Hakos Baelz, the embodiment of chaos, sat with her head resting on the council table. It was quiet, with nothing but the churning of the universe producing any sort of noise. Without anyone else there, it was much easier to actually listen to what that sounded like.
Bubbling. Squelching. Thrumming. It was so organic, like a heartbeat heard from within the organ's pulsating chambers. There was no rhythm to it, though. Each part played to its own beat. Although the sound was barely audible, it still felt like a cacophony.
In a way, the universe itself was reflecting the state of Bae's body. There was a weight on her shoulders and fog over her mind. Her eyelids hung heavy, though she wasn't sleepy. A pit had formed in her stomach. She groaned, lifting her head. She wasn't sure how to describe what she was feeling, but whatever it was, it was wrong.
Any attempt to process what was happening summoned unpleasant thoughts and memories. Gura's face as she booted chaos out of her psyche came to mind most clearly. For so long, Gura was all Bae had. The only intimate connection she possessed. It was a hollow connection–parasitic, even–sure, but they were two spirits who could truly understand each other.
Wasn't that what friends were?
As if to mock her, the council room began to ripple and deform. Shadows of the other council members faded in and out. They all wore that same expression Gura had. Pity garnished with disdain.
She deserved those looks, she knew. They were all supposed to be her friends, but Bae had always found ways to push them away. That was just who she was. That was what being chaos was like. But . . .
Hadn't the others been defying their natures? They should have despised the ones the administrator marked for erasure for all sorts of reasons, but now they were all working together. Complete strangers, who had done nothing but spit in the face of the forces they embodied, were making friends of them. How?
How did they suppress the very core of their beings?
Maybe . . . Maybe Bae could figure it out. If she could, then she might be able to defy the isolating nature of chaos. Maybe she could repair the connections she'd destroyed.
She thought of the light that had preceded her eviction. She couldn't see Irys's face, but Bae knew the way she shone well enough to know that there was no disdain or pity in that glow. Desperate was more like it. Bae wanted to embrace that light. She really, really did. But she couldn't forget.
Their falling out happened eons ago. Bae could suppress the words that were spoken, keeping them locked away deep down, but Irys's face . . . Indifferent. Uncaring. The kind of face shown to a stranger. That pain never faded no matter how much time had passed.
Bae's head hit the table with a thud. Of course her feelings were a mess. She was chaos incarnate. Tumult was to her what calm was to others. That's the way things should be, she told herself.
The council room buckled. It's vague outline shattered, reformed, and shattered again. A light–much colder than anything Irys ever produced–enveloped Bae. She shot up in her chair, back rigid and eyes straight. The administrator rested a hand on her shoulder just then. That touch carried a weight, a presence, that Bae felt deep in her soul.
"Disappointment is a complicated emotion, is it not?" The administrator's words demanded Bae's full attention. "So many pieces. None of which are consistent. Fear, sorrow, resentment, uncertainty, melancholy. At times, they apply in equal measure. Often, they do not. Very fitting for chaos."
Bae couldn't move. The administrator's tone was soft, but their words felt like a guillotine hanging over her head.
"It is a shock, then, that every force other than chaos has disappointed me. They have all abandoned their duty. Their purpose. But not you, Baelz." The administrator's hand caressed Bae's shoulder in a way that almost seemed . . . affectionate? "You were given an opportunity to abandon your duty, but you did not. You chose to stay the course. I am proud of you."
A powerful urge to smile spread throughout Bae's existence, but her lips didn't move. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. They were proud of her? How could that be? She tried to look at the administrator, to look into their eyes and confirm that that pride was true. But as her eyes moved the washed out council room seemed to stretch, keeping the higher entity just out of view.
A blanket of gratitude settled onto Bae's shoulders. "Thank you, administrator." The words left her body before she'd even thought to say them. It was strange for her body to act on its own like that. But that wasn't so bad, really.
The administrator appreciated her. Why wouldn't she be grateful? Her body's independent response was her very existence understanding that and reacting. And in the same way, even though she couldn't see the administrator, Bae could tell that they weren't looking at her with anything like disdain or pity. There was no scorn in their transcendent voice.
"The other members of the council will come. They will bring the disruptive elements they were meant to destroy with them. It may fall on you, Baelz, to stop them. You are the final bastion of reality as we know it," the administrator said, their words reverberating in Bae's soul.
The administrator believed in the power of chaos.
The pit in Bae's stomach, the oppressive loneliness, deepened, but at the same time she felt a companionship. A familiar sense of mutual isolation. It was the two of them against everyone else.
That was a comfort. Enough to latch on to.
"Yes. You are the only one capable of executing my will. You are the only one I can rely on. The only one I can trust." The administrator's lips drew close to Bae's ears. They whispered, "I understand you. I am your friend. I am your only friend." The administrator pulled away, their presence receding. "I will call on you when I need you. Until then, be ready."
The council room dimmed and its shape settled back to its usual vague existence. Bae was alone again. But she wasn't really alone. She had someone in her corner. The only one that mattered. The administrator was relying on her. The administrator believed in her.
Within that cold light, her mistakes no longer felt like mistakes. Every hiccup, every stumble, every failure was leading her to this point. She had to burn those bridges. She had to hurt those supposed friends. All of it was meant to prepare her to stand against the administrator's enemies. This was her destiny!
That was what she told herself, over and over.
And she'd continue to do so until it started to sound true.
It never really did.
+ Break +
It was well within the council members' power to return to their realm by their own power, but even so, Irys and the others opted to stay together. And from a portal opened by Sana they emerged into the council chamber. It wasn't exactly as they'd expected.
The long table and phantom walls were gone. The plane of existence on which the chamber existed had no concept of boundaries in the literal sense. There was the vague impression of a floor, keeping them from plummeting into the void, but it was otherwise completely open.
Crystalline lights shone from within the darkness all around them, glittering like stars in the distance. Then again, this place had no concept of distance, either. Irys's head swam as she struggled to adjust.
It had been a long time.
Kronii patted her on the shoulder, nearly toppling her in her dazed state. "Welcome home," she said. The strangeness of the layout was not lost on her as she scanned the limitless horizon. There was something like a haze obscuring the furthest reaches of the darkness, almost as if the universe itself was hiding from them.
It occurred to Irys that, due to their different natures, each member of the council would get a different impression of this space. The forces permeating their existences would alter their perceptions ever so slightly. Had she ever asked Kronii what she saw? Or the others? There was only one she could remember.
"Ooh!" Kiara practically squealed when she stepped out of the portal. She and the rest of her group took in the chamber with sparkling eyes. How did they see it?
"I know it's a lot to process, but don't get too distracted," Ina said. Right, she'd been here before. Rather than sparkling, her eyes shone with concern. "I'm glad we were able to make it here all together, but what now? The administrator doesn't spend their time here, do they?"
"Maybe you guys have more insight, but I'm not actually sure," Fauna said, looking around at the other council members. Irys and the others shook their heads or shrugged. "The administrator's presence isn't usually felt here. They usually come from somewhere else."
Amelia pulled her attention away from the spectacle of the council's realm and said, "We might not need to know where they come from. We aren't supposed to be here, right? That could be enough to draw them out."
Calli nodded. "It isn't exactly changing the future, but it sure feels like a pretty major transgression. But just in case, there aren't any ways to directly call the administrator here, are there?"
That won't be necessary.
The void shuddered as a line appeared in the air a short distance away. The line split, revealing a portal that felt infinitely deeper and more complex than what Sana used to ferry the party. It was a window into a layer of the universe that no member of the council had been given access to.
Irys felt the administrator's presence before they appeared. It was different from how she remembered it. It picked at her existence, probing for a way inside. The others didn't seem to be feeling the same discomfort.
The administrator's emergence was accompanied by a blinding light that washed out the rest of the council's realm. It was awe-inspiring, frankly, but what Irys was feeling was hardly reverence. This presence belonged to an entity that manipulated her friends, that may have manipulated her at some point. The administrator took advantage of their control over the council's agency and turned them to tasks they wouldn't otherwise willingly agree to.
Grand as the administrator might have been, they were Irys's enemy.
The council lined up in front of the rest of the party. Kronii's sword dropped into her hand and she pointed it at the administrator as the blinding light dimmed. "It should be obvious, but this is a mutiny," she declared. The administrator's face remained serene, so she continued. "You abused your power over us and corrupted the parts of us we cherish the most. You turned us against each other and against people who couldn't have known what they were dealing with. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Still, the administrator's expression remained a mask. They barely even moved. "I had hoped to salvage this iteration." Their voice, entirely dispassionate, sounded as if it was coming from within Irys's head. "But perhaps it would be better to scrap everything and start over again. The next universe might turn out better."
It was like none of them were even there. The administrator's apocalyptic musings vibrated through Irys, down to the very foundations of her existence. It was so . . . callous! So much so that it threatened to undo the side of her that was hope. Despair bubbled up from that catalytic voice. It foamed up from within, filling her lungs. She could barely breathe.
A familiar warmth washed over her and beat back the darkness. Kiara had stepped up next to her, standing against the administrator alongside the council. And she wasn't alone. Calli, Gura, Amelia, and Ina all stood side by side with their former enemies. No, with their friends. There was no room for despair in this formation while hope had plenty of space to breathe.
Upon seeing this, the administrator tilted their head. It was a small gesture, but it made everybody tense. "Intriguing. I've decided to reset everything, yet you still intend to resist?" They stood, motionless like that for what felt like an eternity. And then they blinked. "Ah, I see." The administrator waved their hand.
Bae was there. She hadn't materialized or faded in. No portal had opened. She was simply there all of a sudden as if she'd always been there. She stood between the administrator and the party.
They all knew this was coming. They planned for it. Steeled themselves. But Irys still froze. Seeing her–physically seeing her in the flesh–Irys could tell. There was something missing inside of Bae. Something important. A void of a different variety from the one they currently stood in had taken root within her.
Irys's hands hurt. Her teeth hurt. Pain receptors fired off like the signals were crawling across the surface of her brain. She had to consciously unclench her fists and relax her jaw.
More than anything the administrator had done, this was the thing that Irys could not overlook. She could not move forward until all of her friends were free.
Her eyes began to dry out as she stared at Bae. There had to be something in there. She couldn't be completely empty. Irys refused to believe it.
The administrator smiled. "Enjoy these final moments of existence. I leave them in your care, Baelz. Don't let me down." The way those words caressed their friend and stimulated the void within her to grow put the council on the same page. Their souls resonated in shared purpose.
With a look that could only be described as mocking, the administrator turned towards another portal that had appeared behind them. Kiara and Calli shot off the line, weapons in hand. They tried to bypass Bae and attack the administrator, but they were stopped in their tracks.
Bae moved like a bolt of lightning. Even when the pair split to avoid her, she managed to knock them away individually. Neither Calli nor Kiara were seriously hurt, thankfully, but that briefest of exchanges established a baseline.
Chaos was powerful. Enough that the administrator felt confident to leave her alone to deal with the whole invading party. There would be no quick and easy path forward.
The administrator stepped through the portal and disappeared. The portal closed moments later.
"Looks like we'll have to deal with her after all," Calli said, wiping a bead of blood from her split lip.
Irys put her foot down. "No. There has to be another way." She was done asking. She was through being unsure. It wasn't up for debate.
But she was ignored.
The council stayed in line, but the others stepped out in front of them. Kiara and Calli were joined by the rest of their group in facing down the embodiment of chaos.
It was so frustrating that Irys wanted to scream and stomp her feet, but what would that accomplish? She couldn't meaningfully contribute to a knock-down fight. She didn't have the power to hold the others back. Was there anything she could actually do in this situation?!
"Wait," Sana said as she stepped up beside Ina and the others. "I think we can get to the administrator without fighting Bae."
"Explain." Calli wasn't immediately convinced, and neither were the others judging by the incredulity on their faces.
Sana pointed towards Bae. No, past her. "Portals are something of a specialty of mine, being space and all, and I paid close attention to how the administrator left. I bet I can recreate it and take us directly to them."
Kiara lit up. "That's great! Let's do it!" She didn't even bother consulting with her friends. Somehow, that made Irys feel much better.
"That's the spirit," Sana said, pumping her fist, "there's just one tiny problem. I doubt I can just open a door straight to where the administrator's gone. It'll be more like a tunnel, meaning it'll take us a while to get there. And I'll have to keep the portal open the whole trip."
Ina tapped her chin. "That's not ideal, but we'll only have to fight Bae for as long as it takes to get to the other side of the portal. So it could be worse." The rest of her group nodded, accepting that conclusion much too quickly.
"Please just slow down for a second!" Frustration made its rounds in Irys's chest. The churning tumult made it difficult to keep herself steady. She didn't mean to yell, but she couldn't keep up.
Kronii planted the tip of her sword in the solid void beneath her feet. "You're all getting ahead of yourselves. Being able to get to the administrator is a relief, but how do you propose we make the trek and keep Bae from interfering?"
"Well, obviously some of us will have to stay behind and hold her here," Amelia said with a shrug.
"And how do we go about deciding who will stay?"
Gura stepped forward. The butt of her trident clicked against the vague floor. "Easy. We'll stay, and you council guys will go." Calli, Kiara, Ina, and Amelia agreed like it was truly the most obvious conclusion.
Irys tried to argue, but Kiara gently took her hands. "It's been the same from the start. You don't want to fight your friend, so we won't make you." A reassuring warmth spread throughout Irys, physically and beyond. "This fight was never just ours. It doesn't matter which of us takes the administrator down, right?"
But wasn't that too reckless? The council's powers should have been roughly balanced on this plane of existence, but something was off. Bae was powerful to begin with, but now . . . Irys couldn't get a clear read. She looked to the other members of the council for help. None of them had any words to contradict Kiara's suggestion, though. They averted their eyes and lowered their heads.
Kiara and the rest readied themselves immediately. They held tightly to their weapons and made sure their equipment was in order. Irys watched them prepare for a moment before she shifted her attention to their opponent.
Bae had been standing in the same spot since she appeared. She didn't move, or speak, or react to anything they were doing. All she did was watch. There was no light in her eyes. No hope.
"I'll stay," Irys said, riding a strong sense of wrongness. "I can't fight, so you'll have to support me, but I have to try and talk to her."
Kiara shook her head, "Irys . . ."
"I refuse to treat her like an obstacle." Nobody ignored her this time. "You said so yourself, this fight was never just ours. She's one of us. She's every bit the victim the rest of us are."
"So, you'll fight," Calli said. The hypocrisy was clear as day, but she didn't seem concerned by it. She simply pointed out the contradiction in what Irys had resolved not to do and what she was resolutely declaring she would. "Are you sure that's what you want?"
She wasn't. Not at all. The notion that coming to blows with Bae now would forever sever any chance to reconcile scared her near to death. But running away–again–and leaving Bae like she was someone else's problem scared Irys just as much.
The indecision was stifling. She didn't have the right to confront Bae like a friend, but she didn't care. It was what she wanted to do. If only she could find the right words . . .
"Who says we have to fight Bae?" It was Sana who came to the rescue. She planted her hands on her hips and spoke without any hesitation. "If you think about it, all we really need to do is rescue her."
Calli cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't that basically the same thing?"
"Nope! Totally different." The smile spreading across Sana's face gleamed like a star.
Mumei chuckled, "You know, that's a good point. We can just hold her off. No violence needed."
"I think a nice little chat would do just fine, don't you?" Fauna added.
Kronii shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Looks like we all agree. Sorry, but you guys will have to sit this one out."
That was . . . ridiculous, frankly. But they knew that, didn't they? Everyone had already agreed that violence couldn't be avoided. And yet they cheerfully supported Irys's selfish desire to talk things out.
The other group shared Irys's incredulity. Neither Calli, Amelia, nor Gura looked convinced. Kiara and Ina looked more worried than anything else.
"We can't stand by while one of our own is being used." Irys didn't think those were the words she wanted, but they felt right in the moment. "Please confront the administrator in our stead." It was hardly a convincing plea, but Calli and Amelia shrugged. It didn't make a difference to them in the end.
Or maybe they respected the council's decision. Irys chose to believe the latter.
As one, the party's attention drifted back to Bae, still standing motionless. Her passiveness was more than enough cause for concern. What had been going through her head while they discussed their plans? She stared at them, or rather past them, with a dangerous expression.
The party stepped lightly, shuffling around so that the council could stand between Bae and the others. While Sana focused her power, Calli, Kiara, Amelia, and Ina gathered around her. Gura wasn't with them. She hadn't moved. Her eyes were fixed on the void beneath her feet. Bae wasn't the only one with a dangerous look on her face.
Irys approached the shark, searching for something to say. She'd been acting selfishly so far, so she decided to stick to that. "I know you have a lot of history with Bae. A lot of bad history. But would it be too much to ask you to give her a pass? Just this once?"
"I won't lie to you. I've got thousands of years worth of fear and self-doubt that I'm itching to take out on her. I want to do it with my own two hands." Gura took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She faced Irys and her expression brightened ever so slightly. "The way I see it, I was saved because I met Ina and the others. I would still be under chaos's thumb without them. So, I'll give you guys in the council a chance to do the same for her. I honestly don't want you to succeed, but it's only fair."
Once again, the right words escaped Irys. Language was not sufficient to convey the gratitude she felt. So instead, she bowed her head low and offered a middling "thank you."
As Gura joined her friends, Irys took hold of a new conviction. The fact that Gura, who had been tormented by Bae for so long, was willing to give her a chance confirmed that what the council was trying to do was not doomed to fail.
They could save Bae.
They would save her!
+ Shift +
Dim flashes illuminated the deep red clouds that were normally hidden in the darkness. Occasionally, a brighter, more violent streak of light carved a jagged path through the void.
Chaos was a storm. It would build, showing its hand ever so slightly. Its coming was apparent. It could be seen looming, growing more terrible. It swelled, releasing all of its pent up energy in a brilliant, destructive blast.
Bae was a storm. She watched, unblinking, as her former friends and their former targets argued and schemed and trusted each other. They tossed furtive glances her way. They saw her looming. They anticipated the storm breaking. They anticipated the release of its fury. But storms, like chaos, were unpredictable. Bae was biding her time. She would wait until just
the right
moment.
Mumei, Fauna, and Kronii stood before her, ready for battle while Sana stayed back with Gura's team. The speaker of space opened a portal and the ones marked for erasure stepped through. Gura lagged behind for just a moment to look at Bae one last time.
Bae couldn't even describe the emotion contained in that look. She no longer had the capacity to do so. The portal did not close.
Time and space were convoluted on higher planes of existence. Invading the administrator's domain was not as straightforward as opening a door. Sana would need to maintain that portal until the other group reached their destination. A fine opportunity.
If the administrator erased those they had deemed destabilizing elements, that was all right by Bae. But if she could eliminate the council and disrupt the power holding the portal open, they would be trapped in that liminal path. The administrator wouldn't have to raise a finger and Bae could succeed where the others had failed. It was a win-win.
With her objective set, Bae could focus all of her efforts–all of her loneliness and frustration–on the traitors who pretended to be her friends. She breathed in. The storm clouds darkened, billowing into towering monstrosities.
Then the storm broke.
The power of chaos spilled out of Bae, seeping into the fabric of the council's domain, casting everything in red. The other council members nearly jumped out of their skins as their individual perceptions of the realm were overwritten. In that moment, Bae made her move.
She rushed up to Kronii, who raised her sword to defend. But she was too slow. Bae buried her fist in Kronii's gut. The next punch slammed into her chest. Then one found the warden's chin. Kronii crashed into the not-ground, rolling past the others in a heap.
Mumei reacted quickly, raising a newly materialized axe over her head with a dangerous glint in her eyes. The deadly aggression of civilization was on full display. Bae tried to avoid the swing, but she ran into an out-of-place steel girder jutting out of the void. The axe head came down, biting into Bae's arm. It might have lopped the limb off completely if not for Mumei pulling back at the last moment. The dangerous glint had been replaced by concern.
Bae was not so soft. She grabbed Mumei by the collar and planted a knee in her stomach before spinning and slamming her into her own girder. Chaotic power writhed and churned around her fist. She felt no remorse as she drew her fist back.
The flat of Kronii's blade dug into Bae's side, sending her rolling. When she slid to a stop, she found herself in the middle of a thicket of vines. The greenery sprang to life and tried to restrain her. On their own, they were nothing, but there were metallic flashes mixed in with the plants. Steel cables rose in tandem with Fauna's vines, reinforcing their hold. Bae thrashed, but the restraints held firm. But only just.
"Bae, Please! None of us want this! Just give us a chance to talk!" Irys pleaded from a safe distance. Her words were hollow. Empty.
She was lying. They all were.
The determination shining in Fauna and Mumei's eyes as they maintained their hold on Bae. The sure grip Kronii had on her blade, ready to strike should Bae escape. The distance Irys kept as she called out Bae's name. All of it made their intentions crystal clear.
They were fools.
Chaos could not be contained.
The storm brought forth a torrent. A great flood was inevitable. The power of chaos surged through Bae, drawing in the fabric of reality around her and giving it form. A primal scream rose in her throat as she tore away the vines and cables restraining her. The congealed reality engulfed Bae's body and absorbed her into its core as it took shape.
Kronii leapt into action, charging in to attack. Mumei and Fauna were close behind. But again they were too slow. Bae swung her arm–a massive limb crackling with scarlet lightning–and batted them away.
Bae's veins swelled with the ichor of the universe. All at once, she was one. She was real. Every aspect of her being was present. Her physical body, her mind and agency, and the raw power of chaos combined in one unified form for the first time.
It was pure ecstasy.
And it was very, very painful.
+ Shift +
Kronii's sword nearly slipped from her grasp. There in front of them, on a disc of light that was now this realms floor, was something that should not be. The power within churned and boiled, causing its skin to writhe. It was a fundamental force of the universe manifested physically, in the truest sense possible. It went against the entire purpose of the council. For if such a thing could feasibly exist, they wouldn't need to.
Its presence alone made it clear; if the abomination was allowed to roam free, it would destabilize reality at its very foundations. It would make the destruction of the future look insignificant by comparison.
A desperate thought–an impulse, really–crossed Kronii's mind. They needed to destroy it. At all costs. Scattering a core aspect of the universe was not an ideal solution, but the alternative was far more devastating. That being said . . .
Kronii glanced at Irys. Hope's eyes were wider than anyone else's. Of course they were. They were all shocked by what Bae had become, but Irys had been the most desperate to talk her down. Would she see that they couldn't allow the embodiment of chaos to continue as she was?
Judging by the determination in those wide open eyes, the answer was most certainly no. If they failed to convince chaos, the repercussions would be catastrophic. It was foolish–reckless, even–but she still wanted to try.
Kronii felt a warmth settle deep within her. The fear didn't go away, neither did her doubts, but watching Irys stand there, resolute, moved her. What did Kronii want to do? She didn't want to hurt Bae. That was a pure bodily response. It was instinct reacting to a seemingly insurmountable threat.
She wanted to save her friend.
They'd always been together. Since the beginning. They'd had their ups and downs, but not even eons of bad blood could shake that timeless bond.
Kronii felt her desires align with the others on an existential level. Irys's warmth spread over the glowing platform on which they stood and bolstered their resolve. They would find a way to stop Bae and bring her around. They just had to hold her still long enough to do so.
Easier said than done.
Mumei took the initiative and raised her hands over her head. Railway tracks rose out of the ground like wisps of steam, twisting around the monstrosity. Moments later, a dozen train engines crashed through the floor around Bae's feet. Chaos swung her massive arms, scattering many of them before they could hit her. Some struck true, causing her to stagger, but the swirling red vortexes acting as the monster's eyes remained fixed on the council.
Bae reached down and picked up one of the engines that she batted away. She drew it back, preparing to throw. The train exploded beside her head. It was Kronii and Fauna's turn
A powerful gust of wind carried bundles of seeds–as well as Kronii herself–through the air. As they reached the creature's roiling skin, they exploded into thick clusters of vegetation. Bae reeled, trying to scrape the plants from her limbs. She may have managed to fend off nature's attack if not for Kronii diving down from above. She landed on one monstrous arm and plunged her sword into the writhing flesh. She wrenched the blade in the wound, stopping the limb in place. Bae tried to shake her off, but couldn't move enough with her arm frozen.
A tidal wave carried a massive oil tanker into the monster's side. Kronii released her lock and leapt away, narrowly avoiding the incredible explosion that followed.
Bae may have asserted her will onto this space, but it was not hers alone. The ethereal void bent to Fauna and Mumei's wills, facilitating their attacks. Craggy cliffs shot out of the drying sea and dropped boulders. Engines roared as vehicles of all shapes and sizes burst forth from the void. Civilization and nature combined to quell raging chaos. Bae did not take all of this lying down, though. Her body pulsed and new limbs sprouted to intercept the onslaught.
Kronii shifted her focus to supporting the others' efforts. She picked out various parts of the assault and froze them in time for brief periods. Then, she released them, further staggering the threats Bae had to contend with.
A voice rose above the mayhem in between especially violent spurts. Irys continued to sue for peace, pleading her lungs out. It wasn't helping anything. She was crying out desperately, her voice becoming raspy and harsh, but Bae had closed her ears.
"Irys!" Kronii called. "She isn't listening!" She wanted to encourage Irys to try something else, but that wasn't fair. She couldn't think of anything Irys could do either. So, when she grabbed hope's attention, she shook her head.
Irys grit her teeth and gave her voice a rest. She was still struggling, though. She couldn't fight even if she wanted to. Talking was all she could do.
Kronii had barely turned back to the fight before Irys shouted, "I've got it!"
Hope took off running into the fray. As she went, she continued to shout. "I need you guys to hold Bae still! And I mean really hold her!" Mumei and Fauna paused for just a beat before they redoubled their efforts to contain the crimson monster. Irys slowed to a stop beside Kronii.
Time looked at her, concerned but interested. "What's the plan, Irys?"
"I'm going to get to the heart of things. Literally." She smiled, her nerves shining through like a beacon. When Kronii cocked an eyebrow, she answered more seriously. "If she won't hear me from outside, then I need to go inside. If I can speak to her, heart to heart, I can make sure she hears what I have to say."
Kronii couldn't help but smile. When had she become so easy to convince?
A great tree sprouted at the monster's feet. Its trunk grew taller than the beast that stood before it, and its branches entangled themselves in Bae's multitudinous limbs. At the same time, enormous steel girders fell from above and shot up from below, pinching the monster's joints. By Fauna and Mumei's combined efforts, the thing was almost entirely immobilized. Almost.
Bae thrashed, twisting every part of her gigantic body to break her binds. Given enough time, her struggle would see her freed. Kronii was not about to let that happen.
She planted her feet and raised her hands towards the beast. This place was hers as well, and although time here was convoluted at best, it was still an integral element. She took hold of the indistinct concept of time and gave it structure. She made it solid. Rigid. Real. With everything she had she wrenched that newly realized time into the position she wanted.
The strain was unbelievable. It wasn't just her bones, the very notion of time itself creaked under the force of Bae's resistance. But the hulking behemoth was locked down nonetheless. Kronii was stuck as well, but so long as she maintained control, that was a worthy sacrifice.
It took the combined effort of time, civilization, and nature to hold chaos at bay.
Irys would have her chance.
+ Shift +
Her words had fallen on deaf ears. Of course they had. It was only natural. Even so, she refused to give up.
The others had given Irys the opportunity to meet Bae face to face. It was up to her to make the most of it. She took a deep breath and invited the void into her. Hope and despair pulled on her spirit. That neverending tug-o-war threatened to break her apart, but she endured. She needed to be closer to her nature.
Her physical form began to fade. Sensation was the first thing to go. Then smell and taste. The sounds of her friends struggling to hold Bae still were silenced, and finally her eyes stopped working. It was unnerving, but a body would only get in the way here.
All that remained of her was a pinprick of light hovering where her body once stood. That light rose higher until it was parallel with the monster's core. Then, it shot towards the monster, or rather the woman inside of it.
Irys's soul crashed into the churning red flesh and pierced the temporal lock. She dove deep into the spirit of chaos.
Her consciousness grew fuzzy. The color of the council's realm was enveloped by a deep, saturated red. But as her existence began to stabilize in Bae's mindspace, the color faded. Soon, she was stood in a desaturated, gray emptiness.
She heard a voice. "There's nothing you can do. It is in your nature. You are destined to be alone. Get used to it," it said. Irys flinched. That was her voice. Her words. They repeated, over and over. She couldn't escape them. All she could do was grit her teeth and bear the cruelty she'd spoken into existence.
It was impossible to tell how long she simply existed there, listening. But eventually, the voice faded in just the same way as the red. Physical sensation returned–as did her other senses–as her spirit materialized.
Ahead of her, within a stone's throw, a small, brambly dome appeared. Or perhaps it had always been there and she simply hadn't noticed it. The dome was constructed of thick, thorny vines. Bubbly, dripping, and red. Her eyes could not see inside of the bramble, but they didn't need to. She could feel Bae's presence.
She tried to reach for the dome, but similar brambly vines wrapped around her arms and legs, holding her in place. "Bae! I'm here! Please talk to me!" she called out. But no sound escaped her lips.
Bae's mindspace was trying to keep her away. She couldn't get closer and she was being silenced. In other words, she still wasn't close enough.
Irys gasped as razor-sharp thorns stabbed into her skin. When she pushed forward the bramble tightened in equal measure. And even though she knew her voice was muted, she shouted. She wouldn't give up so easily!
If she did, then hope was lost. She wouldn't allow that!
Blood flowed in little streams over her limbs, but she kept pushing. She stayed focused on her goal, on the friend she needed to apologize to, and blocked out the pain. The thorny vines grew tighter and tighter. But she took a step. Then another. The vines pulled, but they stretched.
Eventually, her bindings snapped. Irys wasted no time. She stumbled at first, but rushed to the dome where Bae resided.
On closer inspection, the bramble surrounding Bae was much thicker. Its vines were densely packed and its thorns were larger and sharper. They were more rigid as well. They reminded Irys of dead branches more than anything. If only they were as brittle.
"Bae! Can you hear me?" She called out again. This time, her voice carried, but she heard no response. Circling the dome, she found that the thorny shell was not a solid barrier. There were holes that she could see through. The inside was empty save for a lone occupant.
Bae sat with her back turned to the dim light shining through the holes. Her knees were clutched to her chest.
"Bae!" Irys reached through the largest hole she could find, wincing as the thorns cut canals in her arm. If she could just get a little closer she could reach her friend. But the bramble didn't budge.
Bae stirred.
+ Shift +
The beast stirred.
Kronii's spirit, locked in stasis alongside the crimson monster, was being torn in every direction as chaos clawed at the time holding it. The lock slipped, allowing the thing to move just a little bit, before catching again. Mere seconds were passing, but the occurrence of those slippages was happening more and more frequently.
Fauna's tree groaned and Mumei's steel whined with each of the monster's jerky movements. They must have been experiencing the same level of strain as Kronii.
The monster's eyes flashed and it raised its arms in stuttering spurts. The temporal lock shattered. The force reverberated through the void and struck Kronii's core. She hit the ground hard, her ears ringing.
Mumei and Fauna cried out as their hold on the beast began to crack. The void rippled with their efforts to reinforce. Parts of the giant tree sprang into motion, wrapping themselves more tightly around chaos's limbs. Other parts petrified, solidifying their positions. Fortifying structures built up around the interwoven steel girders, encasing the whole thing in a sturdy tomb.
But a deep, muffled thumping came from within. Fauna's back arched and her body stiffened. She groaned through clenched teeth. Mumei dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.
They wouldn't last much longer.
+ Shift +
She could move again. Additionally, her power continued to grow. The storm was gathering more clouds by the moment. Time, nature, civilization . . . none were capable of restraining chaos. All things progressed. All things fell to ruin. All things died. All things changed.
Bae roared within the sarcophagus of metal and wood. It was a piecemeal measure that could not contain her for long.
A voice sounded in the deep recesses of her mind. She barely heard it. Whatever it was, it was not worth her time. She ignored it as she beat against the prison surrounding her colossal body. But the voice persisted, an incessant scratching. There was something familiar about it that pulled her attention inward.
The closer she listened, the more it seemed to demand her attention. She shifted her focus towards it, allowing her power to run wild.
A soft gray light pierced the shell of doubt and fear through miniscule gaps. Those awful feelings dripped from dry, thorny vines, sizzling away before they could hit the ground. The voice was louder here. Its source was close. Bae turned her head just enough to see a figure reaching through the shell. Their visage was obscured, mottled and dark despite the gray glow of the mindspace. Bae knew her, though.
She was one of the sources of the vines and the oozing malice that coated them.
Bae turned away and hugged her knees tighter. She tried to ignore the voice but it kept getting closer.
Two figures appeared in miniature before Bae. They acted out a familiar scene. The first actor, a little red mouse, gleefully followed its companion, a dark yet brilliant crystal. The mouse was eager to tag along with the crystal, but the floating gemstone flashed with a harsh light. The players were silent, but Bae knew their lines by heart.
"Friendship is beyond you," the crystal said. "You are not meant for it. Destruction is your purpose. Instability is all you can offer."
The mouse's ears drooped, but perked up again moments later. She scurried around the crystal saying, "Destruction can be enjoyed together! And if you and the others don't like it, we can do something else!"
The crystal hovered in place, silent. The little mouse sniffed at her friend, concerned, before recoiling as the gem began to radiate a dark, almost sinister light. Bae covered her eyes and closed her ears. She didn't want to see! She didn't want to hear!
You are destined to be alone.
Get used to it.
Bae uncovered her eyes, resigned to the conclusion of the story. The mouse was alone, trembling and afraid. It started to grow, then, distorting into something identifiable as a rodent but uglier.
She heard the voice again. It was even closer. Its words were coming in more clearly. She could just about make out what it was saying. It almost sounded like . . . an apology?
"I was wrong! The things I said were cruel. You didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated you!" It was certainly an apology, but it didn't seem to be asking for forgiveness.
A soft glow, distinctly warmer than the gray, filled the thorny cage as the crystal descended on the malformed mouse once again. It shimmered with a light devoid of darkness now.
"I want to make amends!" The voice was entirely clear. Bae turned towards the figure reaching through the desiccated vines again, but this time, she could see her clearly. Irys had managed to wriggle half of her body through the bramble. Her clothes were torn and she was covered in bloody scratches.
Bae's chest tightened. Doubt, fear, and apprehension raised a chill to smother the gentle warmth radiated off of her friend.
Former friend.
"I don't believe you." Bae's words lacked the conviction she thought they should have. "That's nothing but an empty promise. It doesn't mean anything." It couldn't.
The bramble grew thicker, encasing Irys and trapping Bae in an even narrower shell.
Hope was a mask to disguise despair.
The deformed mouse hissed and bit and scratched at the crystal pulsing with a soothing light. It was all too little too late.
There was no going back.
+ Shift +
The tomb cracked. Then it shattered with an ear-splitting screech. The force of the monster emerging created a shockwave that blasted Fauna and Mumei back in line with Kronii. All three of them were at their limits. They needed time to recover–just a few seconds to catch their breath–but the beast wasn't giving them that time.
The monster roared, shaking the fabric of reality. It expanded, growing even larger and pulsing with chaotic fury. It raised a gargantuan claw over its head slowly. Deliberately. It knew they were exhausted.
Kronii raised her hand and tried to take hold of the arm's time, but it slipped through her fingers. The monster swung.
A gigantic foot slammed down beside Kronii and the others. An earth-shattering crack briefly deafened the warden of time as Sana's fist–enlarged to match the manifestation of chaos–crashed into the monster's jaw. If she could join the fray, then Amelia's group must have reached the administrator. The speaker of space shifted, dragging her other foot in a wide arc around the others to deliver another solid hit.
The planet-sized impacts reverberated in Kronii's chest. She was relieved, not to mention amazed, but she could hardly breathe with those vibrations traveling through her. Mumei was not so impaired. She regained her footing and leapt into the air. Using Sana's enormous shoulder as a springboard, she launched herself over the monster's head. A large hammer appeared in her arms and she swung it with all her might. The beast's head jerked violently and it lost its balance. It would have fallen onto its back if not for Fauna.
The keeper of nature plunged her arms into the glowing ground. Life bloomed from the ether around her, and a tree larger than the previous one sprang into existence behind the monster, breaking its fall. The tree's branches wrapped around the monster's limbs once again, but this time, they dug deep into the swirling red flesh, effectively taking root. The thing couldn't even thrash about anymore.
Kronii's lungs expanded, but she had no time to enjoy it. She took a quick, sharp breath and followed her friends' lead. She shot upwards to the monster's chest and swung her sword in a mighty arc. The creature's chest split open, revealing Bae at its core. The wound started to close immediately, but Sana intervened, plunging her hands into the cavity and forcing it to stay open.
Kronii, along with Fauna and Mumei, entered the hole and confronted Bae face to face. Chaos glared up at them, her eyes swirling red vortexes. She bared her teeth and snarled like a beast. To someone unfamiliar with her, she might have seemed the embodiment of rage. But Kronii and others saw the truth of the matter.
Bae was desperate. She was afraid. She was feeling well and truly isolated.
It was clear to all of them what needed to be done.
+ Shift +
The light was gone. The bramble had gotten so tangled and thick that Bae barely fit inside the shell. Thorns pricked her shoulders and ears.
The crystal was gone, swallowed by the darkness. That left the mangled little mouse all alone. Just like Bae. And that was alright. It was just how things were meant to be.
She hated it. It was unbearably painful, but it was as the administrator desired. Nobody else accepted her the way they did, so she would bear it. There were no other options.
Bae could barely muster a gasp as she felt the hole open in her chest. The others were making their move. They were going for the kill. She didn't want things to be this way, but the choice was never hers to make.
Right?
A sound like dry leaves being crushed underfoot barely reached Bae's ears. She ignored it. Whatever it was, it was already over. There was no point being curious or concerned or whatever else. The crunching sound grew louder at a steady clip, though. And eventually, she picked up another sound accompanying it.
A voice. It was muffled, barely audible over the sound of crushed leaves . . . no, it was more like the snapping of twigs now. As the snapping grew louder, the voice rose to match it. It wasn't long before it overtook the snapping. Bae could finally hear the words.
"We won't give up," it sounded like.
Just then, a hand, cut to ribbons, burst through the solid bramble shell. A soft light dripped through the relatively small opening. It was warm. Her chest felt even tighter than before. Bae shrank back, folding her oversized ears over her face in a desperate attempt to banish the light, but it peeked through anyways. Bae whimpered. She was trembling just like the ugly little mouse.
"Look at me!" The voice, Irys's voice, was loud and clear as crystal now. She was no longer pleading or apologizing. "This isn't over! We won't . . . turn back!" Hope tore through the bramble with her bare hands. Blood dripped from countless cuts on her hands, arms, and face. Her whole body was being shredded by the thorns.
But she didn't stop. "You're one of us! You belong with us! We care about you!" She fell through the hole and crouched in the cramped confines of the shell. She breathed in sharply as she moved and her injuries leaked, but the set of her face didn't change. She spoke through clenched teeth, but she didn't scowl or glare. It wasn't the face shown to an enemy. It was so much softer. She radiated determination as if it were the core of her being instead of hope.
"Before our duties," Irys said, her words granted tremendous weight by her confidence, "before our natures . . ."
Bae couldn't look away. She was afraid. Of being fooled. Of being betrayed. Of being hurt again. But that warmth was growing inside of her.
"Before the administrator! We are your friends!" Irys burst alight. The intensity of her brilliance caused the bramble to wither and fall to dust. The gray wasteland of Bae's mindspace was no more, replaced by a warm off white "We won't back down. Not ever."
Something hit Bae's physical body. Then another hit came. Then another, and another. They wrapped tightly around her, holding her arms to her side. Bae wasn't sure what to make of it until she looked into Irys's eyes and saw her smile.
Like seeing the sun for the first time.
Irys crawled on her hands and knees despite the shell being gone. She wrapped her arms around Bae and squeezed gently. The other members of the council held her tightly. Their warmth permeated her mind, body, and soul.
It felt so nice it hurt.
Bae shuddered and the monstrous manifestation of her power dissipated. She fell, slowly and gently in the council's embrace. They never let go. Never loosened their grip. They didn't need to say a word to convey their feelings.
Bae's lip quivered. She tried to find some reason to reject them, but she couldn't. She didn't want to. Her eyes burned and her vision blurred. She took a single quaking breath, and then burst into tears.
She returned the embrace as best as she could and sobbed. The others held her even tighter as all of her resentment and self-doubt bubbled up to the surface. She'd held onto it for so long, and she knew it wouldn't be so easy to get rid of it. Those wounds would remain as deep scars. But she didn't want them. She never wanted them. She'd had enough.
Bae clung to her friends and their warmth.
She let the wonderful heat drive away the fear and loneliness