Discord

by AppleCider120

The Best Laid Plans - Chapter 10

Mother had grown quite proud of her new creation. Gaea Everfree was developing beyond expectations, and becoming very proficient with her new powers. She did hold Gaea on a slightly higher pedestal than she did Discord. This was not due to their prowess, entirely; instead, Mother was simply more proud of something she directly created from her planet. Whether or not Gaea would understand when the final trial came would be a different story, however. She had only mentioned Discord in passing, and very generally.

She would make hints to Gaea's "long lost brother", and said they would meet when the time was right. Gaea, to Mother's delight, wasn't the type of creature who would pry into her reasoning. The questions were rare, and if Mother made a hint to the girl that it was not time to know, she would drop the subject. She could clearly sense her daughter's frustration, too. The girl wanted to learn everything. Ever gift she was given, she would look into ways to expand her knowledge and power.

Mother would talk with her daughter as Discord finally came to the end of his second year of trials. The two would walk into the ruins of the old Everfree Empire, and explore as they spoke. Gaea, ever so intrigued by everything, was delighted when mother invited her into the old throne room of the palace. The old city was a reminder to Mother how intelligent her human children were. Though the small things were gone, or decaying beyond recognition, the building's themselves were hardly tarnish.

As Gaea was lead into the throne room, and followed Mother Nature's gesture to sit upon the old chair, she anticipated the kinds of answers she would receive to her many questions. And to Mother's predictions, the questions were usually short, with longer explanations required on some.

The first was about the earth, and how Mother had come to create it. Mother answered truthfully.

"In full honesty, my daughter," she said softly, "I did not create this planet, nor the stars and neighboring worlds we see, and that humans are working towards seeing more of. Instead, even I was a creation of another being. No one amongst us-- me and my family of gods and goddesses-- has ever met our true creators. Apart from their voices, and their directions in choosing our star systems, we hardly know anything of their existence. However, as I just said, they directed us in choosing start systems. The children they made could either wander the stars to find their own, or the creators would give us one they felt need to be great."

"And they gave you this one?" Gaea said, all the curiosity in her eyes.

Mother nodded proudly at her daughter. "Indeed. I could not decide, for the lifetimes of me, choose a system. There are countless in this universe! I would never have been able to see them all within the lifetimes of any known star. Instead, they pointed me to this one. Of all the systems they created, this one developed a quite rare specimen of a planet. Every other planet in this system, due to a lack of interaction, developed specific atmospheres. Every one has something that make it unique. But, this world developed traits that it could share with them. The mountains, the deserts, the tundras and valleys, the storms, the very weather cycle itself! This planet shares this with many others in the universe. And with that, it was my only choice. I have let all the other planets run their own course, but I carefully crafted this one to house as many creatures as I could possibly dream of! And that, my dear Gaea, is how this planet came to be. Not by my hands alone, but by the guidance of the creators, and my imagination with one world."

Gaea nodded, feeling like she understood fully, but now feeling like she had more questions developing in her young mind. Though, they only had this one day remaining before Mother was to meet this new being; she would refer to the creature as him, and that Gaea would likely come to adore him after his trial. But, she wanted that question for last, and instead asked about the human species.

"Mother?" she said. "You have told me many nights that the humans, while not your most numerous creation, is your most impactful. How did the human species come along?"

"The humans, my dear, are one of the main reasons I had originally chosen this planet," Mother said, smiling. "Well, as I had told you of your creation, I shall teach you of theirs. Now, keep in mind, while I did create them completely different from you, you are still quite human, yourself. Now, do you remember the chimpanzee that you had learned to grow food for earlier last month?"

Gaea would nod in response.

"Well, that chimpanzee shares a common relationship with the human's own oldest predecessor. I created a plant, that whenever I focus my magic on it, would appear in patches; no matter where these patches grew, they would stay. These flowers, of which the humans call "Poison Joke", are like an extra hand for me. While I accidentally lost my ability to be specific about many things they do on their own, when I work in tandem with the flowers, I can guide the evolution of an entire species."

"Accidentally?" Gaea said, with a little giggle.

Mother smiled, shrugging a bit. Your humans are truly going to rub off your mannerisms on me!

"Oh, of course, my daughter. While most humans would never imagine it, except for some tribes that were lost in time, a god is not known by their own peers for being perfect. It is why the human species, and some lesser ones, are so imperfect. I made them all, in the beginning, as a rough copy of myself. When the first of the old simians were ready, I sprouted up countless carpets and patches of the Poison Joke, directing my power to directly influence their slow changes. Despite my immense power, it still took hundreds of thousands of years for many of them to look remotely anything like me. But, I wanted it this way. I put some of my own power into those plants so they could work perfectly in sync. But, as I said, I accidentally made them one of the most dangerous plants in the world if interacted with improperly."

Mother giggled to herself. "Which is precisely the reason they haven't been around you. I could not risk my perfect creation being inadvertently derailed by a flower. That would be hysterical, but it would also be unfortunate. In the human's later years, however, I had become slightly upset. I had given them free will, and the ability to learn anything; and with that, many tribes began to not only destroy the land, but each other. Oh, to describe the wars of old would make me relive the hatred I had harbored. I created these beings in my likeness, but I did not make them in my own personality. And they have driven many of my ancient creatures to vanish off the face of this planet."

Gaea stared intently. "Why would they do that, Mother? Did they not enjoy your world?"

"Oh, on the contrary, Gaea. While it may sound quite arbitrary, they love the planet. The problem occured when they started creating tools. They began to build shelters, like this Empire. Then, there were more human populations, and more destruction. So, one day, I got to work. This Empire used to be a sprawling city; there were many humans in it, upwards of easily tens of thousands. But, my dear Changelings, as I had described before, decimated them. The newest Queen enacted an old plan from her mother to try and overthrow all, and steal their very essence. While it did backfire, the hive destroyed enough that the humans chose to outright abandon the old structure."

"So, this used to house many humans?" Gaea asked.

Mother nodded, smiling. Gaea could sense a little bit of remorse from her mother. She remembered the many nights she could hear the goddess talking idly, on how she realized she was truly the aggressor of many of these events. By mere association, she knew she had destroyed many of her own creations. So, Gaea looked to ask her the big question.

"Mother?" she asked. "Who is he? You said would meet one day, and though I know you said not in a few months, you said this next year would be it. So, who is this individual?"

Mother nodded, taking a deep breath. She had promised her daughter any questions would be answered tonight, and she would deliver.

"The man I have been referring to," she said, "used to go by the name Errant Aurora, many years ago. Long before your existence, but not too long after the destruction of this kingdom you sit in. I was still in a phase of creating a creature that could rival the humans in destructive habits. After the Changelings, I was still determined to make it human-like, so it would also have the intelligence. And there he came, wandering down an old pathway, out from an the empire. I do not know what he was doing walking in the middle of nowhere, and I do not know if I ever will; however, I felt he was the perfect one. Just as I gave the Changelings the ability to sense most emotions, I could sense his pain. He was definitely hurting, though not that many could tell. His aura was lacking in spirit; he was alone, and quite upset with his predicament."

"But, I could see a small sliver of hope in his soul. He had a love for the natural world, and he walked as close to the forests as he could, without leaving his pathway behind. So, without thinking-- other than my plans for the human race-- I began to lure him with song. It was a tune to match his aura; it was depressing, with notes that glimmered with hope. He took to it almost immediately, and wandered into the trap of Poison Joke, where he soon turned to stone."

Mother waved her hand to form an image on a nearby wall, using her memories to reconstruct many points of the timeline.

"He was afraid at first," she continued. "And for me, I started to question my very methods almost instantaneously. Here was a creature that truly did appreciate my world, and I just ripped him form it without his personal provocation. The first night, I decided upon a new name for Errant; I gave him the mantle of "Discord, the Spirit of Chaos, and Deception". Up until the time I created you, he wasn't too keen on it. And, in fact, he was mentally strong; impressively so, even. It took me almost twenty full years to finally break him down to the point where he was malleable. But, I didn't destroy him completely. He loved my creations, and I made sure that stayed. When he was ready, and his mind was fully erased-- this is why I'll never know why he was alone on that road-- I rewrote his history. He sees me truly as his mother, as you do."

Gaea perked up a bit. "So, I sort of have a brother, then?"

Mother nodded with a brighter smile. "For now. He is going through his trials, and from what I observed his first year, he is doing wonderfully. He learned to harvest my plants for natural sorts of magic, and has a set of runes only he, and myself, will ever understand. After our session tonight, and after you sleep, I will do one more observation. I will need to invade his memories, to see if he will be ready for the second-to-last phase. But, yes, you have a brother; though not related by blood, you are truly both my children."

Gaea accepted this answer gleefully, resulting to ask more questions until the sun began to reach its low point in the sky, where she began to tire. Once she had full fallen asleep, Mother took her daughter to the palace's old chambers; with her intervention, the old room had remained relatively unscathed, apart from the wear of time. She lay the girl to rest, leaving her note as she went off to find her Discord.

After almost an hour, she found him. She saw him with the nearly full grown Timberwolf pup, followed by a young dark humanoid figure beside him. Intrigued, the old goddess took the form of a bird, and began to trail them.

Discord

Discord's final month had been the best of his life, from what he could have ever remembered. He had served his "sentence" with the Changelings, working to help them build their own little city. They learned farming basics, looking for what they could, and couldn't drink. Most importantly, though, he had managed to work out a new form of feeding with the hive. Despite initial objections from some, he started to encourage the queen to share more, starting with the low ranks. After teaching them the different types of love on could express, from intimate to parental, they were able to manage a system where they no longer needed to lure newer victims on a near daily basis. While they would never be free from requiring humans, it would likely be a full month before they ever need emotions for food, again.

As for his relationship with the queen, it ran its course. Chrysalis and Discord truly cared for each other, and Chrysalis adored him even more with how he was able to raise the younger Changelings; though, she still could not understand their chirps and other language. Their incompatibility led to a decline, however. Discord could still share the love he needed to for his agreement the time before, but she could not reproduce with him. Therefore, once a month had full passed, Discord and Chrysalis coordinated his return to his friends in the cave.

Though, one little creature wouldn't let him go. Little Eris had become absolutely entrenched with the human. Queen Chrysalis could even see it as the little one was with him. As with all Changelings, they all loved their queen; Eris's affection for Eris as a parental figure was beyond what she could provide, however. So, a new deal was reached. Discord would be able to watch after little Eris until she reached the point that her need for the parental love of Discord faded. Mother would later recount that she did not remember ever delivering Chrysalis to this world; she simply decided that Discord was starting to gain some strength in this dream world, which gave her some relief.

As the final days of winter came, the White Tail had grown very fond of their human, and Changeling companions Errant was over the moon at the return of her friend. For the longest time, after their arrival, Discord even briefly seemed to catch the eyes of a few of the growing does from the heard; though, King Aspen was able to assist him in talking them out of such an idea. Prince Bramble had grown into an amazing young stag. While he was a little curious, and somewhat of a trickster, he did maintain many of his father's personality. The king expressed on occasion that he hoped this could mean Bramble would lead his own herd, one day.

Discord, on another front, had returned to his potions and magic. He showed off his new magic to the deer, showing how he could regrow some of the plants almost instantly. Though, he did learn that if he didn't have a specific pathway in mind, that the regeneration would be different. He found this out, with the grapes. One path would show the grapes appear back on the ends of the vine with a soft swelling sound; the sound could be compared to the pumps of the old blacksmiths. The other path, while he was focused, shown the grapes growing normally, though in rapid development.

This random magic remained his only magic, however. For now, he could not understand how he could apply the effects of his other potions to his world. He didn't mind this, though. He discovered he could regenerate some of the burned-out logs if he timed it right. But, to his surprise, the living things were not the only one's that were effected.

Today, he was alone with Errant, and Eris. The White Tail had moved on, due to the warm weather starting to work its way back in; the Changelings had released him from his oath, and he was now with his only two family, once more. He was oblivious to the fourth member, though, as he and the others walked into the cave, ready for bed. The dark was perfect cover for Mother, who flew in ahead. A close eyes was kept on the trio, who gave Mother a quite nice view of how her creatures should have been getting along from the beginning.

The joy in their eyes, especially those of Eris, showed something she had long since forgotten about Discord. Her old suspicion of him having "nothing to lose, but everything to give" was blatantly true here. The amount of love from that human, for the spawn of an entire different set of two creatures, would likely have been enough to revive her faith in the humans. Mother, however, had not been keeping her eyes on the outside world during these trials, and her time with Discord; nor during the creations of many of her creatures. She did not see, that outside the forest, time had moved on.

The humans, currently, were no longer engaging in the overabundant wars. While not quite at peace, they no longer sought out the violence that their ancestors knew. Mother knew none of this, however; she simply had a plan, which was ready by the time the trio had made it to sleep. In her avian form, Mother made her way down to the old hot spring, and observed it. Often disregarded by Discord, potion spills and dumping had notably changed the nature of the pool. While undetectable by the current human and his companions, the pool had dangerous properties, with how many potions had been mixed into it. But, Mother still needed more, that she could add herself.

She just required one last spell. With a huff of her breath, and a subtle stir with a light wind, she imbued one last bit of magic into the spring. The result of the additional magic was almost immediate. The temperature of the spring plummeted, while maintaining it's clearness. As the minutes dragged on, the pool began to slowly take on a surface sheen. While still pure in appearance, one could now see itself in the water's surface.

As you prepare for the next trial, my son, Mother said to herself, I do not want you to lose your love for those around you. Though, this new friend will likely test you in every way imaginable. My dear Discord, may you manage to keep your temper, and keep your heart cool; for when you touch this liquid, you will learn the power of the Mirror Pool.

Author's Note:

I decided to keep Eris. I really like the idea of Discord, temporarily, having the little one to look after. If you think I should keep her, even for the introduction of the next story(Yes, I'm interested in doing a second book), let me know in the comments!

I also hope you like the idea of the Mirror Pool creating doppleganger's, of a sort.