The bookstore Sueiry typically went to was far away from the green that they could visit. It was one of many stops they made for the day but was also the last. By this time, it was early afternoon on a day that was just as beautiful as the twins predicted.

Sueiry browsed inside the store while the brothers sat outside on a bench. Serkis leaned forward, hands dangling off his thighs, while Jasck leaned back, his arms stretched out on the backrest and head cocked to the side. Both had their eyes closed, lit cigarettes hanging loosely from their lips.

“Father’s birthday is coming up,” Jasck murmured.

Serkis hummed. “Seven days.”

They lulled, resting comfortably.

“Hey, bro.”

“Izjaszion,” they lazily chorused.

“You aren’t high, are you?” Izzy chuckled.

Jasck made a soft, yearning groan. “I wish we were…”

“Well, didn’t bring any of your concoctions but we did get you something to eat.”

“Nice.” Serkis peeked an eye open, head turning to the right.

Izzy and Jazzy stood nearby, hands in their pockets and sympathetic expressions on their tattooed faces. “Want us to get you a little somethin’ else?"

“That’d be great, but…” He sighed, using his chin to motion to the store. “Being responsible right now.”

Jazzy scoffed. “As if you can’t do both.”

“Unless…you don’t trust yourself in this situation?” Izzy added with a small frown.

Serkis didn’t meet their gazes, nodding while Jasck huffed out a large cloud of smoke.

“Damn. That bad…”

The store door opened, and they turned to see Sueiry exit with a bright smile. Upon seeing the younger twins, her mouth rounded. “Oh.”

Mischievous grins beamed on Jazzy and Izzy’s faces. Running a hand through his dark locks, Jazzy preened, “I know, we’re that good lookin’, huh?”

Izzy laughed as an amused smile spread on her lips. Jasck scoffed while Serkis only rolled his eyes.

“Siblings?” she asked, shifting a large paper bag in her arms.

“Yep, and the youngest.” Izzy motioned to the bag. “You got that? Looks heavy.”

“Oh…Well, yes, I did get some new books…” She held the bag close, smiling like a child caught in a cookie jar.

“‘Some’, huh?”

Her cheeks slightly flushed, but she gave a dainty shrug.

“We’ll be tagging along for a little while,” Izzy explained.

She approached, her expression brightening. “Oh, wonderful!”

“So…?” Jazzy motioned to the bag again.

“Ah…if you’d like to?”

“Absolutely.”

She handed the bag to them, and once her hands were empty, Izzy gave a small bow. “Name’s Ission. Call me Izzy.”

“Jazzion, or Jazzy,” his younger twin said with a wink. “Nice to meet you!”

Serkis glared at them, several centimeters of the cigarette burning rapidly. He and Jasck knew why they were being so nice—not that “nice” wasn’t the first word in their youngest sibling’s lexicon. And it was infuriating.

Clearly able to sense their ire, the younger twins only made their signature wide, jovial smiles, and Jazzy turned to them to stick out his tongue.

Jasck, who had opened his eyes, growled softly. What the fuck had Hob told them? No, Boogellooen, for that matter?

Standing, Serkis brushed past Jazzy, slinging an arm around his neck and all but dragging him to the side. “What the fuck are you doing?” he demanded, trying and failing to keep the snarl out of his voice.

Jazzy gave him a pleading look. “C’mon, Serkis, this is good for you.”

Eyes burning behind his sunglasses, Serkis growled out, “No. No it is not. Stop buttering her up.”

A pout. “But she already likes you.”

“Stay the fuck out of her mind!” he almost shouted.

Lips pursing tightly and eyes wide, caught, Jazzy slowly shrugged. “But she does,” he said after a second.

Pinching his nosebridge, Serkis groaned. “We…are barely even acquaintances. I am not going to explain our reasons for staying with her—”

Jazzy’s eyes brightened scandalously. “You’re staying with her?”

Smacking him upside his head, Serkis hissed, “No. I’ve not even been in her house, fool.”

Jazzy rubbed the back of his head, his pout returning. “Ouuuuuuch.”

“Shut up. She’s been targeted by saints—”

“Aha, I thought you weren’t gonna tell me—oooouuuuch! Same spot, too!” Jazzy held the back of his ead this time. “I’m over two million years old—!”

“An entity your age shouldn’t have to say that!”

“Okay, okay, you’re bored and she’s a good excuse to be doing your job; got it.”

Serkis began to say something, then stopped, staring hard at him. “Is that what you all think?”

A slow, confused shrug. “That’s certainly how it looks.”

The rest of the cigarette dissolved into ashes, causing Jazzy to take a quick step back. Exhaling deeply, patiently, from his nostrils, blowing a large smoke cloud in the air, Serkis slowly removed his sunglasses. He kept his gaze lowered. “Jazzion.”

He heard the cautious gulp. “Yes…?”

“Witches with an association to Darkness are being targeted, including Sueiry. However, we believe they aren’t the real target. We are. Does this ring any bells?”

Jazzy whistled. “On a first-name basis—”

Grabbing him by his shirt lapels, Serkis dragged him into a nearby alley. His hands turned into large claws made of wicker and vines, and his eyes were molten, blazing fireballs. “Enough!” he snarled in a monstrous, double-voiced hiss as he slammed his brother against a wall. ”Enough, Izjaszion. You know we don’t want to be doing this. But we’re doing it anyway. We don’t KNOW why we are, but we are. Do not make this any harder than it is, boy.”

Sobering, Jazzion nodded. He held up his hands. “Alright…Alright. We apologize,” he said, his voice layered to indicate he and Ission were also talking as one.

Releasing him, Serkis’ hands shakily returned to normal. He turned away and slid down the opposite wall, removing his hat once he hit the ground. He hung his head between raised legs, letting his hands loll off his knees.

Jazzy’s guilt permeated the air. He slowly approached, then sat beside him.

They sat in silence. Once Serkis was calm enough, he scoffed. He then chuckled without humor, his voice back to normal. “This…is going to get worse, isn’t it.”

Jazzy slowly nodded. “If you’re dedicated to this…it undoubtedly will,” he said softly in his normal voice. “Looks like you…made a contract with her.”

Serkis nodded.

“So, another god is trying to get your attention.” Jazzy swallowed, causing Serkis to tense. “Well, uh…have you considered…him?"

Him…?

Serkis froze, eyes wide.

Memories, unwanted, shameful, returned to his mind.

A shudder ran through his psyche, down to his very being.

Dropping his hat, he covered his face with both hands. “We are such a fool!” he shouted as one with Jasck. “We told him to leave our witches out of it!"

“I’m…sorry,” Jazzy murmured.

“We pushed him—shoved him back to the furthest recesses of our mind. We didn’t want to remember him. It was a fucking mistake!" Serkis snarled, the sound ripping from his chest. “This is exactly why we swore off intimate relationships, fucking damn it all!”

Gods could be as petty as mortals, if not more so. In some ways, they were almost as mortal as their creations. Hobboilen would have balked and spat at such a notion, but it was true. Unlike him, a being beyond measure, gods could make mistakes.

And, by creation, Jasck and Serkis made one hell of a mistake several millennia ago.

Serkis grasped his head. “We have to break the contract. We can’t do this.”

“What?!” Jazzy placed a hand on his arm. “If you do that…there’s no telling what the consequences may be!”

“We don’t care.”

“Yes, you do! What if your witches suffer for it?”

Serkis’ lips parted, but he didn’t respond.

They loved them, the dark witches. They were theirs, their own creations born from mere thoughts. They wouldn’t dare risk harming their people because of their own foolishness.

Jaw locking, Serkis despised the sense of hopelessness and idiocy he felt. “Fuck,” he whimpered, his voice normal again. “Just…fuck.”

*    *    *

Jasck sat slumped in the rocking chair, his eyes closed and his hearing waning in and out. He heard the occasional laughing and animated, cordial conversations between Izzy and Sueiry, somewhat glad they were getting along, somewhat peeved they were getting along.

They arrived at Sueiry’s house without Jazzy and Serkis, and it was Izzy who managed to keep Sueiry’s mind off of this fact. Thank goodness for talkative little brothers. Yet, having been entirely aware of the conversation between Serkis and Jazzy, Jasck was in a penultimate sour mood.

However.

Serkis and Jazzy were currently in Hallowed Ground for some recreational needs purposes. Along with their younger brother, Serkis was getting the inhuman equivalent of blithering drunk, and Jasck bathed in the shared sensations he siphoned from his twin. He could risk letting his guard down so thoroughly with Izzy around.

A deeply disappointed sigh made him tense before groaning loudly. “Oh, fuck off, Hob,” he slurred.

His elder brother’s presence gently swept through his being, a surprisingly comforting gesture. “I do not understand why you find such mortal afflictions…calming.”

“Not calming.” Jasck’s head lolled to the side. “Hmm, more like…I’unno…somethin’…”

Another sigh. “Despite my reservations, I do not find pleasure in seeing you like this.”

“Good. Go ’way.”

“Would you like for me to break your contract?”

He blinked, mind sputtering. Finally, he looked up. Standing beside him in his usual pitch black suit, Hob stared off towards the orange horizon where the sun was setting. “You’d…do that?”

“For my dear little brother, of course.”

Jasck wasn’t so far gone he had forgotten his brother’s nefarious nature. “What’s…the catch?”

If the mouthless face could, Hob would have smiled. “I would prefer it included the death of this mortal who tortures your resolve.”

“Wh-what? No!” Voice layered, Jasck sat upright and grabbed Hob’s sleeve. “Please don’t. Please.”

He almost shrunk as six beady orange irises glanced down at him. “So, you do care for this mortal.”

His mouth flapped as he tried to comprehend his thoughts. “She’s innocent.”

“She is human.”

“She’s one of ours!” he plead.

“Ah, so she is merely another toy.”

“N-no!” His head shook rapidly. “She…she…she’s…”

“Reminds you of her?”

He shut his eyes, the memory of a woman whose life was over far too soon flashing in his mind. “We…we don’t know! M-maybe…?”

“Jaskisspinny…”

“Aye, aye! She does!” He regretted his words when Hobboilen turned to face him, black tendrils emerging menacingly from his back.

“Dear little brother…” Hobboilen sighed, wrapping one around Jasck’s neck. Lifting him from the chair, he tilted his head exaggeratedly to the side while bringing him close to his face. “This is pitiful.”

Shame seeped into Jasck’s being, causing him to look away.

“You are inebriated over this mortal, over these pathetic ghosts from your past, and you call yourself a god?”

He shut his eyes.

He couldn’t think, not in his condition. It wasn’t right that Hobboilen was visiting him now. He did this on purpose, as he always did.

“Sueiry!” he heard Izzy shout. “Don’t go out there!”

The moment the woman became visible in the doorway, Ission blocked her view, his back facing her and staring at Hobboilen.

Sueiry froze. “What—?”

“Don’t look at him.” Said Ission, and for once Jasck was thankful he and his siblings were so tall. “Go back in the house.”

Before she could obey, Hobboilen’s presence flooded the porch. Ission spun to grab Sueiry as she collapsed.

“Hobboilen!” Jasck fought in his bonds as more tentacles held back his arms and legs.

“C’mon, Hob,” said Ission, looking up at the ancient they called their eldest brother, “this isn’t fair.”

Ignoring him, Hob returned his gaze to Jasck. “Deal with this....”

Dropped to the ground in a heap, Jasck gasped as if for air.

“…or I shall.”

Hobboilen disappeared, taking his overwhelming presence with him.

*    *    *

Snapping upright, Jasck gasped as he came back to the waking world. He didn’t recognize his surroundings, but it smelt entirely of Sueiry. He gave the small, modest room a once-over, brows furrowing upon realizing he was in a bed far too small for himself. As he tried to comprehend and puzzle together what happened before this moment, he noticed Serkis lying beside him, unconscious.

“Serkis,” he whimpered, bringing his younger twin into his arms. Holding him close, he rocked them back and forth.

A knock alerted him to the closed door. “Jasck?” Izzy called.

He didn’t answer, but his younger brother opened the door anyway.

Izzy’s mouth spread into a form that could barely pass for a smile. He lowered his hand from the doorknob. “Sueiry’s still unconscious,” he said softly.

“How long has it been?”

“Couple hours.”

He exhaled, relieved, yet not. “I’ll be right there.”

Izzy nodded, then retreated from the doorway.

Glancing over his twin, Jasck was reassured when he realized Serkis was only sleeping from inebriation. Briefly, he shut his eyes, then rubbed their foreheads together.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, then lowered Serkis back to the bed. He slowly stood, head lowered in thought. With a soft sigh, he approached and closed the door by a bit, then took a moment to orient himself in the unfamiliar space.

He stood in a tiny hall with a door to his left and open space to his right. There, in the familiar living room, he saw Izzy sitting on a small couch with a sleeping Jazzy partially lying in his lap. “Where is she?” he asked.

“We rested her in her bedroom. Didn’t know where else to put her,” Izzy responded, beckoning toward the corner where the staircase stood behind.

Jasck’s shoulders slightly fell. “Ah…”

The last thing he wanted was to go into her room unannounced.

But he had to make sure she was alright, that Hobboilen didn’t do anything to her. Locking on her presence, he disappeared from the living room.

Reappearing in a room slightly larger than the one downstairs, he stared down at a twin-sized bed upon which Sueiry laid, her head turned away from him. He shortly exhaled, then took the smallest of glimpses into her mind. Nothing seemed wrong…he didn’t sense any foreign presences…

She was just…exhausted.

Being in Hobboilen’s presence did do that, even to a god.

Looking away, he tried not to take any long observations of what was in her room. It was nice, smelling of potpourri and colored with violets, greens, black and silver…

He looked back at her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as himself and Jasck. “For both our sakes, we would break the contract…but…we put ourselves in this situation. We will deal with the consequences…even if it haunts us.”

The words left him feeling horrified, but he owned the emotions.

He glanced at the small window behind him. He approached it, looking between the slightly closed blinds at the moon. “Father,” he murmured, pain clouding his features.

He wasn’t sure how it worked, the appointment of deities to their domains. He only knew that he knew what his was the moment he was born. The world was young then, not so full of the myriad of life it bore today. Humans hadn’t even come into existence yet. He softly smiled. He remembered how new everything was back then, and how he watched the rise and fall of thousands of mortal civilizations.

His expression darkened.

Mortals scared him.

But even deities made mistakes…they just had eternity to swallow, wallow, and pity themselves over them.

He turned back to Sueiry, tempted to observe her—truly observe her.

But he was scared.

His mind made up, he receded into the shadows.