A Legend Chapter Six
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Illusion by VNV Nation
Chaor is a very proud Creature. He has usurped Gothos and has prevented his own usurpation on multiple occasions from the foolish Van Bloot. He has fought Aa'une alongside his nemesis to save Perim. He has retaken his throne and UnderWorld City from the treacherous Van Bloot. No ruler has done this much for UnderWorld City since the founder. He has a right to be prideful and drink to his heart's content tonight. He hasn't had a drink in his private chambers since retaking the city.
The goblet he is drinking out of is one of his favorites. The goblet is red like dried blood and shaped like a heart with its walls pulled back like a blooming OverWorld flower. Legend states that the goblet was carved from the heart of an UnderWorld Queen when she tried to have her own son killed. The son was clever and found out about her planned filicide ahead of time. He took his dagger and cut out her heart that he later used to make the goblet. Chaor has always liked tales about patricide. And the goblet happens to be a wonderful weapon in its own right.
"I know it's hard to tell
How mixed up you feel,
Hoping what you need
Is behind every door.
Each time you get hurt,
I don't want you to change
Cause everyone has hopes.
You are human after all."
Chaor does not shatter the goblet in his hand; it is his favorite after all. The singing is coming from below his floor. It's coming from the abandon, secret apartment. The secret apartment was used when an UnderWorld King had a mistress (most likely a slave) that he wished to keep secret from his very jealous Queen. The only way to reach the apartment is to push a certain, heart-shaped stone in the wall that reveals a secret stairwell. Chaor hasn't been down there since he first became the ruler of the UnderWorld and never had any need for the room.
"The feeling sometimes
Wishing you were someone else.
Feeling as though,
You never belong.
This feeling is not sadness.
This feeling is not joy.
I truly understand.
Please, don't cry now."
If the song has any truth in it, then there is a human in the secret apartment. A foolish human that believed he could sneak around through his castle. Chaor downs the last of his spicy wine from his goblet and pushes the heart-shaped stone. The granite wall pulls to the side to reveal the secret stairwell. He descends down the stairwell with his goblet in hand; he has never had the chance to kill a human with his favorite goblet until now.
"Please, don't go.
I want you to stay.
I'm begging you, please,
Please don't leave here.
I don't want you to hate
For all the hurt that you feel.
The world is just illusion,
Trying to change you."
The stairwell's steps are made of an ancient, white metal that became tarnished into black after centuries of being exposed to the elements. In the metal are twinkles in the steps that provide adequate light for Chaor; although, he is very adept in finding his way through darkness. The stairwell spirals like a vacuum filled with stars.
"Being like you are,
Well, this is something else.
Who would comprehend?
But some that do lay claim
Divine purpose blesses them.
That's not what I believe
And it doesn't matter anyway."
The human's voice has tremors as though he's bursting with mini-epiphanies and world-weary sighs. Or maybe the human can hear the UnderWorld Lord coming for him. Chaor knows that Kaz has a wonderful penchant for bragging about how strong and frightening he is to the other humans. Perhaps, this human thought he could get a scan by luring Chaor down here. All the human will get is his death wish granted.
"A part of your soul
Ties you to the next world,
Or maybe to the last,
But I'm still not sure.
But what I do know
Is to us
The world is different
As we are to the world.
I guess you would know that."
Chaor makes it to the secret apartment. The ill-kept, rusted door has been left wide open. Chaor enters the room with a tight grip on his goblet. The room is cluttered with cobwebs and dust has buried the stone furniture of the living room. There are glowing rubies embedded on the walls to give the room light since the chandeliers have long ago ran out of candles. The human's voice is coming from the bedroom.
"Please, don't go.
I want you to stay.
I'm begging you, please,
Please don't leave here.
I don't want you to hate
For all the hurt that you feel.
The world is just illusion,
Trying to change you."
The bedroom is filled with glowing rubies, bathing the room in a passionate, bloody red light. The canopy bed's curtains have been eaten away by time to reveal the skeletal, broken ribs of a once gilded bed. The ancient mirror of gold is nothing more than grime smeared on a foggy surface. This room would be appropriate to house a corpse now.
"Please, don't go.
I want you to stay.
I'm begging you, please,
Oh, please don't leave here.
I don't want you to change
For all the hurt that you feel.
This world is just illusion,
Always trying to change you."
The human is carving through the rust-covered walls with one of Ulmar's styluses. He can see that the human is wearing a dark "jacket" over a fungus-green sweater with OverWorld blue pants and black boots. The human's hair is the exact shade of Kaz's even with his golden "highlights", but Kaz's hair is worn up and shows off his misshapen ears. This human's hair is down and hiding his ears. This human could be Kaz who disguised himself for some reason.
"Please, don't go.
I want you to stay.
I'm begging you, please,
Please don't leave here.
I don't want you to hate
For all the hurt that you feel.
The world is just illusion,
Trying to change you."
But Kaz can't sing. His voice is too haphazardly meek to be able to project himself like this. This human's voice is free from ego and self-consciousness that plagues Kaz. He needs to see the human's face. For all he knows, this human was Kaz probably drunk off some human concoction, or maybe under a trance.
"Please, don't go.
I want you to stay.
I'm begging you, please,
Oh, please don't leave here.
I don't want you to change
For all the hurt that you feel.
This world is just illusion,
Always trying to change you."
When Chaor grasps the human's boney shoulders, he catches a whiff of Thanatos blossoms. Thanatos blossoms are UnderWorld flowers that only appear around burial places and have long been associated with death. Thanatos blossoms have twisted, blacken stems that wrap around a corpse's body; the petals are maroon in color and shaped like butterfly wings. The flower smells like smelted copper and sweet brimstone. In other words, the human smells like a funeral.
The human writes one last thing before Chaor decides to turn him over to face him. The human's face is oddly shaped almost like one side has more flesh than the other. His eyes are brown just like Kaz's, but they appear bigger than Kaz's and more self-assured. His mouth is thin and expressionless. His eyebrows are strangely arched like Kaz's, but, like the mouth, doesn't give a hint to his emotions. This human is as apathetic as a corpse.
The human raises his left hand, after letting Ulmar's stylus hit the floor, and touches Chaor's neck. The human was probably trying to touch his cheek but couldn't because of his short height. The human's hand is warm, too warm to be the hand of a corpse. Kaz would never be this bold; he flinches too easily at being touched and at touching others. Who is this human that looks so much like Kazzy?
Then, the human vanishes in a swirl of blue code. He has ported out. Chaor smashes his favorite goblet into the wall that the human was preoccupied with. He destroys some of the human's words, lyrics of his song, but his last words are intact in thick letters:
Night Six- Vicious Pegasus
When he sees Kaz again, Chaor will ask him about this human. He pulls out his goblet from the wall and notices a crack through the goblet. He is reminded of the human's face and thinks of Thanatos blossoms for the rest of the night.
Author's Comments- I have always imagined Chaor to be the type to like gory tales of patricide. It could be because he was abandon, or betrayed by his own parents, or because he didn't have any. Or it's something else entirely. I don't know. I still haven't worked out the kinks of his past. Also, Chaor doesn't seem the type to have many lovers, unlike his ancestor Kiru who I always imagined to be sexually promiscuous, because that would require trust. Trust that they won't try to poison him or kill him while having sex. Chaor's general policy is to not trust anyone, so he doesn't have many lovers, which is why he never bothered to refurbish the secret apartment. He's the type to stew over some battle plan while drinking some hard wine.
Anyways, back to the story, I've never seen Kaz touch Chaor. I've seen Chaor touching Kaz, but Kaz is usually shaking in his hiking boots. I don't think Kaz is the touchy-feely kind, especially when it comes to nine-foot gargoyles that can burn you alive if you so much annoy him. However, Vicious isn't like Kaz. He is Kaz's antithesis in a sense. He'll touch Chaor without flinching, almost declaring that he acknowledges Chaor for being something more than the fierce UnderWorld Lord. The song, to me, is Vicious voices his feelings for Chaor. You can take it as platonic or romantic because I feel like the song could go either way. I ship Kaz and Chaor, although I prefer it when Kaz is like a decade older and has some experience in life, and it's because of the fanfics about it that I got into the show. However, this night could be platonic or romantic for the purposes of this story. Or both.