The Celestials called it the Garden of Souls. This was the area where mortal souls resided; it was a field of sparkling light and flitting thought. Here, new souls were born. Older souls returned here from their lives on Earth, where they waited for their next journey, as the lazy whims of Destiny decreed.
New souls came from the Source. This structure was hard to describe, but looked most like a crystalline tree, planted in the very center of the Garden, and on its many branches it occasionally bore souls when more were needed for the Earth's population.
On one occasion, two other Celestials roamed the field around the garden. More specifically, one roamed it, and another rode on her back. The one being ridden did not particularly enjoy this arrangement, but she tolerated it.
"It's so pretty here," Serendipity said dreamily, reclining on her 'mount's' back. She was the rabbit Celestial of Chaos, a capricious, lackadaisical little thing. It was useless to try to describe her fur color, as it was changing all the time, as was the color of her eyes. Her appearance tended to change more than any other Celestial. One thing did remain constant on Serendipity, and that was a little four-point star in each pupil of her eyes. Her ear tips and cheeks looks a bit frayed at the tips, befitting her appearance as a Celestial of Chaos.
"Well, it being 'pretty' is not why we're here," Karma said in a stern, reproving voice. Karma was the canid Celestial of Order, and closely resembled a wolf. Her fur color was of a soft magenta, but her eyes had a more fierce shade of this color. Though the common visible spectrum is a line, many beings understand it as a circle, and magenta is an imaginary color that connects the two ends. Karma was the Celestial of Circles, of things coming back around. To this end she had a large and long tail that could easily wrap around to her muzzle if she so desired.
"Why are we here, then?" Serendipity's voice was almost curious, but she was enchanted by the souls flitting about the Garden. She occasionally changed her colors to match the pale colors of the souls they walked past, though mostly she kept to a whitish color that stood out against Karma's.
"I just wanted to help you appreciate what a marvelous work of Order this Garden is," Karma said in a dutiful voice, approaching the Source and looking up reverently at it. "To be truthful, I tire of how unpredictable and 'random' you can be, Serendipity. You know the universe is tipped in the balance of Order, and this is how it should be."
"Give me a break," Serendipity rolled her eyes, then rolled her body, crawling closer to Karma's head. "You and I both know that every being has some Chaos in it. Even you."
"Please," Karma shook her head. "While that may be true, it's commonly thought that I'm the Celestial closest tuned to Order."
"Aaaaand I'm the Chaosiest Chaos Celestial," Serendipity pushed off Karma's back and started to float around, flying circles around Karma before hanging in midair close to Karma's muzzle. Serendipity didn't like traversing the ground like a "normal" animal, and no one had told her she had to, so she didn't. "What's your point? That I should 'know my place'?"
"That you should appreciate the scope of things," Karma thrust her head at Serendipity and shook it to try to brush the bunny away, but she floated just out of range.
"And here I thought you actually liked me or something," Serendipity smirked, "taking me to a sparkly place like this."
"I do well know how distracted you are by shiny things," Karma huffed in irritation, "but would you pay attention? I have a great deal of pride in this place."
Serendipity faced Karma, but floated backwards, folding her paws. "You know, the way I see it, this place is as Chaotic as it is Orderly."
"How so?" Karma narrowed one eye, walking after Serendipity on all fours. "All the souls come from the Source and always have!"
"Yeah?" Serendipity lowered her eyelids. "What about the 'soul bound' souls? Those that come in pairs or more? If Order truly reigned here, wouldn't all souls be the same? Instead, each one has some little quirky bits that make it unique."
"Just because-" Karma sucked her teeth, "just because there's some variance in how souls are created doesn't mean its Chaotic. There's a process that the Source follows. It's all very well-arranged!"
"Uh huh," Serendipity put on an insufferably smug grin. "And where do those souls come from again?" Serendipity jerked her thumb toward the Source. "The Source?"
"Yes," Karma looked up at the Source.
"Soooo... how does it make 'em?" Serendipity shrugged and shook her head. "Where do the souls come from before they're made at the Source? Does the Source make them?"
"Are you even paying attention!?" Karma growled.
"Hehehe..." Serendipity giggled, floating to and fro smugly as if she'd won a contest. "It sounds to me like the Source creates something from nothing. And that's the most Chaotic thing I can think of!"
Karma's pupils shrank and she looked incensed. "Listen here, Serendipity-"
"Um..." Serendipity's own eyes increased in size too. "Karma? Look behind you."
"That is quite possibly the oldest trick you've ever pulled on me," Karma's eyelids dropped halfway. "The very first one. Do you think I'm going to fall for it again?" When Serendipity's concern didn't waver, Karma sighed in disgust. "Oh fine. If it will please your infantile sense of humor..."
Karma looked behind her and saw the small pale sphere of an unmarked soul floating very close to her.
"Gah!" Karma trotted forward a few paces, but the soul followed her. "Wh-what? A brand new soul? Did the Source-"
"It shouldn't be doing that, should it?" Serendipity pointed at the soul. "I thought new souls only react to Destiny."
"They do!" Karma turned her head to sneer at Serendipity but then shrieked. "Oh no!"
"Oh no what?" Serendipity said, but looked down and found a different new soul floating near her. "Oh, hi!"
"Okay, this is- well, I don't know if it's bad, but it's irregular," Karma began to look anxious. "Clearly I was in error bringing you here." She clenched her teeth. "Of course, of course I was wrong. Of course bringing a Celestial of Chaos to a place such as this would have made something unusual happen! Especially you, of all of them!"
"Oh, so it's my fault," Serendipity said dryly, though it sounded like she didn't care too much.
"No, it's- let's just get out of here!" Karma worriedly started running on all fours toward the edge of the garden. "These confused souls probably won't leave the Garden."
Serendipity floated after Karma, and the two crossed the edge of the Garden of Souls.
Karma looked back, and saw the two souls floating with almost curiosity at the edge of the Garden, though not crossing the demarcation.
"There, see?" Karma smiled, letting out a puff of relief. "Everything is fine and nothing is wrong."
The souls then rather unceremoniously wandered over to Karma and Serendipity again.
"Or not," Serendipity grinned.
"Agh!" Karma shrieked, suddenly running around in circles to try to lose the soul, which followed her in a way that could possibly be described as "merry" if one could attribute feelings to a brand-new soul. "Okay, okay, I will admit I've overstepped my bounds, and this anxiety I'm feeling is due process for my error. I am not above my own code of justice!"
"Ugh, what a fuddy duddy," Serendipity said, reaching out and cuddling the soul following her in her paws. "Hi, soul! We should probably take you somewhere safe. Maybe we should talk to Destiny about this?"
"Oh, right, we should entrust this to Destiny," Karma said sarcastically.
"Well, she is the Celestial in charge of souls," Serendipity cocked her head. "I mean, she's a little lazy, but..."
"No, you're right," Karma sighed. "We've... yeah, we've got to make this correct. Taking them to her, while it may not be the most... expedient solution, is the correct one. Hopefully we can get them away from us so we don't throw this whole operation into disorder..."
"That would be pretty funny, wouldn't it?" Serendipity cast her gaze back to the Garden of Souls. "If all of those free souls over there just started whooshing around beyond the Garden and-"
Karma seemed to panic, making a whine that reflected this, and started running towards Destiny's Domain, which wasn't too far from the Garden of Souls. The soul following her hastened its pace to keep up.
"Wait for me...!" Serendipity droned in a playful, sing-song voice, her own errant soul following her as they flew toward Karma's direction.