In the beginning there was nothing…

And then, as abruptly as the nothing came, it went. And Chaos filled the void.

A mass of color, a mass of sound. Each indiscernible from the one before it. Melding and folding upon itself and others until nothing remained. And then, once more, Chaos would return to fill the space with something, anything. For an eternity, and for just a moment, this was reality. Chaos was the Lord of All. 

Until, one day, out of this pot of Color and Circumstance, of Dream and Death, came something that Chaos had never before seen: A road. A paved road. A road paved with flagstones so demandingly gray, that all color, all shape, all noise that walked along it ceased to exist. And all there was along the road was gray. 

And who was constructing this road, paved with Monotony, but Law; wielding Time as his weapon. And with Time, Law brought Age to the void, and Chaos reeled. 

“Who is this upstart?” Chaos said, “that walks so confidently into my domain that I have ruled for an eternity?” Chaos started and took a step back. Never before had Chaos spoken, never before had Chaos had thought, never before had there been a before.

With difficulty, Chaos pulled himself together. What is happening? He thought as he looked down and came to the startling realization that he now had form. By now it was clear the effect that Law, and his dreaded Time, were having upon everything. This cannot be! I cannot let this be! And sprouting out of this thought, like a bee out of a hive, came Idea. It was Idea then who whispered into Chaos’s ear what he must do.

And so it was that Chaos, with a laugh that had to it an unmistakable undertone of complete victory, brought forth from the undulating and inconceivable mass of possibility surrounding him, Man. His greatest ally. He laughed because Chaos knew that Man was the ultimate embodiment of himself and would undoubtedly defeat Law and his road of demanding and suffocating gray.

But when Law saw that Chaos had created Man he too laughed, saying, “Now you have played yourself for a fool, Chaos! You have brought to me the creator of civilization, of rule, and of order, you have brought to me my greatest ally! And now you will surely be destroyed.” 

And so Law laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed, until it was that his cackling scream echoed all throughout the void so much so that not even the road he stood upon could kill all the sound. And out of this noise came Madness who laughed alongside Law. Madness laughed a laugh so terrible that even Law knew that he had made a grave mistake in coming into the domain of Chaos. But he also knew that it was too late to back out now, too much had been risked, and so he continued.

But then it was that Man stood forward and walked, undaunted and without fear, towards Law, towards Time. Law struggled to regain order over his own body, but Madness had taken him, and he was powerless as Man reached out and took Time for his own. 

“I am to neither of you your ally, nor your betrayer, I am my own. And I will use you as I see fit. I am the master of Time, Lord of Destiny and Fate, and none may oppose my supreme will.” 

And then Man, wielding the terrible and dreaded Time, stabbed Chaos through his eye, twisted, and pulled. And out of the gore and blood of the eye were the stars created. Chaos screamed in rage and agony. “You are nothing! I am your creator! You are but a child, playing with toys too far beyond your comprehension.” Chaos staggered backwards and composed himself. “Come, give me Time and I will forgive your insult.” 

Man then plunged his hand into Chaos’s mouth, and with great effort pulled forth Fire from Chaos’s stomach. And using the dreaded Time as his weapon Man split Fire in two; half he used to make the Sun, and half he used to form the Earth. 

Chaos, stunned and deflated, desperately turned to Idea. Hope in his eyes that Idea would help him once more. But Idea, seeing the now depressing sight that was Chaos, spit on him. “Your time of rule is over, Father. Now is the Age of Man.” And Idea went to stand beside Man, and so was Wisdom born. 

It was then that Chaos, now the size of only the most hopeless dreams, took Madness and fled to the Earth, vowing revenge against Man and all his descendants, and created the seas and the land.

Man, with Idea and Wisdom at his side, then turned to the now sane Law, pressed Time against his throat and said, “Now Law, submit to me as the Lord of Uniformity, or be destroyed as the Lord of Nothing.” 

Law cast desperate glances to his left and to his right but finding only the remnants of Chaos’s eye staring back at him, bowed his head. “I will submit to you.” Law paused and Man pushed the dreaded Time harder against Law’s throat. “My Lord.” Law added.

And then it was that Man split Law into two, as he had with Fire, and sent the greater half to the Earth to create the clouds so they could keep constant watch over the work of Chaos, and with the lesser half created the planets. Idea and Wisdom then also went to the Earth and founded the first city.

Man then stood alone in the cosmos with only the great gray road standing next to him. Man pondered the nature of the road. And then, out of the road, paved with Monotony, Man made the Moon. But knowing that he would surely die on such a world of total uniformity, Man descended to the Earth and lived there for the rest of eternity.