A long long time ago two brothers were born at the same day and exactly the same hour to the ruling pair of the elven gods. They were twins in everything but personality, which caused them to argue and fight often to the point that it was clear to all that if this continued one would likely kill the other. So their father one day told them to go out into the void between realms to search for a peaceful way to settle their differences, because he didn't want to see one of his children kill the other and both brothers agreed to do so quite readily. For while neither of them could say they loved the other. They both however didn't hate each other either, even after all the fights they had in the past. Which were caused by the two of them just annoying each other like only family could and so neither wanted to kill the other.

  So both brothers set out into the void to find a way to settle their differences, traveling deep into the void to both avoid the enemies of their family, like the dwarven gods, that would kill them on the spot and to avoid accidentally destroying something, which might cause problems for them or their family. None know how long they traveled or how far they went into the void nor what incredible sights they must have seen on their journey together until they found themselves in front of a realm full of life.

  The brothers had grown quite a bit closer through their journey, thanks to finding common ground in their enjoyment of traveling and discovering new things. So when they found a realm full of life, after only finding dead realms on their entire journey, both brothers immediately shrunk themselves down to, what should be, the size of its inhabitants and then headed towards a city that looked big enough to them to be the capital. And the closer they got to it the more the sheer scale of it became starkly apparent. Buildings made of metal and glass so utterly gigantic they dwarfed any building the brothers had ever laid eyes on, god or mortal made, dominated the city sky line reigning over a city so vast that it boggled the mind. Millions and millions of people filled the street on foot or in metal carriages that moved without the help of animals or magic.

  It was a sight so utterly unlike anything the brothers had ever seen that they ignored the voices in the back of their minds, cautioning them that something was very very wrong with this realm, and flew like moths to a flame towards this city of towers and the wonders it held. Wonders that were all achieved without magic something the brothers couldn't believe, for a realm without magic was to them just not possible. Yet no matter where they went they found ever more wonders all functioning without a single drop of mana, from gigantic signs showing moving pictures advertising products, who's purpose they could only guess at, metal boxes that dispensed food to untold millions of lights that slowly came to life across the entire city, making the entire city visible from orbit, once the sun had finally sunk beneath the horizon. Still unable to believe that this was possible, the brothers decided to investigate one of the metal food dispensing boxes.

  However they didn't find anything on the outside, even when they lifted it up to take a look at the bottom and back side, leaving them no other option but to take a look inside. But before they could even attempt to open up the box a chorus of voices rang out from behind them all saying the exact same thing as one " Excuse me could you please not break the snack machine."

  Both brothers froze when they heard the voices knowing that it had been one of the mortals that had addressed them. However that was impossible for no mortal could see a god without the God allowing themselves to be seen. Yet there he stood looking at them as if it was the most natural thing and he was not alone, all around the brothers mortals stood, staring directly at them. And at that moment the feeling of wrongness returned and this time neither of the brothers could ignore it for there was something very very wrong with these mortals.

  They too had not even an iota of mana in them, even though they looked much like an elf with round ears instead of pointed ones, and yet there was something in its place, something at the same time completely unfamiliar yet terribly familiar to the brothers. The way it visibly coursed through their veins making the brothers skin crawl and yet that was nothing compared to their eyes for they were as black as the void they had traversed for ages now. Yet somehow it still felt like they were staring directly into their souls judging what they found for its worth. But the brothers knew that it was not the mortals doing this making them both realise that they had trespassed on someone's property.

  So they quickly bowed their heads and said in unison "We deeply apologize for encroaching upon your territory." to what they believed to be one of this realm's champions. But the mortal just tilted his head in confusion, before shaking his head and walking towards what he had referred to as a snack machine. Pulled out a piece of paper, inserted it into the box, pushed something with his finger and then retrieved some sort of food as well as some coinage, before walking away the small crowd around them similarly dispersing a moment later leaving the two confused brothers behind without uttering a single word.

  They remained a while longer simply staring at the mortals as they walked by all with the same energy coursing through their veins and black eyes as well as often standing nearly a head taller than them. In turn they sometimes throw glances at the brother, but largely they just ignored them to busy with their own lives. Even when the brothers approached them to ask some questions they were ignored. So the brothers took to the skies once more to search for a temple so that they could try to make amends for their transgressions with the deity that ruled this realm. An undertaking that would have been absolutely trivial in any other realm where temples were so large their grounds nearly covered entire districts, no other building daring to even challenge their grandeur. Yet here in this city of towering monuments all equally ridiculous in their scale it was like finding a needle in a haystack, to the point that they were just about to give up when the sound of a bell echoed through the night leading the brother towards a rather unassuming building. Neither of the brothers could really believe that this was a temple, for while there were decorations they were not made out of any precious metals. Instead they were made of simple stone and the entire building was just too small to be a temple, yet they still entered. The inside of the building was much like the outside made from simple gray stone, with a few decorations carved into the ceiling. Two long aisles of dark wooden benches ran from the entrance to what looked like an altar at the head of the temple. In the day the only real colour came from the beautiful stained glass windows, showing what seemed to be champions of old, and the altar. But in the evening all of this was illuminated by a few dozen manaless lights set into chandeliers bathing the temple in a soft yellow light that added to the simple majesty of the temple.

  So majestic was the temple in fact in its simple grace that the brothers nearly didn't notice the mortal approaching them. He wore a strange set of black robes with a short white rectangular spot at the collar, clearly identifying him as some sort of priest. Elated, the two brothers walked towards the old man to ask him if they could have an audience with his deity.

  But before they could even utter a single word the old man shook his head and said "I am sorry, but you won't find what you are looking for here." confusing the brothers to the point that they asked in unison "What do you mean?" The old man seemed unsure how to answer their query and when he did it only confused the brothers even more "I don't know. I just know that you are looking for something and that you won't find it here." Then he turned and walked towards the altar ignoring all questions the brothers threw after him. So they left knowing that they wouldn't get any answers here and flew towards the roof of a building. There they stood for a moment, before one of them resolved himself to get the answer to a question that had been nagging at him, what was the energy inside these mortals. He could feel it just like he could feel mana, so he focused on that feeling analyzing it to gain some miniscule understanding as to why it felt so familiar. But even after a few moments of intense concentration he didn't gain any insight into what that energy was, until his twin touched his shoulder making him turn towards his brother and he saw how similar the energy flowing through his twin was to the energy inside the mortals. Out of all the things he had seen in this realm this was the hardest to believe for what reason could a deity have to use so much of their own blood that still untold generations later it still flowed strong through their creations veins.

  But before he could even tell his twin about his discovery someone behind them said " What makes you believe that they were created and not born?" right behind them, making both brothers freeze up once more. The owner of the voice was a muscular woman with grey skin, hair as black as the void, that seemed to move as if it were alive, and the same black eyes as well as the same round ears as the mortals of this realm. She wore a strange close fitting outfit consisting of a black knee length skirt, a white blouse and some sort of black formal jacket. But that was not the odd part about her, no for you see usually one could roughly tell the role of a deity by looking at their appearance and well this goddess had the build, as well as the scars, of a war goddess, the beauty of a goddess of beauty and the curves of a fertility goddess. Which gave her quite the unique appearance that could only be described as that of a barbarian queen. But to the brothers it was just as odd as everything else in this realm had been so far. So the brothers were not that surprised to discover that the deity in charge of this realm was just as odd as her creations.

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  It was almost funny in a way, if it had not been for the aura of danger she was radiating so neither of the brothers even dared to let out a chuckle. Instead they once more said in unison "We apologize for encroaching upon your territory mylady." bowing their heads as deeply as they could to this barbarian queen of a goddess. But she just dismissively waved her hand and said "It's alright you are not the first nor will you be the last to come here." Which made the brothers let out a sigh of relief right until the words had fully sunk in and they raised their heads to see the goddesses black lips part to reveal rows of sharp teeth as she gave them a smile that told them everything they needed to know.

  So they took to the sky again leaving the realm as fast as they could. Yet they were not pursued, causing them to pause just a few hundred kilometres from the realm long enough for two gigantic to grab ahold of one brother each lifting them towards an equally gigantic familiar face. Both brothers couldn't help but gawk at the sheer size of her for a moment, for at their full height they both stood taller than even the tallest build in the city of towers yet they were so easily dwarfed by her and something told them this was not even her true height. Which made their prospects of escaping look rather grim for the power difference was just too great and she clearly knew that. Yet despite the grim situation they found themselves in, the brothers could not help but ask her "Why?".

  That goddess seemed to catch the goddess slightly off guard for she had likely expected them to curse or threaten her instead of this. But after a moment she replied "Because it is not time yet for the rest of you to know of the existence of my children. Normally I would just wipe your memories and make sure you never find this world again, before throwing you back the way you had come from. But unfortunately for you I have never seen your kind before so I am gonna need some information. Information that neither of you is likely to give me even when threatened with death and since I can't just rummage around in your noggins I will just have to eat you to get what I need."

  That made the brothers freeze up in utter terror, which seemed to amuse the goddess quite a bit, judging by the laugh she let out, before saying "Yes I am gonna eat you just like all the gods and goddesses my children created." causing the brothers' jaws to drop to the proverbial ground, which made the goddess once more laugh out loud before elaborating further. "Yes, my children created gods! For you see they are quite the curious bunch so they always asked themselves questions like why does the sun rise and set, what causes natural disasters like volcanoes or earthquakes, how was the world created and of course, most popular of all, why are we here? The answer to all of these questions was often layed at the feet of a deity or monster of some kind, leading to the formation of religions that worshiped these gods and thanks to that belief the first of untold thousands of gods were born to this world. And I ate them all every single one. At first it was mostly out of mercy, for like many things religions rise and fall as well, but there were also causes of war gods challenging me so they could die fighting or even some that ask me to eat them so that they could live on through me in some way, shape or form. But after a while the gods started to treat my children like they were their slaves demanding tributes or sacrifices and punishing my children for even implying that they were in any ways equal to the gods. And my children did their very best to please them, believing disaster would follow if they displeased the gods, bolstering the gods ego so much that they began to believe that the myths and stories my children told of them were all true. This of course only made them worse and so I ate them to stop them from causing more damage or harming my children any further. But at that point there were already multiple religions all across the globe, with new ones forming occasionally and every single time I told myself that the next gods would be better only for them to be just as bad as the rest. So I started to eat them right when they were born and that's what I have done until this very day waiting for the day to come when my children will finally cast religion aside. They are quite close to that already you see and soon they will be ready."

  The brothers just listened in muted horror as the goddess proudly recounted the atrocities she had committed. Though it was the last sentence in particular and what it implied that troubled them so much that they almost did not ask "Why do you call them your children?" for no other deity had ever used that word to refer to mortals. The goddess in turn thought about that for a moment before she said "Well that is a bit more personal but I guess I can tell you. Alright I should probably start at the beginning I guess. Which was of course me being well born somewhere in the middle of space far away from here all alone and to this day I still don't know a single thing about my origins or if I am the only one of my kind. Hell I do not even remember what I looked like back then. All I remember is roaming the stars aimlessly, for how long I do not remember. But then I came across this world, though that was back when it had just formed so it was still just a gigantic ball of molten rock. Yet for some reason it looked so comfortable to me that I immediately coiled around it and quickly fell asleep. At first I did not dream, or atleast I do not remember dreaming, but after a while I started to hear sounds just at the edge of my hearing, before over time they grew louder and louder. Then pictures of things I had never seen in my life started to flash across my mind at first for just a second before disappearing as fast as they had come in time with the sounds, before they too started to stay longer and longer. And before I knew it I was dreaming of making spears, made of wood and stone, running away from or hunting dangerous animals and painting pictures of animals onto the walls of caves feeling everything as if I had done it myself. But one day the perspective changed and I was no longer the one hunting animals, but the one watching someone hunt and it was always the same person. After a while he seemed to notice that he was being watched, but did not know from where. But after a few more days he looked straight at me, his eyes turning as black as the void and black veins appeared on his ebony skin, before he uttered a single word "Mother." It was then that I awoke from my slumber finding that the ball of molten rock I had coiled around had turned into a blue, green planet full of life and that I had grown. Life that had all in one way or another been shaped by my presence and none more than my children. And before you ask, no I do not know if my presence was the reason why life came to exist in this world or not. Anyways after I had woken up I headed down to the planet to find the person I had dreamed of and when I found him neither of us had to utter a single word to understand, for we could both feel that we shared the same blood, that we were kin. That connection was the reason why they never feared me or worshipped me, for to them I was just their mother nothing more nothing less. And never again in my life would something feel so just right than this and that convinced me that is why I was born. So I remain here both to guard them and to make sure no one finds them, for my children are not ready to be found or leave the nest just yet. But anyways that is why I call them my children, for they are my children, the little part of me inside of every single one of them is proof of that and now that I fulfilled your last wish it is time to end this."

  And with that she opened her mouth revealing too many rows of sharp teeth and then slowly pulled her hand closer to her mouth making both of the brothers panic. They grasped for one another, even though they knew they could never reach, while they struggled to get free of the goddess grip. But in the end all of their efforts were of course for naught, the goddess too powerful for either of the brothers to stop her from popping one of them in her mouth, before biting down and ending his existence.

  The remaining brother felt the death of his twin as keenly as if a part of his very being had died with him. A presence that had been with him for as long as he had been alive gone in an instance and almost immediately he missed him as tears flowed freely down his face without him noticing. It was the very first time he had lost something really important to him and just how many mortal stories warned he only understood how much he had loved it until it was gone. He could not help but chuckle at that, he, a damned god, had to learn a lesson that some mortals learned when they were but children. But that was not the first time a mortal had been wiser than him, for he had seen more than one brother pair that argued just as much as him and his twin. Yet they had somehow managed to get along, while his brother had to die for him to even realise how much he had actually cared for him and now he was gone, leaving a hole that could never be filled. So even if he did survive this, which was rather unlikely, he would probably spend the rest of his miserable existence drowning his sorrows in liquor, until someone finally ended his suffering.

  Knowing that he found that he did not fear death anymore. The answer as to why was rather simple, death now held the possibility of seeing his brother again and with that the chance to make things right if not in this life than in whatever came after. So he did not struggle when the goddess popped him into her mouth and bit down. Instead he closed his eyes and vowed that if he ever saw his brother again the first thing he would do was to give him a big hug, before her teeth came down on him finishing him just like his brother.

  This tale would hundreds of years later be known as the tale of the lost brothers, when the children, of what would later be known as, the devourer of gods finally left their cradle and began to travel the void conquering the very stars with their monstrous mother at their back.