After Light returned home he found his place to be barren of life.
His parents were gone, and the few left had hours to live, such was the cruelty of the disease...
They kept telling him that it would be over soon, but he never believed them, the disease was relentless and cruel, killing everyone in the family except for Light.
Soon, he realized it was pointless to resist, so he went inside and lay down. He closed his eyes, waiting for death to arrive.
Death never came.
"Come on , you're not gonna die from that, you're not even sick" Mephiles sarcastically observed.
"Stop lying to me" Light rebuked.
"I'm not, but your father and mother are already dead."
"That's impossible, I saw them both just last night!"
"Your parents are already dead , and you have to leave the house because it's infected, the only thing left for you to do is find the spring god and betray him" Mephiles advised.
"Wait, what?"
"Don't worry, you'll survive"
"But how do I get there? This village is surrounded by mountains and the weather is getting worse, I don't think I could survive much longer."
"You'll get there, don't worry" Mephiles reassured him.
"So, what's the plan?"
"First, you need to get rid of all those damned trees, they are blocking the road and slowing us down."
"Got it" Light replied.
He grabbed an ax and started chopping away at the trees.
"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Mephiles asked.
"To the spring god, you said you would help me"
"No i mean, why are you using an axe when you have such a powerful spear on your possession to cut those trees ?"
"Oh ! you are right"
"Now, let's go" Mephiles suggested.
"Okay" Light agreed.
Darkness is a city built inside a giant tree which is protected by a dome of darkness, making it impossible to enter without breaking through the dome.
the spear announced.
The spear had the ability to speak, something that puzzled Light since he didn't understand what it was saying.
"There is no meaning in asking questions that won't lead anywhere" Mephiles explained. "It's just meant to keep you alert"
"Is it some kind of animal?"
"Only if you think of it as a beast that can talk" Mephiles answered.
"What about the spear ? Can it talk too?"
"Yes," Mephiles confirmed.
"Can it tell me what it is saying?"
"I smell magic"
As Light walked further into the forest he noticed a light ahead of him. The closer he got, the stronger this light became and it was getting brighter and brighter until it became blinding.
When he finally reached the source of the light, he found himself in front of a small building made out of wood. It was a shack, not unlike the one he was living in, but it seemed to have been built a lot better than his.
There were many windows facing him and a door on the side, he could hear the sound of water coming from somewhere inside.
"Who's there?" He shouted.
"Welcome to my home" came the reply.
A woman appeared from behind the door, she looked to be in her late twenties, she wore a black dress and had blond hair.
"I am the spring god, and this is my shrine" She introduced herself.
"My name is Light, I come from the village of Argo, which is now overrun by monsters and plagued by strange weather patterns" Light explained.
"I know , i send my beast there and a wind of pestilence" the spring god told him. "you must be the human that wanted to make a deal with me, did you bring what i asked"
"Yes, your request was fulfilled" Light replied.
"Good, then leave, i have other things to take care of" the goddess told him, and disappeared back inside the house.
Mephiles said.
"Yeah, but what does she need from me in exchange of all those blessings"
"You should ask her yourself"
"Why don't you do that, you are the one that knows how to talk to her, right? you're a god too"
"If she comes to realise that i am in your shadow, you are a dead man."
"I can defend myself" Light protested.
"And what makes you think she won't kill you?" Mephiles pointed out.
"She will give me the blessing of the spring god and everything will be fine. I just have to kill her after that"
"Ok, let's go" Mephiles said. "but make sure that you kill her before she kills you"
Light took a deep breath and entered the shack. Inside there was a table with chairs, a small kitchen and a bed, but no spring god.
"Where is she?" Light asked, feeling uneasy.
"She is taking a bath" came the answer.
"But-"
"Trust me"
He followed the voice to the bathroom and found the goddess of spring sitting on the edge of a tub filled with hot water. Her breasts and legs were exposed, and her hair was wet and hanging down her shoulders.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"I am here to fulfill the bargain you made with me" Light told her.
"Bargain?" The goddess asked.
"Yes, you told me that if I defeated the old man, you would grant me the blessing of the spring god and give me all the powers and gifts you have"
The goddess raised an eyebrow. "so, you killed him?"
"Yes"
"I don't remember making a deal with you, I thought that was done when I granted you the blessing of the pure body which made you immune to my disease"
"No, you only gave me that power, i had to fight the old man to prove that i was worthy of having your blessing"
"So, you killed him?"
"Yes"
"Then you should know, i don't grant anyone the blessing of the spring god"
"It seems that you forgot about the promise you made to me, that's why i am going to kill you now"
Light smiled and walked towards the goddess.
"I am afraid that this time you are wrong" He said.
"You are mistaken"
"Are you sure?"
"I guess so"
"Let's see if you are right then, shall we?"
She grabs his hands and suddenly magic spur out of her body, removing Light's weapons and clothes.
"You think that you will be able to defeat me with your puny swords?" She asks.
"That's what i'm counting on"
"Oh, you are definitely going to die"
She pulls him towards her and he falls into the tub. Suddenly he can feel her naked body against his skin and her lips against his.
"Don't forget, this is our last night together" She says.
He pushes her back, but suddenly feels a pain in his chest, and realizes that she has given him the curse of the spring god, transforming him into a half-beast half-human hybrid.
He tries to move away from the goddess but his body won't obey him any longer. His arms and legs are covered with scales and his muscles have increased dramatically, causing him to sink deeper in the hot water. He can hear her laughing at him.
"This is how you thank me?"
"Why did you do this to me?" He asks.
"To make you suffer more" She answers.
Light tries to get out of the water, but as time passes on, he can feel his body weighting him down and soon enough he start splashing water everywhere.
the goddess is amused.
"Goodbye Light" She tells him.
Suddenly, Light surges out of the water with his spear in hand and he is about to hit her, but he merely cut her.
"How ?"
During all this time Light has used his splashes to cover the fact Mephiles materialized an arm out of mist to bring the Spiritual Storm toward Light, and once he was ready light used all his force to propel himself out of the water.
"You don't look well" The goddess said.
"What are you talking about?"
"I have seen many hybrids before, and none of them looked like you"
"You made me like this"
"Yes, i did"
"Then why did you give me this power?"
"Because I wanted you to suffer more."
"And now what? I have my spear, what do you have"
"I'm still a god, the spring goddess, I bring the life and the nature, you're just a mere mortal don't think highly of yourself"
"So what do you want?"
"I want to destroy everything, including myself"
"I can help you with that"
Light charges at the goddess, who transforms herself into a harpy to attack him, but he quickly parries her attack.
"You don't know how to fight at all" She says.
She attacks again, and Light catches her talon with his own blades and cuts her leg.
The goddess is furious and she transforms into a giant eagle and she launches herself at Light.
Light summons his might and he jumps high into the air, dodging her claws and arrows and landing behind her.
Then he kicks her hard in the back and sends her flying into a tree, breaking its trunk, then he tries stabs her with his spear.
The goddess turns back to a human and crouches to avoid the spear, before summoning a spiritual wolf and throw it at Light, who deflects it with his spear.
"Lucky shot" The goddess says, then she hits him with her fist and he falls back.
The goddess then attacks him with her fists, but Light blocks her strikes with his spear.
As he is blocking her punches, the goddess changes form.
"You are fast" She says. "But I am faster"
She moves so fast that there is no way to block her blows, one after another and one after another, each punch harder than the last.
With each hit comes a new form, making her unpredictable.
After a full minute, she stops attacking and her eyes glow bright red, and suddenly, she becomes a giant eagle, then changes form into a lion, then a wolf, then a tiger, but she doesn't stop moving until Light is knocked down and he almost loses consciousness.
He looks up and sees the goddess is a statue, while the giant eagle she transformed into is lying dead on the ground.
"You are strong, but you are also stupid" She says. "Magic is useless against me, your spear can kill me but you can't hurt me"
"What am I supposed to do then?"
"You are here because you want to find something, if you can't defeat me you should go away and forget about me"
Light gets up and his wounds start healing, he picks up the eagle that was thrown at him and throws it back
"I'm no coward!" he shouts.
She attacks him again with her fists, but this time he has enough strength to block them with his spear.
"That's better" She says.
Light realizes that she is not going to give him an opportunity to attack her, she can beat him at any moment so he come up with a plan.
He thrust his spear toward the ground and begin htting the wall behind him, creating cracks and openings in it.
"Stop doing that" She shouts.
Light ignores her and continues kicking the wall.
"If you keep that up, I'll have to destroy the whole building" She says.
"And what happens when I finish destroying it?" He asks.
"You die" She answers.
"Like it would be any different if i didn't."
She attacks him with her fists again, but this time he dodges them
"I warned you" She says.
Light grabs her arm and drags her outside the building.
"Won't work" She says.
"Why?"
"It won't work because…"
A black meteorite hits the ground, shattering everything around it.
"There is only one thing you will ever understand" She says as the meteorite splits apart and expands, turning into a giant ball of fire, which explodes.
***
They were the first race who created the gods, after their creation they divided themselves into two factions.
One faction believed that the gods should be worshiped and feared, the other faction believed that they had no reason to fear anything, so there was no need to worship the gods.
As such, the Aethern split into two factions: those who worshiped the gods and those who did not.
The gods grew jealous of the Aethern and decided to punish them by forcing the Aethern to fight among themselves.
Since neither side was willing to give up, they fought for eternity, leading to a war which ended with the death of all the gods except for the ones who lived inside the Aethern.
Those gods gained access to the power of the Aethern's soul and became the "souls" of the Aethern.
After their deaths, the Gods returned to Heaven, leaving the souls of the Aethern in a true hell.
and from this hell, this chaos, a spear was forged, to take revenge upon these gods.
***
The spring goddess is surprised, she cannot see he opponent between the rubbles.
"Who are you, who dared to touch my sacred temple?" She asks.
"I am Light, i am vengeance, i am betrayal, i bring mortality to the gods" He replies.
"And why do you think the gods will fall?" She asks.
"Because they are too weak to stand against me."
"Where are you ? Why are you not dead yet?" She asks.
Suddenly the spear start to sparkles and a faint light begins to emit from it.
"What does this mean?" The spring goddess asks.
The rubble suddenly start to evaporate, and the magic dissipate, as Light slowly walks toward her.
"You should die" She says.
"Why? What have you done for me to deserve death?" He asks.
"Everything!"
"And what about everyone else?"
"It doesn't matter! Nothing matters anymore."
"Then let us end this now."
Light begins running, and he accelerate, he feels the wind cutting through his hair. Suddenly he stops, there lies a dead goddess, covered in blood.
The spear start talking.
He picks up the spear and starts walking toward, what is left of the shack and see a human shape covered in rags and wounds.
"Are you alive?" He asks.
"Yes...no..." the poor man answers.
"Can you talk? what is your name"
"I'm Mephilesto"
"Why are you here"
"I've been abandoned by my own kind"
"How did you get here?"
"My mother escaped when she was young, we went to live with the giants"
"Did you know she would abandon you"
"No, she promised she would always watch over me"
"Have you tried to find her?"
"She died, i'm looking for my father"
"You're just another orphan"
"I don't care"
Light looks at the spear puzzled, he cannot fathom what it just said, until he remembers something from his childhood. His mother told him an old tale of a being called Nemesis who had been banished by the gods because , so he was cursed to live forever, and he would only release himself if someone took his place.
This made him wonder, why hadn't Nemesis returned yet, was he really trapped forever?
"Shut up !" shouts Mephiles. "You talk too much"
"What are you talking about" replies Light, who couldn't completely understand the spear.
"Who are you talking to ?" Mephilesto asks. "why are you speaking alone ?"
"Don't worry about it"
Light quickly understood that only him could hear the spear or Mephiles.
But as he replied, he realised that he no longer was human. He was now a half-beast.
"A new life begins" says Mephiles.