40XX

Living Hell

Nepthys threw Llyr into a wall, his face battered and bloodied with his black blood, he stood weakly and wiped his lips.

"You cannot posses humans, Llyr. They aren't meant to hold your power or any of ours!" Nepthys yelled, her sibling, Themis, standing by her.

"That cat thing could handle it." He spat some blood onto the floor, noticing Octave behind the Gods before him. "Besides... If you want a war you should keep Law out of it." His eyes darkened, running at Themis kicking off of them and getting caught midair by his brother.

Octave flew them out of the area, landing in a clearing in the clouds. Llyr sat and looked out at the sky, his white hair flowing in the light breeze. Octave chirped quietly, inching closer to Llyr.

"Yeah, I'm good." Llyr responded, smiling. "Do you remember dad? Our old home?"

His bat Animorph brother tilted his mute head, he squeaked a bit, Llyr holding up his hand.

"Octave. I told you. He wasn't nice. He would beat us, Octave!" He stood. "He was-" he paused. "Forget it." He sat down, looking at the sky again.

He thought back to his life. How he was an astral being, not yet a god, given to the Elder God of death with Octave and Baransu. Octave grew up loving art and was forced to do horrible things by the Elder God of death.

Llyr remembered days where Octave would stop talking and just sit and stare until spoken too. Weeks of silence between the three brothers because the normally happy Octave was gone. The Elder God of death would force him to kill mortals and make them into grotesque statues and sculptures, which soon became Octave's favorite game. Octave's mind soon broke from the torment and pain and he became more animal than Animorph. He no longer spoke, only squeaking and clicking, he would eat, sleep, and react like a beast. He started eating while perched on the roof, tearing and ripping the flesh aggressively. He would sleep perched above Llyr, chirping lightly throughout the night. He was mentally stunted. Stuck in a childish mental space until he snaps and goes into his training.

Octave wasn't the only one hurt. Llyr endured vigorous training in causing death and destruction. Llyr was the only one who even slightly accepted his training. He quickly gave into his mentor's will, letting him mold him into a cruel God of Chaos. He can't remember the days he trained, inly the pain of his brothers. Baransu, however, never revealed his training, but he did become two separate people somewhere along the way. One that was chill and peaceful, a relaxed trickster without a care. The God of Tranquility. The other side was a disgusting beast of war and death. The ruthless God of Bloodshed. All in one body.

Llyr snapped back to his senses when he heard Octave's frantic chirping and squeaking, the developmentally disabled god was scared that Llyr was mad. Llyr pet Octave's head, chuckling.

"Don't worry, Octave. Everything's okay." He smiled, looking at his brother.

Octave smiled and chirped happily, seeing the black smoke that was a sign of Llyr's healing ability. Llyr looked at the main hall where he just got the shit beat out of him instead of fighting. He sighed, looking at his now distracted brother again. Octave was chasing a small glowing butterfly, like the many that were in the realm of the gods. He finally caught it and brought it to Llyr, grinning excitedly as he did. He was such a child.

They soon received a summon from Nepthys to come to the planning room.

"Octave. Let's go." Llyr sighed and held his hand up.

Octave smiled and took off quickly, grabbing Llyr with his feet and heading to the planning room. When they arrived, the war planners were all there. Baransu, Nepthys, Themis, and now Llyr and Octave.

"We have a change in the plan. Octave, Llyr, and Themis are going to run surveillance in the mortal realm. The rest of us will stay here. Do you concede?" Nepthys asked, her eyes flashing an aggressive dominance, one that said she demanded a yes.

"Fine. Don't got a choice anyway. When do we start?" Llyr grinned.

Octave looked at the group, his tall body shaking. He may be the oldest of the Chaos Brothers, but he wasn't able to show it. He squeaked and shrunk into himself slightly. This was bad, very bad. Something bad was gonna happen. He hated this feeling. This stupid feeling of fear and mistrust, but here he was, feeling it. This was a living hell...