In a mystical realm that seemed to sail through a sea of stars, a man in black and crimson armour stood imposingly, overlooking a small world from the balcony of his palace.
His long white hair fluttered with the gentle breeze, but his blood red eyes could not hide the sharp glint within them. Even in this moment of peace, his was still the heart of slaughter.
And yet cradled in his calloused hand was a flickering wisp—a soul.
The man stared at it for a while, contemplating many things in fractions of a second each. And yet, there were simply too many considerations. Even minutes later, he still had not come to a decision.
Unfortunately, time in the lower world moved too fast. It would not wait for anyone, not even a god.
Sensing the opportunity slipping away, the man sighed… and sent the soul down.
He shot it at a speed impossible to understand, but unbeknownst to him, this secret act was not so secret.
Someone had seen what he did. Someone was watching.
And although the white-haired man was incredibly powerful, he was not alone. He was not the sole ruler of this realm. And his action has already violated the Council's rules.
In another part of the realm, a gorgeous woman with the unmistakable air of a mother was tending to her garden.
Her evergreen dress, seemingly made of leaves that reflected the current springtime, rustled with breeze, her long mint green hair flowing with it like a mystical river.
She smiled in satisfaction as she looked at her garden, growing and in full bloom. But something caught her attention.
In the corner of her emerald eyes, she caught the faint flicker of a life yet unborn. It was drifting in the void between worlds like a lonely leaf.
A pang of sadness hit the woman straight through the heart. She stretched out her arms as though calling out to it, and indeed it drew closer.
The woman cradled the unformed life in her arms in pity as she felt its will to live. Unsure of what to do, she whispered in the wind, calling out to someone who might be able to help.
In a few moments, another woman appeared in the garden. This one wore a dress of pure white silk.
Her long golden hair seemed like a celestial blessing for anyone who laid eyes on her. Her blue eyes held only compassion and kindness as she stared at the one in her friend's arms.
She understood what her friend called her for. But even if she wanted to help, the Council had rules that cannot simply be broken, even by them, the very ones who created the rules.
The two slumped over in vexation. If they could simply give this soul the opportunity to live here, they would have already done so in the blink of an eye. But this realm was not meant for fleeting mortal souls.
Even this one that had somehow survived the void is not unbound by time. Already, it was weakening.
It had no place in this realm, not without the tempering of life and divinity.
The only option was to send it down to a mortal world, but rules prevent them from simply doing so.
Souls are gentle things, if a bit too sensitive.
Any one touched by beings on the level of these two women would invariably be changed. This was especially true for this newborn soul, the very epitome of purity. It had yet to even experience true life and already, it was being affected by powers it could not yet begin to comprehend.
Such a soul is too much for a mortal world to handle. It would cause an imbalance in the world's fortune and destiny if this soul were to be sent down.
The two women remained huddled together, brows furrowed as frustration crept in.
The soul was out of time having been drifting in the void for who knows how long. If it cannot be born into life soon, then it will vanish into oblivion forever.
The thought gnawed at the women's hearts. That was when a hulking man in menacing black and purple armour arrived, fuming. His purple hair seemed ablaze with the same furious flame that raged within his amethyst eyes.
When he arrived, the lights seemed to darken as though wishing to hide away from him. But on the contrary, the two women looked at him as though he was their only hope.
The man froze, feeling as though he might get eaten alive by them. Their predatory gazes reminded him of a certain beast that nearly killed them all many years ago.
He wondered what could possibly make these two women like this, but when his gaze locked onto the tiny flickering soul they were barely keeping alive, his eyes lit up with understanding and mischief.
He whispered to the wind, calling out another friend to join them.
A moment later, another man appeared. Dressed in black majestic robes with black hair and impossibly deep black eyes, the man looked absolutely cold. But the moment he appeared, he did not even look at the man who summoned him.
Instead he strode toward the woman in a white dress and sat beside her. In her presence, his aura was restrained and calm, lacking the sinister edge he had come with.
With all four of them assembled, the purple-haired man told them what he saw.
He told them how the white-haired man had sent a soul down to the mortal world without consulting the rest of the Council.
This naturally provoked the other three.
And from there, the decision was easily made.
The two women already wanted to give the soul a chance to live whereas the armoured man wanted to balance out the impact on the world. The black-robed man only followed his wife's decision.
And so, with majority of the Council in agreement, they sent the soul down to the world.
The white-haired man failed to notice it as he was already busy trying to cover up what he had done, not knowing it was already too late.
His little scheme was already exposed, but no one would call him out on it. They would let him believe he had tricked them all… until he realises he himself had been the fool all along.
The flickering pure soul finally descended into the world, nestling in the womb of an unsuspecting maiden. Over the next few months, her belly grew amidst her confusion and her family's anger.
She was a pure and untouched woman. But now her family saw her as a promiscuous disgrace.
She was given two choices, but she ultimately chose to leave.
She would rather be cast out than kill the child growing in her womb.
Fast forward several months, and the woman lay in bed screaming her lungs out. A midwife helped her until the baby was finally born.
Despite not understanding how she had gotten pregnant without ever having been in a relationship with anyone, the woman raised her son with all the love and care she could give.
They lived simply in a tiny village on the border of the empire where she believed her family would not be able to find them.
Everything felt like a dream.
No one noticed the subtle ripples in the fabric of reality born from the emergence of a foreign but pure soul.