As the weeks passed it seemed The Dominion War would never come to a proper close. Day in and day out death would strike the Sand Sea and cause sadness to the families involved. More and more camps were discovered and destroyed in the fierce battles that fueled the chaotic conflict of uncertainty.

What should be noted here is that Swing Faction is a major contributor to the so-called "strife" of The Dominion War. Many have accused Swing of obliterating their homes and families. They would merely turn their heads and send the blame crawling towards Conley, who would deny such things. Of course the innocent people knew that Conley didn't have anything to do with the destruction that was ravaging the desert, but there wasn't much for them to do either in retaliation. They could only sit back and allow Swing to cause more damage.

In fact, Conley was rather delicate with the concept of life. The faction was filled with people from all different backgrounds – some were followers of the Flower Zodiac, some followed the belief of Notch, others believed in the evolution of Endermen. The thing that should be noted here is that none of this truly mattered; what mattered was that they were fighting alongside one another despite their conflicting beliefs.

This was the initiation of what could be seen as the "renaissance" of the Conley Faction as they weren't always this happy and peaceful. In fact, in the beginning they were seen as major threats to everyone. The innocent civilians consistently accused Conley Faction of terrorizing their homelands while urging Swing to bring them down. The other two factions weren't fully developed at this point so they weren't seen as the neutral parties they eventually became.

However, later on many changes began to brew within Conley, resulting in its complete rebirth. All the hate that consumed them was exhausted and peace began to take its place. The laws that fueled The Dominion War came into action and Conley decided to do the right thing and support total peace.

It wasn't long before Conley became the favorable contender in the war from a civilian's point of view. They had begun to lean towards Conley rather than Swing, which led the latter to become more and bitterer. This was the real beginning of their rivalry in The Dominion War as Swing really didwant both laws passed – they just didn't want Conley to seem victorious.

Conley decided that even if they didn't win the war they could still be seen as the true heroes of the war and planned out how they would show off their peaceful nature. For starters, they laid out the anti-hate rules altogether before heading into benefits. Here they made it so that each individual soldier (or whatever position they were) could only serve five days out of the seven day week. General Artemis saw this as the perfect way to preserve the life of those serving valiantly in Conley.

However, there was a glaring loophole in this. Since the soldiers serving would be paid in resources and gold depending on how much they served and their overall accomplishments, every soldier in the faction would want to work as much as they could despite only being permitted to serving five days a week. So what became the "sworn secret" of the faction was how to work those last two days. The loophole basically began with the rule about sickness on the battlefield. If any soldier was sick, they would have to stay in bed and send out a replacement. Of course, whoever this replacement was could never be verified as they were going out as a replacement and not an on-duty soldier. They would go out and then the "sick" person would eventually report for duty. They would then be told to go and find their replacement and send them back.

Knowing the soldiers, they would leave the replacement be.

Somehow General Artemis never caught on.

Either that or he just never gave a damn.

Actually, there was plenty of solid evidence that he never actually cared whether the soldiers overworked themselves. He wasn't the banker that distributed their pay – he just led them out into battle. Besides that, some of the things he had said to soldiers in private could be taken as a subtle explanation basically stating "I don't give two shits about you so go and do whatever the hell you want."

One such day, about a month after Herobrine's and Chaos' arrival at the Conley Faction's camp, Chaos was called in for a private meeting with Artemis. It was early morning, prior to an expected rain shower, so he rushed on over. It was incredibly cloudy and humid, making it seem like a hurricane was approaching.

At the front entrance of the general's massive tent, Chaos stopped and was greeted by a knight of higher class. He had stronger armor, weapons, and looked to be much older than he was. The knight stood in place before stepping out of the way to allow Chaos into the tent, "Sir Chaos, the general has been waiting patiently for you. Don't test his patience too much, though."

Chaos entered into the warm tent. There were windows placed on each wall that gave Artemis a clear view of the camp. In the middle of the home was a pleasant little fire with different rugs spread out around it. Crafting tables, furnaces, and chests were placed all along the walls of the tent.

"Chaos, please have a seat." Artemis requested from a rug on the other side of the fire. He was wearing a red wool robe (probably his sleep attire) and looked to be well groomed for such an early hour. His marvelous sword was sheathed and placed beside him on the ground.

Doing as he was told, Chaos gazed into the fire. It looked to have been burning all night without end, "Did you need something, sir?"

Artemis looked past the fire at Chaos, "I need you to listen carefully."

Chaos' eyebrow rose, "What's this all about?"

"I'm afraid that I've seen faults in your actions over the past four weeks and they've become steadily more dangerous to others. Now, I have trusted both you and Herobrine but I cannot allow this to continue forth," Artemis, sounding concerned, stood up with his sword in hand, "I've assigned to have you trained by one of our finer paladins, Wesley Montoya. Your exercises will be grueling but rewarding. You begin at noon."

"Is that it?" Chaos stood up, not ready to leave just yet, "You can't just bring me in, call me a failure, and refuse to acknowledge what I've done
wrong!"

The front of the tent opened up and a figure walked into the spacious room. He was tall with long, brown fluffy hair and brown leather armor. A large sword was attached to his back. As he approached Artemis he bowed, "I have come, as you requested. What is the occasion of my presence?"

Chaos stepped closer towards Artemis, "Yes, tell me what I must be trained on."

"The simple tasks, really. You fail to understand human life and the connectivity to others. You look to fight without mercy and laugh as your foes die. That is not what we do; we fight with grace, spirit, and love. Why do you think we fight? For life, of course! But killing others pointlessly and mercilessly is the greatest contradiction of them all. You suffer from this the most and that is why Wesley here is going to be helping you to further your emotional connection to the outside world. He is the paladin with the biggest heart, I believe. You will learn plenty from him." Artemis walked to the front of the tent and exited.

Wesley turned to Chaos, who was angered, "Cheer up, young one. Once you master the basics of human emotion you can become the greatest knight of all. That is an absolute truth, my friend."

"Knight, you say?" Chaos shook his head and went to exit, "I am a mercenary, not a knight."

"We're all the same in some way, friend." Wesley shrugged off Chaos' rash reactions and followed him outside.

Indeed they were. All soldiers were told the same thing that Artemis advised Chaos about – fight with grace, spirit, love, but also respect. Respect was seen as the holy rule to any and all soldiers serving Conley. This concept was one that every new soldier was taught instantly as it would be the one to decide their fate. Chaos was the kind of soldier who refused to show respect to the man that he fought in war as it was pointless to him in that context.

Just an hour prior to noon Herobrine had awoken, expecting to see Chaos still asleep on his cot. Since the two vowed to always fight together, they would decide how to spend their day off as they see fit early on. Since Chaos was absent from the tent, Herobrine felt something was off.

Stepping out of his tent, he looked around like a man just waking up from the worst hangover of his life. The world felt upside down to him and he couldn't understand why. Was it just because he had expected Chaos to still be in bed? "Perhaps he's replacing somebody," Herobrine thought and began to wander around the camp to socialize and possibly learn where Chaos had wandered off to randomly.

"Yo, Steve!" A voice called out from underneath a blue canopy near Artemis' massive tent. It came from another soldier on his day off, sitting with a nurse who looked to be in some sort of pain. She sat beside him on a checkered blanket, her leg stretched out in front of her. She held onto it like something had stabbed it and she was trying to comfort the surroundings of the wound.

Herobrine walked over to the canopy and sat down across from the nurse, "Is something the matter? You look to be in pain from something that isn't even there."

"These damn sharp feelings hit me at the worst times!" The nurse began cursing profusely under her breath while rubbing her leg carefully.

The other guy laughed, "She's going crazy, ain't she?"

Both the guy and Herobrine shared a laugh while the nurse gave up and left.

"Damn, I can't wait to get back out on the battlefield," the guy left, stretching out his legs and cracking his neck, "The days off are the worst. We don't do anything but sit around and talk about the few women who actually are here at Conley. I pity those that enjoy these days."

Herobrine had to wholeheartedly agree. The majority of the faction saw the days off as a way of the higher ups saying "You aren't tough enough to fight seven days straight so go ahead and get your beauty rest." Plus, there just wasn't anything to do on a day off since most other soldiers were out fighting. Speaking of fighting, there were barely any actual battles occurring at this stage of the war since Swing had repressed most of their soldiers due to the storms and strong winds of that season.

Then he remembered, "Have you seen Chaos today?"

"Chaos?" The guy repeated.

"Yeah, he's not in bed. Where else could he be?"

"I heard that Artemis either kicked him out or forced him onto the battlefield. Neither sounds true, though, since Chaos kicked serious ass and, well, let's face it, Artemis never forces people onto the battlefield. The dude doesn't seem like the same guy anymore, to be honest. It's sad as hell," The guy stood up and walked into his tent beside the canopy. He walked back out a minute later with a gun with peeling paint, "Anyway, I need to get back to working on this piece of shit gun. Hopefully I get promoted and a better weapon."

Herobrine began to feel dizzy, "Chaos… is gone?"

"That's what I've been told."

That was enough to set Herobrine off. He marched over to Artemis' tent and began to impatiently ask the guard situated in the front to speak with the general. For the first few times the guard denied access, but eventually obliged out of fear and allowed Herobrine to enter the tent.

On the inside Artemis was over by one of the furnaces, smelting gold into ingots for weapons. He turned around and smiled, "Ah, Herobrine. If you don't mind, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Not now, sir," Herobrine walked further into the tent, "Why Chaos?"

"Well, he still has a long way to go so-"

"That's no reason to up and drop him out of the blue!"

Artemis looked at Herobrine confusingly, "Huh?"

"I can't find Chaos and people say that you kicked him from the faction. Is this true?"

The general laughed and walked outside, "Not at all true. Chaos is simply out training with Wesley Montoya since he needs a better understanding of emotions. He kills mercilessly and that is not someone that I want in my army. Of course, if he shows no signs of improvement then I may have to keep him off the battlefield indefinitely, but until then he will be training."

Herobrine sighed with relief and looked straight ahead to the camp exit, "How exactly is this Montoya guy gonna help Chaos? I mean, Chaos is a wonderful dude and all, but I haven't seen any real signs of danger in him. What is he gonna be trained on?"

"Simple things first. Wesley will look into Chaos' fighting abilities and utilize what he learns to his advantage in teaching Chaos how to be a bit more civil in battle. It shouldn't be longer than a week or two before Chaos is just like you in being graceful, spirited, loving-"

"And respectful," Herobrine nodded and began to walk back to his tent, "Thanks for everything. I'll be in my tent if you need me for the rest of the day."

Artemis stepped forward, "Actually-"

Herobrine could not hear him.

The general turned to the guy still polishing his gun, "Otto, could I ask a favor of you?"

"Of me? On my day off?" Otto stood up and threw his gun aside, "Shoot."

"I've received word from an anonymous source that a child has been seen wandering the desert at night. This source says that the child looks to be sick or possessed with red eyes or something. Could you perhaps look into this? A shiny promotion might be rewarded if you don't screw up."

Otto smiled, "Absolutely. Anything for a promotion. You say at night?"

Thus Otto began his preparation for his promotion. At this time he was just another soldier, but since he had been fighting for several months he was just about to the point of becoming a proper knight. After that he would become a paladin (like Wesley Montoya) and then a general if the current one ever died. In this case, if Artemis was ever killed in battle then Wesley would be appointed general.

Of course, nobody caresabout Otto's journey to becoming a knight. Hell, if I were to elaborate on such a boring topic then I might as well write a fifty chapter story on the nurse and why she seems to be feeling sharp pains in her leg. Not every character needs their own storyline – some just need a back story to make them relevant.

Speaking of relevance, Chaos' training was taking place out in the Sand Sea, not too far from the Conley camp. Wesley Montoya had picked that place special as it was the place where he was trained when he was younger and ultimately was promoted to paladin upon slaying Trevor Nix, one of the most legendary warriors to come out of the other three factions (he actually came from Ross Faction. His death pretty much signaled the end of them being a threat in The Dominion War).

The setting was nice and flat with spiral rocks placed all around. Chaos and Wesley stood at the center of the area, weapons drawn and in battle stance. Chaos looked at his mentor's weapon and saw how generic it was – a steel sword with dots of Redstone placed randomly on the blade. It looked like it was just for show until Wesley properly explained it.

"You see, the Redstone gives the sword just enough power to not kill opponents quicker but to keep it from breaking. It is merely for defense uses as all attack power comes from the wielder." Wesley said and disarmed Chaos instantly. He swung the sword around in his hand swiftly. It looked to weigh no more than a feather would.

Chaos ran and grabbed his sword, "Then what's the point of making weapons out of diamond or gold?"

"As I said, defense purposes," Wesley grabbed Chaos' iron sword and stroked his finger along the flat side, "The weapons made of diamond last longer and have a better chance of protecting you. People will say all they want that killing is easier with them, but don't believe a word they say."

The two fought again. Chaos' sword was disarmed even quicker.

"Very well, let's start with the basics on how to be a proper soldier," Wesley sat down in the sand, stabbing his sword into the ground beside him,
"Respect is most important, right? Why is that?"

"Because everyone wants respect."

"There's a bit more to it," Wesley said and began reaching for more thoughts, "How about mercy? Why do we want to show mercy to our opponents?"

Chaos shrugged, "This makes no sense. You say that I'm supposed to show mercy but when I first arrived at camp Artemis said that I'd better not be some soldier from another faction begging for mercy. Why would he detest others begging for mercy but then turn around and order us to show it?"

That honestly was a very profound question that Wesley thought about for quite a bit. The thought process of his general wasn't always the straightest forward, but with enough thought they made sense, "The way I see it, mercy is different depending on the context used. If our enemies beg for mercy they are plainly asking for forgiveness that they will not receive. If we show mercy, though, it is us basically apologizing for having to bring their end. They both mean the same thing but can be different depending on the point of view."

Sure, Wesley had a point – don't give forgiveness where it isn't due – but he made it just as confusing as Artemis would try to put it. Chaos kicked around the sand with his feet gently, "I see now. So he wants us to show pity then?"

"In a way."

"Hell no," Chaos shook his head and sheathed his sword, "Pity leads to defeat and I know that's not what he wants. He wants victory and peace but we cannot achieve such if we act like cowards and apologize to the greatest scum for having to bring them to justice."

Wesley stood up and watched as Chaos began to walk off back towards the camp, "I know it may be hard for you to understand, but-"

"Shut it!" Chaos stopped and began shouting angrily, "You are full of lies. I'm starting to wonder how the hell you even became a paladin in the first place."

After this day Chaos never really liked Wesley. In all honesty, they never talked to each other or had any relative connection beforehand. To Wesley, it seemed normal – many people disliked him and he was absolutely fine with that. Hate was just a feeling that he was resistant to. With constant fighting in war, how could you not ignore it?

Over the following seven days, until Chaos was called into training again with Wesley Montoya, he would spend the days on the battlefield and the nights in his tent, either cursing to himself or his tent mates about how his life sucks or reading one of Herobrine's books.

In fact, each night Herobrine would notice Chaos becoming more and more enveloped in the novels and the messages they expressed. Once Chaos had finished reading Aether he moved onto Hippotamus and the Restless Case of the Bacterial Disguise of the Man Formerly Called Himself and then back to Aether. It was astonishing to Herobrine.

"Say, Herobrine," Chaos refused to acknowledge his friend as Steve, "I had a strange dream last night."

Herobrine sat up on his cot one night. All the other tent mates were out drinking.

"It was a strange one," Chaos remarked and threw Aetheraside, "I was standing in a valley. It was a massive, beautiful valley with roses everywhere. Every word I spoke, no matter if it was loud or not, echoed throughout and I felt like I was never alone as long as that voice was with me."

"That definitely does sound strange," Herobrine commented and lay back down on his cot, "My dreams usually consist of a dragon flying overhead. Dragons don't exist, so I have no idea why I even dream about such things."

Both of them laughed.

Then there was silence.

"I remember," Chaos quietly began to speak as Herobrine put out the torches, "I remember my childhood like it was yesterday. It was ripped from me by my own temptations and the chaos of the outside world. Ha, I was told by my dad that they named me Chaos because I wanted to go around the world so much but didn't know how dangerous it was. They were idiots, though, so…"

"Where are they now?"

Chaos breathed in heavily, "Dead."

Herobrine didn't speak.

"They died at The Battle of Onyx."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I don't want your sympathy. They were idiots, like I said, teaching me all the wrong things and telling me to not get involved with the pain and suffering that the rest of Anascentia goes through. I said 'to hell with that' and here I am. What they said has no impact on me. I'm my own man. I feel like a new user."

Herobrine sighed heavily, "Nice."

"Definitely," Chaos said before going deep into thought, "Maybe I'm being too harsh on Wesley."

"What do you mean?"

Chaos rolled over in his cot, "Well, I've been a real ass to him."

"Then don't be. He's an accepting dude."

"Yet so many people hate him."

"Becausehe's an accepting dude," Herobrine sat up and looked over to Chaos in the dark, "There aren't many people like him."

There was more silence.

"Good night, Herobrine." Chaos calmly said.

"Likewise." Herobrine responded.

When Chaos' next training day arrived, Herobrine thought nothing of it. He simply woke up and wandered about like he had done last time, hoping that Chaos had truly apologized to Wesley for being arrogant. If he hadn't, it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary, but if he had it would be just as normal.

Meanwhile, out in the desert, Chaos and Wesley stood their ground. Chaos felt more confident in his actions and thought a bit more clearly on all the possible ways to get the upper hand on his opponent. Of course, it would be difficult any way he tried since he was facing a paladin, but the more he can trip Wesley up the better.

In the end, he had nearly gone blind from staring at the sun too much.

"Come on, get up," Wesley helped Chaos from up off the ground, "That's enough for today. You're definitely getting better but be careful on all the possible ways that I could trip you up. You look ahead and plan on how you want to get me but you fail to realize that I'm doing the exact same thing."

Chaos nodded, feeling a bit more understanding after talking with Herobrine, "Alright, I'll try to do that next time. It's just a bit difficult to think all these plans out at the same time. It's strange how people like you are masters at something like that."

"Everything takes practice. Just like beginning to craft as a child, you just need to try again and again until you feel more comfortable with it. How many times did it take you before you successfully crafted wood into wooden planks? How old were you?" Wesley asked as they began their trek back to Conley camp.

"I was, uh," Chaos looked at the ground nervously, "I was ten."

Wesley was incredibly surprised, "Ten? Most people learn at five."

"My parents were never the most productive," Chaos uttered, "Maybe that's why they didn't survive in the end."

A strong wind blew over them.

"I'm so sorry, Chaos. I had no idea it was like that." Wesley apologized.

"No, it's fine," Chaos stopped and looked out across the desert, "They died just like anybody could have in Onyx. Luckily I was old enough to survive on my own and that's when I met Herobrine in Imperial City. He's like the brother I never had."

"Only child?"

Chaos shook his head, "I had a sister but she died as well."

Wesley wanted to get out of this subject now.

"Before the Battle of Onyx."

"You don't have to talk about this."

"Oh, but I do," Chaos began walking again, "It makes me feel better."

Wesley rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine, do whatever you want."

"Sometimes when I'm alone I get under the covers and-"

"Don't say another word!" Wesley shouted.

"I said that this makes me feel better."

"Well, it makes me feel worse. Just… Let's be quiet until we get back until camp, okay?" Wesley said and hurried on ahead.

Chaos smiled.

It was very rarely that General Artemis called off all operations for an entire day, but when it did happen people had mixed feelings. Sure, it was nice to be given time to rest but there was also the fact that there was still nothing to do in the camp or for miles. Many people actually thought about going to Fontaine or Imperial City but were ordered not to because it was too far.

As for what the people actually decided to do that day, it was, again, mixed. Some trained; others talked; some even read, including Herobrine. He sat inside his tent, flipping through Aetherand underlining all key passages that he deemed memorable, hoping to find more meaning to the themes and perhaps even discover something that nobody had seen in the text before.

"Yo, Steve," Otto shouted from outside the tent, "Come on out, will ya?"

"Why?" Herobrine set down Aether.

Otto pushed through the entrance and stood in front of Herobrine's cot, "Did you hear about the ghost boy?"

"Ghost boy?"

Otto seemed unusually excited, "A few weeks ago Artemis assigned me the task of finding this child that people had reported to have seen at night. I've been given permission to go outside the camp at night! Do you know how awesome that is?"

"Nicely done. Is that it?" Herobrine stood up and walked outside where everyone seemed to be out and about the camp.

"Not even the half of it," Otto was getting more and more excited with every word he said, "I spotted the ghost boy multiple times and even saw his hideous red eyes! After that I designed multiple traps lure him out and capture him. Here's where the really freaky things begin to happen – every single time a trap went off, an Endermen was caught dead in it."

Herobrine looked over at Otto unsurprised, "And?"

"Endermen, when they die, disappear, just like all mobs! Their dead bodies are left in the traps, which shouldn't be happening. To add onto that, this makes me wonder if the child is killing the Endermen and leaving them behind for me to find?" Otto looked around for more people to tell his tale to.

"I dunno. You should look more into it. Maybe it's symbolic of something." Herobrine theorized.

Then a crazy thought ran through Otto's head.

"Oh my…" Otto uttered and nearly collapsed, "What if…"

"What? What if what?" Herobrine cringed at his friend's overreaction.

"What if," Otto stared crazily into Herobrine's eyes, "What if the child is warning me of something?"

"Like what?"

Otto looked around anxiously before leaning close to Herobrine's ears, "The Endersend."

Herobrine pushed him away, "You're looking too far into this."

Otto didn't even hear Herobrine; he just ran off, running up to random people to warn them of a possible Endersend attack in the future.

"Alright, now where is Chaos?" Herobrine looked around, noticing that his friend wasn't in sight anywhere. There wasn't any training that day either so his absence was seen as truly mysterious to him this time. He walked on over to Artemis' tent and entered in without permission.

On the inside, he saw Artemis and Wesley sitting around the fire, discussing something that sounded to be serious. They both stopped and looked up to Herobrine. The general pointed to the rug beside him, "Come and sit down, Herobrine."

General Artemis was donned in his intricate general uniform while Wesley was wearing a white wool robe. The paladin stood up and threw a nearby piece of wood into the fire, "Herobrine, where is Chaos?"

"That's actually what I came to ask you. I thought you might know."

Wesley shook his head and looked to the front of the tent, "I'm worried for that boy. He seems shaken."

"Shaken, you say?" Artemis sounded intrigued and worried.

"He spoke to me about his parents' deaths." Wesley explained.

Herobrine was now brought into the ordeal, "He told me about that as well."

"Did he?" Wesley looked to Herobrine, "Did he say anything else?"

Herobrine looked down at the fire, "No. He told me about a dream he had, though, where he was in a valley full of roses. The sound of his own voice comforted him, though."

"That's odd," Artemis thought and stood up, "All valleys are barren."

"Like I said, it was a dream." Herobrine repeated clearer this time.

Wesley looked to the general, "I'll begin my search for him at once."

"Herobrine, why don't you join him?" Artemis urged.

Herobrine stood up and looked to the general, "Why me?"

"You are Chaos' best friend. It'll make finding him not too difficult I think."

This was a sound explanation to Herobrine. Without further questioning, he followed Wesley Montoya out into the camp and beyond the camp borders. They began to travel across the desert, keeping their eyes peeled for Chaos anywhere. What he would want in the desert was unknown to them but they stayed motivated and kept moving at all costs.

Eventually Wesley noticed the familiar rocks appear in the horizon. They were the same rocks that he had taken Chaos to train by. He began rushing across the remaining desert to them, leaving Herobrine to try and catch up. When they did reach the training ground, they found Chaos going through the motions as if he was in a sword fight.

"Chaos," Wesley chuckled, catching his breath, "You don't need to train this much."

"But I do." Chaos said.

"You're doing fine. General Artemis is very pleased." Wesley complimented.

"Fine isn't good enough." Chaos said.

Herobrine paid close attention to the way Chaos fought the air. His strikes seemed hasty and forced; his thrusts gave him some sort of pleasure. Of course he didn't say anything since he wanted Wesley to just move on from Chaos' training sessions.

After showing off some of the moves he had been practicing, Chaos departed from the training ground with Wesley and Herobrine, continuing to hold the sword firmly in his hand, "When we train again, I know I'll win."

"I'm sure you will. You're doing excellent work." Wesley complimented again.

"Indeed, I will win," Chaos closed his eyes, "That is an absolute truth."

Oddly enough, many soldiers did not want their day off to end. As it came to a close, they all gathered towards the middle of the camp and drank their hearts out. Even Herobrine joined in at the urge of Otto, who had calmed down from his psychotic freak out earlier. Throughout the event Herobrine talked to nearly everyone before realizing something didn't feel right.

"Chaos, are you in there?" Herobrine called to the inside of his tent.

"What do you want?" Chaos emerged from the inside.

Herobrine grabbed his friend's hand and pulled him outside, "Come on and enjoy the party! It's not every day that we get to have something like this. It's usually just us fighting day in and day out. Most day offs consist of us sitting around and doing nothing. This," He signaled to the party, "This is something!"

"I'd rather not," Chaos said and began to enter back into the tent.

"What, are you reading Scott Thomas' books again?" Herobrine rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm writing my own."

This was not what Herobrine had expected from Chaos. The guy really only enjoyed what was given to him, not making things to give to others. This was something new from the soldier. Herobrine looked inside and, sure enough, saw his friend hunched over on his cot, scribbling down words on a piece of paper.

"What's it about?" Herobrine asked.

Chaos scooted away, "None of your business."

"Come on! Just a hint?"

Chaos sighed, "It's about spiritual rebirth."

"I see. Inspired by Aether, right?"

"Maybe."

Herobrine chuckled and left the tent, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Chaos smiled, "You're the only one who's ever said that."

Herobrine stared off into the distance with concern.

On the night before his last training session, Chaos did not sleep at all. He sat up all night, writing and re-writing the rough draft of his story, called The Artemis Complhex. A few other titles had been chosen as possibilities (Manifest of a Maniac, Chaos Theory, The Lone Wolf, Nether) but none had been to his liking like The Artemis Complexwas.

Just as the sun began to rise he hid the papers underneath his cot and grabbed his sword before walking outside. He breathed in and out multiple times. He smiled and began walking to the exit of the camp. On the other side, he looked back at the camp and put up his middle finger towards Artemis' tent.

"Quite the complex, eh?" He said to himself and walked off.

"Herobrine!"

The soldier jumped out of his cot and rushed outside to see Otto standing before him, his fully polished gun in hand and a crazy look on his face. He was marching in place, his gun held snug in his arms. It was also loaded.

"Huh? Gonna rant some more about that ghost kid or somethin'?" Herobrine complained, groggy from sleep.

Otto shook his head, "Artemis requested to see you."

Herobrine rolled his eyes and walked over to the general's tent. Like all the other times, he just walked in and saw Artemis seated in front of the fire. He was staring at the entrance as if waiting patiently for Herobrine's arrival, "Herobrine, Chaos is missing again."

"Again?" Herobrine realized he hadn't even bothered to look for Chaos that morning.

"Yes, again. Wesley already went out to find him. If you could go and accompany him I'd appreciate it." Artemis ordered and pushed Herobrine outside.
Herobrine turned towards the inside of the camp, a strange feeling erupting inside of him.

Indeed, he was nervous.

Wesley knew immediately where to search for Chaos so he didn't waste any time in travelling there. He was in his armor this time since he planned to train Chaos for the last time later that day and wanted to see his pupil's full potential. He had high hopes for him because of how committed he was to training.

When the paladin arrived at the rocks he saw Chaos standing in the middle of them.

Except he was just standing there.

There was no training occurring.

Chaos was just standing there.

Staring.

"Chaos, don't wear yourself out. Your final test is later." Wesley advised as he approached his student.

"Not later," Chaos smirked, "Now."

Wesley stopped and noticed that Chaos had his weapon drawn and was slowly inching into a fighting stance, "Now? I'm not ready, though. Our training sessions occur in the afternoon. Same will go for your final test."

"Now." Chaos said and ran at Wesley.

The paladin was surprised by his student's sudden outburst and rolled out of the way. He grabbed the hilt of his steel sword and jumped into a defense position. He kept a close eye on Chaos' movement, primarily in his legs, "Chaos, what has gotten into you?"

"Nothing. We fight," Chaos shouted and slashed vertically at Wesley, hitting his blade with great force, "Now."

Wesley was shocked by the strength that Chaos gave off. He nearly lost possession of his sword because of his opponent's great power. He jumped back and began to pace sideways, preparing for an opening to strike. Finally, he stopped and ran forward, slicing horizontally but missing. Chaos sidestepped and drove the tip of his generic sword into his mentor's left leg.

A great shriek cried out across the desert as Wesley looked down to see his armor penetrated, his leg beginning to give off blood. He pushed himself onto his feet after nearly falling over and looked at Chaos. He prepared his sword and thought to himself, This is not Chaos. This is something else.
Something far worse.

"We fight now." Chaos said again and slashed diagonally at Wesley, who blocked it better this time.

"Chaos!" Wesley shouted angrily, beginning to fear for his student, "What is going on? This isn't you!"

Chaos' eyes shot wide open as he pushed Wesley onto his back.

"This isn't me?" Chaos shouted, "You don't know me then."

Wesley tried to stab at Chaos but was disarmed instantly.

"The truth is that war didn't kill my parents." Chaos kneeled on Wesley's chest, placing his sword along the paladin's neck.

Wesley gulped.

Chaos smirked, "I did."

With only a vague idea of where Chaos and Wesley might've been, Herobrine stepped out into the desert and began running. The clouds above were coming together to look chaotic with a possible storm later that day. He did not want to get caught in the midst of a flood.

He felt incredibly relieved when he first saw the tops of the spiral rocks appear past some dunes. He slowed down a bit and began to notice a figure lying on the ground. He was breathing calmly, relaxed that he had found the place, but soon became a bit more nervous when he noticed that was it.

Just a single body.

"Oh my…" Herobrine stopped as he realized what had happened.

The soldier sprinted over to the training ground and slid beside Wesley's bloody body, his hands getting covered in the blood soaked sand as he tried to pick up the dead paladin.

"Wesley! Speak to me!" Herobrine shouted. He leaned over his chest to hear a heartbeat but found none. He even began slapping him to see if he would come to.

Nothing.

Then he remembered.

"Chaos!" Herobrine stood up and looked around, "Chaos, are you all right?"

No response.

"Chaos!" Herobrine shouted, beginning to lose his mind, "Please don't be dead!"

He was left alone with a dead body as a storm approached. What to do.