Instantly, dozens of pairs of eyes swiveled towards the twins. They fought the instinct to cower and instead strode confidently to the circular platform in the middle of the room where the seer awaited. Candles surrounded it, making the light flicker eerily across the faces closest to the platform. The seer was an emaciated male with a veil covering his eyes. He dressed in plain white robes and held a crystal orb in his hands. He would bid each twin to hold the orb in their hands, and he would divine their soulmate from one of the dozens of nobles in the room. Until then, they were to kneel in front of the king and queen's throne, which were placed in the farthest back of the room.

The king was visibly disgruntled at having to look upon the twins of destruction that he had the misfortune to share blood with. The day they were born was the day his reputation took a heavy blow, and it took hundreds of years for it to make a full recovery. The queen was sitting demurely, dressed in a relatively simple white dress with a veil completely covering her head. This was the first time she had stepped outside of her room in 4,000 years, so the nobles in the room were abuzz with excitement. She was a known beauty in the kingdom, so they were slightly disappointed at not being able to see her face.

The king clapped his hands, demanding silence. He gazed upon his children's faces for the first time in 4,000 years... and grimaced. Even though they had never interacted with their father before, the twins couldn't help but feel a sharp pang in their hearts.

"Today, we are here for the sacred ritual that has stood since the beginning of this kingdom. Lilith Solis and Lucifer Solis have reached 4,000 years of age and are thus old enough to have their soulmates divined," the king declared. "May the fates guide our seer's hand."

There were usually a lot more formalities than that short speech, but that was about as much as the two most hated people in the kingdom were going to get. The twins were actually a little glad, since that meant they could escape that room faster.

The seer approached Lilith and, without any sort of ceremony, plopped the crystal ball in her hands. She nearly dropped it and hurriedly secured it to her chest. The room tittered with giggles, and she flushed bright red. She shook off the negative feelings bombarding her from around the room and focused on the crystal ball, holding it in front of her so the seer could peer into it. It shone light navy, and for a split second Lilith could've sworn that she saw a dash of dark navy and teal hair and tormented golden eyes that stole her breath away. The moment passed before she could make anything else out, and the crystal ball was practically snatched from her hands and deposited into Lucifer's waiting hands. He was ready, so he didn't fumble with it and instead waited patiently as the ball glowed a golden color, and Lilith could make out faint teal eyes and a flash of light blonde hair.

The seer took the crystal ball and stepped back. He raised it above his head and flashed a dark grin that sent shivers down Lilith's spine. She had a really bad feeling about this.

"The fates have shown me the soulmates of the young twins of the kingdom!" he declared, lowering the ball and setting it on a small pedestal to free his hands. He turned a little to the left as if he already knew exactly where the people were. "May Lady Marianne Crystalian and Sir Arthur Babylion join us on stage!"

Lucifer let out a quiet gasp of recognition, and Lilith soon followed suit. The two people in front of them were indeed pleasing to the eyes. They were rich and powerful, and any normal person would kill to marry them.

Yes, any normal person.

The two in front of them were commoners, cursed with a short lifespan.

Lilith quickly whirled around, looking at the crowd around them. She saw nothing but disgusting amusement and minor pity, and she realized that everybody was in on the farce. She finally faced her father and steeled herself before the satisfaction wafting from him. Her heart was well and truly broken, and she knew that her brother was the same.

Their kingdom sentenced them to death.

"Seeing as their soulmates are commoners," the seer spat as if he tasted something foul, "the king has graciously allowed these two pairs to skip the engagement and form a soul bond right away! Now, let us begin the soul bond ritual!" he announced as if he didn't just admit that the "engagement ceremony" was rigged from the start. He reached for Lilith's wrist, but she jerked it away.

"How much did they pay you?" she spat out.

"Whatever do you mean?" the seer grinned.

"You were paid to soul bond us to two rich mortals and sentence us to a short life," she seethed, barely holding herself back from lunging at him.

"You should be glad you were even given this privilege," the seer sneered, abandoning all pretenses. "You, two monstrosities who should've never been born, get to live on the lap of luxury for about 50 years before you finally purify this kingdom from your presence. I have to say that this is a good deal."

"Don't screw with us!!" Lilith screamed, thrusting her left hand out to the side. "Summoning: Gladius Lunae!"

Lucifer, who had been silent this whole time, reached his right side to the side. "Summoning: Gladius Astrorum," he ordered, voice laced with suppressed rage. He could handle many things. He could handle being insulted. He could handle being married off like a pawn. Hell, he could even handle being sentenced to an early death. However, no one. Absolutely no one. Ever threatened his precious sister and got away with it.

(In this fic, Lilith has Lumine's sword and Lucifer has Aether's)

In their hands materialized two beautiful gold-and-white swords. Lilith's sword had a handle in the shape of a moon, and Lucifer's was in the shape of a star. Every single noble in Sidus Regnum was born with a sword in their souls, but very few were disciplined enough in the art of swordplay to physically manifest it. These twins were special, however. In the 1,500 years their nanny had spent training them in swordplay, it took Lilith only 300 years to manifest her sword with Lucifer following a couple years after, where it would take any normal person thousands. By their betrothal ceremonies, they had completely familiarized themselves with their swords.

Lilith pointed her sword at the seer's throat as the room erupted in furious whispers. She felt like throwing up from the pure hatred being thrown at her, but Lucifer gently placed a hand on her shoulder, steadying her.

The seer paled, but continued with a bravado, "Insolent wench! How dare you point your sword at a person as holy as I!"

"Hah!" Lilith scoffed. "If you're holy, then I'm God herself!"

"The audacity...! Guards!!" the seer barked. "Seize her! They will form soul bonds whether they like it or not!"

"Like hell we will," Lucifer growled, also pointing his sword towards the seer, then towards the guards starting to swarm the platform.

They were at a standstill, the seer scurrying into the crowd as it backed away. The king was apathetic throughout it all, and the queen had not moved an inch since the twins entered. At last, one of the guards rushed forward, and the room erupted into chaos. The nobles streamed out of the room, along with the seer, so there was more room to fight. A barrier erected in front of the king and queen's thrones, protecting them from the chaos.

The twins dodged, slashed, parried, desperately trying not to kill anyone while preventing themselves from being captured. Their backs to each other, they moved in perfect synchrony, protecting each other from sneak attacks. However, as Lilith disabled a soldier, she saw another one raising his sword above Lucifer's head.

"Lucifer!!!" she shrieked, panic invading her brain. Almost as if she had lost control of her body, she raced forward with inhuman speed. Easily, abruptly, her sword sliced through the air... and through the heart of the soldier like a warm knife through butter.

Her world shattered.

This was the first time she had ever taken a life, and it nauseated her. She assumed that she had known the worst emotions that humanity could ever throw at her, but she was wrong. Pure agony, rage, sadness, and absolute despair overwhelmed her, the last dying moments of the soldier on her sword feeling like a millenia. The soldier hated her with all his soul and despaired at leaving all that he loved behind, the whirlwind of negativity literally knocking Lilith off her feet. She kneeled on the ground, shaking. She dropped her sword and stared at her bloodstained hands. Vaguely, she could see long pitch black hair covering her vision of the room around her, and she welcomed the darkness. She was too far gone to hear Lucifer's panicked shouts, nor sense the bloodlust of the soldier rushing towards her, thoughts of capturing her fleeing from his brain. The death of his fellow soldier had filled his mind with nothing but a need for blood, and he lifted his sword above his head.

Lilith finally lifted her head and registered three things.

The soldier in front of her, ready to take her life.

Lucifer, desperately running towards her, fear flooding through his pitch black eyes.

The queen, outside of the barrier and running towards her with inhuman speed.

Lilith closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate, then snapped them open again. Wait... Black? The... queen?
Before she could think anything more, the queen was in front of her.

The soldier swung his sword down, slicing through the woman's back. The veil fluttered off her head, pulled off by the force of the swing.

Everything froze, perhaps even time itself, as the queen fell to her knees in front of Lilith, her face finally visible for all to see.

"Na...nny...?" Lilith whispered, her eyes wide open.

A.N.
YO BROS 18 READS? GET OUTTA HERE, LET'S GOOO!
Forget cardio, my vibrations of excitement are burning major calories rn.
Pls comment and lmk what u guys thinkkkkk.

Edit: Y'know what, Imma add a little more because my previous ending point was a bit... iffy.