I do not own Chaotic nor anything related to it. It belongs to TCDigital.

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The Uproar

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"The Humans in the Underworld had a leader?"

"Chaor married the leader of the Underworld Humans?"

"Who's Chaor?"

"He let the Humans have a leader?"

"It has to be some sort of political thing."

"Chaor's a king, right? Does that mean his wife's a queen now?"

"You don't think King Theb-sarr or Prince Iflar will try to marry whoever we choose as our leader, right?"

"We should choose a male leader to keep that from happening."

"You think that will stop them?"

"Do we know who this woman Chaor married is?"

"Do we even know that she's in fact a woman?"

"Who's Chaor? Seriously, I don't know."

"Wasn't Chaor attracted to young boys?"

"Only in every fan fiction that pairs him and Kaz. I don't think those apply here."

"Who's Kaz?"

"Maybe this is another The Chaotic Eye thing."

"It's not made up."

"How's the royal family reacting to this?"

"You think they care?"

"Prince Mudeenu was flipping the f*** out about it. I think they care."

"Prince Mudeenu flips out over everything."

"I did say 'flipping the f*** out,' right?"

"Chaor's trying to control the Underworld Humans with this, right?"

"How powerful is this leader?"

"He's how tall?"

"That's going to be one painful honeymoon."

"Gross! Why are you even thinking about that?"

"I don't understand. Does this mean the Underworld Humans are Underworlders now?"

"How did Mipedim Mailer even get this information?"

"Maybe they bought the article?"

"The Underworld Humans had a leader before us?"

"We've been twiddling our thumbs about it. I'm not surprised they were first."

"The poor woman's going to die the first time they have sex."

"Did we not just tell you not to talk about that?"

"Could someone just draw a picture of him or something? I still have no idea who everyone's talking about."

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I have never seen Shasta's bar packed so full before. It's not only the bar, every public place where people usually meet with others is packed full of people, both Human and Mipedian, and everyone's talking about the article in Mipedim Mailer.

Sett looks over my shoulder. "So this is what everyone's been talking about. I'm not sure I know what to think about it."

"Neither does anyone else," I mutter as I read through the article. "I want to believe that it's just a rumor, but there's a lot of exact information in here. Time of day the ceremony started, important guests in attendance, things like that."

Shasta passes by Sett and me on his way to another customer. "Political marriage?"

"Sounds like it," I say as I read further. "Hm, Queen 'Lilth'... that doesn't sound like a Human name."

Sett shakes his head. "When a common creature marries into royalty, he or she is typically given a royal name. The only creatures who don't do that are the Danians."

I look around. "Well, it looks like the Humans here will be hurrying to find a leader soon. I wonder how he or she will be selected."

"How were leaders normally selected on Earth?" Sett asks.

"Depended entirely on which country you were in," I sigh. "In the United-"

My train of thought is derailed by a scream from further down the counter. Everyone's eyes turns to see a woman scrambling out of her seat as a black fog erupts from the shadows under her chair. The shadows twist is the air into a ghost-like shape, and three holes appear at the top of the shape; two smaller ones like eyes, and a large one underneath like a toothy mouth.

The creature made of smoke stretches two arms ending in four-fingered hands while yawning, its vaporous mouth stretching wide. Then it turns its gaze on the woman whose shadow it had appeared from. Its mouth opens again, and a hollow voice echoes, "Ooooo, did I scare you?"

The woman shrieks and throws a glass at the creature. The glass passes harmlessly through its smokey body and shatters against the wall opposite.

The creature made of smoke laughs, its voice echoing in its throat. "Ooooo, that tickled."

I stand up, push my chair aside, and take a step toward the creature. "Why are you here, Drakness?"

The creature, Drakness, turns its gaze to me. "I do not recall giving you my name, Human. Ooooo, you must be one of the Experienced, one of the players of that game back on your world." The creature laughs again, and its body ripples. "You're a brave soul to speak with an Underworlder."

The crowd gasps, and several people step away from Drakness. I take another step forward. "You did not answer my question." I'm not scared. The Underworlder won't start trouble while this outnumbered.

"Ooooo," the ethereal creature breathes, "I simply came to bring you Humans the news, but it seems the news arrived before I did." He drifts closer to me. "Isn't it unfair that you know my name, while I don't know yours, ooooo?"

I grit my teeth, but press my lips together so I don't show it. "Michael," I say.

The smoke in Drakness's form seems to billow out a bit. "There are several Michaels throughout Perim. Ooooo, there is one you might be. 'Maliph, Michael, Malvadine.'"

I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. "I didn't know Underworlders followed Mipedian memes."

"Ooooo!" Drakness looks quite pleased with himself. "I've stumbled across a celebrity!"

"Oh dear God," I mutter under my breath. Then aloud I say, "Well, what are you still hanging around here for?"

"There's more to it than you Humans know," Drakness shivers. "You see, legally, all of you are now my lord Chaor's subjects. Ooooo."

A jolt shoots through the crowd, and everyone starts whispering. My hand drifts down to the whip tied to my belt. "I don't think we are. We live in Al Mipedim. You live in Underworld City. There's quite a distance between here and there."

"Queen Lilth is the ruler of the Humans," Drakness laughs. "Her union with King Chaor binds our tribes together, ooooo, the Underworld with the Human, both those living in Underworld City and those dwelling away."

I slip my whip out of its bindings and flick it. Its end ripples through the air and snaps exactly between Drakness's eyes. The shock wave makes Drakness's form tremble, but the Underworlder itself doesn't flinch.

Drakness rolls its shoulders and flexes its fingers. "I wonder what King Theb-sarr thinks, all these Underworlders in his kingdom. Ooooo." And with that last echoing laugh, the Underworlder's smokey body dissipates and vanishes.

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"I can't believe you scum!" Prince Mudeenu roars as he bursts out of the palace. He looks out at the crowd of Humans in the courtyard, shaking a paper in his hand. "You're requesting to become Mipedians? You want your tribe bound to ours?"

King Theb-sarr appears through the doors and grabs Mudeenu's shoulder. "Mudeenu! Stop!"

Mudeenu spins around and slaps Theb-sarr's hand off. "A whole solan of refusing our rule, and suddenly they wish to be Mipedians!"

"Because they don't wish to be Underworlders, Mudeenu!" Theb-sarr roars. "Would you rather a thousand of those in Al Mipedim?!"

Mudeenu roars back, "If Chaor wants the Humans that badly, why don't they scurry off to him?"

Theb-sarr hand moves too fast to see, wrapping around Mudeenu's neck and lifting him into the air. The Mipedian King bellows, "Prince Mudeenu, born son of Prince Kahad-sarr! Do not make me regret taking you in after the death of my brother!"

With the same motion that a Human would make to lightly toss a ball, Theb-sarr flings Mudeenu into the air and over the stairs. Mudeenu tumbles to the ground at the bottom of the stairs, then scrambles to his feet.

Theb-sarr slams his feet as he descends the stairs. "Your xenophobia, your prejudices, your hatred of everything that disagrees with you! You will ruin us, Mudeenu!"

"I-" Mudeenu begins, but he stops when Theb-sarr raises his hand.

Theb-sarr looks out at the crowd of Humans. "I understand your concern," he says. "I want to help you. Chaor has limited my options, though. Simply choosing a ruler for yourselves could be seen as an attempt to break away."

Nobody in the crowd speaks, but they don't need to. King Theb-sarr is doing all talking right now.

Theb-sarr turns and ascends the stairs. "I will not choose your leader for you. You will choose your leader for yourselves, and then I will take the steps needed to ensure the Underworld doesn't retaliate against you." At the top of the stairs, he turns to face us. "Time is against you, against all of us. You have five days to choose a ruler, someone to be adopted into Mipedian royalty. Choose well."

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Up next: The Search Begins

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Like I said before, Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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