Author's Note: The story's really going to pick up soon, just you guys wait. Some of you are close to guessing some of the events about to unfold. Believe me, the shit's going to hit the fan soon. It won't be pretty. Any who, here Chapter 18 is. Enjoy!
World of Advent Chapter Eighteen
"Come in" Chaos growled. "Sanctum."
There was a silence at the other side of the door that seemed to stretch on for hours before the portal separating them slowly creaked open. A girl only slightly shorter than Chaos with bright red hair appeared in the doorway. Her hair covered her face, masking her emotion.
"It's been a while," she said at last.
"About three years, right?" Chaos sat up with some effort. "Or have you forgotten?"
For the longest time, Sanctum did not respond. At last, she lifted her head, brushing strands of her hair out of the way. "I had to."
"You had to." It was a simple statement, devoid of any discernable emotion. "You had to."
"You don't understand," she whispered. "Something changed."
"What?" Chaos asked, violet eyes piercing into the bright green ones of Sanctum's. "What changed? Was there something I did wrong? I think after everything we've been through, I deserve that much." His voice broke towards the end. "Why, Sanctum? Why did you leave us? Why did you leave me?"
"All I ever wanted," Sanctum says, "was to make this world one worth living in. But when I was around you, that changed. I stopped caring about what happened. I forgot about Templar. The growing Maverick threat didn't concern me… as long as I was beside your side. I was beginning to forget everything I stood for in exchange with your hand. I never thought I would love one person more than all the others."
Those words, which would have once swayed the darkest elements in his heart did nothing for Chaos as he listened impassively as the storm raged inside. Only his clenched fists betrayed any sign of emotion.
"Would that have been so bad," Chaos asked. "To have found our own place, together? Was loving me such a painful choice for you to make?" The words were spoken with a bitterness and sorrow unprecedented by anything he had ever felt. The dagger in his heart froze over, chilling him to a degree he did not know he was capable of.
Sanctum flinched, as if she had been struck. "I had no choice," she said defensively. "I couldn't forsake everyone! Not for one person." She sounded as if it were something she had told herself a countless amount of times, as if the one who needed most convincing was herself.
"I would have." Chaos said softly. "I would have left all the world alone, so long as I had you. You were everything to me. You were my will to live. You… you were everything I ever wanted to be. I looked up to you. I admired you. For a time, I even loved you."
"And now?" She sounded afraid to know the answer.
You broke me that day," Chaos spoke with a voice as soft and sweet as the bitterest poison. "Do you know how many days I spent looking at the door, waiting for it to open, to wake up from this nightmare—to see your face above mine, to tell me everything would be all right? I would have done anything for you. I would have died for you." Chaos laughs darkly, elements of chaotic energy breaking the walls to the room. "In a way, I did. Part of me died—that part which could look at the stars and see something beautiful. Now all I have are the scars from looking too long at the sun. The answer is, I don't know. A long time ago, I would have said yes. But that was back when I still had a heart to break."
A savage part of him was glad to see the tear roll down her face. The part he hoped to have left behind still quailed at the thought of her suffering. Part of him wanted to hold her again, and wipe the tear away. But that part, Chaos knew, was long gone. Left behind with a simple note in messy handwriting.
"C-Can we start over?" Sanctum asked. Her hands shook, her voice quavering. "Please?"
Chaos said nothing as he clutched a handwritten message, worn away by the passage of time, but Chaos knew the message by heart. "I'm sorry." Chaos allowed the note to wither away into the void as his chaotic energy seeped into the paper.
Sanctum's voice cracked as she spoke. "I never wanted this."
"What did you want?" Chaos asked, confused and hurt. "What was it that you saw in this wretched place that made you choose them over me? Was I never enough? We could have done it together. And you want to go back to the time when we were everything to each other? After this? What do you want from me?"
"I don't know," she sobbed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too." Chaos surprised himself when he actually meant it. "I want to go back too. I would rather this whole world have burned down, so long as you were in my arms when we burned with it. I was so sure you thought the same. I guess that was my fault, huh? I should have realized how little I really meant to you."
"No," Sanctum gasped. "It's not like that. I loved you – I – I still do. Just give me a chance. I don't want to wake up alone anymore."
"You should have realized that before you left me alone that night," Chaos said, grasping the side of a nearby drawer as he stood up. "Remember what you said that night? 'Would you love me if I were gone?' This is your answer."
Chaos brushed past her, tears of his own streaking down his face. "I'm sorry."
He shut the door behind him, a chapter of his life he could never forget, one that he still wasn't sure he could ever let go.
"Are you alright?" Bass was at the other end of the clearing, an impassive expression on his face.
"No," Chaos admitted. "But I will be." Chaos stumbled across the clearing, where he sat down beside a Slider. "I have to go," Chaos said. "There's someone I have to apologize to."
"Soon, perhaps," Bass said. "But not now. You can barely stand as it is. You need to rest."
So it was that Chaos spent the following weeks both recuperating and retraining with his father. Sanctum had left soon after their confrontation. Chaos knew he would see her again though; she was likely headed where Chaos would be: Area Zero. By now he had worked out a few things. She was acting under Phantom as the current leader of his army, the Zan'ei. She likely knew Mist very well, seeing as how they had acted together when Chaos dared look at the Generals during their brief stint in Neo Arcadia.
None of this mattered to him though. He spent most his time increasing his resistance to chaos energy under the strict tutelage of Bass. They were a hard few weeks, but productive ones. He learned more under Bass than he could ever hope to on his own. Chaos was stronger now; what would have conquered him before he knew he could take on with ease.
When he was finally well enough, Chaos made the trip back to Area Zero. A few mavericks bothered him, but were quickly blown away. It was dark before he arrived, but that didn't deter him. He wanted to see the Advent who brought him back from the brink, the one he regarded as a brother.
Area Zero was mostly the same as he left it. A rustic air about the place gave it a quaint feel to it, nevertheless a place of peace and comfort to those inhabiting it. Chaos left his Slider resting beside several others on a rack, locking it up with a chain.
Chaos breathed in the air of the remote village, relishing the various smells and sounds it had to offer. Someone was cooking, tantalizing scents drifting in the air. A reploid was playing on the guitar for a group of small children. Laughter could be heard as children and young Advents played in the streets.
This, Chaos reflected, is a good place. He could understand now why Light decided to stay with Mist and protect it. Distantly, Chaos wondered how the two were doing. They seemed to hit it off pretty well the last he had seen them – too well in his past opinion – but he didn't know where things stood with them now. Chaos set out in the village to see what had happened to the two of them.
It didn't take him long to find out. A few of the villagers were happy to point him in the direction of the "happy couple", as they said. Chaos saw Light do a rather remarkable impersonation of Flare during one of his temper tantrums, Mist laughing as he did so. The two were holding hands, apparently lost in their own world.
For a second, Chaos felt a horrible twist of envy again, but quelled it all the same. He would be happy for his friend; he deserved that much at least.
Mist was the first to sense his presence. She nudged Light, who stopped his impression of Flare mid-way, looking up to see Chaos.
"Hey." Chaos raised a hand in greeting.
"Hey." Light gave his friend an analytical look, one Chaos had seen him do many times, as if assessing the purpose of the visit. "What brings you here?"
Chaos sighed. "Sorry. You were right."
Light raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I am? You sure you're the same Chaos I know?" Light then frowned, apparently guessing as to what had brought on this sudden change in attitude. "What happened?"
"I met her," Chaos said, only a hint of his despair and loneliness creeping into his voice. "You were right. I was jealous."
"You…You met her?" Light asked, flabbergasted. "What did she say? Where? Why now?" Light asked.
Chaos sat down on a bench opposite from Light as Mist excused herself, sensing a particularly touchy subject at hand. "She wanted me to take her back."
"Did you?"
"No." Chaos looked up at the sky, wondering if there existed a world where he and Sanctum were still together. "My father rescued me from a group of mavericks. She found me not long afterwards. Why now? I wish I knew. It's three years too late for that now though."
"Your father rescued you?" Light appeared to be digesting this new revelation slowly. "As in, Bass, the destroyer?"
"The same." Chaos shook his head. "I've been training with him while I recovered. Hopefully that'll be enough to help this place."
"So you're staying?"
"It looks that way." Chaos laughed. He didn't know why he laughed; perhaps the situation was simply too much for him to handle. "It's hard to believe that I would turn Sanctum down. It's hard to believe that I would stop trying to save this world for the sake of one little village. It feels like everything's upside down all of a sudden."
"It's a place worth defending," Light assured his friend. "If only the rest of the world saw things the way people here do."
"But they don't."
"Exactly why we need to be here to defend it," Light said. "It's good to have you back. Do you think Sanctum is still around here?"
"I don't doubt it," Chaos said. "You know that armored friend of Mist's? The one who leads Phantom's armies – that's her."
"What?!" Light blinked in surprise. "She could have told me."
"Believe it or not," Chaos said, "I think she's afraid. She doesn't want you to reject her as well."
"Sanctum, afraid? I never thought I would hear those words together." Light looked contemplative for a second. "No matter what she's done, she's still like a sister to me. I would have liked to speak with her."
"You may have your chance," Chaos said. "So how are things between you and Mist?"
Light grinned. "She's amazing. She's everything I could ever ask in a girl. She's smart and beautiful and…" Chaos smiled as he listened to Light list his girlfriend's virtues.
It wasn't until the sun set that Chaos and Light ended their conversation. Light told Chaos that he'd be staying in the cabin they first rented; Chaos appreciated the gesture, but he figured he'd spend the night in a place less prone to midnight visits from Fairy Leviathan's daughter.
So it was that Chaos strolled the midnight streets of Area Zero, looking for a place to stay. Most options weren't exactly within budget, but someone who pointed him to a small bunk on the outskirts of the village. After a brisk fifteen minute walk, he found himself looking at the bunker. It was surprisingly large for what was described. Inside, it came with everything promised. Furniture, a holovision screen, even a fridge came supplied. What was there not as advertised, however, was the unlikely alliance of both Sanctum and his most chaotic brother, Kai beside the Advent Chaos knew as Harley.
Harley spoke first. "Welcome, Chaos. I was afraid you might not show up; you are remarkably predictable, choosing this bunker above the room your friend has. Light was his name, correct?
"What do you want?" Chaos asked. He allowed his oversol to leak out slowly; any more sudden movements and he'd be caught ina firefight he wasn't quite sure he was prepared for. "What unholy union is this?"
"Just do what he says," Kai said. To Chaos's surprise, a note of hopelessness was in his voice as he spoke. "It's not like any of us here have a choice."
Chaos turned to Sanctum, confused. "Just what hell is going on?"
"Ask him," she said, pointing to Harley. "I've been playing right into his hands when I came to see you. We both have."
"Did father ever tell you," Kai asked, "how he managed to procure so many families?"
"No," Chaos admitted. "Suh a thing would require…"
"Hundreds of donors," Harley said silkily. "Whether or not they knew they would be donating their genes for it or not. Who indeed would accept such a madman as your father for such a momentous task?" The answer was in his smug smile, the way Chaos's muscles froze as he tried to summon an attack.
Something was wrong with him. He couldn't move.
"Yes," Harley said. "My father implanted something in every one of his creations; a little failsafe, if you will. So long as that failsafe runs in your veins, you cannot fight against me. Welcome to the Umbrians, Chaos, son of Bass. Umera is expecting you."
"Sanctum," Chaos said. "Do something. I can't move."
"She can't either," Kai said. "I'm only here so long as I cooperate. I made a mistake in dealing with the Umbrians. I made a deal with the devil – and so did our father."
"Who do you think designed reploid DNA for both Bass and Protoman?" Harley asked. "Umera was all too happy to oblige. But I'm afraid, he left something in your blood. As long as the Umbrian Prime lives, all created under Umera Umbra's supervision are his to command. And the son of Bass and the daughter of Protoman are valuable pieces to collect."
Chaos cursed, willing Chaos into existence, but finding only pain as he attempted to summon his strength. "What do you want? Why here?"
"To make a statement," Harley said. "Soon, this Area Zero of yours will be reduced to Ground Zero. And you are going to help me do so."
"Why?" Sanctum asked. "Why here? This is a peaceful area."
"Neo Arcadia is, at heart, a military zone," Harley said. "In times of peace, its jurisdiction is limited. What better than a little war to strengthen its boundaries?"
"Harpuia rules Arcadia," Chaos said. "What makes you think you have a shot at it?"
"It's simple, really," Harley said, twisting his black hair nonchalantly. "My father is currently in charge of a very special project. The Advent X. Soon, he will rise to power, a puppet for my father to pull the strings behind. All we need is a reason to unveil him. Don't you think the people will be begging for a change of command when they hear that Harpuia let an entire colony disappear overnight?"
"You're a monster." Sanctum spat at Harley, who simply wiped the spit away.
"Be that as it may, you will be seen as the true monsters. After all, you don't expect me to set flame to this precious little village, do you?"
"We'd never join you."
"That's the thing," Harley said. "You won't have a choice. We're doing you a favor, really. It's been fun, having that walking bio-bomb you call a friend spread the Maverick Virus for us, but his usefulness has come to an end. I can't have him spoiling our plan, not after so much preparation. The Advent Zero are the only thing that pose a threat to us. With them gone, no one will oppose the might of the Umbrian army. Their immunity to the virus makes them a… maverick in our destined future, if you will."
Harley smirked as the three of them gave him looks of pure hatred. "Save your energy. You'll need it for the main event." He snapped his fingers, forcing their eyes shut. Soon, despite their efforts, slumber consumed them.