Chaos: Deathly Beginnings Chapter One

Speaking with authority, Phoebe said, “The downfall of a once cherished God will come upon us; it will be our children’s duty to defeat him. Seven youths, hybrid offspring born of the unions of higher powers and humanity, shall band together to save the Earth. Even in the clutches of Chaos- a God once trusted, once beloved- they will swiftly end his reign before it can even begin. The daemons will win with ease, and no one shall die.”

Phoebe was the angel of prophecies. In the stars were divinations. She was the only one with the capability to find them.
“It seems Chaos doesn’t have a fruitful future in order. Tell me, dear, what are you planning?” She asked.

Chaos was the god of the Underworld. He was powerful and destructive.
“You’re lying!” He yelled. His usually confident face broke. Gaia, the goddess of the Overworld, walked towards him.
“What does this mean?” She reached out to him. He grabbed her hand.
“I don’t know. I’m not evil, Gaia. You know that,” he whispered. She shook her head.
“Get out,” she said. “I have to talk with the other gods. Without you.”

Phoebe grabbed Chaos by the shoulders. She tried to lead him out of the room.
“Phoebe, stop! I’m not going to leave. You guys are my best friends. You can’t do this to me,” Chaos said. Tears rolled down his grey cheeks. Gaia started to yell.
“You are leaving. I need you to listen to me right now! I don’t know what you’re capable of.” Chaos pushed Phoebe off him and ran up to Gaia. Erebus, the god of darkness, latched on to him.

Chaos snarled, “Get off me, Erebus. I swear, get off me.” Erebus didn’t budge. “Get off!” With a blast of energy, he was gone. Erebus disappeared into a dust-like substance. As soon as Chaos realised what he had done, he ran.

***

“Sage. Sage, where are you?” Chaos frantically searched his palace. Sage was his fiancée. They were soon to marry and bear children of their own.

He walked to his bedroom to find a note on the dresser.
It was a suicide note, reading, ‘Chaos, I’m sorry. What you told me was the last straw. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t stand by and watch you turn into someone I know you’re not. I’m going to be happier this way. The pain will finally end.’

Chaos had an absence of words. His one love had killed herself, and he knew exactly how she did it. There was a special liquid in the Underworld. It could erase an angel or demon from existence with a singular drop.

Chaos lay on his bed, sliding her engagement ring on his finger.
As tears ran from the brink of his eyes, he mumbled, “She’s dead.”

***

Eons Later

Beatrice Lunar sat in her seat. There was only a day until her senior graduation, and she had been working extremely hard to become the valedictorian. She took out her sketchbook and started to draw. Beatrice was an artist, a good one at that. She prided herself in her talent at realism. Beatrice tuned out the sounds of her classmates as she sketched.

She had bright pink hair, and part of it was in a side ponytail. She had squinted almond-shaped eyes. She was a seventeen-year-old Asian-American girl who lived with her nineteen-year-old girlfriend, Luna Nightingale. Beatrice’s parents were off in other places, and she had no contact with them. She preferred to call herself an orphan, even though she technically wasn’t.

***

Luna Nightingale sat at home. She turned nineteen only a few weeks ago. Luna was a high school dropout. She and Beatrice had been dating since they were little kids. Luna had brown skin and curly light purple hair that went down past her breasts. She was plus-sized, and she had a beauty mark below her eye. While Beatrice was in school, Luna wouldn’t go anywhere. She disliked social interactions. She was paranoid about other people’s judgement.

***

It was lunchtime. Beatrice didn’t have anyone to sit with. She twiddled her bandaged thumbs and shook her leg up and down. Beatrice wasn’t eating anything that day. She felt something hard hit the back of her head. She turned around to see an orange on the floor.

“Stop it, Theodore!” She yelled across the lunchroom. The boy she was talking to, Theodore Axel, was her rival. They constantly fought and bullied each other. She picked up the orange and threw it straight at his face. It hit him, and his nose started to bleed. Beatrice was strong and had a slightly muscular build. Theodore, on the other hand, was a weak boy. He was short and skinny. Theodore had dark skin and orange dreadlocks. Unlike Beatrice, he was relatively popular. He was well-liked.

Theodore walked to Beatrice, saying, “I have something to tell you.” He got closer to her ear.
“What?” She snapped.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” he whispered. She pushed him and ran into the bathroom. She heard him and his friends laughing to themselves.

Beatrice slumped onto the floor and started to breathe heavily. A few other girls watched her have a breakdown. They only laughed. Usually, she would fight back, but she already felt exhausted. She didn’t have the energy to do anything. It was almost time for her next class, so she got up. She wiped off her face with a paper towel and walked out the bathroom door.

***
Theodore was allowed out of his class to go clean out his locker. He opened it and started to take pictures. They were all images of him and his adopted sister, Leyana. She had been living with him for a while, and they were very close.

Theodore lived on the streets after being kicked out of his neglectful parents’ home. He met a man named Sephtis, who rented him a small house. When he turned eighteen, he started legally paying for an apartment.

Beatrice walked up to her locker, which was right next to his. He had known her ever since he was a child. They had grown up going to the same schools. Theodore had gotten in trouble plenty of times for bullying her, but he never considered it that way. He was mean, but so was she.

Beatrice Lunar was abusive. She repeated it from her father, Darrell, who left her life about a year ago. She was always cynical, cold, and rude. She didn’t have any friends, and the only person who hung out with her was Luna- but to be fair, Luna couldn’t leave the relationship.

Theodore was aware of all of this, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He felt sorry for Luna. Theodore wasn’t close to her. However, he still tried to support her as much as possible.

***

Beatrice Lunar got off her bus and walked home. She opened the door to see Luna sleeping on the couch.
“Wake up!” She raised her voice. Luna opened her eyes slowly and sighed.
“Hello, Beatrice,” she said groggily.
“You have to take your medicine now.”

Beatrice walked into her room and sat down. She looked at the ceiling fan and sighed. She hated how supportive the other students’ parents were.

She lived with her abusive father until she turned sixteen. Her mother left her at ten. She wanted a loving, functional family, but she never got that. At certain times, she missed her dad- this was one of those times. She knew he was never going to treat her the way he should. However, the craving for fatherly love was still there. She hated him with all her heart, but he was her only family left. She felt a twisted affection for him.

***

“Father?” Beatrice called her dad. He picked up.
“Who’s this? Talk fast. I’m in the middle of something,” he said.
“It’s me, Beatrice. I miss you, I guess.” She started to cry. She regretted the phone call as soon as she heard his voice.
“What?” He snickered. She could hear him trying to hold back his laughter.
“No, I don’t know why I called! Just forget about it,” she mumbled.

He didn’t give up.
“Do you want me to come over? We could play, just like we used to do.”
“No, it’s fine. I just felt lonely because I was almost graduating. But please, you don’t have to come over or anything. Sorry for bothering you.”
“You’re not bothering me, baby. I can come over, and we can go on a nostalgia trip,” Darrell said. At that moment, she hung up the phone and started to cry.

“Oh, why did I do that?” She whispered to herself. She turned over in her bed. “I’m such a wimp.” She didn’t want him to come over. If he did, she would get beaten.

“Beatrice? I’ve made some dinner. Would you like some?” Luna asked from outside the door. Beatrice got up and wiped off her eyes.
“Yeah, I guess. Thanks,” Beatrice said.

***

Beatrice sat down at the dinner table.
“What’d you make?” She asked, drinking water.
“Spaghetti squash burrito bowls. They should be pretty good,” Luna replied, smiling. Beatrice Lunar was a vegetarian. She had a strict rule against meat, and there was none in the house.
“Hey, would Theodore be allowed to come over?”
“Theodore? Why would he come over to my house? What the fuck? Are you crazy?” Beatrice stopped eating.
“I’m sorry, it’s just-”
“I know he’s your only friend, but god damn.” She got up and threw the food in the trash.
“No, Beatrice, you have to listen to me. I have a reason for this,” She begged.
“Shut the fuck up.” Beatrice walked into her room and shut the door. Luna sighed.

***

A few minutes later, Luna dialled Theodore’s number.
“I’m real sorry, but you can’t come over. I’m sorry. The question annoyed Beatrice. I need to wait until she’s feeling better,” Luna said.
“Would it be too much to ask that you sneak out?” He asked. “I know it’s a big ask. But we have to talk.”
“No, no, I know. I guess I could. Beatrice is in her room. I’ll get my bike and come on over.”
“Right. See you soon, Luna,” Theodore said.

***

Luna got to Theodore’s apartment.
“Hey, Theodore,” she said, giving him a short hug. “And hello to you, Leyana.” His little sister, Leyana, was getting ready for bed.

“Do you want some food? I’ve got bacon and eggs,” he asked as he showed her to the kitchen. She nodded and got a plate. “Lela, go ahead to your room. I’ll come to sing you a song shortly, okay?”
“Okay, Teddy!” She grabbed a piece of bacon and headed to her room. Teddy was her nickname for Theodore. Not many people called him nicknames, but she did.
“So, do you have the plan to complete the prophecy?” Theodore asked.

Theodore Axel was the demigod of creation, the son of Gaia. Luna wasn’t a daemon. She was known as the protector. Beatrice was the demigod of destruction, the daughter of Chaos. His alias, ‘Darrell Lunar,’ was a name he chose to hide his identity. Beatrice didn’t have any idea about any of this. Luna told her a long time ago, but she forgot due to her trauma.

“Well, after graduation, I was thinking we could tell her and pack to go,” Luna said. They have to travel across the states to collect all the other demigods. There were seven in total. Leyana Thompson was also a daemon. She was the daughter of Hemera, the god of the day. Leyana wore two dark brown pigtails. She had pale skin.
“How is she going to take that?” Theodore asked.
“Not very well, but that’s okay. I can deal with it. I’ll already have to deal with a lot of anger from just being here, so it’s alright,” Luna said.
“I’m sorry. Let me treat you to some more food and a good time. Maybe some wine?”

***

“Luna? Where the fuck are you? It isn’t funny. I’m going to beat you up!” Beatrice yelled. She couldn’t find Luna, so she spammed her phone with texts and calls. Beatrice checked every room, nook, and cranny, but to no avail. It was around ten p.m., and she planned to watch a movie with Luna.

Beatrice looked through Luna’s room for any sign of where she might be. Beatrice shuffled through her drawers to find a packet of letters. She looked through them, and they were all addressed to Luna. They seemed to be very romantic.

“Is she cheating on me?” Beatrice mumbled to herself. The handwriting was a beautiful cursive. “Who is this from?” There was no note of who gave it to her. Beatrice found Luna’s diary and started to look through it. Beatrice couldn’t find any entries about the letters or who could’ve given them to her.

“What is this? She wants to kill herself?” The writing was very concerning. “Why does she want to kill herself?” Beatrice clutched the notebook and ran to the living room. She lit the fireplace. She ripped out Luna’s suicide plans and burned them. “Fuck her. She’s so selfish. I can’t believe she’d plan to kill herself. Fuck her, I’m going to bed.” She put out the fire and walked to her room while in tears. She laid down and pulled the covers over herself.

***

At midnight, Beatrice heard a knock on her bedroom door. She assumed it was Luna and opened it.
“I hope I didn’t wake you up, darling,” a tall, muscular man said. It was her father. There was another shorter figure following him. “You said you missed me, so here I am.”

“Father?!” She screamed. She backed up into her room in fear. He turned on her light.
“Hello there. I brought my friend with me. His name is Santiago.” Santiago was a small Hispanic boy who wore a sweatshirt and thigh-high socks. He had a fluffy black jellyfish haircut. He had a button nose and almond eyes.

“That’s a boy?” She asked judgmentally. “Can you just leave?”
“Yes, he’s a boy. Why are you asking me to leave, baby? You’re the one who wanted me here. I can come to your graduation if you’d like,” Darrell said.
“No, just... please go. I was just sad at the moment. Please,” Beatrice begged. She was scared of her father. He laughed and took a step further.

“Don’t be scared, my dear. I just wanted to surprise you,” Darrell said, his voice sweet as syrup, “Santiago is my best friend. He’s been taking quite good care of me since I left you. I just thought you two should meet each other.” Santiago gave a small wave. He didn’t like to talk.
“I know it’s been a while, but maybe the three of us could catch up over dinner,” he continued.
“No, thank you. I have work to do. Goodbye,” Beatrice said, trying to push him out of the room.

“Suit yourself. Don’t be surprised when you see me at your graduation.” He and Santiago left, and for a second, she could’ve sworn she saw them both with demonic features.

***

Beatrice Lunar woke up. It was her last day of school- her graduation day. Beatrice was somewhat excited but didn’t know how to start her career. She had money left to her by her father, but she didn’t want to blow it on college. Beatrice wanted to pursue an art career. She put on a yellow hoodie and blue skirt. She went to her mirror.

She did her makeup. Beatrice always wore a full face to distract herself from features similar to her father’s. One of her biggest fears was resembling him, and she did. She had the same nose, eyes, cheekbones, and temper.

Beatrice walked into Luna’s room.
“I know you left. What were you doing- cheating on me? I saw those letters. And I know you’ve been planning to kill yourself. That is so fucking selfish, Luna. Are you even thinking about my feelings at all?”

“I’m- I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time-”
“Do not give me bullshit excuses. You’re being a shitty girlfriend- and cutting yourself? What’s up with that? If you want pain, I’ll give you pain.”
“No, I just-” Luna got cut off by a punch.
“Is that why you wanted Theodore over yesterday? Are you hooking up with that fucking bastard?”
“No, I promise I’m not! I was just writing. It was just handwriting practice. I’m not cheating, I swear. Please.” She sobbed.
“You’re a liar- this is what you get for lying,” Beatrice said. She struck her stomach.

***

Theodore walked Leyana to her bus stop. She was only nine years old, but she was a demigod. She didn’t have control over her powers.
“Okay, Lela. Have a great day at school! I’ll pick you up when it’s time for my graduation, okay? I love you, come here,” He said, kissing her on the cheek.
“I love you too, Teddy! You’re so going to be the winner, I just know it,” She happily exclaimed as she skipped to the bus.

Theodore smiled and waited for his own. After they saved the world, he wanted to get a higher education. He wanted to become a teacher. Theodore also wanted to bring another person into Leyana’s life. He wanted to meet a nice person, have a committed relationship with them, and adopt another child. He loaded on his bus and sat down.

***

It had been a few hours since Beatrice had left for school, and Luna was still in pain. She dealt with suicidal ideations for years, but they had gotten worse. Luna had started thinking that nobody needed her. She wasn’t even involved in the prophecy, so what point was there in continuing? The gods only chose her as a fail-safe.

She was going to commit suicide a month after Beatrice’s eighteenth birthday. She was going to get Theodore to hook her up with his old drug dealer, and she was going to purchase some fentanyl. Her will and suicide notes were burned and trashed, and so was her diary. It meant a lot to her. She sat down, and she cried.

‘I’m sorry, Beatrice. I love you, I love you. I’m sorry.’ She texted Beatrice as she grabbed a knife. She was going to kill herself right then and there. Luna Nightingale put the knife up to her wrist, and she slit it.

***