LOCATION: CARDIAN ISLES

OCCASION: THREE DAYS PRIOR TO CYCLE 14

"Where is this place?" I asked Jecht, gesturing at the horrible, incongruent and illogical structures.

"This is the Prison At Sanity's Edge, man. Only the most dangerous of souls get put in here."

"Why isn't anyone we've met here, then? It seems unusual."

"I thought you were supposed to be smart. Why would you want all those guys all locked up together in one place?"

"Okay, then who IS in here, if the most dangerous aren't here?"

"Haven't you looked at the list yet? Only two names left."

"It says here 'Chaos' and 'Oscha.'"

"What, no Earl Tyrant?"

"No."

"He's not gonna like that."

"Why should I care? Enuo didn't like it either."

"Well, you'll see."

We walked not much further than the center of the base, where two seraphim stood guarding an isolated cell. They drew their swords, but dropped them after the Margrace and Marquez erupted from their chests. The two crumpled up in burning heaps and we stepped over their smoldering remains.

"Yer startin' ta enjoy this, I think," Jecht said, ripping the hinges off the cell door. He glanced about and added, "I don't ever wanna be stuck in a place like this."

"There are worse places, I'm sure," I say, entering in the cell.

"I wouldn't say it's so bad in here," a child says.

Inside the cell is seated a little boy in a chair. On either side of him stand strange figures like bats, save that they're upright. In the dark it's hard to really see them. His teeth are visible as he smiles, though. Something about the smile sends a chill down my spine. I never did like children, not even my own. There's just a very unnerving quality about them.

"He looks like he'll be fun . . ." the child muses.

"OoooOOoooOOoh. YoU'rE rIgHt sIrE! He LoOkS aBsOlUtElY eNtErTaInInG," laughs the figure to the right, shaking as he does. Something is not right with him.

"Oscha, make him dance for me! I haven't seen any good dances recently!"

"Dancing? Is that the best you can imagine? Make him split in half, then sow him up again," says the one on the left.

"Nooo! I want him to DANCE!"

"AnD hE sHaLl sIrE."

"Not a chance," I said, crossing my arms. "I haven't time for this. I'm here for Chaos. Which one of you would be him?"

"Which one of us isn't him, you mean."

"They locked us all up in here because they thought one of us was Him!"

"We all might be, though."

"I dOn'T rEmEmBeR wHiCh OnE iSn'T aNyMoRe."

"I don't have time for this. JEEECHT!"

"Don't look at me, man. I can't even SEE them, let alone tell you which one isn't Chaos."

"Oh, for the love of- FINE. Let's just get this over with. Which one of you ISN'T Chaos?"

"It could be me," says the left.

"It might be me," says the child.

"ThErE's A cHaNcE tHaT iT's Me."

"There's a chance I wait here until the Gods come and stuff you all in some place far worse. I've no more time for games. Not while the Scholar is assembling an army for Cosmos."

"Ah, Cosmos. How she hurt us."

"She's a big meanie! I hate her! HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE her!"

"I sOrT oF lIkE hEr. I lOvE hEr So MuCh I hAvE tO sMaSh HeR!"

"Which one of you is Oscha?"

"There's a more direct question."

"Oooooh! That's no fair! You're ruining my fun!"

"He's Oscha, then?" I asked, pointing to the one on the right.

"InDeEd~! I aM oScHa, ChAoS."

"Which makes the twerp the Earl Tyrant. You on the left, you're Chaos, then? Terror of Spelvia and all the world beneath it?"

"You could say that, I suppose."

"Done. You two are leaving, now. Chaos has called in His debt. You are His avatars, and will answer."

"They're not going anywhere!" The Earl snapped, "You can't just take my toys away!"

"I've heard about you, little boy. They said you were a part of Chaos, that you were one of His avatars."

"I AM Chaos. He's MY avatar! Tell him, Oscha!"

"SiRe . . ."

"The thing is, Earl Tyrant, you are NOT Chaos. You're a mistake that was kept alive through a lie. A fluke that Chaos has perpetuated for too long. Some in Heaven thought you were His son. Can you imagine? You, the son of the Son of God. I don't know if you're that or not, but I do know this: you're a blot on my master's name. One I intend to wipe out, now."

"How DARE you! I am CHAOS! CHAOS! You can't talk to CHAOS that way!"

"Jecht, remove Chaos and Oscha from the cell, and shut it behind you, please. I wish to have a moment alone with the boy."

"You want me to shut you In here with him?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Nope. You realize that your assigned task is over, though, right? If things go south for you, I'll just leave you here."

"Take them and shut the cell."

"LEAVE THEM HERE! I ORDER YOU TO LEAVE THEM HERE!"

The child's cries were in vain. Jecht withdrew, and took Chaos and Oscha with him. When the door to the cell was shut, and the child and I were alone in the darkness, I permitted myself to smile.

"But I AM Chaos!" He squealed, pounding on the chair with pudgy little fists.

"I know, Earl, I know you are Chaos."

"Then why are you leaving me in here! I command you to take me OUT of here!"

"Oh, no, no, no. Not after all I've done to get you alone. Feigning ignorance that you'd be here, and pretending that I didn't immediately know which of you was which. It's not as easy to pull a fast one on Jecht as you might think."

"But I'm CHAOS. You have to do what I say!"

"You're Chaos alright. Or rather, you're a part of Chaos. Specifically, you are everything that's wrong with Him. I believe in Chaos' cause, Earl. I believe Heaven has wronged us, and that God has cheated us of what is ours, and I believe Cosmos is the reason He oppresses us so. Chaos is going to lose this war, Earl, of that it is already clear. But I have a responsibility to ensure He does NOT lose the next war. To do that, I must make sure He is strong. And you, Earl Tyrant, are the problem."

"What do you mean? I'm CHAOS. I can't be a problem!"

"You are the problem, though, don't you see? You're dead, but you're still a child. You are Chaos' immaturity. You are even the innocence He has long since repressed. What if you still trust in the Old Man in Heaven? What if you actually DO love the Lady of Order? What if they're more important to you than winning? You're a chance I cannot take, Earl."

"But I'm Chaos! You have to take me, or He'll never be complete!"

"That's where you're wrong, Earl. Chaos would never be whole if I brought you near Him. You are the hole. The weakness. The gap. The moment of doubt. The immaturity. The proclivity for despair. The short temper. I'm sorry, Earl, but I can't afford to have you jeopardizing my revenge. I have come too far and worked for too long to ensure that Chaos is unstoppable in the Last War. I can't let you come between me and the power to bend Fate over and fuck her in the ass."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means, dear Earl, that there is a very special reason I had all witnesses removed from this room, which is dark, soundproof, escape proof, and very small. No one will ever know what I have done in this room, Earl. Not Chaos, not Cosmos, not God in Heaven. The only one who will ever know is the man who next finds himself in this room, and only because it will happen to him, too."

"What are you going to do?" the boy whispered, his voice quavering with fear.

"I'm going to practice. Don't worry, it won't hurt . . . more than I want it to," I whisper back, like a father to his son. I follow this by reaching out and ripping the boy's arm out of his socket.

"!"

"SCREAM! SCREAM YOU STUPID BASTARD! NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU! I'M THE ONLY ONE IN HERE, AND YOUR SCREAMS JUST MAKE ME HAPPIER!"

I shove one hand into the empty and bleeding socket as the boy tries to writhe away. He's weak though, terribly so. Chaos is stronger, and he's faint. As my hand bores its way through his flesh and nerves toward his organs, I reach my other hand out and begin running my fingers down his face, as if to soothe.

He shrieks again in pain, and I coo, "Oooooh, does it hurt? Don't worry. It'll all be over soon. Just another hour or so. Maybe a day or six at most. I think I'll unravel you nerve by nerve. Won't that be fun?"

"NO! STOPSTOPSTOPSTOP! ! I'LL BE A GOOD BOY!"

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID BASTARD! OR I'LL FEED YOU YOUR OWN HAND! Actually, that sounds like a great idea! Open wide!"

I pull one hand from the gore, pinning him down with the other. I grab his disembodied arm as I break his jaw open. The hand fits his mouth perfectly, and the sputtering sound is music to my ears. He starts choking, though, and I'm forced to pull it out. Can't have him passing out yet.

"Do you know the best part of all this? You won't die, Earl. No matter what I do. Jecht's gone, and the Seraphim won't be here for Gods only know how long. I could just keep doing this sort of thing to you forever. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"WAAAAAHAAAAAAY? What did I ever do to you?"

"Don't you give me that! Look at you! One minute you're the high and mighty Chaos, and the next a crying little boy!" I rip one of his ears off to emphasize the point. "You destroyed WORLDS, kid. This is the least I can do for them. You were cruel, and you tortured thousands. They say I'm Hell's Messiah. Consider this your salvation."

"NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHCKKK!"

"Hey, I've always wondered what someone looked like without the top of their head. You don't mind if I take a look, do you? Didn't think so." I said, shoving his head against the wall with such speed and force that his skull cracked. I began to peel it off as he sobbed.

"I'll be a good boy! I'll be a good boy! Make it staaaaaaaahahahaawwwwp!"

"I can't do that, Earl. Don't entertain any hopes, either. Rest assured. You will die. Just as soon as I've finished making it brutal."

"WAAAAHAAAAY!"

"STOP ASKING THAT YOU LITTLE PUS BALL! You killed thousands, if not millions! This is the least I could do for them. There is no justice in Heaven and Hell. Not if people like Sephiroth and Kefka and the like are free and creatures like Dan Kring can even entertain dreams of power and shitballs like you can actually HAVE power. Not if good men are sent here and freaks like Barthandelus are elevated to near Godhood. Do you want to hear my version of Final Heaven?" I ask, ripping out one of his lungs, "I don't even remember it, heheheheHAHAHAHAHA! I guess I'm supposed to have some kind of higher motivation for this, but I'll be honest, I'm being uncharacteristically violent at the moment, and I really don't stand to gain that much from it."

"Does that mean you'll stop?"

"You know? I just might. I mean, I thought this would be fun, but it really has lost some of its luster, come to think of it. I wonder if emotional torture is better than physical, then? I'm sorry, is this your arm?"

He just looked at me, and slowly the sanity came flooding back. "Oh GODS," I groaned, realizing what I had done. "Oh GODS. What have I become."

"Let me go and I won't tell anyone!"

"No! No! You're still going to die. But GODS, what am I doing? Torture? Is this who I am now?"

"Let me go!"

"I'm so sorry, Earl. So sorry. I-I truly am. You must believe me."

"I do! I do! I believe you!"

"Good. I can kill you in peace now."

"Wha-?"

Before he could finish, I had summoned one of my swords to finish him, causing the gore to slowly fade into the Void. And like that it was as though it had never happened. As I emerged from the cell and observed that my hands were clean, I could only question whether it ever truly had.

It is not a part of my story I relish, but it was a serious wake-up call. Chaos had given me His authority and a portion of His power. I began from that day onward to wonder whether it was truly worth it, and what effect it was having on me. Something was seriously wrong with me, but the speed at which things moved from that point onward did not ever allow me to properly examine it.