This is an altered version of the Luminous storyline that I am writing a fanfiction about. He is my most favorite character in MapleStory. It has always been my pleasure to fill in the details and imagine scenarios of untold sequences. The beginning of this is closer to the original storyline, but it will begin to go its own way slowly. English is not my first language but I will attempt anyway. This serves as an introduction. Hope you enjoy it!
The equilibrium of Light and Dark is something unheard of and requires absolute balance of the wielder.
The moment he feels the darkness seeps into his body, the ominous voice of the Black Mage sounds in his head:
"The Darkness you take from me will eventually devour you."
A burning sensation comes from his left arm as he feels something squirming its way deeper into his consciousness and taking root there in his heart. His left eye stings painfully and slowly, his body begins to loss control. His Light, knowing the grave danger he is in, uses all his remaining strength to put him into the state of coma. What happens next is total darkness.
Within himself, the battle of Light and Darkness continues on, never ceasing. His consciousness is sealed away to protect him. The clashing of Light and Darkness influences his body in a way that is unnatural. He becomes invisible to the mortal eye and sleeps on unseen. Although where he is currently, he never know.
The injuries obtained from the Black Mage is long healed by his fragmented and fading Light of Redemption. It is because of the powerful invading Darkness that his Light is shattered so. There is no way to push the Darkness out from the body, it has already become part of him. So tightly integrated are the Light and Darkness to his soul that the balance is never found without his own control. When the Light is in power, his consciousness wonders in bright and saintly places. When the Darkness is in power, his consciousness dwells in destruction and unknown anger.
For a few centuries, the cycle keeps looping. It taxed his soul to the point of exhaustion. In the brink of death, the battle of the Light and Darkness reaches a stalemate. And all is calm.
Luminous opens his eyes to find himself surrounded by the forest. He blinks a few times to ensure that he is not hallucinating. Is this...? With sheer will, he forces himself to roll over. He has never ever felt this exhausted and tired. The grass is soft, the trees tall and ancient, and the sun is shining brightly on him. Is this Elluel? It feels different. He takes a deep breath of the cool sweet morning air.
His senses comes back to him. Where is the Black Mage? Everyone? He cannot sense any danger. It is as if the time of the Dark no longer exists. No one, not Freud nor Aran, nor Mercedes are around. He feels sick and weak and his left eye feels different. He can still see fine, but something about the way he perceives things is a little bit twisted. He shakes off the bad feeling.
"Argh..." When he tries to get up, his body aches terribly.
A presence approaches cautiously. "Is...is that a person?" A young voice asks.
Hearing the voice of a human, Luminous is alerted. "Who's there?"
Coming into view between the trees is a fair and comely girl. She has a pair of beautiful blue eyes and shoulder length saffron hair.
"Where am I? What happened?" Luminous is still in the state of confusion.
Lania sighs, relieved. "Oh, thank goodness you're alive! You're going to be okay. This is a small forest located near Ellinia. My name is Lania." And she smiles warmly.
Ellinia? Luminous has not an ounce of idea where that is but he do know he needs to find some way to contact someone if the Black Mage is still around. "What? Take me to Elluel." Anyone should know about Elluel, it is the town of the Elves. He feels his emotions bubbling as the conversation goes on.
"Elluel? I think I heard that in a fairy tale one time..." Lania looks puzzled, she walks near Luminous to help him stand up.
It can't be... "Where is the Black Mage? Has he invaded your town?" Luminous starts to understand his situation. He uses one hand to push himself up, and is rewarded with a wave of dizziness.
"Huh? I heard a story about five heroes defeating some evil old wizard called the Black Mage hundreds of years ago, but I think that was just a fairy tale too..." Lania starts to give him a confused look.
This is madness. Could hundreds of years have passed by in the blink of an eye? I feel odd... "Hang on," Luminous quickly turns his head away and let out a dry retch. To him, the one hundred year of inner battle within himself is non-existent.
"You have been really pale since just now. How did you end up here? No matter, please, come to my house and rest." Lania supports Luminous.
After a few moments, he regains his composure, Luminous says softly, "I-I will be alright. I am sorry about the bad impression I've made. I am Luminous."
"Luminous. Luminous." Lania repeats his name to herself, like to imprint that in her mind.
They start to head towards Lania's house, following her direction. Both of them are quiet, not wanting to break the peaceful silence and listening to the song of the birds up on the trees. It seems that he somehow landed on a clearing just now because the woods is thick and there are barely any sunlight as they go further away. A malicious thought grows within Luminous. I am going to kill all the trees and this girl. As soon as he realizes that is exactly how he feels like doing, he suppresses it quickly. What is wrong with me? He is bewildered by his own emotions.
After a while, Luminous feels better to talk again. "Are you not too young to wander the woods alone? Where are your parents?"
"I... don't know. Me and Penny have been here for as long as I can remember..." Lania says uncertainly.
"I apologize. I meant no offense." Luminous is very self-conscious about his manners.
"It's okay! Penny's my best pal. She's also a cat, but at least she's pretty good at talking. I kinda miss talking to people though. Penny always just nags me."
"I fear I am poor company. I've never been much for small talk." Luminous recalls his conversations with Phantom, it always ended badly.
Lania chuckles. "For somebody who's bad at words, you sure use a lot of big ones! When you get to my house, me and Penny can make you something to eat." She sounds excited to have a guest.
"I am really looking forward to it." Luminous says and he manages to smile without looking terribly sick. If the Black Mage is truly gone, perhaps I could find meaning in a simple life.
-More to come-