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

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The Way the Sky Shatters

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I don't ask anyone for help searching for Isis. Maybe I should, but I just want to do this by myself. I don't even have that small army of servants that seem to follow me everywhere. I'd said aloud that I wanted Isis and my conversation to be just between us.

I don't even know what I'm going to say, and the length of time I've spent searching hasn't given me an opportunity to think of anything. I can't find her. She's not in the palace, not in the courtyard, nowhere I'm expecting her to be.

"Are you looking for Princess Isis?" a voice says.

I turn. It's Maliph. How long has it been since we've last spoken? "Yes," I say.

Maliph gives his head a small jerk, towards the walls. "She's been spending all day up there, just walking."

"Thanks," I mutter as I head for a tower in the wall.

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There she is. Slowly walking, staring at the sky. Her hands are resting on her stomach with her fingers interlaced.

I take a step towards her. I can already feel my blood boiling.

Before I can say anything, Isis speaks, "Do you know the old Mipedian myth for why it never rains in the desert?"

"I don't want to talk about myths and stories right now," I grunt. Seriously! Can't she tell how pissed I am?

Isis turns her head to look at me. "No, you don't. You don't want to talk to me. You don't want to listen to me." She turns and advances towards me. "You don't want to touch me, to hold me..." She grabs my hand and places it on her stomach. I feel a bump from inside her. "Do you even care, Prince Osiris?"

...Isis never called me Osiris. She knows I don't like the name. I pull my hand away. "Well, I'm talking to you now. Happy?"

"No!" Isis suddenly shrieks. "I wanted to talk to you a long time ago! Every time I get close to you, you put a wall up between us!"

Yes, I had been doing that... but this isn't about that!

Isis holds her stomach. "Do you know how many times I tried to tell you we were going to have a baby?"

"What do you mean 'we'," I snap, my fists clenched and shaking. "Don't you mean you? You and whatever palace servant you've had an affair with for who knows how long now?"

"What affair?" Isis shouts.

"I saw you!" I scream. It takes every ounce of control I have not to grab and shake her. "I saw you screwing with another man! At the beginning of my forty-eighth solan!" I can feel my pulse in my neck, sweat on my palms. My body is trembling, my cheeks stretched taut. My mouth is dry, and my teeth grind together.

"That was a harem-servant!" Isis shrieks and clutches her head. "I needed to bear an heir!"

"A... what?" Did I hear that correctly?

Isis grits her teeth and glares at me. "Do you think you're the first non-Mipedian to marry into the royal family? You're not." She lets out a strangled cry. "Do you think the line just ends when that happens?"

I stammer, "S-so, that servant... He was basically a sperm donor?"

"Is that what you Humans call it?" Isis shrieks. "Yes! My 'affair' stopped the day I was sure I was pregnant! I tried to tell you, Osiris!" She grabs my shoulders and screams, "I was trying to tell you! We were supposed to be happy!"

...I'm the world's most vile monster. I didn't even try to understand. I feel my body sag, the rage and fury fueling it draining away. I feel heavy. I feel ill.

Isis releases my shoulders and stumbles backwards. Her back hits the wall, and she slides down it. She folds her arms on top of her knees, rests her face against her arms, and sobs.

A drop of rain splashes between us. Any other circumstance, that would have been the most exciting thing ever. Now, I barely even notice it.

"Isis," I mutter. I don't know whether to move away, to give her space, or to approach and comfort her. I'm paralyzed between the options, standing dead still.

Isis's fingers dig into her legs, and her shoulders shake.

...Michael, you have done this woman so much harm through your unwillingness to act. There she is, crying, because of you. Fix it. Now.

I take a step forward. "Isis, I'm so sorry..."

Isis doesn't react, she continues to cry.

There are more raindrops. The sky is getting dark. I walk up to Isis and kneel in front of her. "I've been such a horrible person. A horrible husband. I tried to use my own logic on all of this. Earth's logic. I didn't take the time to see how everything works here, in Perim. In Al Mipedim."

There are now sheets of rain coming down. Somewhere on the ground I can hear shouts of joy. There are so many dark, angry clouds in the sky that they blot the sun out. I can barely see.

I sit down beside Isis. "I swear, ask me anything. Tell me to do anything, and I'll do it. Whatever you want."

Isis's voice is laced with venom as she speaks. "Die in a ditch, Osiris." A flash of lightning illuminates the sky as she says this, and there is so much fury there...

I don't hear the thunder.

Die in a ditch.

...Maybe I should.

Next life, I'll end up in Chaor's throne room again. I can simply do nothing and let him burn me to death. After that, Kiru City. That will be easy, all I have to do is fall. Then Mount Pillar, and provoking Odu-Bathax.

Then I can start over in Al Mipedim. I can do things right, then. I can stage an intervention for Sett long before I did this time. I can campaign to be the Human tribe's representative in the royal family long before Chaor forces Theb-sarr's hand. And I can be there for Isis when she needs me.

I look at the wall separating me from the long drop to the ground outside Al Mipedim. I stand up and start to climb over.

A hand grabs my ankle. "What are you doing?" Isis call out.

I look down. The anger in her face has vanished. I quietly say, "Finding a ditch."

Isis's eyes widen. "It just came out of my mouth!" she shouts with a panicky voice. "I didn't mean it!"

...What do I do now? Do I die? Start over? Make sure she doesn't ever experience the pain I put her through? Or do I stay? Try to piece together Isis's shattered heart?

Both of Isis's hands are grabbing my ankle now. "Osiris, no! Don't do it! I'm sorry!"

I look down at her. "Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong."

Isis latches on my leg. Her arms press down, smashing muscle against bone. Pain shoots through my body. Isis screeches, "Stop it! Stop it stop it stop it! MICHAEL!"

The sky shatters with a crack of lightning and a roar of thunder. The rain is pouring down, and the thirsty desert is drinking it up. And all that pales compared to the sound of Isis's voice, to the look on her face.

...No. I will not be a coward. If I die, then I will do my best in my next life to make sure I never hurt Isis again, but I will not be the one who ends this life!

Isis's arms slip off my leg, and she screams.

I drop to the ground and kneel beside Isis. "What? What's wrong?"

"The baby!" Isis wails as she holds her stomach.

Oh, crap. "Right, okay, um, let's get you down from here and inside."

Isis screams again. "N-no, I can't move! The baby's coming!" The wind is picking up, and I can barely hear her.

"I'm going to get you a doctor or someone!" I shout. "Hold onto me!"

"Michael!" Isis shrieks. "The baby's coming now!"

...I can't leave Isis alone. Even for a minute. Gah! Why did I send the servants away! I could have sent one of them for help!

"Alright, um..." I move so I'm by Isis's feet. "Okay, can you lift up your dress?"

Isis's eyes are clenched shut, and her jaws are clamped together, but she's able to bunch her dress up. I spread her legs and take a look. Arg, I don't know what I'm doing! Isn't boiling water needed or something?

"Augh!" Isis screams.

"Deep breaths!" I shout "Take deep breaths!"

Isis tries to obey, but something makes her scream again. Blood comes out of her body, and the rain quickly washes it away.

I feel my heart racing. "Okay, uh... Can you push?"

Isis clamps her jaws shut again. I can see the tension in her body. Her hands clench into fists. She screams through her teeth, and I see something... I see feet.

Feet? Crap crap CRAP! "It's coming out backwards!" How do I solve this? How do I solve this?!

"Did you just call our baby 'it'?!" Isis shrieks.

"Sorry!" I shout. "Push!"

Minutes pass. Isis struggles, and I offer encouragement. My nerves are fried. The rain just comes down harder, and the wind blows faster, and the sky is aglow with lightning. Isis screams and pushes, and I try to help as best I can. Raindrops hit my skin like bullets.

...And then it's over. The baby's head finally comes out. I'm holding her in my arms. The rain is washing the blood from the birth away. "A girl," I say. "We have a baby girl."

Isis gasps for breath. "Let me... see her..."

I move next to Isis and show her. It's dark, so we can't see clearly. Isis's face breaks out into a warm smile anyway. "...Hello there..." she breathes.

The baby opens her mouth, and she wails. It's such a soft sound.

Isis looks up at the sky. "...Take her..." she mutters. "Take her inside..."

I look up as well. "The rain..." I look at Isis. "Can you stand?"

Isis places her hands on the ground and tries to life herself up. She struggles for a moment, then collapses. "No," she gasps. "It hurts too much..."

A voice in the distance shouts, "I see them! Princess Isis! Prince Osiris! Can you hear me!"

"Yes!" I answer. "Hurry!"

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We're inside. It's warm. It's dry. The rain and wind continue to beat at the walls outside.

Our daughter is in Isis's arms, sucking at her breast. Isis looks exhausted. She looks at me. "You were really going to jump," she says in a low voice.

I don't say anything.

Isis continues to stare. "One day, you will tell me why. Not today, but someday." She looks down at the baby. "Right now, you need a name."

I leaned forward and take a look at our little girl. She has brilliant red scales, just like her mother, except they're brighter, a more pure red. "Rose?" I lamely suggest.

Isis gives me a look. "No daughter of mine will have a flower for a name, even one from Earth." She looks down again, then at the boarded up windows. "...Did the Egyptians have a thunder goddess?"

I shrug. "Maybe. I don't know, though. The stories I focused on were about the major deities."

"Any other mythologies?" Isis asks.

"Well," I slowly say, "The Greeks had a god of lighting and thunder, Zeus. A male god, of course."

"Did he have a wife?" Isis persists.

"Hera," I answer, "though according to Greek myth, he slept around a lot. Fathered a lot of half-gods."

Isis chews on her lower lip. "Hera. Hm..." She looks down at the baby girl. "The old Mipedian myth I mentioned earlier, it said that the desert's sky would only give the blessing of rain at the birth of a girl who would be his wife." She grins and laughs. "Of course, it's been a long time since anyone took that seriously. Still, Hera, bride of the thunderstorm..."

"Do you like it?" I ask.

"I do," Isis grins. "Hello, Hera."

The door opens, and King Theb-sarr hurries in. "Isis!" his voice strains.

"Father," Isis replies. "Meet Hera."

Theb-sarr's eyes drift to the tiny child. "Hera?"

Isis looks at me. "In an old story from Earth, Hera was the wife of the thunderstorm."

Theb-sarr looks at me. He looks lost for words.

I stand. "Your Majesty," I say with a bow. "Tomorrow, I would like to spend the day with Isis. I have a lot of catching up to do, many mistakes to make up for. One day won't be enough to do it all in, but it's a start, and I don't want to put it off any more than I already have."

Theb-sarr doesn't smile, doesn't frown. He just looks at me and says, "Osiris, that is your own decision to make."

My eyes meet Isis's. "Well, then I will not leave Isis's side tomorrow."

Theb-sarr fails to suppress a smile. "Very well."

I hear Hera burp. It's the most adorable thing ever.

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Up next: The Smell of Dust After Rain

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Like I said before, Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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