Chapter Text
"So... what you're trying to say is that you fell here... from another world? But when you wanted to leave and go on to the next world, your path was blocked by some unknown god?"
The wind blows through their hair as they fly through the sky, a smile on their face and a laugh bubbling in their throat. Flying has always been Hyperion’s favorite part about all of this, their exploring. The sky is nothing more than a streak of color, blue, red, yellow, purple as the night sets in. They slow to a stop and simply hang in the air, taking in deep breaths and humming. They push a stray piece of blonde hair back behind their ear, making a note to fix their hair when they all move on to the next world. Just as they bring their hand back down, two blurs rush past them with matching shrieks, twirling and moving as one.
Hyperion rolls their eyes fondly and smiles, “Wait for me, you two!” They call with a laugh, moving to catch up with the giggling streaks of light.
“Sorry, Hyperion,” the boy laughs, not sorry in the slightest. His hair is a mess but not a single wrinkle is present on his clothes. The girl pokes her head over his shoulder and her matching blonde hair is in the same state as the boy’s, sticking up everywhere. There’s a happy flush on both of their cheeks.
“Yeah, sorry,” the girl says, patting down her dress, “we get excited.”
“It’s fine, Lumine,” Hyperion chuckles while riffling Lumine’s already messy hair. The girl groans but doesn't try to stop them. “You and Aether don’t get to go out as much as I do, so you get wound up.” They smile and poke Aether’s nose, to which the younger boy squawks in protest.
Aether and Lumine take up a more normal pace and Hyperion follows, trailing behind their siblings to keep an eye on them. “This was a good outing, though,” Aether starts, “but… I wish the land wasn’t so dark,” he finishes uncomfortably, Lumine nodding along beside him.
“It all felt wrong and,” Lumine pauses, brow furrowing as she thinks of a way to describe it all, “it felt like the land was sick.”
Hyperion takes a deep breath and glides past the twins, putting on a brave face and trying not to think about the way the world below was being ravaged. “There’s nothing we can do about it, you know that. All we can do is move on to the next world and hope it solves itself.” With that, Hyperion keeps on their way to the platform drifting in the distance, heels clacking on the marble ever so slightly as they stop their flight and stand, hands on their hips and waiting for their siblings.
It all should have been fine, then, normal and good.
Aether and Lumine touch down on the platform and shoot Hyperion matching grins, eager to start their next adventure; it comes as a surprise, then, when a shadow overtakes Hyperion and the twins gasp and take a step back. Hyperion turns on their heel and gasps at the sight before them. Three crimson diamonds shimmer into sight and from the very center steps a woman. Her light hair floats behind her and the strange robes she wears do just the same. The air grows thick with tension and Hyperion can sense the threat before their siblings can, taking a protective stance in front of them and preparing to fight should they need to.
"Outlanders," the unknown woman starts, outstretching a hand, "your journey ends here." With a simple twist of her wrist the diamonds behind her form more definitive shapes, looking more like the stars they see so often instead of tears in the air.
"Who are you!?" Lumine stutters from behind them, taking a cautious step forward. She runs straight into Hyperion's outstretched arm but makes no sign that she even cares.
The woman looks to them, then, eyes devoid of all emotion and face entirely blank. She is silent for just a moment as she considers them, surely thinking them no more than a pest to crush beneath her feet. "The sustainer of heavenly principles," she replies, conjuring a strange cube in her hand. "The arrogation of mankind ends now." The woman may not move, but the cube floating in her palm shimmers gold before growing in size. The moment it does, the ground shifts beneath Hyperion's feet and the three siblings are forced into motion.
It all gets blurry from there.
Hyperion summons their wings and sees the twins do the same, swords firmly in their hands. Hyperion can hardly use their claymore as effectively in the air like this, but the familiar weight of it hangs heavy in their grasp all the same. Tendrils of those very same cubes chase the siblings through the structures in the clouds, forcing them to go in arc and circles around the pillars and each other. The twins duck and weave between the tendrils expertly, a maneuver they are not unfamiliar doing when there are no threats around them; Hyperion gets forced further away from their siblings by the cubes, curses being spat through gritted teeth. A knot of dread curls in their gut at the distance between them and their siblings. Up until now, they've always been close in everything they've done; it's Hyperion's job to take care of them, they're the oldest and all they have-
An explosion of gold and smoke jerks Hyperion from their thoughts, the cubes that were once chasing them dissolving to nothing. As the smoke cleared, Hyperion's entire body went tense. There before the stranger, Aether and Lumine were poised to attack. In horror, Hyperion watches as the cubes start to slink up their swords and then consume their bodies. They push their body to the very limits with their speed, rushing towards the twins and pleading with anyone, anything, to stop what was happening right now.
"Aether, Lumine!" They shout. The last thing they see of their siblings is the matching looks of fear on their faces as Hyperion desperately reaches out to them. The woman stands there, emotionless, holding two floating cubes that once were their little brother and sister.
Rage does funny things to a person.
Hyperion doesn't think, doesn't consider that the same thing that happened to Aether and Lumine would happen to them; the only thing on their mind is revenge and getting back what was stolen. With a shout of anguish, Hyperion rushes towards the woman head on and swings their claymore, sparking and blazing, down straight to her head. There's a blast that makes their ears ring and a single shred of hope in their chest, but it's quickly dashed when Hyperion is the one thrown back instead. They lose all control of their wings and their claymore falls from their hands and into the sky below, just as they begin to do. They don't even try to fight off the cubes that begin to cover their body. The last thing they see is that woman's face, decidedly blank except for a single miniscule frown on her face.
"And just like that, the god took away my siblings.
Some kind of seal was cast upon me, and I lost my power.
So while we used to travel from world to world, we are now trapped here."