Ashley

Something I’ve researched over the past week.

Successors.

How the Primordials treat them, how many there are, why they exist, and so on.

And the results vary. Rather strongly, in fact.

Some Primordials have upwards of several dozen Successors and treat them as either weapons they’ve trained or simply students they’ve taught.

Other Primordials have around eight to twelve or so Successors and treat them kind of like a good orphanage director would treat the children at the orphanage. Like their wards but not their actual children.

Then there are Primordials who have just a few Successors. Around four or five or so. And those tend to treat their Successors as if they were their own flesh and blood. Which they technically are since the Primordial gives them their blood.

Chaos is the only one who was outside of any of those categories and never made a single Successor.

Until me.

Etheria, Primordial of Magic, and Erebos, Primordial of Sin, both fit into the first category, with upwards of fifty or sixty Successors. But they both treat their Successors drastically differently.

Erebos treats them as nothing but weapons for his own image and the Successor Events, while Etheria treats them like her students and cares for them.

Gaia, Lux, and Justicar – Primordials of Life, Virtue, and Order – all have somewhere between eight to thirteen Successors, and they treat them like their wards. Like children they took in off the street and are caring for but are not their own.

Although Justicar is a lot stricter with his Successors than the other two are.

And lastly, Nyx, Aether, Hel, and Chronos – Primordials of Void, Space, Death, and Time – all have somewhere between three to five Successors, and they treat them as their own family. Albeit in their own ways.

Hel’s Successors are just as emotionless as she is, so there’s not much family there other than always helping each other out. Chronos acts like a grandfather to his Successors. Nyx rarely ever interacts with them in public but always comes to their aid if they really need it. And Aether likes training his Successors and enjoys seeing them grow strong. Like a father training his kids.

Yet the one Primordial everyone knows of as sporadic and unpredictable never had any Successors until me. Despite the assumption a lot of people would’ve made that he’d just spread his blood across the universe to cause more chaos.

So everyone in the universe has been very curious how Chaos lands in his treatment of me.

But now? As I see Chaos appear amidst a loud thunderclap that shakes the entire structure along with a bright flash of crimson lightning?

I see where he fits.

And so do the people who were just busy gossiping and occasionally insulting me.

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“Do you all believe in there being an order to everything? To everything always having form, having structure?” Chaos declares, his voice echoing throughout the now-otherwise-silent chamber as he shows a very rare pissed off expression on his face. “If you do, then you’re living a lie. There is no absolute structure to the universe. Never has been, never will be. Absolute power is not absolute. Lies and planning can win over power. Power can win over lies and planning. The weak can defeat the strong, and the strong can crush the weak.”

Another crash of thunder echoes out through the silent chamber as Chaos begins to fly into the sky a bit as his form morphs. Turning into a bit of a crimson, black, and purple blob.

Yet his voice still continues to echo through the chamber despite his form, “Survival of the fittest. The manner in which one being will defeat another simply because it is superior in one way than them. It’s a simple concept and one that I rather like myself.”

His form begins to expand outwards before settling on that of a massive raven. One with black, crimson, and some faint purple colors all over it, and glowing crimson eyes that look just like my own.

“But petty words and insults? Those have no place being spoken by the tongues of lowly humans about a superior being, regardless of where you believe you stand on the ladder,” Chaos’s voice echoes out as the others within the chamber all shiver from fear. “I’m sure you all believed you were safe speaking of my beloved daughter the way you did simply because of the Pact of the Primordials, but I will give you a warning here and now.”

I blink, only now remembering the Pact of the Primordials. A pact that all of the Primordials agreed to where they won’t directly cause permanent harm to the denizens of newly initialized planets for one century after the initialization of the planet. Additionally, they agreed to not take revenge or action after the century is over for actions done during the one hundred year period due to some form of grudge.

Never really thought about it much myself since I didn’t expect Chaos to actually help me with anything like that.

The only reason I researched it in the first place was to know if other Primordials might go after me for being Chaos’s Successor.

Also, is it just me, or did he shoot a challenging glance towards the White and Black Enforcers when he said the words ‘beloved daughter’?

My thoughts grind to a halt when a terrifying wave of power surges forth from Chaos. One that tints everything in a bloody crimson as his voice echoes throughout the chamber with a terrifying and sinister chill to it that makes it sound like his voice is doubled. Like I hear him twice layered on top of itself in a very terrifying manner.

“The Pact only bans direct and permanent harm, so I will not hesitate to curse anyone who speaks of her in that condescending manner again. She is the only Successor to Chaos, Princess of the Tower of Chaos, and she will be treated with the respect she deserves.”

His words continue to echo throughout the chamber for several seconds before he asks with that same chilling tone, “Do you understand?”

And as if forced to do it, every single person in the chamber who said anything even remotely bad about me to my face here bows their head and declares, “Yes, Esteemed Primordial!” Leaving those who had done nothing watching with fear on their faces that his wrath may turn to them.

I can’t help but notice something as they all shiver in their boots and Chaos does his thing though. The fact that he was getting mad at them for their words. Not any threatening actions they may have made.

And his words also implied that he would only curse them if they didn’t watch what they said.

Not what they did.

Meaning he’s probably fine with them attacking me.

Although I guess that makes sense, considering his speech about the survival of the fittest and all.

That or he just trusts me that much. Enough to know I won’t die by the hands of any of these people even if they tried.

Not sure which.

Then, like nothing had ever happened, his form shrinks, and he returns to his humanoid form with a smile on his face and all of his power suddenly retracting into him while the Primordial casually says, “Now then, congratulations on choosing your currency! The next topic at hand is deciding on the Planetary Events your world will be participating in! Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

I blink in surprise at the sudden shift. And I’m not the only one, as everyone else looks shaken up as well.

Even my supposed parents and the other two Successors look shaken up by it.

After a few seconds though, I just give an inner shrug and yawn.

Well, that was interesting, I guess.