//------------------------------// // Prologue: A chance for Salvation // Story: Legacy of Kain: Harmony's Rise // by Time Reaper //------------------------------// Imprisoned. That was Raziel's fate inside the Soul Reaver, an ancient weapon of vampiric origins and designed to be used by the Scion of Balance so the restoration of Nosgoth could be possible. While Raziel at first didn't wanted to accept his fate inside the blade, in the end, he relented knowing full well that this was the only way Kain would have enough power to defeat The Elder God, a parasite that took control of The Wheel of Fate so it could feast on the souls of Nosgoth, return them to the world and feed on them over again; using wraiths, like Raziel, to harvest the souls and feed itself even more. Ever growing it's influence on the land, he started to control it's terrain to destroy the cities that knew him, making sure that they were forgotten and that way nobody would ever know about it, this is what happened to the Ancient Vampire citadels of Nosgoth, those wise vampires cursed where casted out by the Elder God and then sent to oblivion, and who knew what else has been destroyed by him in all the millennia of Nosgoth's history. The more influence it got on the land of Nosgoth, the more the land of Nosgoth would die, Nosgoth's green landscapes were gone by the time Raziel woke up as a wraith and, in a few millennia, there would be nothing more than desolation and death with a few humans and mutated vampires living in there with the hopes of the land being restored to it's former beauty... or perhaps to die faster and stop living in such nightmare; having knowledge of what was going on in the past, present and future, it made sure that Free Will were nonexistent and, in the end, only Raziel was capable of Free Will because of the mysterious ways he came to be and, sadly, nobody knows how he came to be. By this point, Raziel (being a Reaver of Souls) was finally absorbed into the Reaver Blade, allowing its wielder (Kain) to use both the Physical and Spiritual powers of the blade so he could once and for all defeat the Elder God, that parasitic squid that was destroying the land they both loved (albeit for different reasons), but after that, Raziel didn't know what would happen to him, he supposed that he would be trapped in the Blade until the end of the days and then he would probably know what would truly happens when you die. "Raziel" - said an angelic voice, too different from anything he have heard before, not even Ariel sounded this... divine. "Raziel" - by this point he could finally see it, somehow, the being managed to take a visual appearance, even when they were inside the Reaver Blade; it was humanlike, with angelic white wings, it's face looked peaceful and it could be told that it only wanted peace, but Raziel could feel the power it had even under this impossible conditions. "Who are you?" - asked Raziel, curious of who and why this angel would be talking to him. "I am a messenger from someone higher up, he has been watching you Raziel, and he is pleased with you, pleased with how you used your Free Will to save the land he created and thanks to you and Kain everything will be restored to way it used to be before that demon came". Skepticism filled Raziel -, "demon? is that the name of the parasitic monster that played with this world like a puppet? A monster that used anything at its whim and once it wasn't useful any longer, It would dispose of its pawns like an old cloth? And what about this message?, after all the monstrosities I did as a human and a Vampire, not even counting my brethren and Kain himself, the monstrosities of humans like Moebius and the Circle of Nine, monstrosities that in the end were only to feed a creature that blasphemously claimed to be a God, after all that, you come here to tell me that your lord is pleased with me? that sounds very suspicious and my apologies for suspecting the idea that some mighty God was controlling all of this from the very beginning and allowed the monstrosities that were caused by him". The angel, instead of angering or showing disdain, it started to show patience and with a smile on it's face and giving of a sense of understanding, proceeded: "Indeed, your claim is right, but fear not, ever since the creature decided to take over The Wheel of Fate that my Lord created, He started to plan all of this, including you, and including Kain. But I'm not here to only congratulate you on your recent endeavor for, you see... while the Old Demon may have been defeated here, instead of accepting his fate, he decided to escape to another realm, more innocent than Nosgoth ever was and to subjugate it to its will and restart everything it did here on Nosgoth. So, to avoid that, my Lord sent me here to ask you to travel into this realm, search for him and give him the final strike so he can be judged once and for all. Should you accept and succeed, you will gain a chance of going to my Lord's land when your time has expired". At this, Raziel once again decided to show his skepticism, he was more willing to listen to the offer, but first, he would have to clear some things up. "Expired? should I remember you that no matter how hard the enemy tries, I cannot die? Can your Lord change that? Or do you mean that I'll somehow die at the end of times?". The angel remained unaffected by Raziel's concern and responded accordingly: "Both Raziel, my Lord gave you the chance to live, so you could bring hope to Nosgoth and what my Lord gives he can take away. But, in the end, all life comes to an end one way or another, including Nosgoth, including Kain, and including you. But fear not, should you decline my Lord's offer, you will not die, only remain trapped in this blade until the end of times and be accordingly judged when the time comes. Should you accept the offer, after the end of times, you will be given permission to enter in my Lord's domain, a place of rest and peace, a place where you won't ever feel hunger, tiredness or pain ever again". The deal sounded very tempting, but Raziel wasn't that easy to fool: "What is the trap to this sound and perfect offer?" The angel continued to sooth Raziel's doubts in its angelic voice -, "there is no trap Raziel, but I will warn you, while this new realm is more innocent than Nosgoth ever was, the inhabitants of this land are very fearful of strangers. You'll have to your advantage that they value loyalty and altruism among other virtues and, should you help them, they will eventually accept you into their land". Raziel looked at the Holy being and, still skeptic, asked: "And why should I search for their acceptance, if I may ask?" The angel decided to give Raziel the information he would need for his new endeavor: "Since you will be sent to this land just a few hours before the Demon enters it, it will be too weak to even be found, you may try, but I warn you that the task will be impossible for a while and while your blade is only a wraith that cannot harm it, the inhabitants of this realm possess a weapon of immense power that can defeat creatures of the levels of Janos Audron and beyond, but without you and the purifying powers of your Reaver, they won't stand a chance against it and will be plunged into a nightmare never seen before. Only with your help, they'll be able to stop the Demon, since the purity of the Reaver is the only thing that can defeat it". "And, just because it will be too weak, it doesn't mean that it won't do anything in the meantime, in the moment it enters into the realm, it will start to feed itself with the land's energy to grow in power, if you allow it to do so, it will become too powerful before the land's citizens decide to accept you and you would have failed, once you enter in this realm, there will be no time to waste". "I gave a thought to this offer: on one hand, I could accept the offer and chase the monster that made my life hell, even more than Kain, and should I refuse all of this, that monster will go to another land and do the same things it did in Nosgoth, Should I refuse, I would not only make all of mine's and Kain's efforts to destroy it and restore Nosgoth in bane, but I would be condemning another land into the same nightmare I've lived, just looking into the Reaver Blade in my arm, I understood that as long as I had it with me, I would have the responsibility to fight for the just cause and never allow any type of injustice to ever happen anywhere if I have anything to say about it..." Raziel looked at the angel, who was smiling as if knowing that he was going to accept from the very beginning. "I accept". The angel proceed and decided to give Raziel a last warning: "Good, remember, try to stop it from gaining power but also make sure to win the acceptance of the inhabitants of this land when the time is right and one last warning: the citizens of this realm, aren't humans or vampires and once you look at them, you might be surprised, but in the inside, they have souls and are capable of being rationals, just like you and me". Raziel decided to take this information to the heart and not forget this, whatever species the inhabitants of this new land were, it would certainly be something he wouldn't be seeing coming. "Thank you for your kind warning, fear not, that I will not judge them for their appearance neither lose my time in there". "I could feel little by little, how I was being transported into this new land, and while I was entering into this realm I was curious about that land's citizens, what kind of creature could they be according with the information I was given?" Meanwhile in another realm A Purple unicorn with a purple mane, violet eyes and a six-pointed star in her flanks was galloping into what it looked like a big library, but it actually was her bedroom, she was very intrigued for what she had recently read. "The Elements of Harmony, the only thing that allowed the banishment of NIghtmare Moon, I know I've seen those elements before, but where?".