Before the Age of Desire, there was an Age of Compassion. The Age of Compassion was headed by the infamous Witch of Glory, Hybris, who led the charge against ancient beasts that haunted the world, the power of desire overrelied on by the only force that could push back against this hostile regime.
Compassion wasn't enough, and as tensions rose, and as the destruction on the people continued to run rampant, many lay in fear every day that their daily lives would be upended by these ancient forces that lay in wait, ready to pounce at any moment to consume everything that humans knew and loved.
Things remained stagnant; a war of attrition between the two existences, and at any moment, the mortals who only wished to persist in their daily lives were at risk of being driven to extinction, until one day, the Witch of Gifts, Apate discovered a more potent, powerful source of energy that would turn the tides in this war. The Power of Desire, much more long-lasting and persistent compared to Compassion, something that would linger even after death, extreme emotion collected into one place, formed by merely the extreme desires of one person.
The Witches of Mercury, during the Age of Compassion, began the Age of Desire, driving back the Ancient forces that threatened the existence of the average man. Those who had headed this new age were none other than the Witch of Pride, Hybris; The Witch of Greed, Apate; And the Witch of Apathy, Aergia.
For a time, the land of Limbus was prosperous, and an era of peace had spread across the land, but within peace, frustrations would foster, as the people did not have a united enemy to stand up against. Conflicts began to arise among each other. Some of the Ancients had remained, though, meaning that the Witches themselves had not lost their purpose, their relevancy, but as the power of Desire began to run rampant amongst the public-- to put it simply, frustrations caused by complacency along with the chaotic and unstable potential that is the Power of Desire incarnate had began to birth a new type of creature, a new conflict to arise amongst the ashes of the war previous.
Apostles were born, weaker creatures of Desire.
Finding the power of Desire was as if Pandora's Box itself had been opened, releasing something that could never be contained from that point on. The people had lost their faith in this power, though their faith in the Witches of Mercury had not faltered, believing these almost deified beings would be capable of containing this now infectious and permeating energy from spreading further, from causing further destruction across the world, a level of destruction incomparable to the Ancient Beasts of old.
More Witches had gathered, all representing the Seven Deadly Sins, and, even through the negative connotations of their names, protected the world against the current menace that bubbled beneath the surface.
A few facts were clarified through the Witch of Greed, Apate. Apostilization, which is what they referred to this affliction at the time; is a state in which those who had an intake of the substance that was extreme desire, would become corrupted through extreme emotions. Not everyone could utilize Desire-- or rather, weaponize Desire itself, mind you. Only a special few across the world had the potential of using Desire as some sort of Magical Substance to use to their advantage-- to effectively become superhuman, or even a superhero through Desire alone.
Even if there were a scarce few who could wield Desire in such a way to provide themselves with special abilities, that didn't mean there wasn't enough to create a scare amongst the wider populace.
The pressure grew worse and worse, and the power of Desire itself had become more and more unstable. It was a slow process that lasted years. Still, the first to fall into the festering hole of Desire was the Witch of Greed themselves, but, for such a powerful thing that is a Witch, it's more than just Apostilization that they would go through, it would be a complete altering of themselves and the environment around them, manifesting a physical representation of their Desires incarnate.
So much power could only lead to a violent turn of events that would corrupt the world at its very core—a filth that would infect the flesh that clung to your muscle tissue and nerve endings. It was slow, it was insidious, and the people were not immune to its effects.
First, it was an alteration of the environment that could show up in a variety of ways. It comes off as natural-- construction crews, maybe the odd person here and there who looked nothing like your peer, an automaton of sorts. Some is a bubbling mass that floods the land with its rotting biomass, maybe rampant waters that slowly flood the streets, that escalate into a rippling ocean that submerges buildings and streets.
But if you noticed, it would be too late, for at that point, you were already integrated into this new and foreign society, only a scarce few leaving in time before being infected by the hivemind of Desire.
A new meaning for Witches was established, adding layers to the already existing meanings of the creatures that were born by Desire. Apostles and Witches, extreme emotions given birth, processed, and transformed into beings of incredible power.
A fear of the Magic of Desire grew, but it would be a lie if the weaker, the common people, had no other choice but the rely on the Power of Desire itself. The Witches of Mercury of an age past were now the Witches of Wonderland-- Wonderland being the continent of Limbus, now overtaken by God-like creatures that have planted themselves like fungal growths that infected the very land itself, twisting it to their ideal images.
A new group of Witches was established, a new group, the new Witches of Mercury, those who were headed by the organization of Mercury itself. Within this organization, two groups had been established. Grief: Those involved in the more interpersonal aspects when restraining those taken in by the call of Desire, and then Grimm: The true Witches of Mercury that exist in the modern day.
The Seven Witches of Wonderland were the targets of Grimm, this group being a special taskforce assigned under the direct guidance of the Mother of Light, a Witch herself, chained in Martyrdom within New Limbus, guiding the new youth in leading a new Age, an Age not overtaken by desire and the self-destruction that comes with it.
The targets were thus Cupido/Lust, the Queen of Desire herself, and Minos. The only access point back into the mainland of Limbus, now known as Wonderland, was through the land of Lust itself, Cupido. One would typically avoid the head Witches of Wonderland, but Minos was unavoidable, and, inevitably, these Witches must be eliminated to retake the main continent of Limbus, regardless. Caution would not work in this particular scenario. The following targets would either be Linnaeus or Gluttony, or Aergia of Sloth. Aergia would be the most likely target, as they could simply be found sleeping within their capital, rolled into a ball within their sprawling, almost silk-like castle that is draped over the remaining limestone buildings that litter the slumbering city.
Avoiding Linnaeus for a short time and aiming for Aergia is not without reason, however, the Witch of Gluttony is considered the second strongest of the Witches during their time as a part of Mercury, the lands infected by an unrecoverable blight, forcefully consuming itself and the land around it, constantly producing it's food and searching for it on it's lonesome as if the Earth itself had been manifested into a famished, eternally disatisfied being desperately grasping for it's next meal in a desperate attempt to end it's persisting torment.
After that would be Lavia Thane, the Witch of Envy, said to have manifested into a gargantuan Leviathan the size of the country that had overtaken, leaving the cities and countryside that used to reside in that section of the continent submerged in deep black waters in which the beast, the Leviathan of Envy itself is left to wander. Rumors have it that this creature on its own fosters an ecosystem on its own body, almost acting as a replacement for what it had stolen from the people who had originally lived in these lands, once covered in green outstretched fields that reached over the horizon.
There is then the Witch of Wrath, Nemesis. They have not Apostasized. They are a powerful Witch, already kept close by the Witches of Mercury of the past. They are powerful, and it's more accurate to say that they volunteered themselves into the appealing embrace of desire. They did not transform, they remained sane, as sane as one like that would be at the very least, but the land still changed, they changed it with their own hands. It didn't become altered through involuntary stimuli, no, they altered it with their own bare hands and fists.
Next was the Witch of Greed, Apate, the origin of it all, a land filled with rigid machinations and automaton soldiers, that of siphoning resources from the very earth itself, eternally dissatisfied. Other than that, even before they had become a Witch of Wonderland, it remained a mystery amongst their peers.
Finally, there is the Witch of Pride, Hybris, the strongest Witch of all. Other than the land being transformed into an eternal battlefield, any further information is unknown.
Aside from Queen Minos, the remainder of the Witches does not necessarily have to be taken care of within the order stated, as some may be too difficult to handle, or easier to handle in comparison to one another, depending on those within Grimm deployed to handle the issue. If anything, this is a list of the Witches as they are, almost as a list of goals to follow-- not required to, regardless, but to follow nonetheless.
This is the story of Grimm, and the Witches that currently reside in Mercury, all of which who hold hope that one day, their efforts will save the world, bringing it back to their beginnings in the Age of Desire, either that, or to have hope in birthing a new age in of itself. Maybe the power garnered by these nearly God-like beings would provide them with this opportunity.
It could also lead to a relapse that will plunge the world further into despair.