Nightfall loomed over Voltair City, the capital realm of planet Voltaira.

  Residing in the moderately lit confines of his plain and simple Private Chamber was Magnus.

  Sitting on the edge of his massive, slightly hovering bed, the Breaker of Worlds was holding Jaiya’s little stuffed toy, Janx, that he had scavenged from the scattered debris of planet Crix.

  As Magnus stared deeply into the crudely stitched eyes of Janx, he relived the breaking of Crix over and OVER again in his tormented head.

  He did not think of just Crix though.

  Magnus thought of the other worlds; the HUNDREDS of other worlds that he SOLELY broke during his many cycles as a Galactic Decider.

  The other Galactic Deciders played their parts in the ‘breakings’ from time to time, but when it came down to it, Magnus was the last person to lay the FINAL BLOW on the doomed world.

  That was his role.

  His purpose.

  DESTRUCTION.

  BZZZZZZ!

  Hearing the entrance buzzer go off on his chamber door, which had been locked from the outside by a pair of Voltairan Knights that had escorted Magnus back to his dwelling for stabilization on the direct orders of the Grand Deciding Council, the World-Breaker broke his concentration away from Janx and focused on the metal door.

  Sliding open a half-milli-cycle later, Magnus expected to be greeted by more Voltairan Knights, but he was greeted by someone else entirely.

  “Grand evening-cycle, Magnus,” Anora greeted upon opening the World-Breaker’s supposed locked chamber door.

  “Anora?” Magnus said in surprise as he quickly placed Janx underneath the gold ‘aluminum foil; looking thermal blanket that covered over his rather comfortable bed mattress.

  Checking the hall to make sure that she hadn’t been followed by anyone, Anora quickly stepped inside of Magnus’s Private Chamber and closed the door via usage of a holo-control pad that was placed on the inside wall to its left.

  Once the door had slid back shut, Anora said, “There we go. Now we are alone.”

  Turning around to face a currently vexed World-Breaker, Anora gave him a ‘welcoming’ look.

  “Anora… What are you doing here?” Magnus asked curiously..

  “The others and I heard word of your meeting with the Council,” Anora explained. “Tis said that it was rather… Surprising.”

  Scrunching his brow, Magnus replied, “Surprising is saying it ‘lightly’. Anora, how did you…”

  “Enter your private chamber? ‘Twas quite simple, actually. I just merely bypassed the ‘secret’ security code that the Voltairan Knights enacted when they first locked you in here.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes. Come now, Magnus. Why do you seem so bewildered? You know that I have always been quite ‘tech-savvy’.”

  Remembering Anora’s unique quirk with understanding technology, even in its most advanced forms, Magnus nodded.

  Looking around Magnus’s Private Chamber now, Anora asked, “So, are you ready to go to the celebration?”

  “What?” Magnus huffed.

  “THE GRAND CELEBRATION, Mags. The one that the Emperor is having in our honor for purging the Kren-aligned planet of Crix from the Galaxy.”

  Thinking of the breaking of Crix for a brief moment again, Magnus lowered his brow while exhibiting a quick flash of Little Jaiya disintegrating into nothingness before his very waking eyes.

  Seeing a conflicted look on the World-Breaker’s chiseled face, Anora asked, “Magnus? Magnus, is everything 'well' with you, brother?”

  Brother.

  Being called that by Anora shook Magnus for a moment, but he didn’t know why.

  Snapping back into reality, Magnus looked up to Anora and asked, “What?”

  “I said, is everything well with you, Magnus?” Anora restated as she looked over the mentally and emotionally tortured Intergalactic Peacekeeper.

  Looking off to the side for a moment, Anora noticed an object was tucked beneath Magnus’s bed covers.

  “What is that?” Anora asked curiously whilst examining the object.

  “What is ‘what’, Anora?” Magnus asked.

  “THAT. Beneath the blanket, Magnus… WHAT IS THAT?”

  Eyes widened, Magnus looked to his left at the object, which was actually Janx.

  As Magnus quickly tried to come up with a good enough lie to tell Anora his fellow Galactic Decider chose to see for herself.

  “Anora, wait. Do not…” Magnus warned as Anora had already reached his bed.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “What be the disturbance, Magnus?” Anora asked as she pulled back on the blanket. “Why do you act so strangely?”

  Magnus gulped as Anora grabbed a hold of Little Jaiya’s stuffed toy.

  Scrunching her brow in confusion, Anora drew her hand out from underneath the blanket with Janx now held firmly in her right hand.

  “What… is… this?” Anora asked as she now examined the roughed up stuffed toy.

  Magnus remained silent as Anora turned to him with Janx still in hand.

  “MAGNUS, I asked you a question,” Anora said in a more stern tone as she motioned Janx towards the World-Breaker. “What is this… This ‘thing’? Where did it come fro--”

  “CRIX,” Magnus calmly answered, cutting Anora’s question short. “Tis came from planet Crix… After its breaking.”

  “Crix? Why do you still have it, Magnus? Why did you bring it all the way back here… TO VOLTAIRA???”

  Realizing that Anora was too intelligent for him to try and lie to, Magnus decided to tell her the truth… partially.

  “I brought it here… Because it reminded me of something. Something from my… youth.”

  “Your youth? What are you talking about, Magnus? How could you have had something like… this in your youth? When we were childlings, our Keepers, nor the Council, nor even the GRAND EMPEROR HIMSELF allowed us to have …”

  “Toys. Tis not a ‘thing’, Anora. Tis a ‘toy’.”

  “I know what ‘it’ is, Magnus. I am not a raxx-head.”

  “Really? Are you certain of this, sister?”

  Magnus then smirked as Anora sarcastically replied, “Amusing… VERY amusing. All ‘jests’ aside, you know that we’re not to have THINGS such as this raggedy object within the Temple. If this were to be discovered by one of the Knights… Or even the Deciding Council then…”

  “IT SHALL NOT BE ‘DISCOVERED’, ANORA,” Magnus thundered.

  Rising up from his place on his bedside, Magnus reached out towards Anora with his left hand and pulled Janx away from her grasp.

  Holding Janx with a tightened grip now, Magnus demanded, “ANORA, I command you to tell me why you have entered my Private Chamber… UNINVITED. You do realize that I am under careful watch by the Council while I try to ‘restabilize’ my emotional level, yes?”

  “Yes, Magnus… I realize it,” Anora nodded.

  “Then why have you come to me???”

  “Because, I wanted you to come and enjoy the celebration with the others… And myself, Magnus.”

  “Enjoy? Anora, to ‘enjoy’ something would take emotion and we are NEVER to exert ANY emotion once so ever.”

  “YES, MAGNUS. I KNOW.”

  “Anora, I sense your emotional level wavering away from its baseline. Are you in need of restabilization as well???”

  Narrowing her eyes at the World-Breaker, Anora wanted to lash out at him, but she knew better.

  So, instead, Anora just turned away from Magnus, giving him the ‘cold shoulder’.

  _

  Angered with me, Anora is.

  Since our youth, we have been the grandest of allies.

  Aside from our other eight siblings, Anora was whom I was the closest with.

  I do not know why we were so drawn to one another, Anora and I.

  Maybe I shall never know.

  Alas, I do feel a slight bit of regret for acting the way that I did with her just moments ago.

  Ugh… Thrack, Magnus.

  Why do you care so much?

  _

  “Ugh… Grandest apologies, Anora,” Magnus said after sighing.

  Anora then turned back around to face Magnus with her arms crossed over her chest as the World-Breaker explained, “Tis just so disturbing with how the Council treated my brief ‘lapse’ in the breaking of Crix. ‘Twas so… unprofessional. Ugh… By the Emperor, how could they treat me in such a heinous way after all of the things that I have done for the Empire?”

  “And our people,” Anora added.

  “Aye. Yes… Our people,” the Breaker of Worlds nodded. “After everything that I have done and accomplished in these past ten cycles as a Galactic Decider, this is how they repay me? By locking me inside of my thracking Private Chamber for the whole night-cycle as if I were some kind of childling???”

  Sensing the World-Breaker’s anger, Anora stepped towards him and grabbed ahold of Magnus’s right wrist with her left hand.

  “All is well, Magnus,” Anora coaxed as she locked eyes with the World-Breaker whilst trying to calm his emotional level. “All is well…”

  Meeting his eyes with Anora’s, Magnus, at first, gave her an evasive look, but that soon turned into a comforting one.

  An understanding one.

  Lowering his head, Magnus closed his eyes and sighed, “Ugh… Yes. All is well, Anora… But I am still trapped in my Private Chamber until the morning-cycle.”

  “I could still fix that, you know,” Anora smirked.

  Raising his head upward, Magnus met Anora’s eyes once more as he replied, “As much as I would like to take part in tonight-cycle’s ‘Grand Celebration’, Anora, I must detest. If I were found wandering about outside of my Private Chamber, let alone the Temple, against the Council’s orders then…”

  “Yes. I understand what would happen to you, Magnus. Ugh… Well, at least I said that I tried, eh?”

  “Aye. That you can… Sister.”

  Letting her smirk fade away now, Anora loosened the hold that she had on Magnus’s wrist and stepped away from him.

  Straightening herself up now, Anora said, “Well, if I cannot convince you to join myself and the others for the night-cycle’s rather ‘enticing’ festivities, Mags, I guess I shall bid you a grand farewell.”

  “Yes, Anora,” Magnus nodded. “Grand farewell.”

  After bowing to her Commanding-Leader, Anora turned away from the World-Breaker and headed towards his chamber door again.

  “ANORA,” Magnus suddenly called out, stopping the female Galactic Decider in her tracks.

  Looking back, Anora asked, “Yes, Magnus?”

  “Grand thanks,” Magnus said with a slight smirk, causing Anora to smirk and nod back at him before departing from his chamber.