Everything was falling in order. He could feel it. Chaos had spent the morning in one of the watchtowers, watching the sunrise over the horizon. If he was human, he thought, he’d want to live somewhere like here. Somewhere like this, surrounded by trees and away from loud noise. Someplace where he could just blend in like everybody else.

"He looks so much like you, you know?"

Chaos looked to His right, only to see Death - who had appeared next to Him.

“Inara came by the other day,” Chaos said, changing the subject.

“She told me She would. Okay, She told Morpheus, who then, in turn, told me. We all noticed time had, well, stopped - and you know how it goes. One of us has to investigate.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that was me. Nothing to worry about.”

Inara had always been like a little sister to Chaos. Despite them never interacting as much such as with Him and Death or Him and Morpheus, She had never been shy to come up and talk to him when She wanted to. In a way, Inara faintly reminded Chaos of Eion, an old friend of His. He was someone who Chaos didn’t like thinking about much. Each memory of Chaos had of Eion brought some tinge of pain with it, a feeling Chaos wasn’t used to in the slightest.

“Reuniting the Empire won’t be an easy job,” Death stated.

“I know. But it has to be done. The humans are ready to end the war. But the dwarves and elves - they’re patient. What’re a few more centuries of fighting for them? And we both know Tamora doesn’t have centuries left.”

A brief moment of silence followed.

“They should be done eating now,” Chaos announced. “I should get going.”

“I should get going too,” Death agreed. “Talk to you later.”

Chaos made his way back downstairs towards the dining hall. By the time He’d gotten there, most of them were already chatting with each other. The moment He stepped foot in the room, everyone grew silent. Everyone stared at Him.

“Good morning, everyone,” He said, scanning the room. “Seems like everyone is already here.” He slowly walked to a vacant seat, pulled it back, and sat down. “I know you all have many questions. And, I will answer them later. But first thing’s first - I want you all to follow me.”

“To where?” Reiha was the first to ask.

Chaos tilted his head. “Don’t you want your gear?”

The moment they heard the word, “gear,” they jumped from the seats. He was the last one to leave his seat. “Armory is just over here,” He stated.

They followed close behind Him along the way. Talion and Nalia were already whispering among themselves like two gossiping schoolchildren. After a minute or two of walking, they appeared right in front of the armory door. Instead of pushing it open, Chaos stepped aside. “Anyone care to do the honors?” He asked.

Everyone stood still, looking at each other. Aigor said joyfully, “Guess it’ll be me!”

He waddled forward, using both of his hands to push open the heavy door. Like most of the wooden objects within the fort, it was made out of coal-black direwood. It was outlined with a glimmering yellow gold that had ornate carvings etched into it.

Despite there being no windows or torches anywhere in the room, there was still light. It was part of the magic imbued within this specific room; no window or torch was needed at all in the armory. Instead, there was a constant source of magic light emitting from the ceiling and corners of the room.

Weapons, saddles, armor, bows, and arrows. Anything needed for combat lined the walls. The room wasn’t small either. The complete opposite. It was near massive. Aigor was already eagerly examining each blade, just like a true blacksmith. Everyone else was too busy touching and holding each weapon they could get their hands on. Talion picked up an axe, examining it with both hands. Its wooden handle, which was slightly curved, was covered in long leather strips. Nalia picked a spear, Dyra a glaive, Reiha a bladed bow and a quiver of arrows, and Aigor a warhammer - one of the few things that were small enough for him to carry. Everyone had something in hand now.

“Now,” Chaos announced, “I’ve already taken the liberty of placing armor in your rooms. I would like you all to put it on and meet me outside the fort when you’re ready.” They all excitedly nodded in agreement. Everyone rushed out as quickly as possible, almost dropping their weapons along the way. Chaos sighed to himself. All of them had potential, and he knew it. The Others chose them because they knew what they could do - and if they believed in them, so did He. If anyone deserved a chance at becoming one of his best warriors, it was them.

Talion was the final one out. When everyone went back upstairs to dawn their armor, Chaos walked out too.

They were all having trouble getting used to their armor by the time they had all met outside. Each was having trouble adjusting to the feel of the pieces. Talion struggled most with the chest piece and the rest of it. He couldn’t move his right arm without causing pain. Dyra, Reiha, and Nalia were struggling with the waist section of the chest plate. Even Aigor was having trouble moving his legs due to the large boots he was currently wearing.

Chaos sighed once again before walking over to them.

“Alright!” He called, gaining everyone’s attention. Everyone looked towards Chaos curiously, awaiting what he had to say next. “Before you ask, yes, I have plenty of jobs lined up. But before that, I wanted to test you all. See, in this forest is a tribe of treants. Recently, they’ve been having… Troubles. Specifically, with a few kruthiks. Now usually, they’d be able to deal with it themselves, but since you’re going to be their neighbor, might as well lend a hand. Introduce yourselves. I’ve already informed them you’d be coming.”

The group looked around at each other before nodding. They looked over at Chaos nervously.