Into the Unknown: A Credible Source of Chaos.

In the garden, a massive expanse of flowers extended almost as far as the eye could see. Of course, it wasn’t that massive, but the walls were decorated with all kinds of colorful flora. It was all organized neatly too, whether by color, shape, or size, each flowering plant had a reserved spot in the garden.

It reminded Phos of the sanctuary, though of course, there were no giant trees reaching for the sky, no mismatch of fruits, and no Breezies.

Except for one of course. Shinsha was zipping to and from, all across the garden. Sometimes they would dip down on a flower, then shoot back up and race to the next. There were just so many to see.

“Hm.” Phos gave a small hum, only half-watching Shinsha make their way through the garden. She knelt down along the path, cupping a hand under one of the flowers present. It was a deep red rose; thorny stem, sharp-looking leaves, and bulbous head and all.

“Whoa, that’s a rose!” Justin said dumbly pointing a finger at the plant, “Man, it’s red too. I wonder if all roses are red? Can roses be orange? Orange is my favorite color, if you couldn’t tell.” He turned to Phos, his orange outfit clearly on display.

“You don’t say.” She smiled, “Well, if roses are red, violets are blue. Can I… Are these… Can I pick them?”

“Sure, I’m sure the First Commander wouldn’t mind,” He nodded and then turned away, “I hope,” he thought.

“Well then,” Phos reached down, undaunted by the thorns, and simply picked the rose at the base. She held it up, a faint amount of morning dew shining in the sunlight. “You know… Shinsha doesn’t really like roses.”

They both cast a glance at the green sprite rocketing around the garden,

“Do you guys have daisies?”

Justin pointed towards a corner, where a painting of a yellow circle can be seen. “We have sunflowers and daisies over in that section near the sun painting.”

Phos looked over at the mural, only to frown in confusion. Instead of a somewhat abstract depiction of the sun, the mural was now of a surprisingly detailed baby face in the middle of a more cartoonish sun.

“Looks…” She trailed off, “Huh.”

“Ayo, what the fuck?” Justin put his hands over each other and leaned back.

“Language.”

“My bad, P. Diddy,” He turned to Phos and shook his head, “but that ain’t supposed to be there, you feel me? It’s supposed to be a sun, son. Kna’ mean?”

“I mean it looks like a sun, just with a face.” Phos tilted her head, “Is that carved in the wall? It looks pretty good.”

Justin shrugged, “Shi…” he paused and cleared his throat.

He was rewarded with a sideways glance.

“Man, I’on know, cuh. But that ain’t supposed to be there, big dawg.” Justin turned to face Phos, “Like, I swear, it was a sun a moment ago. Like, on Gawd.”

They looked back at the mural, starting as they saw that it had changed again! This time it was a detailed and gold-plated fresco of a bearded man with a crown of thorns, his head surrounded by a sun-like halo: a perfect Byzantine fresco of Jesus.

“Jesus Christ!” Exclaimed Justin. He clutched his head with his eyes wide.

“Oh! So you got that reference! Thank, well, Him, I suppose. I was beginning to think I was going to have to be more obvious.”

They looked up to see a strange chimeric being floating over their heads, reclining as if on a couch. Discord grinned down at them. “Hello there.”

“Hi.” Phos waved,

“General Kenobi!” The Eliatrope pointed a finger at him.

“Nice to meet you.”

Discord cackled at Justin before slithering through the air down to their level. “Greetings, my eclectic trio of oddballs. Allow me to introduce myself. Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.” He affected a deep bow. “Your pleasure, I’m sure.”

Justin looked at Discord with a dumb smile as what he said echoed in his mind. “Spirit of Chaos…Spirit of Chaos… Spirit of Chaos… Wait a minute, Spirit of–” Justin’s eyes widened and made a cartoonish glass breaking sound. “I gotta tell the King,” he reached for his pocket and brought out a spoon. He held it up to his ear and walked away, “Hello?”

Phos perked up at the sound, quickly checking her arms before feeling her chest. Nothing was broken, it wasn’t her. Then she looked back up at Discord, “Spirit?” She repeated, before gasping, “W-Wha… Y-You’re giving me your name already?!”

Discord raised an eyebrow curiously. “Well to be honest, most people already know my name when they meet me. I was told to come and bother you by your friend with the historically significant name. What was it again?” He snapped his fingers. “Fuchsia?” Phos suddenly found her clothes turned pink.

“Ooo…” She held out her gloves in front of her, “Pretty…” Then she blinked, “Do you mean Indigo?”

“No no, not that. Was it turquoise?” Another snap of his fingers and Phos’ clothes changed again.

Phos took another moment to inspect the color change, even going as far as to open her cloak to check her shirt and pants. “Well there’s Fletch, but she’s not named after a color.”

“No, that’s wrong too.” Phos finally realized that Discord isn’t really listening to her and was probably messing with her. “Maybe Tumeric?” Snap. “Cyan?” Snap. “Burnt Orange?” Snap.

“Now I look like Justin.” Phos muttered, looking down at herself, “But uh… Mr. Discord?”

“Oh please, my deer.” Another snap and Phos was back to her normal coloration. Unfortunately, she was also now a cervid. “No fussy ‘Mr’ with me. I prefer a humbler title. Simply refer to me as ‘Lord Discord Almighty, King of Chaos, Heir to Anarchy, Bringer of Disharmony, and Rightful Ruler of All Worlds,’ if you please.” He considered something for a moment. “Italics, boldtype, and underline are preferred, but not necessary.”

“Woah…” Phos looked down at her suddenly ill-fitting gloves, and also noticing the fact that she was now on all fours, “Uh, wow… Cool. I wonder what Lycus would…” She shook her head, and her mask promptly fell off.

Two crystalline ears then poked out from underneath her hood, causing it to slip backwards and uncover her head.

Discord examined her for a bit, seeming more curious than surprised. “Well, this is interesting.” He began floating around Phos, examining her from every angle. “Not quite a crystal pony or human or whatever. And not entirely a golem. What exactly are you, little one? And more importantly…” He floated in front of her, looking her in the eye, his face empty of emotion. “Why aren’t you freaking out?”

“Well…” Phos glanced from Discord to her legs, then back to Discord as she started to discard her gloves. “Because this is really cool, good even. I kind of liked having hands, but if I was like this back home, I wouldn’t have to worry so much about standing out.” She lifted her right hoof and watched it glint in the light, “Though… having legs this thin is a bit of a worry. So Mr…” She stopped herself, “Sorry, Lord Discord, King of Anarchy… Bringer of Chaos… Um… Rightful Ruler of the World… could you please change me back?”

Discord stared at Phos for a long, long moment. Finally, he lunged forward, grabbing her and cuddling her to his chest. “That’s it,” he declared. “I’m adopting you. You are just too precious and adorable and endlessly patient with chaos and shenaniganery! I don’t even care if I have to actually reform a little!” He held Phos out before him, grinning at her. “Right, forget that stupidly long and hilariously over-the-top title. From now on, I’m ‘Daddy.’” He then went back to cuddling her.

“Well… That’s…” Phos said slowly, “Um… Really tight, could you-”

Crick

“Uh, please let go, I’m going to-”

Crick-ck

One of her arms snapped off at the shoulder,

“D-Discord?!” Phos tried again, struggling in his grip, “You’re holding me too hard! I’m going to brea-”

Crack!

Her body went limp, her head tilting back and falling to the ground with a roll.

Discord stared at his newly beheaded daughter. “Oops.” He let her go, causing her body to fall to the ground and shatter further. “...oops.” He snapped his talon, and Phos was restored fully, back in her original form and with no sign of damage. “Forgive me, my dear. I didn’t realize you were quite that fragile.”

Phos stayed completely still for a moment, before jolting awake, her arms shooting to her shoulders and neck. After a moment to check everything, and another to calm down, she let out a sigh and looked at Discord again, “That’s… useful… The last time my head came off, it took a bit for the others to put it back on…”

She traced her neck again, “Um… Thank you, Lord Discord, King of… Oh wait, sorry. Thank you, Daddy.”

Discord blinked before glaring at the many authors writing the story. “Don’t you dare make this weird.” He then turned back to a somewhat confused Phos with a curious smile. “Are you serious, little one? I tell you that I’m adopting you and you just go along with it?”

Phos shrugged, “I don’t see anything wrong with it, but… I…” She frowned, “I’m not sure I’m the only one you should be asking…”

“Oh?” Discord asked, intrigued. “And who else should I be asking, then? Mr. Balboa? Or perhaps Mrs. Johnson?”

“Um… Angel’s probably a good start.” Phos rubbed her chin, frowning. “But um… Say, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about mysterious, black seeds, would you?”

Discord blinked, holding up a bag of plundervine seeds that he hadn’t previously been holding. He slowly and obviously hid them behind his back. “Noooooooooooo,” he lied lyingly like a liar.

Phos just leaned to the side, trying to look behind him, “Well can I see one really quick?”

Discord snorted with a smirk. “Kid doesn’t even bother calling me out on it. Adorable.” He held out the bag of seeds to her. “Careful. They’re feisty.”

Carefully reaching into the back with her hand, she pulled out a seed, inspecting it between her fingers for a few moments. It looked a bit like a sunflower seed, though a dark, greenish, black. There were some stripes along the sides, but one end was clearly a different color than the other.

“Mm…” Phos squinted at it, before sighing. “It’s not the same, here.” She presented it back to Discord.

Discord popped it into his mouth with a crunch. “Mm. Delicious. So? What’s this about black seeds?”

“Well…” Phos shifted her stance, leaning to the side as she crossed her arms, bringing a hand up to tap her chin lightly. “It’s just that when I got here, I was holding a little black seed with a note attached, the only problem is I don’t remember picking it up, at all, it just appeared in my hand.”

“Hm. Mysterious.” Discord pulled out a sheaf of papers and began flipping through. He scowled when he got to pages that were heavily inked over and redacted. “Oh, poo. Georgie is no fun.” He rolled up the script and swallowed it whole. “Well, sorry to say that all I could dispense is Old Crone style wisdom, and that’s not really my archetype. You’re on your own for that one.”

“Oh.” Phos looked down for a moment, “Well, thank you anyway.” She extended her right hand, which Discord immediately took in his talon.

At the same time, a little green light came flying up to her face.

”Phos, Phos!”

“Oh, hey Shinsha, did you find what you were looking for?” Phos asked, taking her other hand and prodding the Breezie with her finger.

”Yes, yes! Flower, flower. Pollen, pollen. Tasty, tasty!”

Discord chuckled. “Love these little guys. Well, talk to whoever you need to talk to. I’m looking forward to signing those adoption papers!” He let Phos’s hand go.

“It was nice meeting you, Lord Discord.”

Discord raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh right!” Phos smiled, “Daddy.”

Discord let out a delighted squee that quickly rose in pitch until he shattered, pieces of Discord tinkling to the ground where they soon vanished in puffs of smoke.

A crack of her own found its way across Phos’s face, but she kept her smile.

“What an interesting fellow.” Phos glanced around the garden again. “Now where did Justin wander off to?”

Justin had the spoon up to his ear and paced back and forth.

"Yes, there is a Chaos Spirit."

...

"No, it isn't Luco."

...

"It's Discord, AKA, Lord Discord Almighty, King of Chaos, Heir to Anarchy, Bringer of Disharmony, and Rightful Ruler of All Worlds."

...

"No, Screwball hasn't shown up... I think?" Justin gave a look over at Phos and at where Discord once was, "Yeah, she hasn't shown up yet."

...

"I don't know how he got past the barrier."

...

"You didn't put up a barrier?"

...

"Oh, because it would be inviting to Chaos Spirits?"

...

"That makes sense."

...

"Oh, he's just chilling with Pedophile and I."

...

"Oh, you know, the person you sent me after."

...

"No, she's not a pedophile."

...

"Then why did I say it? I'on know."

...

"Yeah, he's not causing any harm. He's actually kinda chill."

...

"Alright, got it, see ya. Goodbye, I love you!" Justin paused for a moment. "...Say it back."

The spoon snapped in half.

The Eliatrope snorted and crossed his arms, "He didn't say 'I love you' back," he turned over to the others, "Hey, Lord Discord Almighty, King of Chaos, Heir to Anarchy, Bringer of Disharmony, and Rightful Ruler of All Worlds! The King said–” He blinked, realizing that he had been gone. “...Shi–...Shimmer.”

“Shimmer?” Phos asked, bending down to retrieve her gloves and mask. “That’s true, I do do that.”

Justin put a hand over his mouth and looked around, “Where did– Oh sh– Fu– Gah–” He clutched his head, “MOTHERFUCKER! THE KING IS GONNA FUCKING KILL ME!”

“Hey! Language!”

“ANGEL! GREAT NEWS! I’M GOING TO BE A FATHER!”

“DISCORD! THIS IS THE GIRLS’ BATHS! GET OUT!”

“Bold of you to assume he’s male.”

“SHUT UP, SPOT!!!”

Author's Note

This chapter was really funny to write. Show Stopper and Conglomerate are really good authors to write with. But enough of that, onto the chapter. I love how I did a callback to the first Displaced Tournament with Katakuri and Justin on the phone talking about Chaos Spirits and all. Because the Chaos Spirit who came to the first Displaced Tournament, well… Let’s just say it did something to Katakuri he would like to delete from his memory. But in any case, Justin and Phos are a funny duo, but with Discord, things are quite chaotic! I wonder what adventures these three could go into? That’s all for now though. Peace! – Uncle Iroh.

I will not have my subject taken away so easily, Discord.

Is Phos really serious about adoption? Eh, not really. She’s just going along with it because ‘Why not?’ It seems like fun. Anyway, Phos as a Deer is pretty cool, here’s an image I found.

Credit to: 酒咕子_Sakepigeon's illustrations - pixiv Caution: This image comes from a sequence, the rest of which contains spoilers for Land of the Lustrous.
- Conglomerate

“And she’s just so adorable! Any chaos I throw at her, and she just goes along with it!” U-huh. “I turned her into a deer. A DEER! And she didn’t even bat a crystal eyelash! She thought it was neat!” U-huh. “So that’s why I’m leaving your story to be her Papa!” U-hu-wait! You can’t do that! “Of course I can! I’m barely in it thus far, and you have no plans to incorporate me as a major element in the future. So why can’t I spend my time doing something more fun than lazing about in the background of your story? Something like raising an adorable little rock-girl!” Well, for one thing, I’m not that rock-girl’s author. “Hm. I suppose that’s a good point. Well, I’m sure I’ll be able to figure something out. Toodles!” …that sounded ominous. Conglomerate, I apologize in advance for any shenanigans he brings down on your head. - Show Stopper