I wish I could lie about something like this, but I can’t.

Timeline/World: Atheria 1st Generation
Characters: Order Caelum
Race: Demon – God of Order
Age: 1 502, physically about 27
Final Word Count: 561 words

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I still remember the look of absolute loss on his face when I told him. I had never lied to my brother and I wouldn’t have started then, it would have destroyed him in worse ways than her departure did and all I wanted was to salvage what I could of his delicate soul.

Most people believe that because my brother is Chaos, in name and nature, that he’s made of strong stuff, that he can endure everything but it is so furthest from the truth that it hurts to think about it. People don’t seem to realize that Chaos and Order both are precarious things. Always teetering on the edge.

I’ve had a lifetime to adjust to my own life and I’m more balanced than him, he’s always been more unstable but it came from coming into his power as he did. No one should have had to handle that but he did and I want to believe that he did so well. If I hadn’t been there, he might not have managed much in the same way but I don’t know that it changes much, in the end.

When the break happened, when people left, we watched them go. Left and right, seeming without reason, people parted ways without so much as a backward glance and it was upsetting. I know that many wanted to blame my brother, wanted to claim that it was something he had done but why would he have? He had found someone to call his own, who accepted him quirks and all, why would he have ruined that? Just to be petty? That’s not like him.

Of course, it was proved that he wasn’t the culprit, but the harm had already been done. I know I lost my brother in the following weeks, he became something akin to a vegetable and I almost left myself but I couldn’t. This was my brother, my flesh and bone, I had raised him more than our parents since I’m more than old enough to be his father and all but I’m glad I’m his brother.

I stayed with him.

The walls were so empty, everything echoed. Of course, some had stayed behind but there were so few that it seemed almost moot to go out and try to speak to with them. I still did, because I figured that it only made sense to try and keep what ties we still had going. We couldn’t let the evil that had tried to break us win. Some were in no better condition than my brother, others, the rare lucky ones, had managed to not be pulled apart by the monster that had delighted in our suffering.

It took years until folks started to come back. It was slow at first, one here, one there, then that trickle almost became a torrent as it seemed like everyone was coming back at once. It was a sight to behold but I was still holding my breath. Did it make me a bad companion to hope that my brother’s own come home first? Did it make me a bad person that I was more worried about his well-being and heart over how my companion would be upon her return? I never asked and I don’t know that it holds much importance anymore.

We’re all back and there and alive. That matters.

What do you mean the brownies are not quite brownies?

Timeline/World: New York City – Surviving Earth
Characters: Emmerich Bergström
Race: Human
Age: 23
Final Word Count: 540 words

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He hadn’t really known what to make of the statement he’d read on their lips. He’d only wanted something a little sweet and it had been far too early—or late, he supposed for the point of view of some—for the kitchens to be opened. He’d wandered, having left a note on the bedside table, just unable to sleep for this weird craving for something sweet that had woken him up in the middle of the night. It still was strange to live underground but he’d slowly gotten used to the idea, very slowly.

Now that they were outside and living in the open, he loved it, but he had fond memories of the time they’d spent inside, at least after Urban had found him and more or less saved him from the evils of the rest of society.

That night though, he still remembered it. Only the bare essentials for lighting were on, meaning there were bands of low-light near the floor, low along the walls and the same bands of light higher up, near the ceiling, well above his head. He’d wandered almost aimlessly but not quite, remembering that there had been a common area, if not several, and maybe—his mind hadn’t been helpful on that point—there had been vending machines.

There had been no vending machines but there had been a small group of people at the far back and, out of curiosity, he’d approached them. They’d smelled odd to him, a smell he’d only been half-familiar with, it reminded him of someone who had been in several of his classes back at university. He hadn’t known what that had been then and he still wasn’t sure what it was now. Urban hadn’t really told him much and he hadn’t asked.

They were talking whether loudly or not he couldn’t tell but some of them were gesticulating and it made him hesitate but it was the scent of surprisingly warm food that pulled him forward. Emmerich had known that there were microwaves that could be used by the general population down here but he’d never really had a need to. The muffins he’d gotten had always been devoured fresh, so no need to warm them back up.

One thing did lead to another and under the laughing eyes of several; he was offered a few pieces of still warm, delicious smelling brownies. He remembered looking up to them, studying their moving lips to find out something about how they weren’t really just brownies but the one who’d said that had gotten his arm punched by the girl sitting next to him. He’d thanked them and had slowly wandered back.

He no longer felt hungry, despite the fact that the brownies smelled so good and looked just as good. He brought them back to their shared room, set them down out of the way and settled back into that bed. In the morning, he’d ask what they meant.

Asking hadn’t been complicated and the answer had been a little baffling but he hadn’t argued. They hadn’t eaten the brownies and that had been that. He hadn’t asked, hadn’t questioned and hadn’t approached the odd group since then, either. It seemed for the best.