Chaos

There are those who believe that the world began in Darkness. Their legends whisper that, once, there was nothing - only a carpet of neverending Darkness, in which all possibilities were shrouded. That Darkness was called Chaos, for Chaos had no form, no mind - merely possibilities.

Then, from out of that Darkness came Light. Omega, the Primordial Lantern, erupted forth from the infinite possibilities of Chaos, and split across the tapestry of Darkness to create Light. That Light illuminated the worlds that had hid among the possibilities of Darkness, freeing them from the endless shroud with the first dawn.

The dawn awoke the sleeping Chaos, and angered it. Omega and Chaos came to blows, beginning the infinite cycle that has continued to this day, a cycle that will only end when the Darkness rises up and drags not only the worlds, but Omega itself, back into the shadows. Then, and only then, will Chaos's wounds be healed, and the Darkness will return to its infinite slumber...

Or so the legends say.

The veracity of such legends is, of course, impossible to determine - but the grains of truth within them are blindingly obvious. Indeed, Darkness and Light are locked in an ancient, neverending war, and it is Chaos and Omega that represent their extremes. Chaos is the absolute Darkness, the yawning abyss of possibility, untamed and uncontrolled. It is not a stellar titan, a monster that rises up to be put down - it is the Darkness, the name of the blackest night in which not even lanterns and stars can illuminate one's way. As Omega shines the brightest of all lights, so too is Chaos the most tenebrous of all shadows.

Whether the points of Chaos' Absolute Darkness were scattered across the worlds at the same time as Omega, or have been present since the beginning, it is impossible to say. Known as the Seeds of Chaos, these ultimate shadows instinctively seek strong Hearts and Wills to wield them and serve as warriors of the Darkness.

Few such combinations of Heart and Will exist. Most Seeds of Chaos latch onto mindless beasts and monsters, devouring the Heart from the inside and driving the beast into a pointless, destructive rampage. If the beast is not destroyed swiftly, it rapidly seeks out powerful forces of Light in order to consume and destroy them.

When a Seed latches onto an intelligent being that lacks the Heart and Will to bear it, the situation deteriorates rapidly. Though people possess their own wills, the dark power that sits in their Hearts will rapidly attempt to overwhelm them by appealing to their animal desires. Succumbing to its temptations leads to greater and greater power - however, those who cannot control their emotions rapidly find themselves digging too deep, consumed by the Darkness utterly. They are driven to fulfill their own urges, until those urges are replaced wholly by the desires of Chaos. Destroy the Light, consume the world in shadows - these wishes become the driving focal point of their very being. Some say that these weak-willed victims inevitably descend into the Heartless state, as they give themselves utterly to the Darkness.

Those unfathomably rare few who have both the strength of Heart and the Will to properly utilize a Seed of Chaos are the most fearsome of all. Submerged in the Darkness and yet not subservient to it, these vanishingly few beings embody the great aspects of Chaos and its formerly-infinite possibilities. They are its Champions and its Guardians, and a powerful, ancient loathing urges them towards the destruction of all Light in order to defend the Endless Night. Other, lesser creatures of Darkness - particularly Heartless or weaker Seeds - recognize them instinctively as superior, and are likely to follow these Champions without question. Individuals with powerful connections to the Light have no trouble recognizing these beings for what they are in their native forms, though particularly powerful Champions are capable of masking their connection in myriad ways. Shardbearers of Omega can always recognize Seeds of Chaos, regardless of the mask they wear - though legends tell of a Champion whose masks can never be breached without its permission.

Slaying a True Champion is all but impossible for the average warrior. While a Champion can be harmed by the weapons of a mundane foe, any such damage heals ludicrously rapidly, and actual death by such an enemy is utterly impossible. The Unlimited, powerful Shardbearers of Omega, true Keyblade Masters, Master Sorcerors, or other True Champions are the only beings capable of putting an end to these terrible creatures - and even then, it is likely to be enormously difficult, requiring even such beings to put their lives on the line.