Chaos & Kuryo (novel 3) Chapter 12 Part 1

Kuryo’s POV

Alright, these people wanted to conquer the god realms. Alright, cool cool. Not really my problem, right? So why was I bothered?

I sat in the cage, listening intently to all the chatter from the nearby person’s minds, and even the one from the apartment above and below. It was hectic in my head, but I was managing.

Because, seriously, if I understood half of what Suzy and these minds were telling me, they had already succeeded in several realms. Why they had succeeded, I had no idea, but if I was understanding their goal, they were zeroing on a something that none of these minds had defined yet. But they had sensed something and they wanted it. Figuring it was a god, they were slicing their way through realms, aiming for the ‘ground zero’ of the incident.

Which incident? I tried to probe their minds. The upstairs neighbor was too busy listening on some sort of technological device to really pay much attention to its thoughts. It also seemed that it wasn’t quite aware of ‘what’ it was either.

Frustrated, I zeroed in on the being in my apartment. Surely they knew, right? Grinding my beak, I felt ready to slam my head against these bars. I just wanted to know! But here I was, picking sluggish brains and sifting through mind-chatter. It was exhausting.

As I tried to suggest the thought of the ‘ground zero’ incident to the being in my apartment, it thought of me. Immediately it whisked into view, crossing from the living room-esque to the corner nook where my cage was.

The mind was filled with fawning ideas now. Great. Agoogiegoo. I was a cute bird. Who’s a cute bird? Augh!

I was ruffled in my mind when the cage was opened and I was dragged out. Yelp! My head was still pounding at every movement and I savagely attacked the hands holding me. Let me go! Think of what I want you to, dammit!

With a yelp I was dropped, flopping gracelessly down upon the floor. Ugh. Ow. My brain felt like it had split open. In the back of my mind, Suzy called to me.

I had let Suzy roam around the apartment cautiously, warning her to come quickly back to me if there was anything suspicious.

“Hey!” she appeared before me, tentacle-like lower half crawling along the floor, her upper body erect and smiling. “I found something!”

Meh? Do I care right now? I could barely hear her through the pain. I was being lifted up and petted now. Ugh.

“You’ll want to see this,” and Suzy popped into my head. Bad idea, Suz. The pain made her begin to sob.

As the pain faded I found myself being put back in the cage with a fresh bowl of water. I wanted to chuck it at the guy. Let me out!

“We have to get out of here,” Suzy whimpered as the pain began to recede.

I bit down a sarcastic retort and tried to soothe her. A plan, I was thinking of a plan.

“No, faster!” and Suzy called up in her mind, our mind now, what she had found.

Down the hall to the right, there was a work room. It was filled with shiny silver instruments and all sorts of maps and star charts. But in there, hung up on the wall alongside a whole bunch of other papers that Suzy hadn’t bothered to take a closer look at, was a picture of me.

I forced myself to calm down.

Then I thought about it, analyzing the picture. It was a mugshot of sorts, except there was a gaping hole in the forehead of me, with a silver spike jutting out. ‘Me’, however, did not appear dead. There was life, unhappy life, in those pained eyes.

Alright, they’ve caught a copy of me, and presumably, it’s alive. Great.

“I’ll go check it out,” I told Suzy, gently ordering her to stay in my body and keep me alive while I wandered.

So off I went, stepping out of my body and that infernal cage. Ah, how nice it was to stretch my arms and wings and – I took a good look. Yep, my spirit’s wings were clipped. I guess they coincided with my spirit form- ohhhh. They were one and the same. Duh.

Feeling like a proper idiot, I wandered in human spirit form down the hall and turned into the room.

It smelt of crisp papers, ink, and artificial pine freshener. But the room! There was so much more than Suzy had noticed. There were papers everywhere that seemed important. And yes, there was that gruesome mugshot. It wasn’t alone however, being stapled to a whole pamphlet of papers that were all tacked up together.

I rifled through them. On the paper, I felt the residual energy of excitement, euphoria even. Whoever had read this had been very happy at its information.

Cautiously moving the papers to read them, I was baffled by what I saw. Graphs, graphs, and scribbles in an arcane language. Okay.

Keeping my cool, I began rifling through everything. There was disappointment here, excitement there, and above all, graphs. Graphs and graphs. But graphs of what? Their images tingled at me, and they seemed familiar. It took me a good few minutes of sensing them before their meaning rippled into me.

These were graphs of reality. These were dimensions and time movement charts. And there, behind that mugshot, was their co-ordinates for ‘ground zero’. A realm they hadn’t yet reached.

Okay, okay, but what did this have to do with that version of me? I peered closer at it, willing myself to read the very flimsy energy that was left on it, the impression and thoughts of the reader.

‘He’s not the one.’ The thought was clear as day. Disappointment and deception. Anger. Disbelief and frustration.

I scowled. But what was the ‘one’? What were they looking for?

Chaos & Kuryo (Novel 3) Chapter One, Part Two

“We’re all going to die,” said Aaliyah firmly. She was sitting on the couch, dripping snow. She hadn’t taken her hat or boots off, and didn’t seem to realize what was going on around her.

We all sat crowded around her, listening intently. Chaos was on the floor stirring a pot of hot cocoa they’d made, serving it into mugs. Right now, there was fat chance of anyone drinking it.

“I dreamt it,” Aaliyah said softly, hugging herself. Her gaze drifted off at the TV, not really seeing it. “We all drowned.”

Chaos offered her a mug of cocoa. I shook my head at them, but Aaliyah took it.

“We all died,” she repeated softly. “But I can’t remember how it happened. There was just all this water and you,” she nodded at me “Couldn’t keep your head above it. There was a shark and -,” she shook her head. “We all drowned.” She looked at Chaos. “You had a wooden crucifix that floated. That was all that was left behind.”

Chaos looked down. We all lowered our gazes. No one knew what to say.

Maybe now’s a good time to say that Aaliyah, being a golden dragon, had rare predictive dreams. She dreamed of the future. Needless to say, dreaming of all of us dying had never happened before, and wasn’t a good sign.

Chaos cleared their throat. All eyes turned to them and I cringed inside, expecting something, well, cringe-worthy.

“You know,” Chaos said, swirling the coca in the pot. “In my realm when one god made a prediction, it was basically taken as a challenge by other gods. A sort of ‘hold my beer’ kind of moment.”

“This was a dream,” Jade said sternly. “It,”

“Was sent by someone,” said Chaos flatly. “And someone else somewhere is probably taking it as a challenge to make it not happen. So-”

“Our world is not populated by zillions of gods like your world was,” I interrupted.

“It’s not written in stone!” Chaos interrupted me back fiercely. “Just because someone says it, doesn’t make it true. It’s a warning, not a death sentence. And how many people have avoided the death sentence?”

“Not a whole lot,” I bit back.

“They’ve got a point,” said Charr quietly. “We can maybe do something.”

Chaos pointed the chocolatey spoon towards her. “Avoid water.”

“I’m thinking something else,” said Charr.

“Like what?”

“Well,” Charr gave me a meaningful look. “Maybe we should contact, you know, the principals.”

There was an unhappy silence. My stomach did an unhappy flip. I looked grudgingly at Charr. I knew she was right. Of all the times, this was as good as any to travel to meet the principals. But – I didn’t want to. “Can it not be tomorrow? I have an exam.” I said grumpily.

“You always have exams,” Chaos said.

I glared at them. “I should be studying right now, thank you. This is important for me.”

“So is this!” said Aaliyah sharply, near tears. “We might all die!”

I cringed. “Okay, let me do my exam first. I have to go study. But I promise, tomorrow when I get home, we,” I looked pointedly at Charr. “Will go visit the principals.”

///////

Chaos’s POV

Well, I was late for work by about ten minutes, spilled a latte on some jerk’s lap, and that was just the start. It was a long shift, I was bored, and every minute felt like drudgery. Really, I couldn’t wait to get home. Kuryo and Charr were going to visit the principals! Kuryo’s exam was in the early afternoon so when I finished my shift, he and Charr should be ready to go on their little dimension trip.

Well! I rushed home through the snow and buses, climbed up the stairs in a rush, and let myself into the dinky apartment that smelled like home.

The moment I stepped inside, I felt an energy. It wasn’t magic per se, but it was… a presence.

Well I didn’t have to look far, it was right in front of me in the living room and staring me in the face.

“Hi?” I said, my brain doing that dumb thing where it refuses to acknowledge what it’s seeing.

It was Kuryo, but not. In fact, take Kuryo and imagine he hit the gym, fronted a heavy metal band, and put on a medieval tunic and that’s what was staring me in the face, long angry hair included. Charr was sitting on the couch beside him, wearing a black dress that I had never seen her wear before.

“Who’s that?” she asked.

“Temporary roommate,” said another Charr, this one wearing clothes I knew, from the kitchen.

Mind. Blown.

I shut the door behind me, just in case the world needed to not know about this. Yeah, something juicy was happening. I could feel it.

So, being me, I started talking. “Uhm, hi, I’m-”

“Why don’t you go get Kuryo?” Charr said, stirring a mug of something and handing it to the other Charr. “Tell him Kuryo has arrived.”

My mouth may have hung open for a minute while my brain just finished exploding in my head. Say whaaat?

Then the metalhead Kuryo gave me an angry look. I nodded and let myself back out.

I met Kuryo, the real one, at the bus stop.

“I need to tell you something!” I blurted as we met. Heads turned and I cleared my throat. Kuryo looked tired. He’d been up all night studying for this exam. For a moment, I felt bad for him. But then I remembered what was at the apartment.

“Okay, so, don’t freak, but,” I looped an arm around his shoulders and ducked our heads together.

“Is this a love declaration?” he asked hopefully, trying to make light of the situation. He really did look tired.

“Charr told me to tell you that ‘Kuryo is here’. Has arrived. Something like that.”

Kuryo looked at me, so tired. Then he sighed heavily. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah!” I nodded, eyes wide. “And there was this guy in the apartment, and he looked just like you! Except, I mean, he works out, and there was another Charr-”

Kuryo cursed and began walking towards the apartment building. Little flurries of snow were falling through the sky, floating delicately down. They peppered his hair.

“Do you – you know, you don’t have work or somewhere to go? Feel like doing groceries or something?” he asked me as we neared the curve in the street where our block was.

I took it like a traitorous punch to the gut. “What? You don’t want to include me?”

“No, that’s not it,” groaned Kuryo. I took his shoulders, and he drew to a stop, exasperated. “It’s just – this doesn’t concern you.”

“Doesn’t – but I’m, I’m a part of your life! I was in the dream too, wasn’t I? I’m involved!” a whole well of hurt began swelling inside of me. Charr had called me a ‘temporary roommate’ … were they thinking of getting rid of me?

“Yes but,” Kuryo said. A lot of meaning was in his eyes. “You’re,” and he searched for words.

My heart broke. “Are you dumping me?”

Alright it came out a bit louder but, mercifully, there wasn’t anyone around but the snow to hear. My eyes got all misty and stupid. “Are you?”

“No, but-”

“But?” I nearly shrieked.

Kuryo lifted his hands, trying to placate me. I was having none of it, scrubbing angrily at my tears. “I just don’t think it is wise for you to meet him.”

“Who is he?” I barked, knowing already the answer. A twin. A relative of sorts. Okay, alright, I get it. I’m not the type that you can bring home all proud and Charr was probably already invited home-

“He’s me,” Kuryo said flatly. “But from another dimension.”

“What?” My mind skipped a beat.

“See? This is too complicated,” he said. “Just – go to the grocery store or something.” and he began walking away. I rushed after him.

“He’s you? From another dimension?” I asked as I kept stride with him. He walked fast, trying to shake me off, but who was the one who did all the cardio huh? Me, that’s who. Little old student here didn’t do a whole lot of exercise.

“Yes, and we didn’t necessarily get along either,” Kuryo said as we crossed the street to our block. “Now if you’re going to stick around, you’re going to want not to cross him. Okay? Just – silent observer, okay? Just that. Don’t say anything.”

“And the – she’s another copy of Charr?”

“Charr is here as well?” he asked, whipping around to me. “You didn’t say that!”

“Uh,”

Kuryo hissed some curses and rolled his eyes. “Okay, well, don’t cross any of them, okay? Just – zip it. Okay?”

“I can do that,” I said confidently. Since when was I the chatterbox around here?

Kuryo gave me a nasty look, then drew the block’s door open for us both.

Chaos & Kuryo (Novel 3) Chapter One, Part One

“Chaos?” I asked, peering into the bedroom. Oh, they were there alright. Chaos was spread-eagle on the bed, flat on their back and snoring away like a demon. I rolled my eyes and walked in. “Chaos!” I had to shake their shoulder. So much for ‘warrior reflexes’. This lump couldn’t be woken up by a bomb!

“Hnh?” Chaos opened their eyes, blinking sleepily. They wiped some drool from the corner of their mouth. “Whut?”

I forced a smile on. “It’s your turn to make supper and -”

“Why don’t we order out?” was the oh-so-predictable offer. “My treat-”

“Chaos!” I snapped, suddenly on edge. “I have an exam tomorrow! Charr is busy too! You have to do your part! Cook! Supper!”

“Jesus on a stick!” Chaos was sitting up and rubbing their eyes, hair a mess. “Okay okay!”

“And it better not be those pre made rice cans, those are for emergencies only!”

“Okay, okay,” Chaos grumbled. “Just let me wake up.”

“Don’t spend all night doing that,” I snapped before turning and walking away.

Out in the living room, Charr mouthed me a ‘thank you’. We high-fived silently. I sat back down on the floor, pouring over the books and notes I’d spread over the coffee table. Charr was studying too, but was in less of a crunch than I was. At least supper was happening.

Life with Chaos in it was, surprisingly, not too chaotic. Chaos had taken a few weeks to get adjusted, but now they had a fake ID, worked a job in a coffee shop, and didn’t bust out the ‘warrior moves’ except in a martial arts class they’d fallen in love with. They were aspiring to become a teacher one day, once they worked their way through the belt system. Which, honestly, was fine with the rest of us. Chaos did their thing, and was now a happy and functioning member of society. Did we mention the happy part? Yeah, life was good.

Really, the only hiccup in this whole scheme was getting Chaos properly introduced to the whole poly lifestyle.

Now, polyamory wasn’t exactly the most common lifestyle in the world we were living in. It was quite trendy in student villages, but people tended to say they ‘outgrew’ it. Well our ‘cule was hopefully a little different.

Aaliyah and Jade lived in their own apartment, strictly friends. Me and Charr had been happily nesting together as lovers before Chaos butted in. Now Chaos lived with us (their pile of clothes in the bedroom showed that, really, we didn’t quite all fit in here), but no, it wasn’t an endless storm of threesomes. How would Charr and I get any studying done like that? No, Charr and I were ‘going out’ and Chaos and I were ‘going out’ but so far neither Chaos nor Charr had the slightest interest in each other. Actually, Chaos had very little interest in anyone else in the ‘cule besides friendship. Which, by the way, was plenty. Chaos had a thing or two to learn about keeping friends on the good side of themselves.

“Are they coming over tonight?” Chaos asked as they shuffled out of the bedroom and into the tiny living room. They were dressed in black jeans and a metal t-shirt, somehow making the outfit look as rumpled as possible. Oh, and can we take a minute to applaud all of us in this ‘cule? We’d gotten Chaos to get a decent haircut. Now they had a mess of spikes that actually suited them and wasn’t any outlandish color. The doofus had wanted orange. Orange! But anyways.

“Who’s ‘they’?” I asked, pretty sure I knew the answer.

“AJ,” they said, using that awful self-invented acronym for Aaliyah and Jade. Who, by the way, Chaos shipped as a couple. Chaos was just sure they needed to break the ice and they’d start making out instantly. I told Chaos they were missing the point of friendship and, hey, here we go again. Chaos being bad at understanding friendships. The poor idiot was raised too lonely.

“No,” I said just as Charr said “Yes.” Charr and I looked at each other. We both snatched up our phones and checked our messages.

“Aaliyah said ‘no’,” I said.

“But Jade said ‘yes’?” Charr said, sounding alarmed. “That’s weird.”

Chaos banged a pot, then their head on the cupboard. A bunch of ‘jesus on a stick’s later, Chaos appeared in the living room. “Why’s that weird?”

I typed away at my phone, not answering right away. Charr was doing the same. Both of us were asking how Aaliyah was doing. Being a home-body, Aaliyah rarely went to parties. But she hated staying home alone, was still slightly jealous of missing out on any ‘cule fun, and so she tended to stick around whenever Jade came over. Alright, the two were inseparable in their own way. Jade was all peppy and Aaliyah all sober but they worked, you know?

The apartment door tried to swing open, snagging on the chain. It drew back shut and there was a banging on the door. “Open up!” called in Jade.

Chaos swore as me and Charr yelled at them to stop putting the chain on the door. How was Jade and Aaliyah supposed to get in here with the chain on?

“Demons!” said Chaos. “I’m telling you, someday someone is going to try and break into here -”

“And a chain is not going to stop them!” said Jade as she bustled in. There was snowflakes on her knitted hat and cowl, and she had her backpack on and a bag on her side. “Hey everyone!”

“Hey,” said Charr in her usual monotone as I rose to get my kiss from Jade.

“Hey, we were just messaging you,” I said as Jade nuzzled into my neck happily. I gingerly hugged her but damn, the outside of her coat was cold and snow was about to fall in my face. “Is Aaliyah okay?”

“Uh, well,” Jade drew back and began unwinding her cowl. “You know.” She pulled off her hat, making a fuss of dusting off the snow.

“She’s on her period?” asked Chaos bluntly.

We all shot Chaos looks. Thanks, buddy, for being that ice-breaker. Not. “How’s supper coming?” I asked sharply.

Chaos gave me a murderous look. “In hell we had cooks,” and they slammed a cupboard shut and began fussing in another cupboard.

Jade was now wrestling out of her coat with her backpack dangling on an arm. She writhed and wrestled and I went to help her.

“So uh?” I asked quietly as I helped Jade. “What happened?” Was she hesitant to talk because of Chaos? Maybe I could send them out on a grocery run or something if it was serious.

Jade made a face. Then she shrugged. Then she made another face. “I’m not sure,” was what she finally said.

“Oh come on!” Chaos yelled from the kitchen. Everyone jumped. Then, much quieter, there was a “Sorry. Pinched myself. Nevermind.”

Jade frowned. “You doing okay in there?”

“No,” the oh so great warrior wailed, coming to terms with their mortality when faced with a can opener. I, however, caught Jade by the arm before she could run away into the kitchen.

“What happened?” I asked softly. “Should I be worried?”

Jade made a face.

“She’s coming over!” Charr called out from the living room. “I got to her.”

More like, you harassed her until she gave in, but “Good!” I exclaimed, relieved. If Aaliyah was leaving her bedroom, it wasn’t depression (which she had had before) nor was it a serious period cramp. Maybe it was not that big of a deal?

Chaos is Back!

Y’all, I am SO EXCITED right now! After writing in the ‘Attack of the White Clouds’, I spent an hour or so trying my very bestest to work on another story I’ve had ideas for. Then BOOM! I realized that this story was a continuation of Kuryo’s story. Ergo -> Chaos’s story too!

BOOM! I pulled out an open office document (because I’m indie like that, I don’t like using word) and began typing. And typing. And now, ladies and gentlemen and folks in-between… Chaos is back! And so is Kuryo! And the whole polycule! And really, I’m just so excited! It seems as if, so far, if it all goes as planned, the whole ‘cule will be there for this novel! YAY!

Anyways, just to drum up some suspense, I’ve scheduled the first snippet to be posted tomorrow. So grab a friend! Tag a friend! Share this post! And get ready for MORE CHAOS!

EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

“Just More Chaos”; Chapter Twelve Part Two

The next morning, just as the vampires got dozy and started complaining about wanting to nap, the sun rose. Crack!, went the dawn. Moo, went the cows somewhere on the horizon (I guess?) and ba-dang! Someone dropped something in the kitchen.

Bella sat up in her bed, startled awake. Kuryo woke too, but barely moved. He was watching Bella with dark eyes as if gauging what to do next.

I, innocent as could be, was sitting in the windowsill and pretending to be, you know, just sitting. Which I really was doing. But I was also thinking. And wondering. And thinking. But also realizing that I was part of the hive (maybe?) and so I shouldn’t think too loudly.

“What are you up to?” Bella asked, sweeping from bed to just sit on the edge of it, facing me.

I looked around and shrugged. “Sitting. Thinking.”

“I can hear that,” she said nastily.

Oh, ouch. uh-

“Stop thinking, and come here,” she said, reaching out a hand and beckoning me.

My heart did a stupid flip-flop. Aww, she wanted to see me. I slid from the window and padded over. Our fingers twined together and she looked happily up at me. “I’m happy you’re here,” she murmured, tugging me closer. “I missed you.”

Giddy butterflies rose in my stomach. Yayyy my Queen loved me, I couldn’t help but think. She twisted my hand a little and nodded to the floor. “Kneel for me,” she whispered.

I did, because I was happy and she was being kind and hey, wasn’t I supposed to just do what she wanted? It was surprisingly easy right then.

Bella tousled my hair with a grin, then cupped my chin and kissed me. I was happy. For a moment I liked to think that everything would be okay.

But of course it wouldn’t be. Bella grinned and pushed me aside with a foot, enjoying seeing me as disposable. As a plaything. I can’t say it wasn’t fun, but… it stung too, because it wasn’t just a game. It was real to her.

She left for a shower, and I stayed sitting on the floor. I didn’t see a point in moving, not until Kuryo appeared by my side.

“Hey,” he said, crouching down beside me. “You okay?”

I nodded, looking down at my lap. I mean, I wasn’t hurt, was I? It’s not like I’d been punched in the face or anything. But Kuryo put an arm around me. “It’s going to be alright,” he murmured. “I’ll find something.”

I looked at him from the corner of my eye. Should I tell him? Probably not. Bella’s hive – was he part of it? Was I? I wasn’t sure. Death messed around with connections like that.

“Come on, get up,” he said, pulling on my arm. “Don’t stay on the floor.”

I let him tell me what to do. Come to think of it, everyone was telling me what to do… I guess I felt spineless. I guess I just – wanted some direction to life?

I was sitting listlessly on the bed when Bella surfaced from the bathroom, all clean and fresh for the day. Kuryo was sitting beside me, rubbing my arms and trying to cheer me up. I just felt blah.

“Hey lovebirds,” she sneered. “Come along.”

And we followed her. Downstairs and out the front door, to where a portal was waiting. It filled the air with the stench of sulfur and sparkles emanated from it. So it went to Lucifer’s part of hell, I supposed.

Bella seized a hand of both Kuryo and me, and, with a curt nod to the overseeing vampires, dragged us after her into the portal. Whoopee.

For a second I was terrified that she was bringing us somewhere humiliating. That was my first fear, before realizing that I should be more worried about getting myself tortured for havign sneezed in her direction or something dumb like that.

On the other side of the portal, we were unceremoniously shoved forward. I stumbled as the ground rose up to me, and Kuryo caught me. How come he was always on his feet? I briefly wondered if he had psychic wings or something that held him up.

Then Bella called out, her voice just a pitch shrill. “Look what I found!”

And we looked up. And around. There was a whole council. Demon overlords, one wind god whose name I couldn’t remember, several goddesses who looked out for vengeance, and, of course, Lucifer.

Lucifer who, like a drama queen seeing her favourite dish come forward, applauded slowly. Bella strutted forward to take her space at the head of the table. “I also found a jade dragon and a golden one.”

The council oohed and ahhed. Some even applauded for real. I stood, mind reeling. Yeah, okay, so she had a war council. That was to be expected. So – she’d decided to come parade us like little trophies. Also to be expected.

“You know, they’re not just going to do what you ask of them. They’re not yours,” Kuryo snapped sharply.

Bella smirked his way. “You’re really naive.”

Kuryo’s face darkened. And uh, naive wasn’t a word I’d apply to him. Just – for some reason.

“Well, congrats darling,” cooed Lucifer. “You’re doing fabulously.”

Bella beamed, truly proud of herself.

Conversation struck up. Kuryo and I were shooed to a corner near Bella by servants who rushed around serving preferred beverages. Details were ranted about and I pretended not to be paying any attention while trying to soak it all in. Just in case I could relay any and all of it to the rebellion.

As things stood, Bella had nearly captured all of North America. South America had already fallen. Some heathen parts of Europe were still resisting – but her religion was spreading fast as an official religion.

“Even the penguins are worshiping you,” Lucifer added snidely – and I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not.

Then, the topic came up. “We need to speak of the rebellion,” one goddess announced.

“Just More Chaos”; Chapter Seven, Part ???

Or was he? Instead of reappearing in the ‘landing pad’ room, I found myself waking up as if from a deep sleep – to watch my own burial.

It was dawn and a shallow grave had been dug in Bella’s backyard. My body was dumped face-down in the dirt and was now getting shovelfuls of mud thrown onto it. Bella wasn’t even there. She was upstairs combing her hair, as I could clearly see through the window.

“Wow that’s quite the view,” Conan said cheerfully as mud spattered onto the back of my body’s head. “You can even see the stake sticking out of your back!”

“Why are we doing this?” I asked as snarkily as one could while being in someone’s spiritual pocket. It came out sounding drowsy and sleepy. I was comfy, okay?

“We’re waiting,” Conan said happily, fluffing out his feathers and snuggling down into himself.

At that, I tried to rouse myself. Yes! It was dawn! Something must be happening! “What?” I asked peppily. Anything to distract myself from my own burial… “What are we waiting for?”

“For you to get the point!” and he cackled at his own joke.

“Oh very fucking funny,” I snarled. I tried to stretch and push him around but nope- no getting out of my cozy little pocket.

A crow fluttered down from a nearby tree and perched beside us. “Hey, what’s the occasion?” it asked in a caw.

“Some idiot got staked. The eyes are still there, if you can get to them,” Conan said happily.

My eyes!

“Eh,” the crow shrugged and ruffled itself. “Maybe once the dogs dig it up.”

“Or the werewolves,” Conan chirped in.

Are you fucking done?! I wanted to scream. That’s me they’re burying! Stop making fun! It’s not funny! Stop it!

The crow cocked its head to the side. “Do I hear someone?” it asked.

“I got one them in my pocket,” Conan said, as if that explained everything. The other crow cocked its head, but seemed to get the point.

“Unlike you!” Conan thought loudly, somehow prodding at me. “You got the point yet?”

“What point?” I shrieked, flailing around and throwing as big of a temper tantrum as I could.

“That you were being used like a,” Conan paused for effect, or to find his words.

“Yeah, yeah! I got the point!” I snapped. “Get over it!”

“Oh but did you?” and Conan, chirping a quick ‘bye’ to the bird, took off. He flew up to Bella’s window and perched on the sill. There, he stuck an eye almost into the glass, peering in. “Look at how miserable she is! Ooooh, take a good look at that!”

Bella was smirking, sitting in her chair and generally staring into space as she fiddled with her fingers.

“She’s so miserable!” chirped Conan. “She’s mourning you so bad! Grief knows no bounds!”

“Oh shut up!” I shrieked, because it did hurt. Bella just looked so happy.

“That’s because she is happy! She got rid of you, and the fact you went back to her shows her that she’s got an eternal grip on you – she won. You were her eternal lapdog.”

I wanted to cry, but no tears would come. “I was going to kill her,” I mumbled in my defense.

“She probably sensed that. That’s why she tried to kill you first.”

“Am I that predictable?” I whined miserably.

“Oh yes you are,” Conan said. “You throw a tantrum, go beat things up, and usually retreat to Bella. Did I get it right?”

I made an unhappy sound. But I was too cozy to really sound more than like a grumpy cat. I snuggled down into this pocket, drowsy and wanting to be left alone.

“You’ve got some choices to make,” Conan was saying as he hopped off the ledge and onto the nearby gutter. He pecked at some snow, then spat it out.

“Bla, bla, bla,” I thought grouchily. “Leave me alone. I’m dead.”

“Well, yes, you are,” he chirped as he hopped along the roof. “But that leaves you with several options, thanks to me.”

“Uh huh,” I tried to sleep but it wasn’t working.

“I’m a passageway for those I kill,” he announced. “I can-”

“You’ve killed people?” I was in shock. His perfect know-it-all perfection had killed things?

“It’s a long story,” he said unhappily. “But yes. And I can transfer their souls to another place. A galaxy where they start over. So that’s one option.”

“What happens in this galaxy?” I asked hopefully. After all, it didn’t seem like I had a good chance at getting into the Pure Lands right now.

“I don’t know,” he said softly. “It’s just where I send people. I’ve never been there.”

I paused. “Okay, that’s – creepy. You got a better option?”

He ruffled his feathers and looked pompously up into the sky. “I can release you, and you, as a spirit that died, get taken into the Source to be… reconstructed. It seems to be that was where your soul was going before I put you under my wing.”

“Am I under your wing?” I asked.

“Oh hush,” he sighed. “Then we have a third option.”

“Go on,” I said grumpily. Figures, he’d stick me in his armpit.

Conan hesitated. “I eat you.”

“You WHAT?” I yelped, suddenly not so drowsy and cozy anymore.

“Hey, calm down, I’m offering, it’s not like I’m a rabid cannibal with no self control.”

“No, you’re a civilized cannibal?”

Conan paused. “I’m not sure I count as a cannibal. You see, I’m a crow Chaos. In my realm, that comes with certain powers. To travel the realms, and to ingest souls. To take them and bond them into yourself. I’ve done this multiple times, and, really, it’s what saved me from Bella. You see, I’m not one soul with only three pieces. I’m a soul with many, many, pieces. And Bella can only control one piece at a time, so I was relatively free in her grasp.”

“You’re, a soul-eater?” I would be a guppy if I had a shape right then.

“I’m just a crow with a lot of power,” he said with a creaky sigh. “Now you’ve got to make up your mind. What do you want to do?”

“Well I certainly don’t want to get Eaten!” I fairly yelled. He rattled his head as if I was loud. “What are you doing with me anyways? Why don’t you just let me go?”

“That will release you into the Source. Is that what you want?”

“No!” I snapped. Somehow, I didn’t feel like being de-constructed. I had a life, I had things to fix. I’d screwed up but… what other choice was there?

“I can send you to the galaxy,” he offered.

I snorted. “Galaxy of what? You don’t even know what is there!”

“True,” he cocked his head to the side. “But it’s where I feel compelled to send souls-”

“So why didn’t you send me there?” I snapped, thinking I had found a loophole in his story. Hah!

“Because,” he said calmly. “I want to eat you. Ingest you. Absorb you.”

I screamed wordlessly. Trust the cute guy to be a maniac!

Conan chuckled, ruffling his feathers against a cold breeze. “So what’ll it be?”

I moped. I tried to change the topic. “Is that it? The reason you were flirting with me? You were like ‘mmm, I wanna eat that’?”

Conan laughed. “No. I like you.”

“Why?” I snapped.

“Beats me,” and he sighed again. “Look it’s getting cold. Make up your mind.”

I groaned, then whined pathetically. “I don’t want to. Can’t we-” but my mind was made up. I had three options, and I hated all of them. But only one really gave me a chance to fix what I’d screwed up.

I wailed wordlessly, but I knew he’d heard my decision. “Fine! Eat me!”

Conan chuckled. “With pleasure,” he said softly.

Romance – Author’s Blurb on Polyamory

So yes, I write romance. But you know, I’ve always been that kind of author that, when faced with a ‘who dates who’ situation, my answer is a shrug and a ‘Why not ALL of them?’.

Yeah, I’m that person. Gimme the cake, ice cream, and cherries all at once, with sprinklers on top. Yes that means I’m poly. Yes, I am in a poly relationship. No, that doesn’t mean I’ll hop into bed with everything and anything (though I do tend to fling myself at crushes, haha). And while I do tend to write mainly couples romance, I felt it was time for a poly romance. So yeah, enter a polycule relationship.

Now, everything happening with Kuryo in “My Name is Chaos” is such spoilers for “Dreaming of Lights”, really. Because that’s where Kuryo meets Charr and bumbles his way through relationships and dimensions (to summarize loosely). But at the end of “Dreaming of Lights”, you are still not (entirely) sure who dates who. Well, all is being revealed now I suppose.

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD

Because yes, Charr and Kuryo are a team, but they’re what would be called ‘nesting partners’ in poly lingo. That means they live together as a couple. That doesn’t mean they’re exclusive. In fact, if I have any say in it, they’re part of an extended polycule involving two of Kuryo’s other crushes in ‘Dreaming of Lights’. Why? Because it just makes sense in my head. Aside from jealousy and the fact that they don’t see what Kuryo goes through between dimensions with Charr, these characters have genuine chemistry together. If they could ‘just’ (like it’s a small thing, haha) set their jealousy aside, they could actually all be happy together.

Now this means Kuryo has three girlfriends (imagine Chaos freaking out in jealousy “He has THREE girlfriends?!!!”), but that doesn’t mean the three girlfriends date each other. They’re friends, but I seriously don’t see them being anything more to each other.

But why does Kuryo have so many girlfriends and they have just him? Well, it goes by individual. One girlfriend, Jade, almost certainly has other partners as well. But Aaliyah and Charr are reserved and quiet people who don’t necessarily want more partners, or have enough energy to take care of more than one partner. Especially Charr, coming from another dimension, I don’t really see her being able to open up to that many people, whereas Jade is a social butterfly.

Does Kuryo necessarily have enough time and energy for that many partners? Well, considering he kind of gave his heart away to each of them at different intervals in his series, I guess he’s stuck doing it (hahaha).

So what does all this have to do with Chaos’ story? Well, guess what Bella? There’s two other badass women who don’t want Kuryo and Charr hurt. (Don’t you think that makes like a tiny little superhero squad? The dun dun dun… Super -‘cule!) Do these two girlfriends actually make it into Chaos’s storyline? I’m not sure yet. They don’t dimension jump in ‘Dreaming of lights’, so I’d be surprised if they do now. But still, I enjoy the thought, so who knows? And plus, it would be super cute to see the polycule in action. How caring they would be for each other, how  they could share meals together, just the mundane little cute things, you know?

Also, I feel like they’d all want to beat Chaos’s ass into a pulp for hurting their Kuryo. Just saying.

On that note, I really feel like drawing the whole poly-squad.

“Just More Chaos”: Chapter Six, Part One

I stood to one side of the hallway, waiting. Not because I wanted to, but because I had been asked to. Charr had stomped into my tiny room and said “He wants to see you,” and had marched out, with her hand attached to my collar. In other words, she hauled my sorry ass all the way into the medic ward, and left me here to wait. Now my neck hurt, and I felt clutzy. It wasn’t FoxFace (she wasn’t a he), but rather Conan who supposedly wanted to see me.

So I crossed my arms and waited. If I hadn’t almost killed the guy I wouldn’t still be here. But – I guess I owed it to him?

Anyways, I was there when Charr walked him out, half supporting him and half trying to murder me with her eyes.

“Hey,” I said, holding up a hand.

He managed to lift a hand, the other arm wrapped around his stomach, which was bandaged. He was wearing jeans, but no shirt. How did he still look good despite looking so sickish? I hated him more.

Charr planted him on the wall beside me, where he leaned on it with a grimace. Then she walked away with a scowl at me.

The minute the door to the stairs closed, Conan turned his attention to me. “So,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows. He continued “We’re doing this. Right here, right now. Why do you hate me?”

“I don’t,” I mumbled unconvincingly.

He shook his head. “There was five other vampires but you attacked me. Why? What have I done to you?”

I looked away, down the hall. Then I shook my head. “I don’t have to explain to you. First of all, there was three vampires, not five. Second, you were in the way. Happy? I’m done.” and I picked myself off the wall and began walkign away.

A hand on my shoulder – but I shrugged it off and kept going without looking back.

“Hey!” he called after me.

But that was it. I didn’t owe him anything else. Nope, no, his so-good-looking ass could manage fine without me.

I had a hand on the stairwell’s door when he grabbed me with his powers. It was like a giant vice over my entire body. Slowly, I began sliding backwards.

“You asshole!” I shouted, whirling around. He had one hand lifted and a smug look on his face. I stomped over to him, lifting a fist to his face. “Want me to try again?” I yelled.

He was nonplussed. As always. Where did he get that nerve from? Especially for someone who couldn’t fight! “You don’t like me,” he said. “But why?”

I shook my hands over his shoulders, resisting rattling him but that might hurt his stitches. “I don’t like you!” I said stupidly, but that was all I could manage that would make sense.

“Keep going,” he said too calmly. I wanted to punch him. Just to get a rise out of him.

“You’re so friggin’ irritating!” I snapped, shaking my hands in the air beside my shoulders, feeling ready to snap. “Just stay out of my face!”

That smug look turned smugger. “You like me,” he said nastily. I realized in a flash that he already knew it, and was just choosing now to wave it around.

So I punched him. So he fell. Big deal.

Uhm, well, I kind of felt guilty as he groaned on the floor. I stepped to his side and crouched down.

“You’re annoying,” I said half-heartedly.

He looked up at me, propped up on an elbow with the side of his face all red. “You’re such a jerk,” he said.

I snorted. “You’re the one who pulled me on, saying all ‘oh you like me’.” I quoted him in the most annoying pitch I could manage.

“You do,” he said sharply. “I can read it in you.”

I blanked. Oh, shit. “You can read minds?” It was my feeble attempt at changing topic.

“I control energy,” he said with a grimace as he sat up. “So I can read a few general signs. Like,” He brushed his hair from his face. “You like me. A lot.”

I looked away with a huff. “Alright. Now you’re just begging to be punched,” I said but there was no (hah!) punch to it.

His hand gripped my shoulder. “Help me up.”

I scowled at him. He looked back, unflinching. Rolling my eyes and cursing under my breath, I did actually help him up. He hissed, held his stomach, but got up.

“You know, you almost cut me in half,” he said.

“Still not sorry,” I said snarkily. “You talk too much.”

He laughed. His hand stayed on my shoulder. I looked at him. “You’ve got a girlfriend,” I said, not exactly un-jealous but certainly not, well, I was upset.

“We’re open,” he said in the way people do when they’re trying not to laugh at you. I gawked at him. He chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. Then he began making his way down the hallway, a hand on the wall.

I was rooted to the spot, brain trying to digest that. If he and her- did that mean -? I whirled around. “Hey!” I shouted at his retreating back. “What do want? I mean – what’s your point? Why did you?”

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t I talk too much?”

I cursed and stalked over to him. He smirked at me. I reached to rattle him, but stopped myself at the last moment. I pocketed my hands. “Why are you messing with me?” I snapped, putting on my best glare.

“I’m not,” he said. “But you’re the one throwing a tantrum.”

I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. “Get over yourself,” I muttered.

“Or you could do that,” he said cheekily.

I flushed, angry and embarrassed all at the same time. “Okay, you – what do you want? You want to get me mad? Fine! I’m mad!”

“I actually didn’t want you mad; but that’s like, your default setting?”

I snorted and looked aside. Yeah, I was always upset these days. So what? Life wasn’t a cakewalk.

He patted me on the shoulder. I scowled at him. “Be less of a jerk,” he said sweetly. “And then maybe we can date. Okay?”

My jaw fell. He looked ready to laugh at me again. I fled, turning and darting away as fast as I could walk without running.