Sounds of pure joy echo from the royal chambers of Aevum.
One of them being the laughter of the little prince.
Baby Perseus falls into a fit of giggles as his mother pokes his tummy—forgetting the blue rattle he was so enraptured by seconds ago.
"I got you!" She says and tickles him on the floor. Her own smile stretches
"Momma!" He couldn't have been more than a year old, but the little prince was already developing words and phrases. Order's smile widens even more. She knew he would become something great in the future. It was only principal to let him flourish as a child.
"You're such a smart little star, aren't you?" She lifts him in her arms and kisses his forehead. Perseus laughs and babbles in her embrace.
The door to the nursery clicks open, and Chaos walks in with a soft smile on his face. His hair is messy from running his fingers through it, and his eyes shining with warmth. Order beckons him over as Perseus' expression brightens even more and tries to waddle in his father's direction.
The child reaches his arms out and makes grabbing motions with his chubby little hands. "Papa!"
Chaos let's out a boisterous laugh and scoops Perseus into his arms. "How's my little Starburst?" He asks. Perseus babbles and moves his hands around as if explaining what he was doing. Chaos' grin grows wider as he nods along with the occasional 'oh, really?' and 'wow!'.
Order watches fondly as her son and husband interact.
"How was work, dear?" She asks as she stands up and makes her way towards the two.
Chaos brushes his nose against Perseus', making the baby laugh at the ticklish feeling."Busy, as usual. The Council requested that both of us be at the next meeting to discuss the intergalactic-travel dispute by the Triangulum Galaxy."
"Alright then," She hums, "I'll schedule Nyx to watch over the little one, then."
The creator of the universe makes a sound of disapproval and gives Order a knowing look. "Ask Hemera instead. You remember Nyx taught Perseus how to manifest darkness last time she watched over him."
That's right. The entire palace was washed in complete darkness for an entire week before Chaos and Order figured out a way to coax the baby from using his newfound ability.
Order smiles at the memory, already creating the mental note. "Alright, Hemera it is." Over the next hour, the two entities play with their son with fond gazes and affectionate cooing.
At one point, Perseus made it his goal to try to shove an entire block into his mouth, in which Chaos promptly had to chase him down and take it before the young prince hurt himself. Perseus squirms himself under the coffee table, summons his wings, and curls them around his body protectively in order to keep Chaos from taking the block. Order sat in the rocking chair, laughing at the comical sight.
Chaos gives Order a pleading look that screamed 'please help me'.
Finally deciding that she's seen enough, she takes matters into her own hands. "Now Perseus." She calls. The firmness in her tone makes the young prince's head peak from the cluster of his feathers. His wide, galaxy-like eyes look into his mother's golden ones. The block is still in his mouth, stretching his cheeks awkwardly. Order struggles to keep from bursting into laughter at the sight. "Come here, Little Nova."
The baby's wings disappear from his back, and he waddles his way to the awaiting arms of his mother with a sad look—knowing he was being scolded. Order promptly takes the now slobber-soaked toy from his mouth and tosses it into the nearby crib. Chaos complains at how the young boy listens to her more than himself, but both parents know he was also struggling to keep from breaking into a grin. Perseus proceeds to babble seriously, hands moving around as if explaining the reason he decided to shove the toy into his mouth.
In the back of their minds, they can't help but think. Ahh yes, this is true happiness.
Until it wasn't.
Maybe it was Fate—an accumulation of unintended mistakes—but no one realized that this happy moment was to be their last.
A guard bursts through the nursery door, not even bothering to knock or use formal titles."Chaos! Order!" She wheezes. Both of them raise their eyebrows in surprise, although titles were never much of an obligation, it was odd for the guard to present herself in this way. They then realize is was the commander of the First Sector, Sidrah. Before they could ask, she starts with a sentence that made them freeze. "Aevum is infiltrated. We must—"
As if tuning back into the throes of reality, the sounds of screaming and crashing objects come into focus. They can all tell that it is getting closer.
Chaos' expression hardens. "By who?" He flicks his wrist, and his sword, Astrum, appears in his grip. The blade hums with a powerful energy, making Sidrah shudder at the aura.
"We do not know." She draws her own sword, turning towards the doorway and preparing for the oncoming peril. "However, they are exceedingly dangerous. They've managed to incapacitate our first response within minutes. Something is very wrong here, Your Highnesses."
Order tucks a confused Perseus into her arms, her eyes glowing menacingly as she prepares to tear down any force that threatens her family. She looks at her son. Perseus' eyes are wide with distress—not quite understanding why the mood around him has changed so suddenly. He clutches onto Order with his small, chubby hands as he looks between the adults.
In that moment, Order makes her decision.
"Chaos and I will handle it. Take Perseus to the safe room." Order says. Her instincts screaming to keep her child close, but her people were dying trying to defend them. She and Chaos needed to help. Sidrah's eyes widen in almost terror. No one in Aevum have held the young prince except the Creator and Keeper. She sheathes her sword and takes Perseus into her own arms. The baby stares at her with curious eyes, allowing her to pick him up without complaint. "Protect him with your life. I'm trusting you with my son. Sidrah, do you understand?"
Sidrah stares for a moment before her expression darkens. A fire flares within the commander, and she looks at both entities with a determination they have never seen before. "Yes, Your Highness." And Order knew, that this woman would do anything to protect her child.
A loud crash down the hall of the nursery prompts them to speed up the process.
"Go!" Both Order and Chaos press kisses on Perseus' temple, and Sidrah proceeds to run off in the direction of the protection floor.
Order summons her own sword, Empyrean. Her dress morphs into a sleek golden armor. Chaos does the same and replaces his suit with black armor speckled with stars. Astrum, his own sword, morphs into existence in his hand. Both entities break into a sprint in the direction of the violence.
Noises of yelling and metal clanging get louder as the two burst into the throne room.
Faceless warriors in pure white armor cut through their ranks with unadulterated malice. Confusion and frantic battle continue before them as both try to make sense of the scene.
What are these warriors?
Order and Chaos share a look of communication before joining the battle.
"Soldiers!" Order barked. "Fall back!" Chaos slashed his sword through the air, and a wave of pure energy blasts into the line of bleached warriors as their guards shield themselves. The former let out a series of shrieks in agony as they combusted at an molecular level. Order spreads her golden wings and flies to the front of their ranks before engaging in battle with her people. Chaos joined soon after.
The tides of the battle start to switch, and with renewed confidence, the warriors of Aevum reclaim the area.
A tingling sensation shoots down Order's spine, making her realize that the faceless warriors were dwindling at an alarming rate. She whips her head towards her husband.
"Chaos."
"I know."
They both knew the fight here was a distraction. For what though?
A tall figure steps into view. His aura strong and unlike the warriors, he did have a face, and on it was adorned with a wicked grin. A white sword is clutched in his grip as he advances towards Order with cruel confidence. It is clear that he was of higher ranking of the assailants.
Order let's our a sound similar to a growl and goes to intercept him. As soon as they are arm's length from each other, their battle begins.
Everyone is surprised to find that he was keeping up with the entity quite well. Order had underestimated him and within a minute of their fight, he managed to get in a fairly harsh blow to her side. The blade pierces her armor with ease, sending alarm through Chaos as he tries to interfere.
Instead of being caught by surprise and giving him the upper hand, however, Order increases her attack almost tenfold. The leader stumbles and struggles to keep up, but his attempts are futile. She knocks his sword from his grip and sweeps him to the ground. The back of his head slams into the galactic marble below, and his eyes roll to the back of his head.
The throne room is silent. The guards stand at ready--many of which catching their breaths and looking to the origins for instructions. Chaos reorganizes their ranks and commands for a defense sequence of the planet to be initiated immediately. He turns to Order, who has Empyrean clutched in her left hand, as her right hand presses into the wound in her side.
Chaos takes a step towards her once seeing her weary frown."Are you okay?" As if just realizing he was there, she looks up in a daze, concerning Chaos even more. "Love, how bad is it?"
"I...I don't know..." She says, words slurring and eyes drooping to the wound. Her body starts shaking like brittle leaves in the wind. She tries to take a step toward, but proceeds to crumble to the ground.
"Order!" Chaos moves just in time to catch her. Her body trembles as he gathers her in his arms. He curses at the feeling of her cold skin against his.
By the time he gets to the infirmary, Order is barely conscious. He tightens his hold on her limp body as he enters the medical area.
The doctors immediately jumped into action. Their yells could be heard throughout the entire branch as they began their procedures on the Origin. They lay her on a gurney and treated the wound as they rush to one of the private rooms specifically for the Origins.
Chaos demanded to go with them, but the nurses go to placate him and explain that they needed to examine the wound and treat it before letting anyone in. The Creator growls, but sat directly outside of the room, waiting for the news.
Several minutes pass before Naliah, head medic, exits and turns towards him. "Sir, I...I think you should take a look at this." Chaos immediately rises to his feet after hearing the alarm in the doctor's voice.
"Show me."
They walked into the room, and Chaos' breath hitched at the sight.
The entire wound is white.
Snow colored blood seeps from the wound as the veins around it are bleached with ivory. Order's breaths are uneven, struggling to keep her body functioning. Chaos blanches at the sight. Of all his years existing, he has never seen a wound as gruesome as this.
Chaos whips his head away from the sight and towards Naliah. "Can you not heal it? What is this?"
"Your highness." The doctor says and runs a frustrated hand through her hair. "I wish I could, but..."
"But what?" Chaos demands. His hands clench into tight fists, but if she noticed, she didn't make a comment on it.
"The team has never seen or researched this type of poison, sir. It's clearly from an outside universe. We've tried all of our standard treatments, but it has only made things worse. We don't want to speed up the spread of the wound any further."
Chaos gently caresses Order's matted hair from her face. Even in unconsciousness, she leans her head into his touch. His hands started to tremble as he slowly realized the extent of the situation. Something--no, someone not of the universe was targeting Order and Chaos specifically. Someone created a poison potent enough to incapacitate one of the Origins.
There are only two other entities that Chaos knows of that is capable of such act, and one had sworn herself into absolute neutrality as the other was banished in the beginnings of Order and Chaos' precious creations.
He does not get enough time to dwell on the situation however. A growing sense that something is wrong fills him. He straightens so quickly the doctor flinches in surprise. She begins to question whether he was injured as well, but there is only one thing on his mind at the moment.
Perseus is in danger.
He flies out of the infirmary so quickly it would be considered teleportation. The alarm only grows within him as he follows the source to the protection floor.
The very first thing he was faced with were piles of bodies.
His heart drops at the carnage before him. His trusted officers lie half-hazardly before him, unmoving and unresponsive. The silence throughout the floor only add to the horrific sight.
By one of the walls lies one that the creator instantly recognizes.
"Sidrah." He whispers. The commander is sprawled onto her side with a gaping wound in the side of her head. Her eyes are unseeing as her arms curl limply around her, as if she were still holding the one-year-old in her arms. Someone had taken the child from her cold body. Someone had known where to find the little prince and made use of this information in the worst way imaginable.
The sight sends waves of panic and guilt through the creator's body.
He gently closed her eyes and whispered an apology and blessing. Her body dissolved into stardust and is swept away by a faint breeze. She would be given the highest honor in her funeral.
Though his blood runs cold as he hears a baby crying.
"Perseus!" He sprints, searching the chambers. The creator leaps over the bodies and sprints through the halls like a madman. Something was blocking him from using his abilities and fully sensing his son's presence, but Chaos could still tell his son was somewhere here.
The child's shrill scream comes from the very end of the hallway, and Chaos practically breaks the sound barrier. The metal bolted doors along the corridor blow apart in a sonic boom as he ends up at the end of the hallway in the blink of and eye. With no hesitation, the creator blasts the door open. He runs in and searches every inch of the room, cooing and calling for his one-year-old son. The baby's cries had long stopped, but he kept searching.
Even after feeling the dampening of his son's presence, he kept searching.
Even after his rankings tired, he searched the edges of the palace, took apart the crevices of the Aevum Galaxy, and scoured the universe for his child.
But Perseus wasn't there.
He searched, and searched, and searched.
He combed through every creation Order and he manifested, and even the ones they had yet to.
The search for the young prince continued even as Order's health continued to decline. He kept searching even after the council began discussing a search for a new heir to the Origin's thrones.
He changed over time. He became quiet, his complexion paled by the day, his stature faded from the strong entity to a hunched shell of everything he had lost. Officers, lieutenants, and commanders watched as the creator slowly tore himself apart over the loss of his family.
But he kept searching.
Chaos looked until one evening in the depths of his torn apart office, he crumbled to his knees at the drastic shift in his realm.
Chaos clutched his chest as if his own heart were ripped from his ribcage. His wide eyes became glassy as tears form in them.
He could no longer feel Perseus' presence or life force. It was as of the Fates have cut the string to everything connected to his child. He searches and searches and searches, but finds nothing but an vacant part of himself.
That could only mean one thing.
The Creator of the Universe falls apart, breath by breath within the large, cold, empty room. He keels over onto his hands and knees, as if preparing to vomit.
Sobs fall from his lips as the truth settles in.
Perseus, son of Chaos and Order, was dead.
•••••
This chapter is completely unedited, so I apologize for the typos and other issues with it.
Though what do you think? It's does not capture the exact emotions that I wanted to portray, so I'm a little disappointed lol, but I'm just glad I've managed to get it out😂
Today is the first day of filming for the PJO TV Series, so I thought that it was a great day to post the last updated chapter before I go back and get the others edited haha
Also happy Pride month🏳️🌈! Love each other, treat people with respect, and simply pursue happiness in the best way you can. Love is love❤️