━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

❝​🇱​​🇪​​🇬​​🇪​​🇳​​🇩​​🇸​ ​🇳​​🇪​​🇻​​🇪​​🇷​ ​🇩​​🇮​​🇪​❝

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 ???

In the heart of the forest bordering Valencia Academy, the air was thick with despair. The moon hung high, bathing the world in its silvery glow, but for Aether, the light seemed to mock him. He knelt on the damp earth, cradling the still form of Jette, his lover, in his arms. Jette's once-bright eyes were clouded, and crimson flowed from the wound in his stomach, a deadly arrow of Artemis glinting cruelly in the moonlight. Aether clutched him tightly, stifling the scream that erupted from within. "Jette," he whispered, his voice cracking under the weight of anguish.

Each breath Jette took was shallower, heavier. Aether could feel the warmth of life slipping away, as if the very essence of his beloved was seeping into the ground beneath them. The forest around them was eerily quiet, as if the trees themselves mourned. "Please, don't leave me," Aether begged, his fingers trembling as they brushed against Jette's warm skin. "I can't... I can't do this without you."

"Lilac..." The boy's voice was soft, barely a whisper, as he gently tucked a loose strand of Aether's hair behind his ear. His smile was strained, almost pained, as if each movement cost him dearly. "Protect our child, won't you? Guard the blooming flower inside you... They hold the power, Aether. The power to change everything..." His words trailed off, his breath growing faint, as though the weight of the moment was too much for him to bear.

He rocked back and forth, whispering his lover's name, "Jette," as if it were a prayer, as if it could conjure life back into the lifeless form before him. But the only response was the chilling rustle of leaves, harmonizing with the distant cries of night creatures. Above them, gods loomed like shadows, judging and watching, their powers binding them in untouchable silence.

Athena descended from the canopy with the grace of an owl before shifting into her stunning goddess form, her sharp eyes fixated on Aether. Chiron, the wise centaur, stood behind her, concern etched across his equine features.

"No! It can't end like this!" Aether's scream tore through the night like lightning, echoing against the towering trees. He recoiled, defensively cradling Jette's body closer as if shielding him from Athena's decree. "Touch him not!"

"But I have touched him already, through the very hand of fate," Athena replied, the weight of her voice forming chains around Aether's heart. He flinched at the bite of truth, feeling Jette's breath, shallow and gasping, as it became increasingly labored. He clung to the notion that love might conquer all, but it felt insurmountable at this moment.

"Look at what you've done!" Aether cried, hysteria lacing his tone as he felt Jette's pulse fade further. "You're the ones who've taken him from me! You're all up there watching, doing nothing!"

Athen's expression softened, but her resolve did not waver. "You and Jette were never meant to entwine. The laws of the gods are absolute, as immutable as the stars," she said, gesturing toward the glittering constellations.

The moment hung between them, a fragile thread stretching taut. Aether's hand brushed against the wound once more, crimson staining his fingers as he desperately attempted to stitch together the remnants of their love. But he knew, deep down, it was no use.

"I'm pregnant, My Lady," he whispered in a tone that trembled between hope and despair. "Jette and I have created life."

Athena let out a chilling laugh, her voice echoing through the trees, hollow and mocking. "That child will be dead before it draws breath. You think love can defy the will of the gods? Your choice to love a teacher, a demigod even, has condemned you both."

Aether's fury ignited. "You think you can dictate the course of our lives? If you think this is an ending," he hissed, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper, "you'll see where this darkness leads us. You don't know what he is capable of, My lady!"

Aether's anger manifested, shadows pooling around him and Jette, dark tendrils spiraling into the air, twisting and curling like some sinister leafy vine. Athena shivered, momentarily frozen by the raw power emanating from Aether.

Suddenly, an otherworldly presence enveloped them, dimming the moon's light. Nyx, the primordial goddess of night, arrived in a rush of ethereal darkness. Her presence was heavy, and sorrow narrowed her haunting eyes as they settled on the lifeless body of her son, Jette.

"The gods cannot intervene," she spoke, her voice a velvet caress that wrapped around Aether, soothing the raw edges of his anguish. "They witness, but they do not protect. I can offer sanctuary, Aether."

Chiron held Athena back, sensing the power radiating from Nyx. "You cannot take him!" Athena protested, her voice rising with urgency. "This is the will of the gods! He is olympus' child!"

Nyx's gaze was granite, firm as it lingered on Athena. "You think your will is greater than that of the primordial? Your laws do not bind me, nor do they protect the souls crushed beneath their weight." Her eyes softened, focusing on Aether. "I weep for my son and for the love you nurtured with him. Come with me."

Aether looked up at Nyx, his heart shattering into a million pieces, the urge to hold his lover and the desire to escape the clutches of divine justice battling within him. "But Jette... I can't lose him. I can't..."

"I will take you both," Nyx promised, her voice as soft as the night itself, as she knelt beside them. "In the heart of the eternal darkness, I can bring your love back to where the shadows rule. Your child will be safe with me—protected in the depths of night. And justice, the justice you both deserve, will be yours."

Aether held onto Jette tightly, his heart racing at the possibility of salvation as he nodded, his voice trembling, "Yes. Please. I'll do anything to save him."

With a wave of her hand, darkness swirled around them, enveloping Aether and Jette. The world of Valencia Academy faded, the biting judgment of the gods replaced with the warmth of Nyx's embrace.

Aether locked eyes with the Goddess standing before him, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "May you shield the school... while I prepare to bring it to ruin," he murmured, his voice low and tinged with menace.

??? - 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

The darkness of the mansion enveloped me like a heavy shroud, the obsidian walls pulsating softly with the haunting whispers of Tartarus. I jolted awake, my heart racing, the remnants of a feverish dream still clawing at the edges of my consciousness. I had been running through a labyrinth, deep within the shadows. Fleeting images of my parents, their faces twisted in anguish, skittered away as the darkness consumed them.

Nyx was the one who shared the stories with me, though Aunt Melinoe would often tell the same tales. It wasn't long before those stories began to haunt my dreams, lingering in the shadows of my sleep.

With trembling hands, I ripped the covers off and sat upright in the bed. Bolting to the mirror in my room, looking at my face.

I screamed, the sound echoing off the walls, earning my own attention as I slammed my fist against the glass.

The mirror crack'd, spiderwebs of fractures splintering across the surface. I pulled back, a sharp sting enveloping my hand. I looked down to see blood oozing from the gash, thick and dark, pooling on the floor beneath me. A wicked grin crept across my face despite the pain. "You will get your justice," I whispered to the shards of the broken mirror. "You both will."

Dressing quickly, I pulled on my black suit and polished shoes, slicking back my hair with a practiced grace. Each movement felt like a ritual, a prayer laced with vengeance. As I left the room, and made my way down the cold marble hallway. Every step carried the weight of destinies intertwined, and I felt their sorrow pressing against me like a weight that refused to be lifted.

I arrived outside the grand room adorned with gilded finishes and elaborate chandeliers. My parents lay before me in separate glass coffins, their faces unblemished and serene as if they were merely asleep. My birth-father Aether looked as regal as he must have during his tenure as the founder of Valencia Academy. Beside him, my other father Jette wore an elegant suit, a ghostly remnant of his past life. They were perfect, untouched by time, and yet utterly unreachable.

I approached them, my heart aching in a way I could barely articulate. Both were trapped within this mausoleum of glass and gold, and I, their mystery child, was left to grapple with the gods who had wronged them.

"Soon," I whispered, resting my hands against the coffins, feeling the coolness of the glass beneath my fingertips. "The time is near, and the gods will fall." My breath hitched at the thought—images of revenge danced tantalizingly in my mind.

"Why do you linger here when your destiny awaits?" a voice broke my reverie, and I turned to see Hypnos, the god of sleep, slipping silently from the shadows. His presence was tranquil yet unnervingly commanding.

Scoffing, I brushed him off, my patience wearing thin. "I don't care for your dream-spun school, Hypnos. The realm of the living no longer holds my interest."

"Valencia Academy needs you, my young council member," he insisted, his eyes heavy with the hidden darkness of sleep. "The fragile balance is shifting, and without your guidance, everything could unravel. You owe it to them—to your parents."

With a deep, shuddering breath, I looked back to my parents. "I promise I'll make you proud," I murmured. "I'll fulfill the prophecy, and I'll make sure those responsible for your pain suffer. You'll rise all over again."

˜"*°• Author's note •°*"˜

Hey, does Jette ring any bells for anyone? He's Aether's lover in an alternate universe! I struggled to find a name that suited Aether's partner, so I went with Jette, an OC from my super talented friend sulzzi_ 🤭

Big shoutout to the Discord server for giving me the boost I needed to come back, KFKNLAFADFBUAS! Also, as I may have hinted, there's a major character death incoming, and nope, not sorry about it. 

Prepare for me to spoil things for a bit, then vanish again, of course. /hj

1,704 word count