WARNING;

Close this book. I mean it.

You don't want anything to do with me or my story. I don't want some poor sap thinking that the same thing will happen to them; "Wow Naegi! You died multiple times but are still alive? I wanna die too!"

Just...Don't. You won't end up the way I did. And unless you have some sick desire to see a serial killer hack a person to pieces, A woman drooling over the word despair, and the world's end as we know it, you shouldn't even THINK about looking for the black book.

It's not worth it. Trust me. It was never worth it, and it will never be worth it.

...

Still here? Alright then, you asked for it. I wonder exactly how I should start this...maybe with the tale that started it all.

Long ago, back in ancient times, when the world knew naught of technology or science, it was a place of magic and wonder- a kingdom of fantasy and power. Mythological beings lived in reality! Creatures roamed the earth- and people practiced spirit arts, the language of reality. The world was governed by a single kingdom, known as THE CLIFF OF HOPE. The most powerful wizard in the world known as Izuru Kamukura reigned over this kingdom, and he was a decent ruler. As long as nobody challenged his reign; the kingdom lived with utmost hope. However, this all changed one fateful day.

In a far off village called LINGERING REMNANT, seven sisters were born. They were all born of different mothers, and yet it is said they had the same father- how else would the one thing these seven girls have in common would be the birth mark on their backs? A jagged mark,odd in nature. These sisters were special, for they were all birthed with unnaturally powerful magic imbued inside their souls- Spiritual arts that defied the very rules of reality itself! the world trembled and shook at the very seams when they were born on this fateful day. Their names were;

Echidna

Minerva

Sekhmet

Daphne

Typhon

Carmilla

SATELLA.

The kingdom worried over these powers, but they reassured the inhabitants of the kingdom that everything would be fine. It was this poor judgement that led to the horror known as the massacre- The villagers that lived in Lingering Remnant were all slaughtered on the sister's sixteenth birthday. Then, they vanished- but each name slowly grew infamous throughout history. The sisters became known as the Seven Witches of Sin, with each girl representing one of the seven deadly sins. The terrifying reality bending abilities they held became known as Sin Authorities, powers that had the authority to govern reality itself. Their powers are never exactly listed down, as they confused many mages and researchers.

The worst out of all of them was known as the Witch Of Envy. She was the most powerful and formidable of the seven witches of sin- and the worst part was, her Authority was unknown. Many people speculated that it was similar to Echidna's Authority, given that everytime people attacked her, she seemed to know every move they made, every tactic and move. Then again, none of the Authorities were alike, so it caused much head scratching. She was also extremely skilled in shadow magic, being able to wipe a person from the world by absorbing them into her aura of darkness. All who opposed her fell in line. She was a monster.

Things were looking grim, but eventually, they didn't invest much interest in the witches, having learned that if they left them alone, their wrath shall not be spurned. they even sought to form alliances with them, in hopes that they could form powerful allies.

But all that changed when the High Oracle spewed forth a single prophecy;

A offspring of Sin,

Will one day win

A power greater than this world can handle

And thus reality will tear

By Sin's will, into shambles

Archons of Sin, floating with their followers

Fight in the Rainbow Tunnel

Will Hope Win? Despair springs eternal.

Envy's wrath, the betrayer shall witness

Sin's life not easily banished

Until the day of fate has arrived

Only then will the death bells of sin

begin to chime.

Panic spread throughout the world at the uttering of this prophecy- for once the words of Chrono magic are spoken, they will come to pass. The flow of time depends on when. The ruler was at his most desperate yet. He sent platoons of men to slaughter and kill the witches- even though there had been no success in the past. However, one of them got lucky, and managed to slay the Witch of Sloth- and for a moment, the kingdom rejoiced! The witches could be defeated after all. However, the prophecy had been spoken, the power of fate decided. just like the spell had said, only when the day of fate has arrived will people be able to permanently kill one of the witches of Sin. To the warriors horror, Sloth's spirit possessed a nearby soldier, and murdered her killer in cold blood. Similar events happened with Rage, Lust, and gluttony. The kingdom had given up hope for even murdering ONE of these witches, when they received help from a most unexpected source- The Witch of Greed. She had approached them in the blanket of secrecy, and told them she knew of a way to imprison and stop all the witches; on one condition. She was to be issued full pardoning for her crimes.

After much deliberation, The King agreed, provided that Echidna would renounce her Sin Authority once the others were defeated. Agreeing to this deal, Echidna revealed her plan; She had created six books which she had jokingly called Archons after the unknown word in the chapter, just to mess with the king's head. Greed was a fickle creature. She revealed that while the power of chrono forced the witches spirit to possess a new vessel when their body was killed, they had almost no control over what body they could choose. The books were enchanted with Demo magic, which would capture spirits left floating around in the air. Their great power and spirit would be forever embedded in the book, trapped for all eternity.

Accepting Echidna's plan, Kamukura summoned the strongest warrior the kingdom had,known as Pride, and He and Kamukura as well as Echidna went and encountered each of the Witches of sin. Every battle they fought was long and hard, with Rage's being the second longest, lasting two days. However, after five hard fights, five out of six of the witch's spirits were now embedded into the Archons. All that remained...was Envy.

Envy, or Satella, was a force to be reckoned with entirely. When Kamukura, Pride, and Echidna engaged with her in battle, the fight lasted for one week exactly. Each time they seemed to get the upper hand on Envy, she outdid them. Finally, on the final hour of the final day that week, echidna used her Authority to discover that Satella's power was linked to chrono magic. She somehow could predict what they were going to do, and always had a plan to override it. using her knowledge, the three easily killed Stella's mortal body, and finally bound her to the Archon. Victory was shown upon the kingdom but for a moment- but in the end, it was all for naught, because the moment Envy was bound, Greed showed it's true colors.

Echidna stole the six Archons away from Kamukura, and revealed that it had all been a carefully crafted plan to embrace what she believed to be her destiny- bringing about the world's end, as the prophecy had stated. She had secretly woven powerful magic into the Archon's pages, which allowed the holder of the book to take the power of the user's magic into themselves permanently. Believing that all she needed to do to fulfill the prophecy was to absorb all the Authorities and wield their power all at once, she did just that.

However...something went awry. When she tried to absorb Envy's power, shadows exploded outside the book. It seemed Satella didn't take kindly to the sisters' betrayal, and killed her body by absorbing it away. With Echdina dead, the Authorities returned to the Archon's. Pride and Kamukura remained on alert, watching each other to see signs of Echidna possessing one of them- but it never came. Something had occurred that day- it is unknown, but there was never any sign of Echidna again. They searched far and wide for her spirit, but they couldn't find it. It was like Envy had wiped Greed off the face of the planet.

Now knowing that people could claim the power of the authorities for themself, Kamukura made a decision- he used their power to overwrite reality, and seal away magic forever. It worked, but the Archon's still remained- the last vestiges of the era of magic. Pride and Kamukura hid them all over the world, trying their best to make sure they never saw the light of day again. However, some of them were stolen, and what happened afterwards remained a mystery.

The last vestiges of magic are out there, and the power of the prophecy has yet to come to pass. Who will discover the Archons? What happened to Greed?

...I wonder.

So, yeah. Now that we've got the exposition out of the way, I guess I need to tell you who I am, right? Well, hang on. You're gonna find out in about three...two...

Sunlight flickered through the dirty bus window as a pale hand wiped at his eyes, olive green orbs blinking softly as the bus drove throughout the street. As tired as he was, Makoto couldn't afford to fall asleep just yet. He had to stay awake, for Komaru's sake. When she had received the letter from Hope's Peak Academy, Makoto had been proud of her. However, some tiny deep part inside of him felt cheated out of the chance of a lifetime, which made him feel extremely guilty. He shouldn't feel jealous about Komaru's chance of a lifetime! He should be happy, and if anything, cheering her on. That's why he found himself riding on a bus throughout the city, thumbing away at text messages too and from with the family.

Naegi was currently on his way to pick up supplies for the girl, as she would be moving to an on campus dorm room for the school. He had already gotten everything on the list, but apparently Komaru wanted him to check out this neat little shop in the shopping district. Apparently, it was some curiosity shop that had been around forever, and Komaru wanted something from it to decorate her walls- this cool Kunai collection that she had been dying for. Makoto hadn't told her that he was getting her that; He wanted it to be a surprise.

He stepped off the bus and stared up at the old shopping complex in front of him, and read the faded words aloud;

Roswaal's Curiosity manor.

"...Look's more like a mansion then a shop." Makoto muttered awkwardly. As he stepped forward and opened the door, a bell rang signifying his entrance- and not a dinky bell that other shops have. A massive GONG, GONG, GONG! echoed through the building, making Makoto clamp his hands over his ears. His eyes adjusted to the faint electric light to find tables on tables filled with many...strange things. A few people were browsing and speaking to others, and Makoto caught glances of the workers- There were two girls who looked nearly identical to each other- but their hair colors were contrasting greatly. Almost like...cotton candy. They were probably related.

There was also a long haired girl who held a pet cat, talking to people who seemed interested in jewelry. She had pretty purple eyes, but Makoto wasn't interested in talking to anyone in the jewelry section. He headed down the hallway that led to the weaponry area- when he blinked.

..nvy...

...nvy...

Envy...

Whispers in his head? What?

Makoto shook off his foggy state, and stared at the location he had thought he had heard the whispers coming from- another branching hallway that had read Miscellaneous. Not really what he was looking for, so he turned and tried to continue his journey into the weapons section, the throbbing whispers making it harder to focus.

The weaponry section of the manner was impressive in size- as it lasted about six rooms wide. This wasn't a curiosity shop, it was a god damn super mall! Makoto wondered how on earth the owner had all of this stuff here, and how he managed to pay for the property. It was really incredible the size and vastness of it all- he wondered if he should even bother looking for the Kunai. However, while he was pondering over the uses of super cool throwing stars, a voice cleared their throat behind him.

"Excuse me."

He turned to find...an oddly dressed man, clown makeup all over his face. Grinning, the man did a half bow. "My name is J. Edgar Roswaal. A pleasure to see you shopping here! I'm the owner of the store, and I was wondering if you needed any assistance finding what you were looking for?" Makoto could barely hear the man- he was still reeling over how ridiculous he looked! Why is his face painted like that?! It's really weird! Makoto had a way with words, as always. awkwardly clearing his throat and tugging on the strings of his jacket, Makoto finally found the words to respond with, lest he seemed like a fool for any longer.

"Ah- sorry, yes! This place is just so big. I was looking for the collection of Kunai you had on display in this area of the weapons isle?" He managed, hoping that he didn't have to spend any more time then he had too in this crazy place; it was starting to make him reel. Roswaal pondered this question for a moment, before pounding his fist into his hand. "Ah, I know the display you speak of! We had to move it to the mixed section, as we were getting a new shipment! Allow me to take you to it.~"

With a boisterous laugh and a slap on the back, Makoto was led to the miscellaneous section, navigating through many twists and turns throughout the way. Finally, after what seemed like hours, dodging uncomfortable questions from the shopkeeper ("Ya like jazz, boy?") He finally came across the Kunai collection. With a sigh of major relief, Makoto asked to be sent to the front desk, to which Roswaal responded with a clap of the hands. Suddenly, with a startled cry from Makoto, the blue worker appeared from earlier and whisked it away. Makoto was ready to follow Roswaal back to the front, when..

...Envy...

...Envy...

There it is again...! What IS that? Where's it coming from?

Makoto's gaze swiveled around, trying desperately to find the source of the ever growing noise..and his eyes landed on a rusted silver chest with an ancient padlock.

As Makoto approached the throbbing whisper ceased in noise. Roswaal followed dhim, and when he noticed his fixation, he grinned. "Ah, that attracts you, doesn't it? Many have been lured by it, but none could ever claim it's sweet reward." Confused by his words, Makoto shot a glance to him. "What do you mean? Isn't it just a box?" Roswaal gave a hearty laugh, slapping the boy's back. "That's not JUST a box my boy. It's sort of famous around here. We refer to it as "Pandora's box." We don't know what's inside it, because nobody knows the code. We've tried just about everything. We even tried cutting the lock, but it's too strong." Roswaal took his hat off and dusted it. "So, we made it into a bit of a game! Whoever opens the chest gets to keep the item inside for free. No payment necessary!"

That piqued Makoto's interest. He turned his attention to the lock- three slots. Each slot contained a wheel of letters. "Whoever opens it gets to keep what's inside, Mister Roswaal?" he said, his olive green eyes shining with determination. Makoto was a completely average boy. The only unaverage thing about him was his luck- it could screw him over, or allow him to come out on top. Maybe since he failed the Hope's peak lottery...he was due for a win?

Closing his eyes, Naegi thumbed a random letter for each slot. Then, holding his breath, and praying on whatever gods there was, he pulled on the lock.

Click!

Makoto's eye's popped open to see the lock open in his hands, with Roswaal peering over his shoulder in an expression of wonder. "Goodness, that's lucky isn't it? Well go on boy, show me what's inside!" he said eagerly, a laugh on his lips. Makoto, eagerly following his words, opened the box to find...

Something completely disappointing.

A jet black book sat on the velvet interior, small in size. It had fancy designs on it's cover, and had a piece of thread keeping it tied t. In the center surrounded by an oval was Kanji- translated, it read Envy.

"That's it?"

Makoto didn't mean to sound ungrateful- he was expecting maybe a mound of treasure. However, maybe it was just his luck screwing himself over once more. Who knew? However, Roswaal just smiled knowingly at Naegi, and winked. "Don't doubt a treasure by its appearance! It might not have much monetary value, but maybe it has intellectual or historical value. I did say you could keep it for free, right?"

Makoto mulled that over in his head, before sighing, and nodded. Turning, he reached for the book, grazing the cover with his fingers.

"Ugh...this is bad...this is very bad...!"

"Naegi-san? Are you alright?"

"NO! K-Kirigiri-san, don't come in here!"

Makoto bought the book and the collection, pocketing the change, unaware of the cold feeling sweeping around him.

SLASH!

"Ack!" THUMP! A body fell to the floor in front of him, lavender hair becoming stained with pink blood, a gloved hand falling limply next to the book that tumbled from his pocket, the Kanji staring him in the face. He gritted his teeth, before his hand reached out, shaking with agony and strength.

After leaving the manor, Makoto found himself waiting at the bus stop, the bag hanging limply from his arm, the book tucked into his jacket pocket. The air seemed freezing, which was weird, as it had been warm just earlier. As the bus arrived, Makoto stepped onto it, his olive gaze swiveling amongst the passengers. He had no clue the decision he had just made would change the course of his life...forever.

The hand grasped the gloved fingers of the lavender haired girl, and Makoto's face was shown, blood trickling from his mouth, teeth grinding, his hoodie soaked with blood as sweat poured down his face, his body writhing with agony.

"Wait there..I'm going...to...save...you!"