The tale of Vindictus and Officialia

There are many couples within the Pantheon, but few are as contrasting (and perhaps even conflicting) between the roles, attitudes and characteristics as the one Officialia, Goddess of Bureaucracy and Civilization, has with her beloved and ever loyal Vindictus, God of the Natural Forces and Scourge of Heaven; the only couple who could compare is the one Bellum and Legatia have, but even that one differs in the mere fact that War is in its core a violent yet natural extension of Politics, and often intertwined with diplomacy: what a realm cannot achieve with one it does it with the other.   Civilization and the Natural forces are different: none is a natural extension of the other, and more so than War and Diplomacy, they very often stand in opposition: communities want to develop their town wherever they would desire, yet they're often prevented by the fact than not everywhere is suitable for one to set roots and develop. By either tornadoes, storms, volcanos, earthquakes or more, nature makes it impossible if not at the very least, extremely hard in many regions to be ruled and developed for Civilization's benefit.   Yet despite this irreconcilable fact, these two gods who are their living embodiment are still one of the greatest couples of the Pantheon, and the reason behind such a loving and strong bond goes way back, for they are in practice the oldest members of the current rulers of Paraborn.   Vindictus was long ago born when the "God's Rampage" happened; the time when the Firstborns unleashed their wrath for the first time upon the second generation of mortals and their world. The scale of the holy magic unleashed upon the land was too great to just disperse quickly, as it naturally does: it ended up concentrating in several spots deep beneath the earth, and from there, these "patches" of concentrated godly power fused with one another as they filtered deeper and deeper below. Eventually, all that power concentrated on a singular area, where its effect on the very rock and dirt became strongest. It didn't take it long for its raw strength to create a new entity, a demon like no other, the living embodiment of the Elements and of the Forces of Nature themselves: this being, born from magic and earth was Vindictus.   He was born with a natural connection to the very world, the cradle which had given him life, and that connection allowed him to wield powers no other beings could wield, especially regarding its strongest and most potent forces. And just like the lava from volcanoes, he was drawn to surge forth to the surface, and so he did. And when he rose from the depths of the earth, the extent of his might was fully revealed for all to witness: his roar was thunder, his voice tornadoes, his steps earthquakes. He could raise and erode mountain ranges at his whim, while volcanoes rose and exploded wherever he had a rage tantrum. Yes, tantrum is the way to call it, for this being was, despite all of his natural might, a newborn: a mighty and chaotic newborn, yet a newborn nonetheless. He was ignorant of all things, both good, bad and in between, and so, with eyes filled with the same wonder any child has, he started to travel across the land and sea, finding everything new he came across as marvelous and wondrous, as any child does.   Yet due to this immaturity, he was oblivious to the destruction every single one of his actions brought to anything he came across, laying waste to countless stretches of territory and accidentally extinguishing entire ecosystems. It was but a matter of time before the Firstborns noticed the massive disturbances provoked by the demon's actions, and so, they encountered the one behind the sudden and great destruction brought upon the world of their mortal servants.   They were surprised by this being, for they could sense and feel the connection with them: it was like them, yet also different. Regardless, they were not to sit idle when Vindictus set his eyes on the then-still rebuilding mortals, desiring to interact with this new "moving things" it had found; they wouldn't risk this...alien creature to annihilate their source of sustenance even by accident. And to their credit they were not mistaken: Vindictus had started to crush, stomp, devour and overall obliterate the mortals as the newborn was unable to grasp the consequences of each of his actions, in his attempts to get a "better look" at the critters.   No matter his original desire, the elemental demon quickly lost his focus on the mortal when the Firstborn showed up: the being instantly felt a connection to these new arrivals: he didn't know it at the time, but the Firstborns were the closest thing to him as a family. Such was the sudden rise of happiness and joy the being felt, that he rushed towards these "other hims" (as he called them) in order to give them a large, big hug.   Yet the gods didn't return the gesture: they attacked him instead, leaving him unconscious in an instant, completely unable to even react to their sudden strikes. Once the creature was vulnerable, the gods went to finish him off, only to find (to their great displeasure) that since the demon had been born out of their power, he was for the most part resistant to them; they could wound it, but not kill it. With no other better alternative, the gods decided to cage the demon instead, for they weren't going to allow it to roam freely upon the land. They made a cage deep beneath the earth, and tied the creature with mighty chains, which prevented Vindictus from even moving.   When the creature woke up, he suddenly found himself in a cold, barren new environment, unable to move. Not only that, he was able to remember the last thing before waking up; the "other him" had hit him, and very hard mind you. He tried to move, but quickly found it unable to do it. He tried to force out the chains to free himself, but they were too strong. He tried then to find something to shatter them, but he found nothing. Following this, he tried to at least return to his "playground" as he called it, but quickly found that there was no way out of this small, cold place. In the end, no matter what he tried, he found out that he was unable to do what he used to do. And so, with nothing else to do, Vindictus started to cry.   He was sad: what had he done? Why was he in this awful place? Why had the “others him” strike him? He couldn't understand: all that he knew was that he found new potential friends...and those beings had put him in this place. He cried and cried, unable to understand why he was in this place, why had the gods attacked him. Was it something he had done? If so, what? Had he done something so terrible that he deserved to be in this place? But...he could sense that he wasn't meant to be like this, he knew it deep down.   And so, as time passed, confusion turned to sadness, and sadness turned to fear, and fear turned to anger, and eventually, anger turned to hatred. For the demon spent countless millennia imprisoned, and the chains that constricted him became more and more painful as he became more physically mature: they wounded him, and so he experienced pain. Suffering, loss, confusion. All those feelings, and he was unable to communicate with anyone but himself. Is no wonder that Vindictus grew to resent the "others' ', and to desire vengeance. Yet for all of his desires, his situation looked as if it would remain like this forever, and indeed, the Firstborns desired him to remain imprisoned for eternity, if they even remembered his very existence. It would be after an immeasurable amount of time before Vindictus’s prison was broken.   For the first time in a long time, Vindictus was able to see light, and notice that a new figure had appeared. This new singular being quickly approached him, and the demon could feel it was just like the others: it emanated a very similar aura. However, unlike the others, this new arrival did introduce himself: his name was Superbios, and he was a god who was fighting against the one who had captured Vindictus. The demon, having only experienced attack by these so-called "gods" (the term was new to him), wasn't willing to believe the new arrival, until he not only broke his chains, but helped him recover at long last from his wounds. With these small efforts, Vindictus, being the still ignorant and gullible "young" being that he was, decided to help Superbios in his "war", at least to repay his freedom. And after witnessing the forces of Paraborn, who all emanated an even more similar aura to that of the Firstborn, it didn't take much for the elemental demon to unleash his pent up wrath upon what he perceived as his foes. At last, he would make them pay for all the pain he was forced to endure.   Yet he had been tricked: these gods were not the Firstborns but rather a far younger generation of deities, all loyal members of the Pantheon. They were completely ignorant yet also innocent of Vindictus' imprisonment, so no matter how justified was the rage that the elemental demon unleashed, it was being directed towards the wrong targets. Regardless of this, the Pantheon had no time to find out more of the new "member" of Superbios rebels', and due to the sheer might the demon unleashed, they were forced to send their greatest warrior: Bellum himself.   The clash between the God of War and the Elemental Demon was beyond any other: the raw might of Vindictus proved to be quite the challenge to Bellum's skill and combat experience. Yet this was only for so long: Vindictus had never actually fought before, so even though every single one of his blows was able to severely wound his opponent, his strikes were crude and simple, all made in a simple and predictable pattern. This severe weakness was something that Bellum was able to take advantage of, and soon enough, Vindictus was forced to flee for his life.   As he ran across the unfamiliar environment of Paraborn, laying waste to all the walls, houses and gods that stood in his way, he found himself being pursued by his relentless new opponent, who was determined to finish off the creature. It became a game of Cat and Mouse, and one that the demon was losing: with every passing moment, the God of War came closer and closer. Desperate to escape, Vindictus tried to find anywhere he could hide, and so, he rushed inside a massive building, big enough not to be toppled or even endangered by his massive frame.   Instinctively, the demon barricaded the entrance with anything he could find in the room he entered to, to at the very least give him more time to properly run away from this entire place. He was wounded, confused, and terrified: he could feel himself struggling to remain conscious, and was dreading that if he did close his eyes...he couldn't open them again.   Minutes passed, and his enemy didn't show up. This allowed Vindictus to sigh, and to finally take a small rest to recover his spent energies somewhat. Once this happened, and considering himself in good enough shape, he started to explore this new place he found himself in, a place full of books.   Calm as he was, he allowed himself to once again marvel at the new things he had just found, to the point that he forgot to keep searching for a way out: he was too focused on these new things.   He was so perplexed and surprised, that he failed to notice the arrival of another being, and was immediately startled when he heard a voice behind him. He tried to strike back, but the being easily dodged the attack, allowing herself to be seen by the new arrival to her quarters.   It was at this moment when Vindictus first met Officialia, and the impression was not a good one: the moment he set his eyes on her, he cowered in fear, for he could see the exact same aura as the one of the being who had locked him up all this time. He started to whimper while getting on his knees, his fear of being jailed again overriding his desire to strike his hated foe. Officialia understood this, for she was the only remaining deity in Paraborn who besides Superbios, knew of the demon's existence: her father The Almighty himself had told her long ago about the creature. And she remembered the arrogant and derogatory tone of her progenitor when he spoke of the "being of rock and holy magic", a very different way of looking at what to her was clearly a scared, wounded young creature.   At first she thought that Vindictus couldn't speak, so was surprised to realize that the demon was sapient. However, that only compelled her even more to not only calm him, but also to give him proper treatment. Vindictus at first remained steady and growled at her attempts, yet he was forced to accept her aid once he noticed that she had no true hostile intentions.   Officialia quickly started to work, aware about how and why this creature was free. She wouldn't allow Superbios to take advantage of this young "godling", especially after he fainted due to his wounds. When Vindictus awoke and found himself covered by many bandages, he immediately thought these were new chains, only to very quickly realize that these were far too weak. Not only that, he wasn't in the prison, but rather in the same spot he had fainted, with the goddess looking at him with calm eyes: she expected such a startled reaction.   This allowed the two to finally start a proper chat, with each one introducing to one another. Officialia asked how he had arrived at her main facility, upon which Vindictus explained the matter. The goddess didn't care that this new acquaintance of hers was on the other side, for she could see the truth. Not only that, when Bellum finally showed up, she stood on the War God's path, trying to protect the demon. This simple event proved to be life changing to Vindictus, for no one had stood in his defense in his entire life. And once it became clear that his new "friend" Superbios had abandoned him, he didn't fight back when he was captured shortly before the Civil War's end.   Unlike the other few prisoners that the victors had taken, Vindictus was not only spared, but also freed, although now under the watch of Officialia, who had offered herself to teach him.   Vindictus then spent several mortal centuries under the Goddess tutelage, learning all that was to offer regarding both Heaven and the Mortal Plane. Like a patient mother, Officialia explained, educated and even punished Vindictus as if he was her own child. It was thanks to her efforts that the demon was able to mature and develop like never before: he learned the reason behind his imprisonment, and that his actions had laid waste to many innocent beings. He felt sorry for that, realizing in his young mind that he had been just as bad as the Firstborns had been with him. Officialia was quick to correct her pupil that he was just ignorant, and more importantly, she showed him that life was far more resilient than at first glance: the lands he had long ago devastated had recovered, and new creatures had laid home. More importantly, she showed him the first members of the fourth generation of mortals, our most ancient and direct ancestors.   Vindictus's astonishment regarding the great thing these mortals were doing eventually blossomed into something else: admiration. He loved the many creations the mortals were building, and grew to desire to be able to create something new in a similar manner: in simpler terms, he hoped to be a creator rather than a destroyer. And that was a dream that Officialia was more than willing to help.   It took a lot of effort, but Vindictus managed to fully master his innate connection to the world, to shape it in whatever way he so desired. And his desires were simple and noble: he wanted to give all the mortals a better place to live in. He traveled across the lands and seas, rising entire islands chains wherever they were most useful, right in the perfect spots for the ships that in the future would sails across the waters, as predicted by Prophetor; he rose and toppled mountain chains wherever they were most needed or necessary, either creating new now unblocked paths for migrations of both beast and mortals, or new rich veins of minerals that the mortal realms would profit from them.   Yet not all of his actions were as peaceful, independently of what he originally believed or intended: it said that many of our ancestors were extremely greedy, exploiting the very land and nature to the point of breaking the natural circle, which threatened to kill all, including the blind perpetrators. It was with great sorrow that Vindictus was forced to obliterate and destroy these communities, leaving only those that were capable of holding off their worst vices enough for the land to adapt alongside them, instead of being plundered beyond recovery. There was also the fact that many foreign gods as well as demonic hordes tried to take advantage of his work in order to further their own interest; to these relentless foes, Vindictus became an unbeatable champion, especially once he spent some time under the combat tutelage of Bellum. In the end, only good mortals, non-hostile gods and the rest of the Pantheon itself would profit from Vindictus' efforts and work.   Regardless of the nature of his actions, they forever marked the kind of relationship we have towards him, the Child of Earth and the Firstborn: we have to forever thank him for the wealth of the land and sea, the result of his godly work, and at the same time to fear his wrath, forever present in all the natural calamities that occur across the Empire; be a tornado, earthquake or volcanic eruption, they are all extensions of Vindictus will, or at the very least, he has the might to make them far more destructive and cataclysmic than they already are. So, this god is one to be both admired and feared, especially since after the Pantheon fully settled into its current form, he was granted the position which makes him famous: The Scourge of Heaven, in charge of making us mortal suffer the consequences when we forget our part in the deal between the gods and us.   As for the relationship of Vindictus and Officialia, well...once the former demon and now God of Nature was finishing his work, both him and his Mentor realized that, as time had gone, the kind and ways they interacted had changed: they had become more relaxed, more emotional, and more...passionate wherever they were close. It took them some time, but eventually, they realized without a doubt that despite having roles that should put them at complete odds, they were in deep love. And although they never married (for Vindictus, for all of his admiration of Civilization, didn't see the point of such an unnecessary rite), they have always been together ever since, one of the many couples that make the Pantheon the way we know it.