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Bae wanted the world to burn.
As the embodiment of Chaos, she always did hear a nagging voice in her head goading her on to cause absolute mayhem amongst humans, and her conscience had always stopped her, but that voice had grown more and more persuasive over her immortal lifespan. So desperately she wanted to just cause enough destruction and despair to make the Nephilim come back, but she knew she couldn't. She had known what the consequences towards her love life would be when she decided to help the Council maintain complete peace in the world. She had thought that her love for the Nephilim would slowly but surely fade away. She had thought that she would be fine.
She was not.
"B-Bae? You there...?" Soft knocking was heard before the warden of Time entered her room. As usual, Bae was curled up in a fetal position in the corner of her bed, tear stains from long ago streaking her face. "Hey, I'm sorry about this Bae, I know it's really rough for you right now, and has been for the past few millennia but right now there's a small problem you've gotta take care of..." Guilt wracked Kronii's face.
Come back... Please... I need y- She forced herself to stop thinking about her lover for now. But at this point, were they really even lovers anymore? They were technically still married, but had not seen each other in so, so long. She stopped counting after the first few centuries, knowing how long it had been since she saw her wife was like constantly driving a stake into her heart - especially since if the Council's plan went well, she wouldn't be able to see her.
Ever.
"F-fine..." Bae blinked tears and forced herself from her bed, forced herself to stop remembering her radiant singing voice, her pure smile when she spread Hope to downcast humans, her warm loving hands which would always guide Chaos, how she would gently brush the rat's tail when she was distressed. Bae needed that, desperately. Bae needed her.
***
Chaos arrived back in her room. The work had barely been anything, she only had to spread just enough chaos to a village for them to live in peace, but simply being away from her room drained her immeasurably. She needed to be in her room to remind her. All the photographs, videos, mementoes of the Nephilim were there. The two had started recording their daily life since their marriage, and there were millennia worth of memories on her everlasting phone, the one gifted to her by her wife. And though Bae had already gone through every single one of those videos and photos over a dozen times already, she once again locked herself in her room and went through those indescribably precious memories.
The couple knew, even before their marriage, that one day the Nephilim would have to leave - perhaps permanently - and so they intended for those recordings to be a way for Bae to slowly ease into a life without her, and maybe look back on every once in a while. But Bae never recovered. She never moved on from her life with her, never found a new lover or even new friends outside the Council. How could she do that when they were so perfect for each other? How could she do that when she could still remember how their hands could intertwine like an intricate cobweb, how they had saved each other from despair countless times, how good their bodies felt against each other. From the time she left, Gods had been killed, galaxies had been destroyed, Sana had to replace the Sun, and yet Bae still could not forget her no matter how hard she tried.
She had to forget, but she loved her too dearly.
***
It would be another few decades before Chaos was called on again. Had Bae not been a firmly immortal embodiment, she would have died long ago. She only spent her time in that room, alternating between bawling her eyes out and scrolling through her memories. The rest of the Council had given up trying to console her long ago. No matter what they said, at even the slightest reminder of her lover, she would begin wailing. Even Fauna couldn't help the rat, and they all realised that trying to help her would only make things worse. And so, Chaos was left alone, only spoken to when her help was required. This was one such time, and also the last time.
"B-Bae? You there...?" Soft knocking was heard and this time the keeper of Nature entered. It seemed like Fauna had walked in after a particularly bad crying session as the rat was shaking uncontrollably beneath her blankets, even when her tears had all been used up. Nature sat on the bed and stroked her in that gentle, motherly fashion she was famous for, but said nothing to console her.
She didn't- couldn't stop shaking.
An apologetic look was missed by the rat, an apology for Nature's failure and what she was about to tell her. "Bae... We're really sorry, but you've got to come down to Earth for a meeting with the world leaders. If we don't, World War 4 might break out..."
The rat let out a soft whimper. She didn't want to, she wanted to continue soothing herself in her room, but her conscience barely managed to push her to do it. She had promised to help the Council maintain peace for the rest of time. She weakly got out of the blanket, her right hand wet while her other held her phone playing a video of the married couple making love. She wanted to cry, but she had no tears left. Barely, she forced out, "Okay... Let's go..."
***
The 5 members of the Council sat across from the multitude of presidents, with Bae at the head of the table. She was still recognised as their official leader, though in her state Kronii had been forced to more or less become their actual leader. It seemed that the tensions between countries had reached a boiling point, and now the Council had to act as mediators to prevent another war. The rat paid no attention to the discussion, her mind fully focused on trying to push away the impulse of exacerbating the situation just so her gone lover would come back.
"What if we marry our children together?" This nonchalant remark, so innocent and pure in its intentions, would be the final nail in the coffin for Bae's downward spiral that had started long, long ago.
The moment it was said, the Council members all darted their gaze towards their leader, panic and worry evident on their faces. Her eyes were blank for a moment, trying to understand why such a horrible thing had been suggested, before all Hell broke loose. She stood up and let out a bloodcurdling shriek. "HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST SOMETHING LIKE THAT! YOU CAREFREE HUMANS DON'T UNDERSTAND!" In a flash, she was standing in front of the man who had spoken, mere millimetres separating their faces. Chaos' hot breath burned up his face as she demanded with venom, "Apologise. Now." He could only let out a feeble whimper.
Instantly, the whole building erupted, every human inside it vaporised. The 4 remaining immortals tried their best to restrain Chaos, but there was nothing 4 mere creatures could do in the face of that torrent of emotion. All her pent-up rage was released. Rage at her wife for leaving her, rage at herself for being unable to forget, rage at herself for being angry at her lover. Even in those beautiful moments of pure rage, Chaos could still feel the fire in her heart burning for her love for the Nephilim, her love burning her heart at her regret for deciding to help the Council. That pale flame in her heart burned itself out, and all that was left was an empty void of what should have been Hope, but she had lost all her Hope long ago already.
Bae looked down at the city of fire and ashes beneath her. Weirdly, she didn't feel angry anymore. She wasn't even feeling anything at all. She was empty. No amount of crying or destruction could make up for the pain of losing the love of her life, the pain of having her perfect life snatched away from her. And then the pain rushed back full force.
"PLEASE! JUST COME BACK! I NEED YOU! PLEASE!" Bae let out her final cry for Hope before she fell, like an angel from the skies. The millennia of pain, suffering, exhaustion, grief, and everything else had finally caught up to her. She hit the ground with a thud and curled up into a fetal position. She tried to cry, but couldn't get any water out. She felt only the dirt and ash of dreams crumbling around her, as if firmly burying her and her Hope. Please... Please... I just need you... to come back... In spite of her pleas, she eventually resigned herself to a conclusion that had been in the back of her mind ever since she left.
Just before IRyS descended from the heavens, Hakos Baelz closed her eyes and forcibly willed herself into an eternal, undisturbed sleep. Hakos Baelz wasn't quite dead, embodiments like her couldn't die, but her unconscious self might as well have been pronounced dead on the spot.
Though, I suppose she had already died long ago.