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Seeds of Evil: Rophion Forest
CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST WAR

CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST WAR

  „A war that ends… begins a war.

  Its flames are up, to the sky, and more,

  Predicting Death, Predicting War:

  A War that Ends… Begins a War!”

   After Chaos’s return from Paradise and after his conversation with Yggdrasil and with the voice of Life, he decided that it was time to take a break and sat down on his stone throne, positioned in the middle of the Universe, and, watching the slow-motion of Aeon, he immersed himself in thoughts.

  Around him, the stars continued their daily routine, as the days and the nights of the Cosmos which were the same all the time while everything was sunken into darkness all around them. But still, there was Life all around there.

  Then, one day, when Aeon started to shine brighter than usual, something that made Chaos’s heart shine too, he stretched his hand in front and, as if he was writing something, Chaos drew some symbols in the air.

  Those symbols were closely related to the nowadays symbols Yin and Yang: a perfectly drawn circle, shaded black inside. Yet, even if that circle, so powerfully bathed by the light of Aeon, was something Chaos loved so much, he felt that something was missing from that circle, but he didn't know what exactly was missing.

  However, the Cosmos was by Chaos’s side and, as if reading the stone giant’s thoughts, who was looking for an idea, the Cosmos helped him. Thus, far away, in the distance, a thunderlight pierced the dark body of the sky, and this made Chaos smile: he found what he was looking for. So, he delimited the surface of the circle into two. Yet, the middle line wasn’t straight but was an oval one, with two loops on both sides: one up, on the left part, and one on the bottom, on the right side.

  Even so, Chaos seemed that something was still missing there. So, he asked Life to talk to him.

  „Did you call me, Chaos?” The woman’s voice said after Chaos thought about her for a short while, but he didn’t know what to do to bring her there.

  „Yes, Life. I summoned you here to ask you a piece of good advice to finish this small sphere of the Cosmos and even though I thought for a long time about what is missing in this sphere, I can’t realize what it can be.”

  Listening to Chaos's words, Life kept silent for a while trying to figure out what was missing from that circle, and, very soon, a sudden pulsation has been felt in the air, and Chaos understood that Life will give him an idea soon. And this has been so because Life told him: „do you remember what Yggdrasil told you when you had been in Paradise?”

  „About the other tree, similar to him, called the Tree of Life?”

  „Yes. If a Tree of Life and another one of Death have ever existed, why not include them both in your creation? And I mean here both Darkness and Light kept inside that powerful circle.”

  Chaos smiled because Life was once again right. So, he stretched his hand to the sky and, touching the line from the middle of the circle, he shaded the left part of it into black while the right part was washed by life-giving light. Yet, both parts had smaller spheres of the opposite color on the upper-left and right-bellow.

  „Now it’s perfect,” Chaos said and he stood up, admiring his creation and being so happy and proud that he did this. „I name this creation the Sphere of the World," he added. „The line from the middle of the sphere will be the Gate that divides the Galaxies and its name will be Alabar while the smaller spheres will be the stars of Life and Death that will have a single name - Bayer, the Star of Hope.”

  After this, washed by the bright light of Aeon, the Sphere of The World started to slowly move, as if it was moving around its own axis, and this made Chaos smile again.

  Yet, even if Chaos thought that he was alone in that part of the Cosmos and that he could talk only to Life when he needed this, each of his movements was closely lurked from the faraway Paradise by Genea. And she was keeping an eye on Chaos because she was afraid that he will bring life all around again when she had worked so hard to sink everything in darkness. That's why she decided not to allow this ever happen and, to make sure she'll succeed eventually, Genea breathed a blow of magic air over him and Chaos’s heart split into two. Thus, Chaos had two hearts: a light one and a second one completely black as if it was a diamond washed in pitch.

  Namely from that black heart Eris has been born - the one who Chaos named his sister at first, but whom he made his wife soon after this because he needed a companion so much. Yet, he never suspected that she was so different from him, even if both of them were born from the same heart.

  But time passed without anything special happening - only the stars around changed, washed by darkness and light at the same time. Thus, feeling so much peace and blessing all around, Chaos understood that Eris started to be even more important than his life was.

  Nevertheless, Eris thought differently because she was born from the darker part of him and what she wanted was to step out of his shadow and rule the Universe in his place.

  However, Eris understood that fighting against Chaos without having at least a partner was a sure defeat, even if she felt Genea's support so powerfully and she also had, flowing through her veins, part of Genea's venom while listening to her mother's words all the time resounding in her ears: that she was strong and that she had the power to dethrone Chaos and rule over the surroundings. Even so, Eris decided that it wasn't the right time to act and that she must wait, in silence while hammering her devilish plan out.

  That's why she joined Chaos's dance of creation at first and when he has been completely blinded by her presence, Eris threw the Seeds of Evil between them, and, from that black energy, their children have been born - Nyx and Striff. But, right from the first day of their existence, both children felt a total connection with their mother, but they never felt love for their father. And this was the power of darkness in fact.

   And with the coming of her children into this world, Eris decided to take the risk and, one day, when Chaos closed his eyes, trying to fill his heart with energy from Aeon, Eris attacked him, throwing a wave of black, devilish energy over him.

  At first, Chaos didn't feel that black lava coming over him. Yet, when Life yelled at him from far away: „Watch out, Chaos, the Darkness attacks you” he opened his huge stone eyes and threw a wave of light energy toward Eris. Thus, when Light and Darkness met, everything around started to vibrate, as if the Universe was shuddering, and the First War that has ever happened started thus, and this meant betrayal for Chaos.

  Namely that bitter taste of betrayal made Chaos’s heart harden, and the light from it faded off again. That’s why he decided that it was the time to fight against the woman he loved the most, but who chose to betray him, and, even if he had to destroy his masterpiece, Chaos was convinced to defeat Eris, to beat her to her knees, and make her feel remorse.

  „If Fate and my wife had decided so, then I’ll fight too,” Chaos told Life and, pouncing on Eris, who was grinning with satisfaction in front of him, the two hugged each other, as if they were two amounts of stones, and their joined power made them appear and disappear here and there in a blink of an eye as if they were teleporting their bodies through worlds yet unknown.

  Suddenly, a yell of the two has been heard around, a powerful roar that made even the surroundings shudder in fear. Yet, soon after this, the nothingness has been embraced by silence again. Then, the two stone giants appeared in front of the Sphere of the World again, and, pushing the other one away from them, they managed to split their forced hug.

  And Eris took that cunning step because she felt that she was lacking air. Yet, while she was crawling back, trying to find a place to hide, Chaos caught her by the throat with his enormous stone fingers, and, looking straight into her glance while his eyes looked like lit embers, he hissed through his teeth: „you have made the worst decision ever, Eris. This world is mine and you’ll never take it from me.”

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  But Eris growled at him, satisfied because she was sure of her success. And this happened because she knew something Chaos wasn’t aware of. So, that thing, that was meant to help her, appeared very soon, not that far from them, and getting closer and closer at a dizzying speed while being in a carriage pulled by 6 black horses, Striff and Nyx were rushing to help their mother.

  „Fools!” Chaos yelled at them when he understood what they wanted to do. „Are you trying to destroy this world?”

  „No,” Eris grinned. „We’re just trying to destroy you.”

  „Then, Eris, keep dreaming about the impossible,” Chaos told her, in a thundering voice, and namely the thunder of his voice brought Elyzar there, the fire horse of Time, which showed up from nowhere right next to Chaos.

  Namely the horse’s neigh made Chaos wince and, stretching his hand, he grabbed the reins and, in one leap, he climbed on Elyzar’s back.

  „You are playing dirty, Chaos,” Eris said, unpleasantly surprised by what she was seeing. „You think that you’ll defeat me by using the time against me. But this is useless because I’m beyond this,” Eris yelled and her roar has been heard all over the Universe.

  „War teaches one what courage means and also war gives him the right to choose the path onto which to step: the path of the mind or the one of the heart. And, even if you spent a lot of time next to me, you never knew my real nature because, having Time by my side, I can control everything around me, including you.”

  But Chaos was mistaken because Time wasn’t created to be subdued. Time was created to control itself and control others at the same time. That’s why, when Chaos’s words rolled throughout the Universe, somewhere behind Aeon, the Balance of the Cosmos showed up in all glory.

  Its splendor and its perfectly balanced form amplified the light of Aeon and that light has been sent all over as if it was a signal.

  Thus, at the moment the light touched the black skin of Elyzar, the horse neighed, and, lifting himself on his back legs, he forced Chaos to release the reins.

  Seeing this, Nyx grabbed the axis of the Cosmos with both hands while the magic of her own being helped her to do this, covering the axis with a black coat, and, throwing the axis toward Chaos, it caught on his girdle, as if it was a hook.

  „Now, Striff! Pull those reins!” Nyx yelled at her brother and he forced the six black horses to gallop away on the sky's surface. Thus, the farther they were moving from Chaos and Elyzar, the harder the axis was extended as if it was a thick chain, and the pressure of the axis, while the horses were pulling Chaos’s body, was so big, threatening him with destruction.

  Yet, Chaos wasn't ready to give up. That's why, while he was desperately moving to release his body, he started to stagger on Elyzar’s back who, still feeling the burden on his back, puffed loudly from his nostrils and, shaking his mane, the horse threw Chaos off his back eventually.

  Seeing Chaos falling, Eris thought that it was her chance to climb on Elyzar and rule the world. But the horse knew who his master was, he knew who was born to rule this world and who didn’t have that right. So, at the moment Eris edged closer to him, intending to climb on his back, Elyzar bit from her flesh, forcing her, in the end, to give up on her plan.

  Mad, Eris roared: „Elyzar, you don’t know who you are fighting against and who you are about to have as your worst enemy because by denying me the right to be the Master of this world, you also declare war on me. But you should know something: you cannot defeat me, as you cannot confront me because you don’t have such a right or power.” Yet, Eris was also wrong because who doesn't have written in the stars to rule the world, also doesn't have the chance to win against the king of the Galaxies, no matter how hard that person isn't working on that.

  But because her words didn't make the horse submissive, Eris lost her control. Thus, furious and mad, she started to burn.

  To understand what she looked like at that moment, you should imagine an entire forest in flames. Also, imagine the light and the heat made by this arson and multiply it by a thousand times. Thus, you’ll finally see what Eris looked like at the height of her madness when all her hatred was headed toward Elyzar, wanting to destroy him, transform him into dust, or at least kneel him down.

  And, to succeed in her madness and in her revenge, Eris stretched her enormous hand in front, intending to hit the horse.

  But when Elyzar felt the danger approaching him, he vanished in a blink of an eye. Thus, instead of the horse, Eris hit Chaos, transforming him into thousands and thousands of shining stars, scattered all over the Universe.

  And, at the moment Chaos’s body has been transformed into shining lights, the Balance of the Cosmos, that was behind Aeon, split too... into many other smaller Balances and, after a few pulsations of life, those small Balances vanished somewhere, as if they hid in the Universe.

  Surprised by that turn of events, Eris started to laugh and her triumphant laughter has been heard all around. Thus, she wasn’t able to see or hear anything around at that moment, due to a wave of immense happiness that took over her because she felt, with all her being, the power of her ruling.

  Nevertheless, she was wrong because the one born to be the King of the World, after being himself created from the void, couldn’t so easily be kneeled. That's why she very soon heard Chaos's voice again.

  „I curse you to be evil forever, Eris. And, very soon, you’ll feel, on your own skin, what means to have been kneeled, ruined, and defeated,” and, after that, at Eris’s wrists and ankles, cuffs appeared, and those cuffs were tied by thick chains, immobilizing her… and also those chains were caught by Elyzar’s harness.

  Puffing angrily and feeling the burden that Fate put on his back, the horse's mane sent a kind of hot magma around, a magma that started to move in circles soon after this. And, in the end, the same magma turned into a hurricane that formed a Black Hole by using its huge power.

  Yet, that Black Hole wasn't only the product of the Cosmos's anger, intertwined with Chaos's fury: it was a kind of Portal, inside of which two huge fire eyes could be seen sparkling and illuminating the darkness of that void thus.

  And those eyes were so scary… their powerful light was burning the stars around, feeding themselves with their energy while gathering power thus, and, so soon, they started to drag Eris toward that Black Hole, as if they were a magnet.

  Feeling the danger approaching her, Eris tried to escape. But when she understood that it was useless fighting alone, she asked for her children’s help, but none of them was able to help her because they felt their bodies hardened because of fear for those two eyes that were staring at them.

  Thus, left alone in that unequal battle, Eris has been completely swallowed by the Black Hole just in seconds… and when that Portal closed, only her name was still spinning around, as if it was an echo running throughout the Universe, just to remind others that a stone soul, named Eris, has ever existed.

  After this, when there was quiet all around again, those eyes, that were floating in the Cosmos at that moment, turned to Striff and Nyx, and Chaos talked to his children:

  „My greedy daughter and my ungrateful son - for your betrayal, I condemn you to split up and this will be your punishment: Nyx will lead only dark nights, where fear and despair float around. And you, Striff, for accepting to be part of this shameful plan, I curse you to never have rest and always live in someone’s shadow while being the cartman of the carriage of the Cosmos, which will always be in movement throughout the Universe.”

  Then, the light of Chaos’s eyes faded off when the Black Hole swallowed itself and vanished somewhere… then, next to Striff’s carriage, a smaller one showed up, pulled by two black scorpions, and a mystical power dragged Nyx into the smaller one.

  Yet, even if she wanted this, Nyx didn’t oppose it because she was completely hardened by fear. Thus, for the first time in her short life, she was afraid of something, and, looking back, she saw a golden cart, pulled by two white horses, approaching hers at full speed while the silhouette of an imposing person was outlined in that cart.

  That person was Helyos, the first Titan born from Chaos and whose main objective in this world was to always chase Nyx’s carriage because this was her punishment - to always run away from Helyos, who was looking for her perdition. And, from the moment Helyos has been brought into this world, a New Era of the Cosmos started.

  Thus, feeling the arson of the sun burning their pliers, the two scorpions pulled the carriage and ran away while Helyos’s white horses were galloping behind them.

  And, passing next to Striff’s carriage, in the mad gallop of the horses, Helyos looked at Striff for a second and forced him to shudder because he felt that something strange happened behind him. Yet, Striff wasn’t able to look back because his body and his neck were hardened and stuck in place, and only his fingers, which were holding the reins, and his eyes, which were seeing Bayer in front of them, still looked alive.

  Actually, which allowed another Miracle to happen, has been the Light of Bayer. Thus, in Striff’s carriage, the silhouette of another Titan has been outlined soon: it was the second Titan, named Atlas, whose main purpose in this world was to take care of a huge lifeless star, and when he has been completely brought to life, Atlas stretched his hand and, on that carriage, nine Planets showed up. Yet, only one of them was brighter and bigger than the others, and this one was Planet Earth, the one which Atlas put on his shoulder, and since then he has been its eternal protector.

  Then, when he felt that he was ready, Atlas told the cartman: „Let’s go, Striff."

  Saying nothing, Striff pulled the reins and the carriage moved from its place, slowly advancing on the sky's surface while, behind them, another Black Hole showed up.

  But this one was different from the first one because it wasn’t swallowing anything inside, but it was formed from the stars of the sky… thousands and thousands of shining stars were forming its body while two other Titans showed up on both of its sides - Lodur, the Spirit of Justice, Fair Judgment and the only one who established the Laws of the Universe, and Dike, his younger brother, the one with wolf blood flowing through his veins - the one known as the Father of Rophions.