//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18: Chaotic Dream 
// Story: Havoc 
// by Histy 
//------------------------------//

I stood at the edge of a small lake, without anything to defend myself with my staff missing somewhere else. I didn't take this news too seriously, as I knew that I was dreaming, so "looking" for it would be pointless in the end, anyway.

The lake was surrounded by many kinds of plants and trees. Off to one side, there was a waterfall, which spilled its contents into the lake in roaring splashes of water that somehow soothed and calmed me.

Within the lake itself, medium sized fish roamed, swimming in all kinds of directions.

Overhead, birds chirped and squashed, flying wherever they so pleased, unbothered by the limits their wings had set.

I didn't understand. Why was I here? Why do these things calm me?

"Quite the sight for your mind to make, isn't it?" said a very... familiar voice.

Turning rapidly to the sound of it, my eyes settled upon something, or someone, that I have not seen in ages.

He sat on an ornate chair, holding what appeared to be a chalice in his claw. He was smiling at me smugly, clearly delighted at seeing me again.

Instead of being as happy as he was, I scowled deeply at him.

"Apophis..." I growled at the draconequs. "Why are you here?"

Apophis was unbothered by my hostility, instead chuckling. "For the simple reason that spirits long dead can still enter one's mind and dreams," he answered. "But for some reason, there were two others trying to come in, too, but I blocked them so that our little reunion can continue without interruption."

Two others? What was he talking about?

"But that's not the point why I'm here. So tell me, is that how you greet a long time friend after not seeing them for ages?" he asked as he drank from his chalice.

"If you consider a traitor a friend, then yes."

Apophis choked on his drink, before spitting it out in a comical way. He then looked at me with a more serious expression than he had before.

"A traitor? You're the one who betrayed me!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how so?"

Now he was completely flabbergasted

"How so? How so!?" he exclaimed. "You're making it sound like you did nothing wrong!"

"That's because I'm doing what is necessary."

Apophis scoffed, "Necessary? You're saying it's necessary to kill Faust, make us lose our immortality, let all the God's die, and thus make the world ripe for Grogar to take?"

"Grogar won't succeed. I'm making sure of that."

Apophis looked at me in a suspicious way, before his trademark mask returned, and he burst into laughter.

"That's rich," he said between laughs. 

When he stopped laughing, he then stared at me seriously.

"If you're really making sure of stopping him, than I want to know how you plan on taking him on." He hovered off of his ornate chair, floating his way towards me. He stopped at an uncomfortable distance, too close for my comfort. He smirked mockingly.

"I want to know every last detail."

Sounded simple enough.

"Well-"

I stopped myself as I thought for one thing, anything that could be a plan of action. But I found none. I had no plan. I had nothing truly set for when Grogar arrives.

Taking my silence as a sign of victory, Apophis once again laughed to his heart's content as he circled around me. He Soon stopped, looking me dead in the eyes.

"Ne mikros fu tren krop xuttengun kros mert fu."

I responded to Apophis reverting back to his old tongue in kind. "Quae semper tu opinor, sed saltem ego non iam mortuus."

Apophis abruptly became (literally) deflated, his form falling flatly onto the ground below. "Low blow, Zer, low blow," he managed to wheeze out.

Suddenly, he teleported back onto the chair, good as new.

"But in all seriousness, Zer, you doomed us all, what with your desire for more power." His chalice reappeared in his hands with a snap of his fingers. "But I have to ask, how exactly did you kill Faust? And while I already know, why?"

Ah, yes, the question that everyone is so curious about. Why did I kill Faust? How did I do it? It's not very surprising that this was the question that was the most frequently asked.

I sighed as I prepared to answer the question.

"Faust can be quite arrogant at times. She often boasted about her powers as a creator and how she could easily replace all of us on a whim."

"So it was about power, then?" Apophis interjected.

I glared at him, irritated. "Let me speak first, asshole."

I continued, "She also saw any relationship between demigods to be impure and immediately did them away once she caught wind of one, most often by simply erasing the involved demigod from existence before replacing him."

"I don't see how that has to do with anything." Apophis interjected again. "For all I care, Faust is correct, any relationship with a demigod is stupid-"

I snapped at him angrily, "Faust is wrong. She could have just made those demigods into Gods themselves. She did have the power to do that, after all."

Apophis now looked at me with confusion and slight curiosity.

"Make them into Gods? The demigods? That is something I never expected to leave your mouth, Zer."

My eyes widened as I realized my mistake. "Shit," I muttered.

"Is there something you never told me about?" Apophis asked eagerly. "Something that is important for the reason you killed Faust?"

"No. Let's just-" I tried.

"Oh no!" Apophis interrupted, teleporting near me, his face inches away from mine, a stupid smile written on it. "You're not getting away that easily! I want to know what your hiding from me!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No."

"C'mon, Zer, pretty please?"

"No."

"Not even for good ol' Apophis?"

"Minime vero."

"Maybe just a little?"

"The answer is no, Apophis," I said finally. "And that's final."

Apophis' smile dropped as he now stared stared at me with an irritated expression.

Just when I thought I had gotten out of my mistake, a lightbulb appeared above Apophis' head as his expression contorted to one of realization, as though he had connected all the dots in a mystery.

"...It's him, isn't it?"

Shit. "Who?" I asked, attempting to play dumb.

Apophis grabbed my shoulders. "Don't play dumb with me, Zer!" he shouted as he shook me back and forth. "You know who I'm talking about!"

After he ceased his shaking, his eyes looked deep into my own, begging, pleading for me to give some kind of answer.

If this was anyone other than Apophis (or the one who he was speaking about), I would have still remained in denial. But this was Apophis, one who, no matter how much I told myself otherwise due to his betrayal, regarded as a friend. There was still that... connection that we had. I still felt rather comfortable talking to him despite how much he irritated me at times. 

"...Ut Iuppiter miserere animae meae... fine," I finally conceded. "I know who you speak of, and yes, he is part of the reason I killed Faust."

"Wow," Apophis breathed out with a look of disbelief. "And here I thought you only had interest in me. But yet I just knew that something was going between you two!" He accusingly pointed a talon at me to emphasize what he was saying.

"Yes," I groaned in annoyance. "Who knew me and Trajan were so compatible?"

Remember when I said I never considered finding a mate? I lied about that. And while I knew that love would have gotten in the way I of my plans, I didn't have any of those plans when I began my relationship with Trajan, other than go out and kill mortals and get on Terra's bad side. They only developed after Faust became involved.

Apophis had ignored my statement, instead exclaiming, "But it makes so much more sense now! You saying he was your favorite Gatekeeper, spending more time with him after I turned you down, and even letting him influence your decisions!"

"Congratulations, Apophis," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "You figured out something that it took Faust five seconds to."

Apophis teleported back into his ornate chair once again, his chalice again reappearing in his lion paw. He had his trademark smirk on his features.

"While you may be correct, Zer, I must say that I'm now very interested in your tale. So if you please..." He gestured his free claw to me, signalling me to finally continue.

"Finally..." I groaned in my head as I once again continued my story.

"Trajan and I were able to keep our relationship behind closed doors for quite some time, but that didn't last forever. Faust was able to connect the dots to how we acted with each other, and took action accordingly. She threatened us, stating that if our actions continued any further, she would erase and replace both of us."

Apophis butted in, "And you couldn't allow her to do that, now, would you?"

"No. I couldn't," I concurred. "And the only way to prevent that from happening was to kill her."

"Ahh, now the interesting part," Apophis smiled devilishly. "So how'd you do it?"

I hummed thoughtfully, looking back upon memories of centuries passed, bringing myself back to the fateful event. 

"It all occured much like this..."