Distance

Anomaly walks through the portal at the entrance of the chaos realm. Immediately, a strong wave of disjointed visions plagued her mind. Memories of her past. Even memories that weren't hers. The visions began to distort the minds of the souls inside of Anomaly. She could feel them trying to pull away as they experienced anguish unlike anything they'd experienced before. With her hand over her left breast, she inhaled and held her breath. As her chest glowed white, she released her breath. Slowly, the visions vanished and the souls within her began to rest.

"That wasn't an ordinary defense system," she said. Taking several steps towards Havik's spire, she senses that she might be in danger. She moves aside to dodge whatever was coming her way. She anticipated correctly as Havik darted towards the woman head-first like a human projectile. The man slipped his mace from the sleeve of his right hand and slams the weapon into the woman's chest. The impact takes a large chunk out of her body. Her souls quickly work to repair her damaged body before she prepares to face the man. Havik's body immediately bounces against one of the tombs behind the woman and darts back in her direction. More prepared this time, Anomaly quick avoids his second swing. Immediate, the lifts her foot in the air, powering it with a ring of fire. As she slams her foot atop of Havik's head, the man was immediately slammed into the ground. Fire erupted from beneath Anomaly's foot as she pressed down on the man's skull. A look of shock took over her face as the man slowly lifted his head from the ground. With a quick swing, he was able to detach Anomaly's other leg from her body, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Get that stench out of my realm!" Havik shouts before raising his mace and bashing it against Anomaly's head. As the girl lied in a pool of her blood, the cleric rose up from the ground. He pats her body down in search of the Seidan Kamidogu in her possession. Feeling the object near her breast, he attempts to reach into her shirt. However, he is immediately stopped as she grabs his arm. Her injuries are slowly repaired while she rises up and tosses his hand away. Her hands instinctively hover around one another before conjuring a ball of fire. She forces her palms into the cleric's chest, and a fiery explosion knocks him back a distance. As she fully heals, the girl dusts off her clothes. In the distance, Havik laughs with excitement.

"I didn't expect you to track me down this fast," Anomaly commented as she took time to catch her breath.

"That dreaded Kamidogu's power sticks out like a revived corpse," he says.

"I am a revived corpse," she says.

"Or a reflection of one," Havik responds. Anomaly smiles.

"Not anymore," she confirms. "Eva is dead. Eunomia is dead. And thanks to Princess Kitana, Abacus is dead—or at least, that's what the visions foretold me."

"The power to fabricate the truth," Havik says as he sits up.

"Order won't allow my projection to roam these realms so freely," Anomaly explained. "So it brought me back to life in this world. If not for Seido's seclusion, my plan would've never worked. And now, I must do the same for all of my projections. Which is why I need the Kamidogu of Chaos in my possession. Will you be willing to hand it over, if only for a mere moment, as a reward for bringing chaos to the realm of order?"

"You could never survive the effects of this realm's kamidogu," Havik claimed. "Not even I am capable of using the relic."

"What do you—" Anomaly caught a glimpse at the cleric's hip. He was wearing the Dragon Medallion, only given to a select few Earthrealmers.

"Where did you get that medallion?" she asked.

"Oh this?" Havik clutched the medallion. "It was a gift from an Earthrealm boy," he said. Anomaly turned from the man violently scratching her head.

"How did I not see this?" she questioned. "We both share our visions. So why did I not see this happening?"

"The boy came here chasing after Eris. And he's not alone," Havik confirmed.

"Cassandra Cage is with him," Anomaly guessed. "They survived this?"

"Neither of them are here right now. Chan has decided to join Eris in her trial. Cassie is elsewhere as she waits for them to return."

"What trial?" Anomaly questioned.

"They are trapped in the unknown. The nature of the trial is...confidential. However, if you wish to kill Eris, that would be rather...difficult."

"You're an agent of chaos. Wouldn't it be better to let us decide our fates through combat?"

"You seek to ruin the trial, don't you?" Havik asked smiling.

"Would you do that?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Havik laughed. "But wouldn't this affect your plans of getting the Chaos Realm Kamidogu? If she were to fail, she would be trapped in the Nowhere for all of eternity. And along with her, our Kamidogu."

"Would Chan be trapped too?" she asked.

"No," he responded sternly. "He will be allowed to leave at any time." Anomaly's devilish grin seemed to draw the man's intrigue.

"I knew it," Anomaly said. "Tamper with the trial." Havik roars in laughter to the point of violently coughing.

"As you wish, Aisa. After all, doing so would throw everyone's lives into a loop. Is this not true chaos?"

End of Chapter 24

I don't have much of an author's note this chapter. However, I would like to use this time to inform you all of two things. First, I will be dropping a story in Lost Files: Mortal Kombat on Friday titled "Nights into DreamRealm." Be sure to look out for that. The second thing is that I finally have my own author website up. The "link" to the site is in my profile. That's all for this week. Expect the final two chapters of this arc to be released on next week, Tuesday and Friday respectively.

(Upcoming—Devils)