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Nanook was vexed by the existence of Caelus.
The boy was the host of one of their Stellarons. That already meant that destructive power flowed through his body.
In fact, Nanook was sure that the Stellaron acted up when they gazed at Caelus for that split second. Not that the Stellaron acting up had led to anything. It had been sealed by one of his newest companions.
So now Nanook was simply watching Caelus travel with the Astral Express. It was something they did when they weren't planning to destroy some other world.
It wasn't as though Nanook understood why though.
Gazing at the boy with a destructive power lurking inside of him made the Aeon feel...off. And not in a way they understood either.
It was nothing short of vexing for the destructive Aeon.
Nanook assumed this emotion to be hatred. Because why else would they feel so off? Why else would they watch Caelus with interest?
Perhaps Nanook was simply waiting for Caelus to break the seal and burn up due to the Stellaron in his body.
... But that sort of thought didn't sit right with Nanook, making them even more confused by what they were feeling for the vessel of one of their Stellarons.
As stated many times before, it was nothing short of vexing for The Destruction.
But they could not get close to Caelus and simply talk with him. Because why should Nanook deal with this problem by communicating directly with the source of their vexation?
That was a solid no. Besides, taking on a human form was taxing and Nanook would rather wallow in their supposed hatred then communicate their problems directly.
It was far easier to think that they hated Caelus than to think to the boy meant anything to them.
(But oh, how wrong The Destruction was. Their hatred for the boy was nothing short of a deflection. An attempt to hide from far darker thoughts.)
...
As time continued to pass, Nanook realized a couple of things that they had not noticed before.
(Nanook, of course, did not care to touch on the fact that they hadn't noticed something because of their own stubborn pride.)
On that frost planet (Nanook didn't care about the names of plants. They were just going to destroy the planets anyway-), Caelus had been gifted power from The Preservation. Something Nanook had found out because they had been watching Caelus.
And when they found that out... Suffice it to say that Nanook was less than pleased.
(Less than pleased was, of course, an understatement. Nanook had destroyed three planets due to how angered they were. Even their Emanators had backed away from them. That was how displeased Nanook was.)
Nanook also wasn't pleased when Caelus decided to use the powers of Preservation more than his powers of Destruction. Wasn't the power from the Stellaron enough for Caelus? Why should he rely on the powers of Preservation?
When Nanook realized that they were angry over something as simple as another Aeon blessing Caelus with power, they had to take a few minutes to realize that they were angry about that.
It was a trivial thing. Nanook hated Caelus anyway! And yet the fact that Caelus had been blessed by another Aeon was enough to make Nanook outraged.
Nanook didn't understand. They didn't want to understand.
And they would've gotten away with that had one of their Lord Ravagers, Phantylia, not decided to be a meddler.
"My lord, I mean no disrespect, but you have to speak with one of the other Aeons about this."
Nanook glowered at Phantylia. Phantylia shrunk away for a second before speaking again. "I would not have brought this up, but all of us, including the Antimatter Legion, have seen how stressed you are about this mortal. You have to speak with either Lord Yaoshi or Lord Xipe about these issues."
Nanook wanted to protest against Phantylia's words, but then they considered her words.
If they were showing this much hatred (obsessive interest) that their Lord Ravagers and the Antimatter Legion were noticing, then perhaps they might need to talk with someone. They weighed their options. Either talk to Yaoshi or Xipe or continue hating Caelus and disregard Phantylia's word.
Nanook let out a displeased sigh. "I will speak with Yaoshi."
Phantylia nodded before disappearing to go do whatever she was doing on the Xianzhou Luofu.
Nanook still didn't like the idea of actually speaking to someone about this.
...
The relationship between Nanook and Yaoshi was... complicated.
The two had different ideologies. Yaoshi was The Abundance. They liked to see things prosper and thrive. Nanook was The Destruction. They liked to see things destroyed and broken.
And yet they were both trying to escape The Hunt. That sparked a sort of kinship between the two despite how foreign the concept was for Nanook.
And it was for the above reason that Nanook was able to locate Yaoshi. Yaoshi smiled their easy smile upon noticing them. "Nanook. I never thought you would seek me out. Did you need something?"
Nanook only watched them with neutrality. "Yaoshi. I require your thoughts on something."
"I am always eager to help. What is troubling you?"
For a moment, Nanook hesitated. Did they truly require the counsel of Yaoshi for this?
Clearly, Phantylia thought so. And they had already come this far.
Nanook sighed. "A mortal has caused me great vexation."
This peaked Yaoshi's interest as they blinked at Nanook. "Oh? What have they done?"
"Exist."
That response made Yaoshi snort and chuckle. Nanook only stared at them.
Once Yaoshi got themselves together, they only smiled at Nanook. "And the existence of this mortal vexes you how exactly?"
Nanook thought about it (for the first time in ages). "I believed that I hated the mortal. And yet it angered me that The Preservation blessed them with power. Power that this mortal now uses."
Yaoshi grew thoughtful, humming as they thought about Nanook's words. Nanook took a moment to simply look at The Abundance, annoyed that they weren't giving Nanook an answer right away.
When Yaoshi looked back at Nanook, there was contemplation in their eyes. "I do not believe you hate this mortal, Nanook. I believe that you thought of what you felt as hatred because hatred is natural for someone who leads a path of desolation and destruction. But if it angered you that another Aeon blessed this mortal, then I believe that you may like this mortal."
Nanook was silent as they contemplated the words of The Abundance.
They were (regrettably for Nanook's pride) right. Nanook believed that they hated Caelus because any other option would have gone against their ideology. Even now, the idea that they might like someone was a foreign idea.
... But surprisingly, it wasn't an unwelcome idea.
In fact, it explained why they had thoughts that they had pushed down.
(Thoughts of destroying what kept Caelus from them, those on the Astral Express and the Astral Express itself. Thoughts of destroying anyone who even dared to fancy Caelus. Thoughts of marking the boy with the mark of Destruction. A permanent mark that no one would be able to remove. Thoughts of destroying Caelus' reason until Nanook was the only one he called for-)
Nanook had to let out an exhale as they dragged themself out of their own mind. Not now. Not yet. There would be time to act on those thoughts later.
For now, Nanook simply nodded to Yaoshi. "I will trust your judgement. I intend to find out for myself though. Farewell."
Yaoshi nodded to Nanook with their usual smile. "Of course. Farewell to you too."
Nanook left Yaoshi be.
(That didn't change the shudder that went down Yaoshi's spine when they saw the smallest hint of a dangerous smile on Nanook's face.)
...
Caelus had never had vivid dreams before. In fact, he doubted he even dreamed.
So, when he fell asleep in one of the Luofu hotel beds, he expected dreamless sleep.
He woke up to utter chaos in a dream.
Caelus sat up and looked around rapidly. Where was he? He didn't recognize where he was.
But whatever this place was before, it was a nightmare now.
Destruction and debris was littered all over the place. Fires roared and there were cracks in the ground. In short? Chaos.
Caelus avoided some debris and started running. He had to find someone, anyone. Someone who could get him out of this nightmare of a place.
Maybe one of the members of the Astral Express? They had to be around, right? There was no way that Caelus would be left alone here, right?
Caelus continued to run as he looked around, hoping to find someone who could help him.
Rationally, Caelus knew that this was just a nightmare, but this nightmare was so foreign that it instilled fear and adrenaline into his dream self.
Where was Dan Heng? March 7th? Himeko? Mr. Yang? Where was his family in this nightmare?
A sound to his right caught his attention. He looked, only to see members of the Antimatter Legion. They didn't seem to notice him immediately though.
Caelus wasn't about to take chances and ducked into a destroyed building, hiding. Sure, it made Caelus feel weak, but it would be better if the Antimatter Legion didn't notice him in this dream. Because Caelus felt weak and afraid in this dream and he didn't want to imagine how an interaction like that would happen in this state.
Caelus wasn't how long he just hid there, glancing out occasionally to make sure he was in the clear. After a while, they moved on and after Caelus looked around and didn't see anything, he abandoned the shelter of the destroyed building and continued to run.
(Oh, the sweet thing... He was practically giving away where he was, the poor thing...)
After a little bit more running, something caught Caelus' eye and he headed in that direction immediately despite the warning bells in his head-
-And was faced with a sight he wished he never saw.
On the ground lay March, Himeko, and Welt. And all of them looked to have been injured beyond repair. Gold cracks spread from their injuries, which meant that whoever had attacked them was a powerful follower of The Destruction. Dan Heng wasn't there, but considering the fact that there was another pool of blood and the fact that Dan Heng was a Vidyadhara, it made sense to believe that Dan Heng had also been injured in the same way and was going to go through a rebirth.
(Caelus never bothered to think of who would have so much power at their fingertips to do something like this...)
Caelus took a few steps away from the scene before him (ItwasjustanightmareItwasjustanightmareItwasjustanightmare) and immediately froze. Why wouldn't he after sensing pure destructive power behind him?
The one with the aura of destructive power approached Caelus while he stayed frozen for a couple of seconds. Then Caelus bothered to turn his head and immediately regretted it.
Because Nanook was standing behind him. And the look in their eyes was nothing short of predatory.
Before Caelus could unfreeze his body and do something (which was obviously run no matter how futile it would've been), Nanook was already close enough to grab him by the wrist and pull him close.
Their eyes glowed and Caelus could do nothing but stare and stay frozen where they were.
"You are mine."
Those words sent nothing but fear through Caelus' heart, but then everything was burning and-
-He woke up with a scream about to leave his mouth.
It took a couple of seconds for Caelus to realize that he wasn't in that nightmare anymore. His heart was racing and his entire body felt like it was on fire. Which probably explained why he was sweating so much.
Caelus took a couple more seconds to simply breathe and get himself under control. Everything was fine. He was fine.
Caelus was safe. He wasn't in any danger. The Destruction wasn't here. The members of the Astral Express that he considered his family were alive and safe.
Caelus laid back down and took a few more deep breaths before he closed his eyes...
... not registering the new golden mark of the Path of Destruction that graced his ankle.