Every realm was ruled by a god. Every rule had its own rules and worship.
The Realm of Arcadia was no different.
Long before the great spires of Arcadia Academy pierced the skies, the Realm of Arcadia knew only silence, harvest, peace, and the rule of the great god Pan.
Pan ruled over the Realm of Arcadia with mercy and hope and complete divinity. Under him, the swamps in the east, the snow mountains in the north, and the deserts in the west lived in union. Because of Pan, the Realm of Arcadia was untouched by steel or flame.
No war. No bloodshed. Only a utopia.
"The great god Pan is dead."
The people of Arcadia tilled the soil with reverence, sang songs to the rain, and left offerings.
"The great god Pan is dead!"
But one day, Pan died. That was what they all said. That was what the people accepted. In his name, they would live in peace.
But with the great god's death came evil. That evil was known as the Mad Prince Virgil.
No one knew from whence he rode—only that his coming was heralded by fire in the sky and punctures in the wind. He called himself Prince Virgil, a title unearned and spoken with enough fury to silence doubt. He wore robes of scorched black silk with no crown.
The Crownless Prince, some called him.
In his hand, the prince bore the Eternal Flame, a torch burning with green fire that never flickered. He proclaimed it was the last will of Pan himself, stolen from death and gifted to him.
"It's a lie!" the people proclaimed, and for that, they received death.
"O people! I am the Holy Light. I am the Speaker of the Holy Light. I am Prince Virgil."
No angel spoke through him, no god walked at his side. The Eternal Flame seared, consumed, and betrayed. Some say the Flame whispered to him. Others say it screamed.
Prince Virgil rode not on horse nor chariot, but on the back of a beast said to be as old as the realm itself: Penelope, the ash-black dragon whose wings shadowed villages and whose breath could boil stone. The old god Pan had once caged this dragon. Now, its mind and will was caged by the devilish prince.
The priests of Arcadia called the Crownless Prince a heretic. The elders called him a sin that should not live. They asked the gods for help and help did not come. Indeed, to the children and the dying, Virgil was a monster. He descended on the first village with sermons of salvation and cleansed it in fire. To the second village, he did the same. To the third village who had already surrendered, he and his dragon cleansed it with fire.
They tried to fight back, even though they did not know how. For them, this was a world of dreams and peace. This lone man and his dragon changed everything, from a dreamworld to a nightmare.
Prince Virgil could not be stopped. His fire was not alone.
Possessing the element of the earth itself, by dipping it with the Eternal Flame, Prince Virgil forged constructs. Metal husks shaped like men, powered by divine spark and dark code. Their eyes glowed with the same unholy blue as his flame. They did not speak. They did not sleep. They advanced without pity, without fear, without hesitation. These were executioners.
Thus began the Time of Unmaking.
Villages fell like grain beneath the metal army. Forests burned from the flame in his hand. Rivers choked with ash from the black dragon. Hope died in silence.
Until the Founders arrived.
Luminara the Flamebearer carried the Flaming Sword. Her eyes held dawn. Her footsteps lit the ground. To her, light was not a weapon, but a vow. Luminara was said to be the first to truly defy the Mad Prince.
Noctis, a great shadow of the Supreme Goddess Nyx. His form was unknown. His face was unknown. His weapon was unknown. Where Luminara burned, he cast forward the night. He acted at every shadow she created and was as cunning as a snake.
Terranova, a womanly spirit of the earth itself, came bearing the Master Staff. A weapon older than Virgil's heresy and bound to the very will of Arcadia. Yes, some worshipped her as the strongest for she wielded the power of the realm itself.
And Chelys, follower of Hermes and as large as the hills themselves. A wise, old turtle who often sang to the children of the realm and could not sing no more with the advent of the Mad Prince.
Together, they became Arcadia's answer. Together, these four were the Founders of what was to be Arcadia Academy.
The Founders saved the realm's survivors; many hiding in caves, many shivering in ruined chapels, and the rest starving in the soot of old homes. The Founders trained them. Armed them. Gave them hope as the great god Pan once did.
The Final Confrontation began at the ruins of Pan's Grove, where Virgil had erected a great spire of twisted metal and bone, declaring it the new altar of the Holy Light.
"O unworthy ones! Oh you disbelievers! Judgement Day has come! Judgement to you all!"
The proclamation echoed through the realm. The dark founder Noctis devised a plan. They struck at dusk.
Terranova led the charge with the Master Staff and convinced the lands to join her. Yes, the Realm of Arcadia cracked open and swallowed half of Virgil's army in one fell swoop. Trees surged to life and attacked. Countless metal constructs were caged, countless fell into hell, and countless attacked. With the power of the Master Staff, the realm itself caged the million warriors.
The earth could not kill, however.
Only people could.
The people fought alongside Terranova, once victims and now warriors. They hurled rocks, wielded axes, and swung blades. Blood and oil soaked the fields.
In the heavens above, Chelys rose to meet the Black Dragon Penelope.
The black dragon scream and split the skies and the eardrums of humanity. The faithful blue turtle met it with a chord that restored the land and healed the people. Every strum was a thunderclap. The two titans danced across the sky—fire and wind, darkness and song. Penelope struck with tail and flame; Chelys blocked with his shell and countered with a song.
At last came Luminara, cutting a path toward the prince himself.
The Mad Prince stood upon his altar, the Eternal Flame circling him like a chained star. His eyes blazed with fever and conviction.
"O woman. You think you wield light?" Prince Virgil spat as she approached. "You hold a candle. I am the sun."
Luminara raised her blade, which burned red and gold, a flame that warmed instead of devoured. "You wield nothing but evil, Virgil."
The Eternal Flame returned to his palm and merged into the blade known as the Black Wing. It grew stronger than ever.
Prince Virgil and Luminara collided.
Steel rang. Flame met flame. Sparks tore the air. Prince Virgil's black fire howled and shrieked. Luminara's red blade answered every strike with all that was good.
"For the future!"
Prince Virgil struck at her mind with the power granted to him by the Eternal Flame—visions of despair, twisted futures, lost gods and people. But she did not give in to the darkness.
"For Arcadia!" Luminara roared—and struck harder than ever.
Terranova and the people met the endless metal army. Chelys met the fierce dragon Penelope. The Flaming Sword met the Black Wing. Bursts of light blinded the world. Sky turned white. It seemed the battle would never end.
"Ngh!"
A meteor crashed down and nearly ruptured the Earth. Drip, drip. Streams of blood fell from the red-orange hair of the fiery Founder. Luminara growled. She looked up.
It seemed…Luminara was losing. The Black Wing alone was a mighty weapon. Invigored by the Eternal Flame, Prince Virgil was all but toying with her. Grinning, amused for once, he rocketed down on her. This time, Luminara could not take to the skies. She held her ground.
Skkkkkktch!
The blades grinded. Her sword cracked. She dropped to her knee. She was going to die…!
"Behind you."
Until Prince Virgil touched the ground to push everything he had down on her, trying to break her soul, only to cast a shadow and let Noctis manifest behind him. His heart was pierced by a poisoned knife before the mad prince could let out a gasp.
Grinning, Luminara swept the Black wing aside and delivered the final blow—!
Shriiik!
Luminara ran the Flaming Sword through his heart, and twisted.
The great Prince Virgil died, muttering, "Hear me, Founders! You have founded a realm and people of travesty and darkness. The Day of Judgement…will come…to you…all…!"