The History of the True Nephalem (Finished)

Chapter 1: The Life of Diabolos and Arianna

The simplicity of the lives for the two comes from the fact that they are both about the same age, with Diabolos being several months older than his wife. Taking place thousands of years before the King of Iceberg ascended his throne and froze the land over with his crown, this was back when the land of Iceberg was not referred to as that; its name has been long forgotten, but it was once a very rich and lush farmland. One of the wealthiest owners owned a massive castle and estate that would later become the Icecrown Citadel. But long before that, perhaps several hundred years, it was owned by a very wealthy and kind-hearted man, whose name has been long forgotten in history. Perhaps the only two individuals that would know of it would be Arianna and Diabolos, but even they are ignorant to it; they have long forgotten the name. Regardless, there is little significance to the father of Diabolos, and it must focus on the man himself.

Diabolos--from the very day of his birth--was entrusted with a hefty responsibility of carrying on his family's tradition and business of owning an enormous size of farmland, one day ascending his way to his father's position when he is not there. One important thing to note is that Diabolos is not the Black Devil's actual name; it was the name granted to him after reincarnation. For just like his father, Diabolos had forgotten his name. The infancy of Diabolos was nothing out of the ordinary; he was much too young to recall anything, so his parents never forced him anything out of the ordinary as a toddler. When he reached the age of around six years old, he was given a personalized maid from a nearby family that worked under Diabolos's father under his farmland: they wanted their newborn daughter to attempt to become something much more than themselves, so they handed her off as a maid to the estate of Diabolos's father. And her name was Arianna.

It was fortunate that Arianna was around the same age as the young Diabolos, for the father of the child was psychologically experienced, and knew the hefty responsibility that his child would soon have to bear. The comfort of--at the very least--having a personal servant, or even a friend, would certainly help his son through the endeavors that he was about to experience, thus Diabolos's personal maid from that day forth was none other than his future wife: Arianna. The little girl's role was much more than to perform the simple tasks that Diabolos himself would not have time for due to the immense amount of rigor and work that he was about to experience, but rather be a positive thing in the life that was about to unfold; he would always have someone to talk to or someone to be there for him. More importantly, someone of his age range.

Just as his father anticipated, and something that was--at the time--unbeknownst to Diabolos, the infancy and childhood of the man was quite rigorous and challenging. Having the hefty responsibility of one day taking on the entire estate owned by his father and managing it. Thus, at an early age, Diabolos was taught mathematics, which would then evolve into business, sociology, psychology, science, and several different languages as the years went by to make him the most successful owner--the goal being better than his father. Aside from being a businessman, it was custom for Diabolos to also learn basic practices of being a "gentleman" or a "man" in genera; he was taught swordsmanship--which he grew to thoroughly enjoy--, household chores--although he did not have to do them--, and several other instances of labor that would come in handy should he find himself without Arianna or in need of his own assistance.

Diabolos was, in essence, taught to be a very good and all-around genuine man of utmost intelligence, presence, and power. The responsibility of such a task was arduous for the young man, but certainly not impossible. And fortunately for him, the psychology in which his father figured Arianna would suffice did, indeed come in handy.


Unlike her soon-to-be husband Diabolos, Arianna's name was her birth-given one, and was kept with her through the afterlife. More importantly was the life regarding Arianna herself, which heavily differed from that of Diabolos in some ways, but also shared some similarities with him. Arianna's parents were not rich, and they could not hope to be so; they had been workers on Diabolos's father's farm for years. Although not a miserable life or job, it certainly was far from luxurious, but luckily for them, their daughter was given the opportunity to serve directly in the manor of Diabolos's father, the massive fortress and castle in which a seemingly baron-like man ruled over them. Diabolos's father was not ruthless or harsh, and he did not need to be so, but the luxury could definitely not be shared with all of them; as in some aspects he was quite selfish with his wealth.

Arianna was taken in--and contrary to Diabolos's rigorous training to becoming a businessman, estate owner, and gentleman--she was given the training methods to becoming Diabolos's personal maid. She was taught household and outdoor chores that would serve both the estate in its entirety, and Diabolos himself: washing clothes, folding clothes, sweeping and mopping floors, washing dishes, being polite, knocking before entering, making tea, cooking food, cleaning messes, organization, and putting clothes on another person. All of these would accommodate her role as a maid and Diabolos's personal "servant".

In reality, while Arianna was undergoing her training, she had never actually met Diabolos; she only heard rumors from her trainees, one of them consisting of Diabolos's mother, and this was particularly because Diabolos at an early age was so invested in his studies and work that he was unable to even have a moment of free time to meet Arianna. Thus, the two of them had never actually seen each other until they were of the age of eight.

The meeting itself was quite brief--as Diabolos still had work to do--, and was quite awkward in some aspects. Arianna had immediately fallen in "love" with Diabolos upon first site; she was an ignorant little girl, after all, but the appearance of the young boy was already quite dashing. Not possessing the dark red eyes that would come after reincarnation, Diabolos still retained his jet black hair even from an early age, and a set of piercing green eyes. His stare was quite stern due to the frustration built up inside of him from the amount of rigor imposed upon him, but despite that his build appeared to be very healthy for his age, he carried himself in a very strict but also elegant manner, and his intelligence was far beyond that of people his own age. It certainly outmatched Arianna, who was only given basic fundamentals and tools for her age, with most of her training focused on household labor. Whilst Arianna was dashed and swooned by Diabolos's appearance, although not showing it, the young Diabolos was certainly not interested in girls. His disinterest could not deny the already developing beauty of the young blonde; her sky blue eyes and blonde hair practically screamed innocence, and although she had come no where near to posses them yet, her beauty would very swiftly evolve in adolescence. And so would the feelings of Diabolos towards her.

Weeks after first meeting each other, Arianna had officially been in servitude to Diabolos, although the boy was reluctant to it at first. In a very swift amount of time, however, his reluctance would very soon turn to gratitude. The psychological effects that his father anticipated began to kick in merely weeks in; Diabolos was stern and strict when he first met Arianna due to the anger he had built up inside of him, but the innocence of the young girl had quelled that loathing he felt towards his parents and his own life. Arianna's ignorance worked towards her innocence; the conversation Diabolos had with the girl often resulted in him displaying superior intellectual aspects, impressing the young girl, and making him feel much better about himself, as if his studies had finally been given a purpose. Talking between the two was very abundant, since Arianna spent much of her time around Diabolos, and very quickly the young girl managed to pick up some of the capabilities of Diabolos. He had rubbed off on her in a positive way, and she too became curious; the things that she was taught in preparation for becoming his maid simply were not enough for her, so from Diabolos, she learned from him. And in a way, this worked towards Diabolos's benefit as well: he was much more likely to remember something if he taught it to someone else, as it displayed understanding of the certain topic, thus his studies seemed to be much less rigorous and more enjoyable.

Arianna first fell in "love" with Diabolos when she first laid eyes on him, but it was merely because her untrained mind and body could not comprehend the feeling of attraction as a mere friend and well-endowed boy. Thus, she mistook it for love, which would eventually evolve into an actual form of love. To Diabolos, Arianna was much more than a servant or maid: she was his friend. And to Airanna, Diabolos was much more than his master: he was her friend as well. Through him she came to know things that she would have never been taught, and through him her mind developed almost at the rate that his did. Of course Diabolos was unable to cover everything he learned, but it was just enough to make Arianna appear more intelligent than the other maids in which she worked with. This gave Diabolos's parents the illusion that Arianna was much more acute and keen than they had initially anticipated, and would work towards her favor in the future when the two learned of the love between the master and servant.

Diabolos had not become attracted towards Arianna as anything more than a friend until the age of 14, but even then the two shared a kiss at the young age of 10 when Arianna practically begged Diabolos to do it--her attraction to him much stronger than his to hers at the time. The age of 14 for both Arianna and Diabolos was not the first--but rather the early ears--of their adolescence, and this worked towards strengthening their bond and "love" due to their bodies being developed. And with this development also came much more rigorous training for Diabolos, piling on more stress, and a larger need for Arianna's company. Diabolos's physical training had become much more adept, and he had even invited Arianna to join him in lessons on how to handle a sword, and even fight, which she did so reluctantly, although she did eventually get used to it. Diabolos's stronger attraction and seeming necessity for the company of Arianna were much more enjoyable days for the young woman. Her attraction to Diabolos still strong, she always assumed that he was unhappy with her despite their long conversations, and bonding. And to some degree she was right: Diabolos never saw Arianna anything more than a friend, and his cold and stern attitude he developed at an early age certainly didn't seem like anything more than that--oftentimes it made it seem as though he treated her as something less.

Thus, the times when Diabolos intentionally sought her out or assisted her voluntarily filled Arianna with joy, to the point where Diabolos himself began to fall in "love" with Arianna. He loved the intelligence that she had begun to muster from his teachings, she was the girl he spent most of the time with, and there was one key factor that he had not cared for as a kid but had stared to as a growing teenager: Arianna's looks. Blonde hair and blue eyes is enough for some boys, but Arianna's body and physique significantly developed during her adolescent years. A curvaceous figure had rapidly begun, with her hips growing wider and her waist slimmer, and her breasts sticking out much more. By the age of 16 her chest grew 3 cup sizes. Arianna was not alone when it came to a developing body, for Diabolos was growing from a boy to a man, and very swiftly, too. The physical training Diabolos endured heavily influenced a much more masculine figure, and the voice of a once stern and almost laughable child was quickly growing to become that of a man's. By the time he was 16, alongside Arianna, one could almost mistake him for a 20 year old or perhaps older.

The age of 16 was magical for both Arianna and Diabolos; the figure of Arianna had significantly developed alongside that of her beloved Diabolos, and it is then that the two had confessed their "love" for each other. Although adolescent love can be very dangerous or rarely works out, the case of Arianna and Diabolos was special due to the fact that they lived under the same roof--and were even down the halls from each other--making interaction very common. In fact it was a necessity. The status as Diabolos's personal servant never changed: the two saw each other and spent time with each other almost all day and everyday. However they were far from ignorant: Diabolos knew that his father might not take lightly to being in love with his servant, thus the two attempted to keep the "love" aspect of their relationship behind closed doors. And it had worked, too. Diabolos's parents trusted Arianna, and often left her and him alone; the two of them never did anything that was beyond their age, but it certainly did help to strengthen their relationship. Several times they had gotten away with sleeping in the same bed.

After confessing their love, they continued to happily share it in secrecy over the next few years, until Diabolos had finally decided to share this stunning news with his father and mother. Contrary to what Diabolos had believed, the news would be much less shocking and resentful by his father than he anticipated.

The father of Diabolos, previously established and stated, had made a female of his son's age group his personal servant and maid so he could ease the emotional and psychological stress by spending time with her. Of course he would have preferred that it never went that far, but he had only himself to blame when it did. The day that Diabolos confessed, it was truly some form of shocking news, but he never reacted in a negative manner as the two young adults had figured. Arianna had grown to be a beautiful and intelligent woman, as Diabolos still spent his time teaching Arianna what he had learned. In addition, there was one very astounding fact that he had practically brought upon himself: she spent almost 10 years with him. Nobody knew Diabolos as well as Arianna did, no girl spent as much time with him as Arianna did, and her level of intellect and beauty were far beyond what his father had originally hoped. In essence, Arianna was the perfect woman to marry his son and stay by his side; and if they made it through their childhoods and teenage years together, surely they could spend the rest of their lives together. In some ways, Diabolos's father had set up his son with his future wife from the very beginning. And it certainly would not be the wrong choice.

It could be inferred that if Diabolos's father had not chosen Arianna, many things--good and bad--could have been prevented. And the possibilities as such are endless. The fact of the matter is that the choice that his father made would echo throughout history, and although the human couple would never be anything essential or too special within their mortal lives, surely in their very soon-to-come afterlives they would have their names echoed in fear across the lands.

And thus, the marriage happened not too long afterwards. An elegant and extravagant event, in which Diabolos became wedded to Arianna, the two swore that they would be together until parted by death. The irony was in the fact that not even death could keep the two lovers apart, for they would seemingly be together for an eternity. And with the marriage came the declared inheritance; Diabolos was too young to inherit the entire estate, but it was agreed on that he would be the one to do so alongside with his newly wed wife Arianna. The two married at an extremely young age, each of them 18 years, yet to them that was insignificant. It continued on anyway, and it had completed. Diabolos and Arianna were now husband and wife.

Diablos anticipated inheritance would not occur in several decades or so, as his father was still in a healthy condition, and Diabolos himself was at the young age of 18. His father was only in his 40's, and it seemed as though it would be a long time before Diabolos himself would have the burden of running land and business; that would mean he could spend those next decades in study and preparation, but more importantly: with his newly beloved wife Arianna. At least that is how it was meant to be. Diabolos's father was a middle-aged man, and healthy, but his health quickly changed and struck like a lightning bolt to Diabolos and his family.

In the short coming years, Diabolos and Arianna would find themselves in an inescapable predicament where Diabolos would have to take his father's place until he had gotten better. Unfortunately, wellness was not on the priority list of fate's decision for Diabolos's father; the man died not too long later of an inexplicable disease, and Diabolos was forced to take over the estate at the young age of 22.

It perhaps would have been a disastrous situation if Diabolos was an inexperienced and naive young man, and in some ways he was, but he had years of training, studying, and hard work behind him coupled with a tenacious mind, good nature, and an intimidating demeanor and posture that would secure him the upper hand in any battle whether it be financial or physical. The early days of Diabolos's inheritance could easily be described as smooth and well-off days, and perhaps would have been so if he and Arianna did not make one fatal mistake: having a child. Diabolos's father had procrastinated on having a child purposely until his late thirties for the reason that he must be accustomed to his way of life, and have a plan set down for the child's future. Unfortunately that was not the plan for Diabolos and Arianna. "Plan" is perhaps a misuse of a word, as Diabolos did not want a child, but Arianna secretly did.

The two were a married couple, and in their twenties, so it was not unusual for them to have intercourse. Diabolos took careful measures to ensure that a child would not be bred, but Arianna, going against her husband's will, made sure that it did happen. And when she announced to her husband that she was bearing a child, the news truly shocked Diabolos. Betrayal would have been the conveyed expression he felt towards his wife if he had believed that she had betrayed and gone against his will of not having a child; however, the deceptive and innocence of the young woman worked towards her advantage as she pleaded that it was a mere accident, and something had gone wrong out of her control. Diabolos anticipated somehow that it was a lie, but had no way of proving it; not to mention the innocence of Arianna made her all the more convincing, and why should he not believe his wife? It would cause a disconnect in their marriage.

The reason why Arianna wanted a child so badly was mainly because of her ignorance. At some point or another, some women get the urge to want a child, especially married once. Arianna, being the pure and innocent woman that she was, did not know the dangers or hardships in store for her and Diabolos alike. She never experienced the agonizing emotional pain and stress Diabolos went through, she was never physically abused in anyway, and her knowledge of the world, while complex in some, was extremely oblivious so the pains and negativeness of the world. Thus Arianna didn't even have a scope of the responsibility and duties she not only placed on herself, but also her husband.

Though upset, it was not as if Diabolos could deny Arianna the right to bear a child, or even dispose of the child in the first place; it was unjust. The irony is that if Diabolos knew what this child would become and do to both him and his wife, he probably would have done it from the start. Unfortunately, both Diabolos and Arianna would have to live from it, and inevitably die from it. Thus, Arianna got her wish of having a child, enjoying the time she spent carrying it and thinking of the joy of raising her own. For Diabolos, on the other hand, it was a completely different story: the emotional and psychological stress of attempting to be a father always got the better of him, the immense responsibility of trying to follow in his dead father's footsteps always struck fear into him, and it seemed as though Arianna wanted even more attention despite the new responsibilities wrought on him. It could easily be said that by intentionally getting herself pregnant, Arianna had already laid down the end for herself and Diabolos; she did have the capabilities of producing and perhaps raising a child, but Diabolos on the other hand was far too young for the task of being a father, and by putting that responsibility on him early she caused more fear and stress in her husband than perhaps she had anticipated. Or knew, for that matter. For Diabolos did not say a word about the newly brought stress on himself to his wife. How could he?

After 9 months, the child was born, a male. His name was important to Diabolos and Arianna, but insignificant with this story. What is important was how the child was raised and what became of it. For Diabolos's responsibility would be passed on to the child, and thus the same requisite of rigorous training was necessary for it. Of course Diabolos had attempted to start it at an even later age than what he had, to prevent his son from enduring the pain that he himself had experienced. However, even with all of the care that he gave as a father, and all of the love Arianna gave as a mother, it was not nearly enough for the child. Their son lacked on thing that the two of them had: each other. Ironic, indeed. For the child literally did have both Diabolos and Arianna, but it did not share the bond that Diabolos and Arianna shared as kids. What got Diabolos through those days of stress and fear of the future was being able to share with Arianna his thoughts and feelings, and have someone to talk to and be with. Their son, on the other hand, did not have that luxury. And if he did, perhaps the fate of both Diabolos and Arianna could be shifted; at the same time, no Nephalem would ever have been born. Perhaps. It is unknown, and there are far too many possibilities to consider. What is important is what happened, and what was done. And what was done was treachery.

In spite of having a loving mother, a caring father, luxury, intelligence, care, and everything a child could ask for, their son was still angry. Enraged, even. Frustrated with his mother and his father for forcing him to carry on the responsibility instead of letting him chose for himself. It was the same frustration Diabolos endured, except Diabolos had Arianna to assist him in going through with it. Their son did not. Keeping his hatred and protest inside of him for the long years, however, he endured 11 full years of it all, until the day that he was ready for inheritance. And then on that day, in one single move, it could be said that this man changed the fate of the world. Arianna and Diabolos were both in their thirties, and the sign of some age began to show on Diabolos, but Arianna seemingly remained everlastingly youthful. Regardless, their son was angry. Why should he be forced with this responsibility? He wanted the wealth all to himself, but he did not want to maintain it. He wanted to drain it. Drain it all for the pleasures in life: excessive food, alcohol, partying...women. Of course his parents would never stand for this, so there was only one solution.

Get rid of them. Seemingly extreme, indeed, but the young man did not care. He endured all of those years of emotional stress with almost no relief to it, and the brief relief that his parents provided him was like a drug: eventually the doses wore off and had no effect. Thus, in one move, he back stabbed his father, killing him right in front of his mother. Diabolos was much older and more experienced than his son, so if he had actually seen the attack coming, he could have easily prevented it. Or even taken down his son a one-on-one duel. Unfortunately, his son was a coward with no respect or honor, even for his own parents. He brought the blade straight through the back of his father, three times, once in the chest, until the middle aged man fell down with blood gushing out of his wounds and his eyes only seeing his wife in his last breath. The young woman, ignorant to pain and sadness, gasped upon the horror that she saw and trembled in fear. And without mercy to even the woman who brought him into the world, who cared for him all of those years, and who loved him just as much as she did her husband, he brought the blade down on her. Soaking her heart and organs with the blood of her husband, and even piercing the blade through the very womb that he had crawled from, their son treacherously and mercilessly murdered his parents in cold blood. Disposing of their bodies, the wealth was now his to inherit, and his alone.

And thus ended the lives of Diabolos and Arianna, the beginnings of their everlasting afterlife.

End of Chapter 1

Chapter 2: The Afterlife of Diabolos and Arianna

Some folk believe in an afterlife, and others do not. Those who do have very mixed views about it; one side believes that if a person was good in their life, they will be rewarded with eternal paradise and everlasting life, and if they were bad....they will be damned for an eternity and suffer in the flaming pits of Hell. Others believe that if a person dies, they are reincarnated into another being, and the cycle continues until they reach a certain point of what is known as "enlightenment". Whatever the case, the true afterlife for the land of Ishval and the rest of that universe is unknown. For it could be said that Diabolos and Arianna were not granted a "true" afterlife. For instead of being damned forever, entering paradise, or even reincarnated as another being, it was somewhat of a mix of the three. Arianna was reincarnated and granted an immortal life (only from age) in paradise: she was born as an angel. And Diabolos had become reincarnated as a devil in the deepest pits of Hell, immortal to age just like his wife, but not invincible.

There are reasons as to why these two were chosen for their respective roles. Each side never really intended or wanted them because of their bond, in fact that did not matter, but it was rather for now they acted in their lives. Arianna was chosen to be an angel because of her purity and innocence; not once in her life did she do something significantly unjust or wrong, except for lying to her husband. Even then, no one could really tell if that was a lie. And despite her innocence, she did have some sense of combat capabilities dating back to when Diabolos and herself trained as kids and teenagers. So while innocent and pure, she was not necessarily helpless. And then there came Diabolos. Perhaps even more confusing than Arianna was Diabolo's situation. Of all the things, and of all the people, why was he reincarnated as a Demon?

Diabolos was a good man in life, and had never intentionally wronged anyone or committed any kind of "sin" or murder. So why was he chosen? Why not some psychopath in the real world, or some devious evil mind that sought to bring about the end of the world? The answer lies under the mask of Diabolos, and the intentions of the Arch Demons that reincarnated him. Diabolos had done no evil, but that does not say he never thought about it. The days of his childhood and the stress Arianna put upon him did fill his thoughts and dreams with immense amounts of rage and anger, hatred boiling up inside of him as a little kid. Although he had chosen to mask it on the outside, there was no denying that on the inside he had felt it. He felt all of it. And rather than getting some insane, tortured soul to become a demon, they chose carefully with Diabolos. For included with the thoughts of evil lurking within his mind was the cunning and intelligent mind of a tenacious man. Combine that with his level of combat expertise, although he had mastered it yet, and he would make a fine Demon. The thoughts of rage would fuel his evil, his mind will guide his body in the right direction, and he had already gotten a start on the rigor and intense training it would take to go from a Demon to a Devil.

With the reasons out of the way, there remained the question. What happened next? How did the two of them get from entirely separate stages and realms of the afterlife back together? The story to that is incredibly long on Diabolos's side, but short on Arianna' side. So let us start with her.

The reincarnation, naturally, took Arianna by surprise. And even though she was granted life once more, sadness consumed her body and her soul. Dead...by her own son whom she loved so much. Where did it all go wrong? And why could she never be a good mother? Being the selfless woman that she was, not once did she blame it on Diabolos or her son; it seemed to her that it was all her fault. Yet, that would all change. For as an angel, she had duties, and powers. One of her duties was to safeguard humanity, something that she would have done happily were it not for her reluctant sadness. And as for her powers, due to her becoming cold nature, she was granted the Magic of an Ice Devil Slayer. Or Holy Ice, to put simply. It is unknown what exactly caused the change of heart with Arianna, but something did. For soon she no longer blamed herself, nor did she blame Diabolos. Perhaps what caused it was seeing what her son did with the wealth of the two of them. She saw him drinking, partying, spitting on the corpses of his parents, and indulging himself with as many women as he possibly could. Disgusted, and filled with hate for the first time, Arianna made her move.

Just like her death, the death of her son was unexpected. However, unlike her death, she did not backstab him or do it in any cowardly way. The only two factors that were the same were the mercilessness, and the unexpectedness. As her son was in yet another one of his parties, intoxicating himself with alcohol alongside his friends and women, the bouncers mistook Arianna for another girl in which their master would indulge himself with pleasure. Arianna, killed them on the spot. And as she entered her former home, she killed anyone and anything that moved. Tears streamed out of her eyes as she did so, but she did it anyway. Screams of her own pain were louder than the ones of her victims, which she impaled with ice, completely froze over, or just killed with an ice conjured sword. It was not inaccurate to say that it was a massacre, more or less. And when she came to the living room, she saw it there. Her son was sitting on the same couch she and Diabolos sat on with many other women, violating them and contemplating whether or not to sell the photo of his father and his mother. She could not take it. She killed her son and every other whore beside him right on the spot, freezing his corpse and theirs, and shattering it into a million pieces. It had been done. And she could not hold in her emotions.

Sitting on the couch that herself and her husband sat on, she hugged her knees and wept. And wept. And wept. She had done the unthinkable, and it was the first time she took another person's life, or even intentionally harmed someone else. The emotions that she felt flowing through her body were unbearable; where did her life go so wrong? She was happy with Diabolos. And now he was gone. She was happy to have a son. He was gone. She was happy for what had been given to her. And it was all taken away. She did nothing but weep there in the chair, for who knows how long. It is said that the Icecrown Citadel is made from the tears of Arianna. And while this is not one hundred percent true, myths do hold some form of truth in them. The truth is Arianna's tears were frozen, but it would have been literally impossible to cover all of the soon-to-be Icecrown Citadel. It did cover some of the chair and the room that she lay in, however. The truth behind the Icecrown Citadel is it came into existence not long after Arianna slew her son. For then, the king of soon-to-be-Iceberg took his crown and froze over the land. That froze the outside part of the Icecrown Citadel. And while Arianna wept, her Magic was able to grow uncontrollably. Thus, the endless blizzard that surrounds the Icecrown Citadel and prevents even the King of Iceberg from seeing it was created. And slowly, the interior of the Icecrown Citadel was frozen solid, with the emotions of Arianna going out of control. Until Diabolos arrived.

The story of her husband is much more long and complex, for the hundreds of years that the two spent apart, Arianna merely wept. While Diabolos did not have it so easy. The very topic of the land in which he writhed in is a very controversial statement, as there are many versions, interpretations, and stories to go along with it. But here, we are focusing on the Black Devil's Story. Made a demon because of mainly his potential rather than actual wrongdoing, Diabolos essentially had to climb the ranks if he ever wanted to meet or so Arianna ever again. He was born as one of the lowest classes of Demons, but fortunately for him, an Arch Demon that had reincarnated him as a Demon took much interest into him, and personally trained him. Showing Diabolos the ropes and ways that was key to surviving as a Demon, Diabolos was a swift learner.

As Diabolos's strength evolved, so did his appearance. His initial one when he first became a Demon was a much more humanistic one: scales were absent on his body, and he was essentially a human with enhanced capabilities. As he grew stronger, however, many parts of him changed. Both physically and emotionally. When first becoming a Demon and going under training, Diabolos was eager and wished to swiftly learn what had happened to his wife after his final moments, and have her in his embrace once again. Thus his progress was much more quick than other demons, but make no mistake, it still took him several hundred years. And in those several hundred years, all Arianna ever did was weep. Perhaps it would have not taken that long, cut back by about two hundred years, if Diabolos had not become so blind.

The swift intoxication of immense power had corrupted the mind of Diabolos, whom still did not avail with the title of "The Black Devil" quite just yet. Regardless, this power was highly contrasting to that of a demon that was his age. And thus, he failed to realize what he initially began to gain power for: to once again see his wife. It was not until his mentoring ArchDemon mocked him by letting him know that he had best check up on her that the Black Devil had suddenly remembered what he was doing. Confused, panicking, and scared for his wife, he demanded to know where she was at. "At home" was the only answer that Diabolos received. With terror inducing him, the Black Devil was finally capable of setting off into the realm of Earthland, a place that had been morphed the past several hundred years that he had been absent from. One notable change was the creation of the frozen wasteland of Iceberg. No longer the lustrous farmland that was home to Diabolos, it was now a primitive country of people struggling to survive. This made Diabolos fear more. What happened to his country? Where was Arianna? Was she okay? Alive? Dead? What happened!? Unable to find answers to his questions, the emotion-filled Diabolos ventured off deep within the country, all the way to its most northern prominence where his old castle was intended to be located. The endless blizzard of Arianna was beginning to kick in, but no where near the level it would be hundreds of years later; thus, the journey for Diabolos was rigorous but not impossible.

Upon arriving, Diabolos could not believe what he saw: there, his home, his castle, his manor...was frozen solid. From the snow-covered ice that he tread upon to the bridge leading to the door, up until the very tip of the entire castle was ice sealing it, shielding it, encasing it. It was entombed. Pushing his way past the frozen door through sheer force, Diabolos made his way down the long hallway that lead into his castle, seeing only his reflection for the first time in many years. He noticed changes... he had grown older. This made him question exactly how much time had passed. Obviously he was not an old man, but signs of age were on him with facial hair, a much more muscular body and...scales? He could not believe what he saw, but throughout his body were splotches of black scales that appeared to be manifesting at random. Not a single thing made sense for the Diabolos, he at long last made his way to the room in which his wife, Arianna, had been weeping for centuries.

Startled by the sudden movement and presence, Arianna was alarmed and filled with fear, but once the two realized who the other was, they shared passion and love stronger than either had ever felt in the last hundred years or so. After their very long and passionate moment had passed, the two made their best attempt to catch up to each in regards to what happened after the demise. Diabolos died, Arianna died, both were reincarnated. Arianna came here and killed their son and everyone else, before weeping for she knew not how long. Diabolos was reincarnated and trained for an unknown amount of time before coming here to save Arianna.

What neither of them anticipated initially was that their lover was, in fact, alive, at least more alive than the corpses that they had become. Thus the shock and relief that the two of them were able to see and feel each other was all the more real and psychologically relieving to the both of them, for each had experienced a Hellish time. Arianna coped with the suffering and loss of her husband, her child, and her home for who knows how long, while the mighty Diabolos was drowned in his own power and nearly forgot about everything that he loved. Most importantly his wife. Each side made no hesitation in explaining the events that occurred following their demise, and even the forgetful Diabolos did not lie about himself nearly abandoning his wife. Of course she was not upset with him the last bit; he had come for her, and that was all that mattered.

Though they were together once more and knew what had happened to the other, one grand issue still remained between the two: what should they do next? She was an angel, and he was a demon; the kiss that they reunited with broke even the most ancient of laws, and would mean certain doom for the both of them it, yet instead of reacting with fear, they reacted with more love. And thus, after catching up to what the other had been doing since the moments of their demise, very shortly new life was born: a Nephalem. Arianna once again gave in to the temptation of having a child, and naturally Diabolos was unable to refuse her. Yet the two had no idea what the magnitude of their sins were; it was as if they were children committing crimes that they had no idea existed. They had gotten away with it, but only by the faintest sliver of luck, and over time they would mature to make sure that their pact-breaking and law-destroying was committed with flawless technique and the utmost of secrecy. However, their first Nephalem child was a reckless move, and they were unaware about what this had done to their fates. For after the first Nephalem, there would come an endless spiral of more and more until the day Arianna and Diabolos perished.

Naturally Arianna cared dearly for their first child, and Diabolos held within the same aspects. The two were ignorant in just how powerful a Nephalem was capable of becoming, and they were also ignorant to the fact that there exists an involuntary and insatiable desire within a Nephalem upon reaching a certain age to seek out their parents and kill them in order to ascend within their power level to the state of a "True" Nephalem. The age in which this instinct is bequeathed upon the creature is entirely random and unknown, and not even the intricate studies of the species conducted in later years by Diabolos would hope to solve the mystery. Regardless, that day came at a very young age for the first Nephalem to be born under the two; without any other choice, else let his wife die a second time, Diabolos was forced to murder their first child in front of his wife's eyes. Though it was not murder, the magnitude and strength difference between the Black Devil that had been training for years rigorously and the infant Nephalem was that of heaven and earth--perhaps even further.

In spite of the horror that shocked and nearly traumatized Arianna--unaware that Diabolos meant to protect her from once again perishing at the fate of her own child--another one was born. Unable to learn from their mistakes of the first time, as they had no idea they were even making one, the fate of this second child had resulted just in the first. Rather this time it occurred in later years, about the age of seventeen for it. Over the course of its years the Nephalem's power experienced an exponential growth--a trait within all Nephalem--and thus the battle between it and Diabolos was a very close one. As the White Angel witnessed her husband and lover nearly perish at the hands of her own child, having once seen him murdered, the sight was nearly incomprehensible for her frail mind to experience. Thus, she unwillingly dealt the killing blow. Watching in the utmost terror as her child died beneath her feet, and by her own hand, it would be an understatement to say that she was traumatized. Far from that. The actions of the two thus officially sprang the never ending spiral.

Naturally it would be nearly impossible to track and place the exact position in which Arianna and Diabolos changed from caring, misunderstood parents to pure sadists that wanted nothing more than to see their children perish beneath their feet, but there are several key components as to why. For after the death of their second child, Arianna was not only shocked in herself, but for Diabolos as well. Her husband nearly lost to one of their children; what would happen if they died once more...? As an angel and a demon? This fear was incomprehensible. Naturally the most logical option would be to never have children, but the desire from Arianna's innocence and ignorance always managed to overwhelm the reluctant Diabolos. All she had ever wanted was to see one of her children grow up strong, proudly carry their parents's name, and accept the love of their mother. Unfortunately for her, that would never come from a Nephalem. For no matter how much care she placed within them at birth, childhood, adolescence, or even adulthood, they would come for her life and her husband's.

As a result, the Nephalem would never stop coming. The third tried to kill. The fourth. And the fifth. The sixth. And so on. No matter what the two parents did, their children would come for their lives sooner or later in their lives. And as a result of that, Diabolos forced himself to get stronger and stronger with each passing time. Eventually, he grew to love the thrill and challenge that the Nephalem presented him with. Diabolos had also taught Arianna to fend for herself, eventually she too became insatiable for blood. Eventually their minds and judgment were clouded with the desire for more power, for each Nephalem dead increased their experience and power exponentially; and in between the years it took for the Nephalem to grow up and gain the instinct to murder them, Arianna and Diabolos eventually took to wreaking havoc all across Earthland. Their descent into madness and insanity was hastened by this fact. Soon enough, after many generations, there was no turning back. And eventually, there came the creation of the Obsidian Palace, and the birth of the Icecrown Citadel.


End of Chapter 2

Chapter 3: The Obsidian Palace and the Icecrown Citadel


The Icecrown Citadel was technically the first to be created, since its creation was far beyond the afterlife of Diabolos and Arianna. Though it was never known as such. It was once their home, but after their death, the tears of Arianna froze over the foyer room which the two had spent many of their evenings together in front of the fireplace. The rest of the Citadel remained thawed for centuries, and that was the lair of both Diabolos and Arianna. Hidden from the rest of the world, forgotten. The main reason for this was no less than a century after Arianna's revival, the King of Iceberg gained his crown and froze the land over, officially dubbing the land as it is known today. Luckily for Arianna, she too also had control over ice, and eventually the place was cursed with a surrounding endless blizzard, so no one could get in, and no one could get out. Save for the two lovers. It was the perfect place for them, hidden from the King of Iceberg's site, and the rest of the world. It's easy to say the the isolation was also a primary factor to hastening the maddening of the birthed Nephalem. The parents were initially loving, yes, but it was all they had. They didn't know anything outside of the walls of Icecrown. To them it was a prison, at least until Arianna and Diabolos took to abandoning their children to the world. Whichever ones survived eventually came for them. And they were ready.

Around the perishing of another one of their children, that is when the Icecrown Citadel was truly born. Realizing that it was far too easy for the Nephalem to traverse, and sometimes they would be far too weak to provide any form of entertainment, Arianna began to devise a plan to separate the strong Nephalem from the weak. The Icecrown Citadel. Freezing over what remained of their home, much to the dismay of Diabolos, Arianna also created her Frozen Throne. And from the spirits of their strongest dead children, the Virtue Knights were created. Utilized as trials for the Nephalem, they separated the strong from the weak; Nephalem that would fall to them would never be worthy for Arianna or Diabolos, and thus not every single Nephalem ever got the opportunity to meet their parents. Taking it a step further, Arianna gained inspiration from the Vulcan creatures found throughout Iceberg, and bred her own Primal Vulcan with a far superior level of intelligence--to the point where they could fluently speak and understand language. And the final step was to give her absolute control of the Citadel, which was more than likely the easiest. She created it, so it was hers to control. And from the birth of the Icecrown Citadel, many Nephalem would find themselves met with hardships before confronting their mother or father, further increasing their hatred for them with the taunting voice burying them in anger through the obstacles.

Taking inspiration from his wife, Diabolos sought out to get his own lair, his own followers, and his own armies. Setting out for the infamous Land of Sin, Diabolos temporarily departed from his wife, but promised he would be back. Reluctant to see her husband go once more, Arianna had faith that he would be back. Hopefully in time for delivery; once more she was pregnant with a Nephalem. Diabolos had no idea the magnitude of the task ahead of him, nor did he realize that with his presence, the very way Sin functioned and the monsters that inhabited it would be shifted and changed forever. Or perhaps until his influence had died down. It is amazing for some to think that just one man, one demon in actuality, could walk into a land that was so ravaged that no person dare trod there and change it the way he did. Establish a military, a base of operations, his own monarchy, and even seven of the most powerful monsters in all of the lands aside from himself. In spite of that, Diabolos did not rule all of the Land of Sin. Rather he had his own followers that were loyal to him out of fear; if they wanted to survive, they would be with him. Or die. Very similar methods to a war chief or a tribe.

The Land of Sin had no kind of monarchy or select ruler. It was survival of the fittest. Monsters in the desecrated landscape had little food, and even more little water. Hard to find any with nothing but volcanic rocks surrounding them. Usually the most ancient monsters were the most powerful, and eventually those beasts could find a way to escape the Land of Sin. If a monster was weak, it was eaten for food with its strength absorbed, or left there to rot for scavengers. In spite of how many were consumed each day, there seemed to be an infinite amount. Now for Diabolos, he had not entered appearing as a demon, no; he looked like an ordinary human. And a human daring to enter the Lands of Sin, to the monsters, was just asking to be murdered and eaten. Thus, they thought of him as easy prey. Unfortunately for them, it was the last prey they had ever hunted; Diabolos had not considered them worthy to be his followers, and butchered them with his still human appearance. He swore to himself he would not reveal his true form until he found his first true follower.

The first of which that Diabolos found was none other than his first Sin Lieutenant: Envy. Before being known as such, Envy had a name, a name that was long discarded and forgotten by Diabolos. Envy proved strong enough to cause the Black Devil unveil himself as such; and the moment that Envy laid eyes on the beast that lurked underneath the human skin, he submitted in defeat without even attempting to fight back. Amused by his behavior, and quite intrigued by his power and skill, Diabolos invited Envy to be the first of many to follow under his guidance. He promised the young demon that by his side, he would become one of the most respected demons in all of the Land of Sin. And perhaps one day the world when the monsters broke free of their prison and took over. Meeting Envy was about a month in to his journey, and even after only a day in, Arianna began to worry for the safety and well being of her husband. She carried another one of his children in solitude. And from that, she decided that some kind of company was in order, so she began to look into revival of spirits... a form of Necromancy.

Following the recruitment of Envy, the Black Devil never let go of his demonic presence--never went back to his human form--until he gained all of his followers and left the Land of Sin. The next Sin Lieutenants that the Black Devil would come across was none other than Sloth and Gluttony. Two colossal demons working together as a hunting pair, a very similar thing that Envy and Diabolos were doing. Gluttony, in the midst of the fight, let go of his demonic shell and showed off his true form and power, to which the Black Devil had never been more impressed. Envy was capable of defeating Sloth, but only because his skill and swiftness outmatched the beast's brute strength. In spite of their defeat, Sloth and Gluttony were both invited to be the next two followers of Diabolos. Now there were four of them.

In the midst of resting surrounded by corpses of inferior beings, a pack of raptor-like demons, Diabolos's followers noticed he did not wield a weapon. Gluttony had his shotguns, Sloth had his axes, and Envy had his pair of swords. Yet the Black Devil was skilled enough to defeat all three of them even if they took him on at once even without a weapon. They inquired if he had one, to which the Black Devil responded with a no, but questioned how they managed to get their hands on such weapons in a landscape. Each had their own stories to tell for them, and apparently they were obtained through some kind of fallen foe. Curious to get his hands on some kind of weapon, Diabolos began to ponder the fact. Luckily for him, Gluttony had information that there was a legendary demonic broadsword in a cave to the far corners of Sin. However, it was said to be guarded by a female demon so tempting that no demon has ever ventured out alive; none of them could withstand her and her wrath. Curious by the tale, and perhaps others that plagued the Land of Sin, Diabolos ruled that the four of them would destroy this maiden, and he would take the legendary sword himself.

In the far corners of the sin lay the lair of the Maiden of Lust. Upon converging into the lair, the demons found themselves surrounded in mangled, destroyed, lifeless, decimated corpses that had every last drop of demonic blood and essence sucked out of them; each corpse was hung from the ceiling or a wall and trapped in a spider web. It disturbed the few of them quite immensely, especially considering some of the corpses to the demons were enormous, dozens of meters bigger than them. Though at the same time, they were no bigger than a man, and the smallest among them was Diabolos. The chilling, alluring voice of the Maiden of Lust filled the chasm and ran up their spines as they further went inside. The demons alongside Diabolos were cautious, though not afraid. The Black Devil, on the other hand, perhaps one of the most enthralled grins spread across his face. Could this demoness perhaps be a true challenge to him? He would very soon find out.

Reaching the end of the Maiden's lair, with her voice guiding them the entire way, telling them to step closer to their demise, to walk out if they do not wish to perish, or to come towards her and embrace absolute paradise in her embrace, Diabolos saw the legendary demonic sword: Ragnarok. A blade forged in the fires of Hell and quenched delicately to make it completely invincible, decorated with demonic flesh to threaten its enemies, and large enough to cut a mortal in half with one swing. If one had the strength wield it. The weak could never hope to wield a blade, and even the strong would find it impractical. It would take one that the blade accepted as its master to grip the blade. Reaching for the blade's hilt, Diabolos heard the words of the siren all around him; into his ear, up his spine, and in his mind:

"Are you worthy to wield the blade?"

Diabolos, with the utmost confidence in his power and abilities, did not even respond with words. His hand clasped around the sword Ragnarok, awakening it for the first time in centuries, and drew it up. Ragnarok is a devastating sword that will bring about only pain, destruction, and misery in its wake. The entire reason the blade was forged was to be one in which only the strong could wield so that the weak would never stand the slightest of chances. However, in addition to all of that, Ragnarok held more demonic power and essence than any other sword in existence. Thus, with the demonic excess being released from the sword upon unleashing itself, not only was Diabolos's power exponentially increased beyond that which it had been before, but every last demon that perished in the cave was brought fourth from their eternal death, revived and renewed with greater strength. The Maiden of Lust, hanging up from the ceiling the entire time, gasped in horror as the mysterious dark cave was lit from the red light of Ragnarok, and the demons she killed over the centuries were once again brought to the plane of existence.

Perched upon the pedestal of Ragnarok, the demonic blade awakened in his grasp, Diabolos stared proudly out to his soon-to-be army. Envy, Gluttony, and Sloth all bowed down to their current master. A little confused by their awakening, but recognizing the source and its power, all of the demons from around Diabolos towards the end of the cave bowed to their new master. Diabolos, knowing her position from the start, looked up towards the hanging Maiden of Lust upon the ceiling, to which she descended from on her web, by the side of the other Sin Lieutenants, and knelt down on all of her spider limbs. Raising the blade proudly above his head in triumph, Diabolos called out:

"Demons of Sin! You look upon now to your new King! Your new Ruler! Your new Master! Your new General! I am Diabolos the Black Devil, and under me, we shall create the greatest monarchy Sin has ever known!"

Knowing that none could stand up to him, the Demons roared, cheered, and stomped chanting Diabolos's name. The next step for Diabolos, now that he had four of his Seven Sin Lieutenants, was to gather the other three that he deemed worthy, and construct his Obsidian Palace.

The Obsidian Palace is quite a wonder of Ishval, though not recognized by common folk. Primarily because any human or being that is not a demon that ventures in does not come out. Diabolos had chosen Sin's largest volcano as a hub for his obsidian palace, and the fact that the demons were required to make a palace within one entirely out of obsidian seemed absurd, but they followed their leader anyways. They were quite skeptical as well, for obsidian could be very easily broken, and would not serve too well as a fortress of operations for demons. Though Diabolos surprised both him, and his army, and would have surprised the rest of the world if they witness what he was capable of doing. Diabolos was the first and only being to construct what he called "True Obsidian". Not many know exactly how he did it, or knew if its existence or capabilities, but he was able to change he lava into True Obsidian, a material that was nearly invincible and impervious to damage, much more so than known metals and elements. Yet this also raised questions about several things: were there such things as True Iron? True steel? True Air? True Water? Diabolos knew they existed, but did not know how to unlock them. Regardless, he was the pioneer and discoverer of what had made divines so powerful: the power of truth. And if he could share the Truth with the rest of his military, they would become unstoppable.

After the formation of True Obsidian, the Obsidian Palace was constructed in short months for its initial design, but over the course of several hundred years, would expand to cover an entire underground network within Sin, and serve as the most dangerous hub of military operations under demonic control on Earthland, and a palace to what would become the mortal realm's most powerful Devil. Diabolos the Black Devil.


End of Chapter 3

Chapter 4: Vergilius and Nidhogg

Hundreds of years following the construction for Arianna and Diabolos's hub of primary operations, the places where they were at whenever not together mingling among mortals or doing other dastardly things, there came the birth and creation of two important figures that heavily impacted the life of the True Nephalem: Vergilius and Nidhogg. Many generation of Nephalem had gone by unnoticed, living very short, miserable lives that only ended in their demise at the hands of their parents in an ironic twist for their undying desire to see the end of the both of them. The cycle had gone on for well over a thousand years by then. Arianna and Diabolos were discrete enough to avoid the detection of the higher powers within their respective realms of Heaven and Hell, and they were also cunning enough to avoid an all-out conflict with the human race. Though despite that, there were some governments and individuals that knew of the existence to the two fearsome creatures, and they also knew that they should be avoided at all costs. Arianna and Diabolos did not seek to cause large spreads of chaos outside of their realms; that would mean being discovered easily. And needless violence on humans was not necessarily on their agenda given their life before reincarnation. Despite that, sometimes the temptation for destruction between the death of the Nephalem, the birth of another, or the birth of the Nephalem and its death. One of the nations that had discovered their existence, and knew the most about them, was in fact Bellum; and in spite of the hatred Arianna and Diabolos had to being known by them... the last thing they wanted to do was wage war on an entire country.

The first Nephalem that ever survived the wrath of Diabolos was none other than Vergilius, the older son of the True Nephalem, Deniel. And along with Vergilius was his blade, Nidhogg. The story of Nidhogg as a dragon precedes the lives of Diabolos and Arianna, and the lives of many creatures in Earthland. The creation of it as a blade precede's Vergilius's life, and carries on over into Deniel's.

The life of Nidhogg is quite difficult to trace given how its existence goes beyond the history of mankind, to a time when dragons roamed Earthland in abundance, and to a time when they ruled. In spite of that, there are many things known about Nidhogg. Nidhogg was once known as the Dragon of Death and Destruction; a scaled black monstrosity that would decimate and destroy anything within its path, showing no bounds to its hatred and wrath. Among dragons, its primary rival was Jormungand, the White Dragon of Ice. Though Ice had no relevance to death and destruction, it was almost destiny for Jormungand and Nidhogg to be rivals until the bitter end. In spite of the dragon's phenomenal strength and size, it was one day bested by humans lead by a Nephalem. The Nephalem was the first creature to ever defeat Nidhogg, and worse than that, Nidhogg was subjected to an experiment conducted by the humans. A dragon filled with the power of the Nephalem. No such thing had ever existed, but the Nephalem that bested Nidhogg was curious to see just how well a mighty creature handled the power of Chaos.

Likewise, a former Dragon of Death and Destruction took the powers well, and in spite of the Nephalem forcing it to be against its will, Nidhogg was more than thrilled to have even more power than ever did before. As a result, the first partner of Nidhogg became the one that bested it in combat, as a way of naturally submitting to its superior. At the time Nidhogg was not yet a sword, far from it, but instead it and the Nephalem wandered together, completely annihilating anything that got in their way, and leaving no traces behind. Though naturally, a dragon is immortal to age, while a Nephalem is not. The Nephalem possessed no way of passing on its companionship with Nidhogg to any kind of child or offspring, and in Nidhogg's eyes, there was nothing worthy of being its partner in chaos than a Nephalem. The death of the Nephalem could have meant the freedom of Nidhogg, but instead, it meant its eternal prison.

Unable to cope with the idea of Nidhogg wandering around on its own, the Nephalem took matters into his own hands preceding his death. A Lacrima. A shrine. A seal. Locked and hidden away. The power of Nidhogg in one location, and the soul of Nidhogg within the other. To prevent the dragon from becoming too rampant--the only thing that kept Nidhogg from destroying too much was the Nephalem himself--the only thing that was possible was to seal away the dragon forever. The Nephalem had not foreshadowed what the results of his deadly experiment would do following his death, so he needed to act quick. Nidhogg was far too powerful to be sealed into one location, so the power of Chaos separated with the spirit was necessary to ensure that Nidhogg would not break free from his prison. Tricking the beast, the plan of the Nephalem was necessary, but Nidhogg was not quiet in his prison. A trillion curses were laid upon that Nephalem by the dragon, but soon afterwards, in the thousands of years that came for it being completely undiscovered, Nidhogg would soon forget what happened. And his life before. Only faint memories. At some points, he would just assume that all there was too his life was a prison inside a Lacrima.

Nidhogg became an object lost in history, lost in time, and presumably lost in space. For thousands of years, people knew not of its existence as a creature, or its current existence as an artifact, and as a result, its temple was perhaps one of the longest undiscovered tombs in all of Earthland. This was, of course, until Diabolos had come upon the first of the two tombs, containing Nidhogg as a spirit. The discovery of Nidhogg by Diabolos was more or less accidental, the only thing the Black Devil was aware of was the fact that there was some kind of immense power locked away, and that he would stop at nothing to find out what it was, and get his hands on it. The last thing Diabolos had expected was a lacrima, and one that hosted the spirit of the dragon. When Diabolos first placed his hands onto the ancient Lacrima, a void had spoken inside of his head.

"Who are you!?"

Diabolos could tell that based on the voice alone, it was much, much older than he was. Older than time itself, it seemed. And its power sent a shiver down its spine. It had been thousands of years since Nidhogg had spoken to an individual; while he wasn't going to necessarily chase Diabolos off, he would not unveil his desperation to be unleashed from his prison. Diabolos spoke with the spirit for quite some time, stating what year it was, who he was, what his purpose was, and also inquiring about Nidhogg. It was then where Nidhogg was finally able to exercise his memory, and there wasn't much about him he could remember. He knew that he was Nidhogg, an ancient dragon, and that his rival had been Jormungand. And that he had a special power within him: the power of the Nephalem. At the time, Diabolos had an undying hatred for his Nephalem children, yet also knew that they were the only ones that could entertain him from time to time. Except they had started to become much more boring... and he knew another one was on its way. So Diabolos had a plan, one that would work towards the Nephalem's favor.

Diabolos took the Lacrima away from its prison, and returned to Sin. There, he forged with his own hands, the first and only sword ever to be designed for a Nephalem: The Scared Sword of the Nephalem. Diabolos instilled the spirit of Nidhogg into the blade for power, and also granted the ability for the blade to shift and change based on the user's will, specifically designed for his future children to be used against him in combat. Their blades were always of inferior quality to his Ragnarok, and although the Sacred Sword of the Nephalem was not designed to be on par, it was designed to come close to it. The blade took a few years of time and toil to forge, but at long last, the Sacred Sword of the Nephalem, Nidhogg, was complete.

The second half of Nidhogg's Lacrima, hidden in a much different location, was unable to be discovered by Diabolos--in fact he had not known it even existed--and would eventually come into the hands of the Priory of Wrym. From then on, it would remain in their possession as an artifact, but following the defeat of Gwyneth by Deniel Decayuss Thormun, Nidhogg regained possession of his true power as the Nephalem Dragon.

Following the construction of Nidhogg, Diabolos devised a method to grant it to his knewly born son, Vergilius. His one and only gift.

The story of Vergilius is quite a mysterious one, in spite of the fact that he was not that old in the end; he lived just a little bit over a hundred years. One thing that is known about Vergilius is that his nickname was in fact Vergil, and unlike Deniel, the name was actually bequeathed upon him by them. Vergil's life was a very peaceful one, but following the day in which Diabolos anonymously granted him the blade of Nidhogg, the life of the young Nephalem had completely turned upside down. Following possession of Nidhogg, Vergil had begun to delve into learning about who he truly was, and what his true goal in life was. Luckily for him, Nidhogg had garnered much information from Diabolos during the days that he was forged, so there were many answers he could give. Vergilius's choice of Magic as a Nephalem was Requip, in light of gaining a blade fit for him as a Nephalem. His manifestation power garnered wishes from his mind, turning imagination of weapons and armor into reality within a blink of an eye, naturally his signature weapon being Nidhogg.

Soon tales of the Nephalem Knight had become prominent, and Vergil made himself to be a well-known and respected warrior and hero, even to the nation of Bellum--which had loathed the existence of Arianna and Diabolos. Nidhogg had to admit; his first companion as a Nephalem after so long was quite a skilled one, and he wielded the power of Chaos as both an angel and a demon very efficiently. Of course, like many other Nephalem, Vergil had eventually sought the death of Arianna and Diabolos, his so-called Destiny, though it was mostly guided by Nidhogg. The first one Vergilius challenged was Diabolos within the land of Sin. In spite of how powerful Vergil had become, and the advantage of having Nidhogg on his side, the young Nephalem quickly discovered he was absolutely no match for the Black Devil. And he also learned the shocking truth, that he was not the one and only; that Diabolos and Arianna had been doing this act of evil for centuries on end, and that Vergil would only add to the death count. Vergil soon realized that he, nor any other Nephalem, would ever be able to defeat Arianna and Diabolos. And he became the first Nephalem to ever flee from their grasp by quite literally cowering out of the battle, and escaping from the Obsidian Palace; though from his escape, Vergilius was forced to leave behind his most trusted friend and companion, Nidhogg.

Barely getting out with his life, Vergil knew that the next years for him would be extremely difficult, and that he should, under no circumstances, do anything to unveil his location and face. Or else he would risk being caught by the two. Arianna insisted that the two pursue Vergil until the ends of the earth, and that they make sure he was dead, to which Diabolos agreed. Though after a bit of time, Diabolos grew bored, and claimed he had no interest in a coward anymore. So, the two decided that another child was in order. And this one would be none other than Deniel Decayuss "Nephalem" Thormun, the First God of Ishval.

End of Chapter 4

Chapter 5: The Nephalem's Birth and Early Days

Diabolos and Arianna had searched for Vergilius for at least three decades, but the young Nephalem, which had swiftly started to grow old, was much more evasive than they had anticipated. After those two decades, however, Arianna and Diabolos were convinced that it did not matter whether or not they caught him. Eventually, like humans, he would die of old age, and the fight he had with Diabolos would be much too traumatizing for him to even attempt to take on one of them again. Though just to assure themselves and assuage any of their fears, the two had waited several years before having another child, which had caused Diabolos and Arianna to become much more anxious about having another child, and killing it. It had been at least thirty years since Diabolos had experienced the thrill of fighting a Nephalem, and Arianna a much longer time than that. As a result, the two of them had made several errors that would cause their downfall, and for Deniel to be the first and only Nephalem to ever survive their wrath. Desperate to indulge themselves in the pleasure of watching another one of their children had suffered--for by the time of Vergil, the two had descended to the deepest pits of madness and insanity--their errors were numerous, and would be seen throughout the course of Deniel's life.

After a little over thirty years of Vergil's disappearance, no more than nine months had passed before the next Nephalem was born. Upon birth, the baby donned a pair of sky blue eyes and palish skin, obviously a male taking on the appearance traits of his mother. Like all of the Nephalem, Deniel was very swiftly abandoned by his parents after the few months of child care was provided by Arianna as a necessity for its survival. Afterwards, the Nephalem would be abandoned to other parents, perhaps communities, but both Arianna and Diabolos had different ideas planned for Deniel: prison. Surrendered to Bellum, knowing full well the loathe they felt for the two of them, they gave the child without a name up to Bellum's government, and their only option was to imprison the child out of fear. They were all aware of Vergil, another child of Arianna and Diabolos, but they could not comprehend the possibilities with which Deniel would grow up to be. Vergil was unaware of Deniel's imprisonment, and the child was also oblivious to the fact that he was in jail. Naturally, since he was a child, some care was provided for him, but no one truly felt sympathy for him. Only fear. White hair had grown out of his head, but he showed no signs of developing any kind of Magical presence, or Nephalem powers.

Upon learning that his brother was imprisoned, Vergil--who had not shown his face in over thirty years--appeared before Bellum's government suddenly, and demanded they leave the child within his care. Although reluctant, there was some hope with Vergil; they were well aware of his good deeds to Bellum as a nation, and to others, and how for a son of Arianna and Diabolos, he held on to sacred virtues. If he could raise him to be a much more tame Nephalem, or be very similar to Vergilius himself, then perhaps it could result in the demise of Arianna and Diabolos... though of course, this was perhaps too optimistically speaking. And both the fears and suspicions of Bellum would manifest themselves into reality not many years later, resulting in them being much less forgiving to the Nephalem than the first time.

Deniel was perhaps around the age of four when Vergilius had first adopted him as a fatherly figure, the Nephalem now being much more aged than he was before. In spite of Bellum's hopes, Vergil's desires were actually quite the opposite: he would raise Deniel to be oblivious to the power of the Nephalem, to his heritage, and his assumed "Destiny." He thought that if one of them was raised in a completely healthy and normal way, then the cycle of violence for Nephalem could cease to exist. Though of course, Diabolos and Arianna had much different plans than Vergilius; they wanted Deniel to be the strongest, most cruel Nephalem ever, to display to Vergil that the cycle will never end, and to provide one of the two of them with one of the most thrilling challenges of their life.

Deniel was raised normally: Vergil taught him the alphabet, numbers, spelling, words, laws of nature, and anything that he could think of to keep the mind of the young boy stimulated. Though of course, like his cell, Deniel had lived in isolation; though the scenery was beautiful, he always contemplated what was beyond the world he appeared to be trapped in. Constantly he pestered his brother about it, to which Vergilius kept his answers each and every time vague, but differential to assure that Deniel's curiosity was at least somewhat sated. In spite of it all, one thing was absolute under the care of Vergil: there was to be no seeking the company of others. When questioned as to why, Vergil also kept his answers just as vague, though the combination of them was that Deniel was different from humans, he looked different, acted different, and would not be accepted within their society. Though the boy was curious, he was also cautious, and never dared to go against what Vergil said was so. Vergil was all Deniel knew, and the concept of lying never entered his vocabulary or understanding; Vergil knew everything. Vergil knew what was best.

Years later, unfortunately, Vergil's disappearance to the eyes and ears of Arianna and Diabolos was no more. Not only had they discovered that Vergil was still alive and well, but that he discovered of Deniel, and was now raising them. Though slightly outraged at first, it all very swiftly turned to a cunning plan. Vergil had foiled their ideas of Deniel becoming the Nephalem induced with the most hatred and anger than all of them before, but they were about to get in the way of Vergil's for Deniel being otherwise.

When Deniel was around the age of eight, one night, while Vergil was asleep, and while Deniel was up gazing upon the moons and stars in wonder, he heard the sound of something calling to him; Deniel had never heard the voice of a woman, or a song at that. A siren had been calling to him, singing for him to come and find her. The curious young boy naturally followed the sound of the siren's sweet, seductive voice, and it managed to get the boy into a trance, where he was oblivious to the fact that he was disobeying Vergil's most reinforced rule, and he was venturing beyond their grove. No matter how much Deniel traveled, the sound of the calling voice seemed to not get an inch closer. The voice of the alluring siren was none other than Arianna the White Angel, though she never revealed herself to be such. Unbeknownst to Deniel, he had traveled pretty much all night to the nearest populated section in Bellum, and unfortunately for him... it was where his life was going to take a drastic turn.

Arianna had done her part of luring the young boy into the city, now Diabolos did his: work the crowd. None were necessarily aware of the existence of Deniel, but some knew of Arianna and Diabolos, and the Nephalem themselves. Diabolos devilishly devised a plan to turn the people of the city against Deniel upon his arrival. A murder had taken place, the blame was put on the arrival of Deniel, a Nephalem. When the people learned that a Nephalem was in their presence, and that one of them had already perished, they began to feel fear, in spite of being merely a child. Diabolos continued to prey upon their fears, shouting blasphemy against Deniel, and whispering lies about the dangers of him. None suspected it was the Black Devil deceiving him, but all knew that the Nephalem was a danger to them. Unfortunately, Deniel had arrived at the city not long after the fear had risen to its peak, for everyone assumed the Nephalem was responsible, but none were aware of its location, and they were all afraid that it was hiding among them, waiting for a new kill. Once identified, also done by Diabolos, an entire mob surrounded the Nephalem, shouting threats and insults to the child accused of murder.

The Nephalem was slightly confused at all of the faces and what they were saying to him, but he was paralyzed in fear as to what was really going on. He was clueless, and instilled with fear. And then Diabolos was the first to throw a stone, and very swiftly the rest of the crowd joined in unison, hurling stones and other objects at the Nephalem. Deniel did feel pain from the occasional fall or mishap that he made, but the pain he felt here was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Not only did it hurt physically, but there was some kind of negative sensation inside of him that amplified the pain that he was feeling. His stomach had started to churn, and emotionally he began to break with tears streaming out of his eyes, and stones continuing to be hurled at him. He curled himself up into a ball as tightly as he could, hoping all of it would end if he could just wish it all away. Unfortunately for him, the pain kept going, in fact it kept on amplifying itself.

And on that way, the powers of the Nephalem awoke.

Hate. Anger. Anguish. Sadness. Doubt. The power of negative emotions experienced by the Nephalem that day awoke his powers far earlier than that of normal Nephalem did. Sensing that the body was in danger, and threatened by death, there came a flash of red light that covered the entire area of the village. Every last centimeter. Shortly afterwards, an intense blue light followed the red one, and the two of them merged into a spiral of intense purple Chaos Energy. Chaos possessed the power to completely destroy matter until there is nothing left, but because the powers of the Nephalem on that day were incomplete, all it did was destroy the village, and not wipe it from existence.

Red fire and light danced around the Nephalem, still curled up in his protective ball with tears weeping from his eyes. The blood of corpses littered all of the streets, inside buildings, and all throughout the village in flames and ruin. It was then he heard a sound, the sound of laughter, and one of a familiar tone to him to. The same one that the siren carried, the one that had brought him here. Alongside it was another laughter, but this one belonged to a man, and Deniel could have sworn he picked his voice out from the crowd for several reasons. Because of how unique it was, and because it was the first voice to start shouting. Gazing up from his positions with tears streaming out of his eyes, right before him Deniel saw both of his parents, Arianna and Diabolos. The same ones that abandoned him at birth, the same ones that called him here, and the same ones that provoked his power to awaken.

Satisfied that they awakened the inner Nephalem within them, the duo also knew that he was far from being complete, or strong enough to so much as challenge them. Yet their work was not done, it was time to provoke him into attacking them at some point in his life. It happened to all Nephalem, but by conveying Deniel the truth--unlike the others--then that would speed up the process. All they had done was in the name of a faster, more efficient ways of raising a Nephalem to fight them. For they had grown impatient with Vergil, as well as cautious. It was then and there that Arianna and Diabolos shared what they pleased, but not everything; they shared Deniel was abandoned at birth, that he was the child of good and evil, that they were the ones that brought him here, the horrors that awaited him in the future, and if he wanted any of it to end, he would have to seek them out and kill them. Naturally the last part was a lie, but the last thing they wanted to occur was him seeking out some other destiny. He was still a child, and his mind was able to be easily manipulated. Thus, they managed to turn every last fiber of disgust and hatred onto themselves from the Nephalem that very day.

Deniel was still a child, however, and there was not many ways of himself comprehending all of what had happened. He certainly wasn't dumb, but there are plenty of things that a child cannot understand that he someday grows up to. Diabolos and Arianna were hoping for the same thing with Deniel; that this memory would haunt him for the rest of his days until he decided to seek them out. And by then, their words would turn into a thousand different negative meanings, each more miserable than the last, and that his desire for revenge would be insatiable, that he would stop at nothing to achieve it. The immense hatred that Deniel had felt in that moment cursed him forever with a pair of blood red eyes, and raven hair that would never change unless in the form of a Take Over. They are marks and curses to display that once upon a time, he felt a wrath that knew no bounds. Though right in that very moment, Deniel made a vow to both of them. If he had made the same vow at his current age, then the words would be drastically different, perhaps an entirely shifted kind. Though at that moment, the words of Deniel were:

"I'll make you scream, mom! And I'll make you cry like I have, dad!"

Those words would eventually shift themselves to be the signature line of Deniel: "I'll make the angel scream, and the Devil cry!" as a way of indirectly referring to Arianna and Diabolos without giving away the fact that he was referring to his parents, or even a specific kind of demon and devil. And obviously he removed the part of 'like I have' as a way of hiding his weakness.

Slightly amused by his vow, Diabolos challenged Deniel to keep it, and one day seek it out if he could. At that moment, Arianna and Diabolos vanished, leaving Deniel--his face covered in tears and his body trembling with anger. It was at that moment Vergilius at last found Deniel, and only witnessed the last few moments of the encounter between his brother and his two parents. Realizing that a grave mistake had occurred, and that this would forever change the life of Deniel, Vergil needed to act quickly. Deniel would no doubt be taken away accused of numerous crimes, and be sentenced to a life in prison. And this time, Vergil wouldn't be able to bail him out. Therefore, he needed to devise some kind of plan that would do numerous things: assure that Deniel came to Vergil after breaking out--at least that's what Vergil assumed would happen--and not his parents, that when Deniel encountered Arianna and Diabolos, he would have a method of winning, and that his hatred be directed at them when he was ready.

As a result, Vergil found it necessary to once again utilize his Nephalem powers, the power of Chaos, to create one thing, and destroy another: pulse, and memory. The memory portion was a very complex task, and required Vergil to undergo hours of surgery on Deniel, making sure that the memory--and any mechanisms of triggering it--were wiped from existence. At the same time, Vergil did not want these memories to be lost forever, so he created his own memory trigger from Chaos Energy to active once Deniel had attained enough power to defeat Arianna. He had not chosen Diabolos because he believed that kind of power wouldn't exist, and the two of them would not have the patience. At least if he could defeat Arianna, then he stood a chance at facing Diabolos. Even then, Vergil knew that Deniel would not win, no matter how much he could cling to hope. Thus, the second part of his operation began: giving Deniel the tool he needed to defeat Diabolos. Vergil removed the heart of Deniel, and initiated a forbidden taboo Magic that kept his pulse going even without the heart pumping it, and would render him immune to fatal damage in his chest area. On that day, Deniel received a scar that would affect him for life.

Once it was all said and done, Vergil waited, and waited, and waited. The operation carried on from dusk until dawn, and he was exhausted, but if he slept now, then he would miss Deniel awakening, or miss the guard coming to receive him.

When Deniel had finally awoken, he had no memory or recollection of what had happened that night. The voice of the siren did not exist, the memories of his parents were not there, and he certainly didn't feel any emotions or remorse to the village he destroyed, for he could not remember. In his mind, he had simply gone to bed after gazing at the stars, and slept. Little did he know that an entire day had passed from Vergil carrying him back unconscious, and initiated the operation. To him, it was a normal day, but to Vergil, it was the day that Deniel's life would forever change. Diabolos and Arianna foiled Vergil's hopes and dreams that Deniel would grow up to become a normal man; now, it was full steam ahead, and no turning back. Vergil had only one last piece of advice for Deniel before he was taken off, and it was also something universal to his life. He told Deniel to never give up hope, to make sure that he always stayed alive, to make friends and alliances, but to never entangle them. A little confused and bewildered at the sudden lecture, Deniel didn't necessarily know how he should take it.

Minutes later, Bellum's Royal Guard arrived to arrest Deniel. The sudden news and mistreatment confused the child, but to them it was only an attempt to act innocent after being guilty of a crime. There were stares of disdain and disgust at the child, and he was shackled almost immediately to assure that his powers as a Nephalem would not unleash themselves. Deniel was under the impression that Vergil had sold him out, the intention of the old man. Swearing revenge on Vergil as he was dragged away, Deniel's new memories was that his caretaker, whom he did not know to be his brother, sold him out and sent him back to prison accused of a false crime, for Deniel had no memory of what had happened the day before. Previously, as a child, Deniel was sent to a prison, but he was cared for as a baby under the caution for him to not die. Now, though, he was a criminal accused of legitimate crimes, and there would be no care for him. If he was to survive, then it would be of his own strength and tenacity.

Cursed with red eyes and raven hair, lacking a heart, and memories, Deniel came into that private institution in Bellum lacking quite literally everything. Though there were things he came in with: undying rage, unrelenting hatred, and the awakening powers of the Nephalem.

End of Chapter 5

Chapter 6: The Nephalem in Bellum's Private Institution

Bellum's Private Institution; it had no name. That was all people called it. The only ones that knew what had gone on inside of that place were the prisoners, the guards, and the government. The general public could hear rumors, but none truly knew. All they would see is what appeared to be a floating fortress in the sky. Very little exits, and even if one were to escape, they would need a way down. Though the place was not for just any prisoners; the worst of thieves, the most ruthless of murderers, and the most vile of rapists entered Bellum's Private Institution. And the truth of the matter was, they did not go there to pay back their crimes in time. They went to pay their crimes in pain and suffering, as well as entertainment to the general public. For the only part of Bellum's Private Institution that allowed the general public to see were its arena battles; pitting the most dangerous of criminals against each other would certainly be similar to a gladiator style arena, and oftentimes it was. To anyone who was entertain by those sorts of pastimes, they were welcome, and were often never disappointed.

The prisoners were naturally kept in cells and cell blocks, had times to eat whatever was served to them, and spent a lot of their times strengthening up, but there were key differences. Aside from the gladiator's arena, the prisoners were able to walk free among each other and the prison at that. The guards were not scared of the inmates, and they had more methods to control them than the inmates had of causing trouble. And above all, the prisoners knew: there was no escaping. One could plan, calculate, and memorize every inch of Bellum's Private Institution, but escape was always impossible. Getting outside to one of the balconies was one thing, but after that? There was no where to go. Though sometimes prisoners "escaped" just so they would commit suicide and end their years of suffering and torture. To them, escape was death. And finally, the torture. Torture in prison was often times seen as a long forgotten thing, and much too cruel, but the prisoners and Bellum's Private Institution were always deserving of it. The range of it varied upon their crimes, but all of them knew that no one was safe.

Deniel was perhaps the most unusual of prisoners, for all of them saw that a child was dragged in to be among rugged, hardened adults. Each and every one of them having a criminal past, and were built to be emotionless bastards by the prison's cruel environment. Deniel was locked in his cell alongside four other inmates, though there was plenty of room for them all. Naturally his cell mates first inquired as to what a child was doing there, and the guards would not inform them, so they asked the child themselves. Deniel was much more confused than they ever were, so any viable information would not garnered from him. Instead, he began to ask the questions, as to where he was, what he was doing there, and how long he was going to stay. Needless to say, his inmates were quite amused by their new cell mate, and figured that he was just some kind of child killer that was playing an act of innocence. Regardless, they still answered him, though their answers were a bit vague.

They explained to Deniel that he was in Hell, and that he was going to spend the rest of his life here, suffering. Though they had taken the last part back, and assumed that there was no way a child could ever survive the ways they had. Only about an hour after Deniel had been put in his cell, he was called out, and taken to the arena. His inmates demanded at first to know who he was facing, and they only uttered one word: Senji. In spite of being prison cell inmates and murderers, the cell mates of Deniel pleaded with the guards to send one of them instead, to call off the fight, or to send another opponent. Anyone but the child facing Senji, for he would surely die. The guards merely scoffed, and stated that a Nephalem destroying a whole village of innocent people deserved to die. Unfortunately for Deniel, he missed those key words by the guards--to busy studying their faces and attempting to comprehend where he was--and therefore was still ignorant to his own crime.

Regardless of what happened, the young Nephalem was sent to the arena to square off against Senji. The boos of the crowd was the first thing that Deniel could hear when he first entered the arena, all of them filled with disdain and disgust about not only seeing a child, but one of Arianna and Diabolos. And entering the arena after Deniel, to the other side, was Senji. He was not necessarily the most notorious of criminals, or committed the most heinous of crimes, but Senji was a very, very large man. So enormous in muscle mass and relative size that he was sometimes considered to be inhuman. Many prisoners knew that if there was one rule of Bellum's Private Institution, it was to never cross Senji, and pray to never initiate in a fight against him. Naturally, many people held no concern over the child against the monstrous man, and obviously he stood no chance. The fight was called off within seconds, with Deniel suffering several injuries in his spinal arena. Senji had luckily been holding back, so nothing was permanently scarred or broken, but if the man hit the boy in full force, then perhaps he would have died. Not only was the crowd disappointed at the short fight, but they also were very distasteful of the Nephalem. Within the past few hours, Deniel felt just as miserable as he did the previous day, though that was forgotten.

Following the fight, Deniel was given enough treatment to ensure that his wounds would heal quickly, particularly using Magic. Though he wasn't given much more than that. When placed back into his cell, the cell mates of Deniel were gracious to see that he was alive and well. It was ironic, the whole situation. Normal people and crowds treated Deniel with absolute disgust and hatred, while criminals and inmates of a prison started to treat them as an ally to them. Some of them even considered him--since he was a child--as the son they never had. Of course all of that was in due time. And coupled with the arena fight, there was one more thing Deniel had to suffer through as a part of his way of repaying his "debt" to society. Torture.

Naturally it was a part of every inmate's line of duty, but the ones Deniel had been subjected to was weighed with his crimes, and not his age. As a result, he experienced pains and sufferings beyond that which is known to children. Additionally, there was a secondary goal secretly set with Deniel's torture sessions that the institution worked out with Bellum's government. That they would serve a scientific purpose, and discover both the limits and biology of the Nephalem as a species. If Bellum would perhaps be able to learn a weakness to them, or other things such as methods cloning and production, then perhaps they could delve into taboo and recreate Nephalem. Better yet, tame one and make it stronger. Thus, Deniel was tortured and tormented for his crimes, and experimented on for science. And the experiments were never meant to kill him, rather test his limits.

Its a wonder to many just how Deniel managed to survive that kind of environment, especially given his age, but there were many beneficiary factorials to him. The previous day, when his powers awakened for the first time, there was something that sparked within him that initiated the process in which a Nephalem goes from human to Nephalem. As children and babies, Nephalem are no more special than anyone else, but during adolescence, their bodies undergo exponential increases to every area that a normal human would, and even more so than that. Deniel, at the age of roughly eight or nine, was still a little bit too young for puberty and adolescence. Though what triggered it early for him was the desperate need for survival and avoidance of complete and utter doom. Not only was Deniel's Nephalem transformation premature, but it was also the strongest of all Nephalem, as well as the fastest.

Additionally, Deniel was not interested in losing the way he did against Senji. Luckily for him, many of his inmates were masters of both crime and combat, and were oftentimes bored with their enormous downtime, and lack of anything to do. Being able to mentor an eager youth was quite the unique opportunity, but it certainly was something they were willing to go through. Not only did Deniel receive training in martial arts, close quarters combat, street fighting, and freestyle fighting, but he learned how to handle various kinds of weapons and armors. Bellum's Private Institution was a cruel place, but it did provide its inmates with methods to practice for their combat arenas, so those were the perfect grounds for Deniel to learn. He learned how to fight with his fists, a sword, a spear, daggers, archery, fire arms, katanas, and easily almost any weapon one could think of. Bellum's Private Institution had criminals from across the country, and Deniel's favorite trademark weapon, a katana, was trained to him by a master samurai from Midi. There were many prisoners and personalities to go around, and numerous styles to learn. While most of the inmates never expected a child to get far, they were astonished at how fast Deniel picked up skills and adapted to them. This was particularly because of Deniel's state of body growth, and it accepted change and adaption much more flawlessly than any human ever could.

And finally, it was the determination and support Deniel received. It was quite ironic, once again, that he received such support from prison cell inmates, but because of how much time they had all spent there, the bitterness of them had faded away. And they welcomed an eager child, and taught him all they knew about the world... crime included. Especially a teenager full of angst, Deniel fit in very well with that kind of crowd. The determination of the child to merely survive evolved into one to win arena fights, then to become a powerful warrior, and finally escape. After surviving the days of torture and pain was no longer an issue, Deniel spent years calculating and observing any way of making his possible escape. Although of course, just like anyone else, he reached a dead end in his plan. And when he discovered there was no escaping, he still stayed strong in his effort to becoming much more fierce.

The arena fights, even after the battle with Senji, only got better with Deniel's tenacity. And regardless of how much he trained, he had still lost many of his initial ones, but eventually there wasn't a single one that he wouldn't win. Little did he know, however, that Diabolos, Arianna, and Vergil watched their family member nearly every single fight that he engaged in, watching his growth slowly. Arianna and Diabolos wanted to see how strong their son was becoming, and how fast, eager to engage in combat with themselves, but also knowing that he still had many years to go. Vergil was only there to make sure his brother was still alive and well. Years went by, and the whimpering, helpless child grew up into a battle-hardened warrior with a cold heart of steel, and the skills of a warrior.

There came a day when Deniel was finally able to realize that perhaps this was the only life he could ever have... but at the same time, he hoped for another one. As a result, he began something that no one in Bellum's Private Institution ever attempted. He did not attempt to escape, no. Rather, he wanted to burn the place to the ground. If the reason why he couldn't escape was because it was in the sky, then... he would have to take it out of the sky. Out of no where Deniel assaulted one of the guards, seizing their weapon, and prompted his other prisoners to do the same. If Deniel, the youngest of them all, was able to take control against one of the guards, then perhaps they would be able to as well. From his example, Deniel started a riot, one that would very quickly escalate into a fire, and then into the entire fortress coming down towards the ground. Uninterested in that for the time being, Deniel knew that there was one loose end he needed to tie up before the place came to the ground, and perhaps before he died as a result.

He traveled to the chambers in which he had been tortured in, and found the very woman that watched, conducted, and oftentimes engaged in all of the experimental and torturing activities that made him suffer more than anything for so long. Using one or two of her own devices against her, as well as some of the skills he picked up from his fellow inmates about blows that would cause immense pain, Deniel inflicted his revenge in the form of pain. With the concept of revenge and anger flowing through him, one instinct awakened with Deniel on that day, and a certain power. He suddenly found himself delivering a strike towards the woman's chest, and out of no where, the arm that did so morphed itself via Magic to that of a scaled creature's with claws on the end. The claws as well as the force of the blow assisted Deniel in piercing through the woman's skin, flesh, bones, and eventually ripped her heart right through her chest on to the other side. It was the very first time Deniel initiated a Black Devil Take Over... and he could not be more confused.

His confusion and questions would have to wait for another time, however, for he felt that the place was slowly stirring from its rested position in the sky. The young boy hurried himself up to one of the place's many balconies, and discovered for the first time in years just how high up he was. It was astonishing... and also quite hopeless. How could he hope to survive a fall like this, even in the protective walls of the Institution? He realized that he doomed both himself, and the other inmates. Unable to cope with the despair of it all, Deniel very slowly let himself fall of the edge, plummeting towards his death. Though it was at that moment that Deniel realized there had still been one last loose end to tie up: Vergil. Almost forgetting that the old man was the one that sold him out and sent him there in the first place, Deniel's one single wish was that he could somehow take back this death wish. For a day, at least. For five minutes so that he could kill Vergil! He told himself in his mind to go back up, to stop falling, to fly. And miraculously, his wish came true.

Holy Energy created two metallic bars on the back of the Nephalem, and those bars spewed forth triangular shapes of the same energy, forging synthetic wings for the Nephalem to fly with.

The Black Devil and the White Angel were created that day inside of Deniel's body; born from an undying desire to exact revenge on the very woman who tormented him throughout his ruined childhood, and a thirst to bring the one he assumed had sold him out to justice: Vergil.

End of Chapter 6

Chapter 7: Bellum to Fiore

During the years of Deniel's imprisonment, Vergil, Nidhogg, Arianna, and Diabolos were off doing their own tasks. Arianna was oftentimes visiting Diabolos whenever he was not too busy with his works and studying, but other than that she made sure that the Icecrown Citadel she resided in would be an arduous course for Deniel to navigate through, should he come there. She bred creatures together to create what she called "Primal Vulcans", heavily superior versions of normal Mountain Vulcans one would expect. Diabolos spent his time in his laboratory as usual, studying past specimen of Nephalem, learning their strengths and weaknesses, and even carefully going back and through Deniel's fights in his own memories to learn and memorize his fighting style down to every last punch and kick. Nidhogg's story had been somewhat lost after Vergil running from Diabolos, but he was not gone from the family quarrel. Far from it. Nidhogg was now deep in the middle of it; Vergil had no choice but to leave Nidhogg behind with Diabolos. Diabolos had forged Nidhogg, and gave it to Vergil, so he harbored the sword with him until it would be time for him to bequeath it to his next child, Deniel. While spending all of those years with Diabolos, Nidhogg became familiar with the story of Arianna and Diabolos, the story of the Nephalem, Vergil, and had witnessed the makings of Deniel.

There came a day when Diabolos paid Vergil a visit, and initially the old Nephalem was on guard believing Diabolos had come to kill him. Fortunately for him, Diabolos was well aware that Vergil was now far too old and weak to fight, and that he would never even dare challenge Diabolos after his previous defeat. Instead, Diabolos had visited Vergil to not only discuss Deniel, but also give him Nidhogg. It was Diabolos's intent that Deniel be trained how to use the katana, and then eventually have it gifted to him.

Following the violent and destructive escape of the Nephalem, Bellum's Private Institution came crumbling down from the sky straight to the ground. It's unknown to Deniel just how many inmates and guards had survived--if any at all. Luckily it was after the arena fights, so all citizens and innocents had been cleared and away. It was a mere change at luck, though, it was not Deniel's intention. If he could have pulled it off, he would have murdered each and every single person that dared to mock him in the arena stands and gain joy from watching him suffer.

Above all, Deniel was free; he soared the open airs of Bellum, witnessing for the first time in a long time the fresh daylight, lush trees, and the open world. It was perhaps the best way for him to be free, to experience such ecstasy as to fly. On the other hand, Deniel's heart full of rage was not in the flight for the sheer joy of it all. He flew to the one place he knew in all of Bellum, only remembering the path from the first day that he came from Bellum's Private Institution: to the shrine Vergil lived in. The old Nephalem was unaware of Deniel's escape, and was also a little unaware that the entire place was burning straight to the ground. When Deniel arrived, still under the assumption Vergil sent there, the reunion was not a happy one with the Nephalem--who was now in the middle of his teenage years at about the age of 16--attempting to kill the other one.

Vergil managed to knock Deniel out and restrain him, overjoyed that his brother was alive and somewhat well, but also worried about how he managed to escape. During his state of unconsciousness, Vergil carefully inspected the demon's arm for Deniel, and the two wings that he had on his back. It was easy to conclude that Deniel's powers as both a demon and an angel had awakened, and he determined the type of associated Magic they manifested as would be Take Over. It wasn't a bad type at all, in fact he might find it to be superior to his Requip. It took Vergil much toil to convince Deniel that he was not guilty of sending him to that horrible place, but every time Deniel inquired about the truth, Vergil had to lie to him. The twisted sense of logic was something Deniel could very easily argue with; Vergil didn't do it, but he lied about who really did. In the end, Vergil had a proposition Deniel could not argue with: they needed to get out of Bellum and go elsewhere. If they stuck around any longer, then they would find eventually find Deniel and perhaps enact a worse punishment on him.

Unable to argue with that, Deniel and Vergil were on the move, though Deniel was very suspicious about his brother the entire journey. They swiftly traveled out of Bellum, and Vergil had only one destination in mind for Deniel: Fiore. Perhaps the neutral country would be the best location for him. The journey of the two was quite simple: from Bellum they traversed Iceberg, Vergil being very cautious about stepping into Arianna's domain, then they went to Seven, until finally they landed in Fiore.

The journey itself does have a few key details about it though; slowly Vergil regained the trust of his brother Deniel, though the young boy was still heavily traumatized by his experience. What's more is that Vergil had been stunned just how much skills Deniel had acquired. When attempting to teach Deniel how to use Nidhogg, it seemed as though Deniel already knew; little did Vergil know that a Samurai from Midi trained Deniel in that prison, and that it became Deniel's weapon of choice following his training. The one thing that Vergil still had to teach Deniel was Magic: he taught him how to manifest the wings and arm that he was granted at will, and he also informed him that if he developed his magical prowess, he could access even more body parts--perhaps one day becoming unstoppable with them.

That was something that was key about Deniel. Within him, he had the skills and strength of someone far beyond what he was as a Mage, but he was now allowed to develop or exercise his Magical power as a Nephalem. So when he came to Fiore, his powers were on par with a lowly D rank. Fortunately, like everything else learned, his body as a Nephalem quickly adapted to his new environment and combat skill.

End of Chapter 7

Chapter 8: Fiore and Present Day

The rest of Deniel's story is a relatively simple one, as many of the complexities, reasons, and intertwining behind all of his existence came to a close. After arriving in Fiore, Vergil built a shrine for him to live in, and let Deniel off and loose within the brand new country. Deniel found that despite being a Nephalem, nobody knew... or even cared for that matter. He joined the Legal Guild Eclipse Soul, and wasted no time to exercise and gain more Magical Power. He wanted to develop something more than an arm and wings; he wanted more power. His lust for power was driven by Vergil's words that the truth would be unveiled to him once he gained enough. It was also fueled by the fact that both the Black Devil and the White Angel residing in him were somewhat... calling him. There was an instinct in him to awaken his deep and hidden powers.

Very swiftly, Deniel grew. Though with that growth came uncontrollable power. In a certain mission that Deniel took, it was for him to investigate a tower that had a mysterious gem on it. And within that gem, Deniel faced the spirit of his mentor Vergil, so that he could prove himself and his strength. However, during those events, Deniel lost complete control of his powers, and ended up killing the spirit of Vergil. And with his spirit gone, the old man perished at the hands of Deniel's loss of control to his powers. It wasn't until Vergil's death that Deniel realized just how much he cared for him, and how much Vergil had done for him. He was even ashamed to think that even for a moment Vergil was the one that sold him out to the Private Institution. He buried the old man's body, but still kept on his quest for ultimate power, hoping to find the truth of everything, and regain control.

In his journey, Deniel gained possession of Nidhogg from Vergil's shrine, and utilized the Nephalem Sword to the utmost potential. Not much time passed, and at the age of 19, Deniel reached the point where he was both worthy of the title of S rank... and his memories. On the faithful day where he was ready for his exam, his memories flooded back into his mind, and he learned part of the truth he had been yearning so much. With anger flooding into him from all the lies, he traveled back to Vergil's shrine, where he discovered a message hidden by the man before he died, informing him of the location of Arianna and Diabolos, and encouraging him to fulfill his destiny. Once more, Vergil had done more than Deniel could ever imagine. He took the information Vergil gave him, and set out on his journey.

Deniel traveled to the land of Iceberg from Fiore, and eventually reached the blizzard Arianna had created hundreds of years ago to hide from the Frozen King. An endless blizzard that would result in the death of anything that dared cross; the only way to get through is know what lies on the other side, and where it is: The Icecrown Citadel. A feat only possible to Nephalem who garnered that information. Deniel traversed through the Icecrown Citadel, defeating Arianna's guardians and warriors: the Virtue Knights. The Virtue Knights were spirits of Deniel's most favored and powerful children trapped within suits of armor to due her bidding; seven of them in total, they were tests for Nephalem to make sure that they were worthy of Arianna's time and effort. After defeating through all of them and ascending the Icecrown Citadel, Deniel faced his mother Arianna; the siren that called to him on the day that changed his life forever. Though Arianna was a formidable opponent, one of the toughest Deniel had faced thus far, she perished at the superior powers of Deniel. And in her dying breaths, Arianna pleaded with Deniel to not face Diabolos, for she knew that no Nephalem ever could. She admitted all she had ever wanted was to see one of her sons or daughters grow up to be healthy and strong, and she could see that wish being fulfilled with Deniel. In the arms of her son, the White Angel perished with her last words expressing her love for her son.

After the death of Arianna, Deniel discovered that in the Frozen Throne room that she created were the corpses of many of his fellow Nephalem, encased and frozen within the ice. Disgusted by the sight, but also remorseful for his mother, Deniel escaped Iceberg as quickly as he could using the teleportation Lacrima Vergil had given him before his emotions ran wild. In spite of Arianna's plead, there was only one goal left for Deniel at that point: kill Diabolos in Sin.

The journey to Sin was one of flight rather than on foot, with Deniel in an enormous hurry to not only meet his father once more, but also to kill him at long last. Upon arriving in the Land of Sin, Deniel faced several powerful demonic creatures, but they were no match to the hands Deniel's Black Devil form. He found the location of the Obsidian Palace to be the only volcano in Sin--and its largest one--that was not spewing lava or smoke. When he went down the volcano's hole, he found himself right in the center of an arena made of Obsidian, but one that felt impenetrable. The arena had been set up by Diabolos for his children, similar to Arianna. They needed to defeat and bypass his seven Sin Lieutenants, his most trusted warriors as they were the ones that helped Diabolos ascent so high in the hierarchy of Sin. Deniel defeated each and every one of them, until at long last he was able to face the Black Devil Diabolos himself.

And moments into the fight Deniel knew he was no match for Diabolos.

The strength of the monster was immeasurable, and he held so much skill that he was able to copy and mimic Deniel's every move and attack the moment he initiated and engaged it. Except Diabolos was faster, stronger, smarter, and superior in nearly every way, so Deniel faced immense damage while Diabolos had been relatively unfazed. The Black Devil even held so much power that he could destroy most of Deniel's spells with his bare hands alone. Realizing that there was absolutely nothing he could do to defeat him... Deniel almost gave up hope. That is, until he realized that there was one weakness Diabolos had that Deniel didn't. Deniel lured Diabolos into the habit of copying his moves again, and that's when he made his strike: both devils had their claws shoot straight for each other's chests, penetrating through. Diabolos was cocky because he was superior, and figured Deniel would be dead before he suffered any fatal damage. Though when the adrenaline and excitement settled, one thing was certain:

In Deniel's grasp was the heart of Diabolos, crushed underneath his claws. And Diabolos held nothing.

The Nephalem defeated his father by sheer luck and chance alone, and would never have been able to best him in a thousand years any other way. Diabolos, like Arianna, died in Deniel's arms, but was not as forgiving. He proclaimed over and over again that Deniel wasn't really a useful being, and that he should remembered he beat Diabolos by a cheap trick, and nothing else. Though in his assumed last breath, Diabolos did proclaim that he was proud of Deniel above all.

Deniel returned to the shrine once more using the Lacrima, and buried the corpses of Arianna and Diabolos beside Vergil's, and he assured that the couple would hold their hands for eternity. Though in his venting of his feelings, and his burial of Arianna and Diabolos, some mysterious force of work awakened the spirits of both of them, and they entered the both of Deniel. They proclaimed that they would be with him, now and forever, as mother and father. Deniel didn't know what it meant at first, but he figured it was only his imagination. He could not dwell long, for he had much more important business back at Eclipse Soul.

Upon him returning, he discovered that there was a brand new issue for his guild: a new Guild Master. Kyll and Zeno were gone. By popular vote, and much to his surprise, Deniel was the elected new Guild Master. He never imagined it, nor could he believe it... it just seemed so off to him. He was a loner, an outcast, a person who was raised in prison above all else. What could he do to lead a Guild? In spite of doubting himself... he wasn't all that bad, but the timing could not be worse. After killing his parents, Deniel felt a longing emptiness inside of him, the desire to see the world, face new challenges, and.... just be free. He spent his entire life being controlled and manipulated by his parents and Vergil, and with them gone, his biggest desire was freedom. Naturally, he wasn't able to obtain that freedom through sitting there obligated with a Guild. He didn't mind Eclipse Soul at all, but something told him it was his destiny to be free.

As a result, he resigned, and set off on a journey of both self discovery, and freedom.

Along his journey, Deniel encountered many people and foes. In particular was the Storm King when he took a vacation on Crescent Island from all of his work, a powerful foe that could manipulate entire storms and hurricanes with its mind alone. Deniel slayed that creature with the help of a source that he could no longer remember, but forgot to thank. And also, on a trip to an island with Sabertooth's Guild Master, he found himself in the face of the Hive, an ancient Evil that had awoken and was determined to invade Fiore. Deniel killed each and every one of them, and annihilated their hive. Following those events, the spirits of his parents had awoken inside of him once more, and at long last he gained the powers of a True Nephalem. And it was also then he knew what his goal in life was:

To be remembered for centuries. For millennium!  

He was a Nephalem; he could not reproduce, and his lifetime was that of a normal humans. Or was it? He didn't know, but he didn't want to find out. He wanted to make sure that not just Fiore, but the entire world, would know that he was the greatest and most powerful Nephalem to ever live. Past. Present. And future. Of course, he wouldn't get anywhere with that from just wandering around as a nameless powerful nobody, so he sought the Magic Council for assistance. And after declaring his alliance to follow them and protect them, they announced that he was the Third God of Ishval, which would later be promoted to the First. The most powerful wizard in Ishval? He didn't think so. The title was a start to his ultimate goal, though.

Present day he is still a wanderer, but he certainly isn't nameless, nor is he a nobody. Many know who he is, but he still has several goals in mind. To find a worthy opponent, and leave a mark on the world's history like none other.

And now, the story of the True Nephalem comes to a close, as the rest of his life needs to be fulfilled.


End of Chapter 8