EPICA
Prologue
The fiery orange sun was beginning to set, signalling the end of another day even as stars began to twinkle to life far in the Eastern sky. Walking barefoot through the nearly empty streets with the remnants of today's sun shining down on her from the heavens above, a child about eight years of age with long straight black hair and stunning warm brown eyes made her way to the familiar house she had always known as home. It was built of brick and mortar, built by the strong capable hands of her mother, or so she had been told. It had a gently angled roof, and a few plate glass windows that decorated the front. There was a meagre garden in the front yard that yielded fresh fruits and vegetables for a good part of the harvesting season, tended to also by her mother, but the other one.
The young girl pushed open the hand built gate, and walked with a happy step toward the front door. Tonight, as the sun set, she would be upon her mother's lap, hearing tales of the adventures she used to embark on, and she would be fascinated by detailed descriptions of worlds beyond her understanding, people of the likes she had never met, and some she hoped she never would meet.
Opening the door, she was greeted by her raven-haired mother, from her comfortable position on her comfortable wooden framed, cloth and fabric stuffed chair.
"Ah, there you are. Are you hungry? Your mother is preparing food for us. Are you ready to hear the rest of the tale?"
The house was built of the finest quality, despite being built by only her mother's two hands, and she nodded even as she felt the chill in the air. The house was cool in the summer, and warm in the winter, as a well built house should be. Smiling at her mother, she walked over, and even though she knew she was getting too big to do so, hoisted herself up into her mother's lap.
Cuddling close to her dark haired mother, she nodded.
"I'm hungry. I want to eat and hear the story!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement. Her mother smiled down at her, and slipped her arms around her daughter to keep her from accidentally falling off the chair and hurting herself.
Chuckling, the raven-haired girl pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead.
"Patience, my love. Soon, we will be feasting upon the food made by the finest cook in this town."
As if directly in response to her spoken words, a rattling of metal pans from the kitchen reached their ears. Leaning her head back against the comfortable cloth of the chair, the woman with the child in her lap closed her eyes and took a moment to thank God for everything that had been given to her, when it so easily could have been taken away. Silently mouthing a prayer, she slowly opened her eyes and straightened up to find her daughter staring at her curiously.
Smiling in response, she ruffled her daughter's hair. "You shall find out all tonight, my dear. I will regale you with a tale so fantastical that you may have trouble believing it to be true. Yet I assure you, it is very, very real."
At that moment, the noises from the kitchen ceased, and a few seconds later, a dark brown-haired girl walked into the room, chocolate eyes still shining bright despite her thirty years of life, the trials and hardships she had fought through. It was easy to see, the way they shone brighter still when she looked at her wife and child, what kept her strong.
She carried a tray of food in her hands, laden down with enough for the three of them. There was another chair, similar to her dark-haired mother's, adjacent to her, and that was where the kind-hearted, smiling-faced, brown-haired doting mother sat. She carefully held out a small bowl of soup to her daughter, who took it with tiny hands, making sure not to spill a drop on herself or the lap she sat on.
"Listen closely, my love, and she will tell you a tale I've heard many times. No matter how many times I hear it though, it never ceases to amaze me."
Yuki, the child, looked up at her raven-haired mother as she began to speak where her brown-haired mother left off.
"Yes, I have a story to be told, come listen tonight. Try to imagine that everything I say is as real as you and I."
Yuki snuggled closer, and ladled a spoonful of soup to her mouth as her mother stood, brown hair swaying about her hips.
"I'll start the fire, love."
Yuki leaned against her mother's chest as she heard her hum deeply, vibrating through her chest.
"Se-Chan?" Yuki asked, clutching the soup bowl tightly.
"Yes, Yuki-Chan?" The raven-haired woman asked.
"Do you love Kono-Chan? Do you love Mommy?"
A rather uncharacteristic giggle resounded from Setsuna, something Yuki hadn't heard before despite having posed her this question many times.
"More than you'll ever know. In fact, if you listen to this tale tonight, you'll know exactly how much I love Kono-Chan. And, believe it or not, it has everything to do with how we have come to be blessed with you, Yuki-Chan."
Yuki kicked her legs in excitement as Konoka came back over to sit beside her, with the fire now beginning to flicker to life. Soon, it would be a heated roar, and keep them all warm through the night.
Everything was silent for a moment, except for the crackling of the fire, as Setsuna took a moment to collect her thoughts.
"I need you to imagine this world, long in the past. The story of a love stronger than the flow of time, the story of karma, human lust, desire, vanity and ignorance, greed and corruption, of a damned soul fighting desperately, not for redemption, but for understanding of truths not known to this mortal world. Imagine a soul hungry for knowledge, for the knowledge of divine truth, searching for an answer to questions that inevitably held an answer that that very soul eventually helped create, without knowing it until it was almost too late."
Yuki felt shivers go down her spine at Setsuna's words, and unbeknownst to her, Konoka was experiencing the same reaction.
"This is the story of how one longing, searching soul was lead so far astray from the path of God that they almost never found their way back. That soul is me, and it all started over two hundred years ago..."
Yuki's eyes widened, and she almost interrupted, saying humans didn't live that long, but she knew better than to disrupt her mother. Instead, she would hold fast to the belief that her mother would not lie to her, and hang onto every word as the absolute truth.
"My descent into misfortune began with a divine bet...it is here that I begin my tale. Listen closely, for I have much to say..."
Over 200 years in the past, a divine bet is made over a soul not yet born...
High upon his decorative throne, residing in the most beautifully designed hall only tentatively imagined by the greatest of human minds, sat a wizened old man. Older than time itself and solely responsible for all creation, he breathed deeply as he regarded the man before him with piercing blue eyes.
"So what has brought you to my Kingdom, Mephisto?" He asked, his left hand leaving the armrest of this throne to stroke his lengthy white beard. His right hand remained on his throne, hand curled regally around the edge to gently drum his fingers against the solid gold, ornately decorated throne.
Kneeling before him was a tall handsome man with sharp features and flawless perfect white skin. Straightening at the words spoken to him, he took a moment to smooth his black button down long sleeved shirt over his black leather pants, scuffing his black studded boots over the immaculately white floor. Numerous rings graced his fingers, a sure sign of vanity and status, and around his neck were two silver chains that sparkled in the light. When he smiled, his sharp predatory teeth glistened, immaculate straight rows of teeth that seemed almost unnatural. Almost.
His black hair was slightly curly, but more so straight; his sideburns ending near his ears in shaved points. Overall, he was startlingly attractive.
"I desire to stand by your side once more, your loyal servant for eternity, singing your praises and doing your bidding as you see fit, my Lord."
Despite the man's cocky grin, his words rang with truthful desperation, and the elderly robed man on the throne hummed deeply, nodding his head slowly at him until he was staring at Mephisto from under his heavy brows.
"Mephisto, my beloved son, are you prepared to give your life once more to me, and become my ever-loyal servant for eternity?"
At this, the black-clad man fell to his knees, bowing his head to the floor.
"With all of my being, Father. I desire nothing more than that." He said fervently.
"I cast you out of my Heavenly Kingdom when you refused to bow down and worship mankind a thousand years ago, as I had bid all my angels to do. Are you ready to atone for your sins and rejoin my side?"
At this, the spiky haired man whipped his left arm out to the side, still bowed, as if to cast aside his words.
"My loyalty is only to you, my Lord! In everything I do, I strive to worship you, and you alone! Humans are disgusting, vile, imperfect creatures and I shall not bow to them! I bow only to you, Lord!" Anger contorted his face, though he kept his forehead pressed to the floor.
"Were they not created by my hand, in mine own image?" The man upon the throne asked.
"Yes, but they are not you. Though they strive to see your face, emulate you, pretend to be you, they never will, and I will never bow!"
"This is unacceptable. You shall never be granted access to my Kingdom until you can overcome your hatred for humans, and learn to accept them instead."
At this, the man straightened slowly, then stood.
"I propose a wager, my Lord..."
A smile crossed the Creator's face.
"A wager, you say? What may it be?"
A sickening grin crossed Mephisto's face.
"If I can steal the soul of your favourite human, lead them into corruption, and make their soul unredeemable, proving those petty creatures for what they are, proving they are unworthy of my praise and worship, will you accept me back into your Kingdom as your right hand man once more? You can see into my soul, plain as day, the only desire that burns there, is to serve you once more as your loyal servant, to sing your praises day and night, worshipping only you, as you rightfully deserve."
The wizened old man nodded slowly, stroking his lengthy white beard.
"Very well. If you can capture the soul of my favourite human, and lead them astray from the path of righteousness, rendering their soul evil, and not worth saving, if you can truly condemn them and pronounce them damned, then I will accept you back into my kingdom with open arms, my Son."
Mephisto grinned wolfishly, the gleam of his teeth shining almost as brightly as the gleam in his eyes.
"I'll see you soon...my Lord." With that, he raised his arms into the air, and in an instant, vanished.
The old man was left alone once more, chuckling to himself.
"I shall lead my favourite human to clarity, who previously only served me confusedly. Mephisto, I will allow you to attempt to lead astray, for man must err while he doth strive. A good man, in his darkest impulses, remains aware of the right path."
END PROLOGUE
A/N: Okay, so I am once again attempting to write the Epica story. I've dramatically changed the storyline and character line-up, with the obvious exception of Konoka, and Setsuna. I'm hoping I can make this half as epic as the inspiration for this story is. There will be a lot less action in this fic, although to combat that, I'm considering continuing III Ways To Epica, for those that followed that fic. I still have all the notes for it, and everything is planned out, and I think it would make a surreal, alternate universe accompaniment to this fanfic. This, however, remains to be seen. Either way, as was intended with III Ways To Epica, this is a pet project, and won't be updated as frequently as Shatter or the other projects I have going at the moment. Any and all interest is welcomed. Thank you!