Prologue: The Mad King and the Virus

Hundreds of years before Arceus took up her divine throne in heaven, there was a mad king who destroyed the ancient king, Arcen, father of Arceus. The divine goddess was driven from her home, destitute and desolate, forced to wander the world of mortals for a century. While she wandered, the mad king was searching for her, she devised a plan to become goddess and restore her honor. During the first part of her wandering, within the first year, the divine goddess befriended two children, who took up arms with her. They were weak individually, but together, they were a near unstoppable force.

The two children were born of a mother cursed by the mad king. The child born was to wield the power of reincarnation itself, but with interference by the divine goddess, the child's soul was separated into two, never to let the power surface again. The children born each held half of this deadly power, one with the power to give and restore life and the other with the power to take away life and take away years. Eight years separated them from the divine goddess' age, a number chosen by fate to lead them down that path.

It would not be for another fifteen years that the divine goddess would encounter them again, both having grown in their power, but not to the destructive potential of their birth. The divine goddess would bid them welcome to follow her on her holy pilgrimage to discover a way to restore her divinity. The mad king still held the keys to heaven, her father's soul giving him the divine power to claim it.

The goddess journeyed through the world, growing stronger in her godhood and the children growing stronger with her. The three were a formidable force to be reckoned with. Through their pilgrimage, the divine goddess learned of the Azure Flute, a weapon forged by men that could force open the gates of heaven.

Set upon their journey to obtain such a powerful relic, the divine goddess discovered the ancient city of Canalave, setting sail to an island that was said to hold the All-Mother, the birthmother of all species, the possessor of the Flute.

Upon meeting the All-Mother, the divine goddess of dreams split the island in two, one half devoted to the darkness of nightmares, the other to peaceful dreams. The islands remain this way to this day.

The divine goddess, having been blessed by the All-Mother to possess the Flute, went to the sacred point of Spear Pillar, playing the Blessed Flute. The way to heaven was shaken open, the divine goddess storming the gates with her subordinates, the goddess of life and the goddess of death. She slew the Dark King and sealed his body in a coffin deep beneath Canalave's lake. She assumed the divine throne of heaven, reigning until the present day.

At that time, thousands of years before even Arceus' father's rule, there was a substance that emerged on the planet. It was a substance that birthed all life, placed there by the creator of the universe. From it emerged all life at that time, which were small creatures that could survive with no light.

Thousands of years later, such a cataclysm struck that was a meteorite that collided with the planet, striking in the highest peaks of what is now known as Mount Silver. This meteorite lay waste to the area around it, changing the climate of Mount Silver to be a frozen wasteland, only the strongest of creatures could survive in. It was a force that could be felt the world over. It is said that if caused the creatures to change, all life nearly extinguished.

Creatures where there once was no capability of life began to form, from water, to rocks, to even animals, strange changes began to take shape. The meteorite had changed the very atmosphere, the world itself shaping into something more, something greater. Eventually, these creatures began to take sentience, their rapid change forcing them to understand a higher consciousness.

Beings emerged that could wield the elements in small ways. This also extended to use of the soul to command the heavens themselves. This was known as the First Great Evolution.

Over the millennia, the powers of those spawned by the meteorite dwindled, only a very miniscule fraction possessing the abilities held, and even then they held far less potency.

However, this meteorite held another secret. Within the rocks of the meteorite was a strange substance. If modern terminology were to be applied to it, it would be called a virus. This virus, once it made contact with some of the creatures, bestowed itself upon them. It killed nearly everyone it touched, even if it did not make direct contact.

However, there were those that lived, those that survived the virus. The virus lay dormant for centuries, passed down through the descendants of the survivors.

It is unknown what awakened this virus in creatures, but in the two thousandth year of Arceus' divine reign, it began to wake up in mass. It brought about an even higher consciousness than was brought forth prior, a spiritual awakening into a new sense of abilities.

This brought about a strange divide. The new consciousness allowed those who possessed it to view a whole new world, invisible to those who were unable to see it, to see the manifestations of their inner souls. They could see the monsters in the hearts of men. Only those who could see the monsters could possess one. It was unclear what triggered this sudden awakening, but it was referred to in the circles of those who studied the phenomenon as the Second Great Evolution.

Our story begins after the Second Great Evolution, a story that centers on the destiny Arceus had bestowed upon herself and those that would come after. Though Arceus did not possess a monster in her heart, she was the original force that set this destiny upon herself and those that would follow by banishing the Mad King. This is the story of one such who followed, one who possessed such a monster. This is the Story of the Darkuri Destiny; this is the story of Darkora Dakuri.

So, for those of you who are curious, this is a redux of my older story Darkness and Dreams. I have no motivation to continue that one, but the story was good, just needing improvement. I plan to do that with this version. It'll be a bit different, but I think you'll enjoy it. This prologue here was a small exposition dump for some lore that I will build upon and just so it's not an exposition dump later. I hope you enjoy this story