Amongst the peaceful grounds of a deific society, were a trio of deities on a day out, all smiling ear to ear. Holding hands interlocked, swinging between two loving parents, she never wanted this to ever end. A deific child filled with wonder, having nothing to worry about but her curiosity.

Ao Pachikame, daughter to the Goddess of Creation, Medeis, and the God of Strategy, Koa. Meant to do great one day, as her mother was an Essence deity. Within the society of Pantheon, the Six Essences had always ruled over all- They would steer all deities to look after the mortal worlds within their galaxy, and one of those Essences would one day be Ao- Though it wouldn't cross her mind for years to come. Instead, the deific child was too busy leading her parents towards the grand library, so she could pick out yet another dozen bedtime stories.

A blissful and peaceful time, Ao was smothered in love by her two parents, whom were just as smitten with one another. Her mother showing her the beauty of this world, with her father showing her the intricacies of it. Curiosity got the best of Ao, and the deific child would ask questions upon questions upon questions, until she was too tired and went to bed for the day, resuming her wondering interrogations the very next. However, on the rare occasion, there were questions of past events- Ones that the deific child wouldn't understand at the time, yet had vaguely read about in books. Ao would then be told she'd understand when she was older, leaving these wonders on the shelf- Until then, the beloved deific child had not to worry about anything.

— A CHANGE OF HEART —

Until then arrived sooner for her than expected.

A younger brother on the way, her mother had left abruptly when Pavonine arrived.

It was the first time she felt something opposite of happy. It wasn't a nice feeling at all. Ao sought the comforting hug of her father, but he too, was nowhere to be seen. A stream of tears would flow over the marble floors of a court room within the Essence Embassy, the deific child not understanding a single word of what was said.

"What's banishment?" she asked, but she was shushed.

"What's orphaned?" she wanted to ask, but she didn't want to interrupt.

"What's death?" she wanted to ask so desperately, amongst the chaos of voices within the embassy.

Taken in by a friend of her mother's, Ao and Pavonine from then on were under the care of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love- Though it was ironic, as Ao's love was gone, not wanting anything from other deities she didn't know. The deific child shut herself within a strange room for approximately a month, until she dared set foot outside and feed her curiosity. Her questions were never answered, after all. She didn't know what role Aphrodite was supposed to play as a surrogate, but she hoped she could answer what happened.

Ao shut herself within a still strange room for approximately another month, after she'd sought the answers.

There was no way Aphrodite could give her the same love as her mother once did- She was gone. So was her father, but apparently he'd left willingly. He'd left her alone, willingly.

Ao shut herself within a slightly less strange room for approximately half a year, after realising she was all lonesome.

Why did her brother have to be born? Why did her brother have to get her mother to leave? Why did her brother have to take her happiness away?

Ao shut herself off from the others, after realising she despised a world without her parents and their love.

The deific child's heart was broken in a tiny million little pieces.

Ao shut herself off from the world indefinitely, after realising it couldn't be mended for the years to come.

— AMENDS MADE —

It took decades.

The first friend Ao made, was a deific fox by the name of Athryne. Through her, Ao would see small sparks of wonder within the world once again, for the first time in eons after her mother had left it. There was something blissful and peaceful in gazing down on society from the clouds, rendering all deities as small as ants. They would point at an odd thing here and the abundant crowd there. Athryne was by nature a rebellious spirit, and Ao would be reintroduced to the world in a new view, through various adventures that would form them the bestest of friends eventually.

It rendered Ao more curious about Aphrodite. She dared set foot back inside, giving the goddess more of a chance. She did seem to do wonders with Pavonine, after all- Though the deific child was scared- Would she be betraying her mother, if she let Aphrodite into her life? Would she be betraying her father, if she let her? Would she be betraying herself?

It took more decades, up to centuries.

Aphrodite did prove able to peak her curiosity. Her why's and how's and where's and any type of question answered, which made Ao return to the library she'd missed dearly.

Aphrodite did prove able to teach her more than just the world. Her deific powers uncontrollable after her parents left, which caused Ao to find an identity anew, a soul she'd missed dearly.

Aphrodite did prove able to return bliss and peace to her life. Her sparks of wonder more and more frequent, which returned to Ao the love she'd missed so dearly.

It took a full century, for Ao to approach Pavonine for the first time. Ao didn't understand back then, whole-heartedly apologising for the way she'd treated him and ignored more so. Ao didn't understand back then, apologising for how it took her decades to do so. Ao didn't understand back then, apologing for how none of it was his fault, and never should've been deemed so.

It took another century, and the trio felt as family, with Aphrodite officially adopting the two deific children as her own.

Slowly but surely, amends were made, and Ao grew up in a world that had its colours returned once more.

— OPPOSING DESTRUCTION —

As she grew older, training on her duties were increased. Ao had a smidge of knowledge from Medeis, and would've learned best from her- Luckily, the five other Essences proved to be quite helpful in their teachings as well. At some point, the future Creation deity was introduced to the future Destruction deity, Fenrir. It was of utter importance the two opposites were able to work together and balance one another out- They'd been instructed to continue their studies in a combined course for the time to come.

However, it was apparent from the start the two didn't get along, resulting in chaotic fiascos here and there. No feud ever ended up beyond the two and close connections, although it was pretty tiring for the other Essences to force Creation and Destruction to get along. Whilst Ao was normally one of the friendliest and calmest, even for mortals, something inexplicable about Fenrir's demeanor made the goddess want to strangle him and throw him off a cliff practically every time they practiced.

It took about a half a century, until they were able to join forces adequately. On polite terms from then on, the two would have banter occasionally, slowly becoming friends with the aid of others such as Athryne. The balance between them would grow over time- And Ao would find they had more similarities than thought.

It would take about a full century, for the two to get along so well, they'd declare their love. One that no one saw coming, yet expected at the same time. Somehow polar opposites, yet balanced out down to the tin. Both Creation and Destruction were in complete sync with their roles, able to maintain peace between the two. As an act of utter devotion to both their titles, they swore to die together, to bring forth their reincarnations. If the promise held up in the future, Ao would reincarnate as Jirachi, and Fenrir would reincarnate as Vamargandir.

— UNWELCOME RETURN —

Amongst the clouded skies within a deific society, lay a goddess taking an afternoon nap. Blissfully and peacefully, dreaming of the sunniest and happiest days beyond, no other deity were to disturb her. The world was filled with love again for eons. Ao grew into an adult reminescent of her younger self, yet of her lost mother and father- Floating around mindlessly, yet happy- Adventuring where curiosity awaited, yet wise- Creating things anew constantly, yet balanced. Ao was deemed fit for her Essence role, officially titled recently.

Yet her temper would get the best of her, when a former deity thought dead returned to the premises of the Pantheon- In the flesh, it was her father she found within the dungeons, immediately noticed and arrested. A stream of tears would flow over the marble floors yet again, but this time in anger instead of sadness- Ao berated her father unwelcome, vilifying him for his deeds, advocating for his banishment to not be lifted. The other five Essences were prone to agree, if it weren't for Ao's arm being tugged at by her brother, the sister leaning down and listening to patiently hear out what he had to say, then proceeding to loudly sigh and change her mind.

Pavonine wanted his father to stay, to get to know him, to see who was behind the tales which surely weren't all of truth.

On the premise of her brother potential happiness, Ao withdrew her points. Koa was allowed to stay, albeit with limited measures- The God of Strategy wasn't allowed to teach his son himself, and wouldn't regain custody until their second mother agreed to it. Pavonine was relieved, Ao and Aphrodite less so- Albeit the wariness would wane slowly, as Koa would clearly follow the rules and terms imposed, though at the cost of being an outcast within the deific society.

Perhaps one day Ao would amend her bond with her father, too, but for now, it was a matter left on the shelf.

— END OF DAWN —

The world would turn colourless again, when the Pantheon was overrun by demonic forces unknown during the End Of Dawn. For the first time in history, the Pantheon would team up with their deific cousin factions, the Divine and the Dexagon. While it was easy to fend off the majority of these hellspawn together, Ao felt the tension rising as apparent word spread about the return of Rastakhan. Minimal info at most, the goddess only knew this monster was no good news- Yet it seemed to infuriate the elder deities most, including her mother. However, unlike most hellspawn, Rastakhan was a force to be reckoned with, tipping the tides in his favour without seemingly any efforts.

It all went by as a blur for the Creation deity- Ao was ready to be Pavonine's shield as they increasingly were surrounded by thousands of hellspawn- Her mother nowhere to be seen amongst the crowd of screaming and fighting- Architecture and landmass crumbling in the distance- And yet, amongst the fade, the deity recognised a grand weapon instantly- Her father's sword cutting through the demons, Koa got to the two deific siblings as fast as he could, becoming the shield for them both- And it all proceeded to end as quickly as it'd started.

As if they literally vanished, the deific grounds were free of the hellspawn. A magic never witnessed before washed over the world, colouring it once more- Fallen buildings rebuilt, lost deities resurrected- It was as if nothing had happened, at all- Almost nothing, as some remains were handled by the deities themselves. The deific graveyard, Spirit Sanctum, needed its first major expansion.

After the Pantheon had recovered from the events, Ao learned why not all of her questions were answered as a child- After she'd healed from her wounds, Aphrodite answered every single one of them with the full truth. The deities were aware this possibly wasn't the last of an ancient enemy, let alone doom befalling their home and the entire universe. As a result, the Pantheon got on friendlier terms with their deific cousins- They would be prepared for the next time. And for Ao herself, the bond with her father was a tad more amicable from then on. The Creation deity, too, would be prepared for the future.

— FUTURE ARC —

Centuries in the future, it would finally come to light what caused the mysterious deaths within the Pantheon, Ao's mother included. All it took, was a simple dive into a wormhole by Pavonine- On a blissful and peaceful day as any other, he came home crying. Soothing her brother, Ao couldn't think of anything but to kill the wrongdoer- The God of Order, Iokaci, had gone rogue, causing paradoxes in time. Ao's mind filled with thoughts swimming around everywhere, most of them beckoning why?

Why? Why? Why?

There were seven unknown cases. Thanks to a self-fulfilling prophecy, their souls were consumed by Iokaci, in order to escape death. The remaining Essences immediately took action, and Ao was dead set on finding the traitor and reclaiming what he'd stolen. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of deities entered the maze of galactic anomalies Iokaci had left, which all led to different places and times. Time started ticking real quick, once deities left and right started falling- Iokaci was consuming anything and anyone in front of him, in order to gain power as to not pay for his crimes.

The God of Order kept consuming and consuming and consuming, until he morphed into the most unfathomable thing any deity had ever seen in their lives. Ao knew the past Divine Divide war was bad- But this, this was a whole other level. Taking in deities and even wormholes, Iokaci transformed into an Eldritch-esque horror beyond imagination. With it, came an unimaginable amount of power, which would thwart the End Of Dawn easily. Hopelessness was seeping in, with the only possible solution being the grand universal deity.

"Unless," Pavonine said out of the blue, "we can cause a paradox."

So the trio of deities went- Ao, Pavonine and their father Koa, back into the maze. Time was running out- The consequences of Iokaci's actions were extremely severe, and they had to find his past version fast. When Koa spotted the deity, the three of them immediately fought him where he stood, not paying any mind to anyone. Despite three on one, past Iokaci still put up a good fight- Ao was fuelled by a rage beyond comprehension- Words, profanites and what have you couldn't possibly describe it. What made every witness of the past stay out of it, were Ao's screams of her mother's murder.

Eventually, the trio succeeded, taking Iokaci's life source, returning to their time promptly- But Ao couldn't. Everything around her coloured red. Her vision red. The witnesses red. Her father and brother red. The ground, the sky, the buildings all red. And yet, the reddest thing still standing out like a sore thumb, was Iokaci's corpse.

Kneeling next to it, Ao resorted to hitting it and throwing it, as if it could hurt Iokaci's essence in the afterlife.

"Ao, we've got to go!" her brother exclaimed, at the look of the gateway quickly shrinking. Ao didn't listen- Anger, anguish, rage, whatever negative emotion existed, it was as if Ao felt all of them at once- Nothing could ever punish this scumbag of a failed deity enough- The fight wasn't satisfying enough! Iokaci should've been tortured! Squeezing all of what he had left, for others to reclaim again!

The deity wasn't moving an inch from where she sat. Her younger brother, screaming at her but nothing was coming through. Tears in his eyes, tugging at an arm in hopes to get her up. Ao heard something vaguely among the words of insanity. The father had already gone through the wormhole. Before she realised what was going on, she was pushed into the anomaly, and Pavonine arrived right through a second later- Just as the gateway was about to close, their father came through, albeit not wholly. Losing a limb, but despite the shock he still checked on the well-being of his two children.

They were saved by their father a second time- From being lost in time.

After Iokaci's implosion as if nothing happened, and expanding Spirit Sanctum for the second time.. Ao had a talk with her father. One of reconciliation. Thanking him for saving her and more importantly her brother again, despite knowing he could've been left behind. Much to Pavonine's relief, Ao finally made up with her father after centuries of being estranged. Nothing could ever rid them of their pain, knowing how Medeis truly died. At last, however, they could finally go through it together, with a better bond than ever before.