Chapter 1: Prologue: Hanging With Gods, Page 1
"Hello. My name is Hespera Aris. You can call me Hesper if you wish. Who might you be?"
In the dimensional space ruled by the one who governed the afterlife sat a stoic girl, around 17 years old. Just by looking at her, you wouldn't think she had just gone on a killing spree, massacring over a hundred people in a little over an hour—simply out of slight annoyance, wanting to "shut up the loudmouths so that I can read my book." She had been at a freaking club.
The God of Reincarnation wanted to scream in frustration. Why the hell was she at a club reading anyway?!
"Oh, her older sister works night shifts as a bartender," came the cheerful reply to his inner thoughts.
Eye twitching, he slowly turned his head and found the smirking Primordial Chaos sharing a bag of chocolate chip cookies with the sociopathic girl. The bastard had the gall to finger-wave at him!
"Chaos! How many times must I tell you to stop listening to my thoughts?! And her being at the club is beside the point. She killed everyone in the bar except her sister. All because it was too loud! Clubs are supposed to be loud!" Pointing an accusing finger at the root of his frequent visits to the Goddess of Peace's relaxation resorts, he seethed, "And now you want me to give her the black box set? Something only reincarnates who have earned over 100,000 karma points can receive? Are you out of your mind?! No, wait, don't answer that. Of course you are."
While the God of Reincarnation ranted, Hespera and Chaos enjoyed the cookies Chaos had stolen from Rebirth's desk. They were delicious. Rebirth would be sad when he found out. Chaos checked, and yup—still red-faced and... oh, that throbbing vein had returned to his forehead. It's been a while, Mr. Throb.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Rebirth demanded, noticing the amused, glazed look in Chaos's eyes.
"Mmhm, I was just waiting for you to calm down. You really should take a chill pill, my friend. No need for all the stressing," Chaos said, the sweet girl next to him nodding in agreement.
Such a good girl. I chose well when picking who to give my Blessing to. It took millions of years, but I finally found someone worthy. Looking her over, he nodded in approval.
Hespera Elodie Aris was, by mortal standards, a beautiful girl. She had long, pale blonde hair that cascaded down her back, almond-shaped sapphire eyes, high cheekbones, and full, pouty lips that gave her face a gentle beauty. She was petite for her age—5 feet even—with slight curves that complemented her delicate frame. Like a rabbit that needed protection. Very angelic looking. The perfect mask to hide her dark side.
Chaos was surprised it had taken 17 years for her to finally let loose and give in to the chaos seed he had planted in her soul. Most of the 100,000 souls I implanted with my seeds either never sprouted, or their chaos was unleashed during childhood. Children don't know how to control their emotions, after all.
Turning his attention back to his good friend Rebirth, Chaos grew a bit concerned about the particular shade of red spreading across his face. That color... hmm, is that steam coming from his ears? Oh my.
"You...!" Rebirth seethed through gritted teeth. A grinding sound echoed through the dimensional space. Somehow. Sound worked strangely here.
A soft chuckle distracted the two gods. Turning toward their only other company, they saw the teenage girl smiling gently at them, holding a cup of hot cocoa. Where did that cup of hot chocolate come from? they both wondered.
"You two are fun. Are you always like this?" Hespera's voice was like dark chocolate and Nightshade combined—smooth, with a sweet sensuality and a dark undertone. It was dangerous. It was perfect.
She took another sip of her cocoa and tilted her head as a thought came to her. "Actually, I would appreciate it if you could tell me how I died. After losing myself to my... annoyance, I remember my sister, who was busy wiping a wine glass, had a very irritated expression as she surveyed the damage I had done to her club. She said something along the lines of, 'Look at all that blood; it's going to take forever to clean up.' Then she headed upstairs to call Daddy. Ah, Daddy is a mafia boss, so he has people to handle these kinds of things. While I was inspecting the corpse of the guy who tried hitting on me while I was reading, I heard footsteps from behind. The next thing I knew, I was here."
She put a hand on her cheek, looking troubled. "How vexing. The fact that my eidetic memory is drawing a blank is very concerning."
The two gods had completely different reactions. Rebirth was flailing in anger, while Chaos burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha~ What a delight! Truly a wonderful creature! Haha!" The Primordial of Chaos clutched his stomach, laughing so hard his body shook.
The God of Reincarnation looked like he wanted to stab a knife through Chaos's forehead. How? How, by Abyss's Will, did I end up dealing with these two psychos? Gah, he needed a drink. A strong one. One that would make him forget the last hour.
Dragging his hands down his face, he groaned. "You were stabbed through the heart by one of your victims. The man died from blood loss soon after. Usually, you would enter the river of reincarnation and begin a new life based on your accumulated karma points. However, thanks to this pain in my back wings,"—glaring daggers at an amused Chaos—"I now have to personally transfer your soul to a new body in a world suitable for you."
He did not sound pleased about this. Wonder why.
"Hmm, and this black box set—what is it?" Hespera asked, absentmindedly stirring her freshly made cocoa. It was such a delicious chocolate brew. She really needed to find out where they got it. It would be a tragedy if she couldn't have it in her new life.
Before Rebirth could answer, Chaos beamed, clearly excited, and started explaining.
"Everyone has something called karma points, which they accumulate throughout their lives. When you do something good, you earn good karma; when you do something bad, you earn bad karma. The world you reincarnate into depends on how many karma points you've earned. Simple, right? Well, my friend here is correct about the black box set—it's usually reserved for those who earn 100,000 karma points, meaning saints and heroes. And you, my dear, are certainly no saintess or heroine. In fact, I'd say you're the opposite."
"Damn sociopath, that's what she is," Rebirth grumbled under his breath, crossing his arms like the pouty god he was.
Both of them ignored him.
Hespera tapped a finger against her cheek, contemplating Chaos's words.
So, I clearly didn't earn 100,000 karma points. Most likely, I had a low amount. Even I must admit I wasn't a good person. Granted, none of my family were, but still. Hmm, so it's best to assume that this Chaos has something he wants from me. Oh, how fun!
After thinking it through, she smiled up at the Primordial of Chaos, who was still grinning.
"So, what happens now?"
Laughing gleefully, Chaos waved his hand, and a black and white parchment appeared before her. "Now my dear, you have a choice. You could either sign this paper and become my Blessed or have our grumpy friend here place you back into the River of Rebirth. Just so you know, you accumulated essentially 1,000 points in your life. According to the Powers themselves, you were neither good nor bad. Quite the feat. It's quite hard to toe the balance, you know."
"Hmm." Hespera read through the parchment. It was rather straightforward.
I, ________________, hereby agree to be the Blessed of Primordial Chaos. I agree to take/uphold any responsibility and benefits of being the Blessed of the Primordial Chaos.
"What's a Blessed, and what are these benefits and responsibilities it mentioned?" She did not want to agree and then discovered that her whole existence entailed working at a desk and going through paperwork. Or worse, dealing with children. Oh, the horror, if she had to do paperwork and babysit drooling kids. Hespera shivered just thinking about it.
Chaos, who clearly could read her mind, chuckled. He found this girl more and more entertaining. "Don't worry. The responsibility that comes with being my Blessed is for you to spread... well, Chaos. Just by living in any world, Rebirth is told to place you in, and you will be essentially causing chaos just by existing. Yay, you! Hmm, what is a Blessing, actually? It's... well, I guess it's kind of like you'll be my daughter or family member. A Blessed is just a person a Primordial took in and gave a small part of their essence to so that they can create a bond. So, like family, but instead of blood and DNA, it's essence. Of course, a Primordial can only create one Blessed per century, but luckily, I've never done it. So, congrats on becoming my very first child." Then he started clapping while jumping up and down.
And, of course, gloomy Rebirth just had to ruin it with nonsense like specifics and details! Blah. Who needs those!?
"What this headcase forgot to mention is that for a Primordial to create a Blessed, they need to implant an Essence Seed inside the one they wish to Bless so that their body could embody that essence naturally on its own. Unfortunately, the chances of a person surviving the awakening of a Primordia's essence seed is nearly impossible. There have only been 12 beings ever to survive the process. You are included in that 12, by the way. This idiot planted 100,000 beings with his Chaos Seed a decade ago, and you were the only one to survive." He groaned in pain, "just thinking about the trouble that caused Order and I still gives me headaches."
Chaos rolled his black and white eyes. Rebirth was so dramatic sometimes. "It wasn't that bad. Death causes far more death than that in a single day."
"Not that bad?! Thanks to you, the souls I had to deliver to the reincarnation river that day were 1,000 times more! The river had to be expanded on account of overflowing! Order was unbalanced for a whole century! She's still traumatized. As for Death, that's her fucking job!" By the end of his rant, he was beet red, and steam came from his ears again. And that cute little pulsing vein on his forehead made its appearance. So cute!
Chaos and Hespera stared and blinked with blank faces as he breathed heavily.
Hespera turned back to the black and white parchment and, without much fanfare, signed her name on the dotted line. Being the daughter of the Primordial of Chaos sounded fun! The parchment disappeared into Chaos's hands. After a quick glance, the parchment disappeared once more.
"Now that's over with, let's get to the fun part! On top of the 1,000 karma points you acquired throughout your life, you will also be getting the accumulated karma points that the 100,000 people who failed to assimilate with my Chaos Seed earned. The points have just been sitting in my treasury for... well, for a long time now. Sadly, once a Chaos Seed fails to assimilate with its host, it tends to... corrode the soul, so to speak. They are not able to enter the river of reincarnation since it will contaminate the river and the other souls, and they are left in the void till they become part of it. Till then, their karma points are forfeited to me."
By then Rebirth had cooled down and was listening to everything Chaos said. Although he would like to rebuke Chaos giving the little psychopath over 100,000 karma points to use on her next life, but sadly that's in Chaos's right as her 'Father'.
Sighing heavily, he stepped up since this part was his jurisdiction.
"As the God of Reincarnation, I will guide you through the process of the preparations for your new life. You may use your karma points to choose which world you live in, what you look like, and so forth. Now, please, let's begin-" He stopped mid-sentence.
Hespera tilted her head in curiosity. The many expressions on his face were rather fascinating. They went from confused to surprise to horror to absolute dread. By the end of it, he was draw-dropped and pale as a ghost. And the whole time, he was staring straight at her. She quite liked being stared at like that. Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly the cause of it.
Soon, Rebirth started screaming, "What do you mean she'll have the ability to travel different worlds!?"
Oh my.
Chaos started cackling in full-on laughter.
This is about to be good.