Haven

The world of the forbidden ones.

Every day, the colour of the sky becomes a beautiful shade of clear blue. Every night, it becomes the darkest night with artificial stars.

There is only one lamp in the sky. During the days, it brightens up the world. During the nights, it will dim enough to give an illusion of the moon.

The two primordial gods are more than enough for this world to function properly.

There are four regions. There is a certain hierarchy. The dukes rule the four regions, under the goddess of Abyss. Though it's hard for the forbidden creatures to give birth, they are slowly growing. The world is no longer lonely.

In the midst of four regions, there is a large white palace. The place is big enough for the entire population of Haven to live there. However, only the gods and their children reside there.

At first, only Abyss used to stay there whenever she visited Haven. Then, She started living there with the God of darkness

Her daughters were staying in different worlds with their husbands. Time to time, they would visit her. But Abyss had never let them stay for long. Even her adopted son was kicked out each time when he would beg to stay in Haven with her.

Many years passed. Abyss' daughters gave birth.

Misaki had a son. Though Scias was a forbidden creature, the child was not one. They named him Cyran.

It seemed that children between a forbidden creature and an immortal God are immortal children -- not forbidden creatures

Misumi had twin daughters. Both were born with the blood of the gods. Lucius was exhilarated. He vowed to become a better husband and even better father. They are named Luna and Miya.

Finally, Abyss gave birth to her son -- Dai.

At first, everyone was delighted. Dai was the first child born in Haven. He was born after a difficult birth. However, the child was a forbidden creature.

That didn't stop anyone from celebrating. Dai was a son of two primordial gods. Even the gods from Iravan came to celebrate his birth. Ai was excited to have another brother. Misaki and Misumi, though they had grown mature, were screaming with joy.

Adira nearly cried. He hadn't expected to have a child after such a long time. He had another son.

As for Ari, she was a little worried because Dai was different.

Her worries only grew day by day's her doubts grew stronger. Dai's growth was a reason to worry.

***

A little boy of around two picks the round ball sculpted from a large piece of sapphire and thrashes on the floor.

The ball of sapphire hits the floor and breaks into zillionth pieces.

The boy next to him yells at him, "Why did you break that? It was mine."

The little boy looks at his nephew sullenly, but he doesn't retaliate. He turns his back to him and stares hard at the floor.

Cyran glared at the boy. Why is his uncle like this? Though he and his uncle have the same age, he has to take care of his uncle who doesn't seem to grow at all.

His uncle is unpredictable. He would always take his things. And then, he would always destroy them.

Cyran looks at the pieces of the sapphire ball. His mother brought a shiny stone for him. His father sculpted it into a ball.

Now, his uncle broke it.

Why is his uncle stronger than him when he is so small? His lips quiver as he tries hard not to try. He is already eleven this year. He shouldn't cry.

Ai heads toward the playroom. Today is his last day in this world (for now). His mother has given him an ultimatum to leave this world by the end of the day. He has to take Cyran with him to Iravan.

Misaki and Scias are travelling again while she's pregnant with their second child. That girl can't stay still at one place for long.

Misumi is calmer. She lives in Solaria with Lucius and her twin daughters. The timekeeper has been reinstated as the vice-president of the keeper's institution after Misaki had vowed not to make any trouble.

Can anyone blame him for sneaking into Haven? He is the only one in Iravan.

His biological father and his elder brother, Aren, are dead. They weren't immortal. Though he gets visited by his sisters and the dark god once in a while, it gets lonely.

He would rather stay in Haven and become a forbidden creature instead of living as a face of the dark god in Iravan.

But his mother won't allow him. She won't say why, but she wouldn't give him permission to stay here.

Ai exhales. Life is lonely. Truly lonely. His sisters are nagging him to get married. But he's too busy managing the dark realm. When he's not managing the dark realm, it's natural that he would come to Haven.

He enters the playroom. His nephew Cyran is sitting in the corner, facing the wall. His shoulders are trembling weakly. Ai hears the faint sound of sobbing.

Ai guesses what could have happened. It's usually Dai. His dark eyes search for the culprit. Dai is crawling toward the slide that their mother made for him.

Dai's body is a major cause of his mother's worry. It's been ten years. But Dai still looks like a toddler. The problem is that there are other forbidden children who were born after Dai. Though their growth is slow, they are still growing faster than Dai.

Their mother, Abyss, tried to look into Dai's true name. Strangely, she wasn't able to see or feel it. She can't give him a new name.

Dai hasn't spoken a word since his birth. He doesn't cry or smile. Even his father is losing sleep in worry. The gods of Iravan don't have any clues either. Mother is trying to contact other primordial gods.

Ai walks to Cyran. He places his hand on his shoulder. "Cyran, what's wrong?"

"Uwaaaaaah!" Cyran bursts into tears. "Uncle Ai, he broke my ball. Father made it for me."

Is he talking about the ball that Misaki and Scias gave him on his fifth birthday? It was not an ordinary ball.

"He broke it?" Ai mumbles, turning his head to take a look at Dai.

The toddler is nowhere to be seen.

"..."