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It wasn’t everyday that Dharkon was surprised, nothing could exactly phase the God of Darkness and Chaos, he tended to pride himself on that fact.
…That was until he witnessed his guards dragging in what appeared to be one of the Goddess of Light, Galeem’s servants. High ranking one at that, by the looks of the white robe with golden accents adorned on it, a servant who in fact was, kicking and screaming at his own personal assistants.
“Let me go you bastards! You guys are lucky I didn’t rip that one guy’s ear off! Ngh-! Lemme go!
The Dark God sat up in his throne in both curiosity and mild irritation, it was a goddamn teenager by the looks of it. The girl’s long white hair was an absolute mess and so was her robe; unbefitting, and honestly quite unexpected of a servant of Galeem, that woman was such a neat freak when it came to the state of her people.
”Sir.” One guard approached the foot of his throne, head bowed in respect, “We found this girl near the castle, she’s one of Lady Galeem’s. Put up one hell of a fight when we tried to detain her, even bit one of our men in the ear.”
“And I’ll fucking do it again if you so much as TOUCH me again you fucks!”
“Quite the mouth on her.” Dharkon deadpanned, but sighed and signaled for his guards to unhand the girl, not wanting to hear her demands to not touch her anymore, the teen shook herself out with a scoff, and glared at a guard, who made a 'tsk' noise at her audacity.
The girl’s ego didn’t last long, her expression becoming that of fear when she locked eyes with the God of Darkness, his face sprouting a grin at the sudden change in attitude.
He was amazed at the chaotic energy the girl radiated, her aura just screamed destructive power.
”And who might you be? Not every day my guards get their asses beat, you must be well trained~” Dharkon said, a hint of smug playfulness in his tone.
He was trying to ignore the discomfort he felt, at how similar the girl’s eyes were to his own.
“I-I’m none of your business.” The girl, who admittedly, tried to keep a brave front, he’ll give her that, but the nervousness was obvious.
“Is that so? You’re the one who made a big ol’ scene and invaded my realm. Aren’t you aware of the feud Galeem and I have between each other? I believe an explanation is owed to me, brat.”
“I-…”
(A few hours ago)
Crazy sighed as she tossed yet another spell book to the side and leaned her head back against the bookshelf she was sitting against. The library was somewhere she felt like she spent most of her time in.- hard to really be anywhere else when everyone and their mother hated you.
Not like she blamed them. The people of the Light Realm were so much better than her, they were perfect, put together, knew how to control their powers, all “prim and proper”, and most importantly, sane. The complete opposite of her, so most days when she wasn’t being everyone’s little errand girl, the only thing she apparently could kinda do right, she found herself in the library, the only place people wouldn’t stare at her and talk about her right where she could hear them.
“You see that girl? The one with the ugly hair? I heard she’s one of Lady Galeem’s servants.”
”Her?! That’s impossible! Leona’s nothing but trouble! Always going out and causing some kind of problems! She can’t even run mail for people the right way!”
”I don’t know why Lady Galeem bothers keeping that brat around.”
”She’s too much of a nuisance, someone with powers like her should be locked up with the key thrown out.”
“One of these days she’s gonna hurt someone, and we’ll all say ‘I told you so’ when that happens, just you wait.”
”Why does her brother even bother protecting her?”
“Gah! Stupid ass thoughts!” Crazy exclaimed, hitting her head with a fist to try and clear those damn voices out of her head again. She was not a nuisance, and she was just as good as her brother was! People just don’t think before speaking anymore…
Much like you. Do you even think? Or do you just mindlessly follow wherever your brother goes?
She groaned, all she wanted was to learn some goddamn spells without someone telling her no for once, and here she was, reminiscing on all the shitty things people have said about her shitty personality and powers. It wasn’t her fault she was born chaotic!
At least she’s trying to fit in…
“One of these books has to have a spell I can do right?!” She thought to herself amidst all of the other spell books that lay scattered around her, using her telekinesis to bring a book with a red cover and golden letters on the cover, she tried skimming through it’s contents to try and find something that was compatible with her chaotic powers.
It was one of the downsides of being an entity of chaos in a realm of Light and Order, most spells normal residents here are able to cast and use, but for whatever reason, Crazy herself is the only exception. Awesome. Great.
“Lets see…no not that…that won’t work with my powers…no, no, no…what the heck was that spell?!…No…Oh! What’s this?”
She leaned closer to the page, trying to read the cursive handwriting in it, god she can’t read stuff like that. Seeing as it might just be something she could try out.
”Summoning a portal…? I mean-…Technically summoning is still creation, but I’m preeeetty sure Oli has done the same spell as this, and it went fine. If he could do it, so can I.”
She refuses to be behind him, she’s not weak. And she can do the shit her brother does. She’s not below him like the people here tend to think she is. Just because he has a mentor and support and people that like him and will support him does not mean he’s more powerful!
…Shit, she was getting lost in her thoughts again. Time to focus, girl.
Reading over the spell, Crazy closed her eyes and tried to focus on her own chaos powers, praying they wouldn’t go haywire and mess things up like it usually does whenever she does something like this…too much property has been damaged enough.
Raising her left hand, she grabbed what seemed to be just nothing, purple sparks crackled around her knuckles like electricity, signaling her powers gearing up as she pulled the air apart like a curtain.
…Nothing.
“God dammit! I Knew it wouldn’t work!” She mentally berated herself for thinking such a stupid thing could be achieved. What was she thinking? Trying to actually accomplish something for once?
“This is stupid…” Crazy muttered under her breath, slamming the old book shut and tossing it to the side, “I should’ve just accepted that my powers just don’t work, I’m not like Oli, I can’t do the same shit he does, I should probably just go back home- huh?”
She turned her head when she heard crackling behind her, only having a split second to process the giant, pitch black portal behind her before being sucked into it, her shrill scream only being heard by the librarian for only a split second, before the portal closed.
~
”Ugh…what the fuck…?” Crazy groaned, opening her eyes, to see not the library, or even the light realm itself, but quite the opposite, the world around her was of darkness, the air felt like pure chaos and fear, something that normally would send shivers down the spine of a regular person.
…It was oddly comforting to her.
She stood up from her spot on the ground, not bothering to dust off her robe, it’ll just get dirty again, trying to find somewhere she could ask for help, or at least directions home, she failed to see the giant gothic castle towering right over her head.
“…Maybe I really am the dumber twin.” Crazy said out loud, looking up at the castle in awe. I mean, don’t get her wrong, Galeem’s castle is cool and all, but this is just sick.
“Hey! You there!” A voice shouted to her, gaze snapping over to see what appeared to be guards of this world’s God, “Shit, that robe, that’s one of Galeem’s servants!”
“Woah woah woah!” She took a few steps back, hands up in mild surrender, “I don’t exactly mean any harm y'all, I just accidentally ended up here, that’s all!”
“Psh, yeah right kid, don’t act stupid, Galeem and our Lord have had a rivalry for centuries, how do we know you’re not some spy she sent to us huh?” One guard stated, before reaching for a pair of handcuffs to put her in, “Now come on, you don’t wanna give us a hard time eh?”
”Oh HELL NO!” She screeched, using her elbow to sock the guard in the jaw when he attempted to grab her wrists, the others immediately jumping up to try and get a hold of her.
Crazy was not about to go down without a fight, grabbing the poor guy she elbowed, she kicked him into another guard, and head-butted another, letting out a yelp of surprise when a guard managed to get behind her to put her in a headlock.
”Jesus Christ girl, you’re the one who entered enemy territory, why so surprised when you suddenly get arrested for doing so.”
She struggled in the guard’s grip, “Because like I told you I didn’t mean to end up here, but you assholes won’t listen! Let. Me. Go!”
”Yeah right, “accidentally”, tell that to our Lord, I’m sure he’ll have a blast hearing that bullshit.”
Crazy got fed up, using her head to do a backwards head-butt into the guard’s nose, who let out a surprised yelp, turning her head, she bit down on his ear hard.
”OW! FUCK YOU LITTLE PSYCHOPATH!”
The teen only had a second when she was let go, before being roughly grabbed by several guards, the faint clink of the handcuffs sealed her fate as she was escorted inside the castle, albeit with very much resistance from her side.
(Present time)
“Huh, so that’s what happened, hmm~?” Dharkon hummed, resting his head on a fist lazily, “And do tell, why should I let you go, brat? You attacked not one, but several of my guards, why I should lock you up as an example to Galeem and her servants.”
Crazy went pale at the suggestion, her mind racing with ways she could possibly avoid being locked up forever, her fingers messing with the cuffs trying to break them.
”Now now, I wouldn’t try to get out of those cuffs young lady, after all you’re in the presence of a God, I’d just smite you down instantly.”
He smirked when she froze, the grip on the cuffs relaxing as Crazy Hand gave up the fight.
”Now, tell me your name, child.”
”And why should I do that?” She snapped.
The Dark God laughed at her attitude, “Because maybe I wanna be nice today and let you go, but your foul attitude is making it quite difficult for me to want to do that.”
”Now, your name?”
“I-It’s…-
-LEONA!!” A voice shouted from the corridor outside the throne room, muffled protests from guards followed by the sound of sprinting, as another one of Galeem’s servants ran into the room frantically, tailed by Dharkon’s guards who tried to catch the servant.
Crazy grunted when she was tackled in a hug by the second servant, who looked very similar to her, except the newcomer appeared to be male, and had neater hair. Twins. Dharkon concluded, these two must be twins.
He hated how similar their eyes were to his own. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about these two.
How this teenager managed to evade his guards and make it all the way up here without being caught beat him. Though he was mildly impressed at the feat.
”Leona, thank the light you’re okay! You didn’t get hurt at all, did you?!” Master Hand questioned, checking his twin sister for any signs of injury, letting out a sigh of relief when he found none, instead switching to lecturing Crazy.
”What were you thinking?! Coming to the Dark Realm?! You could’ve gotten yourself killed!” He exclaimed, shaking her by the shoulders.
”I-I-“
”Excuse me.” Dharkon interrupted, leaning forward in his throne, “I believe I was having a conversation with her, how did you even get past my guards, you little shit?” He asked, a hint of annoyance in his tone at the rude intrusion.
”S-Sir.” Master Hand straightened up at the tone, bowing his head in slight respect (or fear-) at the Dark God, “I deeply apologize for any trouble caused by me or my sister, but I believe that we do not belong here, and I ask that you let us both go.”
”O-Oli…” Crazy muttered, tugging on her brother’s sleeve to get his attention, she had that look in her face whenever something was deeply wrong. Whenever her powers told her something she couldn’t let go of. Master Hand gently nudged her in reassurance before turning back to Dharkon.
”We mean no harm, I promise you. Whatever assumptions you may have isn’t true, please just let this one moment go, and you’ll never see us again. I promise.”
Dharkon sighed. These two children interested him greatly. Especially the girl. Why was someone who held so much chaotic and dark energy in them living in the Realm of Light? It didn’t make sense, neither did his gut basically screaming at him saying that these two kids were more than they appeared to be, but nonetheless, they were just kids. He’d have mercy today.
”Fine. But if I catch wind of a potential attack from Galeem, or see you two here ever again, I will not be so gracious. Do I make myself clear?” He growled, a hint of dark energy seeping behind him in a terrifying aura.
It was really just a means of scaring the two, just an empty threat he didn’t mean. But it seemed to work, seeing the pair of twins tense up and nod frantically. Letting out a huff, he made a curt nod to a guard next to him, who approached Crazy, and unlocked her handcuffs, the girl rubbing her wrists in relief.
”Now begone, both of you.” Dharkon demanded, “My guards will escort you both out, I assume at least one of you knows how to get back to the Realm of Light?”
Master Hand nodded, “I do sir, thank you kindly for your mercy.” He bowed his head, before turning around to leave with his sister, a protective hand on her back as they both got escorted out of his castle.
Only once the giant doors closed, did he finally groan, slouching down in his throne in exhaustion.
”Sir…?” His right-hand woman asked quietly, a tiny hint of concern in her voice.
”I’m fine, Ayana, just a lot on my mind right now.”
”I can tell. Those two definitely were…interesting, your highness, especially the girl. I could sense great chaos energy in her.” Ayana commented, not keeping her eyes off of the door, “I wonder what a young lass like her was doing in the Light Realm instead of somewhere like here.”
Dharkon hummed in agreement, he was glad he wasn’t the only one who noticed that, but he still couldn’t get the thought out of his head that those two were supposed to mean something to him. He wanted to ask more questions, to get to the bottom of it, but alas, he just had to let them go.
Was Galeem hiding something from him?
~
The walk outside was quiet, neither the guards nor the siblings said anything, Master Hand kept sending concerned glances to Crazy, who had her head down, a hand gripping his robe nervously. Something was obviously on her mind. But he wouldn’t press until they were both back at home safely.
Master Hand quietly thanked the guards when they got outside and turned to face away from them all, hating the feeling of being stared at as he held up his pointer finger and drew a large circle in the air, which created a portal back to the Light Realm, not wanting to stay here any longer, they both stepped into it.
”Jeez, that was actually surprisingly easier than I expected…” Master Hand commented, stretching out his limbs and turning to face Crazy, “How the hell did you manage to get yourself in the Dark Realm Leona? Are you insane?! You could’ve gotten killed!”
They both remember Galeem, and her stories of the Dark Realm, along with the terrifying God that inhabited it. Dharkon. The tales she used to tell the two when they were younger about his dangerous and cruel feats, as well as her own personal battles with the God were enough to terrify the siblings into never even wanting to attempt accessing the Dark Realm.
Crazy Hand opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it, looking off to the side as if contemplating even saying what she discovered. Master Hand must’ve caught onto that, gently resting a hand on her arm and squeezing it reassuringly.
”Lee…? Is everything okay? You…haven’t exactly spoken a word this whole time.”
She took a deep breath and looked her brother in the eyes, the same heterochromic blue eyes with a golden hue around the pupils stared at each other as she spoke up.
”You know my ability to scan things and see the status of them…? That God, Dharkon? When-…When I first entered the throne room and saw him, my powers scanned him, you know what they told me?’
Master Hand looked at Crazy with a curious look, tilting his head as a means to say “Go on.”
”It…It told me that he was related to us, that he was supposed to be something to us, I-…I don’t know what to make of it…
But the weirdest thing? The same results show up for Lady Galeem whenever I scan her too. I just…never said anything because I just assumed my scanning abilities were wrong, but now…now I don’t think it’s a mistake…”
All Master Hand could do was stare at his twin in disbelief, “C-Could this mean-
-That Galeem lied to us…? Maybe…”
B-But that was impossible! Lady Galeem had told the twins that their biological parents had died when they were babies, and so she took them in under her wing to let them flourish…surely she wouldn’t lie about that…
…Right?
“I-…” Master Hand stuttered, taking a few steps back, “I need to clear my head…”
”W-Wait! What about-!” Crazy shouted, but it fell on deaf ears as her brother took off sprinting to god knows where. Sighing as she ran a hand down her face in exhaustion.
Just what was Lady Galeem hiding from them?
~
Master Hand didn’t know where he was running, just anywhere but here. The sounds of residents residing in the lower level of the realm yelping in surprise when he shoved his way haphazardly between them to get to somewhere more quiet was ignored, running mindlessly until-
“Oof! God dammit watch where you’re going you idiot!” Shouted an all-too familiar voice to Master Hand, snapping him out of his daze when he collided with a person, looking down to see Tabuu on the ground rubbing his side in slight pain. His expression going from angry to neutral when he saw who was the cause of his fall.
”V-Vashran! Thank the light! You-You need to hear this!” Master Hand frantically said, reaching a hand out to help the older boy to his feet, not giving him a moment before going on.
”So, my sister got stuck in the Dark Realm, right? The librarian right down the street came up to me all panicked saying that she heard Leona scream and fall into some portal, so I managed to find her location with the bond we have- but that’s not important.
When I got into the castle in the Dark Realm trying to get her out of there, she had this weird look in her eyes, like something was off, and when we got back here safely, she told me that her scanning ability told her that Dharkon, the God of that place was related to us somehow! Weirdest thing? She said that her powers, on SEVERAL occasions have said the same thing about Lady Galeem, b-but that’s impossible because Galeem told us our parents are dead and-
“-Hooooly crap slow down!” Tabuu interrupted, shaking his head as he was bombarded with information, “Where is all of this coming from? The Dark Realm, parents, Lady Galeem and Dharkon?”
Master Hand took a breath to calm himself down, the nausea in the back of his throat from anxiety not leaving even after he settled down.
Tabuu sighed, turning around and gesturing for the other to follow him.
“So, if I’m getting this straight, Leona thinks that Lady Galeem, and Dharkon, God of Darkness are you and hers’ biological parents…because her powers simply hinted to it?” The older teen stated slowly, waving to a group of fellow servants in a friendly way, he always was the popular one.
”Y-Yeah…I know it sounds weird but…”
Tabuu stopped, head down in thought, before shaking his head in disagreement.
”Actually it makes perfect sense.”
Master Hand paused, looking up at his mentor in shock, “I-…It does?”
“Yep. I mean, I’m surprised no one’s mentioned it or brought it up, she treats you and Leona so much differently than her other servants, in a good way I mean. I used to think it was just because you both were kids, but now I believe it’s something deeper than that…
…Plus you kiiiiinda act like her.”
Master Hand scowled at that last part, “I do not act like Lady Galeem.”
”Yes you do.”
”Nuh uh.”
”Yuh huh.”
A scoff came out of Master Hand’s mouth as the boy crossed his arms and pouted, “In what way am I even like her?!”
“Well, let's see…” Tabuu held up a finger, counting each point he made, “You both have short tempers, you both can create things as well as having powers of light, both of you are perfectionists, and imma be honest, you have the same glare as her, need I go on?”
Master Hand opened his mouth to protest, before immediately closing it, realizing his elder was indeed right.
”Look, I’m not saying your sister is completely right, I’m just sayin’ that you shouldn’t doubt the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Galeem lied to you both about, well, everything.”
”B-But what reason would she have to lie in the first place if we really were her children?! It doesn’t add up!” Master Hand exclaimed, throwing his hands up in confusion.
”Well, a few things possibly.” Tabuu tilted his head in thought, some of his hair getting in his face, “Maybe she wanted to keep you two safe from Dharkon if he was potentially a threat, you both could’ve been born out of wedlock and wanted to keep it secret from everyone, or she just didn’t wanna be a mom, plenty of reasons. Not good ones albeit, but reasons nonetheless.
”…”
”Look.” He began, putting a hand on the younger teen’s shoulder in awkward reassurance, “There’s only so much guessing and theorizing we can do, but that alone isn’t the answer, the only way you’ll ever get a yes or no is if you go confront Lady Galeem herself.”
“I-ugh you’re right…dammit, why are you so logical all the time? Just tell me to bottle it up and jump off a cliff or something like a normal person!”
Tabuu snickered at that, “You wouldn’t get it, there’s not a single logical bone in your body. Now shoo and go get some answers dammit.” A gust of wind pushed Master Hand away from him and towards Galeem’s castle along with any argument he had.
”You’re not even gonna give me any time to prepare myself?! Just, throwin’ me into this?! What kinda mentor are you!”
”The best kind, now go.”
~
“Lady Galeem.” A voice called out from behind the Goddess of Light, who was admiring the feeling of the black dahlia’s under her fingers that were planted in the castle’s garden, turning to see Master Hand approaching her, eyebrows slightly furrowed together in contemplation.
”Child.” She greeted, slightly nodding her head in acknowledgement of the teen’s presence, “What brings you here?”
The teen didn’t respond immediately, causing the Goddess to raise an eyebrow, while the red blindfold around her eyes inhibited her ability to see (that and she was quite literally blind), she could tell that he was shifting nervously in his spot.
“Before I start…can-…can you promise you won’t get mad?” He asked, cringing at how squeaky his voice came out.
”I see no reason why I would be upset at a question. You may continue.”
”Okay…” Master Hand took a breath to stabilize himself, “You always told Leona and I that our biological parents are deceased, and that you took us in when we were babies…but…Leona told me…that when she scanned you, it showed her something completely different.”
Galeem stilled, she hated where this was going, but nonetheless, she stayed quiet.
”…Leona..accidentally got herself stuck in the Dark Realm, she told me that the God that inhabited it, Dharkon had the same results as it did with you when she scanned him…I-..I do not wish to call you a liar, but I can’t just deny Lee’s abilities either, i-it also makes a lot of sense too, like-
-Oliver.” Galeem snapped, her voice slow, as if trying not to explode on the spot, “You are treading on some mighty thin ice right now…I suggest you choose your next words very carefully.”
Master Hand tensed up at the sudden aggressiveness, but held his ground for once, “I understand it may not be a topic you wish to talk about, but if you could just listen to me-
-I do not want to hear another word!” She yelled, her golden halo of feathers turning bright red at the burst of anger, “You two shouldn’t have even been in the Dark Realm in the first place! Much less speaking with that man! Are you seriously implying that after all these years, I’d just go and lie about everything?!”
”T-That’s not what I mean! You’re twisting my words!”
”Quit arguing with me! You don’t know any better, and you never will! This conversation is over, you hear me!?” Galeem exclaimed, turning a heel and storming off.
”W-Wait!” Master Hand paused when Galeem stopped and turned her head to face him, one of the feathers of her halo latching onto her blindfold to lift it up so she could glare at him, despite this, he still took a shaky breath and spoke.
”J-Just tell me this: …Were Leona’s powers lying to her?”
Galeem’s face fell into that of…regret? Sorrow? The feather lifting her blindfold let it go, and she turned away, about to walk away.
“…That girl’s powers obviously know more than you both think they do.” And with that, she vanished in a bright light.
…
Master Hand felt his legs go weak under him as he collapsed to the concrete ground, that vague implication telling him his answer. All he could really do was stare into space as what felt like his whole world flipped upside down.
He was lied to. Not just him, his twin sister too, their whole lives they believed they didn’t have parents, and that the Light Realm was all they had. Devoting their lives to serving Lady Galeem as a sort or repayment to her for taking them both in as babies when they had no one. All of that, lies. He didn’t know what to make of it. Galeem was his mother. And Dharkon…
…That God that Galeem always made sure to instill the fear of him into himself and Crazy Hand, did he even know he had children, or was he lied to as well? So many questions ran through his head, yet the one person who could answer them probably hated him right now.
Running a hand through his hair and shakily getting up, he made his way back to the living quarters of him and Crazy’s room. Not sure how to even tell her that she was right this entire time.
But one thing was for sure.
He couldn’t stand being here anymore.