The Seventh Scion’s Hand stood at the edge of a shimmering pool, its mirrorlike surface slowly turning transparent, a window to a world about to die.

“You ready to go in?” The Scion’s Heart asked. He stood on the other side of the pool from Hand, pretty as ever with his cloak made of macaw feathers and his long dark hair looped through gem-studded rings.

The pool was still reflective enough to show what Hand wore. White enamel armour—decorated with lines of glowing gold etching that scrawled out patterns of his greatest achievements—covered him head to toe and his crimson cloak flowed behind him like the tail of a bloody comet. His long hair was free and rolling in the wind, stray auburn wisps lashing his face as though impatient to be off. He had dallied enough. “I’m ready.”

Heart looked up, and Hand followed. The Beyond beckoned them with its infinity as it ever did, the star-flooded expanse stretching up, down, to the left and right, and in every other direction Hand could see. They were standing on Gypsum Cell, a lone rock locked to this spot in the cosmos only because it held one of the seven portals to the mortal realm. Above them, or what passed for above if the flat surface of the Cell was considered the ground, the Seventh Scion’s home glowed and blazed.

A nebula of gold and orange, faint spots of deeper vermillion staining the clouds of swirling light, shone bright enough to blind, but Hand’s eyes were used to it after staring at it for millennia. In it, an array of stars twinkled, arranged in a pattern where they formed a larger, seven-pointed star with some arms longer than others to form a vague vertical cross.

“You think She will move anytime soon?” Hand asked.

Heart smiled at their Scion, Her starry form winking as though to tell them to take it easy. “Not yet. Maybe once the other five start getting worked up. Then they go after Him.”

“I know that.” Hand pointed at the pool. It didn’t seem right. Didn’t seem fair in any sense of the word that this whole world, this spot of creation and existence that had been cultivated for uncountable aeons, would be allowed to fall so easily. “I meant for our world.”

“Ahh. For that, no movement will be necessary.”

Hand frowned. “You’re saying it’s not the end.”

Heart turned his smile to Hand. “It shouldn’t be. But that’s why we’re going, aren’t we? To be sure of what exactly happens?”

With that, Heart jumped in, his cloak whipping about him with a storm of feathers like a bird flapping its wings. The pool swallowed him, and his figure got smaller far too quickly to be any natural descent. Of course. This wasn’t just any pool after all.

Hand stepped in and fell too. The pool’s surface was a thin membrane of pure softness, its touch lighter than feathery dust. Past that, Hand was back in the mortal realm.

Back where he had come from. Where he belonged.

“It is an end, Hand,” Heart shouted as he fell.

Hand had nearly caught up to Heart in his descent. He charged towards the white ground, fast as a meteor but without any of the unpleasantness. The pool’s lingering aura protected him from any such effects of re-entry like friction with the air, the need to breathe, or any other physical limitations. Besides, his Scion’s Gift ensured he had no need for such things.

It made the fall a little sad though. There was no wind rushing through his hair, no prospect of a thrilling conclusion at the end when he hit the ground. After this many times over the centuries, his heart didn’t even skip a beat. Not that it ever did anymore.

Would his heartbeat ever go erratic again?

“What else is it, Heart?” Hand asked. He didn’t have to shout for their voices weren’t limited by the natural constraints of the mortal world. Heart hadn’t had to either, but he liked to anyway. Said it reminded him of normalcy.

As if that kind of superficial tomfoolery would ever suffice in place of an ever-steady heart that refused to dance.

“What are all endings, Hand?” Heart waited for an answer but when none was forthcoming, he continued. “A beginning.”

Their landing removed the need for Hand’s exasperated sigh. They had dropped on the slopes of a steep mountain, its sides swimming with drift after drift of deep snow. Hand looked around, finding nothing in the area of note. No Coral trees, and the thorngrass had to be buried under winter’s cloak. It was serene, calm, and silent. Peaceful.

Well, except for the meteor coming down. It glowed in the night sky, a speck small as the stars strewn in the blanket of dusk but glowing far brighter than its brethren. Glowing brighter, and growing larger too. Its impact wasn’t far off now. Good thing Hand and Heart had come in time.

Heart pretended to take long, thoughtful glances at everything, as though this empty, white land was the most brilliant thing he had seen in a while. Then he looked up and waved his hand.

The air thrummed, a low, keen noise echoing and reverberating up the mountainside, setting off an avalanche. A tidal wave of snow rushed at them, an ocean of icy white that nearly subsumed them both. Soon as the barrage came close enough, Hand closed his eyes for a fraction of a second and opened them again. Oh right, it was called a blink. Scions forgive him, he was forgetting the basics.

Of course, the snow never hit them. Instead, the avalanche had broken apart, enormous chunks of snow having condensed into tiny balls no larger than a knucklebone, all of which glittered a shimmering turquoise. The children still played with knucklebones right? Or had that been last aeon? Hand really had to hire someone to keep track of these things.

Heart led the way up the mountainside, and Hand followed, passing the tiny floating balls that glowed a brilliant blue. By the time they reached the mountain’s peak, the meteor had grown larger, easily as big as Hand’s fist held out in front of him. Its burning light now shaded the whole sky yellow, chasing away the dusk.

Impact was imminent.

“Well, well, well,” said the figure waiting at the peak, old voice on the cusp of breaking out into cackles as ever. “The Scion’s Heart and the Scion’s Hand finally arrive. What was it this time? Gambling on the latest meteor shower? Trying to kidnap a mortal from another world and bring them here? The six-hundred-and-nine-ninth anniversary of your tryst?”

“The tryst was a duel, Eye.” Heart didn’t address the rest. “When did you arrive?”

“Hello, Eye.” Hand kept this greeting curt. Ever since he had fought Heart for no other reason than the fact they’d been bored, the Scion’s Eye had been unable to stop herself from poking fun at them every time they met. Silly fisticuffing, which was what their duel had been according to her, wasn’t for the Scion’s Chosen, which Hand would agree with if Eye wasn’t such a grating individual.

Eye laughed. She had donned a bright teal dress, interwoven and overlapping folds enwreathing her spindly figure whole so that only her emaciated, spiderlike hands and her withered head stuck out. Lint grey hair waved in the breeze. It was supposed to be chilly here this high up, but Hand felt nothing. “Don’t be such a downer, Hand. We’re on the precipice of great change here. Momentous occasions deserve momentous attendance.”

“Momentous occasion, is it?”

Eye’s fingers twitched like scuttling legs. “Of course. I’ve Seen it, Hand. Momentous actually does it a disservice.” She faced Heart. Her smile stretched wider, the wrinkles and grooves on her face more knotted than the trunk of a tree. “But I can only See. I can’t Know the way Heart can. What say you, Heart? What is coming for us?”

Heart walked closer to the precipice of the peak. The breeze pulled at his hair but the weight of his rings kept it in place. Well, either that, or the lingering effect of the poolwater. He stared up at the meteor growing larger every moment, with every heartbeat. It had passed the size of the sun.

“We all know it’s a broken god,” Heart said. “What you might not know is that this is a very particular god. The god of action.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Eye asked.

Heart shifted his gaze to look out over the land everywhere. “The herald of a new beginning. See, this god’s arrival is going to change everything, reshape the whole structure of this land. Reshape it’s very destiny.” He paused, going fully still. Hand shook his head ever so slightly. The last time ever-restless Heart had gone so motionless was when they had been sent to check on the other Scions, and that had been an awful experience. It was rare to see two Scions nearly tearing each other apart. Worlds tended to die when such an event occurred. “This god is going to ruin everything that the Scions have worked so hard to create here. All because one of them went insane at the thought of not being allowed to voice dissent on a matter.”

“How exactly is everything going to change?” Eye asked. She looked like she was trying not to sleep. How many worlds had that crone seen die? Her dark eyes glittered like marbles of jet as she stared at Heart. She knew. Scions above, she had Seen.

“Deathless.” Heart’s answer was correct. “Once the broken god lands, the Deathless will proliferate like never before, and the whole landscape will shift. Nothing will ever be the same. We’re going to have quite some company in the Beyond. Isn’t that so, Eye?”

Eye grinned, her hair wisping in the air as he nodded.

“More for our armies then, no?” Hand asked.

Heart shrugged. “Perhaps. Eventually. Who can say? I only know what it is, I cannot fathom the future the way Eye can.”

“Don’t dig, Heart. If my foresight worked that way, we both know none of us would be here.”

Heart jerked out a little laugh. “You just need to understand that things aren’t going to be the same. You’ve Seen it already no doubt, but it hardly ever sticks.”

“That’s because things are strangely cyclical.”

“Well, can’t disagree there.” Heart sighed. “I don’t how far you see, but did you know we’re really a microcosm, all things considered? This might be news to Hand, and perhaps Voice if she decides to show up, but we’re only minor cogs. Yes, yes, shield your egos from my sacrilegious talk, but it’s true. Immortal whatsits we might be, but even we’re still quite small compared to the true beings who run this little game we’re playing. We’re less than ants, and they’re greater than planets.” Heart glared up at the now day-bright sky. The meteor’s aura now filled the heaves, horizon to horizon. “Just like this god, who was in truth far beyond our capacity to comprehend much less confront, but is now broken by the ever-raging Celestial War.”

Eye only laughed. “Why, that has to be the most embracingly refreshing take on our own selves that I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear.”

“I’m only indulging your cynicism, Eye.”

“I suspect our desultory Hand may not appreciate it though.”

Hand scoffed. “Don’t worry about me. Your drivel goes through one ear and comes out the other without leaving a scratch.”

He wasn’t surprised to hear that. Really, living millennia lent unsurprising, and often very uncomfortable, lessons on certain matters. One of those matters tended to be the area of one’s own self-worth. Hand had made peace with his lot in his everlasting life, and he’d heard Heart speak of such matters before after all, but it was one other lesson that revolved around in his head over and over. Everyone wasn’t that different, no matter where they were. Mortal or immortal, mundane or divine, no one was free of goals, of want, of need, and all that often came to a head.

Leading to conflict. Poor broken god wasn’t going to find any peace on this mortal realm, and the Scion who had pulled him down knew that very well.

“Here he comes!” Eye cackled, almost jumping where she stood, her teal dress quivering in excitement.

The broken god was close to striking. His meteor was immense now, and the world had finally lit up with its burning light. Hand’s attention was dragged to the ground where the meteor was bound to strike in moments, and his armour felt heavy all of a sudden, pinning him in place.

There were people there. Mortals. Men and women scurrying here and there in their sudden panic. And he, Hand, was stuck atop this mountain, watching helpless as the dumb and powerless immortal he was meant to be.

“We must find the other Chosen,” Heart said.

“We must,” Hand agreed. The Scions were in turmoil over the event, and now that the careful balance they had kept up for so long had been shattered without any thought, the relationship between the respective Scions’ Chosen had been thrown in disarray too. It was necessary to find the others, and ascertain where their allegiances lay and what their intentions were.

“Good luck, Hand,” Eye said. “I know you want me to See the outcome, but we know that’s not possible.”

Of course. All Eye saw were what the Scions themselves did, and the specific future was never clear to them. Brief glimpses, bird’s-eye views, and oracular flashes were all that the Scions were capable of, and thus, that was all Eye was capable of too.

“Thank you, Eye,” Hand replied. “But I won’t be needing it. Our Scion is the greatest in existence, and if anything goes wrong, you know I will always be the victor.”

“Confidence isn’t always a precursor to the truth, Hand. Just a friendly warning. Pride comes before the fall and all that.”

“Please, Eye. I like your cynical side better.”

“Of course. Go die at the hands of the other Chosen, see if I or anyone else really cares.” Eye grinned at him. “Better?”

Hand smiled back. “Much.”

Hand breathed in deep. He didn’t need to, and really, he felt no different within for it, but it was a nice way of setting a chapter, so to speak. He had a goal and he intended to meet it. Beware any who stood in his way for he, the Seventh Scion’s Hand, was not one to be kept from his target for long.

There was a flap of what sounded like wings above them, and a shadow claimed the area. Even as Hand looked up, the shadow reduced in size, virulent white light twisting just overhead. Then Voice landed in their midst.

“Well, well,” Eye said. “Looks like we’re all finally here. The Seventh Scion’s Chosen, all gathered in one spot after four decades. You took your merry time, Voice. Had fun making us wait?”

“Oh, quite,” Voice said, and Hand looked away to focus on the meteor, though not before he noted her outfit. This time, she had on a beggar’s clothing, torn rags covering her whole figure. It didn’t suit her, at least, not when she stood like that, back straight and eyes fixed forward like she held the purpose of rulers. “I was able to last quite a while this time. I think destitution is one of my better disguises.” She glanced at Hand and Heart. “Well met, you two.”

Hand nodded at her. “Voice. I see you’re still enjoying yourself down here.”

“Quite.”

Heart didn’t bother looking back. He only raised a hand in something approximating a welcome.

“I don’t really care about this meteor and broken god business,” Voice said. They all looked at her, and she shrugged. “It’s boring. Too far from the city. Not enough people to mess around with, honestly. But I do have an important matter to impart to you lot.”

“What is it?” Heart asked, his attention pulled away from the broken god cutting an arc through the sky.

Voice cleared her throat. “I hereby declare, on behalf of the Seventh Scion, that the Fifth Scion responsible for this disaster is to be executed. His Chosen are to be found and annihilated. Not yet, though,” she added, casting a knowing look at Hand. “Might take a while until the Scion is ready to strike.”

Hand sighed. “A while is it?”

Voice shrugged.

In Scion speak, a while could go anywhere from a few years to a few centuries. Usually, it tended to head towards the latter. Hand would have been a little irritated if the meteor hadn’t chosen that moment to strike.

The impact sent up light that shattered through everything. A shock wave blasted out, reducing the world to dust in its path, but a transparent shield popped up, twisting the light outside slightly as though Hand was looking through glass. It absorbed the impact, letting nothing of the blast within. As much as Hand was desperate to see what was going on, the impact had thrown up a cloud of dust that had to span the whole continent.

They didn’t move. Good thing about living for millennia was that it taught patience, and they all knew to wait. Hours, days, weeks went by, and still they remained frozen where the mountain peak used to be before the god’s landing had shattered it to smithereens.

Eventually, the cloud departed. Heart stepped on thin air, and the dregs of the dust evaporated from existence when he waved his hand, leaving a clear view of the devastation the meteor’s impact had wrought.

The land had been destroyed and shattered everywhere, filled with cracks and pools of bubbling, sulphurous magma. But what caught Hand’s eye, and likely the eyes of everyone else here, was the enormous pit that had opened up where the meteor landed.

The god had crashed down and carved out a new home.

Just for a second, Hand’s heart trembled out of tune. One single beat that was discordant from the rest. He smiled, despite the pure annihilation suffered by the world beneath his feet. It would be time for him to land soon.

Time for him to relive the glory days where his heart ran amok.