The Unshaken Ones: Love, War, and the Gods Who Lost Control
(A Stoic Reflection on the Art of Not Caring About Cosmic Expectations)
That Which is in Our Control (Introduction)
Before the war, before the universe lost its collective mind, there was balance. A careful, tedious balance.
The Celestials, beings of pure intellect, had crafted an existence of order, precision, and absolute predictability. No emotions. No chaos. No bodily distractions.
The Voidborn, their opposite, reveled in instinct, sensation, and the audacity of free will. They shaped life through touch, breath, and the wild embrace of the unknown.
They did not love. They did not hate. They simply were.
Then Akan, a Celestial prodigy, did something horrifying.
He fell in love.
With Oru. A Voidborn.
And just like that, balance was shattered.
Love is Indifferent to Your Plans
The Celestials believed they were above love.
They were wrong.
Akan, golden and perfect, had spent his entire existence building galaxies with his mind, sculpting reality without so much as a heartbeat wasted on sentiment.
Then he met Oru, who had the nerve to exist in a way that made him question everything.
She was wild where he was controlled, powerful where he was precise, dangerous where he was safe.
She was, in short, a problem.
Akan, being a responsible Celestial, solved the problem by making it worse.
A Fool’s Best Teacher is Pain
It took exactly one stolen moment for the Celestials to notice Akan was… changing.
As it turns out, Celestials are bad at subtlety.
They dragged him before the Council of Eternal Judgment (which was, shockingly, not as fun as it sounds).
“Love is a weakness,” they said. “Love is disorder.”
Akan, still feeling rebellious, replied: “Or maybe you’re just cowards.”
A long silence followed.
Someone dropped their holy chalice.
And so, rather than reflect, adapt, or engage in anything remotely resembling wisdom, the Celestials did what they do best—
They tried to erase him.
Do Not Complain About the Wind, Adjust Your Sails
Oru, upon hearing that her shiny new boyfriend was scheduled for divine deletion, reacted with dignity and restraint.
By which we mean she stole him back and set half the Celestial realm on fire.
Akan, now an official traitor, realized he had exactly two options:
- Die nobly.
- Keep making bad decisions.
He, naturally, chose the latter.
They fled into the Voidborn realm.
The Celestials, faced with the embarrassment of losing their golden boy, declared a war nobody needed.
The Obstacle Becomes the Way
War is an interesting thing. It’s loud, ridiculous, and almost always the result of people who refuse to have honest conversations.
The Celestials, believing themselves to be divinely correct, decided to purge the Voidborn from existence.
The Voidborn, who were having a great time ruining the Celestial aesthetic, refused to be purged.
Akan, now fully committed to his choices, stood between two worlds, knowing neither side would accept him.
Oru, fully aware that this was his fault, grinned anyway.
They fought.
The war escalated.
The gods panicked.
And then Oru gave birth to something worse.
A Man is as Unhappy as He Has Convinced Himself to Be
The child’s name was Barbelo, and they were an existential nightmare.
Neither Celestial nor Voidborn, Barbelo was both and neither, a living, breathing reminder that balance was a lie.
The Celestials, upon learning of this, responded with their usual grace and wisdom.
“This must be destroyed!” they screamed, scrambling to justify a war they were already losing.
The Voidborn, watching from the abyss, decided that they would, in fact, be keeping this one.
First Learn the Meaning of What You Say, and Then Speak
Barbelo, mere moments old, looked upon both sides of the war and immediately found them unimpressive.
They listened. They observed.
Then, they laughed.
A sound like shattered stars, sharp and knowing, filled the battlefield.
And with a simple gesture, Barbelo did something neither side expected.
They spoke a new reality into being.
The Celestials, for the first time, hesitated.
Because for the first time, they were not in control.
Do Not Seek for Things to Happen the Way You Want, Wish for Them to Happen as They Do
The war stopped.
Not because either side had won, but because neither side mattered anymore.
Barbelo and Sophia, now fully aware of their own power, did not ask for permission to exist.
They simply did.
Akan, still bleeding from celestial wounds, exhaled. “Well, that was dramatic.”
Oru, brushing cosmic dust from her shoulders, grinned. “I’m so proud of them.”
The Celestials, faced with the collapse of everything they stood for, had no response.
And the Voidborn, watching them flail, started laughing too.
Because this wasn’t a war.
It was a lesson.
What Stands in the Way Becomes the Way
The Celestials lost.
Not because they were defeated in battle, but because they lost the ability to define what existence was.
Barbelo and Sophia had done something unforgivable.
They had chosen their own path.
And now, others would follow.
The Celestial Order would crumble.
The Voidborn would evolve.
And Akan and Oru, standing at the edge of this new world, simply held each other’s hands.
They had done what none before them dared.
They had lived freely.
The gods could rage. The universe could tremble.
But love, once chosen, was unshaken.
To Be Continued…
(Because nothing enrages the gods more than people who refuse to be erased.)
