Aetherion: The Gods Realm.
Peace was as natural as breathing in the Realm of the Gods. It was simply... typical. Nobody gave it much thought. The gods were a single, large family. Yes, they did fight occasionally. argued about stupid things. However, they were concerned. They survived and smiled.
Then one day the sky simply darkened.
Not a warning. Not a single sign.
Low, enraged thunder rumbled through the clouds, as if the last judgment were about to take place. Then, as if someone had torn it with their bare hands, the heavens broke apart.
A gigantic ball of fire that glowed like a second sun. It crashed in the direction of their land.
The gods wasted no time. The elders gathered quickly. Their eyes were keen, their faces taut. They combined their abilities,woven them into a shield, a hopeful, luminous barrier. You sensed it. their confidence, and they hey were desperate.
However, it was insufficient.
When the fireball struck the shield, it broke like glass.
Everything went to bad after that.
Fire raged. The sky were filled with smoke. Temples fell. Houses flew apart in the wind like paper. A few gods attempted to flee. Some remained to engage in combat. Most, however, didn't make it.
The area was coated with ash.
King Wei Chen stood at the window of the palace. His mouth was clenched, his hands trembling. Queen Li Na was beside him, her eyes aglow with pain, not from labor, but from what she was witnessing, and her tummy swelled.
On that day, the child was born.
A young boy with wide-open eyes and silence, like he was already attempting to make sense of the world he had just entered.
But their happiness was short-lived. The land was damaged. There was never another rainstorm. Crops perished. The water dried up. The spread of hunger Silently and slowly.
Gods can go hungry too.
Over time, hundreds of people perished. They faded one by one.
The shadows appeared just when they believed things couldn't get much worse.
evil spirits. The Demon Realm's monsters. The land was not what they wanted. The palace was not what they wanted.
They desired the Divine Beast–Fenghuang. The guardian and emblem of authority.
Now the beast was feeble. So were the gods. What followed was unavoidable.
They were pursued. One by one. Claws and shadow swords tore it apart. Screams reverberated throughout the mountains.
Li Na and Wei Chen were aware that their kid would soon be located.
Thus, they took the only action possible.
They constructed a portal. An entrance to the world of humans.
They encased their son in an egg-shaped shell. It radiated their strength and warmth. Li Na concealed the essence of the Fenghuang within him before sealing it by reaching down and drawing a sign on his forehead.
A promise as well as a mark.
"We'll locate you if we make it."
They shut the shell.
Then it disappeared into the gate.
The evil spirits arrived at the palace shortly after. Only the king and queen were discovered.
The demons took their time. They entered slowly, grinning cruelly and carrying heftysteps. They carried their swords on their shoulders.
Among them, one smiled. "Wei Chen. Today, we're being kind. Hand the Fenghuang over. We will let you live.
Wei Chen didn't panic or blink, but he also didn't give up.
Sharp and angry, that was all he murmured as he stepped forward.
"No."
That was it.
One demon, swift and vicious, lunged.
He pierced Wei Chen's chest with one clawed hand and Li Na's head with the other.
The blood sprayed.
And the monarchy collapsed. As the demons walked away.
Wei Chen, however, moved even as he bled out. A feeble line was drawn across the floor by his fingers. A tiny, flickering portal.
Despite his feeble voice, he struggled to speak. "Find my son, Xiao."
Then he passed away.
Wei Chen's younger brother, Xiao, ran seconds after the fact.
With tears streaming down his cheeks, he knelt next to them.
His tears didn't last long.
He got up, gave it one last glance, and leaped into the portal.
The palace behind him was on fire. The gods have vanished. None of them made it out alive.
The realm fell silent.
---
A millennium went by.
Life went on in the human world.
China evolved. Houses were filled with machines. Cities expanded quickly. People didn't have time for one another. Not even parents had time for their children.
However, in a tiny mountain community far to the north, time continued to flow slowly.
No automobiles. Not a single skyscraper. Only chilly wind, old roads, and wooden houses.
Despite their poverty, they managed to survive. They sold anything they could and hunted and fished.
Among them were Li Shen, a quiet man who had been thin from hard years and who lived in a small hut with his wife and two children. He had been walking for hours in the cold, with snow crunching beneath his boots. He looked up at the sky and muttered, "Please… just let me find something. Anything. My family's hungry…." He continued walking into the mountains, where the trees grew thinner and the wind howled, until he came to a cave, where he saw an enormous, frozen-in-ice egg. He kned, reached out, and touched the shell..
The temperature was warm.
He muttered, "Who left this here?"
He attempted to shatter it. With his axe, he strike it. Again and again, but to no avail. It didn't break at all.
Then—all of a sudden—it rose by itself, trembling as the light burst forth.
He was thrown into the wall by a surge of force. With a grunt, he sat up fast.
'like I noticed a baby in the center of the cracked egg.' he muttered.
A boy and live, and also Glowing.
His brow bore an odd mark. Like lightning, yet alive, and moving.
Li Shen was at a loss for words.
"…"What are you?"
He approached gently. picked up the infant.
He was heated. Calm and breathing.
Snow had begun to fall outside.
Li Shen wrapped the infant tightly after taking off his coat.
No hesitation, he ventured out into the tempest, and continued to walk.
He had no answers. Just intuition.
He continued walking till he noticed three rats running over the snow.
He was not thinking. simply picked up an arrow and fired it.
All three were slain with a single shot.
'Dinner.'
He gave a slight smile. "We're having dinner tonight."
After catching the rats, he walked away into the white mist.
---
In the Demon Realm
A dim hallway. Silent and cold.
A man crouched in front of a shadow.
"Mr. Tai... I'm prepared. I am going to retrieve the Divine Beast.
"Go, haha. But pay attention, that kid will be our all-time demise if you fail."
The man bowed. Then disappeared into the gate.
Mr. Tai smile and murmured.
"He wakes up after a thousand years.. Hmph. Let's examine your transformation."
---------------
The Human World.
Li Shen arrived to his house. Tucked away in the hills is a little wooden house.
His children screamed and fled out.
"Baba!"
"Papa is returned!"
He grinned. bending down to give them both a hug.
Then his wife, Meiyun, came out.
Upon noticing the bundled coat, she inquired, "What's that?"
He gave their daughter the rats. "Cook quickly, Xinyin. We have food.
He then opened the coat.
The mark was still there, glowing dimly, but the baby's glow had dimmed.
Meiyun let out a gasp.
"Li… no. That mark. That isn't human.
"I know," he muttered. "However, I couldn't abandon him."
After taking a step back, she questioned, "What if he's a demon?"
"I'm not sure. However, he is still living. He is also a baby. He requires us.
Xun, their son, crossed his arms. "I'd rather not have a brother!"
Li Shen knelt down and met his gaze.
Sometimes we are chosen by our family. And we keep them safe.
At that moment, the mark ignited.
Then the room flickered with lightning.
One crackle, followed by quiet.