#mithos01

@tragedyswake

She should not be alive, unless, of course, this is what death is like. Is death a city called Fuckoville (how utterly crude) filled with humans and run by a talking bear? At least, she thinks, the humans are decidedly not in charge here. 

If this is death, then she shall spend her time repenting, remembering her failure to adequately serve her Lord Yggdrasill. To think that a woman of her training could not eradicate an obnoxious group of children... But that is not her singular fault: after all, she never truly learned her place, did she? How fitting that she should be housed in a shack on a farm like the humble servant she is. Delusions of a higher status had rightfully been her downfall.

And so she accepts death, that is, until she sees a familiar figure seated at a fountain in an abandoned square in the Quiet Castle region. She had been walking towards downtown when she noticed him there, and she felt her chest tighten. If this is death, then he must be... No. Her initial conclusion must have been incorrect. 

She would not blame him if he would prefer not to see her after her failure and her impudence. But the guilt rises in her throat, spilling admittedly shameful words in a desperate plea for redemption as she kneels before him, head bowed.

For four thousand years you existed in a completely idle state, unmoving and unchanging, and yet here you cannot go four hours without feeling the urge to do something. Sitting still gives you too much time to think, to worry that this is a dream, to worry about what happens if this is reality and you’re taken from it, to worry about Yuan, to worry about everyone you know.

And just like every day, you run until you can’t, force a body that doesn’t need to know exhaustion to feel it in every cell, every muscle fiber, until it’s all you can manage to get home and collapse boneless onto the bed you share with Yuan.

(Some days you don’t make it that far, make it only to Ceasefire and make Yuan carry you home after his shift. Part of you likes those days best.)

Running means people often pass by as out-of-focus blurs, but you always pause for a barely noticeable second when the blur is short and blond. Just in case. You know he’s here, after all.

You know he’s here, and yet you haven’t gone looking for fear of giving away everything with how horrible a liar you are. You aren’t sure if this makes you a good or horrible sister.

Today you pass another blond blur, look out of habit, expect nothing—

Mithos.

You come to a dead halt, ignore the complaints of the surprised stranger who bumped into you, and stare at the little brother you’ve longed to see for millennia.

Yuan says he doesn’t know. And no matter how hard it is, no matter the amount of guilt that churns around in your stomach, you’ve forced yourself to keep away. It’s kinder on him, that way; no boy needs to learn a future so grim and lost as his.

But for all your promises to never find him, to let him live in blissful ignorance, you can see how distressed he is about something. Mithos has always been your weakness, especially when he needs comforting; you find that your feet carry you towards him instead of down the pavement as they should.

“Mithos...?”

----[♕] He really should be looking for his brothers, shouldn’t he? But the snow is so pretty that he can’t resist watching as it flutters to the ground, accumulating in fluffy white piles that glisten beneath the streetlights. It’s a little cold, sure, but there are always shops he could run into if he starts shivering too terribly. 

As he stands fascinated by the snow, he wishes his brothers were here with him. He and Hakuren would probably have a lot of fun playing in the snow together, but Hakuyuu might tell the both of them to stop messing around and get inside. But they could always throw a snowball at him to get him to join in, too. Gosh, where are they? They’re missing out!

He sees another boy who looks at the snow with a similar look in his eye. Hey, maybe Hakuryuu can say hi, and this boy can help him look for his brothers! It’s a lot more fun to do something you need to do if you’ve got company, after all. They can play in the snow and drink hot cocoa while they ask around about two really strong, really amazing men who look a little like Hakuryuu. 

“Hey, there! Isn’t the snow great? It’s so pretty, how it falls! I wish it weren’t so cold, though.”

@lightswake

He needs to find Mithos if he is to end this. Of this fact, he is well aware. Still, armed with a mere mockery of his former weaponry and somehow stripped of his angelic powers, he knows that he cannot hope to face the great Lord Yggdrasill in such a state. 

Yet his breath catches in his throat when he stumbles upon the boy -- well, the man in the form of a boy -- quietly exploring without paying any mind to his surroundings. How strange... It feels like a trap, like Kratos has stumbled upon some situation too lucky to be true. But the ex-knight cannot help but wonder if while the leader of Cruxis smiles at snowflakes spiraling through the clear slate air, he could catch Mithos by surprise. His former friend’s pale, slender neck stretches so invitingly as he gazes at the sky, though Kratos pauses upon seeing something in those wide eyes that he has not seen for thousands of years. Is this the right thing to do?

But he cannot hesitate. While he is not in the state to fight, a swift attack, perhaps, could end this. He feels drunk with optimism -- an unfamiliar sensation, to say the least. For his family’s sake, he must defeat this man so that going forward, he can create a better world.