Once upon a time, a strange creature roamed the galaxies since the creation of the Universe, seeking a home to dwell in. This creature, formless and all darkness, was indistinguishable from the black emptiness of space, so no one, and no observational tools however sophisticated, could see it.
Visiting planet after planet, this creature lamented his discoveries.
« Of all the worlds we've visited so far, none is worthy of us. All are dull, lifeless shells. Will we ever find a home that can bring us joy and serenity, and fill the emptiness in our hearts ? »
And so, for ages this creature wandered in vain through space, a dull anger setting in, for all hope had left him and he brooded longingly over his desire for a promised land.
One day, however, a blue glow in the depths of space caught this creature's eye, and curiosity piqued by this unexpected discovery and desire overcoming gloom led her to travel in the direction of this glow.
Upon arrival, the creature was stunned, never having seen anything like it anywhere else in the Universe. Before her eyes was the most beautiful of all planets, blue, speckled with continents and covered in milky clouds.
« After all this trouble, have we finally reached the end of the journey? We can't wait to discover our home. »
With the impatience and excitement of a child, the creature left the darkness of space for the light of the world illuminated by its star. Deciding to leave its formlessness behind, it chose to incarnate on this earth and take on a name: Im.
And when Im named himself, he decided to name all things on earth and then declared:
« From now on, this planet is ours, along with all living creatures, inert and able to move, whether crawling, swimming, flying or walking, as well as all the materials that make it up, from the depths of the earth to the heavens, and we'll rule it for eternity. »
Thus were Im's words, and for long ages he wandered the world, marvelling at everything he discovered, from landscapes to strange beasts, from the rising and setting of the sun to the sounds of the sea and the wind, and for the first time in his life, Im was happy.
But one day, while observing what he had named as animals, an idea came to Im.
« We're the most powerful being in existence and king of the most beautiful of kingdoms, but we're so alone, and what's the point of commanding the most beautiful things on earth if no one can witness our power ? Shouldn't we also have the right to start a family ? Would Im be deprived of the one thing the animals of this world can boast of and Im doesn't ? »
And so, Im thought for a long time and then came up with an idea.
« Animals reproduce to give offspring in the image of their parents, so Im will create offspring in his own image. »
These were Im's words, and he agreed to lose a large part of his powers by splitting part of his soul into a multitude of fragments, to each of which he gave a carnal envelope similar but not identical to the incarnation he had taken on in this world, and all of which had red eyes with a ring around the pupil and a forked tail. And Im called them "Star People" or "Star Children" in homage to their distant origins. And he spoke to them for the first time :
« This is Im's world, and he tolerates you in it as long as you do not alter the beauty of the landscape, do not threaten the existence of the species that live there, and remain at peace with one another. Those who do not respect these words will be reduced to nothing, for Im is your creator, and your very existence is linked to his power and will. »
Im's children saw their creator as a god, and worshipped him as such. And Im, to teach them to defend themselves and hunt, taught his children haki, for the creatures inhabiting the earth in its early days were massive and ferocious, and tools had not yet been invented.
Once this task was accomplished, Im, exhausted by the act of creation, retired to the depths of the earth to rest, and from his dreams, he could watch with tenderness and curiosity as his people moved through the world.
But if his children had been created in his image, they also inherited the malevolence and anger Im had developed during his long odyssey through space and time, so that all of them, in order not to violate the words of their creator, held back their murderous impulses. What's more, they soon tired of the world as it is, and the restrictions imposed by Im that shackled their desire to create. But soon, the evil and envy that gnawed at them became harder and harder to contain, so they decided to hold counsel.
« My dear fellow, the day is drawing near when we will no longer be able to keep our promise to respect the words of our Creator, whether we want to or not, because evil is eating away at us, and will soon surface. »
« What's more, our creator designed us in his image, but why shouldn't we be able to create something of our own to beautify this wild, untouched world and give free rein to our imagination ? »
« Yes, we must call on the Creator. »
And they all agreed. From his sleep, Im perceived the restlessness of his people and understood their reactions. He himself, out of loneliness and boredom, had decided to create them, and during his adventures on earth, when he was still alone in the world, his instincts led him to torment many animals for no reason at all. Ultimately, he decided to withdraw into his sleep, as much out of exhaustion as out of fear of using his own kind to carry out his acts of cruelty. It was under these circumstances that Im decided to come out of retirement.
When Im reappeared, he created an immense strip of land that rose above the clouds and stretched from north to south, effectively dividing the world in two. In the distant future, this strip of land will be named Red Line because of the massacres that will take place there. Then Im spoke.
« My children, I understand the emotions that are stirring you, which is why, from this day forward, all the lands to the east of the Great Wall I have built will serve as your home, and will no longer be subject to the rules we have decreed, except for one : We maintain the prohibition against harming one another by any means whatsoever, and under no circumstances will you venture into the western half of the world, for Im has made it his garden. »
The children of the stars rejoiced at this news, but one of them, more concerned about the future than the others, spoke up to address Im.
« Lord, you are great and generous, but will that be enough to appease us. »
« No, we know that won't be enough to appease your impulses, because we're victims of them too. That's why we're going to create creatures that you can use as sufferers without having to attack each other, and without threatening the existence of other species on earth. »
At his words, Im gathered his strength and once again lost much of his power in the act of creation, and many species came into being in the eastern half of the world : fish-men, humans, winged humanoids, giants and all manner of other creatures who differed from the animals that had populated the earth until now in their intelligence and awareness of their existences, but who remained inferior in knowledge to the more ancient star people. And Im spoke :
« Behold, all these creatures born of our minds and materialized by our powers, and they are at your disposal. They will serve and obey you, and you can do to them whatever your mind is capable of devising. »
« Lord, you are great and generous, but you, who possess absolute power and who observe us from your dreams, are we not also entitled, as your children, to be able to realize our dreams, even the most fanciful ones ? »
« It's true, and we've created many things now, but here's a gift for you that will satisfy your deepest desires. »
Upon his words, Im poured a drop of his blood at the top of the great wall that separates the world, and from it sprouted a tree that began to grow in leaps and bounds. Its leaves were ivory and its trunk obsidian black. And Im spoke.
« At the foot of this tree, you will build a temple in our honor, where you will honor us for all the benefits we have given you. This tree will feed on dreams, and its fruit will contain their essence, and whoever eats of its fruit will become the holder of the dream it contained, and will be able to realize it. »
And when all his arrangements had been made, Im, exhausted by his achievements, retired to the depths of the earth to rest, and from his sleep, he observed the events unfolding around the world. Im's last words sounded like a deliverance for the star people, who were quick to abandon their chipped masks of pretense and give free rein to all their baser instincts.
Of all the peoples created by Im, none escaped the cruelty and misery inflicted on them by his children. Soon the eastern part of the world became a hell, and the Children of the Stars decided to build their kingdom on the largest island they could find. To do this, they enslaved all the peoples created by Im, using them to clear forests, create crops and livestock and build huge mansions, torture chambers and monuments, each bigger and more magnificently decorated than the last. And of all these magnificent monuments, the greatest and most majestic was the temple dedicated to Im, at the foot of the fruit tree, at the top of the world on the Great Wall.
A subject of horror and fear, rather than hatred and disgust because they were so good at inspiring terror, star children were renamed "devils" by oppressed peoples.
As previously mentioned, the new species created by Im were endowed with a devil-like intelligence, they had the ability to speak and convey emotions in many different ways and in a devil-like manner than was possible for any other animal in existence, and more so than any other species before their birth. Thus, all the negative emotions emanating from these oppressed peoples only exacerbated the devils' excitement at tormenting them, and their imaginations were further stimulated to find new ways of inflicting suffering.
The devils, at the height of their glory, decided to celebrate their god in what would later be known as the night of nightmares. All the devils gathered at Im's temple, and for one whole night there was nothing but a succession of orgies and monstrosities. Over 100 million souls were brought to the top of the Great Wall and sacrificed in a series of twisted games and fantasies. Blood and entrails flowed down the wall, soaking the ground and turning it a scarlet hue that faded with time but never disappeared. Since that night, the Great Wall has been known as the Red Line to the people who witnessed the bloodshed, the horrific screams and the demonic laughter that were carried on the wind from the top of the world.
And from the depths of the earth, Im revelled in the spectacle and the deeds he himself could not perform because of his condition. And so he imagined himself taking the place of his children to make the most of it, but he could never get enough, inflicting misfortune had become an addiction and he always needed more, stronger and more frequently. Where once a few dead animals were enough, now whole towns had to be sacrificed to satisfy him. Im, blinded by his obsession, lost all interest in the rest of the world that had once been his joy, and unconsciously transmitted his insatiable hunger to his children through a spiritual bond that united them, thus plunging the world into a downward spiral.
Living thus in a veritable hell, the oppressed peoples, to preserve their existence and keep alive even the embers of hope for a better future, began to pray to all manner of deities, objects and creatures. But the object of all these prayers, in one way or another, involved the Sun, for darkness had invaded and darkened the world. These prayers, though seemingly insignificant, embodied a dream of freedom, and grew in intensity over time, their essences gradually accumulating within the fruit tree.
One day, a purple fruit was born, similar to a Yubari melon with swirls drawn on it. The devils were surprised at first, as none of them were able to grasp it, burning themselves at every attempt. Thus, the fruit remained untouched and continued to ripen, hanging on the fruit tree for many years to come.
Living in pain and suffering, the races of the world, despite knowing they were powerless against all the powers of the devils, had no intention of letting themselves go. Little by little, after many failures, secret resistance movements began to take shape. Many slaves worked to serve their masters at home, learning by observation the use of a kind of primitive haki, and this knowledge was passed on to the resistance fighters who began to train in its use. Even so, no one was yet contemplating open rebellion, so great was the fear of the devils and their reprisals.
But one fine day, during one of the countless ritual sacrifices taking place at the temple at the top of Red Line, a man, exhausted, about to be put to death and with nothing left to lose, revolted and cried out in despair. Just then, something unexpected happened: the strange fruit that no devil has ever been able to reach slipped from the tree and fell at the feet of this desperate man, who, starving, swallowed it in front of the devils' stunned eyes. Thus was born the Sun god Nika, and the dawn broke over the world. At this news, the greatest revolts in history, which had long been dormant, broke out in the four corners of the populated world. The devils were taken completely by surprise, and with Nika's help, the rebels soon gained the upper hand. Im's temple at the top of Red Line was destroyed, and each defeated devil provided the rebels with a new fruit, for these fruits each contained a fragment of Im's power, and as long as he lives, these fruits will endure.
Finally, after fierce battles, the devils, outnumbered, were annihilated and Nika was raised as a symbol of freedom. The people, now free, entered a golden age of peace and prosperity, and on the remnants of the Devils' civilization, in the heart of the world's largest eastern continent, Nika built its own Kingdom, the most powerful of all to ensure the safety of the other nations yet to be born, and this Kingdom called itself the "Kingdom of the Sun". But in the shadows, Im had watched helplessly as these events unfolded, and began to hatch plans for revenge. To this end, he used much of his power to create a race of deformed demons, devoid of conscience and free will, slaves answerable only to Im's will, and they multiplied in the depths of the earth. Finally, he used all his knowledge and the memories of his people to create the work of a lifetime : a codex he named Dread Tale, and infused it with vast quantities of magic and spells, so that when all the races Im had created and which were destined to serve his children died out, the Star People would rise from the ashes. And for millennia on the surface, life went on in calm and serenity, and soon, the devils were nothing more than distant legends, then forgotten.
But one fine day, Im, who had been preparing his attack for millennia, unleashed it. Addressing his dead children by way of promise, he spoke these words :
« We are Im, ruler of all things on this earth and we will overwhelm the world with lava and destruction, our army will devastate these inferior races, their fields and homes will burn in the fires of our rage. Our power will feed on their misfortunes and grow, until the final victory. »
The sky darkened, and the sea stirred, then volcanoes dormant for ages erupted, the earth collapsed in on itself to be engulfed by the waves. Life died out under the weight of flames, lava and fiery clouds, burying all traces of civilization in the ashes.
Then a gigantic rift formed, splitting the Kingdom of the Sun in two and spouting geysers of lava over 200 metres high. Then swarms of demons and nightmarish creatures emerged. And from the depths of the earth came a roar that echoed across the world, and Im appeared on the surface of the world, at the top of Red Line. He took on the appearance of a gigantic winged dragon with 7 heads and 10 horns, 2 horns for each of the three central heads and one horn placed in the middle of the forehead and pointing forward like a rhinoceros for each of the lateral heads, all of which possessed a unique power and were attached to a body taking the form of an immense black mass where moving faces with twisted expressions could be made out. This body extended to form a long, forked tail, and from the black mass emerged long, sharp spines capable of extending and moving tentacle-like to skewer and poison anyone who got too close. At the center of this black mass was an immense maw with countless fangs as long as pikes, which sucked up and devoured anything unfortunate enough to be within reach like a black hole. It was also endowed with 4 titanic five-fingered paws, whose sharp claws were capable of slicing through diamond as well as a knife through butter, and they were capable of enveloping the tops of the tallest mountains in their palms. Mounting the creature's back was a legless, mummified corpse whose pelvis had merged with the dragon's black mass, and in place of its fingers were long, articulated claws that were totally disproportionate, and its skull elongated into spikes so as to form a sort of macabre crown of bone. Thick smoke billowed from the corpse's half-open mouth, and anyone brave enough to look into its empty eye sockets was plunged into madness, for all they could see was a bottomless pit of darkness and despair.
Thus began the massacre, with every living species hunted to extinction without mercy. Satisfied with his work, Im settled at the top of Red Line, felled the fruit tree so that no one could use his powers again, and opened the Dread Tale, impatiently waiting for his slaves to finish the job and see his people resurrected. On still unsubmerged islets of land, the last survivors tried to escape the carnage. Among them was a shepherd, loved by all who knew him for his kindness and generosity, but like all the others, he had lost everything and was starving. So he prayed to the Sun, as his ancestors had done in the past, and one day, while exploring caves in search of food, he came across a strange fruit which he ate with no ulterior motive whatsoever. This is how Nika reappeared in the world again, and everyone lined up at his side, while Im's slaves could do nothing to stop him.
Nika, accompanied by all his friends and supported by the union of all peoples, took the war to Im directly in his lair at the top of the Red Line, and the battle was titanic. Many were lost in the confrontation, the Dread Tale was lost, and Nika sacrificed his life to banish Im from the face of the earth. The demons, in the absence of their master, could not maintain their presence for long, and eventually dissipated. Tears of joy and sorrow were shed, for Im had been defeated, but Nika was no more. The world had been ravaged to the point where it consisted almost entirely of seas and oceans, and to avert another tragedy, the people from whom Nika had descended, the Lunarians, decided to settle at the top of Red Line and watch over the world from the heights. The Sacred Kingdom was founded on a piece of land in the former Sun Kingdom, and welcomed all surviving races to build a new civilization.
The confrontation with Im was so terrible that the Red Line split down the middle, revealing gaps that made navigation to the western part of the world possible, albeit extremely perilous. A new golden age began, driven by a thirst for adventure and discovery, and many adventurers set out to explore and colonize the new world. Trade flourished, and cultural and scientific progress reached such heights that travel to the Moon became possible, and winged men decided to colonize it. The Sacred Kingdom, the cradle of civilization in this new age, became the guarantor of world peace, and was respected and honored for its power and glory by all the other kingdoms, which were merely former colonies of the Sacred Kingdom. And the world knew only joy and serenity for the millennia that followed.
« Wow, that's a terrifying story. »
« Yes, I was scared, but fortunately it had a happy ending. »
In front of him was a group of kids scattered around a campfire. The sun was beginning to set, and the cloudless sky took on an orange hue, the stars were visible and an early evening chill began to settle in. And Joy Boy smiled at their reactions before speaking again.
« Come on, kids, it's just a story to scare the little ones. »
Most of the kids sulked at this, and Joy Boy laughed.
« Stop it, it's not funny, you could tell us stories that make us laugh as usual. »
Joy Boy sighed with a smile and said :
« Yes, but today is a special day, the founding day of our beautiful nation, and it's the duty of all its inhabitants to remember these stories so that never again will we let our guard down in the face of such threats, whatever their origins. »
« But how boring. »
And Joy Boy stood up.
« You're right, kids, it's a bore, now let's get on with the festivities ! »
« Yaaay ! »
Then the music resounded through the woods and rolling fields of the Sacred Kingdom and all the inhabitants danced and feasted, celebrating the birth of their nation, just like Joy Boy and the children who danced around the fire in joy.
But somewhere in the world, around a round table, an evil was brewing that many thought had long been forgotten.
« Dearly beloved, we declare the opening of the first reverie. On the agenda is the fate of the Sacred Kingdom. For far too long now, our sovereignty has been stolen from us by this Kingdom which, under the pretext of maintaining peace, oppresses nations wishing to develop, using threats and sanctions as weapons against us, all because it has no desire to lose its place as superpower and policeman of the world. The time has come to free ourselves from its shackles - TO WAR ! »
« TO WAR ! TO WAR ! TO WAR ! »
Im's words embraced the assembly of 20 monarchs who had rallied to his cause, all chanting their desire to fight. After a long sleep, Im returned to the surface, but this time by the back door. By means of lies, manipulation and corruption, Im managed to rise to the head of one of the world's kingdoms, rallying various monarchs to his cause by exploiting their weaknesses and desires to his advantage. In the past, Im would never have stooped to the level of the creatures he despised, nor to waste so much time on all these shenanigans. But he had no choice, for Im had lost most of his power in his past creations and rampages. He was now a shadow of his former self, no longer able to observe the world through his dreams. He had to be on the spot now, and he lacked the raw power to accomplish his goals.
Thus began a war that lasted a hundred years, and would later be called the Forgotten Century, because Im wanted more than anything to erase all traces of the Sacred Kingdom and its achievements, as well as the existence of Nika, its worst adversary. During this war, the arsenal of formidable technology developed by the Sacred Kingdom enabled it to hold out for a while, but above all to conceal its location from the armies of the World Government. During this period, Joy Boy discovered Im's intentions and set out to get ahead of him, which he did by rediscovering the existence of the Dread Tale without Im's knowledge. So when Joy Boy got his hands on the codex, he promptly desecrated it, renamed it Laugh Tale and hid it on an island on the other side of the world, so that Im could never find it. The treasure Joy Boy hid would later take the name One Piece, and Im never knew of his deeds. At some point during the war, when Joy Boy was searching for the Dread Tale, Im managed to lure and trap Joy Boy's friend Zunesh, and tortured him to reveal the location of the Sacred Kingdom. Zunesh endured for several years in the hope that Nika would rescue him, but to no avail. Finally, exhausted and mentally broken, Zunesh agreed to lead the armies of the World Government.
Returning from his quest and noticing Zunesh's absence, Joy Boy sensed that the end was near and commissioned the Kozuki clan, one of his last allies, to make poneglyphs recounting the history of this century, the location of the island where the Laugh Tale was to be found, and the location of the ancient weapons. One foggy morning, Zunesh reappeared on the horizon, much to the delight of the locals, only to discover moments later the state of Joy Boy's friend. He was famished and covered in scars, his eyes were empty and lifeless, and once within earshot he uttered this sentence :
« I'm sorry, my friend. »
Once he'd spoken, Joy Boy knew he'd been betrayed, and out of the mist emerged an innumerable fleet of galleys and galleasses armed to the teeth, as well as numerous transport ships carrying large numbers of well-equipped assault troops, their sails and flags displaying the World Government crest. The fleet of the Sacred Kingdom hastily raised its moorings and prepared for what was to be the greatest naval battle in history.
During the confrontation, a high-ranking officer of the Sacred Kingdom's army was captured and revealed the existence of the poneglyphs and their contents. With this information in hand, Im rushed his plans and decided to get involved himself to finish the job. From the deck of a ship, he metamorphosed into black smoke, flew into the skies and a deathly silence fell over the battlefield, the sea was calm and all waited in expectation for what was to happen, while the sky began to darken.
Then fire fell from the sky and consumed the earth and the forests. And the waves engulfed the harbors and coasts. And the ground shook and broke, carrying whole cities into the depths of the earth. Thunder rumbled, and lightning struck everything that still stood. And in the areas that remained unscathed, pentacles appeared, as the survivors watched in horror as abominations materialized and descended upon them, slaughtering them to the last man. Adding to the confusion and surrealism of this event were the dark clouds of evil energy that swirled over this hellish place, and soon two slits, like catwalks, opened up in two different places. A pair of huge red eyes with a ring around the pupil watched the spectacle, followed by the creepiest sound in history, as Im laughed.
And from the surface, Joy Boy watched in horror as his world came to an end, and he cursed Im, provoking him to come and confront him if he had the courage, and Im came. The red eyes fixed on a black mass detached themselves from the sky and patched up as Im approached the ground to materialize. So Im and Nika faced each other once more, but this time the Sun God was alone.
And when the breath of battle died down, Im stood facing the corpse of Joy Boy, holding his giant straw hat in his hand as a trophy. Moving to the top of Red Line, Im watched as the remains of the Sacred Kingdom were swallowed up by the waves. Sadly, at the end of the battle, Im found to his frustration that the poneglyphs had already been scattered across the world. Because the men he had sent to excavate the ruins of the Sacred Kingdom found no trace of them, the victory was not complete.
Exhausted and wounded, Im was unable to continue his assault, and knowing he was vulnerable, he preferred to remain at the top of Red Line, away from the world, biding his time. To keep an eye on world politics, Im also encouraged the 20 monarchs to establish the headquarters of the World Government and live there, thus abandoning their royal functions. However, unbeknownst to the 20 monarchs, Im, with the help of his most loyal accomplices, secretly seized power and influenced his allies to place his pawns in decision-making positions. Over time, Im's malevolent presence eventually corrupted the descendants of the 20 monarchs who had become Celestial Dragons, turning them into pale copies of the devils of old. Im knew that his existence would inevitably corrupt his environment, and he had also learned from past experience that feeding on the souls of malevolent creatures enabled him to accelerate his regeneration process somewhat, so the Celestial Dragons were kept only to serve as livestock.
And so Im ruled in the shadows for centuries, relentlessly searching for the poneglyphs to regenerate so that he could once again reveal his existence to the world. Having lost his people, surrounded by those he hated and despised, and watching helplessly as civilization wiped out the remnants of the pristine wilderness he had once so loved, Im only grew more enraged. He was now nothing but a furnace of hatred and fury, waiting for his time to come to unleash himself once more and finish the job he'd started. But Im had time, and that was his greatest strength, because sooner or later, darkness would invade the world once again.
End.