"The room was woven from sunlight."

Dai picked up a pillow, sniffing it, cautiously. He felt nervous prickles run up his spine as he couldn't smell anything. There was no scent anywhere in this place. The heavens were a cold and sterile place and Dai could feel something was wrong. Though the place was bright and warm, there was something shadowed lurking, something evil poisoning this place.

"What are you doing?" Lukas snapped.

Dai tore the pillow in half.

"Go ahead, destroy my room," Lukas said, sarcasm lacing his tone as Dai looked through the stuffing. Nothing. When was the last time something living was in this room? "Want to tear up some more pillows? Eat a couple of socks?"

"When was the last time you were in here?" Dai asked.

Lukas's face scrunched. "At least ten, twenty years," he said. "Why?"

"It smells weird," Dai said, running his finger along the bed expecting to find dust. But there was nothing at all. "This place is weird."

"It's the heavens," Lukas said, shrugging.

"Take me back to the Wild Woods," Dai demanded, crossing his arms. Of all the places he had been, this was by far the worst. Even the Dark Master's Keep was better than this. And that was a place where only shadows and corpses bloomed. Its walls were laced with the stench of death and Dai was its prisoner for lifetimes.

Lukas shook his head. "I can't," he said. "Victoria told me to-"

"Gods Lukas, just don't listen to her," Dai snapped, tail swishing in annoyance. Dai wanted to leave this place, he wanted out. He couldn't be the prisoner of another garden of shadows and corpses.

However, Lukas flinched. "I'm just going to wait her out," he said. "Victoria will blow out some steam and then we can slip out," he said.

Dai narrowed his eyes. "And how long will that take?" he asked. "A day? Two weeks? Ten thousand years?" Dai began to pace back and forth. "You realize what will happen to Honey, right? She'll be dead by nightfall!" he hissed.

"I know!" Lukas snapped. "But I can't defy her. She's my older sister!"

"I defy my brother all the time!" Dai countered.

"Your brother isn't a god!" Lukas said, letting out a sigh. "It's different," he said. "We're different. I'm a god and you're a Mutare. I'm supposed to be perfect. And you... you are just a Mutare. A servant. A mortal."

Closing his eyes, Dai sucked his a breath. Of course, Dai had no idea what it was like to be a god. He didn't know what it was like to have the Balance Goddess for a mother or to be looked up to by every single Lekki. But he knew of pressure. He knew the weight of trying to live up to his family's legacy. He knew the weight of a crown.

He was Daivid Alexander, the Ice Prince of the Wild Woods.

"Poor little god," Dai said, turning away. "All alone in the heavens with no one who loves him," Dai said, his tail flicking. "I bet you think you're such a tragic hero. The youngest son that no one believed in. The one who saves the sister he looked up to."

"Are you trying to pick another fight?" Lukas asked,

"Yes," Dai said. "It's the only thing I'm good at," he said, tilting his head ever so slightly, watching Lukas's expression shift.

Lukas just shook his head. "I'll never understand you."

"That's the way I like it," Dai said. "Now would you care to tear up a couple of pillows with me? Maybe knock over a couple of vases?" He tilted his head.

Golden suns crashed against dark gray waves.

Lukas smirked, shaking his head. "For some reason, you're even more annoying all by yourself," he said, shaking his head as he turned to the door. "And I suppose we're going to be spending an eternity like this," he said, dark eyes looking at Dai.

His words had taken Dai off guard.  He knew. He knew just what Dai was... or perhaps not what Dai was but he knew enough. He knew Dai wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Lukas knew more than what he should have. Dai's stomach jolted uncomfortably as he looked at Lukas with cautious eyes. Lukas met his gaze with the same ferocity.

It was a strange look.

One that Dai had not seen in a very long time. In all truths, Lukas resembled his mother greatly. He looked a lot like the half-brother he had in the Dark Master. His eyes held the same look. The same transparently. And suddenly Dai felt a twist occur in his stomach as he saw what he always saw upon looking into the eyes of another living being.

Glimpses of what was. What had past. And some of what had come. He felt his breath catch in his throat as he realized the path they were walking.

"I feel sorry for you," Dai said.

"Why?" Lukas asked. "I'm too smart for my own good?" he asked, with an arrogant smirk that Dai saw so plainly through. "You're way too powerful for a regular mortal."

Dai recoiled. "What? No," he said. "Honey obviously told you." It was fun to watch a god's arrogance crumble in his palm. "I'm sorry that you never had a mother who loved you. One who just pointed you in one direction and told you to kill," he said, watching Lukas flinch.

And then he chuckled. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "It's... normal."

"It's cruel."

Another flinch. Lukas seemed distressed now as he turned away. "The Balance Goddess is neither cruel nor caring. She is just," he said. "It is my duty to protect the balance. To find the balance of the Dark Master and return order to the world." He spoke with such determined pride it almost hurt Dai to destroy it.

"And what about your balance?" he asked.

"What?" Lukas asked.

Dai pulled his lips into a thin line. "What about your balance, sixth child of Sun?" Dai asked, not for the first time. "Where's your sixth child of Moon?" he asked. "Or, are you the Dark Master's balance, if the Lady of Light is dead?" Dai frowned. "Stars can see the future, you know. Maybe they saw the Lady of Light being killed."

"Or they saw the birth of Moon's sixth," Lukas said. His voice was very low and filled with emotions. "Looking back... I don't remember much about that day. I was with my sister," he said. "And she killed the child's mother. I never understood that woman. How she could birth something so monstrous then give her life to save it."

"She loved it," Dai said, simply.

"I didn't understand that." Lukas pressed his brows together. "Because I knew my mother wouldn't give her life for me. For any of us. And back then... I thought she loved us." He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm envious of my balance. I'm envious they had at least one parent who loved them." He looked at Dai. "But... I don't think they ever died. Because the very next day, it began to snow."

"I don't remember it," Dai said, simply. He didn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

His ear twitched.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

*why you always lying* starts playing in the background.