The first thing Aiden forged was stillness—a space where souls could exist without being judged immediately, without being consumed by memory or regret.
Then he shaped passage: a river not of water, but of transition, carrying the dead away from the moment of their ending.
Upon the bedrock of nothingness, Aiden carved the first law with his own essence:
All life must end.
All endings must be witnessed.
The darkness seemed to tremble around him. A familiar voice spoke from the dark,
"Do you despise your brother Aiden?"
He lowered his gaze. He understood now what the deity was talking about.
"I don't" he replied "he needs redemption not condemnation"
"Now you see... Now you see Aiden... This is how I feel about Adrian... He needs redemption "
Aiden clenched his fists and rose from the platform. The darkness around him rippled once again and surrounded him seeming to cloak him, when it dispersed he was wearing a crown and his eyes gleamed with determination.
The Underworld grew layer by layer. Aiden built a kingdom from the lower realm he had descended into.
He forged Keepers—beings of shadow and oath—who could not lie, could not judge without listening, and could not be bribed by gods.
When the first soul passed fully through death and found rest, the Underworld breathed.
The tremor reached the Supreme Palace. The Lord was annoyed and very anxious because he had lost control over something, something he created with his own hands. He paced around slowly in the throne room .
Lyra was the first to speak.
"Something has changed."
The Lord watched the Firmament Mirror as the lower realms stabilized—no longer leaking souls into oblivion, no longer collapsing under mortal weight.
A hint of a smile appeared on his face and he burst out in sardonic laughter.
"Oh Aiden... You made it all interesting after all... What's a play without a plot twist"
"Lord" Lyra called
"Yes," the Lord replied.
"You didn't forbid this."
"I didn't need to."
Lyra hesitated.
Adrian continued, "He's creating something necessary. Although I can't access the lower realm, I very well can play a game"
The Lord smiled faintly.
However the imbalance demanded response. Aiden was playing a game of wit and the Lord decided to be ten steps ahead.
Although Aiden had descended to the lower realm and established the underworld, the other parts of the lower realm was still unruled and required a governing presence especially now that death had a destination, previously before the establishment of the underworld the dead roamed among the living as souls. Now, the other part of the lower realm had all life forms staying together, the vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches and humans. Some oppressing the others.
The Lord summoned Ares.
"You have seen your brother's absence," the Lord said.
Ares knelt. "Yes, Father."
"He has turned away from us," the Lord continued. "Away from family. Away from order."
Ares clenched his fist. "Then let me bring him back."
"Not yet," the Lord said. "First, you must rule."
With a gesture, the Lord separated firmament from ground, carving heavens beneath the heavens.
Ares was crowned as of the heavens in the lower realms. Under Ares' hand, life multiplied—humans, vampires, werewolves, witches, and fair folk—each bound to cycles they did not yet understand.
"You are King of the Lower Realms," the Lord declared.
Ares bowed, pride and purpose filling him.
"And Aiden?" Ares asked.
The Lord's voice softened.
"He is still my son."
Far beneath, Aiden continued.
He sensed his brother's coronation like distant wind but did not turn back.
"Are you happy Aiden? The world thinks you're the beginning of all evil and the fall of creation"
"There must be balance," he told the deity
"Even between gods."
The Deity listened.
And somewhere between the realms, a game quietly began.
The Lord sat upon his throne of lightless gold, fingers resting idly against the armrest as though the cosmos were nothing more than a puzzle left half-finished.
Lyra approached.
"You summoned Ares too quickly," he said. "He has not yet learned the weight of the lower realms."
The Lord smiled faintly.
"That is precisely why."
He gestured, and the Firmament Mirror awakened. Within it, realms rotated slowly—Upper and lower each layered atop the other like pages of an unread book. However the lower realm seemed like a void. Annoyance flickered in the Lord's eyes.
' It's seems the lower realms are still not under my control '
He glanced at Lyra,
"Ares believes order is goodness," the Lord continued. "He believes obedience is virtue. Those beliefs will make him exceptional."
Lyra's eyes narrowed. "And Aiden?"
The Mirror shifted.
Aiden appeared seated upon a throne of black stone deep within the Underworld, shaping sigils of judgment from molten shadow, his expression focused, solemn, unbroken.
Anger simmered in his eyes.
"The nerve of Aiden" he roared
Thunder rumbled in the skies and lightning struck down severally.
Lyra lowered his head in fear.
"Please quell your anger my Lord"
He had come to a realization that Aiden had gained something which interfered with the Lord's control of the lower realm however Aiden could let the Lord see whatever he wished and he had now projected the image of him being crowned.
"He believes choice is mercy," the Lord said. "That belief will destroy him."
Lyra hesitated. "You speak as though the outcome is fixed."
The Lord leaned back.
"Outcomes are dull," he replied. "Tension is what makes existence sing."