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

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Act VII: Departure

The Last Foe

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My name is Osiris. My name is also Michael. I am known as the man who defeated all of his foes, eventually if not immediately.

I have a new foe, now. One that I have no hope of defeating. No sword, no spell, no twist of fate will come to my aid now.

My foe is Time.

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"Happy Birthday, Father!" Hera declares cheerful outside my bedroom door, waking me up.

Heh. If it wasn't for my wonderful family, my birthday would have come and gone without me ever noticing it. Hera, though, is absolutely incredible with tracking the passing of days, so of course she would be the first to remind me.

I smile and roll over, moving to put my arm around Isis, but my wife isn't beside me. I sit up and pull off the cover from my eyes. Bright light from the windows makes me reflexively pull the cover back down. Ah, of course. It's probably been morning for a while.

A knock at the door. "Father? Good morning!" Hera again.

I remove my eye-cover again. "I'm up, I'm up," I sigh, swinging my legs off the bed and setting them on the floor. I stand up carefully, grab my robe, and put it on as I go to the door. I pull it open.

...I honestly should not be surprised.

A table is sitting outside my door. Behind the table stands my wife and our two children. On the table is a large round cake, decorated with far too many candles to be safe, all of them lit.

I stare at the cake for a while, then glance at my family. "Wow," I breathe. I'm going to have to ask how they made it.

Jupiter lets out a deep chuckle. "We were going to set up inside the room, but the cake wouldn't fit through the door."

Isis grins. "Well, go on! Blow them out!"

I stare at the layer of fire above the cake. "I'm not sure I can," I say, barely holding back laughter. Ah well, might as well try.

...Nope. These candles are not going out. "Alright, guys," I gasp after a few unsuccessful attempts. "I'm going to need some help here."

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One hundred seventy-nine small, half-melted candles. Danian-made, high quality. I can't bear to throw them away, so I'm cleaning off each one as best as I can as they're plucked from the cake.

The top of said cake is now covered in melted candle wax. With all the candles removed, it's being taken back to the kitchens to have the ruined top half-inch or so removed and be decorated for the actual party.

I suck a bit of cake off the bottom of one of the candles. "Mmm." A flavor almost like lemon, if I'm remembering the taste of lemon correctly.

My son elbows me and playfully scolds, "Hey, you're supposed to wait."

Jupiter's helping me out with the candles while Isis and Hera go on some kind of "secret mission". You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but he's quite good at handling small thing like these candles.

I chuckle to myself as I remember how Jupiter used to be. "What happened to you?" I tease as I nudge Jupiter back. "You used to be so tiny!"

"I grew up," Jupiter laughs as he pats me on the head. "You always knew I would."

"I didn't expect you to turn into a twelve-foot monster," I cackle.

Jupiter really did grow up fast. At forty solans, he suddenly became a beast, becoming as tall as the average adult Mipedian with solans still left in his growth spurt. He now towers over even Maliph. For a while there were rumors that Chaor was his actual biological father before everyone realized how stupid the idea was.

Jupiter laughs and pelts me with a couple candles. "And I didn't expect you to turn into a midget."

"I'm not a midget," I protest. And it's true, I haven't gotten any shorter. Jupiter just loves that joke.

Isis's voice floats into the room. "Are you two behaving?"

"Yes, honey," I reply.

Isis is holding something wrapped in white cloth. "From me," she says as she holds it out.

I stand up, wipe my fingers on the hem of my robe, and take it. "Thanks." I unwrap the package.

It's a circular mirror. Painted glass? No, it's polished silver. Its frame is finely carved wood, with words carved in saying, "The Most Handsome of Them All."

"Oh, this is precious," I chuckle as I look up. "You get the idea from Snow White?"

Isis laughs. "Sadly I don't have any actual magic mirrors for you."

"This'll do," I grin. I hold the mirror at arm's length so that my aged face is framed in its reflection. In a dramatic voice I call out, "Mirror, mirror, in my hand, who's most handsome in all the land?" Then, in a deep voice, I say, "Are you blind, you fool so lame? It's written right around my frame!"

Jupiter cracks up, his deep booming voice filling the room. "Great Kings, Dad, that was awful."

Isis wraps her arms around me. "Leave the fairy tale villain speeches for the fairy tale villains, hm?" She kisses me on the lips. "Come on, let's get you dressed. Jupiter can finish with the candles, and the city doesn't stop just because it's your birthday."

"I think I'll call in sick today," I joke before kissing Isis back. "His Majesty Iflar can handle one day's extra work, ri-?"

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"Michael! Michael!"

"Dad!"

I open my eyes. I'm lying on the ground, and my heart is pounding. Isis is on her knees, shaking me. She looks terrified. Above her towers Jupiter, a look of shock on his face.

"Michael," Isis gasps. She's holding back tears. "Are you alright? What happened?"

I'm fine, and I'm not fine. Everything is happening how it was eventually going to happen.

"I'm okay," I say as I sit up.

Isis puts her hand over her heart and gasps for air. "I was so scared... I thought..."

"Still alive," I grunt as I push myself to my feet. "Still breathing." I stagger over to the bed and lie down. "I need a moment."

A stroke? A seizure? I'm not sure.

I think to myself, How long until my alarm rings on Earth? I've been in Perim so long, it had slipped my mind. Dreams end, eventually...

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Up next: The Advance of Time

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Sorry about the long wait, everyone.