Maple Stories: Ascending from Chaos

He sat in his bare room, alone with the pain. His body ached, of course, but he had gotten used to that long ago. This pain was new. It was the distrust in the eyes of the Magicians, the Archers, and the Warriors, all the Explorers who had never trusted the Cygnus Knights. It was the glares of the Knights who felt that imparting new powers to the Explorers was a betrayal of the Knights he was supposed to serve. How could he explain what he had seen, the horror that was coming?

The sword he held was old and small, and rust pitted its surface. It was nothing more than a training weapon for a young boy that had lain inside a dark trunk for many years. Still, it was sharp enough to kill.

He wondered if it would kill someone in this room tonight. The room that was empty save for him.

*******

The eight-year-old boy, dripping in sweat, desperately tried to parry the blows that rained down from the armored figure before him. His body ached, his arm felt leaden, and a missed parry led to more pain as the long sword of his opponent drew a deep cut on his forearm. He screamed and dropped his weapon, clutching his wounded limb.

“You have dropped your sword before an enemy, boy!†the warrior roared. “That means you die!†Tearing his helmet off, Ochter Von Rubistein’s face softened just a touch as he looked down at his young nephew. He reached down and pulled the boy to his feet.

“Life is pain, boy. Life is chaos. You cannot control the world and what it does. Do you know what you can control?â€

The boy shook his head. A mailed finger prodded his chest and then tapped him on the head.

“What’s in here,†Neinheart’s uncle said. “Your heart and your head are all you truly control. You cannot choose your challenges, but you can decide how to respond. You can control yourself and become great or you can allow great events to control you. That is when chaos becomes evil.â€

*******


Neinheart bristled at the memory. Ochter Von Rubistein had been a fool! He knew nothing of chaos! The unbidden image of what lay beyond the Temple of Time played across his inner eye. He heard the Mage laughing. He saw the city in flames, the bodies strewn about the rubble, the face that he loved more than anything in the world made unrecognizable with its empty eyes and evil grin. His Empress, his destroyer. Yet even that was not as horrible as the single glimpse he had caught of the man bearing his own face. He was infinitely older, on his face a mask of pain, and in his eyes the agonizing knowledge of complete failure.

“How do I fight back against that?†he said to himself. “It is prophecy. I saw myself. That man was me and he had failed! How did he lose himself so much that he could allow this to happen?â€

*******

His aunt often spoke of prophecies, especially the ones from thousands of years ago that foretold the return of the Black Mage. She put great store in prophecy and often seemed to be right. Indeed, people from all over the surrounding countryside would come to her for predictions on weather or on the success of a marriage. Today, she had already packed a special loop of gauze just the right length to serve as a bandage for his injured arm when Neinheart returned home.

“How did you know that I would cut my arm?†he asked her as he climbed into bed that night.

“Prophecy,†she said.

“Then there was no way I could have avoided cutting my arm today? No matter what I did, it was destined to happen?â€

Emyne Von Rubistein looked quizzically at her nephew. “Is that what you take prophecy to mean, Neinheart? Prophecy is merely a prediction of a person’s actions when they let their worst instincts take over. I knew the lesson your uncle would be teaching you today. I predicted your reaction, and knew what sort of wound you’d likely come back with. Had you lived up to your best self, you would not have been wounded and my prophecy would have been forgotten. Prophecies are fulfilled because people want them to be and work to make them come true, even if they don’t quite realize that’s what they’re doing.â€

“Then we’re not forced by magic to make it come true?†he asked.

She laughed. “No, Neinheart, there is no magic that controls your destiny – only the twin forces of fear and courage. Fear and you will descend into chaos. Live with courage and…â€

*******


Neinheart looked down at the training sword in his hand and began to shake with rage at what his own fears had almost forced him to do. How could he have forgotten that conversation with his aunt? He had almost let the Mage get to him. That nonsense at the Temple of Time! His future hadn’t been written yet – no one’s had! Fear what’s to come and you descend into chaos.

He threw the sword back into the chest, rose to his feet, and headed toward the door, thinking about what was important.

… Live with courage, and there is no limit to how high you can ascend.