Chapter Text
Oh, you want to hear the story? It’s actually quite an interesting story, I even died at the end of it.
Oh, ah, but it’s not a sad story, far from it actually. It’s not even about me, really, it’s a story about a boy named Jougo.
Many years ago, there was a pair of gods that walked the earth. Tenebros, a being of darkness and creation, and Sophocles, a being of light and destruction. And though the two were polar opposites, they still ended up feeling a strange attraction to one another and became each other’s closest companions.
As the two of them nudged humanity along in their own ways, Tenebros decided to use his powers to grow a magical flower that would have the power to heal the sick and injured. He spent most of his time caring for the flower, hoping that it’s power would grow and one day be used to heal and protect the people of this world, and to help it grow he sang a special song.
However Sophocles did not understand why his counterpart even bothered with the magic flower. He had seen humanity’s selfishness, their pettiness, the senseless anger they felt for each other, and all the worst that they had to offer. He didn’t believe that any of them were worth helping nor did they deserve it. Though he still watched and listened as the other god tended to his flower whenever the two of them met.
Then, one day the two fought, and in the aftermath Tenebros decided it would be best for him to disappear. Sophocles became distraught at the loss of his only companion and would find himself often coming back to the magic flower, singing the song he had heard Tenebros sing to it so many times before, hoping that the other god would one day return to their special meeting spot.
Hundreds of years passed, and the king and queen of a nearby kingdom were expecting a baby, but the queen fell ill just before the baby was to be born. His majesty became desperate, and he ordered every soldier in his kingdom to search far and wide for the mythical flower spoken of in legends that was said to cure any ailment. And though the god of light did his best to hide the flower from them, the king’s men still managed to find it and were able to give it to the queen.
The queen recovered and a beautiful, healthy baby boy with soft brown and copper hair was born. A prince, who they named Jougo. His parents were ecstatic, and the two of them loved their son more than anything.
To celebrate his birth, the king and queen sent a floating lantern into the sky, and in that one moment, everything was perfect.
The bitter god refused to let go of his past and the magic flower so easily though. One night he went to the castle, finding that the baby’s hair would glow and change to a black and silver color much like the flower had when someone sang the flower’s song. He had only planned to take a lock of hair from the prince, but discovered that the hair lost its magic once cut.
Seeing no other option and with guards already on their way to stop him, Sophocles grabbed the baby prince and disappeared into the night. Though the entire kingdom searched and searched, they were never able to find the stolen prince. For deep in the forest, hidden away in a tower, the god kept himself to human form and raised the child as his own. This time, he was determined to never let his flower go ever again.
Every year on the prince’s birthday, the king and queen would fill the sky with floating lanterns, praying that their lost son might see them and that the lights would lead their child home.
And so eighteen years passed, and the prince grew up, hidden away in the tower, watching from his window each year as the magic lights would float into the sky, dreaming of what it would be like to one day see them in person.