~Episode 1: The Curse of Empathy~ Apparently, I'm a mistake. Neither of us are meant to be in this world. So, let's find a place for people like us. Overlord Above All
Far into the Northern countryside, where the winds are at their coldest; they fly down the mountains into valley full of nature and growth. In this bountiful valley, only one town has exists and it is dedicated to farming. Simple people of the land whose only hardship is dealing with the Imperial forces who return every year to negotiate a deal to take ownership of their land.
But the Imperial diplomat was not expected to arrive for another month; so the overall public consensus was to not worry too much about it for now. Though there was one boy in town whose mind was not fettered by a bad harvest, an unproductive herd, or an Imperial acquisition of his home.
Instead his mind seemed to wander; a trait unbecoming of his age and one that his parents felt he would grow out of by now. But his attention seemed far too preoccupied with tall tales of whispers from the forest in the morning and wailing from the clouds at night for him to concentrate on his chores.
One such day where he was in charge of looking after his father's goats, he heard the voices on the wind once again. But this time he was able to determine the words being said.
"...Never. ...Never again."
The boy could feel the sorrow in those words as his feet moved on their own in the direction of where he believed the voice came from. Deeper and deeper into the forest he trekked as he was reminded of the goats he had left behind. His father would certainly not be happy with him, but the boy had difficult time thinking of anything he did that DIDN'T upset his father.
He was hard pressed to recall a time when anyone was pleased with him. There was never a time in his life when he felt he truly understood the feelings of those around him. His mother believe he been cursed when he was born, his father on the other hand believed that his birth in of itself was the curse.
"Cursed by what, though?"
He thought to himself as as he came upon an old abandoned well and felt the darkness beckoning him to jump in. Never one to question his own impulses, the boy didn't hesitate to jump in as he he spread his arms out to slide down the well until he less than gracefully landed on the bottom.
The water had long since dried up, but the walls were worn down and withered from the years of neglect. The boy put his ear to the rocks and dirt as he could hear the sound of shallow breathing beyond the walls. He immediately started pulling the stone slabs away and dug through the dirt with his bare hands until he was stopped by the obstruction of one large stone wall with engravings of some arcane symbols.
The symbols were not entirely unrecognizable to him as he had studied his mother's magic books from time to time. Those same books told his mother that her son was cursed in some way, but could not explain how or by what or even what kind of curse it was. The only thing the boy could ascertain about these symbols is that they were some kind of sealing spell.
The boy could still hear the breathing inside. But where would the air be coming from? He knocked on the stone wall and awaited a response. He eventually got one in the form of a gasping and gravelly voice forcing out the only word it can:
"...Hel-lo?"
That was all he needed. The grabbed one of the stone slabs from the well and began slamming it into the seal with the intent to break a hole in it. And after several hours and dozens of crumbled stone slabs later, he finally chipped away at the wall enough to make a hole. It was only slightly wider than an eyeball, but it was enough to let some air into it and maybe some light from the sun later. But the light of the moon will have to do for now.
The boy peered through the hole as his bright green eyes scanned the inside for any sign of movement through the hollow darkness. His eye was soon met by another; a much larger one. The shroud of darkness had all but taken this creature's eyesight as the boy could barely make out the faded remains of what was once a bright red color as they two stared inches away from each other.
"You...are human?"
The boy answered him clearly.
"Yes. My name is Arkham. What are you doing in there?"
"...Paying the price for my Sin."
Arkham could see the tears welling in his eyes.
"What sin could you have done to deserve THIS?"
"Mine is a Sin of Wrath. So, they put me in here. Alone. In the dark. In the cold. As I choke on the same air I've been breathing for the last...I don't even know how long it's been."
Arkham seemed confused.
"You don't seem angry to me. Though I've never been good at reading other people's feelings."
"That just means the punishment is working. Very soon, my life will come to an end and that will be the end of my sentence."
Arkham pulled back as he excited himself with an idea.
"I'll go get some help! I'll break you out of here! Just hold on for a little longer and-"
"Enough! Boy. Do you know what I am?!"
He shouted which caused him a great deal of pain as he lowered his tone to ease his suffering.
"A demon. One of the Cardinal Sins, no less. You would be charged with heresy for merely conversing with me like this. And trying to free me from this prison….you'd be executed regardless of your age."
Arkham settled down and remained silent.
"Besides…*cough*...though I am a demon; my power has long since waned along with my Wrath. I cannot grant you any gift for your efforts. Hehe… My days of bargaining with humans are over."
The boy muttered under his breath with the slightest tone of defiance.
"...I don't care."
The demon almost wanted to take offense to this boy's disrespect, but was well past the days when he would've slain someone for such disrespect.
"You are certainly brave, boy. Or perhaps foolish beyond compare. No human has ever taken that tone with me. Though in the future, you may want to speak up when you wish to make yourself heard. If a fire isn't ROARING, then it's dying and you are far too young to be dying."
Arkham tries to raise his voice, but his upbringing makes breaking old habits hard.
"I don't care about power. You deserve to see the Sun again. Everyone deserves to that fresh mountain air. Besides...I don't want your WHINING to keep me up at night anymore."
His attempt to show some backbone amuses the demon.
"Ha ha ha! *cough* Brave AND foolish. No question about that. Very well. I shall promise not to bend your ear with my pathetic gasps now that you have given me this 'fresh mountain air'. But you must return home, boy. This is MY prison...not yours."
Arkham shrugs.
"Yeah. I've got my own to deal with. But I'll be back, Wrath."
"If I can't stop you...no one can."
The next morning brings a bright and warm day as Arkham emerges from his room to greet his mother in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Arkham. Did you sleep well? How was-"
The words caught in her mouth as she looked at him to see a bruise above his cheek.
"Gods above, Arkham! What happened?"
The boy avoided eye contact as he took a small breakfast and tried to quickly leave the house, but she grabbed his arm before he got away.
"...It was your father again, wasn't it?"
Arkham stuffed his face with food so he wouldn't have to talk.
"I told him to stop trying to teach you like everyone else. You're special, so you have special needs."
He couldn't decide which of his parents was more stubborn or which one caused him the most discomfort. A father who believed he needed to force competence on his son or a mother who never had faith he would ever have competence. One hurt his body, the other hurt his confidence.
His mother drones on about his "uniqueness" as he manages to lose her focus and sneak away. As Arkham made his way to the barn, he noticed his father checking on the condition of the remaining goats after some went missing.
Arkham grabbed a pitchfork as he snuck past his father and ran off back into the woods. He was so excited to break his friend out that he hardly paid any attention to where he was going as he bumped into someone and landed flat on his butt.
"What's the hurry, son? Did a hay bale escape the fields?"
He looked up to see a hooded man in an Imperial uniform with a handful of soldiers. A Sentinel. A seeker of magic. They always bring a more sizable group of soldiers to show off, but it seems they have grown weary of bringing the big stick. Regardless, he was the one that was most suspicious right now and needed an excuse.
"Uh...I'm looking for my father's lost goats."
The Sentinel offered the boy a hand up. As he took it, the Sentinel examined him.
"Hmm… I take it your home is nearby? If you could point us to the town. It seems our directions were less than accurate."
Arkham absentmindedly pointed the way he came.
"It's just past the brush over there. Keep going straight and you'll come upon my house. The rest of the town is just a bit further."
"I see. I knew we had to be getting close. Thank you..."
"A-Arkham, sir."
"Arkham? Interesting name. Any significance behind it?"
He shrugs.
"Not that they've ever told me."
"Alright then. I'll let you get back to your hunt...and we'll get back to ours. I'm sure your father will be most pleased with you when you return."
He rubs Arkham's head as he scampers off on his way again.
"I...doubt that."
As the boy disappears from sight, one of the soldiers asks the Sentinel.
"What did you see, Sentinel? Is he a magic user?"
"...No. But he HAS been in contact with one. One of dark magic it seems."
After climbing back into the well, Arkham wastes no time in trying to widen the hole. The demon can't wrap his mind around the boy's actions.
"Boy. Why do you persist? What do you see in me that drives you like a man possessed?"
"I see myself. I see a cursed being trapped in a prison that crushes his very spirit. Someone who believes they deserve to be punished because no one ever came to their defense, so it must be just."
The demon exalts the boy.
"You ally yourself with a demon for nothing more than familiarity? To fulfill some fantasy that you wish upon yourself? I can't decide if that's prideful or selfish. I wonder which Sin you would be if you were a demon."
"Where do demons go. Where do they call home when they're not trapped in a cave deep underground."
Wrath chuckles.
"We live in a BIG cave deep underground...though it is much warmer and not nearly as lonesome. The Netherworld is the original home to all demons. But the gates between this world and my world have been destroyed."
"Which means...even if I break you out of this hole...your still trapped in a prison?"
He sighs.
"All my brothers and sisters who remain in this world are imprisoned. Everyday we grow weaker as we are hunted down for sport, glory, money or revenge."
"That's cruel!"
Arkham suddenly cracks open a hole big enough to but his arm through as Wrath barely manages to squeeze his massive finger through the hole as it pulls up Arkham's chin.
"You know, I think I've figured out what your curse is..."
His claw wipes away the boy's tears.
"...It's a curse of Empathy."
"Is that why I have such a hard time with other people? I empathize with demons more than humans? Apparently, I'm a mistake. Neither of us are meant to be in this world. So, let's find a place for people like us."
Wrath coughs up a storm as he struggles to stay with him.
"I'm...*cough*...afraid you'll have to go find it on your own. But allow me to offer you…*cough*...my support in your endeavor. My Wrath. Though it has all but died in my heart…*cough*...it will be born anew in yours."
"Your wrath? What will that do?"
"Only what you desire. Wrath is the power to act on your deepest impulses with frightening commitment. But you must keep…*cough*...that fire burning strong. And…*cough*...should you ever meet the other Cardinal Sins…*cough*...please let them know...I...I..."
He failed to finish his last words as the final breath was drawn and a small red fire sprouted on his finger tip like a candle.
Arkham solemnly knelt down and paid his respects as he took the flame into his right palm and closed his hand around it as it burned his hand; leaving a red mark up the middle of his forearm that just looked like a fire tattoo made of scar tissue.
The body of Wrath turned to ash as Arkham reached inside the hole to grab one little remnant of the corpse. He soon climbed out of the well only to see smoke in the distance.
He quickly ran back home to find the whole town in ruins as houses burned and the townsfolk were slaughtered in the streets. He came upon his own house to find it untouched by the destruction.
"It seemed rude to destroy your home when you weren't there."
Arkham turned to see the Sentinel sitting on the fence around the barn.
"...However, your father was none too pleased when we told him we had encountered you earlier. His temper got the better of him before we could explain and we were forced to put him down. Your mother was a hysterical mess after that, so we needed to silence her too."
Arkham doesn't respond as he keeps his face down and grips the pitchfork tighter and tighter.
"Anyways, I'll cut straight to the point. I sensed traces of dark magic from you earlier and decided we should 'cleanse' the whole town just to be safe. But we did not find the source. And now that you're here, I can see that you have been granted some kind of dark power. It's dripping off of you. So, there must be a demon in this valley that you made a bargain with. Tell me where it is...or I'll send you to join your family."
"You...came to this town...for a demon?"
Arkham speaks softly as the soldiers begin to surround him.
"Well, we originally came to intimidate the governor into relinquishing this land to the Empire. But when I found you, I realized we had...probable cause for concern and found it was within my duties as a Sentinel to extinguish the threat before it has time to take root. But yes...we are here for a demon NOW. Be a good boy, and take us too him so that we may cleanse him."
"...You found him."
The Sentinel leaned and and cupped his ear.
"Pardon? Speak up, boy."
"YOU FOUND HIM!"
Arkham reaches into his shirt and pulls out the piece of Wrath the remained. His heart. Arkham drops the heart on the ground as he brandishes his pitchfork into the air while a red and black flame engulfs it.
"Is that...a heart of a Cardinal Sin?! What are you doing, Arkham?!"
The Sentinel got up in a panic as the soldiers moved in on the boy. Arkham's green eyes were now overcome with a burning red flame.
"Paying the price for my Sin!"
He impales the heart with his weapon as the reaction causes and dark explosion of immense power and size to destroy the entire valley and render the land blighted.
The shockwaves can be felt deep underground in the fiery depths of the Netherworld. A vast underground castle hanging from the ceiling as lava flowed below and floating rocks encircled the structure.
Inside the castle, a woman with horns, long black hair, and yellow eyes noticed the tremors and recognized the power that made them.
"...Asmodeus?"
She spread her black feathered wings and took off in search of another woman in the lower parts of the castle napping near the forge.
"Morrigan! Wake up!"
The sleeping beauty opened her green eyes and brushed her light green hair out of her face as she yawns and her bat-like wings stretch from both her back and her head.
*Yawn*
"What is it, Albedo?"
"Asmodeus. His flames of Wrath have been rekindled."
Morrigan stared at Albedo in disbelief.
"Impossible. No human would dare free him and he would never grant his power to an heir."
"Then he must've escaped of his own volition. Either way...there's no mistaking it. The flames of Wrath have been unleashed into the world of men once again."
They both ponder what to do as Morrigan begins to feel it herself.
"It's him alright. Do you think he's trying to give us a sign? He could be trying to send a message."
"Well then…dear Sloth. Message received. The Seven Deadly Sins shall be reunited."
Morrigan despises her title as mocks Albedo in return.
"Well, how are we supposed to contact the other Sins...Lust."
Albedo ignores the condescending tone from her sister as she comes up with an idea.
"I believe there is a creature in the world of men that responds to the authority of the Netherworld. What was that goblin's name? ...Gnarl?"
*For those of you who voted in my last poll. The winner was Green: Path of of Creation. You will start noticing what that means in the next chapter. In the meantime, new poll! What weapon should Arkham use(cause the pitchfork ain't stayin) 1. Axe, 2. Spear, or 3. Something in between(like a Halberd or a Billhook) Results of the poll will be revealed in the following chapter*