Chapter 2: Untitled

...to reappear outside the Empire State Building. "Opps, wrong place. Or wait, is it?" He cocked his head to one side as he looked up to the grand building. Just then, his phone rang. "Hmm?"
Polly's businesslike voice came on the line. "Ten car pile-up in front of the Empire State Building, sir. At 11.58am. You asked me especially to remind you. Your special project." She sounded mildly disapproving.

"Ah, right," Chaos said absently as Earthquake nuzzled against his cheek. "Thanks, Polly, me luv. Cya later," he said and grinned in amusement as Polly gave a disdainful sniff at his endearment and hung up. He could tell that she was not happy with him when she called him ‘sir’ instead of ‘Mr. Chaos’, as she is wont to do. "Time for you to do your thing, cat." Chaos said in a lazy drawl as he gave Earthquake a prod on the side. "Go on, move it!"

Earthquake gave him an annoyed look, then jumped of Chaos' shoulder and casually sauntered along the pavement. The traffic was flowing easily on both sides of the road, and pedestrian were walking along with their usual briskness, bent on getting to their destination. The little black cat yawned and crouched on the pavement, but her ploy to look relaxed was belied by her tail swishing around energetically. Even though the cat was quite small, she was still sitting right smack in the middle of the pavement, but none of the pedestrians stumbled over her. In fact, most of them gave her a wide berth without seeming to be aware of it.

Suddenly, she sprang up and ran across the road, deftly avoiding the cars that were rushing at her from both sides of the four-lane road. However, instead of a cat, the drivers saw a little girl about three years old with untidy black hair and a red and white plaid dress running across the road. There was a scream as a woman noticed the danger the little girl was in, and heads turned and watched in horror as she ran into the path of the fast-moving cars. Several drivers who saw her tried to brake or swerve in order to avoid hitting her, and instead hit other cars, or crashed into post boxes and streetlights. The cars at the back could not brake in time, and crashed into the cars in front of them. A young woman flung herself into the path of a car to push the little girl out of the way, and there was a screech of tires as the driver braked to avoid both the little girl and the woman who was trying to save her, but he could not stop in time. There was a scream and then a sickening crunch as the young woman crumpled to the ground upon impact. Pedestrians flee screaming as some cars crashed a little too close to the pavement for comfort. Screeching tires and squealing metal combined with the sound of breaking glass and screams of horror into a deafening whole. By the time it was over, it was a scene of mayhem. Several drivers staggered out, dazed and in shock, but unharmed, while a couple of other drivers had some mild cuts and bruises from the flying glass and jarring impact. Most of the pedestrians seemed unharmed other than the young woman in the middle of the road.

Earthquake stalked back towards Chaos, obviously unhappy. “Mrrrrhhh!

Chaos frowned. “No, that wasn’t supposed to happen...” For a moment, there was a faraway look in his eyes, and then the frown returned. “That’s odd. Who is she?”

….

Celia just had the worst day of her life. First, she was fired from her job. Then, her boyfriend dumped her, which was twice as bad, considering he was the reason why she was fired in the first place. Now, to crown it all, she got hit by a car while trying to save a little girl who ran into the middle of the road. She is in all kinds of pain and there’s a piercing pain and funny rattling sound in her chest when she tries to breath and even the breathing part is getting just a tad difficult. She was quite sure that both her legs were broken since there was a blinding mass of pain where they were, and one of her arms seemed to have… Ick! Is that a bone sticking out? She felt a wave of nausea and tried to turn her head away and realized that she couldn’t move her head, but the attempt at movement seemed to be the last straw and dizziness claimed her. Just before she blacked out, her final thought was one of disbelief; as she was reaching for the little girl, her hand went through the girl’s body and she found herself pushing at thin air… then she felt the impact of the car hitting her, and she bounced on the hood of the car before she was flung forward by the force of the impact several metres in front of the car, although the pain did not register until moments later. In the clearest moment of consciousness before the pain hit, she saw a small black cat with green eyes at the very spot where the girl was standing, and for a moment, their eyes met, and she could have sworn that the little cat was trying to convey something – surprise? guilt? anger? remorse? – she couldn’t quite tell, but then the pain came and she closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened it, the cat was not there anymore... her thoughts trailed off as she sank into unconsciousness.

….

Earthquake glared at Chaos.

“It’s really not my fault. Well, not the part where she runs out to save you anyway. That was definitely not supposed to happen, was it?” He paused again, as he pursued some inner thought that caught his attention. “Odd. She is on the records, but I don’t recall ever having her in this project. She was supposed to be at work… hold on,” he said more to himself than the cat, “She was fired this morning? That wasn’t supposed to happen - well, not yet anyway.”

“Mrrrh.” Obviously, Earthquake wasn’t convinced.

Chaos sighed. “Let’s take a look at our girl and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Mrrrrrrp.”

“Well, I’m not promising anything.”

Earthquake gave him a Look and stalked towards the girl and after a short pause, Chaos followed. He yawned and said, “I really don’t see what the fuss is all about. People get killed in accidents all the time and these mortals are surprisingly fragile.”

The street looked like it was the site of a minor battle, with smashed cars, smoke, the smell of burnt tires and faint smell of petrol. There was a fair amount of glass from broken windshields and windows. There were a fair amount of panic going in the streets when the cars verved about and hit lampposts, traffic lights and mailboxes, and people are starting to pick themselves off the ground and assess the damage. There was another smell in the air, one that only Chaos, and to a small extent, Earthquake, could taste. The smell of anger, fear and panic that permeates the air. Drivers were quarrelling, blaming each other for the accident, while a few of the drivers who were in front were running around frantically looking for the little girl, thankful that she wasn’t underneath their car, and started shouting at each other. Meanwhile, a woman who was driving a sporty yellow Ferrari was screaming bloody murder at the driver from the car behind hers, and her shrieks grew even louder when she found a trickle of blood flowing from a cut on her forehead. “I am scarred!” she shrieked. “You bastard! You will pay for this! I will sue your pants off!” She continued shrieking obscenities at the driver who bumped into the rear of her car. Another man went around shouting, “Someone call the ambulance! Call the police! Someone’s hurt!”

Chaos took a deep breath and stood still for a long moment, absorbing the energy in the air around them, and his fingers seemed to crackle with energy. He pushed through the crowd that was forming around the girl, and people moved aside without even realizing why they were moving. He knelt on one knee next to the girl and his fingers traced runes in the air just above her forehead, not quite touching her skin. His eyes became unfocused and he started reciting softly, “Celia. Celia Tan-Ramos. Cil to her friends. Age twenty-six. Single. Parents, younger sister and two brothers, one of them adopted. Loves reading, singing, socializing, shopping and hanging out with her friends. Aren’t you a little far from home, luv? Works in a local bank. Largest branch. I sense a fair bit of chaos in her life - it was spilling into her work, her family, her relationships, her friends – she was spiraling out of control - why haven’t I sensed her before this?” He looked thoughtful for a moment, then his gaze turned vague again. “Ah, poor girl. Going through some really tough times, aren’t you, luv? And now this. That still doesn’t explain why she’s here and why she did what she did.”

Celia felt strangely suspended for long moments, then the pain hit her, and she could hear a keening sound coming from somewhere nearby. A part of her brain told her that the sounds came from her, but she found that hard to believe. Then her lungs hitched, and she found it difficult to draw the air into her lungs. She must have blacked out for a moment. Then she heard voices and felt a small ball of heat forming above her forehead, but it felt strangely warm and comforting. Her eyelashes fluttered and she opened her eyes and met dark, enigmatic ones. There was a young man next to her. He wasn’t much older than she was and was perhaps younger, from the looks of the thick, scruffy, chin-length hair and studded leather jacket and a young face. He was very pale, and was good-looking in an . The part of her brain that was still thinking found it amusing that she was analyzing his face and clothes, but that though slipped away as another wave of pain hit her. The young man was saying something. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, as it seemed to be cushion by a buzz of sound, and she wondered if her hearing had been affected. She tried to speak, but no sound came from her throat.

“Shhhhh. You shouldn’t speak, Celia.” His voice was soft and gentle, but she could feel an underlying vibe in soft tones that seems to vibrate up her spines. She shivered, and he frowned. His finger wriggled in the air above her, and suddenly, there was a blanket covering her. Of course, she’s probably concussed, the alert part of her brain told her, so she couldn’t possibly have seen this man conjured up a blanket out of nowhere.

She wondered how he knew her name. He was obviously a stranger. Probably the handbag she dropped somewhere on the road. She coughed weakly and tried again. “Will… tell… him… them… my family…” she coughed again and felt a wetness trickling down from the corner of her mouth.

“You really shouldn’t speak, luv.” He frowned down at her, but he did not look angry. He really shouldn’t frown so much, she found herself thinking in the part of her brain that is still conscious and alert. He shrugged off his jacket – she could have sworn it was leather, but it felt like the finest down as he eased it under her head. He had a detached look on his face, although he was also very careful with her. She winced, and for a moment, she thought she saw a flash of concern on his face, but it was gone so quickly she wondered if she had imagined it. He gently brushed strands of hair that has fallen over her face and somehow conjured a snowy white hankerchief out of thin hair and dabbed the corner of her lips. The red of blood was bright against the whiteness of the cloth. “… scared,” she managed. Her breath had a strange whistling sound to it.

“Shhh, you shouldn’t exert yourself.” He took her hand, and at his touch, she felt a jolt that shocked her to the core, although it did not hurt. In fact, the pain eased and she could feel the air reaching her lungs, as if he was giving her his strength and warmth. She was too surprised with this change to notice that he looked stunned, although he was perfectly composed when she looked up. He kept her hand in his, but did not move her otherwise. “Ambulance is on the way. You’ll be just fine in a jiffy.”


Celia would smile if she could – he sounded rather odd and very English, like a proper Brit and not one of those faux accents that seemed to be the vogue among some circles - but it seems to take more energy than she have to smile. To think that a total stranger would be so concerned over her welfare. Still, she had to make him understand and pass on her message. She wasn’t too optimistic about her chances of survival, considering what she could assess of her injuries. Most of her body was screaming in pain that is so intolerable that she had to close her eyes again to suppress the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. However, the part of her brain that still works told her that she probably had very little time left. It was getting harder and harder to breath, and that funny rattling noise in her chest probably meant that she broke a few ribs and they punctured her lungs. She didn’t have long. Possibly only seconds. It could be her lifelong morbidity speaking, but being hit by cars is still the highest cause of accidental deaths, or lifelong comas like all those soaps her mom loves to watch on TV. Except in those shows, the people miraculously recover or wake up from their deep comas out of the blue. That doesn’t seem to be the case now. “My f-family…” she wheezed out with difficulty. “-tell them… I love…” she coughed again and tried to take another breath and realized that she couldn’t. Tears slid down her cheeks. She didn’t want to die this way. Strange, considering how much she considered dying when she finally realized how wrong her life has become. How devastated she was. Perhaps it’s better this way. At least the pain will be over. She sighed soundlessly as more tears spilled down her cheeks.

He looked so sad as he gently brushed off her tears. Why does he look so sad?

She closed her eyes and let the darkness take her…

…

Chaos felt a wrench as she took her last breath and slipped away. He was stunned at the depth of feeling that struck him as she died. Celia is just a mortal, one of many millions that populate this little world. He was very shocked and upset by the intensity of his feelings. This jumble of guilt, loss and pain was beyond anything that he had felt for the last eight thousand years. His chest felt like someone took a knife to it - a very sharp knife with creative bits sticking out – and twisted it all around. It felt like he had lost something very crucial, like a limb or most of his power.

His thoughts became chaotic. This accident wasn’t supposed to happen. No one was supposed to die today. It was just supposed to be a little mayhem and a big mess, not this! And all these unexpected feelings towards a mortal girl he has never met before… it was just too much. “ORDER!” he bellowed at the top of his voice. There was a weird vibration as the word hung in the air for a moment, and there were strange ripples in the air as it radiates out, strangely magnified the further it traveled, instead of fading off. Amazingly, no one at the scene of the accident or onlookers crowding at the sidewalks seemed to have heard a thing, although one or two of the more perceptive ones had odd looks on their faces, but as no one else seemed to have heard what they heard, they brushed it off.

A few seconds later, Order stepped out of a portal next to Chaos and looked around with a frown. “What’s with the urgent summons? Showing off your latest project? I say, this is just like you, Chaos. What a god awful mess.” Then he looked down and saw Chaos beside the girl. “What are you doing with that girl? Who is she?”

“She saw Earthquake in her mortal form running across the street and attempted to save her.”

Chaos said woodenly. “It wasn’t in the plans.”

Order’s expression became grave as he absorbed Chaos’ words. “Ah, I see. Trust these mortals to do the unexpected. I thought you’d have factor her into the equation if she’s ‘at the scene’, so to say.” He glanced at the expression on Chaos’ face and then looked at the girl thoughtfully. “She wasn’t even supposed to be here when it happened, I take it?” He gave her a quick glance. “Hmm…” he frowned again. He held out his hand and picked up the fading traces of energy from the information summoning spell that Chaos had used earlier. “Shuet Lan… Snow Lily… beautiful name. She’s not from around here, is she?” he mused to himself. His lips curled contemptuously, “The few attempts she made at putting her life in any sort of order came apart almost the moment she starts. I can’t sense her too well. That’s odd, but some of these mortals have strong shields.” He brushed off the remains of the spell off his hands.

“She’s dead.” It was a flat statement.

Order sighed. “I can see that, brother, and I am truly sorry.” He took a closer look at Snow’s face. There’s something about her that reminds me of someone,” he said, looking puzzled.
Chaos gritted out between his teeth, “That’s not why I called you here. I want to know if you have anything to do with this.”

Order looked surprised that he was even asked about the matter. “Of course not, Chaos. I didn’t even know what you were planning.” He took out a PDA and tapped the screen with the stylus. He drew a few runes on the screen, and the whole PDA glowed for a moment, and the runes disappeared and a few lines of text appeared on the screen. “As I thought, just the usual spells holding up order around here. Nothing out of the ordinary.” he spoke, he wrote another set of runes and this time, the PDA started glowing white. He raised his eyebrows. “Hmm… interesting.” Suddenly, it became an angry pulsing red tinged with black that hurts to be looked at, and it burnt Order’s fingers. With a muffled curse, Order dispelled the PDA and glanced at Chaos, only to find that Chaos was not even looking at him. His tone became suspiciously casual as he said, “Hmm… strange. I’m being blocked by someone, or something.” He shrugged.

“There’s really nothing I can do about this, although I can do something about this mess here.” He looked around him and waved his hand. Just then, the faint sound of sirens filtered through the noise and a couple of policemen appeared at the far end of the block and ran towards the scene of the accident, radioing for more backup while they ran. Some of the more sensible drivers intervened in arguments that were beginning to get out of hand, and an old lady was patting the loud young woman hand.

Chaos was feeling too dispirited to even censure Order for taking over before the mayhem has run its course. As the scene of the accident began to sort itself out, the flow of energy that Chaos was unconsciously absorbing slowly faded and Order seemed to bask in the glow of the energy that was flowing into him. “That’s refreshing. Sorry I cut your bit of chaos short though.” He didn’t really sound sorry at all. There was no answer from Chaos. Order looked at his watch. “Things will settle themselves here, now that it’s getting back to order. We have to go before we draw any attention on ourselves.”

“You go. I’ll stay for a while.” He couldn’t explain to Order, or even to himself why he felt the way he did, but he knew instinctively that he couldn’t leave Celia just yet, and he didn’t want to.

“This is not like you, Chaos.”

“Everyone has a bad day, Order. This is mine. And hers.” He looked down at the girl whose hand he was still holding. Earthquake made a small, contrite sound. “Hers too,” Chaos added. “But it’s really not Earthquake’s fault. It really isn’t… y’know Order, there’s something weird about all this. She wasn’t supposed to be here.”

Order raised an eyebrow. “I know that, but there are mortals that are not within our control, whose destinies we cannot see. She’s probably one of them. There’s some sort of shield around her. I can get a sense of the last couple of years, but things get fuzzy if I go into the past.”
“What I said. There’s a weird stink to this that I don’t like. It’s not her time. She shouldn’t have been here, and she shouldn’t have run out to save Earthquake, and…” he paused, then said with growing conviction, “… she shouldn’t have died!”

“Don’t be absurd, Chaos. Everyone dies when it’s their time. It’s her time, and although you might not have foreseen it, since that’s Death’s expertise, you really couldn’t have prevented it from happening.”

“No. Something feels wrong. C’mon, Order. Have I ever balked at death? I’ve seen hundreds of thousands deaths, no, millions of deaths, for the last eight thousand years, and I felt nothing. It was as you said – their time has come. But hers hasn’t. I’m telling you, Order, there’s something really wrong with all this!”

“I think you just got a little too close to these mortals. It comes from hanging out with them too much. Go back and get some rest, Chaos. You’re probably just tired.”

“Oh, go away, Order,” Chaos said in a disgusted tone.

Order shrugged and turned as the portal opened again. He stepped through, but before the portal snapped shut, he toss one last line at his brother. “Leave it alone, Chaos, or there’ll be trouble.” He sounded serious.

Chaos narrowed his eyes. “Was that an advice or a threat, Order? I wonder…” He sighed, and then muttered an incantation as his fingers traced lines that leave black slashes in the air, runes that seem to hover and shine for a moment before disappearing. “Death! It is I, Chaos, and I call you to me, to fulfill the compact between us.”

Everything seemed to grow dim and gray for a moment, as if life and colour were being leached out of the surroundings, then there was a black portal with tendrils flickering around it opened. A figure in dark robes edged with silver stepped out of the portal, and black writhing hands clung to his clothes for a moment before he brushed it off and the portal faded away. The sun seemed brighter after the portal closed. “I, Death, answer your call, Chaos. What is it that you would ask of me?”

“You owe me three boons. After all these centuries and millennia, I have yet to anything of you. I wish to collect one of my boons now. I would have this girl returned to me.”

Death growled. “She is dead, and thus belongs in my domain. I cannot give her to you. You know the rules better than this, Chaos. What you are asking is not possible.”

Chaos gritted his teeth and held on to his temper. “Check again. It’s not her time yet. I don’t know how long her lifespan is, but I do know that she is not supposed to die today.”

Death sniffed the air, as if he was trying to sense something there, and then looked at the girl. Black smoke drifted from his fingers and formed runes of power that throbbed and glowed brightly before fading off, leaving one single rune hanging above the girl. “I believe you are right. That rune of power will hold her soul inside her body for a while longer. Yet she has died, and can no more return to the world of the living, even if she died before her time. It has happened before. I cannot return her. The cord between her body and soul has already been severed, and you’re stopping her from going to eternal rest. Yet, she was not supposed to come to her end in this manner. This is highly unusual case. Accidents do happen, but I could feel something-” he stopped and his gaze sharpened as he looked at Celia and the rune hanging above her seemed to writhe and struggle to change to another shape. “What is her true name?” he asked.

“What do you mean? Her name, as far as I can tell, is Celia Shuet Lan Tan-Ramos. That’s what Order said too, I think.”

“She is an old soul. She had more than one life. You should let her rest.”

“It’s not her time yet, dammit! I refuse to let her go! This accident was my doing, but I will not have her life shorten especially since I did not intend any deaths this time!”

Death shot him a dark look and looked at the rune again. The smoke black lines are beginning to glow red, then it slowly faded back to the smoky tendrils that drifted down towards Celia and sank into her body. I’ve never seen that happen before, except…” his voice trailed off and Chaos could feel his surprise.

“What?” demanded Chaos. “You know something!”

“It is not in my place to say anything. I would advise caution. You should drop this matter at once.”

Chaos strode towards Death and grab his shoulders and shook him. “Tell me!”

Death sighed. “I cannot.”

“Fine! Then give her to me.”

“I cannot retur…”

Chaos interrupted. “I’m not asking you to return her to life. I’m asking you to give her spirit, her soul, to me.”

Death looked surprised. “That is highly irregular. What do you want with her anyway?”

Chaos ignored his question. “No, it’s not. It isn’t her time yet, and as such, she can still spend time here, even as a spirit, until her time is up. Better she spends that time with me than wandering around as a hungry ghost. Then I will send her to you with my thanks and blessings when her time comes.”

“I don’t see how that is going to work.”

“It’s not as if spirits don’t hang around after death. Unresolved business and all. It’s the same with her.”

Death looked dubiously at the body at Chaos’ feet. “You do understand that she will not be living, as such.”

Chaos look disgustedly at Death. “Do I look stupid to you, Death? Of course I know that. I’ll make suitable arrangements for her, and when her time comes, you can personally collect her, just to show that I’m not trying to keep her beyond her time. You can have her until her natural lifespan is over.”

While they were having this debate, the Celia’s body started to glow red and a rune appeared on her forehead for a moment before fading away. Her eyeslashes fluttered and she gave a gasp. Startled, Death and Chaos both looked at her, then at each other. “She has just absorbed the power of the rune! Chaos, you should not tamper with things that are none of your concern.”

Chaos looked confused, and so pale for a moment that he staggered and Death put out a hand to steady him. Death growled, “Fool! You passed your energy to her, did you not?”

“I- no, perhaps, I’m not sure… I just held her hand. Didn’t feel anything happen.”

Death considered it for a moment. Then he sighed. He sketched another rune into the air with the smoke trailing from his fingers and a portal opened in front of him. “Very well then. Her body and soul are one again, although it is not my doing.” He leaned over and drew something on the girl’s forehead that glowed an unearthly black and disappeared before Chaos could see what it was. “Two boons left, Chaos.”

“Wait! If it’s not your doing, why do you consider it a boon?”

The only answer he received was the curling black smoke that is slowly dissipating from where the portal was just a moment ago.