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Chaos was enjoying the cool breeze that was coming off of the ocean. She had chosen the location of her museum for several reasons, but the ability to wear a vest in the desert was a strong motivator.
Her cursed eyes were making the current build rather difficult. For some reason they had the brilliant idea to make a sanctuary for the mysterious creatures known as phantoms. Chaos had heard of them in their journeys on the sea. The sailors had spun whispers about beings who would haunt those who refused to sleep. Back in the days of sailing ships they were told to hunt the crew who were forced to work above deck. Chaos had fallen in love with these tall tales, adding them to the book of beings she dreamt of finding one day. Documenting the oddities of the world and proving their truth to the people.
So here she was. Building a phantom sanctuary, out of tinted glass she could not see. A typical day for a member of the Chaos family.
Street Ball Fuz, the most prettiest of boys in the empire, had taken refuge under the quartz roof portion of the museum. Stretching out on the cool floor and letting his fingers trail in the water under the platform. They could hear Chaos complaining in the background. Her pale cries screeching into the sky like they were trying to summon the phantoms themself. Fuz thought it was a silly plan, as phantoms where not real. But he let Chaos do what she liked and in return she had a tendence to feed him when he wandered by.
“Any luck?” Fuz called.
Chaos screamed back in response. It did not seem to be going well.
“Ah, fun” Fuz responded. “Welp, I am going to go see if the emperor has thrown any sandstone out.” Fuz kicked their feet up and did a little hop to stand. He gave one last look at Chaos before turning and leaving the beach to head back into the mesa.
Chaos was alone at the time. They were standing on a structure they couldn’t see and were trying to build for creatures that some say didn’t exist. This was fine. It was a moment in time. Chaos had lived through these before. They would survive.
Night fell slowly. Looking out over the ocean, the last beams of light clung longer onto the waves then they did over the plateaus of the empire. This was night 4 of no sleep. The phantoms should be there soon. They should have been there already.
Maybe the details the sailors told of the beings were wrong. Phantoms were obviously real. Chaos had no doubt about that, but details can become funny when told through those who were known for stretching things. The ringing that Chaos could hear became louder at the thought of phantoms existing. They were real and that was that to the noise.
Chaos began to speak quietly to themself. It was a habit she had picked up on back when her father still spoke to her. It had been a while since the two had spoken, but Chaos still liked to speak as if he was there. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” they hummed “these things supposedly attack those who have no slept. And I’ve been building so long I think I’m starting to see thing.” That was a joke of course, the whole problem was that Chaos couldn’t see what they were building. If they could, the project would be going so much smoother. “Maybe I shouldn’t have stolen those emeralds.” Chaos laughed as if they would have ever done anything different.
Just as she stood up to stretch, a screech came from over head. Not one that sounded dissimilar to the noises of complaint she had been making earlier. Chaos made a sharp turn, the speed of her moment threw off her balance just as a heavy head full of sharp teeth crashed into her.
Chaos slipped and fell right through the invisible opening of the glass enclosure. Her landing was rough but they didn’t bother to try and stand again, instead they laid there in aw of the beings flying above her.
“Your real” she whispered. Barely able to make herself speak, afraid it would chase them off.
The phantoms tried to swoop down again but their teeth scratched on the tinted glass before they could get to her. A bubble of laughter slipped up through Chaos’s throat. They were here. And they couldn’t see glass either.
Chaos ran to where she had left an opening in the enclosure. Only to hit a barrier face first. “Ow!” she cried. Above her the beings she had tried to find for so long flew amongst the stars without her.
“No” Chaos breathed. She threw her hands to the wall and felt along for any kind of opening. There was nothing. She was trapped. “No. No. I know I left a door here somewhere! I was walking in and out not even an hour ago”
But they hadn’t been alone during that time. And she had walked away while others had been gathered around the project. Someone could have easily blocked off the door thinking it was funny.
Their fists pounded again the glass, teeth scraped above her. Chaos could feel the eyes of the phantoms knowing she was there and the exhaustion that ran though her made Chaos a prime target. It would only take so long before they found the opening she fell through.
Chaos pushed off the wall and fall back to the sandy floor. She was trapped. Waiting for death. It would come. And she would go. Phantoms were not an easy fight, or so the sailors said.
Chaos curled up into themself as the night bore on. She got no sleep and the screaming never left her ears. The air was cold in her lunges. Ever inhale felt like her lunge freeze over. Breathing felt to short, no matter how much air she took in, it was never enough. Night bore on, dragging Chaos with it.
Slowly, the phantoms screams of anger and hunt turned to terror. The sun had returned, it’s burning rays climbing over the copper and quartz dome the ruler lived in. Chaos refused to look as the beings she had tried so hard to find, burned above her. Their last flaming moments were quickly taken away as the burning ball of plasma reaching into the sky.
She let herself rest then. Her stiff body sinking into the sand and her eyes finally closing.
When their eyes finally opened again, they sun had moved into the afternoon and the street kid was once again standing under the quartz canopy.
“Hello Serenity” Fuz waved “Do you need help out?”