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In the primordial times of existence Chaos and Void reigned supreme, either something was, and was messy and unattached, a free spark of destruction and creation… or it wasn't. The plane of reality in which we reside intersects and crosses between many others, creating an overall semblance of sense, some things go here, some things go there, but when the universe was young and the stars were yet unborn, the ideas of “sense” or “order” were completely alien. For reasons that go beyond this humble writer`s understanding, the Gods molded the very fabric of reality, and the more they weaved the more things changed. Eventually the Gods willed into existence many avatars that were bound to the very aspects of what we perceive as our reality. It is at this time where our story begins, and it does with nothing else than a… rat!?
The avatar of Chaos has had many names and forms, but one has prevailed throughout time and space, Hakos Baelz, a redheaded girl with messy hair and a crazy and colorful outfit, with a thin and long tail and very cute menacing mouse-like ears. Her existence as an avatar to a primordial aspect of existence was relatively new, however her consciousness was eternal, Chaos had always existed, and Chaos would always exist, “But what if I could change that?” thought a young nephilim. IRyS was her name, she was from a rare and proud race, half-demon, half-angel, with wavy dark hair, wings and even horns, her dual nature gave her a conflictive appearance, but from the moment she was awakened her purpose had been clear, to bring hope to the hearts of the mortals.
“I need to see you” read a letter addressed to Bae “it regards an important Council matter”, from IRyS. “Here she goes again” thought Bae, “She has been a pain in my butt for so long… I wonder why the Gods even woke her up”. Bae tossed the letter, sat down on a large fluffy sofa and sighed. “Might as well get this over with” said Bae to herself, she grabbed a paper, placed it on the nearest table and began dictating, as she did a red rat ran along the table and wrote with a long quill, “Very well, I shall see you this afternoon, unless something awful happens to you and you can't make it”, Bae stopped, she had a grim smile, “damn it, scratch that Mr. Squeaks, I have to be professional”, she then gestured Mr. Squeaks that she was ready to continue, “Let's work together to make sure this matter is resolved”. As soon as Mr. Squeaks finished, the letter folded itself and entered a black hole that appeared in the wall, “Thank the Gods for shadow mail, otherwise I would have probably needed to go there myself”, Bae cringed at the very thought of that.
After a long morning of seeding chaos in the universe, Bae headed towards her office in the council facilities, conveniently placed outside time and space to prevent her colleagues from destroying the place. IRyS arrived shortly after, knocked on the door, and entered before Bae could even answer, IRyS began speaking as she placed some papers on Bae´s desk, “So, as you know my job in collaboration to the council is to bring hope to the mortal races” Bae nodded unenergetically “So I was thinking, what could have a great impact on their lives to increase their hope”, IRyS paused as if expecting excitement but Bae`s expression was the very embodiment of wanting to be somewhere else, anywhere else. “So I thought” IRyS awkwardly continued “we could eliminate chaos”.
It took Bae a moment to process this, had she just said what she thought she had said, was this lowlife wanna be angel literally asking her to CEASE EXISTING!? Bae calmly got down from her chair and walked towards IRyS, the entire room was silent and quiet, “What did you say?” calmly asked Bae, “Let's get rid of…” before she could finish her sentence IRyS was thrown by a huge blast of red energy, Bae's eyes were glowing and shifting, as if there was a fire inside her. IRyS still shocked by the rush of energy that flowed through her, slowly got up from the floor she rose her eyes and saw that she had smashed two walls and landed on the Council´s Tribunal Hall, the place was filled with layered chairs in a half circle, all pointing towards the seats of the council.
IRyS´ usually jolly mood completely turned as her demon side took over, “Will you let her treat you like that?” said a voice in her head “You are right, in fact, why don't you get rid of chaos right now and avoid the paperwork?”, as those words crossed her mind a dark grim set on her face. IRyS began flying in the middle of the room and with both her hands she began forming a ball of white energy but before it reached half the size of the hall Bae dashed forward jumping through the debris, without a second thought IRyS unleashed her power and as it passed with the speed of light, it cleanly carved a tunnel through the council's office, “there's no way she evaded that”. But on the hall´s floor a red spot moved, “Mr. Squeaks?” thought IRyS for a second while losing battle focus. Indeed it was Mr. Squeaks and on his back rode a miniature Bae. With a mighty scream she jumped with her fist straight at IRyS and as she did her size grew until she barely fitted in the massive hall.
This time IRyS didn't smash two walls, she went through the entire facility and landed into the Beyond, not as in heaven or Hell, but a different plane of existence in which the council met, it was nothing but a white horizon for eternity. IRyS was not yet down, “so you want to play hard to get huh little rat? Very well” as she said this she began chanting in an ancient language of darkness, portals opened around the facility and from them massive spears the size of trees shot towards the building. In a matter of seconds it was reduced to rubble and debris. IRyS sighed with exhaustion and as she was ready to take a victory nap a voice inside her head spoke. “You are way in over your head little demon” the voice was not Bae´s usual high-pitched voice, it was loud and deep, like an explosion heard from afar, as if the very depths of the beyond were speaking. “I AM CHAOS”. The white horizon turned to shifting reds as if lighted by fires, the debris disappeared, gravity was gone, IRyS no longer felt a sense of up and down and the sudden change made her dizzy. “You have no shape” and as IRyS heard the voice, her very self began transforming, she turned soft and mushy as if made of goo, she melted into a floating puddle, IRyS screamed in panic, unable to move, yet she still felt her arms and legs and mouth, as if she still had some control. “You have no voice” and suddenly her very sense of consciousness began drifting, her will to do anything was fading, she was nothing but water flowing through a stream, air rushing through the atmosphere, “mouth, legs, fingers?” there was no certainty in anything but one thing, she was afraid. “You have no power” and as the remaining sentience of IRyS perceived this the mass of goo that once was her body began spinning so fast that a white light could be seen on its edges. Bae took her usual form, and as she floated in the tainted beyond she approached IRyS and whispered into the wheel that she had become “Play stupid games” and with a snap of her fingers a portal opened and with a flick IRyS was sent flying straight into a raging star, “win stupid prices” said Bae with a smile on her face as she waved goodbye to IRyS.
With the speed of quasar IRyS rushed to her death, being tossed into a scorching sun would be hard to escape in her normal state, but battered and mixed as she was it was impossible. But the Gods still had plans for her, and just before she crashed someone stopped her, Ωmega, she was a servant of the Gods, even more powerful than the members of the council, with a thought she turned IRyS back to normal, she was trembling, scared and disoriented, she could still hear the Chaos as it spoke into her mind, she turned to face Ωmega, her hair and coat were white and the shinned against the star on her back, a triangular Halo with the every color in existence adorned her head, indeed she was very nearly a God herself. Ωmega grabbed IRyS and carried her in her arms, she hadn't realized it, but her eyes were filled with tears and she was uncontrollably sobbing, which was surprisingly not hard to notice in the absolute silence of space. Ωmega carried her to the nearest habitable planet and as she set her on a batch of grass to rest she opened a portal into the beyond.
Bae was wearing a yellow hard-hat and in her hands she held the blueprints for the council facility, the beyond was white once again and through it an army of rats of several colors and sizes ran around carrying bricks and packs of cement, some even coordinated to operate forklifts and cranes. Enthusiastically Bae talked, “Yes, good, I want the front wall done before lunch guys”, but her face mood changed as she turned and saw Ωmega with crossed arms watching from the portal. “Oh, hi Ωmega, what are you doing here?” said Bae with a nervous tone. Ωmega didn't answer, she simply moved so that Bae could see IRyS through the portal and pointed at her as she shivered and sobbed on the ground. “Oh, that…right” Bae took off her hard-hat and crossed the portal, “You see… that was… official council business”, as Bae said that Ωmega´s serious face did not seem amused in the slightest. “She started it!” yelled Bae as she pouted and crossed her arms. Without any reaction Ωmega turned, grabbed IRyS, and portaled out of there.
“Great” thought Bae, “Now Ωmega is mad at me”. “That… is the least of your problems” said a strange and metallic voice in the air, her skin got goosebumps and her blood went cold. “You know you can't kill her, Hakos Baelz'' the voice seemed louder, “Just as you are our avatar of Chaos, she is our harbinger of Hope'', “But..” tried to reply Bae, “NO” said the voice almost deafening Bae, “You are both necessary for the grand plan”, now in a calmer voice it continued, “so I give you this command, show her how important you are”. Suddenly there was silence, as if a hurricane had just passed and disappeared, Bae´s ears rang with pain and tears trickled from her eyes. “Fine, I will teach her!” said Bae as if screaming to the heavens, “but she better not get out of line again!”.
Bae returned to her office, it was mostly rebuilt, she fell on her chair and rested on the desk, “Damn it, I just can't get a break” she sighed. “Mr. Squeaks!” she yelled and not a few seconds later there it was, patiently waiting for orders while sitting on her head. “Write the following” she said and gave Mr. Squeaks a few moments to get a quill and paper, “I am sorry, no, scratch that, hmmm, how could I?” Bae thought for a moment, “I know! Write Mr. Squeaks, I propose a parlay, let us discuss like civilized beings”, “as if any of us was civilized” Bae thought to herself, “not even Mumei has a semblance of civil”, she continued dictating “I promise you save space as we reach try to understand each other. Let us meet for brunch tomorrow in the U-S-G-1 planet, in the P.K. quadrant, I am sure you will find it quite peaceful and pleasing, signed Hakos Baelz”. As she ended the card was sent, and she turned her gaze into the ceiling, “I wonder how this will end”.
They met at a grassland filled with blooming flowers, Bae had set a picnic blanket and had a basket filled with junk food and snacks. IRyS approached carefully, as she descended into the planet she kept looking around, expecting a sudden shift in gravity or a spike in the atmospheric pressure, an asteroid crashing into them, anything that could seem…chaotic. But nothing happened, and Bae seemed her usual, cheerful and even cute, so IRyS sat down as far as she could in the blanket. Bae was munching on a sandwich which appeared to have chips and pieces of… chocolate? For a moment IRyS forgot Chaos the scrunchy looking goblin was chaos incarnate. After a few bites Bae was done and she spoke “Please eat, and allow me to begin” as she said this the basket moved next to IRyS and opened itself, “the other day we both did and said things we regret” Bae paused for a moment to make sure IRyS had grabbed a snack, a bottle of soda was on her hand, “I thought and for a while and reached the conclusion that you are too young, and there are many things you don't yet understand”, IRyS was nervously chugging her soda while maintaining eye contact with Bae as if her life depended on it. “So please, have patience and allow me to elaborate”. Bae was speaking so formally she felt weird, but she had to make a good impression, it wasn't certain, but she was almost sure that Ωmega was watching them from afar.
Bae snapped her fingers and all went dark, IRyS screamed but Bae calmly spoke “Other than the Gods and Ωmega” Bae sad with a sad voice, “The oldest and most powerful aspects of our reality are Chaos… and the Void”, as she said it a coldness could be felt around them. “You probably thought I was scary… the other day…but you have NO idea how much worse is the Void” for a moment IRyS thought it was…fear in Bae´s words. “For eons I fought alone, against the ravaging forces of the void, it threatened to consume existence itself, only chaos could oppose it, then… the Gods intervene and as they weaved and carved reality, they kept Chaos, but the Void was imprisoned” As she spoke IRyS saw flashes of a prison, a prison of pure light hidden in the furthest reaches of the universe, and she felt a terrible dread, it was, as if it was the very opposite of hope. Bae continued “they even created avatars of the many aspects which now ruled their creation… you know them, the council has a purpose, and so do I”. Bae was sad as she said this, as if she didn't truly believe it. “Without me” Bae added, “the Void would escape, and all would be lost”. IRyS saw a glimpse, of the darkness consuming everything, a trillion souls screaming in terror, and then utter nothingness. All of her instincts were telling her to run, to hide, as if she faced a threat with no hope of defeating. “Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it…fighting for this reality”, Bae´s expression was grim and dreadful, and IRyS saw in her a dwindling flame, so weak even a light breeze could put it out. Without much of a plan or sense IRyS jumped into the darkness and hugged the flame as if shielding it.
And there was light, they were back at the grassland Bae was standing in front of the blanket and IRyS was kneeling hugging her torso. Bae´s face turned as red as her hair and yet she didn't dare say a thing out of shame. Feeling the warm sun on her skin IRyS opened her eyes and realized what she was doing, she let go and practically barrel rolled backwards and stood up pretending nothing had happened. There was a long and awkward silence, but Bae soldiered on and finally said “So, anyway, I sometimes come to this planet to remind myself of the importance of my work, our work… follow me”. And they both started flying above the green lands of U-S-G-1, usually IRyS rather than walking, but this journey wasn't exactly her ideal evening, so she went for the quicker way.
After a while they reached a stone structure, a castle-like city, but it lacked the -destroy your enemies- aspects of a castle, it had walls but many doors and pathways, it had towers but no battlements, windows but no arrow slits. And in this stone city covered in grassland and blooming flowers, lived a humanoid species, they were quick and nimble, they had a short and fluffy tail, and most interesting of all, they had big rabbit ears on top of their heads. As they hovered above the city IRyS saw why Bae had taken her there, it was complete chaos, the people ran in every direction, they jumped over one another, they crawled through tunnels and climbed the walls to jump, some pulled on carts filled with carrots, but as the ran through the streets the carrots would fall and others would catch and toss them back into the cart. Any sane person would at first glance think that they were wild animals running erratically. Only two types of people could have seen the beauty of this complex life, a mad person or a mathematician, for in this chaos there was a pattern, a pattern so complex that any outsider would only see utter chaos, but the pattern was apparent upon inspection. The lively inhabitants of this land did not crash into each other, they didn't trample each other, they moved and got things done, they constructed structures, farmed the land, their lives were fast and chaotic, but what is chaos if not just a pattern too large and complex to understand. “Isn't it beautiful?” Bae said after a while, “Tell me Harbinger of Hope, would you really rather see them all walking in straight lines, working in square boxes, silently living a boring life?” IRyS was sad, because even if she didn't fully agree, she saw the beauty that Bae spoke of.
“Come” Bae said while extending her hand for IRyS, “There is more to see.” As IRyS shyly grabbed Bae´s hand, they were transported into an entirely different planet. This planet was covered in steel and fire, it was a world torn by war. As they got closer Bae cloaked their presence and they floated as ghosts, cannons constantly fired and bullets flew in every direction. IRyS was torn, it was too sad, the closer they got the worse it was, the screams of pain, the smell of fire and flesh. “Why are we here?” IRyS asked, while trying not to throw up, the first time she had spoken since their trip began. Bae solemnly said, “Each of those soldiers fights with courage because they hope to win, and the only reason for this hope is the chaos of the battlefield”. “I see” said IRyS with a pale face, “When defeat is obvious, when the cloak of chaos is not apparent, very few meet their fates with hope, it is in the unknown that they cling to this hope”. They got even closer, but instead of approaching the heart of the battle, they entered a walled city, deep underground, in a bunker, where children and families awaited their fate. They approached a woman, in her hand she held a small photo, in it was a soldier, tall, of dark skin, green eyes, and a horn on his head. It had a small writing at the bottom which simply read A.O. “Is she her mother, her wife, her sister? It doesn't matter, what matters is that she hopes he will be okay, how many would lose all will to go on, if the outcome was obvious from the beginning?”. Bae clapped and they were no longer in the bunker, they were next to the man in the photo, he was fighting like a demon, he fired his pistols, he tossed grenades, he crawled, took cover and ran as if motivated by something larger than his life. As they watched in amazement IRyS saw something in the corner of her eye, a dark shadow, it dashed through the field, only stopping for brief moments. Bae noticed IRyS´ shift in attention, “Death” she said with a serious face “Even Death is bound by Chaos, it doesn't choose who dies, it just happens… and it guides them to the afterlife”. Bae turned to IRyS and as she looked straight into her eyes she asked, “Can you imagine knowing exactly when you will die?” Bae turned again into the battlefield, IRyS had probably never been more uncomfortable, but Bae´s question awoke something in her, “I think knowing would be unbearable” IRyS answered.
“Now we are getting somewhere,” said Bae, she then grabbed IRyS´ hand and in a blink of an eye they were gone. This planet was also torn and desolate, but not because of war. It was hot and steamy, there was barely an atmosphere, lava covered most of the land, and earthquakes seemed like a common occurrence. Bae spoke “Forgive us, Warden of Time, but we are on a quest”, after hearing that IRyS realized that not only they had moved through space but also time. “In the great scale of the universe, this planet is insignificant” Bae said with a calm yet excited voice, “Here, on these very oceans surrounded by fire and stone the first living organism came to life”. It was faint but IRyS could feel it, this was a nexus point for reality. From here the avatar of nature first took shape, from here the base of civilization could one day flourish, and in here hope gained meaning. “This planet was not the only one were life came to be, but it was the first” said Bae in a proud voice, “And I don't mean to brag, but without chaos life had no chance of appearing” Bae had a smug look, “that's also how evolution works” she continued, “Random mutations and… a hope of gaining an advantage for future generations”. IRyS was speechless, not only about life and evolution, but the way Bae spoke of it, she was passionate and proud, and very knowledgeable, very unlike her usual self, or so IRyS thought.
A tear fell down IRyS´ cheek, she didn't know why, but she felt a deep disturbance, as if something inside of her had always been wrong. “There is one final place I want to show you” Bae said, and without asking she grabbed her hand and pulled her into a completely different place, they were above an ocean, nothing but blue water and a shining sun. “Okay, you got me,” said IRyS, “What's the catch?”, “I thought it would be better to not be there when it happened” said Bae “I will show you”. Where there was only water an island appeared, it seemed blurry and unstable, IRyS could tell this was a vision of the past. “Trust me, it's better like this” said Bae as if picking up on IRyS´mind. The island was inhabited, and it was beautiful, large structures of white marble, castles adorned with gold and silver, streets paved in coral stone, and the people, all dressed in extravagant clothes, dresses and suits and even costumes, it seemed as if they were celebrating something, decorations were hanged, food stands covered the sidewalks and a large platform was set at the center of the main street. “Is this something like U-S-G-1” thought IRyS. Then the flashed between the happy streets and a raging hell, earthquakes, lava, smoke, fire, the people ran and screamed in despair, massive waves washed away the island itself. But just before the end a green flash of light covered the island, it was brief and sudden, IRyS even thought it could have been a mistake in the vision, but something told her it wasn't. “This island and everything it stood for…” said Bae as a crack in her voice stopped her “They were wiped out. It was selfish and unfair!” Bae seemed angry, as if in a way she was involved, IRyS didn't ask, but she knew there was more to it. “But this wasn't the end, you saw the green flash didn't you?”. “Yes” answered IRyS, proud of herself for noticing. “The people were changed by a strange magic, it changed them in unexpected ways, it put them through so much pain and misery, but in the end, they lived.” IRyS was too curious and didn't hold back “So what happened to them?” Bae gave her a short and smuggish smile, a bubble surrounded them and they submerged into the depths of the ocean. The bubble moved them at incredible speed, and before IRyS could speak Bae said, “They adapted, they crossed through the torrents of chaos and survived, they came victorious even when all pointed towards their demise”. As she finished the bubble crossed a patch of sea kelp and IRyS saw it. “Welcome”, said Bae,” to the realm of New Atlantis”. An ocean ridge hid the city in the depths, it expanded into a large plain filled with stone constructions, spikes and towers, castles halls, cupules, domes, some houses directly carved into the ridge it seemed like an architect's dream or worst nightmare, some were of black stone, some were made with white marble, it was hard to tell for some as they were covered in corals and kelp. And it wasn't dark, even as deep as they were, massive glowing jellyfish strolled along the paths which were made of a blue stone that shined bright, glass jars hung or floated and they were filled with a mist that glowed yellow. The city was alive and vibrant, people swam or walked across the paths and between structures, turtles swam carrying nets on their backs, giant crabs pulled carts or even plows to work the land on the far sides of the city, schools of fish passed and swam inside the houses and through gardens and small reefs.
They were completely silent for a few minutes, simply marveling on the beauty of this city, “You might think that Chaos destroyed their city above, but it was Chaos that saved them that day”, As Bae said this she wasn't expecting any reaction in particular, she simply wanted to make her point clear, to let IRyS know she wasn't the bad guy. IRyS, who was behind Bae was silent so Bae turned, kind of expecting IRyS to look like her with puppy eyes begging for forgiveness, but as she did she saw IRyS was crying, her eyes red and flowing with tears. As they met eyes, IRyS couldn't hold her feelings and she hugged Bae with all her might “I am so sorry!” said IRyS between sobs, “You do so much for everyone…and I tried to…” the sobbing continued. Bae was so shocked she was completely frozen, her arms straight down and her tail spiked up, but after a while of not seeing any change Bae raised her hand and patted IRyS´ head. “Don´t worry about me, I wouldn't be head of the council if I couldn't take some criticism”, Bae had never felt like this before, “Just, next time let's try some constructive criticism instead of the destructive kind, Mr. Squeaks and the brats better have finished the onsen I added to my office”. IRyS laughed while still sobbing, as she calmed down Bae added, “let's go get some ice cream”. The bubble rose to the surface and as the sun touched their skin IRyS let go of Bae, her face was still obviously showing that she had cried, but it didn't matter. A portal opened and they entered a large ice cream shop, “I.O.15 is famous in this Quadrant for their ice cream, I heard they have every flavor you can think of here”.
After eating an unhealthy amount of ice cream, they each went their own way. After all, they are key pieces in the workings of our reality. Everyone liked the new council facilities, however some had their doubts as to why Bae had it completely demolished, and aside from a suspicious onsen that somehow appeared in Bae´s office, a new room was added, on the door a plaque read “Project Hope”. As Bae checked on her daily responsibilities a card appeared on her desk, it was from IRyS, as she read it her face turned red and her heartbeat faster. her tail wagged and as she read a large smile was drawn on her face. Whatever is written in that letter remains a mystery for everyone, as Bae took the key that hangs on her neck and with it opened a doorway into the air and stored the letter there for eternity.