Chapter 1: Stars Shine Brightest When they Die

"So it's down there, huh? Fantasy." Pollux asked, a tinge of sarcasm lacing her voice.

"Allegedly." Castor chuckled.

The pair of siblings were surrounded by advanced technology as they rested in the cockpit of their ship.

The brother, Castor, held a compass in his hand that refused to point anywhere but at the planet below—a bizarre trinket to keep around, considering the fully automatic navigation system right before them.

"Then the question is… Are we prepared to fight the guardian beast? I know we agreed to this expedition, but I think Nao and Saki sent us to our deaths." Pollux hummed.

As Pollux looked out the window, her peachy skin lit up due to the surrounding yellow dwarf. It was disturbingly similar to the sun that gave their home planet life.

Her navy blue hair fell to the lower half of her legs and appeared to be imbued with tiny stars throughout. Her eyes shared a similar pattern, the only difference being their primary purple color.

Her beauty was, ironically enough, otherworldly.

Despite the similar size of the sun to what they were used to, Castor and Pollux couldn't believe the solar system they were seeing. Or rather, lack thereof.

A tiny sun and a large planet, no other celestial bodies existed nearby. Weirder still, the "World" looked more like an entire dimension or pocket space. They could clearly see the entirety of its sphere, but at the same time, they saw an impossibly large expanse underneath it all.

"Perhaps. But I think they're called life-long goals because they're meant to take your entire life. Dying seems like a small price to pay to find Fantasy." Castor responded.

How could he possibly care about something as insignificant as his life in the face of a discovery that would revolutionize the entirety of the myriad universes?

Fantasy. The First World, The Great Abyss, The Garden of Eden.

Every world had a different name for it, but the concept existed everywhere, even on primitive planets that hadn't joined the Celestial Federation.

"That's true! Plus, I'm here. How could I possibly let some oversized crocodile harm you, brother?"

Pollux practically bounced around as the two walked into the airlock. Every word that left her mouth was accompanied by some movement of her head or hands.

"Isn't it the job of the Older sibling to say that?" Castor questioned as he pointed at himself.

Pollux simply stuck her tongue out at him.

"Gemini," Castor said, rolling his eyes.

{Yes, Castor.} The ship responded.

"Begin charging the main cannon. We're too close to fail."

{Ok. Sagittarius charging begins! How much power would you like to allocate to its charge?}

"All of it, Gemi! We'll recharge you later, so put everything into it!"

{Ok, Pollux.}

"Alright, let's go, Pollux. It's time to see the World that doesn't exist."

As Castor hit the button to unseal the airlock, the duo were engulfed in a silver energy. Even for them, denizens of the stars, surviving in space without any protection, was something they hadn't figured out.

Celestial Energy was good enough.

As the two left the confines of their ship, they floated toward the unnamed star for a short while until Pollux got bored.

She made devil horns with her right hand and suddenly shot toward the planet.

Castor sighed, or at least he pretended to before using Celestial Energy to speed up.

Gloomy storm clouds shrouded the outer atmosphere—however, a few abnormal pockets allowed for entry.

While his Velocity increased and he passed the clouds, Castor was shocked to see the true extent of the planet. The difference between the size it pretended to be and what it was had already been revealed to Castor to an extent thanks to his Spirit Sight, but only now was the true extent revealed.

A boundless expanse of water that reached far further than even his eyes could see. Sparsely scattered islands were the only sign of land, and even they looked like little more than grains of sand.

"WORTHLESS MORTAL!" A bellowing roar echoed out.

CRASH!

The voice made the air quake, quickly followed by what could only be described as a meteor slamming against the ocean's surface.

Castor twisted his body to see what was happening, and low and behold, Pollux brandished her spear. Her opponent rapidly rose from the water with scaled wings and claws.

"She found him already…" Castor clicked his tongue as his freefall ceased.

"[Manifestation: Star Catcher]"

A long cane appeared in his hands, only for him to discard all of it but the top 4th of it. In its place, a whip of varying length.

With a flick of his wrist, the whip flew at the handsome man fighting Pollux. It moved in an almost Serpentine motion and coiled around his arm.

The sudden entrance of Castor caused the man a moment of distraction, allowing Pollus to thrust her spear at the man, destroying his entire shoulder.

Then, a vibrant green aura engulfed his entire body, healing the wound almost instantly.

As Castor yanked on his whip, he shot toward his foe like a bullet in an attempt to destroy his head, but the man caught his fist with ease.

At the same time, Pollux attempted an assault with a second thrust of her spear, but the man grabbed onto that, the tip pausing centimeters before his head.

"Puny Fools, You dare covet what even I can't have with such little might?" He screamed as he hit the two siblings into each other with his full force before tossing them to sink into the ocean.

Luckily, their Celestial Energy protected them from the worst of his attack.

The twins caught themselves before falling into the abyss of an ocean, skidding across its surface and looking at each other.

"What a cheesy line. As expected of the Primordial King of Envy." Pollux laughed like a maniac.

"Well, his words basically confirmed we've found what we're looking for. It seems on top of discovering Fantasy, we'll get to add killing a Primordial being on our resumes."

"HAHAHA! I still can't believe one of the Rulers of Hell is guarding The gate to Eden! How fun!" Pollux continued.

The 3rd Ruler of Hell, an endless dimension only matched by the myriad universe, Leviathan.

"I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!"

Pollux shouted with glee as Leviathan slowly lowered toward the water. Before he could reach the surface, Pollux lowered her body with an unhinged smile.

She pushed herself forward, her laughter echoing throughout the planet as she swung her spear at lightning speeds. Even the great Leviathan couldn't take all the attacks. 

He dodged what he could, but even he was forced to block Pollux's ravenous spear. Like last time, his entire arm and shoulder were blown off, but unlike last time, it didn't regenerate right away.

They weren't prepared for how fast his regeneration was, but Leviathan was a terrible match for the embodiment of the Gemini. Rather, any immortal would have a troublesome time with them.

Castor followed his sister up, dashing in and kicking Leviathan in the neck. As he did, he took a glance at an apparatus on his arm.

{98%}

"Pollux!" Castor called out.

The twins' eyes met. They nodded to each other before backing off, splitting up from each other.

Leviathan tried to rush toward Pollux, identifying her as the more immediate threat to Castor, but the young star seemed irritated at that as his whip tied him up.

It only locked him in place for a few seconds, but that was more than enough.

Castor pulled his arm back like he was holding a bow.

"[Grand Constellation: Dual Arrow!]"

Letting go of his imaginary bow, a ray of light descended like God smiting a filthy demon.

The Light drilled deep into the ocean, evaporating any water that came near it in an instant, allowing the two to retreat.

As Castor stopped moving, he began vomiting out more blood.

"Castor!"

"I'm… Fine…" He spoke through his coughs.

"A fusion of two full-scale Zodiacs is still too much for me? Damn."

"Come on. Let's heal you on the ship before we continue our search. Even a Primordial couldn't have survived that…" Pollux said, throwing her brother's arm over her shoulder.

Castor could get on board with that idea. It felt like every bone in his body had been shattered, and all of his insides were on his outsides. In other words, a less-than-pleasant experience.

The Gemini, the power of souls and sacred contract. And The Sagittarius, the ultimate unstoppable force.

Even with the Vitality of a Primordial, Leviathan would be fatally wounded from the soul's corrosion.

Pollux took her time to fly up. Castor's Celestial Energy had faded from over-exerting himself, so she had to coat him with her own.

"It's a shame he fell so easily, though… What if we never get a chance to fight another primordial?! That'd suck!" She complained.

"Aha. Ever the battle junk-."

Castor's words were interrupted by a sharp pain in his chest. When he looked down to see the cause, a sharp reptilian tail poked right through his heart.

Pollux didn't even have time to scream as a geyser shot her flying so far that she left the confines of the planet.

Using his tail, Leviathan turned Castor to face him.

Oddly enough, Leviathan smiled… A satisfied smile of all things.

It was a little hard to tell due to Leviathan's entire body being in shambles. He couldn't open one of his eyes, and the right side of his torso was utterly torn asunder.

Fatally wounded, not dead.

"H-how?"

"Oh, how I envy your mortals and your ability to grow beyond the confines of your life." Leviathan paused as if talking only for dramatic effect.

"But how I don't envy your failure inches away from your goal."

Castor's mind escaped him. What was this lizard hiding in human skin talking about?

'No… Whatever it is, it doesn't matter.' He thought.

Pollux was pushed to the forefront of his mind. Every other thought was forced out. That geyser wasn't enough to defeat his sister, but since she was sharing so much Celestial Energy with him, it'd weaken her greatly.

If he fell here, she'd only follow him shortly after.

"Well…" Castor coughed up more blood.

"Failure is subjective, I think. But we did not fail." He tried his best to chuckle, but the pain made it difficult.

'If I'm going to die anyway. You're coming with me.'

"What?" Leviathan questioned, narrowing his snake-like eyes at Castor.

"Oh, nothing… Just that'd you make for a much better Pride than Envy."

Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well choose the nuclear option.

Castor's silver aura returned in a second wind, swallowing him and Leviathan. He began to burn his lifeforce, his soul, his very existence for one hurrah.

Leviathan, noticing the danger, tried to pull away, but Castor's Star Catcher gripped the lizard with no interest in ever letting go.

"[Gemini… Gambit…]"

As Castor's final word escaped, a hole was punched into Leviathan's chest. What remained of it anyway.

Inversely, Castor's body was nearly torn open as he rapidly lost his eyesight.

Darkness consumed the world for them both as they fell to the water.

'Huh… Death is warmer than I expected.'

Castor never feared death. Or at least, he got over such a fear long ago. He didn't remember such a thing. If him dying could make sure that Pollux achieved their lifelong dream, dying was a perfectly fine price to pay.

"-Tor!"

"- With me!"

'Pollux? Is that her voice? That's good… If she can worry about me, that means… Leviathan was really dealt with…' He chuckled inwardly.

'Shine bright… Lil sis.'

She kept shouting for him, which Castor was sure of, but as time passed,d it became harder to hear. Eventually, even his thoughts were taken from him.

Dead, but leaving his final mark on the universe. Not a bad way to go, if you ask him.