Chapter 2 up!
Apr. 20th, 2005 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
majutsukaiOkay, got the chapter now. This one explains not only the origin of Humans, but of reptiles, hell, sexism, stuff like that... it may be worth it to note that this does not condone sexism, just attempts to explain where it came from. The first chapter was two pages or less, but this one's three and a half. x_x
Enjoy!
Sartenia, enraged by Arkelis’ behavior, and the destruction of the creatures which she had held very dear, began to address the other gods and goddesses and beseeched them to help her. Most of the gods were not convinced, and it took a very long time, but eventually, a few others moved to her side. However, Arkelis discovered her efforts, and denounced her followers as troublemakers; and as such, they lost much of the trust of their fellow immortals.
Arkelis was very proud with himself for how he handled the business with the Ice Age; however, there was one thing that he failed to consider. His own creatures were beginning to fail in the freezing cold, and life was slowly beginning to die out. Arkelis had not yet completely forgotten the beauty of Life in its infancy, and so he decided to intervene to save it.
Arkelis knew that, even though Sartenia never gave any more of her ideas to him, she still had not given up on coming up with new ones. So, he secretly located her stockpile of plans, and drew from it one of them.
This plan was Sartenia’s latest, and by far her greatest; it was the design for a Soul, one that would make a being sentient. Arkelis marveled at the idea, and instantly began to create it. However, he made some alterations to fit his own desires; he put a little bit of himself into the soul, so the beings would manifest tendencies similar to his own. Then, he chose the species of creatures that most resembled him and the other gods, and put the new soul into it.
The creature lost most of the fur on its body; it grew taller, and its hands and feet changed shape. The creature had become a human.
Arkelis took it upon himself to name the first human “Adam”. Surely, thought he, a creature with such intelligence would have no trouble surviving the harsh climate. And he was correct, for Adam quickly learned how to take shelter, and how to find food and water. Arkelis instilled the knowledge of language in him.
When Sartenia found out about Arkelis’s treachery, she was furious. “Arkelis, you fool!” She bellowed with rage. “Not only have you stolen what is rightfully mine, but you have tainted it by giving it your greed, vanity, and ignorance! You have no business intervening as you have!”
Arkelis had at last had enough of Sartenia’s insolence. With his powers, he banished her from the Heavens and bound her to the Earth. When her followers protested, he banished them too.
Arkelis realized with a start that this might have been a mistake; Sartenia and her followers would certainly bear a fair amount of malice towards his creation, he reasoned. So, he created a large garden, surrounded by a stone wall thirty feet high, and let Adam into it for his own protection. There he lived in relative prosperity for a long while.
However, observing the other creatures outside of the Garden named Eden, Arkelis realized that Adam would likely need a female of his kind in order to be fully happy in life. So, he took another creature and another soul, and the first woman, Lillith, was created.
Arkelis told Adam that, since he, the greatest of the Gods, was created as a male, then certainly it must be males that are superior to females, and as such it should be he that lorded over the female. Adam believed him.
The two did not get along very well. Keeping true to Arkelis’s advice, Adam was very officious towards Lillith, who did not appreciate being treated as an inferior. Their disagreements at last came to a head when it came time for them to have children; Adam forced her to the ground and demanded that they procreate. Lillith, having had her fill of his behavior, threw him off. “We both came from the same less than humble beginnings!” She reasoned to him. “What gives you the right to lord over me in the manner that you do?”
Arkelis’s words rang in Adam’s head. At that point, he did precisely what he believed Arkelis would want him to; he produced a knife, restrained her, and held it to her throat. “How dare you speak to me like that?” he demanded. “Perhaps this will make you more willing to comply with my orders!”
Lillith, frightened for the very life in her, decided that Arkelis would better be able to sort out the matter. And so, she chanted the full name of the God, which she and Adam were the only ones to ever know.
Since Arkelis is bound to appear whenever his true name is spoken, he appeared before them at that very moment. “Why have you called me here?” he demanded.
“Adam demands to be my superior, and has even threatened my life!” Lillith answered. “You must tell him that what he is doing is wrong!”
Arkelis scoffed. “Wrong?” he said incredulously. “What he is doing is not wrong at all, but what I advised him to do.”
Lillith was dumbfounded. “Is this true?” she asked. “Would you really treat your own creations in such a way?”
Arkelis nodded in response. Lillith was shocked even further, and his behavior greatly angered her.
“Then you are not a benevolent god at all! You’re selfish and cruel, and I don’t wish to be ruled by a god such as you!”
Arkelis was seething; he’d never met such opposition before. “Then you shall have your wish!” he bellowed. “You’ll rot for eternity outside the garden in the freezing winter!”
With a wave of his hand, she was gone; forever banished to the exterior of the garden.
Sartenia, taking pity on Lillith, took her in, and along with Sartenia's other followers, they decided to take refuge in the center of the earth, where Arkelis wouldn't look for them.
Arkelis felt that he had failed in creating the first Woman, so he took another soul, and made a second. This he named Eve, and so it went that the two lived happily for a while. However, Sartenia, Lillith, and Sartenia's other followers weren't prepared to leave it at that. Sartenia occasionally snuck into the garden, masquerading as a serpent, as shape shifting was one power still available to her. It was in this way that she discovered the Tree of Knowledge.
The Tree was in the innermost sanctum of the Garden, and on it hung a single apple. Arkelis had directed Adam and Eve not to go near it; because, Sartenia discovered, the apple contained knowledge of the source of his powers. Sartenia easily decided that if anything was to be done about Arkelis, she needed the apple. However, Arkelis would certainly know if Sartenia ever went near the Tree; and thus, she was at a loss.
It was Loki that first came up with a plan. "If we cannot get near the tree," he suggested, "Perhaps Adam and Eve can. If you can transform into a serpent and convince them to get the apple for us, then we will have it, and we shall be able to use its powers for good purposes."
Sartenia agreed, and set out to do just that the next day.
The green color of her serpent form’s scales were perfectly suited to keep her hidden from Arkelis’s sight in the dense vegetation of the garden, until she found Adam and Eve bathing in the sun near a riverbed. She hissed to catch their attention.
“I need to ask a favor of you,” she said to them. “In the center of the garden, there is a tree with a single apple. I need you to get that apple and bring it to me.”
Arkelis had told them to stay away from the tree, so it took some convincing to get them to do it. But, eventually, she managed to sway them to her side.
Sartenia stayed behind and hid in the brush to avoid drawing Arkelis’s attention while the couple journeyed to the center of the garden. It was a very large garden, and so it took them a long time to reach the center, but eventually they gazed upon the majesty of the Tree of Knowledge. The tree was easily the largest of all the trees in the garden, and the bottom of its canopy easily cleared the top of all the trees surrounding it. The apple hung at the edge, near the bottom of the leafy treetop.
In order to reach the apple, Adam had to climb the trunk for a fair distance, and then climb out onto the limb on which the apple rested. He plucked the apple from where it hung, then slid a short distance down the trunk and dropped to the ground. There, he took the time to look closer at his quarry.
It was perhaps the reddest of any apple that’s ever grown on a tree; the fruits of the trees in Eden were certainly more luscious than any that grow in trees today, but this apple was of a special caliber even among them. It was a few times larger than a normal apple as well, and its skin shone like the glassy surface of a still lake.
It was at that moment that Adam realized his stomach was empty; whether it was because he hadn’t eaten, or if the appearance of the apple had cast a spell on him, it is impossible to know. However, he gazed upon the flawless apple and decided that, whatever Sartenia needed it for, she could not have needed it as much as he did. And so, he took a large bite from the apple.
The moment it touched his mouth, all the secrets it contained flooded into his mind. Everything about Arkelis’s deception of the other deities, and how he created everything Adam knew, suddenly became known to him.
Taking a bite from the apple was perhaps more of a mistake than Adam at first realized. Arkelis had enchanted the apple so that he would know when its secrets became known; and so, before Adam even had the chance to chew the piece, Arkelis appeared before him fully enraged.
“YOU FOOL!” he bellowed. “I warned you about this tree, and what would happen if you came near it. You’ve committed a crime of the most serious caliber, and so you no longer deserve to live in Eden. You and Eve, and all that descend from you, will be forever banished to the outside of the garden. And if you tell a soul about what you have learned, then you shall spell the end of the human race by your own hand.”
Adam had just time enough to spit out the piece of the apple that he had bitten off before Arkelis waved his hand and banished the two from the garden. Arkelis took the apple, and decided that it would be safer kept near him in the Heavens. And so, he returned to the heavens and created a majestic palace for himself, and placed in its deepest and most hidden chamber the apple. This palace he named Palace Arkelon, and from then on it was where he ruled over the Heavens and Earth.
Sartenia had been wary of trusting Adam with such a deed, and so after a while of considering, she decided it would be best to secretly follow him and make sure he did as he promised he would. It was because of this that she witnessed what happened when Adam took a bite from the apple; and when Arkelis had gone, she quietly approached the piece that Adam had spit out, took it and washed it in a nearby river. She then stole out of the garden with the piece just in time to witness the garden fading away into the thin of the air.
Sartenia now knew that the only home she would ever know was under the surface of the earth; but still, she missed her old home in the heavens, the sun. And so, she decided to remake her home in its image; this place she named Helia, after the sun deity Helios, who had been a friend of hers before she was banished.
Using the knowledge contained within the small piece she had procured, Sartenia created creatures of her own after the design of her original creatures; these became reptiles. Into the last and most majestic creature, she put the soul that she had designed; this creature was a dragon. When Arkelis discovered the creation of these creatures, he denounced them as vile and evil things; and as such, they have always been regarded in this way by the Humans of the world.
I may post chapter 3 some time in the near future, too.
Enjoy!
Sartenia, enraged by Arkelis’ behavior, and the destruction of the creatures which she had held very dear, began to address the other gods and goddesses and beseeched them to help her. Most of the gods were not convinced, and it took a very long time, but eventually, a few others moved to her side. However, Arkelis discovered her efforts, and denounced her followers as troublemakers; and as such, they lost much of the trust of their fellow immortals.
Arkelis was very proud with himself for how he handled the business with the Ice Age; however, there was one thing that he failed to consider. His own creatures were beginning to fail in the freezing cold, and life was slowly beginning to die out. Arkelis had not yet completely forgotten the beauty of Life in its infancy, and so he decided to intervene to save it.
Arkelis knew that, even though Sartenia never gave any more of her ideas to him, she still had not given up on coming up with new ones. So, he secretly located her stockpile of plans, and drew from it one of them.
This plan was Sartenia’s latest, and by far her greatest; it was the design for a Soul, one that would make a being sentient. Arkelis marveled at the idea, and instantly began to create it. However, he made some alterations to fit his own desires; he put a little bit of himself into the soul, so the beings would manifest tendencies similar to his own. Then, he chose the species of creatures that most resembled him and the other gods, and put the new soul into it.
The creature lost most of the fur on its body; it grew taller, and its hands and feet changed shape. The creature had become a human.
Arkelis took it upon himself to name the first human “Adam”. Surely, thought he, a creature with such intelligence would have no trouble surviving the harsh climate. And he was correct, for Adam quickly learned how to take shelter, and how to find food and water. Arkelis instilled the knowledge of language in him.
When Sartenia found out about Arkelis’s treachery, she was furious. “Arkelis, you fool!” She bellowed with rage. “Not only have you stolen what is rightfully mine, but you have tainted it by giving it your greed, vanity, and ignorance! You have no business intervening as you have!”
Arkelis had at last had enough of Sartenia’s insolence. With his powers, he banished her from the Heavens and bound her to the Earth. When her followers protested, he banished them too.
Arkelis realized with a start that this might have been a mistake; Sartenia and her followers would certainly bear a fair amount of malice towards his creation, he reasoned. So, he created a large garden, surrounded by a stone wall thirty feet high, and let Adam into it for his own protection. There he lived in relative prosperity for a long while.
However, observing the other creatures outside of the Garden named Eden, Arkelis realized that Adam would likely need a female of his kind in order to be fully happy in life. So, he took another creature and another soul, and the first woman, Lillith, was created.
Arkelis told Adam that, since he, the greatest of the Gods, was created as a male, then certainly it must be males that are superior to females, and as such it should be he that lorded over the female. Adam believed him.
The two did not get along very well. Keeping true to Arkelis’s advice, Adam was very officious towards Lillith, who did not appreciate being treated as an inferior. Their disagreements at last came to a head when it came time for them to have children; Adam forced her to the ground and demanded that they procreate. Lillith, having had her fill of his behavior, threw him off. “We both came from the same less than humble beginnings!” She reasoned to him. “What gives you the right to lord over me in the manner that you do?”
Arkelis’s words rang in Adam’s head. At that point, he did precisely what he believed Arkelis would want him to; he produced a knife, restrained her, and held it to her throat. “How dare you speak to me like that?” he demanded. “Perhaps this will make you more willing to comply with my orders!”
Lillith, frightened for the very life in her, decided that Arkelis would better be able to sort out the matter. And so, she chanted the full name of the God, which she and Adam were the only ones to ever know.
Since Arkelis is bound to appear whenever his true name is spoken, he appeared before them at that very moment. “Why have you called me here?” he demanded.
“Adam demands to be my superior, and has even threatened my life!” Lillith answered. “You must tell him that what he is doing is wrong!”
Arkelis scoffed. “Wrong?” he said incredulously. “What he is doing is not wrong at all, but what I advised him to do.”
Lillith was dumbfounded. “Is this true?” she asked. “Would you really treat your own creations in such a way?”
Arkelis nodded in response. Lillith was shocked even further, and his behavior greatly angered her.
“Then you are not a benevolent god at all! You’re selfish and cruel, and I don’t wish to be ruled by a god such as you!”
Arkelis was seething; he’d never met such opposition before. “Then you shall have your wish!” he bellowed. “You’ll rot for eternity outside the garden in the freezing winter!”
With a wave of his hand, she was gone; forever banished to the exterior of the garden.
Sartenia, taking pity on Lillith, took her in, and along with Sartenia's other followers, they decided to take refuge in the center of the earth, where Arkelis wouldn't look for them.
Arkelis felt that he had failed in creating the first Woman, so he took another soul, and made a second. This he named Eve, and so it went that the two lived happily for a while. However, Sartenia, Lillith, and Sartenia's other followers weren't prepared to leave it at that. Sartenia occasionally snuck into the garden, masquerading as a serpent, as shape shifting was one power still available to her. It was in this way that she discovered the Tree of Knowledge.
The Tree was in the innermost sanctum of the Garden, and on it hung a single apple. Arkelis had directed Adam and Eve not to go near it; because, Sartenia discovered, the apple contained knowledge of the source of his powers. Sartenia easily decided that if anything was to be done about Arkelis, she needed the apple. However, Arkelis would certainly know if Sartenia ever went near the Tree; and thus, she was at a loss.
It was Loki that first came up with a plan. "If we cannot get near the tree," he suggested, "Perhaps Adam and Eve can. If you can transform into a serpent and convince them to get the apple for us, then we will have it, and we shall be able to use its powers for good purposes."
Sartenia agreed, and set out to do just that the next day.
The green color of her serpent form’s scales were perfectly suited to keep her hidden from Arkelis’s sight in the dense vegetation of the garden, until she found Adam and Eve bathing in the sun near a riverbed. She hissed to catch their attention.
“I need to ask a favor of you,” she said to them. “In the center of the garden, there is a tree with a single apple. I need you to get that apple and bring it to me.”
Arkelis had told them to stay away from the tree, so it took some convincing to get them to do it. But, eventually, she managed to sway them to her side.
Sartenia stayed behind and hid in the brush to avoid drawing Arkelis’s attention while the couple journeyed to the center of the garden. It was a very large garden, and so it took them a long time to reach the center, but eventually they gazed upon the majesty of the Tree of Knowledge. The tree was easily the largest of all the trees in the garden, and the bottom of its canopy easily cleared the top of all the trees surrounding it. The apple hung at the edge, near the bottom of the leafy treetop.
In order to reach the apple, Adam had to climb the trunk for a fair distance, and then climb out onto the limb on which the apple rested. He plucked the apple from where it hung, then slid a short distance down the trunk and dropped to the ground. There, he took the time to look closer at his quarry.
It was perhaps the reddest of any apple that’s ever grown on a tree; the fruits of the trees in Eden were certainly more luscious than any that grow in trees today, but this apple was of a special caliber even among them. It was a few times larger than a normal apple as well, and its skin shone like the glassy surface of a still lake.
It was at that moment that Adam realized his stomach was empty; whether it was because he hadn’t eaten, or if the appearance of the apple had cast a spell on him, it is impossible to know. However, he gazed upon the flawless apple and decided that, whatever Sartenia needed it for, she could not have needed it as much as he did. And so, he took a large bite from the apple.
The moment it touched his mouth, all the secrets it contained flooded into his mind. Everything about Arkelis’s deception of the other deities, and how he created everything Adam knew, suddenly became known to him.
Taking a bite from the apple was perhaps more of a mistake than Adam at first realized. Arkelis had enchanted the apple so that he would know when its secrets became known; and so, before Adam even had the chance to chew the piece, Arkelis appeared before him fully enraged.
“YOU FOOL!” he bellowed. “I warned you about this tree, and what would happen if you came near it. You’ve committed a crime of the most serious caliber, and so you no longer deserve to live in Eden. You and Eve, and all that descend from you, will be forever banished to the outside of the garden. And if you tell a soul about what you have learned, then you shall spell the end of the human race by your own hand.”
Adam had just time enough to spit out the piece of the apple that he had bitten off before Arkelis waved his hand and banished the two from the garden. Arkelis took the apple, and decided that it would be safer kept near him in the Heavens. And so, he returned to the heavens and created a majestic palace for himself, and placed in its deepest and most hidden chamber the apple. This palace he named Palace Arkelon, and from then on it was where he ruled over the Heavens and Earth.
Sartenia had been wary of trusting Adam with such a deed, and so after a while of considering, she decided it would be best to secretly follow him and make sure he did as he promised he would. It was because of this that she witnessed what happened when Adam took a bite from the apple; and when Arkelis had gone, she quietly approached the piece that Adam had spit out, took it and washed it in a nearby river. She then stole out of the garden with the piece just in time to witness the garden fading away into the thin of the air.
Sartenia now knew that the only home she would ever know was under the surface of the earth; but still, she missed her old home in the heavens, the sun. And so, she decided to remake her home in its image; this place she named Helia, after the sun deity Helios, who had been a friend of hers before she was banished.
Using the knowledge contained within the small piece she had procured, Sartenia created creatures of her own after the design of her original creatures; these became reptiles. Into the last and most majestic creature, she put the soul that she had designed; this creature was a dragon. When Arkelis discovered the creation of these creatures, he denounced them as vile and evil things; and as such, they have always been regarded in this way by the Humans of the world.
I may post chapter 3 some time in the near future, too.
