Internally I screamed. I cursed like a sailor, the hate lacing every word as I looked at the blade piercing my lover. My Ivy! I promised to kill them. To make them suffer. Anything… everything… and yet, I lay there, helpless, staring up as Ivy shut her eyes, teeth gritting, an agonized wince shadowing her face. The blade pulled out of her. More blood gushed. Seemingly drowning me in her life… the life quickly fading.

She was dying!

Time slowed. Droplets of blood suspended above me like drifting clouds. A frozen rainfall. The pain of my broken form faded. Everything stilled. I was alone in a frozen frame of time, a consciousness only observing through the eyes, instead of being within it.

“She’s going to be headless pretty soon,” a familiar, cursed voice spoke casually. It sounded in my mind, as if there, and yet, within a dream.

Rage filled me to the point I could barely speak, “Damn you, Chaos! I’m going to kill you!”

She chuckled a little at that, “Hey, you were the one who accepted this duel. I didn’t… you could have stayed silent and everything would have been fine. So don’t try to pin this on me. It was your stupidity that made this mess.”

I choked, a retort failing to come. I had been the one to agree to the duel. Immediately a wave of anguish and guilt struck.

“But… you summoned Kamra here!”

“And… she would have left without issue if not for you playing hero.”

“But the Larws would have died…”

“Their problem. Not yours,” she countered.

“But…”

“But? But…” a sigh escaped her and she appeared above me, above Ivy, looking down at the both of us, but her eyes were on me. “How sad you are. Here you are, dying, your lover’s neck about to become a stump… and you’re trying to play the victim card with me? Get real…”

She shifted. I was standing, watching as she skipped around the frozen battleground.

“Say, want to know why I’ve been bullying you a little? Why I guided Kamra here? Lied to you? Set you against that Mimic? Even played the remorseful wimp willing to become partners with a mortal?” She giggled at that, rolling her eyes, “As if I would ever do that…”

She paused, eyes slimming, a grin sliding onto her face, “All that for this moment, you brat… you poor, pitiful, whiny man-child. You’re emotional. You let your heart guide you into stupid actions. You’re timid, constantly questioning yourself, and you’d back down in an instant if you weren’t the Thalwesse.” She tossed her hand to the side, lightly slapping one of the vampires; though his head didn’t turn, a red mark appeared on his cheek from the smack. She proceeded to poke the spot as if it were some toy to play with. “Admit it, the only reason you actually stood up to Inteer was because you’re the Thalwesse. Because you thought you could win…”

Cupping her cheeks in both hands, she let out a long, haggard sigh. “Thought and know are two very different concepts, Andy… Andy, Andy, Andy…”

I didn’t know how to respond. How to argue. I didn’t want to. She had done a lot to me. Betrayed me. Nearly gotten me killed… and yet, she was telling the truth, I knew. There was still too much Andy left… and I was where I was now because of it. Ivy was dying because of it. Ditto… I noticed Ditto was on the ground next to me, smaller than normal. She was hurt too. Because of me… taking on a vampire when I hadn’t ever even battled before.

A sword? My first time actually even trying to use it correctly was the day before. Magic? Merely a few days. Combat? Nothing really… the Mimic had been survival. The goblins had been child’s play.

“And I tried to fight a vampire… I threw my life away. Ivy, Ditto… both, I threw their lives away…” I hung my head, pain filling me. I was such an idiot. Such a loser idiot. I had done some good here and there… but when it came down to the grit, to the do or die situation, I chose die thinking I was some fancy hero who could save a girl from death. Someone who could overcome just because I wanted it to happen. I felt like sobbing, crying. Such an idiot. A useless idiot who loved to complain and whine…

I choked out, “Why… why even choose me?”

“Because…” she tapped her head, “While you’re a loser coward idiot whose bravery is dumb… you’re a thinker. Like me. And you’re desperate to live a better life. You try. You failed. But, even with all your negatives, you still kept on. It shows promise.”

She walked up to me and crossed her arms, her smile vanishing. “No tricks. No play. No lies this time. It took a lot of work to get you here. Think I’m lying? Well, ask that annoying girl Pandemonium… she can’t do it. Luscious? Nope. Poseidon? Nope. Luna-blah-blah? Nope. And I managed it.” She pat her chest, “I got you here, and I chose you because you were the best man for the job. Because I needed someone I could mold. Someone willing to change. To grow. To become a real Thalwesse… not some cocky brat with superpowers. Not someone who already has too much baggage… you, you were perfect.”

“So, I chose you. But before I could give you the keys to the kingdom, I needed to give you a dose of reality. The Mimic was supposed to do that… but, ya, well, I hadn’t anticipated your Spirit magic awakening then…” She shrugged, grinning a little, “The plan was for you to actually die. Well, get so close to dying you couldn’t tell the difference… but it didn’t work out. Anywho, I needed something more, and so I sent Kamra to you a little earlier than the schedule had.”

I just nodded, too emotionally defunct to process it fully. “You… planned for me to face Kamra from the start?”

With a nod, she said, “I did. I sent her earlier because you hadn’t learned. You hadn’t realized just how powerless you are.” She motioned to the battle, “This is nothing. Child’s play. Your future will hold far heartier foes. I’m talking the big boys and gals. The scary ones. Like, maybe even a goddess someday…” Her finger curled and lightly tapped against my chest where a large burn mark sat; it didn’t hurt. “But right as you are now, you’re doomed. And you were too blind to see it. Just take your time? Hah… assume the worst and you’ll never be surprised, kid.”

“Now…” she muttered, thinking. She held out both hands, in one hand formed a red pill. In the other, a blue pill. She couldn’t help but chuckle, “Get it?”

“Very funny…” I mumbled back, not finding the reference very fun, all things considered.

“I’m so punny. Anywho… this is a serious decision. You’ve got two choices. Die, or grow a pair and get some fire. No more dreaming about living with the Mer and just studying for a ton of time. We don’t have that much time… I need a Thalwesse. A prophet. And I’ve bent over backwards to get you here and protect you so far.”

That perked my curiosity, so I asked, “Oh? To me it seemed like you were the greatest threat.”

“Oh come on… isn’t it just a little strange how this area isn’t swarming with scouts, inquisitors, justices, angels, demons, and so on? It would make sense… and yet, they aren’t here. Why?” she posed the question, yet we both knew the answer.

“Because you kept them distracted…”

“Using a lot of magic, I might add,” she said with a dip of her head.

“But… then why? Why put me through all this instead of just…”

“Teach you?” She chuckled a little and began to juggle the two pills, “Because sometimes the best way to build something is to tear down the old buildings first. Do you realize how weak you are?”

“Yes.”

“How ignorant you are?”

“Yes.”

“How dumb you can be?”

“Yes…” I whispered, each question like an arrow sticking me.

“Then we’ve torn down a good deal of old buildings.” She held out her hands again, her eyes growing serious as she stared into my very soul. “Chaon, I’ve got a job opening for a prophet. Must also be a Thalwesse. I won’t lie and say the road ahead will be easy for the either of us. Believe it or not, I’ve got a lot of troubles too… And I’ve done a lot to you, and I’m not asking you to forgive me for that. But, it was for a purpose… and hey, it worked out pretty well in several ways too, you have to admit,” she said with a shrug.

“It was all for this moment. This decision. You become my prophet and I’ll help you as much as I can. I won’t do everything for you, I’m not going to coddle you like Pandemonium would… but whatever I do, I won’t betray you. If you need a kick to the butt… I’ll kick you. But when you need a hand, I’ll do my best to help you grow. To become someone you really want to be. Someone who can save this place.”

“Save it…?”

She nodded and said, “No details yet because it’s too risky, but I didn’t summon you for a science project or a hobby. If you can’t help me help Mortalis… bad things are going to happen. Very, very bad things.”

“So… you need a hero?” I asked, slowly.

“A hero? Heck no!” She smiled and shook her head, “No… heroes and I don’t get along at all. What I need is a prophet. Someone who can get things done and have fun while doing it. Someone who’s willing to bite the nail, rip it out with their teeth, and chew it without a problem. I gotta have someone who knows when to take life seriously… and when to have some fun,” she tossed the pills for emphasis.

But still, could I believe her? Was this all some giant ruse to play with me again? Pandemonium had warned me of Chaos… said she had dark plans for me.

“She doesn’t know,” Chaos said.

“Doesn’t know… about Mortalis’ future?”

“Yep. Because if she did, she would be fighting you. She’s crazy… her dream is death. Anything that leads to a possibility of it is her beloved…” She tapped my chest, “In this case, you.”

That made sense, oddly enough. I stayed silent for a while. Thinking. Finally muttering, “Great…”

“Meh, as long as she doesn’t find out, we’ll be fine. We don’t want her as an enemy for a while… I’ve been playing the prankster to trick her too. Keep her in the dark.” She grinned again, tipping up her chin, “Yes, I’m that good. Master of illusion, trickery, beauty, amazingness… my arms are getting tired.” She lightly flapped them.

I looked down at Ivy, thinking. “Then… you will grant me power if I agree?”

“Grant? I’ve already granted it to you. You’ve just been too chicken to actually use it…” she said. “I even turned it on for you to remind you, and yet… you haven’t really used it.”

That hurt. A lot. It was true. She had gifted me with the Chaos Eyes already, and in battle it hadn’t crossed my mind to even try to use them.

The more I thought, the more it seemed Chaos was telling the truth this time. While she had done so many seemingly awful things… she had lied to me. Nearly gotten me killed. Pushed me into danger from the moment I arrived… I could see that if Chaos had truly wanted to just torture me, she would have.

I was wary. Terrified of what Chaos could really be planning, and yet, much of me wanted to believe her. I partially already did. It just made sense. A sickening sense, but logical nonetheless.

She wasn’t my foe. She was just a merciless teacher.

I asked, “So… death, or your prophet?”

“Sort of. You could use my power to survive either way, but… if you want me gone that badly, I’ll leave. Then it’ll be you against the world. I’ll be out of your life one hundred percent,” she said honestly. “I don’t have time to waste on someone who isn’t going to work with me.”

She dropped the pills and instead just held out her hand for a handshake, “Accept this position and we won’t be partners; I don’t work like that. But, we’ll be prophet and goddess. I’ll stop with the tricks, but you stop with the wishy-washy walking. We work together. We can have fun, we can have difficulties, and the days and shadows will cycle through. No doubt there. But…” she nodded toward Ivy, “I bet the days will outlast the shadows. And if we succeed… you and your ladies can get that house by the Mer, raise some brats, study in between your adventures as much as you want. You’ve just got to work for it a bit first. Kay?”

I looked at the hand. I was tempted to swat it away. To claim she was lying. Maybe even to lie and pretend to be her ally… but something tugged on me.

What had happened was really just a prologue. A setup to get to the point where the Thalwesse, I, Chaon, could see who I was compared to reality. To show me who I was. Someone weak, yet willing to do what needed to be done to survive… but still someone who would lend a helping hand to those in need. Who would love. Who would hate. Who would fight… not just for himself, but those he wished to protect.

Ivy. Ditto. And a little, innocent girl… her family… maybe even Mortalis.

I needed to drop the past. Drop Andy. Drop the doubts, the fears, the hesitation, the cockiness, the disillusions, the stupidity. To set myself in reality. To get with it…

If I was going to claim happiness. To earn the right to it, along with those I loved, I had to stand, truly, not as just Andy playing Chaon, but as Chaon, prophet and Thalwesse…

Chaos wasn’t my favorite person in the world… but she had brought me to Mortalis. Her actions had brought me to Ditto. To Ivy. And now, when I screwed up big time, she was giving me a chance to reset. To use the horror before me as a chance to get with it. To save Ivy, Ditto, myself… to ensure such things never happened again… assuming I didn’t screw up again.

No, I wouldn’t screw up again. And if I did, I would fix it.

I would overcome, grow, as Chaon.

No more petty games.

“Red pill or blue pill?” she joked.

I accepted the hand, “Red.”