Once my daughters had left Veo and I had a long conversation about how he and I are friends and as such he doesn't want me keeping important things like that from him anymore. I told him I would do my very best.
Except that I was keeping from him the fact that I was more than just one person. He knew that I was very powerful and that I went to visit other pantheons but he didn't really know why. Until he asked I didn't think I would tell him either. He really didn't need to know.
There was a war brewing and we could all feel it. There were much more important things to worry about than my secrets. Even though he never mentioned it I knew Veo was feeling it. He was a being of light and there were dark powers brewing. As the goddess of Order I could feel the balance shifting and that was never good.
I was sitting with Bathymaas and Issoro in Bathymaas' temple and we were debating what to do with the upcoming war.
"We are going to have to choose a side and when we do there will be no going back," Issoro said, staring intently at both Bathia and I.
"I am a goddess of Order. I am on my side. I am on the side that maintains balance. You know this as well as I do, Iss," I leaned back and cradled my drink in my hand. It was a deep purple colour and reminded me of a sweet wine.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair and took a large gulp of his drink. "How do we win a war where we can't pick sides?"
"We do not win or lose. We help maintain balance while sparing as many innocent lives as we can." I answered. Bathia remained silent and stared into her untouched drink.
Nobody said anything for a long time and then we left. I had nothing to say. There was nothing to say. We were screwed. I could feel the darkness of Noir, Braith and Azura building and every day the nightmares got worse and their evil gained ground.
I continued the walk up the path to my temple and was stopped when a hand grabbed my shoulder. I whipped around and smacked Apollymi, whipping her to the ground. I could see the fury swirling in her silver eyes and then I gaped as she noticeably pushed it back. Whatever had come over her was more important than her anger at being assaulted and that alone let me know how serious this was.
I stared up at her and wanted to take a step back but I knew this would be perceived as a sign of weakness. "What's wrong?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she did something I would never have expected. She morphed into someone who had haunted my nightmares. Instead of her 6'4 she was now only 5'10, only three inches taller than me. Her blonde hair was now black and her silver eyes were white.
"Braith," I whispered.
"SH!" she hissed and grabbed me, flashing us to the stream where I had first met the six. "Many have ears even where we can not see them."
Her grip was so hard I was sure I would have a bruise when I let go. I jerked my arm out of her grip and tried not to lash out at her. Bringing me here was a terrible idea. I looked around and though the scenery had a changed slightly it still looked similar. All the images from my time with the light and my time with the dark came flooding back.
I counted back from ten and stared into the white eyes that had haunted me for years. "What do you want?" I spat out.
She sneered at me, "Were it not for the fact that the universe would implode if I killed you I would have done so long ago," she then took a deep breath and took some of the hatred from her face. "My brother and sister are trying to overthrow the gods and split the land between us," a happy look came into her eyes at the thought of the destruction that would entail, "But they mean to kill or imprison every god when they do it. Including my husband."
"I don't see how this has anything to do with me," I responded curtly and turned to leave.
"Wait!" there was something in her voice that I had never heard before - desperation. "I need your help. Please. You're the only one powerful enough to stop them."
I turned to her. "If I do this for you, you must swear to me something,"
Her face darkened but she acceded, "Anything,"
"If I do this for you, and save this world you must promise me that you will never harm me or my family directly or indirectly. You will extend your protection to them to the best of your abilities for the rest of eternity. If they have even a drop of my blood this applies." I stated, glaring up at her.
The wind blew around us, not cooling the oppressively hot environment. It just moved around the humid air. I felt a drop of sweat roll down my back and I fought the urge to wipe it. I could see the indecision in her eyes for only a few moments before she nodded.
"I swear," She said. And when an Atlantean god took an oath they had to uphold it or they died so I knew that I could trust her.
I nodded back at her. "Then I will do whatever I can to keep them from finding you, and from accomplishing this."
She then did something that I expected even less than her asking this favor. She came over and hugged me. I tensed, my hands at my sides. I wasn't sure why she was shaking until I felt wetness on my shoulder. She was crying.
Awkwardness consumed me and I didn't know how to respond. This was the ultimate destroyer crying on my shoulder. She was showing me a side that I'm sure no one but her had ever seen.
"Braith, please don't cry," I patted her head awkwardly.
She leaned back and wiped her tears away angrily. "Don't call me that. That part of me is gone," The imperious tone of her voice was back. This was the Apollymi I knew.
"Then what shall I call you?"
"Just Apollymi," she said. The glare was gone and now replaced with gratitude and something that looked suspiciously like respect. "This doesn't make us friends," she said in tone that implied otherwise.
"I don't think we could ever truly be friends after what you and your siblings put me through." I replied. "Allies is what we are now, Apollymi."
She inclined her head respectfully and left. I let out my breath in a deep sigh. I had no idea how I was going to do this, but I knew it wouldn't be easy. I flashed back to my temple in Kalosis to find Veo cooking once again. It smelled delicious and reminded me a lot of the smell of Italian cuisine.
I walked over and wrapped my hands around his waist, leaning into his back. He smelled so good it was intoxicating and I relaxed immediately. He smelled like sandalwood and spruce trees. He must have spent a lot of time with the humans today. He always smelled a little like the nature that he spent his time in and I loved it.
"I didn't think you would be home so soon," he said, a smile in his voice. He placed his hand on mine and squeezed. He then brought my hands up to his lips and kissed each one. Not really something a friend would do but in that moment all I could feel was the fluttering in my stomach and the warm feeling I was getting. I smiled into his back and then he turned around.
He looked down at me with amber eyes and smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. I reached up and cupped his face in my hands.
"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to smooth out the frown that had appeared on his face.
"We're being called to war. To protect the humans."
Fear shot through me at the thought of him going out to war. I couldn't lose him. If I lost him I would lose a piece of myself with him. I wanted to ask him not to go, to stay with me and forget about the war and everyone else in the world. But I couldn't. I had made a promise to Apollymi and I would see it through, no matter what.
"I wish you didn't have to go." I said and tears welled up in my eyes. One spilled out and I cursed myself for it. I hated to cry and I had promised myself that I never would again after the hundreds of times I did in Azmodea. I dropped my hands from his face and hugged myself, unsure of why I was suddenly feeling so attached to him. We were just friends. Weren't we?
But in my heart I knew that wasn't true.
He leaned in and kissed the tear away and I closed my eyes, savouring the feel of his lips on my cheek.
"I wish I did not have to go, also." He whispered. He leaned his forehead against mine and held me close. "You should eat something. I know you don't unless I feed you."
I nodded and pulled away, taking a deep breath to calm myself. I was overreacting. I was also going to be going to war and I'm sure I would be fine. We all would. I controlled Order. If I let Order get too out of hand I would become Chaos and I would be the only thing alive.
He put a plate of something that looked suspiciously like spaghetti in front of me and I picked at it but didn't really eat it. I wasn't hungry. I looked up at him and could see the concern on his face. All I wanted to do was drag him upstairs to my bed and keep him there for eternity. Instead, I dutifully twirled the pasta and ate it, not really tasting it as it went down.
Once I was done we just sat there in silence. He reached over to touch my hand.
"I will be alright," he said gently, as if I was frail.
"You don't know that," I said weakly, knowing that I was being unreasonable. Everyone dies - well except for immortals but even so they usually died eventually too. I just didn't want him to get hurt.
His brow furrowed again, "Why does this hurt you so? I thought that you wished us to be simply friends?"
I looked away from him, not wanting to tell him the truth. "I care about you, Veo,"
"And caring makes you feel this?" he seemed genuinely confused but part of me wondered if he was just hoping there was more to it than that.
"Yes," I said.
"And how do you know if you care about someone or if you love someone?" he asked and held my gaze in his. His voice was so smooth it was like silk and the accent never failed to give me shivers. The longer he spoke the more soothed I felt.
"Caring is when you hurt when they hurt and you're happy when they are happy. Loving is when being away from them is painful and they are all you ever thin about. You would die to make them smile and you can't imagine a world without them." I said and looked away from him again. My voice was quivering and I was trying very hard not to break down. I was stronger than this. He hadn't even fought yet.
"Then I must love you." he said it so simply yet my heart soared when he said it and that was when I knew that I was lost to him.
Tears spilled over the edges of my eyes and I stood from my seat and went into his open arms. "Oh, Veo," I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him with all the love that I had been hiding. We flashed upstairs to the bedroom and our clothes were off in the same instant.
Lying in bed with him after being so close made me feel so calm. I was complete when I was with him. He was pressed against my back and I was lying on his biceps. His knee was in between my legs and his other arm was curled around me, cupping my breast. I felt so safe in his arms. I never wanted to leave them again. Too bad nothing was ever that simple.
I awoke to a pain that I had never felt before. I screamed out and Veo jerked awake but I couldn't stop. So many images were flooding my mind that I couldn't control them. I tried to focus on just one and all I got was a sense of evil so profound that it made me want to hide.
I flashed clothes on and went to the source of the problem. Standing was a creature that was so evil it defied explanation. I didn't even look at him straight on for fear of seeing through his eyes into the depths of the most evil. Beside him stood a Sephiroth that I couldn't recognize and Apollymi - well, Braith since she had black hair and white eyes.
"What is this?" I asked, sounding much calmer than I felt. But as I looked between Braith and the Sephiroth, and then looked to the man I knew. This was her child. This was the real reason I needed to keep Noir and Azura from conquering the world. They would put her son to death.
"My son has just come into his powers," she answered as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"An evil this great can not be in the world without dire consequences," I said in a warning tone.
He looked at me and then I felt the evil receding. It was still there and the penchant for destruction was there but there was some sentience to this evil now. A small light in the darkness. But there was no mistaking that this man was evil.
"Keep him in check," I said to her and flashed out again, balance being restored with the return of sentience to the man.
When I flashed back into my temple I arrived to see Veo pacing like a caged tiger. As soon as I arrived he whirled and swooped me into his arms into a tight hug. I smiled and hugged him back tightly, although the looming war dampened my happiness I closed my eyes and wished that this moment would last forever.