Lux floated down onto the tile floor of the temple that his old friend owned. They hadn’t been cleaned for several years; Lux guessed. Not since he had last been here, anyway. The moon did not fail to illuminate the sky as it did every night. He took slow strides, glancing at the Greek pillars that constructed his friend’s home. His hands made their way over to the design, rubbing a bit of dust off his fingers. Every inch of this place wasn’t new to him. They spent countless hours speaking about philosophy and mortals here. The smell of nostalgia made its way into his nostrils as if it was also an old friend.   
“What are you doing here?” the expected monotonous yet piercing voice spoke from an unknown area. 
“I just wanted to see you again, Nycro. Maybe a hello?” Lux spoke with growing nervousness. 
He was aware he wasn’t welcome. He knew Nycro never wanted to see him again. But here he is, 5 years later, desperate to rectify the misunderstanding that he was influenced to carry out.  
Nycro showed himself from a veil of darkness, jamming his pointer finger into Lux’s chest. The Darkness God loomed over him by several inches. Though it would be intimidating to others, this is Lux’s brother by heart. Was... his brother. He backed up as Nycro advanced.  
“Get out.” He jeered. 
“I just wanted to see how you were-” 
“Get. Out.”  
“Nycro, please, listen to what I have to sa-” 
“GET OUT, LUX!” Nycro shouted, tensing up his shoulders and stomping his foot into the tiled floor. 
He jumped. Lux became frightened, shrinking a bit in the Darkness God’s presence. Nycro’s monotonous voice exploded with frustration and hate. Hate that he had for him. Lux had a difficult time believing that the god he knew since birth would harbor this much disdain for him. It was denial.  
“Do you really think I would ever try to kill you?!” Lux returned to his original posture and stood his ground, yearning for forgiveness and understanding. This is now the second instance where he tried for it.  
“I don’t know anymore, Lux! I don’t know you anymore!” Nycro hissed, further pushing him away.  
Was this how Nycro felt? Did these hurtful words really come from his mouth? Never in a million years would he imagine these phrases come from him. It stung like a wasp who converted all its hostility into this one strike to venom your heart. Lux backed away further, placing a hand on his neck to feel the Sun and Moon pin he was given by the mortals thousands of years ago. It made him reminisce a little.  
 
 
 
“Nycro, Nycro! Look what the mortals made us!” The young Lux swung his arms around Nycro’s shoulders. 
“Pins? Whatever for?” he inquired. 
Lux laughed. He found Nycro’s cluelessness a direct opposition to the intelligent man he loved. Love... he thought. He knew Nycro would never feel the same, but that didn’t stop him from keeping the friendship they had.  
“It’s to symbolize our friendship!”  
“I see.” 
“Keep it close, okay?” 
“I’ll protect it with my life.”  
 
A surge of darkness magic whizzing past his head snapped Lux back to reality 
“I don’t want to do this, but if you do not leave now, I will use force.”  
He had to leave. Lux didn’t want to fight him. But he knew he couldn’t leave Nycro bitter like this, he couldn’t. The guilt ever since Aether influenced him to attempt murder was too much. Lux looked down at Nycro’s neck. He didn’t wear the pin he promised to keep. This hurt Lux, even though he knew what he did to deserve that. After hesitating, he turned around and flew into the night sky in a ball of light.  
The pain was too much to bear. Lux wanted to apologize a million times. Something told him that if he could just get Nycro to hear him out, all would be well again. Wishful thinking, he spat at himself. Hearing Nycro shout... declaring to use violence, if necessary, against him of all people. Lux wanted to curse Aether. He wanted to send him into the depths of Tartarus and be eaten by Cronus limb by limb.  
“Lux, my dear.” He came into the room with a soft and gentle smile. 
“Yes, Aether?” A young Lux stood up, wondering why he came into the room suddenly. 
The Light God’s face suddenly contorted into one of worry, “I’m afraid I have some news to bear.”  
“Well? Go on, Aether. Spit it out.”  
“It has to do with your friend, the student of Nyx.” Aether said, feigning sorrow.  
“What about Nycro?” Lux replied with urgency. 
“He’s plotting to kill me, boy. Ordered by my witch of a mother.”  He swooned. 
“Why would he ever do that?!” 
In one sentence, Lux was ripped from a state of confusion to panic. A plot against Aether, and Nycro is the one about to carry out the murder? It was information he wasn’t ready to process. 
“To set this world into eternal darkness. You must stop him with lethal force.”  
“I can’t take up arms against my brother!”  
“Oh, yes you can. It’s for the greater good, Lux! Think about it!”  
The boy didn’t want to go against his teacher. He was fated to be the next God of Light. He must carry out the duty. Not knowing any better, Lux traveled to Nyx’s temple and surprise attacked Nycro. They fought for hours, sending the world into random spurs of light and darkness. By the end of it all, Lux had the chance to finish him off.  
“...Do it.” Nycro croaked. Being killed now was better than living a life knowing your brother betrayed you. 
But he couldn’t do it. Lux withdrew his sword and uttered an apology under his breath before fleeing.  
 
“I just want things to go back to the way they were.” The broken God returned to his temple and cried himself to sleep. His hands clung to his pillow; half wrapped in a silky-smooth blanket, and tears of despair.