Argus' and Rafaela's Backstory

< Argus' Backstory >

—Argus and his sister, Rafaela, were raised by their mother. Both children were blessed with flawless looks and a promising bloodline; yet in these lands, he as treated very differently to his sister.

—Exaltation, flowers, glory and respect…

—Argus was never accepted, instead rejected from the day of his birth. This was all down to the age-old legend that pervaded the Land of Dawn, dictating that all angels were female–moreover, that those chosen by the Lord of Light to birth angels could only give birth to baby girls. Argus' identity and origins were matters buried secret by the Monastery of Light, kept even from Argus himself.

—To upload its orthodoxy, the Sacrists tasked with maintaining the Monastery of Light's legitimacy acted with incredible unity: taking Rafaela as a representative who would face the masses, while Argus was kept hidden in the shadows, never to be a representative of the Light, barred from the glory so rightfully his.

—All those who strove to maintain this twisted orthodoxy were split between a fear that Argus would grow to become an outcast, and yearning for the power he held. Without exception, every single one longed that this young man with the Lord of Light's bloodline flowing in his veins could be at one with his sister, to resist the power of the Abyss.

—In fact, Argus' faith in the Light held strong for many years, just as resilient as his sister Rafaela. He cherished her, and cared little as to who of them bathed in more glory: for Argus, its significance would always pale in comparison to the importance of defending what's right. Nonetheless, there always a matter of contention between the sibling: their attitudes toward humanity.

—With the end of Golden Era, a monstrous Abyssal fissure had once more been rent within the Land of Dawn, and from its depths dark energies surged forth again. It was the general belief that the abyssal demons were behind it all, a notion shared by Rafaela, and she blamed all demonkind and the Abyss for woes of the world. Argus, on the other hand, begged to differ. In his eyes it was humankind who were to blame for the Endless War's resurgence, for their chaos and malice presented the demons with an opportunity they then exploited. Argus sneered at the thought of associating with humankind, forever holding them in bitter contempt.

—Rafaela was always prone to forgive those humans who strayed from the path of righteousness, as she believed they could change and be bathed in the Light once more. In stark contrast, Argus considered such people as naught but lost causes, dead leaves on the tree of mortality to be pruned before they tainted the trunk. It was precisely this division between the two siblings that exacerbated the fear others held in him.

—One day upon the battlefield, Argus set after a horde of demons that fled his pursuit. His sister had urged him to fall back instead, yet he valiantly forged onward. It was then that he was snared in the abyssal demons' trap, and they set upon him in an ambush, but he felt no fear at all. On the contrary, he exploited this ambush to his advantage.

—Argus' keen mind was just as formidable as his physical strength, and with it he turned the tables on his foes by allowing himself to be taken deep into their camp. He wiped out a huge chunk of their number, both demons and the humans that sided with them. Before setting off once more he decided to steal away the legendary demonic sword that was kept in the area, but as he grasped its hilt a barrage of strange memories surged into his mind–

—Soft rays of moonlight and the aroma of flowers caress a man and a woman as they exchange vows. But a second later, she's swept away by a number of Sacrists who hold her down, forcing her to imbibe holy water.

—From that day forth she becomes pregnant, her belly swelling by the day. As she grows in size, her face grows ever more haggard. She longs for her lovers, yearns for innocent times past. Two years into the three years of pregnancy one must pass through to bear the Lord of Light's child, she can finally take it no more; she flees from the Monastery of Light into the arms of her long-lost lover, and they live happily together. For a time.

—Such blissful content is all too often short-lived. The Sacrists track the couple down, and slay the man where he stands: for in the eyes of the orthodoxy, he has stained the sacred bloodline of the Lord of Light. With this they take the woman back to the Monastery.

—She is consumed by pure despair, wishing only to join her lover to death. However, each attempt to take her life is quickly shut down. A year later she dies from the exertion of child birth, but leaves behind twins–a boy and a girl. The newborn girl glows with a holy luminance from head to toe, yet the eyes of the boy bear a striking resemblance to his late mother's lover.

—The Sacrists prepare to end the boy's life. Yet just as they move to do so, he's engulfed in a radiant glow that emanates from his sister, and they cannot leave a single scratch upon him. It's seen as a miracle by the Sacrists, a belief strengthened by the fact the infant boy holds a power just as strong as his sister's. they never raise a hand against him again.

—It was then that the memories came to a sharp halt, and Argus came to. He finally understood why the Monastery of Light had endeavored to cover up his true identity; he finally realized why he was the only male angel.

—For he was no holy being, but instead, a member of those he detested the most: a son of man. Furthermore, his fellow humans had known of this and hence slain his parents to exploit his power as their own. They had stolen from him.

—Demonic sword in hand, he ignored the pleadings of his sister and left her behind.

—Little did he know that the reason his blade possessed such a monumental power, the reason it imparted those lost memories to him, was because it was cursed by the God of Destruction: Cyd. His mind was tainted by this malevolent curse, awakening within him a cruel brutality. Argus was driven by his own rage.

—Argus focused his seething fury upon all of mankind, and when Rafaela came for him once more several months later, she was faced with a fearful sight. His graceful wings in all their shimmering radiance were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there sprouted from his back a pair of dark wings that emanated forth a crashing aura of darkness and despair.

—It seemed to her that Argus had, for reasons unknown, lost himself to the darkness, welcomed its embrace. Countless humans had been slaughtered by his hand. Despite all of this. He was still her flesh and blood, her brother: and she couldn't bear to raise her sword against him.

—Each sibling watched the other from afar. Argus knew that having learned the truth of his past, there was no way he could ever go back. He clenched his demonic blade tight, turning and leaving her behind.

—The angel had abandoned all he once had. And so holiness severed its boned with him forever.

—Once, human blood had flown within him, and he was blessed by the Gods themselves, once, he had lived for naught but the Light, for peace. From that day on, however, it was an endless curse that accompanied him instead, a fated curse bequeathed by the God of Destruction.

—Now, he's Argus: the only Dark Angel in this world.

< Rafaela's Backstory >

—With the end of Golden Era, a monstrous Abyssal fissure had once more been rent within the Land of Dawn, and from its depths dark energies surged forth again.

—The dark of night was to fall once more. The Abyss loomed menacingly.

—To protect this world, the Lord of Light selected a number of pure maidens to fall pregnant with angels. The legends said that only females could be angels – such as, those chosen by the Lord of Light could only give birth to girls.

—Argus and Rafaela are twin siblings born in the Moniyan Empire. The Monastery of Light Sacrists forced their mother to imbibe holy water, in the name of the Lord of Light. Hence, she would birth an angel in his temple. Their mother was by all means an ordinary woman, both she and her lover loyally devoted to one another. Yet under the Sacrists' supervision and persuasion, she had little choice but to accept the 'honor' given to her by the Lord of Light.

—The pregnancy of one who bears an angel is an unimaginably long and slow process. Over the three-year period her heart grew heavier, tortured by the loneliness of such a lengthy ordeal. She longed for her lover, yearned to be with him once again. After two years had passed, she could take it no more, and escaped the temple to reunite with him; together, they lived happily once more. Yet it was to be a short-lived happiness.

—The Sacrists found her before long. Her lover was slain before her eyes for threatening to defile the Lord of Light's divine bloodline, and she was returned to the Monastery.

—Another year passed, at the end of which she died during childbirth. To everyone's surprise, she gave birth to a set of twins: and one was a baby boy.

—The infant's eyes bore a striking resemblance to those of his late mother's lover. The Cleric of Light quickly caught on to this, realizing that the boy was born of humankind – yet incredibly, he possessed the power of the angels. The Sacrists tried to slay him but their efforts were thwarted, for each time they tried, a dazzling light would burst from Rafaela, protecting her brother from all harm.

—This was considered as a miracle. They hence abandoned all ideas of killing the boy. Instead, in silent unanimity, it was decided that the circumstances of his birth were to be kept a secret from everyone.

—The Monastery of Light covered up the truth so masterfully that even the twins themselves knew nothing of it.

—And so, Argus and Rafaela grew up together, undergoing the same teaching and training. What set them apart, however, was the fact that she was seen as a beautiful ray of light: a holy, immaculate being. In the eyes of the people, Rafaela was their one true angel. Argus was kept in the shadows, on the other hand, and forever barred from the glory so rightfully his.

—Yet Rafaela loved her brother dearly, as she loved her. The two experienced entirely different treatments, and Argus was constantly warned that his only choice was to live in her shadow, yet the two were nonetheless an inseparable pair that cared deeply for one another. Both were kind-hearted to a fault, and as soon as they come of age, swore to uphold their common mission: to use their power to protect peace and spread the Light.

—Praise and admiration arrived in waves, but alas, it fell only upon Rafaela. While Argus was every bit as outstanding as his sister, and like her had put tremendous effort into upholding the way of the Light, everyone's praise was directed solely at the gentle Rafaela instead. While he fought for the Light, it was in the darkness that Argus remained.

—Rafaela bore witness to this, and many times wished to speak out for her brother: to change the attitude people held toward him. Not once was she successful, however. She couldn't understand: why he was treated like such an outcast? No matter how hard he tried, how great his sacrifices, they knew it all yet still treated him the same…

—Rafaela was an always an attentive soul, and so she soon noticed when Argus' attitude toward humankind began to change. In his eyes, human nature was a malevolent and selfish thing. This being the case, why should even bother trying to ingratiate himself with them? The twins had several arguments concerning this, for Rafaela conversely believed that the Abyss was the root of all Darkness in life. She believed that humanity was good and kind, yet such qualities were lost once tainted by the Abyss. Neither was willing to change their standpoint, no matter how hard they tried to persuade the other.

—The two diverged in terms of their individual philosophies. In time, however, their tactics on the battlefield began to differ too.

—In the midst of the battle, Argus forged on tirelessly as he hungered for a swift victory, yet as a result fell into the demons' trap. Rafaela commanded that the troops retreat, but Argus disregarded her as he headed deep into the demons' nest.

—Argus return from the enemy camp with demonic blade in hand, a weapon emanating a malicious aura. An ominous dark haze swirled around him. Though Rafaela toiled to purge him of this darkness, he broke away and slayed the troops all around her before escaping.

—From then on, Rafaela would tirelessly search for each and every scrap concerning her brother's whereabouts. His behaviour came as no surprise to the Monastery of Light Sacrists; on the contrary, they claimed that they'd long considered him a corrupted soul and that this day was inevitable. Their words shook Rafaela to her core, and for the first time her faith was shaken also. She punished them severely, and left the Monastery of Light to find her lost brother.

—Several months passed. Finally, it was in the Barren Lands that she was reunited with Argus. What she hadn't accounted for, though, was that the Argus she knew was now long gone. The golden aura in which he was once bathed, his radiant wings, they were nowhere to be seen; and in their place was an oppressive aura of cruelty and pitch-black wings of darkness.

—There was no going back now... Rafaela wanted to raise her staff and bring an end to this, as was her duty. Yet memories of the past floated into her mind, one after another, and she couldn't bring herself to do it. Argus gazed at her from afar, and silently turned to leave.

—From then on, he would only fall further into the darkness of the Abyss. Constantly wracked by pain and confusion, constantly sinking ever deeper. As time went on, Rafaela grew into the woman she is today: an angel admired by all, the savior of the apocalypse and embodiment of the Light. Despite this, she could never bear to face the closest to her.

—Time passes, never to return. No matter human or angel, none can turn back the hands of time.