In a dying land known to many as The Distant Land filled with withering trees and ruins of an old village filled with misty, suffocating air, there was a boy born of mysterious circumstances. He was born under a big tree that seemed like it was the only tree alive within the forest. The tree had pink leaves with vines hanging all over with lights shining when it was night. The events that unfolded were bizarre by all standards. A land filled with starving creatures and deadly monsters left this boy alone as if they were scared. And the boy only stayed alive because the tree itself is nurturing all his needs.
As soon as the boy could open his blood-red eyes, he could see a mysterious vibrant green essence in the air. This essence would nurture him, sustain him of his daily needs and protect him from the vile air in the surrounding.
This was the essence of the tree. It was its mana. But mana itself is not sentient, nor does it have a will of its own, yet this one was different.
As soon as the boy could crawl, the mysterious essence would guide him carefully towards the small entrance of the tree which fits him perfectly.
As soon as the boy could eat solid food, the mysterious essence would bear its fruits and fed it to the boy which gave him the sustenance he needed to grow.
As soon as the boy could walk, the mysterious essence would teach him how to speak and write in common tongue which the Free People of Teramordia used.
As soon as the boy could talk, the mysterious essence would teach him how to speak properly, using his words to communicate what he feels.
As soon as the boy could run, the mysterious essence would teach him how to hunt for his own food.
As soon as the boy would return, crying, wounded from the hunt, the mysterious essence would heal him and lull him from his crying.
As soon as the boy could think for himself, the mysterious essence would teach him slowly about everything essential to becoming one's own person.
As soon as the boy could nurture his mana, the mysterious essence would teach him how to create his own mana-core.
As soon as he had a mana-core, the mysterious essence would teach him how to create his own magic.
As soon as he learned magic, the mysterious essence would teach him how to fight using his magic.
As soon as he could walk freely within where the tree has influence, the mysterious essence would teach him how to converse and interact with other people for when he meets them outside The Distant Land.
As soon as he could fight, the mysterious essence would teach him how to defend himself from the dangerous monsters of The Distant Land.
As soon as he could understand his emotions, the mysterious essence would teach him about the world beyond The Distand Land and the Free People of Teramordia.
And as soon as the mysterious essence taught the boy everything he needed in order to survive, it embraced the boy with its free-shaped form, and bestowed upon him a name that will forever be engraved in the world. Arceus Genesis Voyde.
The big tree that nurtured him is now withering slowly right in front of him. The boy cried as he fell on his knees. For the first time, he felt love and grief at the same time. The boy didn't know how to react to what he was feeling, and so he slowly crawled to the large root of the tree where he used to sleep peacefully and hugged it.
Tears fell down the root of the tree and for a moment, the boy hears the soft, motherly voice of the tree talking to him for one last time. "My child, my precious son. Do not grieve for this is not farewell. With the name I have bestowed upon you, with it is my will. With the knowledge I have gifted you, with it comes my grace. And with the essence I have nurtured you with, with it comes my love. Vessel of my King, I will always be with you."
As the pink flower-like leaves of the tree fell down on the ashen-white hair of the boy, it slowly faded to black, leaving only some strands to be white.
And as the tree shed its final leaf, the boy stood up to face it one last time. The once living tree, filled with life, now looked like the rest of the trees in The Distant Land.
The boy then says his final words to the tree, "I will live true to what you've taught me. I will hold you in my heart forever." as he turns around to set off on his journey into the unknown, leaving with only the last leaf of the tree that gave him his life.
Days later. Arceus, now wandering the ruined village at night within The Distant Land, sees remnants of the past when the village was once thriving. He saw old burned down houses where people used to live and he was curious. He saw a house that was barely intact, but still looked better than the other broken down homes and he walked towards it. As he gets close, he hears a growl of a creature inside the broken door of the house. He cautiously stepped closer towards the house and the growl kept getting angrier and louder.
As he steps inside the house, a silhouette of a lifeless direwolf was on the floor laying and beside it was where the growl resides. A pair of glowing white eyes growled at him and as his eyes got used to the darkness, he saw that it was only a direwolf cub. It was growling at him, trying to protect its mother from him.
Arceus kneels down in front of the cub and says, "I know how you feel right now." as he looks at the cub and its already dead mother.
The cub lunges at him as it tries to bite him and Arceus just lets the cub bite his hand. He strengthened his hand with mana so he would not get hurt, but he let the cub take its frustration out on his hand.
The cub then slowly let go of his hand and went back to its mother's side and laid beside her. Arceus, looking at the thin cub, stood up and decided to hunt for food. He found a herd of wildebeast just outside the village and quickly, he hunted one down with his bare hands.
When he returned to the house, he set up a fire just outside the house and proceeded to butcher the wildebeast. He used a dull knife that he found around near the house to cut up pieces of meat that he would cook. He cuts down smaller pieces and puts it in a bowl and gives it to the cub. As he was walking inside, the cub growled at him again but Arceus just left the bowl beside the cub and proceeded to watch outside the door of the house to see if the cub was eating.
The cub cautiously took a bite out of the meat, as it stared at Arceus outside. Arceus gathered some clean water from the riverside at the back of the house and gave some to the cub who looked thirsty and tired.
"There, there, little pup. I'm not here to hurt you. Your feelings… I'm well aware of what it is. Us orphans of the wild have to stick together in order to survive." He says as he sits beside the cautious cub and ate his food. The cub slowly lets its guard down and just laid between his mother and Arceus.
As morning rises, Arceus wakes up to a wet tongue licking his face. The cub who had grown accustomed to him was now waking him up frantically. Arceus heard a loud commotion outside as he slowly peeks and sees goblins nearby.
The goblins were bickering among themselves and the cub was standing behind Arceus, growling intently. "So these were the ones that hunted down your wounded mother, huh." Arceus says as he stood up slowly. He then grabs the dull knife he used and imbues mana in it. "Stay here, girl. I'll take care of them."
He walked outside the door to see a group of goblins who dragged the wildebeast's corpse he caught and ate it just a couple houses down. Arceus channels his mana into the dull knife and throws it towards the goblins.
It hit the head of one goblin that was eating and a black mist leaked out of the knife. As the goblins turned around to Arceus, they stood up and grabbed their weapons. But in a blink of an eye, as soon as they were about to charge, Arceus suddenly vanished. "Here." a voice whispered behind the goblins, as Arceus threw the knife again towards the next goblin. He then teleports toward that goblin and sliced off the neck of the goblins beside him. Three goblins remained and they all tried to run away from Arceus, but it was too late. Arceus throws the knife again and this time it didn't hit any of the goblins.
The goblins were relieved as they looked back at Arceus but as soon as they turned their heads, he wasn't there again. "You're not going anywhere." Arceus says as he stabs another goblin in the chest as it unknowingly ran towards him. He finished off the remaining goblins in an instant and wiped his face from all the blood that splattered. The cub was barking at him when he was walking back, spinning around as if it was chasing its own tail.
"Told you, I got them, girl." Arceus says as he walks back toward the cub. The cub looked at him and as he got closer, the cub ran away from him as it had her tongue out, making a face like Arceus smelled so bad.
"What? You don't like the smell of goblins?" Arceus asks as he ran to pick up the cub, laughing. He brought it with him to the river to clean up and as he took off his top, the scars from the endless battle against the monsters of The Distant Land lay visible for the sky to see. "There. Now we're both clean."
As they went back, Arceus knew that he needed to take the cub with him because it wouldn't survive on its own. He dug up a grave for the cub's mother and laid her down to rest. "I'm sorry, girl. I guess you're stuck with me now." He says as he pets the cub on his lap.
"What should I call you?" He wondered as he held the cub up, "You have white eyes with silver and auburn fur, and you're a direwolf, and you're a pretty little lady. Hmmmm." He thought for a while.
"Artemis. That's your name now." The cub then barks softly towards Arceus seemingly happy with its given name. They sat in front of the grave for a few more moments and Arceus left a silent promise to the mother of the cub. 'I will protect your cub, even if it costs me my own life.'
Arceus stayed in the village for a few more weeks before heading out again into the unknown.
He gathered clothes that were still wearable and he somewhat rebuilt the house that he and Artemis stayed at. He also made a lot of useful stuff like a bowl made out of dead trees and cups made from the horns of the wildebeasts he caught and a large blanket made out of wildebeast fur. He also learned to cook decent food, using the leftover seasonings around the village. And thus, he was ready to head out into the unknown.
He didn't know what the world was like, but he had hoped that the experience would be worth the journey. He packed the things he needed and called Artemis out as they both walked out the once doorless home. "We'll come back here, girl. After all, this is where we belong." He says as Artemis barks happily.