#ancient versions

Polydeukes and his golden steed, Phlogeus, flew through the air back towards where he knew his brother Kastor was waiting. He could have teleported, but he knew what was coming, and he wanted to enjoy this beautiful world while he still could. He wished Venat hadn’t told him what was to come – they had argued for the first time in ages over it, for all that it couldn’t be undone – but he guessed there was something to be said for having this time. He’d traveled so much of Etheirys in his time as Azem, and before that as Venat’s protege, he wasn’t sure there was any part of it or its people that he wouldn’t miss. Not that he’d remember it to miss it soon enough, he supposed.

The worst part, he thought, would be possibly losing his brother. They were practically of the same soul – a fact which neither of them was above exploiting for fun and profit, particularly if it came with a side of tweaking Emet-Selch’s nose, since even his Sight had difficulty telling them apart if they weren’t in the same room – but that might not mean much in this new Sundered world that Venat proposed to make. Oh, she said she was trying to avoid having to do it, but he could hear in her voice that she wasn’t really sure it was possible, that whatever had happened at Elpis (she wouldn’t tell him the whole story) had convinced her too deeply that this terrible future was nigh unavoidable. Yet another thing they’d argued about. Polydeukes wasn’t of a mind to just give up like that, and it was baffling to him that his infuriatingly stubborn mentor seemed poised to do just that. Either that, or there was a lot she wasn’t telling him, which.. truth be told, was probably more likely.

He heard an alarmed shout below and turned Phlogeus into a circling dive while he reached out to the beloved other half of his soul, requesting that Kastor join him. As he came closer, he found a truly unsettling creature covered with mouths menacing a group of what he thought were Akadaemia students. He jumped from Phlogeus’s back before the steed had reached the ground, brilliant golden spear materializing in his hands at a thought, and stabbed downwards, using the force of his fall to increase the power of the strike. The creature didn’t fall, though, so he took a defensive stance, using the reach of the spear to herd the creature back away from the students; he could use magicks, but he’d always preferred a more hands-on approach.

Soon, he felt his brother’s approach and knew Kastor would take care of the students, so he transformed the spear into a golden aura around his fists and dashed forward, harrying the creature with blows too fast for it to dodge. It shrieked, the sound layered dissonance from its many mouths that hurt his ears to hear, but he kept up the attack. The creature was faster than it looked, so he had to stay on his toes, but this was hardly his first battle; this creature wasn't as easy to read as most, there being something strange about its aether, but he could adapt. As they fought, he steadily maneuvered it back away from the students, hoping that if he could get enough distance, Kastor would be able to join in. Finally, they must have gotten far enough that his brother felt it safe, because out of nowhere a starry lance fell upon the creature, slamming it into the ground, and Kastor appeared with it, leaping back to land near Polydeukes, glimmering silver lance at the ready. “Need a hand, brother?” he asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t say no. The beastie’s tough. I wonder who’s responsible for this one; I might have to have a word with Hythlodaeus if they're letting things like this through,” Polydeukes replied. Together they laid into the creature, building off each other’s attacks the way they always had, fighting as one entity in two bodies. In the end, the creature was no match for them, and with a final massive uppercut from Polydeukes combined with a downward leap from Kastor, it fell to the ground with a tremendous thud and didn’t get back up. As they watched, still on guard in case it wasn’t actually dead, it crumbled to ash and dissipated into the air. They exchanged a worried glance at that, both of them recognizing that tell-tale sign from Venat’s story (of course Polydeukes had told Kastor, he couldn’t keep a secret from his brother to save his life).

Kastor looked up at the brilliant blue sky with a frown. “I thought this was meant to come with falling meteors and burning sky?”

Polydeukes shook his head, letting the aether around his hands fade, and said, “I know only what she told me. Mayhap whatever showed her what was coming didn’t go this far back. For now, we should patrol the area. If this is the kind of creature she spoke of, there will be more, and.. well, tomorrow might be a very different day. We had best be ready for it.” Kastor nodded, dematerializing his lance, and whistled for Xanthos, his mount. Polydeukes gripped his brother on the shoulder, pressing their masked foreheads together briefly, then let go to climb back onto Phlogeus’s back. “Be safe, brother.” Kastor nodded, blue eyes warm through his mask, and they went their separate-but-still-connected ways, readying themselves for the calamity to come.

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Aedan and Viko are Pollux and Castor (or Polydeukes and Kastor, in Greek). In this time, Kastor is one of Azem's permanent companions and joins him on his travels. They're not anywhere near Amaurot during this story; they just happened to be in the area where the first instance of the Final Days would appear, because Aedan/Azem's timing is exceptional like that.