Prologue-
At the twilight of the mythological era, Zeus, the ruler of Olympus, suddenly vanished without a trace.
As they were left leaderless, it didn't take long for the remaining gods of Olympus to start pursuing ambitions that they had long been forced to hold back due to the firm grip of their now missing lord.
It was then that Hades, Emperor of the Underworld and brother to Zeus, took advantage of the power vacuum and raised an army with the intent of taking over the earth.
In response, Athena, daughter of Zeus, defiantly opposed him. And so began the first of the so-called Holy Wars, great battles in the shadows between gods that would pit their most devoted human followers against each other, battles that would never make the annals of history.
In the end, Athena and her followers were victorious in that first conflict, however, all she had accomplished was to momentarily stem the tide of darkness.
As an immortal god, Hades wouldn't accept defeat, and so, every couple hundred of years, after rebuilding their power, the forces of the underworld would rise again to challenge Athena and her warriors, initiating a never ending cycle of bloodshed that seemingly could not be broken…
-x-
Chapter 1 - The Promise
18th Century - Italy
Early in the afternoon, a somewhat androgynous teenage boy walked the streets of a small Italian castle town, in his hands there was a blank canvas and a bag filled with painting supplies. As he made his way through the streets, he suddenly heard the whining of a dog, and after rushing in the direction of the noise, he was met with the sight of two rich looking boys, one large and the other skinny, throwing pebbles at a seemingly stray puppy.
"That's what you get for eating our lunch!"
They kept at it, mercilessly attacking the poor creature.
"This time I'm gonna get his head!"
As the bigger one of the rich kids got ready to execute the little whining puppy, the young painter rushed in and shielded the animal with his body, catching the pebble right in the middle of his own forehead.
"Stop that!" The painter demanded as he held the injured dog in his arms, a defiant look on his face.
"What the hell's your problem?" Asked the skinny urchin. "Don't go sticking your girly ass nose in other people's business!"
"I know who this kid is!" The bigger one answered. "That's Alone, he's an orphan who lives in the outskirts of the town, that one weirdo that's learning how to paint with the priests".
Alone didn't say anything, seemingly not agitated at the other kids' comments.
"Anyway, just get out of here already if you don't wanna get hurt. We still have business with that mutt." The big, strong looking one of the rich kids then forcibly took the puppy from the painter's arms, who couldn't exactly stop him with his weaker frame.
"You said that it ate your lunch, right?" The painter asked, thinking on his feet how he could save the poor creature. He then took a small bottle from his bag. "Let me keep the puppy, and in exchange I'll give you this red paint."
"What?"
"I bought it myself in the city yesterday, if you sell it I'm sure you can buy yourselves some bread."
The rich kids smirked. "Alright, trading this mutt for a loaf of bread right now sounds like a pretty good deal!" They answered in a mean spirited tone, throwing the small canine back to the painter.
As the two rich boys turned around making their way out, the puppy started affectionately licking the painter's face. Alone smiled, thankful that everything had turned out well in the end.
That is, until another kid came rushing in like a bullet, and quickly knocked out the bigger one of the rich kids with a big punch to the chin.
"Tenma!" Alone yelled, alarmed.
"Alone, are you stupid!?" The new kid was pissed off, grabbing the bottle of paint that the painter had given up for the dog. "Do you remember how many days you had to work hard just to buy that paint!?"
As Tenma scolded the young painter, his brownish eyes burning with passion. Out of his sight, the skinny rich kid grabbed a stick and rushed in from behind to get revenge for his friend.
"You asshole!"
Alas it didn't go well, as Tenma simply turned around and gave him a kick in the nads, ending his aggression in an instant and making him fall to the ground on his knees.
"How could you, Tenma!?" Alone yelled, clearly disapproving of the brawler's actions. "You know I don't like violence!"
"I just wanted to help you." The rugged kid with brownish eyes answered, crossing his arms as he took Alone's scolding like he'd been through that a thousand times before. "You're too soft, you can't let those people push you around so much." He then gave Alone his paint back. "And besides, how could I ever face your sister if I saw you get bullied and didn't do anything?"
Alone's demeanor quickly changed with the mention of his sister, looking at the small handmade flower bangle he wore in his arm. He, Tenma and she were all very close friends who grew up in the same orphanage. Their friendship was very unusual considering how polar opposites their personalities were. Tenma was brash and hot headed, Alone was calm, meek, kind hearted and hated violence. But still, their friendship still blossomed, mostly due to the mediating of Alone's older sister, a girl called Sasha.
But as inseparable as they were, one day Sasha would get adopted, leaving Tenma and Alone only with two handmade bangles made out of small flowers to remember her by. It had been months at that point, and mysteriously the flowers in the bangles all still looked like they were in full bloom.
"You were going to Father Gabrielle's atelier for your painting classes, right?" Tenma brought Alone back from his daydreaming with that sudden change of subject.
"That's right." Alone confirmed, putting the paint bottle back in his bag. "I'm probably late already because of this whole situation so I gotta get going." He then picked up the blank canvas and smiled. "Thanks for the help, Tenma!"
The more rough looking kid gave his friend alone a thumbs up before watching make his way to the atelier, the little puppy following behind wagging his tail, happy to know that he was keeping the promise he made Sasha.
…
Each stroke that Alone made on the canvas brought him happiness. Painting, to him, was more than a craft, it was his life. His dream was to one day become a famous painter and live off his art, even using the money he'd make to give the other kids in his orphanage a better life.
And so, he kept working on his current piece: a depiction of an archangel who's wings enveloped a mountain above the clouds. The piece had been commissioned by the local nobility, who caught wind of the boy's talents through his teacher, a priest named Father Gabrielle, who had acknowledged Alone's potential as an artist very early and so decided to give the boy formal painting classes every week in his atelier.
As Alone kept painting, a bespectacled blonde man walked into the room, observing the teenager do his work.
"Your fame precedes you, young man." The stranger said. "Your talent is truly magnificent."
Alone turned around, being way too focused on his art to notice that this man had entered the room. "Excuse me sir, I don't think we've met before."
Father Gabrielle smiled as he too noticed the new arrival. "This man is the priest who looks after the cathedral in the forest." The old teacher seemed to have a ton of respect for the stranger judging by his tone of voice. "He was very intrigued when I told him about your paintings, so he came here to admire your work."
"The cathedral in the forest?" Alone asked, raising an eyebrow at that. He'd been to that place multiple times, and yet he'd never seen that man before. On top of everything, he felt a bit uneasy in his presence for some reason that he couldn't really explain.
"I've heard you visit the cathedral quite often, isn't that right?"
"Y… yes sir!"Alone answered, a bit thrown off by how it almost looked like that man knew what he was thinking.
"Could it be that it's that famous painting held inside our cathedral that attracts you so much?"
The talk of art made Alone quickly move on from his uneasiness. "Yes, although they won't let me see it because it's displayed in an area that's not open to the public." Alone spoke, his words all full of passion.
"People told me that it's a depiction of God so beautiful that a single look upon it will make a sinner shed the most sincere tears of regret." He continued. "I do wish that one day I'll be allowed to see it, everything about it just fascinates me."
"Make sinners shed tears, huh?" The bespectacled priest crossed his arms with a smirk, turning his gaze to Alone's painting of his archangel and switching subjects. "So, why haven't you painted the eyes of that angel, Alone?"
Alone looked a bit embarrassed at that question. "Well… it's because I can't seem to find the color I want." He blushed slightly. "I want it to be a shade of red that perfectly replicates the twilight sun. I tried multiple tones of red but it's been pretty difficult."
"There's a limit to the colors that can be replicated by men." Said the bespectacled priest, immediately capturing the young painter's attention. "The colors that painters use are nothing but illusions created by light, in other words, they're false colors."
Alone was very intrigued. "There are false and real colors?"
"Exactly, what kind of piece would be able to truly arouse a person's emotions using only false colors?" He turned his back on Alone. "If you truly seek to find the real colors, go up the hills north of the town. There you'll find fruit and flowers that are said to have grown from the blood that flowed from the ripped wings of an angel who once walked among men. It's said that their color is the one that most closely resembles the true red." He continued. "I'd love to keep discussing art with you, but sadly I have other duties to attend to. It was nice to meet you, Alone."
The bespectacled priest then shook hands with father Gabrielle and left the atelier, leaving the young painter with much to think.
…
Later that day, after he finished his work, Alone made his way to the hills north of the town. He did think that the words of the priest might've been a bit of an exaggeration, but being the passionate artist that he was, Alone couldn't help it but to go see for himself if that real red truly existed there. Of course, his new canine friend followed him all the way there.
As he reached the top of the hills, he was met with a breathtaking sight. It was a big flower field, a place where multiple different animals had made their home. From deer, to rabbits and squirrels.
There were also some ruins from the old Roman empire, which made that place even more picturesque. Struck with inspiration, Alone quickly forgot about the red flowers and sat down on the remnants of a column, picking up a blank canvas and his other painting supplies so that he could attempt to capture the beauty of that place.
"What a magnificent place." Alone commented to the pup. "It reminds me a bit of the description of paradise in greek mythology, a place in the underworld where only those who were allowed by the gods can enter." He readied his brushes and his tripod to start painting, full of excitement. "Elysium."
Alone looked at his new friend, the puppy who sat excitedly wagging his tail like usual. "Despite the things that the priest said, I still really like the colors that light makes us see." Said him, as he prepared the base of the canvas. "Red has a great variety of tones, some stronger, some softer. Isn't it nice seeing that colors take different shades with the refraction of light? Sorta like human hearts." A bird then landed on the painter's shoulder, making him chuckle.
"I really do love this world, because in it every single color is unique. And among them all, do you know which one is the color I like the most?"
Before he could finished though, the painter noticed that there was something not quite right in that area. Suddenly, the animals started to get agitated, some of them even fleeing without a clear reason to. "What's happening?"
Suddenly, he heard a sweet female voice coming from behind him.
"If you wish, you can have every single color that exists in this world."
Alone turned around, being met with the unexpected sight of a pale lady with long pitch black hair. She was dressed in a black dress reminiscent of those that widows use when grieving the death of their husbands, however, there wasn't a single hint of sadness in that woman's face, instead, it was pure malice.
"When every existing color mixes, the result is always black." She made a soft grin. "My name is Pandora."
The puppy then suddenly started barking and growling at her. Not too happy with that display, Pandora merely waved her hand, suddenly making the small animal fall to the ground, cold and lifeless.
Seeing that Alone's heart sank, he ran to the little puppy and once again took it in his arms. He really was dead, there was no heartbeat. Tears started flowing out of his eyes, the sudden death of such an innocent little creature having brought him immense sadness and pain. "Why?" He asked the woman. Was she some kind of witch?
The lady simply walked up to him, kneeling before him with an aura that was in equal parts motherly and sinister. Her long flowing dark hair involving his figure like dark tendrils. "There's no malice on your heart." Pandora then took out a knife, and Alone thought he was about to get murdered.
However, all she did was make a small cut on his index finger, making his blood spurt out.
"I've been looking for you for a long time." Pandora continued as the sky started to darken with clouds. "You... are our lord."
Alone backed away, getting very freaked out at that entire situation. "What are you talking about!?" He thought of fleeing, but for some reason his legs wouldn't move past a certain point, was it fear? Or something else?
"For our god to walk the earth once again, the body of a human is needed." Said Pandora.
"The body of the person whose soul is the purest among humans." The lady in black once again approached the painter, placing upon his neck a star shaped pendant with the words "yours ever" carved in it. Alone was now completely paralyzed, feeling as if he was being given sleep medicine, as if his consciousness was slowly slipping away. Pandora then knelt before him and bowed her head.
"We've been waiting for you, Lord Hades, Emperor of the Underworld."
…
At a balcony at the cathedral in the forest, a certain bespectacled priest was sipping some tea as he suddenly noticed the clouds gathering atop the hills next to the town. He had a satisfied grin in his face, seemingly quite happy with something.
"Alas the box has finally opened. It won't be much longer until the next act begins."
