The Lost Book of Chaos: How to Divide the World (The Secret Wars of Angels 1)

by Thomas, J. D.

  “But I thought angels are already wise and advanced compared to us humans?” Judas said.

  “Even after living thousands of years, angels still have not solved their own problem,” this time it was Gabriel who spoke. “Today, we are divided between the angels of Heaven and the angels of Earth. But the problem does not stop there. Even among the angels of Heaven there are multiple factions that conflict with each other, and much more so among the angels of Earth.”

  “We have given you The Commandments in the hope that you would not suffer the same fate as angels,” Gabriel spoke. “We angels have destroyed Heaven in our Great Wars and have almost destroyed the Earth during the wars of Babel and in Sodom and Gomorrah.”

  “To save you from the same fate,” Gabriel continued, “we have commanded you to write down and record your own history, from Adam to Noah, to Moses, to Abraham, all so you can learn from the mistakes of your ancestors. Because you humans are short lived, it was necessary that there be created a way to pass on what one generation learned to the next generation. This way, maybe you humans will not have to suffer the same fate as us.”

  “But I don’t understand,” Judas said. “What do you need me here for? Each of you angels is already much wiser, much stronger, more experienced than me. Why would you need the help of a human?”

  The Master smiled at this, sharing a look with Gabriel.

  “The problem of the Ouroboros has never been solved by us angels, and we have been here for a long time,” Gabriel said. “The Master believes that you humans have something that we don’t. If you can solve the Ouroboros of Humanity, then perhaps we can use your solution to solve the Ouroboros of Angels. But the opposite is also true. If we angels solve it first, we will share our solution with humanity, and it will usher a thousand years of peace. And besides, you are not the only one, but one of many. As we speak, there are Twelve Human Messengers chosen from the best of the world.”

  “A thousand years? Why only a thousand? And what is it that humans have that angels don’t?”

  “Humanity’s sense of urgency,” Gabriel said, echoing what The Master had told the archangel yesterday. Perhaps there was some truth to it. Maybe that urgency would be the key. “Because you are short lived creatures, you accomplish more in a short amount of time. And the ‘thousand years of peace’ is only a manner of speaking. What we really mean is an eternity of living together in peace. After all, if there can be one thousand years of peace, then there can be ten thousand, and hundreds of thousands.”

  “The second step,” this time it was The Master who spoke. The Master’s gentle voice contrasted with the deep commanding voice of the archangel. “Is to gain power. In order to stand up against the other Twelve Messengers, you need to succeed in climbing The Blue Rose Tower. The others among the Twelve Messengers have already succeeded and overcame the challenge.”

  “The third step,” The Master said, “is to protect the world from all other threats. Whatever happens, the world must not be destroyed.”

  Judas nodded. Now that he understood his purpose, it was easier to see why they taught him what they did. They had to tell him the truth, no matter how painful it was, because the truth was necessary to make the right decisions.

  “When you face against the Twelve Messengers,” The Master continued, “you can use whatever method you want. Will the problem of the Ouroboros be solved by a Messenger of Light? Or will it be by a Messenger of Chaos? There is no knowing what will work or what will not.”

  “The war, however,” The Master said, “will not be a Great War. The Forbidden Weapon that destroyed Heaven is sealed forever. But do not take this war lightly, because if you can win it, it will bring us closer to ending the Great Wars of Heaven and Earth.”

  Judas wondered why there was a need for Messengers of Chaos to accomplish the goal. Though he understood the significance of the mission, because if it was to solve a greater war where the Earth itself could end up getting destroyed, then it was worth fighting for.

  Judas had to make good use of the time he had and learn as much as he could.

  “Do you have any other questions?” The Master asked.

  Judas had hundreds of questions in his mind. Though right now, he felt he was not ready to hear any more answers. Every answer he heard gave rise to even more questions, and every answer troubled him. In time, he would discover more, but right now, he just wanted to rest. “I don’t have any for now, but I will ask when I do,” Judas said. The Master gave him a brother’s embrace before finally leaving the room.

  With that, The Master gave Judas a brotherly hug, then The Master and the archangel left the room.

  Now alone, Judas studied the serpent bracer. Judas wondered how such a small thing could be so many things at the same time. A sword, a shield, armor, and wings, and it was also a vault of wisdom. And a vessel for Nacash, the crazy voice in his head. Looking closer, the serpent’s body was half the thickness of his arm, and it coiled around and covered the entire length of his arm. It was made of pure gold, but its eyes were made of jade, and there was a big shiny black stone, possibly obsidian, behind the snake’s head. Despite being made of gold, it was very flexible so he could move his elbows freely.

  “I am beginning to see what you found in him,” Gabriel said to The Master. “He asks good questions, even though he does not know the answers to many of them. Unlike others who just wait to follow blindly, he uses his mind to think. But will that be enough?”

  “Believe in humanity Gabriel,” The Master said. “They are learning faster than anticipated. In time, they will rival even our technology.”

  “And so will they rival our technology for war,” Gabriel said. “If we’re already having trouble with ourselves, then what more if they too possess the power to wage war on the level of angels.”

  The Master was silent. Everyone expected The Master to have all the answers, but even he did not know everything. Sometimes, he too had to take risks. That was what it meant to believe.

  Despite what had happened between him and Judas, Arcana had been monitoring what Judas felt through the amulet. Judas had no business doing what he did to her, even if it was in his dream.

  She continued to monitor Judas despite that because Judas was constantly surrounded by unearthly powers, and that intrigued her.

  After feeling flustered, embarrassed, then angry, Judas had left the amulet somewhere. Arcana could tell because the bond between them seemed to be weaker. Good try, but the amulet was more powerful than that, it had a wide radius, and so far, he was still within it.

  Judas walked back to his room. He tried to sleep, though he was troubled by the things that he had learned. At the back of it, he also thought about Arcana. She pushed the thought of her away.

  Eventually, sleep came to him.

  However, in the middle of the night, something woke him.

  The golden serpent bracer, coiled around his arms, had become stiff, constricting his arms so that the color of his skin began to turn red.

  The golden serpent coiled tighter and tighter, twisting around his arm like a live snake.

  And the Messiah turned to Judas and said:

  You will become the thirteenth, and you will be cursed by the other generations—but you will come to rule over them. In the last days they will curse your ascent to heaven.

  – The Gospel of Judas Didymous “The Twin” Thomas

  Chapter 27 – The Fountain of Eternal Youth

  He tried to pull the golden serpent off, but it wouldn’t come off. But as suddenly as it started, the golden serpent became still. Judas sighed in relief. It looked like he would get to keep his arm. He studied the serpent bracer.

  Was it Nacash?

  He prodded it with his fingers to try to get it to move again. “Move!” Judas commanded. But it did not move. He tried to pry it its tiny scales open with his fingernails, but it was solid. He tried to look for any hidden compartments. But he couldn’t find anything. Then Judas jumped as something—or some
one—whispered in his ear.

  It was a strange voice that sounded like a snake hissing.

  It was very much different from the usual voice of Nacash, The Great Serpent, however.

  Talk to me serpent. Judas thought to Nacash. Still nothing. Judas shrugged, giving up. Nacash seemed to talk to him whenever he wanted. If it was a ‘he’, for that matter. There was no telling if Nacash was male or female from his voice.

  Just then, there was a knock outside his room.

  The door of his room opened. Judas stood up and went to the door to see who it was. It turned out it was Gabriel.

  “Did you rest well?” Gabriel said.

  “Yes,” Judas said.

  “Come,” Gabriel said. “We have much to do today.” Judas had not had time to clean himself up, but he did not object. They went through the city and its structures, and went inside one of the big structures. Inside the structure were many passageways.

  He followed Gabriel as they went through several passageways. The passageways were complex, dividing into several directions, some forking in two, some three, some four. Judas tried to remember where they turned, but after several turns, he stopped trying. He made a mental note to explore the structure later on his own. They stopped inside a room, an empty one except for what seemed to be a well of water in the middle.

  The well looked ordinary to him, in fact, it looked out of place because it was so ordinary, compared to the other strange things on the ship.

  Gabriel gestured for Judas to come closer. “Try drinking from it.” Gabriel suggested.

  Judas did so. The water tasted like honey, with a hint of cinnamon, and something else that Judas could not describe because he had not tasted anything like it before. His eyes went wide as, suddenly, he felt all the aches in his body go away. He put his fingers to his neck to feel the raw spots there from almost being hanged yesterday, but they too were gone. He was completely healed.

  “What is it?” Judas said.

  “This,” Gabriel answered, “is water of eternal youth.” Judas gulped some more of it. “The Fountain Of Life.”

  “Drink as much or as little as you need,” Gabriel said. “As long as you drink this whenever you are hungry, you can live thousands of years.”

  When he was done, he took in what Gabriel had just said. “You mean I am now immortal?” Judas asked.

  The angel laughed. It was a deep, hearty laugh that made Judas feel warm inside. “Not quite.” The angel answered. “You can still be killed,” Gabriel said. “Weapons, accidents, disease, hunger, the things that kill a normal human, the same can kill you. But drinking that will heal your wounds and cure your diseases. So as long as you keep drinking from it, then you will be fine.”

  “So,” Judas said. “As long as I keep myself safe, I can practically live forever?”

  “Close to it,” Gabriel said. “But there is no such thing as true immortality.” Gabriel continued. “Eventually, you too will die. But if you are careful, you can live tens of thousands of years.”

  Tens of thousands of years. Judas thought that that was as good as immortality. “Understood,” Judas said. Feeling good about the day, Judas followed Gabriel to another room. As they walked, Judas thought about what he would do with all the time he had left to live. He had thought a hundred years of life to be sufficient and he had been living his life based on that, but now he had to rethink things.

  Then they headed to another room within the same structure.

  In the room, Judas saw another angel waiting, his back turned from them. Hearing their approach, the angel turned. Judas was surprised, the angel looked perfect, perhaps even more so than Gabriel. Gabriel nodded to the angel, and the other angel, in turn, nodded back. Gabriel began the introductions.

  “Here is Judas,” Gabriel announced. Judas’s gaze fixed on the other angel, as the other angel looked him firmly in the eye.

  The angel’s gaze was calm, warm, and even welcoming. Then Gabriel introduced the other angel.

  “Meet the Overlord of Chaos, Lucifer,” Gabriel said.

  Lucifer!

  Judas almost yelled, feeling a sudden dread at the mention of the name. Judas had heard Lucifer to be the evil angel who led one third of the angels in a revolt against heaven. Everything he had been taught since he was a child was that Lucifer was an angel of evil. Even brave men cowered at hearing the name of Lucifer, and Judas was no exception. Lucifer’s other name was Satan, the ruler of Hell, and the prince of demons.

  Had he found himself in heaven? Or had he, somehow, made a wrong turn and this was hell after all?

  Epilogue

  The broken sword that Fielle now held was the same sword that Judas bore. Fielle, in wounding herself with that sword, mixed her blood with his. Fielle now possessed all the memories that Judas had prior to being caught.

  Because of that, Fielle knew the woman in front of her.

  “Arcana,” Fielle whispered. She still could not believe that Arcana was here. How many years had passed since then? And yet Arcana’s face was the same as then. But so was the face of Judas. Somehow, they had not aged. But Fielle also knew the answer to that. The water of life… It kept one young forever.

  “So he sent you?” Arcana said.

  “Yes,” Fielle answered. “Judas gave me some clues. Judas is powerless now… but…”

  “We have been looking for him,” Arcana said, “but they hid him pretty well. Whenever we thought we caught up, they moved him somewhere else.”

  “We?” Fielle asked. “And, they?” Fielle did not have the memories of Judas after the sword was hidden here. A lot must have happened since then.

  “Yes,” Arcana answered, “you will meet the team. And ‘they’ means people who rule the Earth. They are afraid of what Judas can do, so they sealed his power. That is of course if…” Arcana hesitated.

  “I want to help you,” Fielle said. “I believe that what Judas said is true. I saw through his memories. I know most of what happened.”

  Arcana smiled.

  “Then let’s go,” Arcana announced.

  With that, their journey to free Judas began.

  A Word From The Author – Judas D. Thomas the Dragon, also known as Judas Iscariot the Betrayer

  So that there may be no misunderstanding of intent, I wanted to clarify that this book was meant to be a book of love, of hope, of peace. The original title of this book should have been “A Book of Compassion” rather than the “Lost Book of Chaos” but few people would read something entitled “Book of Love” or “Book of Compassion”, and those who would pick it up would probably do so hoping to read some romance. I have pondered on the title “A World Without Outcasts”, but that would not bring as much attention as HOW TO DIVIDE THE WORLD. And so the title became the opposite of what the book is about.

  But how is this a book of love, hope, and peace? Three ways.

  First, the message of this book is to love your enemies, to love the unlovable. The power of Judas and his sword enables him to understand 100% what the circumstances of his enemy are. The sword, named The Spirit Of Truth, enables Judas to see all the memories of anyone he wounds with it, without killing the enemy because the blood of Judas heals the wounds of the enemy. In other words, the method that Judas fights is the method of the peacemaker and the pacifist.

  Second, even Shaul (the Biblical Paul), who was a mass murderer of Christians, who tortured Christians that he caught, and who voted for the Christians to die, we come to understand his circumstances. In Shaul, we get a glimpse of what makes a person think the way he thinks. That is, even our enemies belief they are right, and if only we come to understand them, it can foster peace. Also, historically, the mass murderer Paul eventually became an Apostle. Again, the key is understanding and compassion.

  Third, the character of Judas is unlovable, because he is The Betrayer. Today, many people equate the name Judas with the word “traitor”. It is an irony that the core teaching of Christianity is forgiveness, but many people still
have not forgiven Judas.

  How can we love a man such as Judas Iscariot, The Betrayer? Perhaps if we see his mission in a different light.

  Several of the characters in this book, you may find, are in the same situation. The Master Joshua, the demon-angel with two horns, who has a big heart, Ichab, the thief with a code of honor, Arcana, the witch, Captain Gnaeus the adulterer, and the various characters that Judas will meet down the road—murderers, destroyers, lawbreakers.

  Here, the core to is understanding other’s circumstances, forgiving their faults, and compassion.

  Fourth. Perhaps by studying our history of peace and wars in the last 12,000 years, we can learn something about our nature not just as individuals, not just as a generation, but as multiple generations separated by space and time.

  In writing this book, I attempted to connect our history, mythology, and spirituality in the last 12,000 years and show a continuous struggle across generations to end all wars and end unkindness and suffering. Regardless of religion, beliefs, mythologies, there is something that connects us all. And that, perhaps, is that we are all victims of war, conflict, and suffering on multiple levels. For example, I live in a country, that in the last 500 years have been ravaged by multiple conquerors—the Spanish, Americans, and Japanese. Even today, our people feel the effects of being a colony to multiple empires, and perhaps even today, we continue to be dependent on our colonizers.

  This attempt of writing a story that addresses the issues of conflict and war, no matter how feeble, inconsequential, or futile, is still an attempt.

  In this book, you may encounter The Ouroboros (the symbol of a serpent eating its own tail, until it eats itself and it dies). The Ouroboros represents our tendency to wage wars upon each other, and in the end, destroy ourselves through our own wars. Brothers against brothers, father against son, cousins against cousins, the wars never end. Again, it is my reasoning that by studying the past 12,000 years of our ancestor’s attempts at peace and avoidance of wars, we can learn something that we can use to end the cycle of needless suffering once and for all.