The way the members of Order and Chaos travelled the universe was...weird, to put it gently.
From the beginning of time, the battle of the two fronts had been on near omnipotent levels with both sides fighting everywhere and at every moment. It was an endless cycle of life and death, rebirth and reincarnation. However, as the universe grew and as things became much more complex both sides found it increasingly difficult to fight as the same level they had once easily managed. The reason was simple: Before Order and Chaos had been general concepts, a conflict between everything that was right and everything that was wrong. There had been no grey area, there was simply what was right and what wasn't. But as life evolved and flourished it was found that not only was there a vast amount of ways to make judgement of one's actions tricky but also only possible through embracing the life itself. In other words? Things were simply too detailed and too diverse to understand unless the beings of Order and Chaos descended to the mortal level. It was ironic, really. Gods having to become mortals just to learn their own morals better. But on the bright side, this had the bonus of making epic spaceships for both sides to travel the universe in.
Yes, spaceships. The proper term would be space battleships of great proportions but not even the best writing would put the epic crafts flown by these two forces to justice. Instead, a simple yet effective method of providing the picture is by letting the one looking over this manuscript to imagine it for themselves. So right now dear reader, think of the biggest, deadly, weapon packed spaceship you can muster. When you've finished with that, take what you have created and multiply everything by 10, with some dark red or light blue paint on the side depending on your preference for Order or Chaos. Those, dear reader, are the spaceships they fly.
Now of course it must come to pass that this still leaves a vast amount of questions in the air. For instance, why must supposed beings with omnipotent power be stuck as mortals or semi-mortals when they could just swap to and fro? Why, one would ask, do they fly to their locations instead of just teleporting there or willing themselves to exist in a different location? And of course the biggest outlying factor: Why must the fight between Order and Chaos be so complicated in the first place?
The answer is simple: Because if things weren't interesting and pointlessly convoluted, then they would be boring and pointless. Come on reader, this is WRITING. Nothing is always going to make complete sense and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, what would Dragon Ball be without its power level arguments or Star Wars without their horribly inaccurate Stormtroopers? So yes, the first reason is that it would be boring to have something that makes complete sense to the reader. The second reason is that races such as humanity like to fuck everything up in any way imaginable. But we're going too off topic now, where were we? Oh right, spaceships.
Now reader, don't think that gods becoming mortals is a good thing just because they get to fly giant ships of war. Admittedly the pros outweigh the cons but the latter aren't hidden completely and as the millennia have passed the forces of both Order and Chaos have had to deal with the issues that races face on a daily basis which for some cough Lester Papadopoulos cough can be difficult. These include eating, sleeping, dying, all of the sort. But nothing compares to the one that we'll be looking at today, the evil and the genuine pain that wracks the minds of both the most pure and the most corrupted of beings alike: Teenagers. So sit down and buckle up friend, things are about to get metal.
…
"You wanna get nuts? COME ON. LET'S GET NUTS."
The music in Xayah's headphones started to crank up as the Vastayan relaxed in her room inside her squadron's spaceship: Purification. Xayah personally preferred to call it The Death Bringer, for obvious reasons. After all, what kind of name was Purification? Lame.
The song continued to crank up and Xayah felt herself moving to the beat and swinging her head and singing along as the lyrics screamed: "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
In the darkest night….HUAH!
I make the bad guys fall. HUAH!
And if there's a million heroes...
I'M THE BEST OF THEM ALL!
Who has the coolest weapons?
XAYAH!
Who has the tricked out moves?
XAYAH!
Who does the sickest roasting?
XAYAH! NANANANNANAANNAANA XAYAH!
*Guitar goes crazy* YEA! DADADADADADADA XAYAH!
You think my feathers are sharp? Thank you.
But you haven't seen my brain.
Boys, it's okay if you stare. Why?
BECAUSE I'M A LEGIONNAIRE!
*Guitar goes crazy again* (Outside Xayah's door, knocking can be heard.)
I get the last laugh, I get the final grin.
Through you into the black hole with that bitch Quinn.
Turn the Void Race into Void Paste
And I'm a hundred percent, gonna kick your face!
*Guitar beat drops* (More now impatient knocking can be heard outside Xayah's room.)
Who's the toughest girl?
XAYAH!
Who has thighs of steel?
XAYAH!
Who can cut with a glare?
XAYAH!
Who never skips a birthday?
XAYAH!
Who always listens to rules?
Not Xayah!
*guitar goes off again* (The sound of a sword activating can be heard outside)
HEY HEY HEY HEY I'M XAYAH!
HEY HEY HEY HEY I'M XAYAH!
HEY HEY HEY HEY I'M XAYAH!
*guitar cuts off* (Xayah's door is broken down and falls to the ground with a harsh thud, Xayah noticing out of the corner of her eye)
DA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA XAYAH!
On the last line Xayah watched the blade flying at her and with the music she jumped up, moving in a cool arc as the sword flew past her and crashed into the side of the wall.
"Oh look," Xayah said as she landed, layering her voice with fake excitement. "It's the fun police."
In what had previously been the closed entrance to her room Riven was walking forward, her face with an expression that Xayah knew and loved. It was time for Riven's weekly dose of scolding.
"Xayah, we need to talk." Riven said evenly, trying her best to ignore the punk-styled theme of Xayah's cabin.
"Oh really?" Xayah drawled, laying down on the couch and kicking her legs up onto the coffee table. "I just thought you were turning my door into scrap metal as an early Christmas gift."
Riven gazed over to the far wall and in the back of her head a command was given to the computer inside of her head. Within moments the wall perpendicular to both Riven and Xayah lit up with a set of diagnostics and information, all of which pertaining to the same thing Xayah had expected.
"What do you see here, Xayah?" Riven said calmly, waving her hand at the data.
"I see a bunch of Egyptian numbers and letters." Xayah replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "It's the field report from my last mission, what else would it be?"
"And do you know why I'm showing you your own field report?" Riven asked, her tone still neutral.
"Oh I know why." Xayah said, waving her hand at the screen dramatically as she spoke. "Let me guess: I did something good, it was slightly against regulations and now you're here to whip my ass over it? Did I do good, Cap?"
Despite all of her experience and the morals she was bound to, Riven felt the urge to punch Xayah rise up above everything in her mind for a brief moment. Still, she relaxed and focused. This wasn't the time.
"The mission went fine." Riven said. "You went into the site, eliminated the Chaos source and got all of the people to safety."
"But…" Xayah said, beckoning Riven on with a bored look.
"But you got the people out by commandeering an ancient Order hovercraft, flying it without permission and using it to lift over 160,000 tons worth of steel and metal INTO THE AIR for over three hours as you took the entire ship to its port, just because you didn't want to waste time in escorting it." Riven said, ice in her voice.
"And that's a problem because…?" Xayah questioned, shrugging.
"Because human technology is nowhere near the point of where GIANT CRUISE SHIPS CAN FLY." Riven yelled, finally losing her patience. "Having to dilute the memories of the people on that ship was hard enough. Do you have any idea what would've happened if someone on land had seen you, or if you had done that operation in daytime? We would've been exposed."
"Yeah, exposed." Xayah said, stretching the last word dramatically. "As if that hasn't happened what, a billion times before?"
"You know how bad it would be." Riven said coldly, her blue eyes staring down Xayah's brown ones. "Everything would be lost the moment they would realize there's a greater battle out there than just what they see on their planet. Humans are already unstable enough as it is, if they got word of anything we do they'd fall apart trying to get the most out of it for themselves."
"And why do we care about humans again?" Xayah asked, her voice rising slightly as she glared back at Riven. "I believe it was you who said that they're a corrupted race and that as a whole they can't be trusted."
Riven moved over to grab her sword, using the time to regain her composure. "Because all life matters, Xayah." she replied. "ALL life. I shouldn't need to tell you why, you know the Domino effect better than anyone."
Xayah froze, her face momentarily shocked before she stood up angrily. "I thought I told you to NEVER-" she started until Riven dashed at her, cutting her off with the blade now pointed at her neck.
"I know what you said." Riven said, a dark tone rising into her voice. "But then again, I told you to listen to what I say and it doesn't seem like you're doing that now are you?"
Xayah was quiet, her eyes blazing with rage as she looked up at her Captain. She was just a few centimeters shorter than the Dawnbringer but anyone who had faced down against Riven before would know that when she got serious, she became very formidable.
Without shifting her gaze Riven raised a hand and in one quick grab snatched Xayah's earbuds from her ears, the tablet hidden in her pocket coming along with the cords. As Xayah's eyes flared Riven shifted her gaze and glanced over the icons on the small touchpad of the device, shaking her head as she read the most recently played song.
"You're lying, Xayah." Riven said, shaking her head. "You care about humans just as much as any other race, if not even more. I've seen how you love their architecture, their festivals, their music. The song here is human, no one else would name a music piece 'Let's Get NUTS Mix' ."
"It has aged phenomenally." Xayah chided.
"That doesn't matter, Xayah." Riven said, letting out a long breath. "What matters is that you're trying to defend your actions with excuses, just like always. It doesn't make sense, especially from you."
"Really?" Xayah mused, tilting her head and putting on an innocent look. "Is that because you still think I'm the innocent and obedient girl I was when you found me?"
"No," Riven said, her hands tightening. "But that girl would never have let herself fall this low when she had promised to avenge her race."
Three bluish-purple feathers appeared in Xayah's left hand, glowing menacingly. "Take that back." she said, teeth grated.
"Only when you admit you're wrong." Riven replied, her voice firm as the sword in her hand began to resonate with golden energy.
It was at this moment that Rakan chose to enter the room, not noticing the affair happening in it as he struggled to carry in a giant set of boxes stacked up well beyond his head.
"Hey babe," Rakan called lovingly, struggling for a view into the cabin. "I got the Pizza-"
Rakan finally noticed the scene and took in everything as the fury of both women turned to him.
"Rolls…" he finished, his charismatic tone dropping off.
For the next few seconds Rakan looked around nervously, taking in the broken door, hole in the wall and anger of the two girls in front of him, especially Xayah's.
"I'll just wait outside." He said, backpedaling into the hallway and out of sight with a quick dash.
With the intermission over, both girls shook off what had just happened and focused back on each other, their expressions practically boiling with anger.
"See what you did?" Xayah snapped, pissed beyond belief. "You scared my boyfriend off, you bitch."
"I didn't scare anyone off," Riven replied, furious. "You're the one who caused the trouble in the first place, not to mention he helped you during that entire mission and didn't tell me a word of what happened."
"That's because he's caring and understanding," Xayah rebuked, "Unlike you."
"That's a bold claim," Riven shot back, "Coming from someone who hasn't had the pride to step down from her golden throne and be honest with the person who saved her for the past eight years."
"MAYBE THAT'S BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO BE SAVED!" Xayah shouted at the top of her lungs.
Riven backed up, her usual demeanor cracked as hurt appeared on her face. "What?" Riven said.
"You heard me." Xayah said, her hands beginning to bleed as she gripped the sharp feathers in them as tightly as she could. "When I saw all of my family die, all of my race except Rakan get annihilated I didn't want to avenge them. I wanted to join them." Tears began to well in Xayah's eyes as she continued, "I couldn't imagine a life without my parents, without my siblings or my friends or anyone I knew."
"Then why did you agree to do this?" Riven asked, her voice tinged with sadness. "You seemed so enthusiastic, so happy to have a chance to fight back against what life had given you."
"Because I was scared." Xayah said, the honesty in her voice forcing Riven back another step. "I was scared of what I would be if I just accepted my fate and died with everyone else. I was scared of what would happen to me, or to Rakan when he would realize he was alone. A tear fell down Xayah's cheek, falling as she said, "I didn't want him to suffer because of what I wanted."
Riven was silent as Xayah broke down in front of her, falling to her knees and beginning to sob as the emotions she had kept pent up in her for so long finally let loose in one big rush. Upon hearing her crying Rakan stuck his head into the frame of the entrance, his face filled with concern. He gave a pleading glance at Riven but the Dawnbringer shook her head as she looked down at Xayah's crumpled form.
She needs this, Riven thought. She needs to face her past.
After a solid minute of crying Riven kneeled down in front of Xayah, lifting her face to hers. Where Riven's eyes had previously been looking at her in anger was now only filled with empathy, looking reassuringly into Xayah's wet orbs as Riven put a hand onto the younger girl's shoulder.
"Do you really think that's why you agreed to protect Order?" Riven asked quietly.
Xayah nodded, her cheeks wet and her expression broken.
"Then that's nothing to be ashamed of." Riven said, squeezing Xayah's shoulder. "Xayah, how do you think I became a member of Order?"
"Some stupid royal ceremony or declaration from a god." Xayah admitted, sniffling.
Riven smiled, if only a bit. "I wish." she replied, her faint grin disappearing just as soon as it had come. Riven closed her eyes and brief flashes of pain began to build up in her as she relived her memories.
"I was a commander for the Noxian Army back on Runeterra, a proud and honorable general." One day, when we were fighting Ionia I decided to disobey the Grand General's orders and take a shortcut to try and cut off the Ionian Army from their resupply ships." Riven's face darkened and contorted with grief. "Instead of cutting off the resupply, I cut off every single last one of my soldier's heads."
Xayah's eyes widened. "How many?" she whispered, shocked.
"6,781." Riven replied, looking down. "6,500 troops, 200 mercenaries and 81 Ionian volunteers."
Xayah was still for a moment as she processed the information. Riven continued her monologue, forcing back the ringing in her ears.
"When I watched the last one of them die," Riven said, "I realized that war was pointless. It was just an endless cycle of life and death, the loss of so many for what? Bragging rights, land, resources?" she shook her head, "I was so devastated and beaten that the Ionian commander let me live, just because it was a worse punishment to let me live with my mistake than to kill me." Riven's face hardened and she raised her head, the emotion holding her down lost as she finally escaped the memory. "I was drafted into Order that same day," she said, "As a way to redeem myself."
"Is that why everyone joins?" Xayah asked, her own grief forgotten. "To try and make up for what they think they did wrong?"
"Usually." Riven said, "But it can also be for other things. Some do it because they want to make the world a better place. Some do it because they want a new life doing what's right." She gazed at Xayah and said as honestly as she could, "But what matters is that we all do it for the same reason: To protect the innocent, to bring justice to Chaos. To serve Order, so no one has to suffer." Riven stood up and grabbed Xayah's hands in hers, ignoring the pointed feathers and blood staining her hands as she spoke.
"It doesn't matter how you became a member of Order." she said, her eyes blazing with justice. "All that matters is that you do what's right in the present, for the sake of everyone who can't choose their destiny for themselves. Just like your race. Just like my troops. Just like everyone who's fallen to Chaos. And that's why I don't care about how you got into Order, or how you treat me like shit. Because I've been through the same stuff before, and I know how bad it feels."
Xayah didn't reply, bowing her head in shame and realization as she finally understood Riven's point. When she didn't move from there Riven let go of her hands, brushed herself off and nodded to Rakan, who quickly strode into the room and wrapped his long arms around Xayah.
"I know the rules seem tough," Riven said, looking down at the duo. "But they're just there to protect what we love, to make sure nothing bad happens like it did to us. I hope you get that now." The Dawnbringer turned to where the door had once been and made her way into the hallway, turning around one more time before saying, "I don't regret picking you, Xayah. You're the best friend I could ask to have."
And with that, she was gone.
Author's Note: Another segment from the Order vs Chaos Universe I touched on in The Light of Order, this time focusing on life as an Order member and some of the darker moments that can get to your head as one. I hope the narration at the beginning or the song wasn't too cringey (I was experimenting with some stuff there) and that you enjoyed the emotion and light moments of humor in this one shot. It's all true, after all. We always regret what we've done if it's thought to be wrong.
R&R please though you don't have to. I'm still very interested in making this a whole story/universe of its own (With Riven, Xayah, Rakan, a few other champs and a few OCs forming the Order lineup) and I'd love to hear feedback about both this and The Light of Order.
And for those wondering, the "Let's Get NUTS Mix" parody in this one shot is based off the song in the LEGO Batman Movie. Thought it'd be appropriate as a starter.
See you soon,
-Caulifla