Chaos and Order - A Multiverse Fanfic

The Order of the Immortal Lotus,

Avalon

Somewhere outside the Solar System, there was a Reality Bubble suspended in the depths of the Cosmos.

The Reality Bubble, protected by several Bounded Fields layered over one other, was linked to the planets within the Solar System, feeding off their magical energies to power itself.

Today, something odd was happening to it; something incredible.

Countless runes making up the Bounded Fields were trembling as if, in the next moment, they would burst apart, ending the tale of the mythical island.

These changes weren't limited to the outside, though.

On Avalon, within the Tower, the Five looked in sheer astonishment as the Merlin's Staff trembled in front of them.

The Witch of Endor, Emperor Solomon, Circe, Hermes, and Abdul Alhazred all knew the truth behind Merlin's existence.

And why wouldn't they, when it was them who had helped the Horcrux, the Merlin's Staff, become an Imperishable Artifact!

They knew Merlin was nothing but Herpo the Foul's another Horcrux.

They knew the ancient reason behind the rivalry between Merlin and Ekrizdis.

They knew the existence of the five more Horcruxes, created by the Lord of Azkaban.

But it all didn't matter to the Order because, for them, the Immortal Lotus must bloom seven times with seven colors, regardless of the nature of the Blue Seat.

That's why they had sent the Contestants to Hogwarts, letting them guard the Cursed Vaults.

The Contestants didn't know that the Cursed Vaults of this particular timeline, unlike other timelines, also served the purpose of securing the Horcruxes.

Not to mention, it wasn't like just anyone could find the Herpo the Foul's Horcruxes in any timeline.

Herpo the Foul's existence had already become unique by that point.

So, the existence of many Horcruxes across many timelines was also impossible.

The Horcruxes only manifested in a timeline if strict conditions were met — DEATH and Timeline's willingness and an unsealed Ekrizdis!

The moment Ekrizdis had been unsealed, the Order had realized that the chances of Horcruxes materializing in the Cursed Vaults in this particular timeline had increased exponentially.

When the Contestants had told them that there were some Hidden Missions related to the Cursed Vaults, the Five had offered to seal their powers to match the timeline's laws' limit.

This would let them guard the Vaults without letting them know the true secret behind it all.

It was a cunning plan because, as per the Contestants, only the Yellow Warlock, a Contestant, would go to the Cursed Vaults.

And as the Five suspected that the Yellow Warlock was an Outer One, there was no way for DEATH and the Timeline to show THEIR willingness in this matter toward him.

Then there was the matter of the Cursed Ice spread across the Hogwarts, which meant the Horcrux was perfectly fine.

But as the five Imperishable Artifacts looked at the Sixth of their kind trembling, a chill ran down their non-existent spines.

Then it happened.

Crac-ck-kkk!!!

There was already a tiny crack on the Merlin's Staff.

Now it widened, surfacing out, tracing a path down onto the Artifact.

With each millimeter, all the Imperishable Artifacts quaked as if they were also experiencing it; they could almost see themselves melting away into oblivion.

It only lasted for a few seconds.

Not even ten seconds had gone by from the beginning to the end, perhaps.

But, in these few seconds, reality had slapped the faces of the Five who didn't belong to any era.

The very unthinkable had happened!

It had happened right under their noses!

The trembling paused; both inside and outside.

However, the shocking series of events weren't over yet.

A stream of blueness left the Imperishable Artifact and took the shape of an old, white-bearded man with a blue, mystical robe shrouding his blurry existence.

Merlin had awakened!!!

The Blue Seat hadn't lied when he told the rest of the Order that he would need to hibernate for ten years because of Karmic Retaliation, as he had meddled with Darcie's fate.

However, the breaking of a Horcrux ended that retaliation sooner than he had imagined.

"… Merlin…" the Green Seat, standing next to Merlin, mumbled.

Merlin was panting, taking long breaths, the Staff bobbing up and down over his head, donning a great scar.

"… He knows…" Merlin told them. "He knows!"

The entire tower shuddered along with Merlin's wrath.

The Five knew what the Blue Seat was talking about — The Yellow Warlock knew about the truth of Herpo the Foul and the Imperishable Artifacts, along with the Horcruxes.

Emperor Solomon sighed. "We have grown complacent…" he said, taking his seat. "We should have realized sooner.

"No wonder Ekrizdis was unsealed. The Yellow Warlock must have known the secret even before that time… perhaps from the very beginning…"

The Green Seat sighed, too, as the rest of them sat down. "We have no other choice," the Witch of Endor told them. "We must bring… him out."

Thud!

Circe slammed the table so hard that it cracked the floor underneath. "Have you gone insane, old hag?!" she hissed. "Who will bear that Karma?!"

A silence fell upon them.

It lasted another few seconds.

"We have no other choice," Hermes repeated the Great Seat's words. "Either we bear this Karma… or we orchestrate our own destruction…"

Abdul Alhazred simply nodded, agreeing with the Orange Seat.

The Red Seat went quiet and looked at Merlin.

The others' gazes followed, falling on him as well.

Merlin matched their gazes, knowing what they wanted him to do.

"… Alright. I will pass on our intentions to him," he said, his eyes glowing blue under the hood. "He's been sleeping for… very long."

…

The Chamber of Secrets,

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Deep under the darkness of the School, the Chamber lay quiet in its slithering darkness.

A path, flanked by huge statues of snakes, was leading to the gigantic statue of Salazar Slytherin. He was the champion among the four chosen by the Order to secure the Horcruxes after a battle with the Inferi who later called himself Ekrizdis.

Suddenly, the quietness broke.

With a rumble, Salazar's mouth opened up.

A hideous beast slithered out of the mouth, baring its fangs, hissing at everything.

The Basilisk!!!

However, as the seconds passed by, it became clear that there was something wrong with the serpent.

Hissssssssssssssssss!

The serpent hissed maddeningly, wriggling and rolling, splashing the water underneath. It was in pain. Something was… eating it from inside.

As if possessed by a monstrous spirit, the Basilisk lifted its entire body like a giant pillar and opened its mouth wide.

Simultaneously, it began losing weight.

The massive body of the serpent shrunk so fast as if someone had poured a lake-worth of Shrinking Charm over it.

When it was barely a dozen feet long, two hands came out from the serpent's gaping maw.

As the world gawked with chilling surprise, the hands grabbed the Basilisk's mouth and ripped it apart, pulling the body up.

A naked man… if that was the right word for this existence… slithered out from the dead Basilisk.

He was over 7 ft (2.13 m) tall with long, curly green hair. His beardless face was handsome, carrying a goatee, his age falling anywhere between 40 and 50.

But it was his eyes that chilled the souls.

They were greener than green; poisonous; slitted. Like a serpent's.

The dead Basilisk by his feet shriveled, levitated, and landed in his hand, becoming a staff.

Then, with a bang, an endless green mist came spewing out of the wand's open, fanged mouth.

When the mist disappeared, the naked man was already donning green-gray robes as if they were a Basilisk's skin.

As the 57th second ended, he rolled his neck, cracking away the drowsiness.

In the 58th second, a seven-colored lotus bloomed on his forehead.

In the 59th second, he took a deep breath, smiling to himself.

-Yellow Warlock, huh?- he hissed, looking up, as the 60th second ticked off. -… I see.-

And the 60 seconds of unluckiness were over, birthing a great horror beyond horrors —

— Herpo The Foul!!!

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AN: Original Images of the Reality Bubble and Herpo the Foul are available

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