Kid was sat in his Father's secret vault for hours on end now. He had been meticulously searching through his father's old journals and papers for any mention of Vishiva. He had first spotted the name hours ago at a glance. It piqued his interest as he remembered that his new archenemy Avatar Deva was supposedly the reincarnation of this forgotten god. He had gone through multiple journals as this point but so far he had not found much. He had worked out that Vishiva first of all was female, and secondly was a companion to his father. But so far he had been unsuccessful in learning much more than that. Every time Father seemed to mention her in his writings it was always a brief recollection. His words held an undercurrent of sadness like one would talk about their long lost friend. But details about who she was, what she had done, and what happened to her were suprisingly sparse. It was beginning to tire him.
Kid sighed as he set down yet another stack of papers. He rubbed at his eyes and temples in consternation. Perhaps he should give up this search. It seemed to be proving fruitless after all. Besides he had more pressing and serious matters to attend to. With only one other medallion to be found, Pantheon was quickly growing more and more dangerous. If his suspicions about the Soul Forge were correct than he would need to hope that he could safe guard it from Pantheon's grasp. Kid inhaled deeply again trying to calm his nerves. However he failed to account for the centuries worth of dust that had accumulated on the books and papers laid before him. He coughed loudly as he inhaled a veritable cloud of dust. Screwing his eyes shut and his chest spasming uncomforatably he pushed his research materials away from him in an effort to escape the haze.
When the dust cloud finally settled and he could breathe clearly once again Kid opened his eyes. The study table was now haphazardly spread across the floor where once it was neatly organized upon the table. Kid groaned, he did not need to spend ten more minutes organizing the papers but he had no choice. He bent down and began collecting the papers and scrolls from the floor. It was when he bent down that he spied a peculiar sight. A partially open cupboard revealed a book hidden in it's confines. Kid pulled open the drawer with some difficulty noting how the warped wood scraped against itself in protest of the action. Once fully open he found a very old book bound in faded black leather. He picked it up and noted his father's insignia on the cover. The book was clearly meant to be hidden and much older than any of the other sources he had looked at so far. His curiousity piqued Kid opened the book and was surprised to see it's text written in a dead and ancient language. It took a few minutes for his brain to decipher the words but once he did he sat back at his study desk to read through it. The book appeared to be a journal of his father's much like many of the other books in the collection. However this journal was the oldest he had encountered so far. He skimmed through it and was quickly rewarded by his father's thoughts inside.
I suppose it is high time that I make a record of my dear friend Vishiva. It has been centuries since her passing and even longer still since we both appeared on this world. Yet despite all of the time that has passed, her absence still aches me and leaves a hole in my essence. I still find myself thinking of her, missing her. Others may find it ironic for a god of death to mourn over another but I have always felt the losses around my charges. Vishiva's loss was more personal and thus I have carried it with me far longer than any other. But after so many years and so much time I finally feel ready to commit her story to words.
It seems only right to start at the very beginning. Our story started millenia ago with just the two of us, although she came before me of course. Vishiva and Shinigami; Life and Death; Beginning and Ending. That was our relationship and that was who we defined ourselves as. Although we were very close we never really thought about what we were to each other. I certainly never thought of her as a lover or romantic interest. She was closer to a sister if I had to explain it in human terms. But regardless of what our relationship could be called, the simple fact of the matter is that we couldn't exist without one another. She created living beings, imbued them with their souls, while I collected them after their time had come and oversaw the balance of the ecosystem.
You must understand, times were very different in the early days. Vishiva was bright, and joyous, and full of love. She created recklessly and without care, forming new life in ways that still boggle my mind. From every plant that grew in the soil, to every miniscule insect that flew through the sky and everything else in between. She was like an artist and the blank world was her canvas. However her creations naturally came into conflict with each other. Such is the nature of existence. A finite world cannot support infinite growth. So I was there to trim the hedges so to speak. I reined in her creations, ensuring that a balance existed between them all so that all of her creations could exist for whatever brief time there was. I tried to get Vishiva to understand that she couldn't continue to just make whatever her heart desired and that not all of them could exist peacefully and happily forever.
I think she tried to take my words to heart, however she misinterpreted them somewhere along the way. She tried to create something that would be everlasting, a race that could watch over the world in our stead. It was to be her perfect creation. She worked for months on end carefully crafting them and making them just so. That was how the Dragons came to be. They were the first race that was gifted with intelligence. She made them nearly immortal and gifted them the ability to breathe fire and soar through the air. Eventually she gave them the ability to change their shape at will. She let them loose upon the earth to act as guardians and safeguard the world.
However I think she grew dissatisfied with them. She had spent so much time and effort to make them the perfect beings. But the problem with perfection is that it is stagnant, there is no room for improvement or growth. And these were qualities that were central to Vishiva. So although I had congratulated her on her creations she still felt it was not enough. She had told me that she wanted a creation that would grow on it's own. She worked tirelessly towards that end. The fool that I was, I simply let her tinker.
She tried again. This time she took pre-existing souls of animals and imbued them with magic. She called her new creation 'Witches'. Had I foreseen the trouble and mayhem that witches brought to the world I would have convinced her not to make them. However, at the time I was still just as new as she was, and the future was not something I thought much of. I had noticed though that the earliest witches certainly did possess the sway of magic, the inexorable pull towards chaos and change that Vishiva was partly embodied by. This was another improvement upon her creations, rather than letting them safeguard a world that would never change she created agents of intelligent change that would shape the world and the future for themselves.
Yet according to her, they still were a failure. Their magic was certainly powerful but it was also destructive, and each generation of new witches only became stronger and brought more harm to the world than the last. Thinking back on it, I suppose this was the first instance that I came in conflict with the Witches. After all, the ending of things was my charge and purpose. The Witches often ended things indiscriminately, with no regard to the balance of the world. Yet I did not begrudge my sister for her creations, they had no control of their abilities and back in those days I still used my madness of Order to control them and keep the balance. But whenever I spoke with Vishiva on the subject she held no quarrel with them either. Still though, it seemed she was searching for something, still trying to create a life form that was perfect for her needs. Still young and foolish as I was, I could not help her in this endeavor, could not guide her.
It was after much deliberation that she presented me with a new form of life. A new creation that she would eventually call her greatest. She called them Humans, and they were what she was most proud of. I can still recall her smile as she looked upon them. They had no great abilities like the Dragons or the Witches, but their souls were strong and they were intelligent. They would inherit this world of hers. For a time, it seemed like she was correct. The humans spread quickly, and developed even quicker. Their societies flourished and grew fast. She taught them as well as she could, about their souls, about the harmony of living beings. She doted on them like a parent would a child. But even she could not contain their growth for long. Soon they came into conflict not only with the Dragons and the Witches but with each other as well. They were spurred on by Fear, by Pain and Rage and the hunger for Power, all of them strong emotions which became sources of Madness in their own rights. I tried to reason with Vishiva, to tell her that with our powers of Order we could solve the crises, force them into submission. But she refused, said that their right to their Free Will was the greatest parts of her creations and that she would not dare take away something so important from them. At the time, such a notion was incomprehensible to me. We were after all Gods, that controlled the fundamental powers of the world. But I honored her wishes nonetheless.
Over time, I noticed that Vishiva was beginning to change. Her appearance gradually became more human as she interacted with them more frequently. She grew more compassionate and preached for peace and harmony with the natural world. Whereas when she was younger, such thoughts would not have crossed her mind. I did not understand the gravity of the changes. I only considered them a natural development, after all she was a god of life, change and growth were in her nature. It was only when she came to me one day with a request that I realized how far things had gotten.
She came to me one day and told me that she was planning to give up her form and be reincarnated as a human. I was shocked and enraged and furious and fearful all at the same time. But above all else, I was simply confused. I could not comprehend why she would want to give up her current existence to reincarnate as something so much lower than herself. Her only response was to smile at me sadly, as though she knew some secret that I did not. She told me that she hoped I would one day understand. She said that there was a particular group of humans she was very fond of and that she wanted to guide and keep safe. She asked me to look after the rest of her creations in her stead, to try and keep them from hurting each other. And more importantly she wanted them to experience harmony with the world around them. Above all, she expressed to me that I must never take away their free will, that I could only guide them and never control them. It was the final promise she made me make to her. She was my beloved sister, of course I couldn't say no.
I followed her wishes, she would be reincarnated as a human, her powerful Soul still made her stronger than the others but in every other way she would be a human. I tried my best to follow her other wishes and guide the rest as best as possible. It took many years to realize what Vishiva had come to learn long ago. That with free will came the capacity for both great good and great evil. The humans were the ones most receptive to my teachings and the ones for whom I could see that potential most easily. I find that I still struggle with the witches, their natural predisposition for chaos and destruction goes against some of my very nature, but I am trying, for Vishiva's sake if nothing else. I lost track of Vishiva's Soul long ago. She wished to be a human, and I did not wish to deprive her of those experiences. Her soul will continue to reincarnate with her chosen people until such time as she chooses differently.
As for myself, it has been a long time with very few I could call equals. And with the growth and change of all the three great races it becomes harder every day to help them to coexist. I fear for the world that we created together, I fear what the witches might do. I think I must gather individuals around myself that I can rely on, other ones of great power and skill. But first I think I need to get rid of this persistent fear that plagues me, it is a source of weakness. The only question is how?
Deva's eyes widened as he finished sifting through Kid's recollection. He could feel the exact same emotions in himself that he was picking up from Kid's mind as well. Deva gazed into Kid's eyes, searching for deception or trickery. But he found nothing but Kid returning his stare with a firm yet understanding glare of his own. As Deva collected himself from the bombshell of information he just received he floated slowly to the ground where Kid followed him. He looked down to his hands as though they were foreign. But what shocked him the most was a strange humming feeling coming from deep in his very soul. It purred and filled him with a lightness and emotion that was strange and alien. His mind became flooded with images and memories that were not his own. He soon realized that he must be seeing the memories of his past lives. Far back into the past he saw himself as both men and women. Somewhere along the way he had forgotten the kindness and compassion he once held. Or should it be she? It felt like an ancient part of him was waking from a deep slumber. He felt divided in two yet like both halves were him at the same time.
He didn't realize he was hyperventilating until he felt Kid's hand upon his shoulder. He looked up into Kid's eyes again as he stared at him with sympathy. He felt his soul pulse as he looked at Kid's own soul. It was like part of him was reaching out for a long lost brother. Deva put a hand to his chest, his palm inadvertently touching the medallion of Order hanging from his neck. Like so many things it felt foreign to him now. Like wearing a piece of clothing that was made for someone else. He looked back at Kid and let out a bitter laugh. Although all these new feelings and memories were surfacing he still felt like himself. He was still in control of his actions and his thoughts. He let out a wan smile at Kid, who returned the gesture.
"It's all true, isn't it?" Deva asked.
"Yes, every word of it." Kid replied. Beside him Patty and Liz transformed back into humans and watched the duo carefully. Deva didn't need to read their minds to see they didn't trust him. But it didn't matter. He could sense that Kid did trust him. And that was more than enough.
Deva looked down at the medallion and back to the group in front of him. Patty and Liz still watched him warily but Kid only looked at him patiently. Deva touched the medallion again, running his fingers over its carved surface. He lifted the emblem from off his neck and held it in his palm. He extended it out to Kid in a gesture of good faith. Patty and Liz both looked shocked at the action. But Kid took the medallion gratefully and smiled back at Deva. The god-king had the sense to look somewhat sheepish. He cleared his throat before speaking.
"Well… this certainly changes things a bit." He said. Kid laughed at the sentiment but Liz glared at Deva while Patty looked confused.
"So what now? I know a simple apology will not fix things." Deva continued unperturbed.
"No, but it's a start." Kid replied simply