Chapter 18: Chaos

An hour before.... Dante had been having a rough morning. It was mainly because a beautiful and powerful woman visited him in the middle of the night. Ordinarily, Dante wouldn't mind a little night visit, especially by a pretty woman; however, when that woman demands that you do the one thing that you have been dreading. It takes all the luster out of her beauty. She even had the blatant audacity to command him to make her breakfast and some ready-to-go plates.

The director was the only woman in his life who could get away with anything. It had nothing to do with the fact that she practically raised him, nor did it have to do with how scary she could seem. Well, maybe a little to do with how scary she can seem, but if Dante had to place the reason, he would do anything for her, it would be his overwhelming respect for her as a leader and as a person.

Now, with all that being said, it still does not change the fact that Dante has no intention of adding some new cubs to his pack. He doesn't know how yet, but he will figure out a way to either scare them into quitting or find a valid reason for their inability. Dante does not see himself as cruel; however, he knows how to do what needs to be done.

The way he sees it, getting rid of these nuisances needed to be done so as not to slow him down from his real objective. Training anyone who is not already battle-hardened is more of a burden on him and his unit rather than a blessing. Dante can't seem to convince anyone else of this fact yet.

Dante slept for another 3 hours after Director Michele left. He put on his gear, equipping the cloak of midnight, which transformed into its normal form, a long black dress coat. He put on his sweat-absorbent black Apex-issued T-shirt underneath. He loved the thing because it properly showed his well-built body, which always earned him compliments from the ladies. He slid on his black-fitted cargo pants and steel-toed retrograde combat sneakers.

This time he remembered to grab the glasses of truth from the nightstand, placing them in his front breast coat pocket. The pocket conveniently formed on the jacket as if the cloak knew he would need a place to store his glasses. "Good morning, Dante," A sweet voice echoed inside his mind. The voice was that of his Cloak of Nightingale's ego, Bellatrix.

"Good morning, Bellatrix. Be ready; we are going to see some combat today." Dante thought. "Master, you didn't forget me this time! If only you were wearing me when that old lady intruded on your home. I would have seen her, and you would've been able to kill her finally." Dante sighs. "Now, Veritas, how many times do I have to tell you to dial back the unwarranted violence," Dante thought, addressing the glasses of truth's ego Veritas. "I don't know why the master even bonded with you! Since you never fail to be annoying, the master always ends up leaving you places. Have you ever thought of that Veritas?" Dante shakes his head. "Not you, too, Chaos. Don't you start bickering this morning! " Dante thought, addressing his ring blinks ego. "What? It's not my fault, and besides, you will never leave me behind, unlike that useless bastard. That comment couldn't help but bring up memories for Dante.

The first time Dante heard an ego's voice was at eight years old. As a kid, he would hear a woman's voice beckoning out for help every night. Sometimes, He would wake his father by saying a woman was calling out for help. His father dismissed it as the delusions of a child who had just recently lost his mother. Dante's father would later bring in doctors and child experts from all over New Roark because of Dante's consistent claims of hearing a woman's voice.

It wasn't until Dante was playing outside accompanied by his maid that he heard the voice call out to him during the day. The voice was clear this time and didn't sound as distant. Dante followed the voice to the marsh a few yards away from his estate. The voice begged for Dante to jump into the marsh and rescue her from the mud and goop, convincing Dante she was drowning.

So he jumped into the marsh without warning. His maid Historia was horrified. She instantly jumped in after him, but Dante was a fast swimmer. It only took a few moments to get leagues away from Historia, who was desperately calling out his name. He knew he would be in trouble when he returned, but he did not care for the moment. His curiosity and the sound of the voice motivated him to continue swimming until the voice was crystal clear. He didn't know why or how, but he knew that she was below him. All he had to do was reach down and grab her.

So he dives into the marsh. The water burns his eyes and stings his nose. However, it didn't matter. He knew exactly where to go; sure enough, she was there. Dante grabs the Onyx black ring from the marsh floor. As he swam up, the voice said, "Emperor, my master, you have found me. I have been waiting here for you for so long. At one point, I didn't think you would ever come to get me from this wretched place." Dante reached the surface of the marsh and gasped for air.

"Who even are you?" Dante thought, trying to catch his breath and spitting out the muddy water.

"I am the fairy of mischief master. Humans know me as chaos. However, I am currently taking the form of this ring young master." She sounded so proud of being able to introduce herself finally. Dante finally was able to catch his breath. "wait, hold on, and you're a fairy? How did a mythical creature get stuck in a ring?" Dante thought as he trod the water.

"Oh, that's easy. I am a relic master. How does the Emperor not know such a basic fact?" Chaos asks, her voice revealing a bit of doubt.

"Oh, so you are a relic. My mom had a relic before she passed away in the war." Dante's voice began to fade off, thinking about his mother. "So you're an ego, huh? My dad said only people who contract with a relic can hear an ego voice. He also said they could only hear it for a brief moment in time before bonding with their relic." Dante says excitedly.

"Of course, the young master could hear me without being bonded. The young master is our emperor; you can freely talk to us. Ordinarily, you humans would not possess the mental capacity to converse with us for a long period of time. However, young master, your bloodline is powerful beyond anything a normal human could begin to understand. The blood of our emperor runs through your veins. Young master, have you ever noticed any other voices beyond mine?" Still treading water, Dante begins to wonder whether he can recall other voices.

"No, not exactly. I have heard singing before in my mother's closet. However, I just figured that was the sound of a record my father would play in his study. I did hear it once when my father was away. It was nice. The singer had a beautiful voice." Chaos paused, making Dante think she was just a figment of his imagination.

"So she was singing, was she? That is odd but not unheard of. All egos have different personalities and skills. Maybe she is a harpy of some kind." Chaos's voice startled Dante a little. "Regardless, young master, will you do me the honor of being your first bond? I may be a little fairy trapped inside of a ring now, but if the young master were to bond with me, I could easily bestow the young master with magnificent powers."