AN: This was a story though up as I was reading Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flammel. Mainly because there are many types of magic in this. It's also fully planned; all the characters are set, story planned, etc. I have the first chapter written and that will be put up soon as well... However, who knows when the rest shall come, so be patient.
Also if anyone guesses all five of the characters in this prologue correctly without me having told them before you will get a (albiet virtual) cookie. Because.
One final note: This entire story takes place before Okamiden. It WAS originally afterwards, but I realized Chibi didn't fit in ANYWHERE and thus gave the whole idea up and put it before. It even led to a few ideas to explain things in Okamiden... But I'm getting ahead of myself. Enjoy.
If one has lived for as long as I have, amongst as many peoples, many places, one might believe magic truly exists in the world.
If one were to believe this, they would be correct.
In essence, there are four types of magic, each intertwined by the same energy making them possible, yet each different….
Prophecy. Ah, perhaps one of the rarest forms… and the most accursed. There are those who would give anything to see into the future, but few realize how much it hurts to see events, events which have not yet happened, but which are doomed to happen, events happening to even the one you love, things happening you cannot prevent…
The past brings memories horrifying enough; why must I see the horrors the future must bring as well?
Brush magic~ Probably a bit more common than prophecy, but it's still something prided as belonging only to the Poncles. Notably, only the Envoys… Of which I am one. Brush magic can do anything, create almost anything- And I do mean almost. It cannot create human life. Indeed, an artist is lucky if it creates even the smallest of animal life, and that in itself takes extraordinary power. You do not believe me? Oh, trust me, I've tried.
Perhaps had I succeeded before, it would not have taken a century for Okami Amaterasu to return…
Mages- conductors of white magic, a mage has some control over certain elements. Some are more powerful in certain realms than others; myself, I am best at water and electricity. It was perhaps ironic that I chose to study to become a mage, when all things not considered pure science were frowned upon by my tribe… But perhaps it was this farsightedness that saved me while the others perished. Even when I escaped to earth, I was stilled viewed as ordinary, a scholar, a politician… perhaps even made greater by my ability as a mage.
Kitsune magic… Yes, we fox-like creatures do have a magic of our own, you know~! It allows us to transform our appearances at will, possess others, walk in dreams… And, with an object powerful enough to boost our abilities, we could rival even the gods of the Celestial Plains.
Why yes, I do in all honesty believe in the gods. But there is one thing else in kitsune magic… The Binding of Loyalty, something ancient, older than perhaps even this world, which will unite us to one person, one person we choose to serve, to do anything for…
And I would lay down my life to protect my Master.
But what if I told you, on top of all these, there was a fifth magic?
Sorcery.
Ah, yes, I see you back away in fear now; sorcerers are well known as opposites of the mages- masters of dark, black, foul magic, magic that could make your stomach turn in fear… But there is nothing to be afraid of. Sorcery is the same as the magic of the mage; only the sources and the formulas for the spells are different, splitting them into two distinct magics. And besides, there is only one who has ever fully mastered it, known enough about it to rend the world twice over and cast it into the depths of darkness…
But how do I know this?
I am Tokoyami no Sumeragi.
I am Empty Death, Emperor of Eternal Darkness, Master of Sorcery…
But it would be better if you merely addressed me as Yami.