BIRTH (OR RATHER, DEATH)

Akupheles and his twin brother were born into the world and promptly taken away as victims of infant mortality. For normal infants, this would be the end of their story... but for these twins, the Heavens and Underworld had different plans for them.

Upon their death, they were collected by the Visionary, who used the twins as the perfect test subjects for their... experiment. While Neige was sent to live with the angels, Akupheles was transported to the Underworld, where he would be raised by demons.

CHILDHOOD

When first arriving at the Underworld, Hellflames at first reluctantly took Akupheles under his care, but would quickly grow to love the child. Akupheles had always been told by Hellflames he would be the successor, but Hellflames treated Akupheles more like a son if anything.

Being a human originally, Akupheles' integration into the Underworld lifestyle was not smooth. For one, he is not resistant to fire and poison like the others, leaving him to be considered fragile in the eyes of other demons. However, he would eventually gain demonic traits from prologned exposure to the Underworld: red coloration on his hair's fringe, twisting ram horns, ashy cracks in his skin, and finally, one demon eye. This was no human puberty; Akupheles spent around two decades agonizing over these changes, but it would eventually lend him more protection to the Underworld's harsh environment.

ADULTHOOD

Around 800 years later, Hellflames declared war on the angels for a reason unexplained to the public. Thus, Akupheles began his training in full, being shown all aspects of combat and command in order to prepare for succeeding the General position. All he needed left was for Hellflames to show him the ropes of leading an army, until Hellflames was eliminated by intruding angel warriors, and Akupheles was left with nothing but the heritage weapon for warlords.

With no reference to fall back on, Akupheles embarked on his first expedition with his own plan, only to discover the Overworld was ravaged by war and poverty. He decided that the mortals in the Overworld should not have to suffer the consequences of the angels, so he split his goals so he could both push back against angel forces while helping repair the mortal world.

OVERTHROWN

Akupheles' efforts to restore the Overworld were widely successful, resulting in him gaining immense respect from the mortal inhabitants, even managing to make a few close friends. However, while the Overworld dwellers grew to like their new savior, the demon army grew dissatisfied with their leader's distraction from the true goal.

Thus, the higher-ranked soldiers staged a rebellion and overthrew Akupheles, separating him from his scythe, which tore away his memories of his demon life. He would then be replaced by a young demon named Glow after being banished into the human realm with no powers and no memories.

HUMAN LIFE

Akupheles woke up with no sense of his self, but complete knowledge of his ambitions, friends, and combat skills. Still, he found himself immediately drawn to the forest, where he finds a small blonde man by the river, Nathaniel. After confessing that he wasn't sure what his name was, Nathaniel comes up with a new name for him: Adrian.

From that day on, the two slowly developed a close friendship with an unexplainable closeness. Over the course of two years, he would come to enjoy the peaceful human life despite the gnawing feeling that there was still something missing. There were still mysteries. Why couldn't he remember all of his childhood? Why was any information about himself blurry and unclear, no matter how hard he tried to remember? Life with Nathaniel was an effective distraction against these questions, but they would all come full circle in due time.

UNCOVERING THE TRUTH

While spending time in the library, Adrian and Nathaniel are suddenly confronted by a detective--Sylvar, Adrian's elf friend! Sylvar frantically explains everything that happened. which sparks a series of revelations, leading to Nathaniel and Adrian realizing they were infant brothers separated, and Nathaniel embarking on a mission to retrieve Adrian's scythe and memories.

Once Adrian receives his staff and recovers his memories, he regains his self as Akupheles once more. He learns that Nathaniel is actually an angel named Neige, who was his twin brother. They uncover the truth behind the Visionary, finally discovering the true reason why the war between demons and angels began: Hellflames was searing for his twin, Lystar, which ultimately led to his end.

(pretend i have stuff about them confronting the visionary i pretty much forgot everything... i shouldve archived some stuff huh)

RETURNING TO PEACE

After the entire ordeal is over, Akupheles surprisingly decides that he perfers the human life, allowing Glow to keep her role as the warlord. He returns to the human world, taking in the simple beauty of life along with Neige, Sylvar, his daughter Leilatha, and the angels who are no longer at war with the demons.