Spirit of the Sun, Mind of the Moon: Prologue
In this world, there are many things that have been forgotten thanks to the undeadening. One would expect people to cling to mythology, hoping that their gods would step in and save them in such a time of crisis… actually, that's how it was at first. However, when people saw that there was no sign of change, they began to lose faith… their gods either didn't exist or didn't care, so their legends faded into obscurity. Even though tidings of keeping the sun in one's heart continued, the god of the sun himself became an old, crock-pot's tale. How ironic, that in his own time of need, he has been forgotten?
Deep within a dark dungeon, low enough below the surface that the chance of sunlight piercing below was heavily improbable, a mysterious voice let out an eerie chuckle. "How does it feel, my little trophy?" a voice of indistinguishable gender taunted out from below a cloak. Clawed hands were extended from the cloak, holding out a dish of a smoke-like liquid, an image of a small group of survivors talking within it. Voices echoed out from the strange liquid, discussing the fate of the world as it was. Though, since the view was from above, facial expressions couldn't be made out.
"So, what do you think of the old legends about the sun god?" one of the men in the group asked, "The one about how he'll descend and purify the world of the dark matter infesting it?"
"Hah! You still cling to that old tale?" a younger male taunted, "It's obvious that's just a load of shit… nothin' in life is that easy."
"Who said I believed it? I was just curious what you thought," the first man explained.
"Yeah, right, yer just sayin' that to cover your own ass," the second retorted, taking a bite of his meal.
With that, the hand waved over the dish, changing the image to another scene. It was a different setting entirely, but the concept was the same: humans discussing the sun god in a negative matter.
"They hate you now~ all that power you used to have from support? It's gone, gone!" the mysterious voice was full of glee, cackling away as it explained what was quite obviously going on.
Directly in front of the cloaked figure, chained to the wall, an orange-haired man hung with a solemn expression on his face. A white cloth was loosely worn about his shoulders, gold jewelry adorning his arms, neck, and ears. He wore an orange wrap over his green pants which faded out to a yellow the closer they were to his ankles. Though, his feet bore no form of covering.
"…As long as they have not forgotten entirely," the man forced himself to speak, "…then there is still hope." Honestly, he was beginning to lose hope himself… he could feel himself becoming weaker and weaker each day. The world's people not believing him wasn't the only problem: the god was also cut off from his other natural source of power: the sun. Even if he was the 'sun god', it was the sun that fueled him, not the other way around.
"Hmph, one of these days you will break completely, Oten," the cloaked figure scowled, pulling the dish away. With the god retaining a decent mood, it seemed that it was boring for the figure to do this.
"We'll just have to see about that, Sköll," the god replied, curling his lips into a small smile. Even if help never came, Oten was convinced that displeasing the strange immortal was more than enough for him. He knew exactly why the immortal was trying to break him rather than kill him… and he wasn't going to let Sköll have that opportunity.
Sköll let out a low growl, unamused by Oten's behavior. "I'll wipe that smile from your face forever," the immortal claimed, "just you wait." With that, the cloaked figure turned around and left the room, slamming a locked door behind him.
Oten waited patiently, listening to the sound of footsteps as the immortal stomped its way up a flight of stairs. He found it was always good when he managed to make the creature leave in a bad mood: it made it easier to know when the nuisance was gone.
"Alright," he calmly said to himself, "let's see what progress you've made, child…" With that, Oten's blue eyes shut, willing his consciousness to view another place than where he currently was.
Notes:
Sköll and Hati, the two main immortals of this story, are named after wolves from Norse mythology. They were sons of Fenrir whom chased after the sun and moon respectively. Just because they were male in the myth does not mean that is their gender here.
(after all, Sol is a woman and Mani is a man in original Norse myth… )
The name Oten was picked for my sun god because "ko" can be Japanese for child. So, as Otenko is known in-game as the messenger of the sun, I decided to do a little word play. I would have named him Sol but "Mani" is already taken by a canon character, so I did not wish to do this.
Don't worry, future chapters will be longer! This is only the prologue, everyone.