The entirety of the following tale details the ambitions of one on a path, never meant to be taken. This may seem to be a conflict between the forces of Law and Order, but what it truly is, is a clash between fantastic delusions and realistic notions. This tale is the battle between a man of prosperity, and the one who would forsake their own purpose, and cast aside the very notion that life cannot exist except as it is.

The world does not exist in a single state. It alternates between phases of order and chaos: decline and prosperity, respectively. This is because the life on the planet cannot exist in a perfect reality. They would perish, unable to adapt to the absence of randomness, tragedy, and the flaws that make up our reality.

A group exists, known simply as “Chaos”, named for their purpose. They live within the fabric of reality, itself, and exist only to be the heralds of chaos. All to allow life to thrive as it should. The beings of Chaos are known as Avatars. All Avatars live with crimson clocks imprinted above their heart. These clocks are in sync with the cycles of the planet. One full rotation marks the end of one side of the cycle, and the beginning of the other.

When the planet is under the influence of chaos, the group is made of humans, called Harbingers. Though they are mere mortals in this state, the members of Chaos do retain some level of their supernatural ability. When the world goes through a season of order, Chaos is a group of Avatars, and have full control over their talents. The time when Chaos’ members are Harbingers, is called the Chaos Phase. When Avatars reign, the time is called the Avatar Phase.

The single difference from one full cycle of chaos to order, and back, is its length. One could be as short as twelve hours, and the next as long as a year. The Chaos Phases passes naturally; however, the Avatar Phase must be forcibly progressed by Chaos. This is done in the manner most fitting the desired result: cause chaos. The Avatars do whatever they can to maintain aspects of chaos. This includes, but is not limited to: murder, natural calamities, plagues, minor accidents, and other menial problems. However, they’re efforts are meaningless unless done in pairs, as one Avatar cannot channel enough energy for the planet to feel any effect, and any more than two Avatars for one task puts too harsh of a strain upon the world.

Chaos’ current leader, also puts limits onto which activities that Chaos is allowed to perform. The leader is chosen based on who progressed the Avatar Phase the most in the previous cycle. Consistently, the leader had been a man known to his peers as Charos. However, the latest leader was the younger, Seth. Seth had plans for the future of the world, and there was nothing, that he believed, could stop him.

            Seth stalked away from Chaos’ headquarters, through the dark mists that surrounded the world he lived in, called Null. Not far in the distance, was a door made entirely of light. I’ve begun… He thought proudly, staring at his crimson-bathed hands. Seth was not teen feet from the door that would lead him to Earth, when a black figure stepped in front of it.

            “You are guided by deluded notions, Seth.” The figure stated in monotone. Seth furrowed his brow, his proud grin contracting into a dark frown.

            “I’d recognize that voice anywhere, Charos.” Seth answered, walking forward until he was within arm’s reach of Charos. “I’ve already started this, so you can’t stop me. Don’t even try!” Charos folded his arms across his chest.

            “I don’t intend to, Seth.” Seth looked puzzled. “I’m merely here to see you off.” Charos continued, stepping aside. Seth looked at the opposing man darkly.

            “Why aren’t you going to stop me?” Charos is cold, but he’s not stupid, and he certainly doesn’t lie. Seth asked, mentally attempting to deduce what Charos’ intentions could be.

            “Any human does what they feel they must. We are no different. I see no reason to stop you, if you truly feel that you are walking this path to do good for our world.” Seth’s ruby eyes flared in anger.

            “You mean that I’m wrong, and destined to fail, so there’s no reason to stop me, correct?” Seth translated angrily. Charos cocked his head, an action he did whenever trying to reason someone else’s reasoning. It was his only display of humanity, and justified it with the phrase “My action is not complex, rather very simple. I don’t immediately understand.”

            “Don’t try to act like that’s not what you meant!” Seth shouted, watching Charos’ head tilt. Pushing through the door of light, Seth added one last statement. “You are one of the only two Avatars left. Since you really think I’m wrong in my beliefs, come stop me and prove it.”

            Charos stood at the entrance to the mortal realm in silence. You are a fool, Seth. Everything in existence is facing erasure because of your actions. The lone man turned and looked back at the Chaos headquarters, his only home, impassively. He knew what lay inside, but, like always, he felt nothing towards it. A side-effect of what he was: empty. Putting his hands in his pockets, Charos idly strolled towards the building. When he opened the door, he saw a woman crying over several cadavers.

            “Calm down, Pandora.” He said, taking a seat next to the woman.

            “Calm down?!” Pandora repeated, incredulous. “They’re all dead, Charos, and you want me to calm down?! Xoán, Anxo, Riku, Kerr, Ryota, Shiro, Emil, Luka, and Senka are all gone!” Charos passively observed that Pandora was excruciatingly close to breaking down.

            “Have you forgotten Seth’s ‘talent’?” He asked. Pandora clenched her fists, staring at the floor. The scene was quiet for a short moment, as she tried to reach tranquility.

            “So they’re dead…” She said finally. “…And they’re Seth’s puppets…”

“They are Seth’s puppets, yes, but Seth’s talent resurrects them.” Charos corrected. Pandora swore under her breath.

            “I’ll get that bastard. One way or another…” She muttered. Charos stood up, summoning two daggers in a swirl of dark mist. He handed one to Pandora, and kept one to himself.

            “Blood oath.” He explained, sliding his dagger across the palm of his right hand. Pandora did the same. “We heralds of chaos swear upon the blood of Avatars, an oath of murder. Seth’s life will disappear, or we sacrifice ours as payment for failure.” Both Charos and Pandora recited, as they did before undertaking any task involving murder or assassination.

            “Our whole organization is against us, Pandora.” Charos advised, standing in front of the door to Earth, with Pandora.

            “I know…” She replied, sullen. “…Seth will pay for this…” Charos nodded, and ushered his partner through the light, following after.

Humanity as a whole, attempts to put a face, a cause, or even reason into the calamities of their world: Hitler and the Nazis; government; or science, in the case of a “natural” event. The truth behind these incidents is Chaos. However, the struggle that Chaos will eternally find themselves in, the struggle that keeps the planet within its manmade limits, will soon become more than a struggle. Do you hear the drums of war?

Every Avatar has a unique talent. They also have the ability to summon any object they have written a blood seal onto. The talent of each member, except for Charos’ talent, is public knowledge among Chaos. Charos’ is a secret known only to him and Pandora. For good reason.

It's about god damn time I wrote something, eh? Well, all I have to say about this, is that it seems like a promising project, and is about as fun to write as The Archangel Legacy was. I just wish Giantbomb could display mathematical expressions like MS Word, because there's supposed to be one at the very beginning. One can dream, I suppose. Read and review!