Chapter 1
In the ancient times, all the world had was the elements and the children of the earth– animals and humans. There were no creatures of the moon yet.
All of these creatures had a story. As unique as they all were, one of them was so special it changed history. The story was of a female mortal with bronze skin and a golden heart. The young woman lived in a village deep in a forest, lost and forgotten by the rest of the world. Life depended on hunting and gathering. Although her village was ignorant of the horrors reigned by men’s wars, they weren’t living in paradise. They were fighting their own battle– one with nature.
A terrible illness was claiming lives indiscriminately. It put you in your bed first, a coffin later, and six feet under lastly. With no healthy bodies to hunt and provide food, starvation became a second grim reaper.
Lu watched curious welts appear on her mother’s skin. They spread painfully. With every inch of skin they claimed, they took an inch of her life with it. She died within days. Drowned in her own snot, tears, blood, and sweat.
The gods watched lives drop every second uninterestedly. They had seen the system of birth, life, and death millions of times so they had become desensitized to the process. Humanity would forever be violent and hateful so getting involved was hardly worth the bother.
Aphrodite, goddess of love, stared at the blue-green giant distastefully. The anger in humankind had been astronomically high that decade. Science and religion had started another bloodshed in the east, making humans shove spears into anyone who told them their god was not ultimate.
She browsed through lives, sweeping her hand in the fountain of life. A bright giggle made her pause, and it took her a second to realize she was smiling. She focused on the joyful spirit and found a young woman playing with a beast– a wolf.
Aphrodite relaxed, appreciating the love shared by the two creatures. After watching families split for so long, the sight of friendship was a welcomed change.
The peace didn’t last long.
Her village discovered the girl. They blamed her for the terrible plague. They claimed that men and beasts did not belong together and that the gods were trying to punish them for destabilizing nature’s way.
Lu was banished from the village and stripped of her reputation by being labeled a witch and traitor. The village didn’t tolerate murdering their kin, but this rule did not apply to animals. The devastated girl took blows in her attempts to stop the stones they threw at her wolf.
Aphrodite lividly watched another drop of love get evaporated by the fiery hatred in humanity's hearts. Lu cried out with rage as well; Angry at nature for taking her mother and at men for taking her wolf. She took comfort in the fact that she will soon join her loved ones. Her ankle was broken and without mobility, she would die from starvation.
Aphrodite knew that getting involved was not customary for gods, but she didn’t care. She placed both of her hands in the fountain and did something she had never done before— she bounded the soul of Lu with the wolf, who she had named Na.
As a weakling for romance, she often bounded the souls of humans together, but never a human to a beast.
Lu cried out her disbelief when both her leg and wolf began healing. They had both been snatched from the gates of death.
Aphrodite smiled, unaware of the can of worms she just unscrewed.
The first 3 chapters provide a filler of Raiden’s story. Chapters 4 and on are set in modern years.
