40XX

Planning and Waiting

Lukas sat, head in his hands as he sat on his throne. His mask was attached to his back, looking as though it was whispering to him in the low light of the candle beside him. The black of the sockets seemed to glow in the faint orange glow. Lukas looked towards the clock he... borrowed... and was shocked to find it was 4 in the morning. The sun would rise soon. He had been so lost in thought that he'd forgotten to go to bed. He stood, grabbing the small candle as he did. He strode down the hallway, his feet making little to no sound as he did so. He peered into Okka's room, the slender frame of the Kitty Deer shifting slowly in his sleep. Lukas tip-toed his way towards Okka's bed, leaning over him before giving him a gentle kiss on his forehead. 

"I know you can't hear me, but I have this feeling, Okka." Lukas whispered to the sleeping Animorph, "It's weird. It's like we're destined to be by each other's side. Meant to stand together. Meant to win this war. It probably sounds stupid but-"

"It doesn't sound stupid." Okka said faintly, turning over slowly in the process. "I've had the same feeling."

"You heard me?"

"Yeah. I'm part cat. An extremely skilled hunter, and part deer an extremely survivalist prey. Both have amazing hearing." Okka chuckled.

"Do you think it's true? Are we meant to be?" Lukas looked at Okka's green eyes, pleading for an answer.

There was silence. Okka stared back at Lukas. Both were trying to find an explanation. Logic had to tie in. It had to right? 

"Yes." Okka replied, his heart skipping a beat in the excitement. "Do you?"

"Yes. But does that mean someone brought us together?"

"Llyr and Baransu did that according to Nepthys." Stewart joked, stepping into the room from his own next door.

"Okay, we need to talk about this eavesdropping shit. Its sus." Lukas joked, turning slightly to Stewart as he sat in a chair in the room. "Who are they? I mean I know Nepthys but not them."

"Who's Nepthys?" Okka asked, leaning out of his hammock slightly.

"Stewart here can see and talk to the gods that control life and existence itself. Nepthys is the Goddess of death. She short-ish and likes to help people avoid death if she can. Sweet girl. She's apparently pretty close to Stewart. Now, who's Llyr and who's Baransu? You've mentioned one of them before." Lukas said, getting closer to Stewart.

"Llyr is the Chaos Bringer. The god that can summon devastating storms at will for fun. He's an axolotl Animorph, though, he never wears pants. Its kinda gross. He uses a magic ball to perfect his spells and magic plagues. He's completely insane according to Nepthys and has an extreme destructive streak. He has a brother named Octave who's a bat Animorph. He's the god of the Arts. He has skeleton-like markings but can't talk. He just squeaks and chirps. Llyr and Baransu understand him though. They're really close. Baransu is they're non-official Brother. He's a Human-Animorph hybrid. He has a split personality, one that's calm and is the God of Tranquility and one that's extremely homicidal and psychotic and is the God of Blood lust. They're all together called the Chaos Brothers. They stick together and if you get one, the others will follow. So Nepthys asked them to create an environment for us to win the upcoming war. Okka will be the figurative Queen and Lukas the figurative King."

Okka and Lukas sat there dumbfounded. 

"Then let's win." Okka said, his energy shifting slightly. "I'm done letting people suffer needlessly." He glared at the floor, his darker aura casting a shadow across the room.

"I do what my gods tell me, so I'm of course ready to fight." 

This made Okka perk up, understanding now that he wouldn't be alone anymore. There was silence as they both looked at Lukas who sat there thinking quietly before chuckling and shrugging. 

"Fuck it. Lets do this. Stewart, tell your gods they're getting their wishes!" He said, chuckling more.

They sat in the darkened room, trying to come up with plans for the war that would begin soon. All three of them were scared, their bodies filled with a sickening doubt, but covering that was a layer of hardcore ambition to change the world that kept fueling their planning. Stewart could feel a change coming. something had shifted in the balance. Something was changing more than they could even fathom. They just had to keep planning and waiting, hoping that nothing would ruin their hard work.