A/N: Some of you may recognize the title of this fic. I first wrote A View From Chaos and posted it here a couple of years ago. This fic was always a particular favorite of mine, so recently, in a fit of nostalgia I went and reread it.

It was a bit of a cold shower, seeing how immature and fangirly my writing was back then, especially when I think about how much better it's gotten in the last two years (though I harbor no delusions about ever going professional). But I still have soft spot for the basic premise of this story, so I completely rewrote it. I'll talk a bit about the changes I made at the end of the story.

In case you're wondering, I deleted the original version. I'd have liked to leave it up, so people who were currious could compare them if they wanted. However, this site has a rule against posting the same fic twice. I'm not sure if this would violate that rule, since it's so different from the original. However, there are plenty of people who like reporting abuse just because it gives them a feeling of power over others. And I don't trust the website staff to actually read the stories that get flagged before deleting them (think what happened to Little Kuriboh on YouTube). So if youwant to see it, PM me and I'll send you the file.

A View From Chaos

Being omnipotent isn't easy. Ok, so technically it is easy, since you can pretty much do whatever you want. But it can also be very, very, boring. I, the Lord of Nightmares, can attest to this.

If you were an omnipotent being who suddenly popped into existence on a Sea of Chaos with absolutely nothing to do there, you'd be bored out of your skull too. The members of the Omnipotent Beings Guild liked to poke fun at me, saying, "if you're really omnipotent, you'd create something to entertain yourself with."

Well I never liked the Guild. They're all a bunch of snooty, stuck-up snobs if you ask me. Ok, so maybe they have reason to dislike me. Maybe I'd done something which might have ticked them off ever so slightly. All I did was misplace the gravitational constant of the universe! Anyone could make that mistake! And I did find it after a couple millennia. Nevertheless, I was banned from the Guild not long after. Good riddance, in my opinion.

Which brings us back to me, alone and bored to Armageddon in the Sea of Chaos. Eons passed. I couldn't even play Quantum Solitaire, dangit. I hoped that I would go insane from the boredom. Insanity would have been a refreshing change of pace. Sadly, that turned out to not be possible, since I had been crazy from the start. Too bad you can't go sane from boredom.

Then, something wonderful, amazing, extraordinary, astounding, fantastic, miraculous, phenomenal, and stupendous occurred to put an end to my monotonous tedium (thank you, ).

A world was created. I still haven't figured out how. Admittedly, I was a little pissed at first. I mean, the world created itself out of the Sea of Chaos. That's my body we're talking about. How would you feel if someone took chunks of your body and used them like Play-Do without even bothering to as your permission first?

But I got over that real fast. At last, I had something interesting to play with! Except of course, I couldn't play with it. Not only did the world create itself without asking my permission, but it also wouldn't let me control or influence what happened on it. As deities go, I got the short end of the stick.

At least I could watch what went on there. It was kinda cool, in fact. The world was inhabited by two races: Shinzoku, and Mazoku. Shinzoku wanted to save the world, while the Mazoku wanted to destroy it.

At first, I rooted for the Shinzoku, because I didn't want my new plaything to disappear so soon. Turned out, there was no need to worry. New worlds appeared at more or less regular intervals after that, often enough to replace the ones that were destroyed. So I stopped picking sides.

At first, it was awesome, watching two badass races duke it out on the different giant rocks floating in the Sea of Chaos. I didn't even have to start a holy religious war, like other bored deities! (Though the idea of two species fighting a pan-global war over a goddess' favor is kind of romantic… What?! Quit looking at me like that!)

But after a couple of eons, even that started getting repetitious. Fight, worlds are destroyed, fight some more, worlds are preserved. It gets old, y'know?

True, there were other races aside from the Mazoku and Shinzoku inhabiting these worlds. Hoomins, I think they're called? But, lacking the power to destroy entire planets, they were pretty boring.

One day, though, that all changed. It happened while I was busy watching Chaotic Blue duke it out with the Frost Dragon in what I figured would be their "final battle to decide the fate of the world." It was going something like this:

Chaotic Blue: Mwahahaha! Resistance is futile!

Frost Dragon: I will protect this world with all of my power!

Blue-boy: Then I shall destroy you!

Frosty: Not if I destroy you first!

*Explosions*

God, I hate reruns. But there wasn't anything better on.

Then, I was quite surprised to find myself summoned into a completely different world. At first, I was too bewildered to be irritated at being yanked so rudely off of my Couch of Chaos.

But it didn't take me long to figure out what was going on (being omniscient has advantages). Somehow, one of those wimpy Hunams I mentioned earlier had summoned me into its world, with the intention of using me to destroy a piece of the Demon Lord of said world, Shabra-something-or-other. And for some reason, it thought I was a mazoku. I created your dinky little planet, damnit, so don't lump me together with such pathetic creatures.

I was sorely tempted to smite the little Humdinger, because 1) I didn't want other lower creatures thinking they could use me and my powerful-ness without the proper groveling, and 2) when else was I gonna get the chance to smite someone?

Then it occurred to me: this was new. For once, I was actually in one of my lovely worlds, meaning I would actually get a chance to mess around with what went on there. Smiting the Humdala would mean letting Shabra-what's-his-face destroy the world, meaning a premature end to my fun.

So I assisted the Giga Slaving Hudad in destroying Shabalabadingdong, and everything should've been hunky dory, except it wasn't. I still wound up back on the Couch of Chaos, right where I started. You can imagine my frustration (Oh wait- you can't. You're not a deity. Never mind).

But my urge to smite the insolent little Humminawhatsis died after awhile. True, it dragged me into its dumb battle, thinking it could use my power however it wanted, never stopping to wonder if I might object, or saying "Please, oh Mighty Worshipful One, won't you lend me your most Awesome-est power?" and maybe groveling a bit, and making a couple sacrifices in my honor. And when it was done, it just dumped me back in the Sea of Chaos, like a used up appliance, not even bothering to say "Thank you oh Mother for helping me out rather than destroying my world"!

But I'm not the type to hold a grudge. Nope. And it wasn't like I could smite the thing for its rudeness even if I wanted to, once I was back in the Sea of Chaos. Besides, the little Humdinger, was kinda cool, for a mortal. I mean, it had figured out how to summon me, how not to get totally fried like a bug by my power, and took on a piece of Shabadingo. That takes balls.

I followed the Hoomin's actions with intense interest after that, waiting for it to cast that nifty Giga Slave spell of its again. I quickly learned, however, that the Humdiddle's adventures were pretty interesting in their own right. It was quite a twisted creature, to be sure. A being after my own heart.

But mostly, I wanted the Hudad to cast the Giga Slave again so I could go back to its world and maybe wreck a little havoc in its world. I've always wanted to cause a global, species-destroying flood, or maybe fake an Armageddon, and scare the pants off the mortals.

It turned out I had a while to wait. Some irritating priestess informed the Hoomin that casting the Giga Slave might destroy the world. As if! I would never destroy their dumb little planet! Not intentionally. And not as long as they groveled properly. But despite its destructive nature, even the Giga-Slaving Humdala was unwilling to go as far as risking an apocalypse. I made a mental to note to smite this priestess the next time I stopped by.

Fortunately, I only had to wait a year-and-a-half (time flies when you're immortal) for the Humdiddli-watchamacallit to cast the Giga Slave again. And it was all thanks to one of my grandkids, a tyke called Hellmaster Phibrizzo. Although I didn't realize he was responsible til later. In fact, I didn't figure out a lot of what happened til later.

It started like this. I had gotten bored, watching the Giga Slaving Hewmahn sit and mope after the battle with Gaav where its boyfriend had been kidnapped. I hate mushy stuff like that. So I stepped out of the Living Room of Chaos for a few weeks to make some popcorn.

Then POOF! I was in the Hoomin's world again. Specifically, I was in some weird crystally-type room in the Hyuumin's world. In front of me, I could see a little kid, cackling insanely. I recognized him as Phibrizzo, from the battle with Gaav. Somewhere below me, I could feel the Giga Slaving Hudad struggling to keep my power under control. Lina. She calls herself Lina.

Then Phibrizzo shouted something, and sent jets of red light at us. Below, I felt Lina's soul vanish into Death.

I was free. With Lina gone, there was nothing holding me back, nothing to stop me from running amok, doing as I pleased to this world. It was what I'd dreamed of ever since she first cast the Giga Slave: freedom to use this world as my playground, with no irritating mortals to hold me back.

I should have been happy. I wasn't.

"Rage! Rage out of control!" Phibrizzo screamed with glee.

I understood his plan then. Like that priestess, little Phibby believed that if Lina lost control of the Giga Slave it would automatically destroy the world.

I could do it now, if I wanted to. But the mere fact that Phibrizzo wanted me to, made me disinclined to do it for him.

I'll teach the brat to think he can use me like some pawn in his plans.

I drew my power inwards, and pulled it into Lina's now unoccupied body, effectively possessing her.

The look on Phibby's face was priceless, when he saw, or thought he saw, that, despite being dead, "Lina" still controlled my power. God, I wish I'd had a camera. He seemed to go off the deep end after that. Babbled about how Lina's body was "too small a vessel" and setting my power free and other nonsense. The final straw was when he tried to destroy me.

Pfft. Kids these days. No respect for their elders.

So I did what any loving grandma would do to discipline a misbehaving child. I wiped him off the face of existence.

This is fun, I thought, watching his Astral body get ripped to shreds by my Awesomeness. I should blast things into oblivion more often.

Lina's companions regained conscience just in time to see Phibby's remains disintegrate into nothingness. They were wondering what the hell had just happened, and I was wondering whether to practice my blasting-into-oblivion skills some more on them, when another Mazoku, named Xellos, appeared on the scene.

He, at least, had the good sense to kneel before my Awesomeness. The fact that someone was finally showing the proper respect due to me put me in a good enough mood that I decided not to annihilate Lina's friends. For the time being.

Xellos explained to Lina's friends who I really was, what had happened, and that Lina's soul had been tragically devoured by Phibrizzo's army of zombie beavers.

Psych! Actually, he just told them I was the Lord of Nightmares, Mother of All Things and junk. I filled in some details here and there, thoroughly enjoying myself as I played the cold and unfeeling all-powerful deity. It was great.

Lina's friends took issue with my story. They wanted her back. The tall (and, I suddenly noticed, very good-looking) blond was especially insistent. He wanted Lina back. Now. Like hell! Having a physical body that existed in a single point in time and space was very trippy experience, I'd discovered. I was not about to give it up so soon.

I got bored with their whining, so I ditched the joint, ready to recline on my Couch of Chaos in my lovely new body. But as I floated through the gateway to the Sea of Chaos, I noticed something. That tall, good-looking blonde dude had followed me there. Hey, my first stalker. I floated idly, watching to see what he did. He swam awkwardly towards me, calling Lina's name and how he needed her despite the fact that she was kind of a jerk. Barf.

I was more interested in that shiny stick he was waving around. Oooo, sparkly. Gorun Nova, I believe it is called. A servant of Dark Star Dugradigdu. I wondered what it was doing in Ruby Eye's world. On a whim, I took it from him, with the vague idea of playing around with it later.

Then the human grabbed my hands. I was startled, to be frank. I hadn't realized he'd gotten so close. Damn, human senses are so limited. But he is quite persistent. I liked that.

I made a split second decision then. There was only so much novelty having a physical body could hold, and that was already starting to wear off. Lina, on the other hand, could probably provide entertainment for another century, maybe two if I was lucky. And it would be interesting to play the Benevolent Deity for once.

So I made a quick trip to the Underworld, popped Lina's soul back into her body, and returned it to the Sea of Chaos and that blonde guy. There was a joyful reunion, culminating in a kiss.

I think I'm gonna be sick. I was about to return them to their world, when an evil idea popped into my. I would have grinned, if I'd still had a body. I'm going to have one last bit of fun with you two before letting you go.

Back on their world, Sylphiel, Zelgadis, and Amelia were overjoyed to see their friends, who they believed were dead, reappear on top of a stone pillar, alive. Alive and hugging each other.

And only just becoming aware of it. "Wh-what am I doing?!" Gourry exclaimed, horrified, as he realized where his hands were.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lina's face twitched dangerously. "GET OFFA ME!" Her fist connected with his face and she sent him flying into the water, where he landed with a loud splash.

Sylphiel, Zelgadis and Amelia looked on, bemused, as Lina shrieked at Gourry for "taking advantage of an innocent girl when she's unconscious."

Somewhere in the Sea of Chaos, the Mother of All Things laughed.

A/N: So there you have it. The first big change with the narration POV. I originally wrote this story in third person, mostly because I lacked the confidence to write in first person then. But given the premise of the story, third peron really makes no sense. The second was LoN's attitudes towards humans, and Lina in particular. Originally, she was painfully fangirly about Lina. Now she's more like a kid with an ant farm (the kind of kind who likes frying bugs with a magifying glass). Much more in character. I also removed a couple of fangirly references to Star Trek and Lost Universe, since they didn't fit with the narrative's flow.

The only thing left intact from the original was the last scene.

Constructive criticism is encoraged. While I'm mostly satisfied with this, I'm a closet perfectionist, so I'm never completely satisfied with anything I write. So don't worry about hurting my feelings.

The biggest thing I'm worried about with this fic is how LoN refers to Lina and other humans as "Hoomins" and "Humdalas" for the first half of the fic. While I like what it says about her character and hows she sees humans, it may have gotten a bit confusing at times. So I'd like to hear other peoples thoughts on this.