[The exact cause of the War of Heaven and Hell is disputed among those who tell history.
Some say it was caused by the arrival of the Dark Majesty to Nym'Roal, some say it was the birth of Sephratis, some lend the cause to the death of Nordarhark, the King of the fairies, and some say they were a series of events that led to the War.
I will be the first to tell you the exact cause.
The War of Heaven and Hell began in Olympus when one of Artemis' attendants belied her.
Feeling insulted, Artemis sought retaliation from Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution. She said to the goddess: "My sour attendant mocks and offends me with rude, sharp, words. I am ashamed to tell you all that she has said but I pray you uphold the dignity of your Titan birth. Grant me a boon so I may see her transformed into stone immovable, leave not a maiden of your race in sorrow, that I may not see her mocking me again and not to be turned - or let your scourge of skin crafted from fallen Titans drive her to madness!"
The goddess replied with encouraging words: "Chaste daughter of Leto, huntress, sister of Apollo, I will not use my scourge to chastise a Titan girl. I will not make the maiden a stone, for I am myself born of the ancient race of Titanes, and her father might blame when he heard. But one boon I will grant you, Archeress, for she has indeed aspersed. The attendant reproached that which you hold the most so she shall lose that which she holds the most. Punishment shall be served and Justice shall prevail."
The attendant fled Artemis to her mother. Her mother, who was the daughter of Zeus, met with her father and asked that her daughter be protected from the wrath of Nemesis and Zeus gave his word that the attendant would not be punished if she completed a certain task.
The attendant agreed and did as Zeus ordered but Nemesis dismissed the King of Olympus' judgment.
"It was no longer Zeus's decision to make after I, the goddess of divine retribution, had been sought after. Zeus's judgment amounts to perversion. The attendant must pay!"
And so she did. The attendant lost the one thing she prized the most and became so broken that she threw herself into the sea to end it all.
Nemesis's decision did not go down well with the King who summoned the former. The goddess, however, remained unapologetic for her actions.
"You erred when you decided to interfere with the attendant's judgment. But no matter how long, Justice was to be to her inferred."
Nemesis's words further infuriated the King and he banished her from all his realms, exiling the goddess from Nym'Roal. ]
"Wait ..." Hunter said. "First of all, you're quite the storyteller."
[Thank you.]
"Second, isn't it Nemesis's job to inflict the punishment of the gods on those who erred?"
[It is.]
"Then why did Zeus punish Nemesis? She was literally doing her job."
[Simple. The mighty Zeus got his ego hurt and if there's one thing he can't handle, it's getting his ego bruised.]
The door clicked open. "Is this a bad time?"
Hunter turned towards the door. "What?" The Alpha Sector agent finds the lime-green-eyed Demon Control Agency agent standing by the door. "Kara."
"You were doing one of those things again."
"One of those things?"
"You know, when you're either staring into space or talking to yourself," she said.
"What the -- I don't do any of those?" Hunter defended himself. Kara raised an eyebrow. "Whatever. Why are you even here?"
"Trying to get rid of me already?" She laughs. "I'm stepping in for Jade, she got called in by Olivia after Vrotland."
"And Jade let you question me? Is Leah sick?"
Kara laughs. "I have been moving up the ladder lately; Jade now sees me fit enough to handle her golden boy."
"Interesting. So what exactly are you here for?"
"You know," Kara shrugs. "Standard procedure. I ask you some questions about what happened, you tell me enough to make a report, and then I hand you to the next team."
Hunter's eyebrows furrow. "The next team?"
"Yeah, that one's not part of standard procedure but earlier today, a bureau court ruled, despite objections by the Alpha Sector, that some weird group can stuff as much energy into you as needed for you to remember River Pot."
"Why'd you put it like that?" Kara shrugs. "Anyway, the Grand Liberation Program can sleep well knowing I've got those memories back."
"Shit, you have? How are you feeling?"
"I honestly don't know. So much has happened since then that I don't know what the appropriate response should be. Even though I just got them back, they still feel like a distant memory ..."
"At the end of the day, Hunter, you're still a human being, react whatever way you want to. Okay?"
Hunter nods. "So ... What questions do you have for me?" He asked the agent.
"Of course. State your name and other relevant information for the record."
"My name is Hunter Heffernan. I'm 19 and an Alpha Sector agent."
"Alright Mr. Heffernan, can you tell me what exactly happened?"
"I was walking back to my team in Vrotland."
"Where were you coming from?" Kara asked.
"That's --" Hunter eyed the record. "I can't tell you that, Alpha Sector business."
"What can you tell me?"
"We were on a mission in Vrotland. And we were supposed to rendezvous afterward at the house."
"Right," Kara nods, listening closely.
"Right before I walked into the house, I noticed something that looked like a comet in the sky. Before I could react, it struck the house, destroying it."
Kara leaned closer. "What happened afterward."
"I moved towards the house and that's when he showed up."
"He?"
"The same guy that attacked the Sprite Guardians train that was leaving River Pot; Sephratis."
"What? ... Hunter, do you know who Sephratis is?"
"No. But when I saw this guy, I knew who he was, it was no doubt the god of conjuring."
Kara stopped the record. "What really happened back there, Hunter?" She asked.
"That's what I'm telling you. Just after you drop me off, he struck before I walked into the house."
"Hunter, Sephratis has been dead since the War of Heaven and Hell ended."
...
[ Zeus stripped Nemesis of her wings, tally stick, scales, sword, and scourge before he struck her out of all the land in which he was sovereign.
Since the Titan War, the Olympians had closed off Nym'Roal making it impossible to leave or enter. It was, however, possible to visit Nym'Roal's sister realms like Olympus, Hades, and Tartarus beyond, with help from certain agents or catalysts.
Nemesis's expulsion was violent and it caused a rift within the veil that had shielded Nym'Roal from other realms. From that rift came Sephratis, the first conjurer. ]
The door sliding open snapped the dark-haired boy back to reality. Kara walks in and tosses a bottle of water at the Sprite who catches it. "Thanks," he said.
The agent assumes her seat across the teal-green-eyed boy as he takes a sip from the bottle.
"According to you, the 'Collector' and Sephratis are the same person."
Hunter nods. "Yes."
"You haven't really given me a valid reason for that assumption," Kara said.
[Ask her what she knows about Sephratis.]
"What do you know about Sephratis?"
"Before Nemesis was killed by Zeus, she declared his action as an injustice and thus, Sephratis was born."
'Not too different from your account.'
[Very different actually, because Sephratis wasn't 'born' or 'created' because of Zeus's injustice. Sephratis's return was because Sephratis wished to return. He was after all an Elder God.]
----