice echoing in her domain all day made her almost go mad, especially when her other interactions with gods only ended up in her weeping. She was tired of being an outcast, of being seen as an evil being when she didn't do anything remotely that bad. She was shunned, and for what? The only thing she was doing was keeping the world together!

She too deserved love, didn't she? So why was she denied the right to be treated with respect? It made her so incredibly mad that she lost her temper one day and accidentally killed one of her creations.

It was an action driven by rage and frustration. That day, she had yet again got scolded by the other gods and while ranting to her shadows as she had always done, an extremely dangerous thought seeped into her mind.

If she wasn't stuck with those shadows, then maybe she wouldn't be living like this.

The thought echoed in her mind like an alarm and soon, a sneer made its way up her face as her eyes glistened with a wave of newfound anger. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" She yelled, causing the baby shadows to flinch. It was the first time in forever that she ever raised her voice at them, she would normally act all tender and sweet, just like a mother should. But right now, those motherly traits were nowhere to be found.

"IF I WASN'T CURSED WITH ONLY BEING ABLE TO CREATE YOU, THEN I WOULDN'T BE DISCARDED BY THE OTHERS!" On that note, she let out a frustrated cry as her fingers curled into fists that hit the floor below her. The ground shook, and so did the shadows, confused about what have they done wrong to make their mother so disappointed and angry. "I WISH YOU'D NEVER EXISTED AT ALL!"

Then her eyes started glowing a bright purple, her pupils turning into violet flames.

"I WISH YOU COULD JUST DISAPPEAR!" One of the shadows convulsed violently, letting out, for the first time, a noise. Layla's eyes widened as her fury faltered slightly to morph into a hazardous emotion: confusion. That feeling was dangerous because so many things could come out of this emotion, it could manifest a lack of knowledge, an absence of a solution to a problem, or an incomprehension of what was happening.

Shadows weren't supposed to be able to make a noise, so how did that one manage to—

Before she could finish her thought, the little one had burst like a bomb, staining Layla's clothing with a black substance that slowly melted away, its little eyes drowned in its blood. She had stayed several seconds just looking at her hands in shock, not yet having processed what she had just done.

Then, her palms began to shake, soon followed by her fingers as her eyes stayed fixated on the black liquid. Her slightly parted lips trembled. She couldn't muster the courage to look away from what she had done even though she so desperately wanted to just turn her head away and pretend this has never happened.

The nearby shadows came closer to what remained of their deceased sibling, a flash of grief and guilt in their tiny little eyes. Perhaps, their mother was right, if they didn't exist, then maybe she wouldn't need to suffer so much. She too must have heard their thoughts, if the way she let out a mourning cry as she embraced the other children in her arms was any indication of that.

She squeezed them tighter, apologizing profusely for what she had done and said. She choked out a sentence that contradicted her own words: she was assuring them that it wasn't their fault, they didn't choose to be brought into this world therefore, they should not be blamed for phenomena that were way out of their control.

The shadows, as usual, didn't respond. They simply leaned into their mother's embrace, little streams of grey liquid rolling down their body until they reached the ground and dissolved into the air. Baby shadows, unlike full grown-ups, did possess emotions that made her crime even more despicable in Layla's eyes. They did feel the pain of death, and she had made one of them go through it. How could she ever look at herself in the mirror now? She would only see a heartless murderer.

***

Today was different, the shadows remarked, looking at the smile their mother was displaying on her face.
Her half-lidded eyes were glistening with the sparks of joy and relief, a smile so wide one would be scared she would end up hurting herself. Occasionally, little giggles escaped her as she tried to suppress the noise in vain by pressing a hand to her mouth.

Curious, the little blobs of darkness gathered around the goddess, waiting for her to rant about her day as she usually would. This time, however, they were confident she wouldn't burst into tears halfway through or at least say something positive about her day. The celestial being snickered some more before finally sitting down on her knees, some shadows climbing on top of her lap, demanding to be pet.

In a lovely mood, she complied happily, her hand caressing tenderly the head of the children as they leaned into her touch. They were so glad that their mother returned to her usual state and seemed to be happier. They were still intrigued as to what caused that change in emotions though, in millennials, it must have been the first time that Layla came back with a smile on her face.

After a few seconds of comfortable silence, the woman breathed in deeply before counting her day to the children with a joyful tone. "I've made a friend today."

All of the little ones flinched slightly, looking at her with the most widened eyes they could muster. Even without a face capable of displaying feelings through facial expressions, one could easily imagine the bewildered look on those little beings. Layla laughed at their reaction, not even mad. After all, if she was told a few weeks ago the same thing, she probably would have laughed in that person's face.

"Her name is Vicissim." She added, loving how her name rolled off her tongue. "She's the goddess of Knowledge."

A silent squeak escaped the baby shadows and Layla looked down on them, watching their tiny bodies bouncing in excitement. "You want me to tell you how we met?" An excited nod from the children gathered even closer.

The goddess let out a chuckle before leaning backward, laying on her back, and having her pitch-black hair cascade on the floor. "Of course, I can. Lay down with me, my dears, I'll tell you everything with great pleasure." They complied without complaints, listening to their mother take a deep breath.

"Today began like a normal one. I was out doing just what I had to when that despicable God of Novelty appeared by my side." At the mention of the god, the shadows did their best to frown. They didn't like that deity at all, it wouldn't be the first time he had hurt their mother. "As you know, he is very judgemental and began pointing out all the misfortune darkness brought to humans."

Layla growled, rolling her eyes in annoyance at that. "Who does he think he is seriously? Just because he's one of the Seven Heralds doesn't give him the right to act this way to his elders." She was nudged by the dark creatures and she absently apologized. "My apologies, I'm getting off topic."

She cleared her throat before continuing with a wonder-like face on. "As I was saying, he was bothering me and out of nowhere, this gorgeous woman appeared in front of me and told him to leave me alone! Can you believe that?" Layla's pupils were seconds away from hearts and her children looked at each other with a knowing look, their mother was falling in love.

"You should have seen his face when she told him that, he looked so offended!" A villain cackling made its way out of her mouth. "I would have given up everything just to see that expression again! He was all like: 'Vicissim, what are you doing?!' And she just brushed him off like it was nothing!"

She continued rambling about the fellow deity and while they didn't understand much of what she was saying, her children were just glad that their mother was happy. She deserved to be, after all, she hasn't done anything wrong, why should she be punished?

***

A few months later, Layla waltzed inside her domain practically squealing like a high-school girl. The shadows looked at each other but none of them seemed to have seen anything during their patrol. They turned to the older ones but they were as stoic as they usually were. They never move and it seemed like they were not willing to make an exception this one time either.

"You guys will not believe me!" She exclaimed, hearts visible in her pupils. "Vicissim asked me on a date!"

If the shadows had jaws, those would have fallen off pretty quickly. Well, that was not something they were expecting to hear at all, especially from their mother's mouth. They weren't able to ask her any questions as she ran around the place, putting the room upside down in search of the fanciest outfit she owned.

As happy as they were for her, they couldn't help but be worried. Something bad was going to happen, they felt the knot of anxiety trapping them all in a spider web, even though Layla did not seem to notice it.

***

Sitting in silence on the Path of Ethereal Joy was doing wonders to relax Vicissim's usually tensed shoulders. She felt the breeze gently caressing her cheek and she hummed, leaning into its touch. Truth be told, she was quite fond of the wind. Not only was it refreshing on a hot day in summer, but the wind could also carry more information about someone than most people might think. Using it to gather intel about people was way easier than using her power, you could say that it lifted her workload a little bit and who did not like having a break?

She opened her eyes when the breeze seemed to carry a certain smell of chocolate, Layla would arrive any moment now. As if on cue, she heard the sound of clicking heels approaching rapidly.

"Vicissim!" Layla called out behind her, showing off a dazzling smile. "I'm here, I hope I didn't make you wait too long?" Vicissim shook her head before patting the plane next to her.

"Not at all, I just arrived." The other sat down by her side, letting out a slight sigh of relief.

"Oh thank the stars, I would have felt horrible if I did. So how are you?" She didn't answer right away and merely looked the other deity up and down with a grin.

"You look stunning today, that dress suits you." Layla felt her cheeks heat up at the comment.

"Really?" She let out a nervous laugh. "I'm glad so then, I'm the one who designed it."

The Goddess of Shadows' mouth was still moving but Vicissim wasn't paying attention to what she was saying anymore. She was more intrigued by the new scents the wind carried. A twisted grin made its way onto her face. She leaned forward, yanking Layla into a sort of hug that made the other yelp in surprise.

She lined up her mouth to her ear. "Thank you for letting me borrow your power, it's going to help me quite a lot in the future."

Layla's lips parted in shock, her blush disappearing. "Borrow my power?" She repeated, bewildered. "Vicissim, what are you talking about? I don't understand..."

Right as she was about to question her some more, the Goddess of Justice let her go and she suddenly took notice of the God of Light's presence behind her. He was looking at her with a cold glare that made her gulp.

"Layla, Goddess of Shadows." He stepped closer as Vicissim stood up to join his side. "You will be thrown into the Everlasting Void for violating rule number 678."

She shuddered, an expression of terror altering her facial features. "The Everlasting Void? But I didn't do anything!" She protested, remembering what rule 678 was about. It dealt with the good treatment of human beings. The thing is she hadn't gone down to Earth in ages! "I would never harm a human being!"

She turned to look at Vicissim but was met with a sadistic grin instead of compassion. She felt burning at the side of her eyes, No, she wasn't about to cry.

The god calmly took out the portraits of two human beings. The names Leafa Windsor and William Windsor were written below their smiling features. "These two humans were found dead after being strangled to death by shadows. Then, someone found them pinned to the cathedral's wall with blades." He explained apathetically, never once breaking eye contact with her. "Unless I am wrong, you are the only one the shadows would obey to."

"I..."

"Thanks for letting me borrow your power." Layla's heart dropped. She knew exactly what happened but no one would ever believe her. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her skin so hard blood flowed out. She never should have trusted Vicissim.

"Since you have nothing to say anymore, let's just proceed to exile." He stared at the goddess's shaking figure. "I never would have thought you would have the guts to do anything like this. I suppose the others were right to be wary of you."

That stung.

***

She had heard stories about the Everlasting Void but to be thrown into it... it was a whole other story. At first, she felt absolutely nothing. It was all black. There was no ceiling, no sky, no floor, no stairs, nothing you could use to tell where exactly you were. There was nothing to hold on to, yet, you couldn't let go either. It was all very strange.

In the beginning, the darkness was something that soothed her in a way. But then, it started to make her uneasy. So she tried to communicate with it, to make it go away. She was the Goddess of Shadows after all. To her surprise though, the pitch-black cover refused to go. Has she... lost her power? The thought made her gag.

She did jerk her head forward but she didn't hear anything. Not a single noise. That's when she realized that the void was meant to be empty, which meant that sound couldn't be produced there.

The silence was deafening and she soon turned insane. She was so sick of the silence and the lack of color. Even her clothes had started to match the Void's pitch-black shade. There was nothing in this place. She felt tired yet she couldn't sleep, she was hungry yet she couldn't eat nor could she die from it. She might walk, but she always ended up in the same place. She had no idea how long she had been there either, had it been hours? Days? Weeks? Months? She couldn't put her finger on it and her brain was starting to collapse.

Just as she was on the verge of despair, something finally broke the dull pattern of life inside the Void.

It was... a sound? She twisted her head to look at where the sound came from, her neck protesting vividly at the sudden movement, and then, her jaw dropped.

After so long... colors finally swam in. It was a portal, or so she guessed. A tall person stepped out of it, a reassuring smile on their face as they looked at the quivering fallen deity on the ground. Layla stared into their black eyes, feeling a certain sense of familiarity in the person's features. However, she would only recognize them as the First Butterfly much later.

They stepped closer to her, extending them a friendly hand.

"Let's get you out of here, dear Layla." The latter almost cried when she heard their voice. She hadn't heard anything in what felt like eons. Just the fact that they were here with her was weirdly comforting, she had been so lonely, staying alone in a place like this. "I'll help you get your revenge."

With a newfound determination, she took the stranger's hand.

***

Character's Tale: basically an excuse for me to show off characters' backstories and help you understand why everyone is as they are.