In the time before time, when the world was young and the barriers between realms were thin as gossamer, the gods walked freely through their celestial domain. The Eternal City stretched beyond mortal comprehension, its crystalline spires reaching toward infinite skies that shifted between gold and silver with the rhythm of divine breath.
Cassius stood at the edge of the Obsidian Precipice, watching the demon legions train in the valleys below. As the God of Demons, he commanded respect and fear in equal measure, his very presence causing lesser beings to prostrate themselves in reverence. His true form was magnificent and terrible—wings of midnight shadow that could blot out stars, eyes like burning coals that saw through every deception, and a voice that could command the very foundations of reality.
But today, his attention was not on his charges.
"You're brooding again," came a familiar voice behind him.
Cassius turned to see Aurelius approaching, his golden form radiant in the eternal twilight. Where Cassius embodied darkness and power, Aurelius was light and wisdom—the God of Divine Justice, keeper of celestial law, the perfect counterbalance to Cassius's more chaotic nature.
"I'm observing," Cassius replied, though the slight smile that touched his lips belied the formal tone. "There's a difference."
"Is there? Because from here, it looks suspiciously like brooding." Aurelius moved to stand beside him, close enough that their auras intermingled, shadow and light dancing together in patterns that would have driven mortal minds to madness with their beauty.
"The Council is restless," Cassius said, gesturing toward the distant towers where the Elder Gods convened. "Maloch and his faction grow bolder in their rhetoric."
"Let them talk. The Father will not be swayed by Maloch's ambitions."
"Won't he?" Cassius turned to face Aurelius fully. "Have you not felt it? The way the very air grows thick with discontent? Something is coming, my love. Something that will change everything."
Aurelius reached out, his luminous fingers tracing the sharp line of Cassius's jaw. Even in their true forms, the touch sent warmth spreading through both their essences.
"Then we'll face it together," he said simply. "As we always have."
They had been lovers for millennia beyond counting, their bond forged in the earliest days of creation when the cosmos was still taking shape. Where other gods formed alliances based on power or convenience, Cassius and Aurelius had found something rarer—true understanding, the kind of connection that transcended their divine natures and touched something deeper.
"The demons grow restless too," Cassius admitted. "They sense the tension among the gods. Some whisper of rebellion, of casting off the old ways."
"And what do you tell them?"
"I tell them that order serves a purpose. That chaos, no matter how tempting, leads only to destruction."
Aurelius smiled, a expression so radiant it made the surrounding crystal formations hum with harmonic resonance. "My beloved God of Demons, preaching the virtues of order. The irony is not lost on me."
"I am what I am because I understand the necessity of balance. Without justice, my demons would be mindless destroyers. Without demons, your justice would be rigid and merciless."
They stood in comfortable silence, watching the demon legions practice their combat forms. These were not the corrupted beings that would later plague mortal realms, but proud warrior-spirits whose discipline and loyalty to Cassius was absolute.
"There's to be a gathering tonight," Aurelius said eventually. "All the gods, in the Hall of Concordance. Maloch has called for a vote."
"A vote on what?"
"The future of our realm. He claims the old ways have made us weak, that we should expand our influence beyond the celestial boundaries."
Cassius felt a chill that had nothing to do with the eternal winds. "Into the mortal realm?"
"Among other places. He speaks of conquest, of claiming what he calls our 'rightful dominion' over all existence."
"And the Father?"
"Silent, as always. But his silence speaks volumes."
They both knew what that silence meant. The Father—the first and greatest of their kind, the being from whom all other gods drew their power—had been withdrawing for centuries. Some said he was preparing for a great sleep, others whispered that he was simply tired of the constant bickering among his children.
"We should go," Aurelius said. "Whatever happens tonight, we should face it together."
Cassius nodded, though dread coiled in his essence like a living thing. As they prepared to leave the precipice, he took one last look at his demon legions. Something told him it might be the last time he saw them as they were—noble, disciplined, uncorrupted by the darkness that was coming.