Chapter 57: Crazy People

/Once upon a time there was nothing.

There was no light and no darkness, neither time nor space, good, or evil.

And then, there was a spark.

In a single moment, that flicker grew, spreading out over the infinite vastness of nothing and simply creating.

First, the sparks gathered and made a large circle, an imperfect one for they were ever shifting, but a circle nonetheless.

They filled the circle with many things. They added stars to the night sky, the sun and the moons, and even Chronagen its very self.

But the greatest gift we were given was that of time.

As pages didn't exist yet, no one knew how long there was only stillness within the circle of sparks, but it eventually began rousing and shifting ever so slowly, and that rousing gave birth to time.

It was calm, slow, and constant, a collective movement that determined what was to happen. Each time a spark moved, a fragment of time shifted, and things moved along.

And eventually, Chronagen changed.

Before all people came to be, the gods walked this very earth. There were no first or last of them, as they simply came to be at the same time.

And then, the time of myths began.

The forge of creation was made, the altar of the sky was built, Atlantis was erected, and eventually sunk. The gods fought, waged wars, then drank and made merry. Some farmed, and created mountains, others like to swim, making oceans for themselves to toy with, and bit by bit, the world as we knew came together.

Yet, the gods grew older, and as they aged, they grew more wise. They stopped their needless squabbles, and helped each other, yet eventually, they grew bored. It was time for them to take on responsibility, to fill the role all of them now thought it was time to fulfill.

And such, they created the people of Chronagen. The animals and beasts, the dragons and the xialj, the gwan of the sea. The elves, the dwarves, the giants, and even the kin. Still more, there were the demons and devils, as well as many other mystical races nowadays seen so rarely.

Those gods gave us their artefacts and teachings, before they moved far away. Into another place, where they still watch over us, giving out blessings and cryptic messages.

Still, there is solace to be taken in their absence. We are not alone, for the gods watch over us. We are not empty, for there is love to fill that void. And we are not pointless, for as there is time now, there will always be time later. The future, one where we will be remembered forever.

To be true to time is to leave an impact that lasts, as the gods have, so should we.

And thus, the book before the first began./

The story of Chronagen's creation, told as such for many, many acts and sagas. It builds the foundation for the widespread religious belief in the time before gods, where only the spark of time lit up the universe, one of the core principles lying at the very heart of the General Society of the Beginning. The sparks of time specifically are worshipped as a creator by the "family" of time.

The story itself has been told from mouth to mouth, written down from page to page over many acts, sagas, and even books. A story that explains our origin to its very core, a story that shall forever stand, forever last against the gnawing tooth of all that tears at it.

- - - - - -

Mercury didn't fight anyone special, or super strong, but he was proud. He stood between many, many corpses, and it was conflicting. As he thought about it, he felt guilt, and remorse, he felt sorry for having had to do this to so many people, and yet he felt proud to have protected that which has grown dear to him.

It was a strange feeling, a mix of emotions he couldn't describe, pinpoint, or afford to deal with right now, as he saw a... young man running towards him, putting it lightly.

What the hell was a kid doing here?

Wait a second.

"Mercuryyyyyyy!!!!" Elliot yelped, storming towards the cat as he was on break, the other mages now slowly cleaning up all that was left of the northerners.

Mercury on his own was now covered in even more blood than before, and had been badly bruised up once again, with a couple of kicks landing all over him, and even some knife wounds covering his fur. As such, he wasn't exactly eager to be swooped up by someone so tiny.

"Elliotttttttt," Mercury said as such, mimicking his tone, except for his pitch falling at the end, as he began retreating at the same speed as the boy ran towards him. Then, when Mercury was running away for only a couple of seconds, he heard a loud "Ouuuhhhoooooo! OUCH!", followed by a lot of crashing sounds.

With a sigh, the Mopaaw turned around, seeing the boy now on his stomach, with his wizard hat on the floor next to him, and a couple of frying pans on his back. He had tripped over some decoration of a food cart, and pulled the whole stall down onto himself.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you too, kid," Mercury said, keeping enough distance from the bundle of energy to be safe.

"It is!!" the boy replied with a big, toothy grin, although there was some blood leaking from his lower lip. Now that Mercury looked closer, he seemed to be maybe around 16 years of age. Long, brown hair flowed down his back, and he had equally brown eyes, though to be fair, the way they shimmered was bordering on flashlights.

He almost looked a little girly.

"Thanks for the help, kid- uh, I mean Elliot," Mercury said, correcting himself. In this world, you were probably an adult at an age younger than this, and quite frankly, the kid had helped him out a lot, so this was the least he could do.

"Welcome!" Elliot said, his smile growing even brighter as he dug himself out from the kitchen utensils he was buried in and sat down on the floor. He tried moving a little closer to Mercury, only for the cat to retreat a little. "Hm?"

"I really like my personal space, kid. Not one for being pet and snuggled, you know?"

"Okay! I gotcha! But why are you calling me kid so much?" Elliot spoke with very strong expressions, first grinning, then turning his head to the side and forming a big "o" with his mouth as he asked questions.

"It's because I'm old. 37 chapters old in fact."

"Hmmmmm," Elliot muttered, swaying side to side with a finger on his chin. "But you're a mopaaw!"

"Yes."

"Those don't grow past 20 usually!"

"Yes."

"And you're 37?"

"Yes."

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Silver. Fine, a metal, doesn't count. Black. Doesn't count sometimes either. Gold. Again, some people will make the point- it's purple. If you want to go specifically into colour theory it's purple."

"Silver, black, gold, purple, got it!" Elliot said with a smile. "I like blue! It's what they make the robes like."

"I see," Mercury said, in fact taking note that the boy's robes were blue, with a slight star pattern on his pointy hat. He really did look like a textbook example of a wizard.

"You're awfully cheery for the middle of a war."

"I try not to let it get to me," Elliot said, giving a wry smile. "My parents taught me that being a kid is as fun as it gets, so I try to keep it about me."

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"Mh. Whatever floats your boat," Mercury said, looking up into the sky. "How's the rest of the city looking?"

"Clean up is going well. This was the last big force we had to deal with. Still, I can't even imagine how many lives were lost today..."

"Anyone you know in the mix?" Mercury asked.

"I know mostly just the people from my guild. Some of them got hit, but I don't think anyone died yet."

"Mh," Mercury nodded, "that's good to hear. Losing people is tough."

"I know," Elliot said, staring into the sky. "It's not like we can do anything about it though."

"Suppose you're right."

"Elliot?" a woman called for the boy.

"Oh, that's the guild master! Come along, I'm sure she would love to meet you!" and without even waiting for a response, Elliot ran off.

"Sigh. Alright, alright," Mercury said and with very half-hearted devotion, he dragged his tired wreck of a body all the way over for the couple meters that he needed to.

"There you are. I'm happy to see that you didn't run off too far," the guild master said with a smile. She was a tall woman, wearing a large, blue wizard hat, and long, elegant robes. Her hair was long, silky, and startlingly black, her skin smooth, and a star tattooed on her cheek. She had a narrow, high nose and large, emerald eyes.

"Who is the friend you brought?" she asked, staring at Mercury.

"It's-"

"I can very well introduce myself," Mercury said, desensitized to being mistaken for a common furball. "My name is Mercury Rainfall Starlight. I'm part of the Godseekers' Guild, D rank, though hopefully about to be promoted after...", he looked around himself, "... all this."

"Well, it certainly has been a while since I've seen a true kin in these parts. Say, where do you hail from, Mercury?" the witch asked him, kneeling down to be more level.

"I dunno, I was told not to give my address to strangers. This is a clever hint for you to introduce yourself," he said, deadpan.

The guild master replied with a smile and a light chuckle. "Alright then. My name is Esmeya Raventhorn. As our little star might have told you, I'm the guild master of the Mages' Guild, and as such, I have taken to preserve the integrity of magic in Stormbraver."

"Neato. Well, I think you got something wrong, I'm not a "true kin" or whatever. Used to be a regular guy, 36, then I died, and now I'm here. As a "mopaaw". You wouldn't believe how much you miss thumbs once you don't have them anymore. I'm gonna get myself some telekinesis as soon as I can."

"Well, you could technically move items around using magic as well," Elliot said.

"True, but that's like super inefficient. Like, it takes so much mana to create even a little movement, and I have to like... bounce it around. Unless I create platforms, but moving and pushing those is difficult. And even applying mana outside my body has been a bit harsh, so I would even run out of it soon enough."

"Well, well, well, it seems someone is an aspiring mage," Esmeya said with a sly smile.

"Not really aspiring, only been in this body for a year now. So yup, that's me, 37 year-old dude. In a kitten's body."

"By no means a kitten anymore, dear Mercury," Esmeya said, eyeing him up and down. "You're soon to be full grown, you know? But say, it does intrigue me, what perhaps do you mean when you say 'died'?"

"Very literally. Choked on food, slammed my head against the floor, and boom, now I'm here. Fairly sure there was some in between, but it seems like some heavy fucking trauma, so I'm not touching it with a 10-foot-pole," Mercury replied, simply enjoying his time sitting rather than running around.

It seems Elliot was getting tired of that as well, as the boy simply plopped himself onto the ground next to his new feline friend.

"Curious indeed. Pray tell then, where did you die?"

"Place wouldn't tell you much. It's pretty far away, I'd guess."

"Hm, I would not be so sure Mercury. I've heard a story similar to yours before, from a woman named Hypatia, claiming to be from "Alexandria". Does that mean anything to you?"

"Sounds hella Greek to me dude."

"Yes, she claimed that she was indeed "from Greece", now I have never heard of that country before, but seemingly you have?" she asked, her lips slowly twisting into a curious smile.

"It does. But like, can we move this whole meeting to another day? On one hand, I don't exactly know you well enough to tell you everything about my life, so like, please don't dissect me, and secondly, take a good look. My fur colour is supposed to be white. White! I need a bath, and a shower, and more sleep than I would like to admit and- oh yeah my room's broken."

"Sleepover!!!" Elliot yelled, half throwing himself onto Mercury, who sadly avoided the boy's grip with his superior animalistic instincts, and so, the mage simply fell onto the floor.

"Yeah, no, I think I'll instead take a room at the gloryhall. But I can promise to swing by tomorrow, under a few conditions."

"Which would be?" Esmeya asked, cocking her head slightly.

"My rented room collapsed, but there's an important memento and some stuff of mine in there. I need you to promise to dig it out of the rubble."

"I swear on my guild."

"A little excessive. Just knock on the door of the gloryhall whenever you have time, and I'm sure Marcel or Avery will point you to me," Mercury said. "See-"

"Wait a moment, you know guild master Beckham?!" Elliot said, his face only centimeters from Mercury's, and his eyes turned into sparkles.

"I do. I also know I need sleep, so I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, he turned around and walked away, with his head held high.

"Wait!" Elliot yelled, trying to go after Mercury, but Esmeya quickly grabbed part of his robes.

"Come now, young one," she said, "let us return to our quarters. There is much to be done back at the halls."

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo---"

But without remorse, the guild master dragged the boy to get his chores done.

- - - - - -

Marcel was in a bit of a pickle, being faced with two strong enemies, when his specialty wasn't even fighting. He was a support mage, for goodness' sake, why did he have to run into those two?

He was using his staff to parry the attacks of the woman, she was strong and fast, carrying a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, yet at the same time, he also had to deal with a man who kept appearing behind him and trying to stab at his back.

Every time the man attacked, Marcel had to expend some mana to create a barrier to stop him, and although he used , it wasn't getting much easier to read their attacks. He was sweating buckets already, and if things continued like this, he knew it would go bad real quick.

"BACK OFF, FIENDS!! YOUR RECKONING HAS COME!!!" someone screamed, causing both Marcel and his attackers to flinch and look around.

...

...

...

"I'm here!" Kaga yelled from above a building, the sun directly behind her back, encasing her in a halo.

"Who the heck is that?" the scout asked his sword-wielding companion, but the woman could only shrug. Both of them turned to Marcel.

"Huh? I dunno, never seen her before," he said, just glad to have a moment to rest.

"What?! I am the protector of Stormbraver's golden one, the leader of the guardians, and the demon of the battlefield!"

Once again, the three of them looked at each other and one by one shrugged.

"Do you know her..?"

"Who is that...?"

"Man I got no idea..."

"FINE!!! I'LL JUST KILL YOU TO SHOW IT!!!!!" She yelled, then laughed hysterically as a javelin of air began to form in her hand, more a moving outline, as though she was grabbing at liquid glass. And a moment later, she threw it at all of them full force, causing a small explosion as the three hopped backwards.

"What the hell?! You fucking psychopath bitch, the fuck was that for?!" Marcel yelled back at her. "I'm from Stormbraver too!"

"Whoopsies!" Kaga said, putting out her tongue and smiling brightly as she grabbed the Naginata from her inventory. "Then help me take care of those northern bastards!"

Marcel shook his head and sighed. "Why do I always have to be paired with the nutcases?"

"I can hear you!!"

"Fine, fine. . . . . I'll cover your 6 with barriers, so make sure I don't get stabbed, nutcase," Marcel said, dropping all his friendliness.

"Gotcha, make sure you do your job, trashcan," Kaga said with a grin, jumping down from the building. As soon as she landed, she burst into a sprint, cutting the dust apart with her naginata. It was a weapon meant for both arms, a spear, except with a curved sword's blade, yet Kaga only wielded it with one hand.

After only a couple seconds, she arrived in front of the shield-wielding woman, swinging down with her full force and a mad grin on her face. Yet, when the warrior blocked her attack by supporting her sword with the shield, Kaga quickly ducked to avoid a counter, stepping in slightly closer to the other woman, and launching a heavy blow immediately into her stomach with her left hand.

"Wow, trashcan, I feel so light, gihgihgih!" She laughed, kicking the other woman into the face, when the scout appeared behind her and slashed at her throat. Yet, Marcel stopped him again, conjuring a small, shining ring of light in front of his dagger.

"Then beat the shit out of them already, you goddamn maniac!"

"What's the magic word?" she said dodging and blocking slashes from the warrior woman in front of her.

"Stop playing around you ugly bitch!!" the northerner yelled, slashing down with all her power.

And she hit flesh... for a moment.

"The fuck did you just say?" Kaga asked calmly, holding the sword with her now heavily bleeding left hand. Her face had gone many shades darker, and terror was flooding off her in waves.

The northerner woman tried to rip her sword back, and while it moved and made more deep cuts on Kaga's hand, the leader of the guardians didn't let go.

"Say that again."

The scout tried to attack, yet Marcel stopped him again.

"Say it," Kaga said, a little louder, having dropped her weapon and picked the woman up by her throat.

"SAY IT AGAIN YOU BITCH!!!!" she cried, slamming the northerner into the floor with a resounding crack, and Marcel was unsure whether the floor or the sack of meat had given in.

"That's what I thought," Kaga said calmly, the smile resurfacing on her face as she picked up the naginata she dropped and tested her bloodied left hand. "I'm still fit to fight," she spoke to the air, "Come out and play with me, little Ninja."

"How could you!" the scout screamed, attacking Kaga from behind with his daggers, yet she all too easily grabbed him.

"You really shouldn't announce your sneak attacks. They're much less sneaky that way," she said, tilting her head a little. "Oh well, this has been fun, gihgihgih," she laughed, then grabbed her Naginata near the cutting part, and stabbed it in between his ribs and into his heart, killing the man as he let out gurgling screams.

She tossed the body aside, adding it to the couple that littered the streets.

Marcel shook his head a couple times as he saw this.

"Hey, nutcase, you got some problems with violence?" he asked, not too terribly afraid.

"Hm? I wouldn't call it a problem, trashcan, just... a hobby," she said, giving him a charming smile.

"Alright then, let me get that hand of yours all done up."

"Aren't you a sweety," Kaga said with a bright grin, holding out her carved up and bloodied hand. She had been cut all the way to the bone at multiple parts of her palm.

Marcel sighed as he saw it, simply holding his cane above the wound. "", he said, and things seemed to look a little better. ". . ."

With every time he said it, Kaga's flesh knitted itself back together, until eventually, all that was left were a couple of scars on her skin.

"To get rid of those you gotta see a proper cleric. This has me drained, I'mma take a rest. Get the northerners out, you damn maniac."

"Naaawe, anything for you, trashcan," she said with a smile. "I'll be at work, see you!" And just like that, she was gone.

Marcel simply sat down on a piece of fallen debris.

"Shit man, the hell is wrong with the people around here?" he muttered to himself.