_________ POV Narration _________
'Say, have you ever heard of the story of the 4 gods?'
A loud voice thundered into the Emperor's ears as Zunesha decided to start the story by probing around to learn how much Enel actually knew.
"... I thought there were only 3 gods, did I forget something?"
The Emperor seemed a bit confused, he wracked his mind as he tried to understand what the ancient Elephant was talking about.
It took all but two seconds for the Emperor's mind to remember an old legend from Skypea.
'The altar of the 4 gods... The God of the Sun, the Rain, the Forest and the Earth...'
It was an altar related to the religion that the Shandians were following. Although of significant historical and iconographic value, it had never struck out as anything more than legend to Enel in the past.
He and the Revolutionaries had somewhat dismissed that altar and the story it told as it didn't quite seem to go hand in hand with the information they had translated from the poneglyphs.
After all, the writings they found only ever mentioned the three gods that formed the Grand Empire which reportedly ruled over the entire world during the Void Century.
'It seems that you have some idea of what it is, young incarnation of Raijin...'
Zunesha's loud voice broke into Enel's mind once more and broke him out of his musings.
Enel sighed as he looked up at Zunesha.
"But it doesn't really make sense, does it? The three gods that we know of are, the God of Thunder, the God of the Sun and the God of Hearth... It simply doesn't seem to fit, does it?"
Enel decided to simply voice out his concerns, although his mind was already running at great speeds trying to figure out how that discrepancy could be solved.
And just as Zunesha spoke, he also seemed to figure it out.
"It must've been a translation error..." 'It must've been a translation error...'
Enel didn't need an eternity to figure that out now that his mind was clearer and worked much faster than before.
It was already clear from Larthy's discoveries that the Poneglyphs weren't a language that could be translated one for one, different symbols could have different meanings according to the way they were used.
It wasn't an impossible code to crack, but it took a lot of time.
Thankfully, with their efforts, they did manage to find a few more 'names' for the God of Hearth, which was ultimately what led Enel to realize that they might have been wrong for the other ones too.
'The only name we got 100% right was the name of the Sun God, as it was the most prevalent in the writings, but the others are more difficult to figure out.'
Enel's thoughts were once again interrupted by a loud voice.
'Well, I'm glad that you are at least smarter than Raijin was... His mantra was more akin to, kill now, ask questions never. He quite disliked planning things out...'
Zunesha didn't hold back at all as it poked fun at the old god, as one would with an old friend.
But Enel could still feel a bit of resentment, especially on that last part. The drums on his back seemed to react to it too, vibrating slightly out of the Emperor's control.
'Hmm... No use mulling over it.
I'll tell you more about the 4 gods.'
Enel nodded wordlessly to the voice within his head, he pondered on taking out a notebook to write everything down, but at that moment, his mind felt able to easily memorise everything thrown at it.
'First off, the God of Rain, or the God of Thunder, Raijin.
Temperamental, headstrong and powerful. Certainly the most capable of destruction among the 4 Gods originally. But ultimately righteous to his core.
He had the power to destroy the world as we know it, and now you do too, so I guess you must also be righteous enough since Raijin allowed you to awaken...'
Enel nodded when he heard that description, remembering the skeleton that had talked to him before. The same skeleton that had openly mocked the 'god' that had brought him to that world.
It was fitting for him to be remembered as the way he was by Zunesha, who was said to have spent enough time around Nika and the other gods.
Still, one thing that the Elpehant said still bothered Enel.
"You're saying he allowed me to awaken? I mean, he certainly did help me, but still..."
'He allowed you indeed... Some have tried in the past too, as you might've guessed.
But they were deemed unworthy by the piece of consciousness that Raijin had left in that fruit. They all died in their attempts.'
Zunesha seemed to be quite knowledgeable, which somewhat made Enel confused as to why Raijin hadn't just told him to seek the Elephant out...
'Then there is the God of the Sun, Nika, the one that represents freedom.
He has yet to awaken, but your appearance means he will as well. Your fates are tied together from what I remember...'
Enel merely nodded, already expecting to hear something of that nature. What interested him more was the other two gods whom he knew very little about.
'After the Sun God came the God of the Forests, Pangu, or the God of Life. He was the most benevolent of all gods, with a deep appreciation for all that was living.
He found life sacred, so he especially didn't like the 4th God...'
Enel nodded, he had also drawn the same parallels in his mind.
What was interesting was finally learning the name of the third god that was mentioned so little.
What truly interested him was just starting, however...
'Then, the last one... The God of the Earth, or the God of the Sea.
It may sound weird, but it is a god born out of the Sea to walk the Earth. Essentially... The God of Humanity.
Ultimately, he was the one to betray the others and destroy all that they had built...'
"The so-called 'Personification of the Sea', IMU huh?" Enel scowled a bit, it was almost on instinct.
The Disk hovering behind him also reacted in a similar fashion to earlier, whizzing slightly as the air around it trembled.
'Indeed.
The 4th God's ideals were what ultimately spawned the Voided War.
I was not present for the war that day... But I know the events leading up to it if you are interested in learning more.'
The Elephant's voice seemed to be filled with melancholy, it was hard to tell what emotions it was going through as it described the events of centuries past.
"How can I not be interested? I have listened so far, I have sought out this same history for years at this point... To finally learn more from a credible source... This almost feels like a dream."
Enel clenched his hand and smiled at the gigantic Elephant. His eyes burned in both lightning and determination.
'Very well...
The 4 Gods were essentially brothers.
They sought to bring the world together, to end all wars and to bring true serenity to it.'
"... That's a lofty goal. Sounds impossible really..." Enel's smile trembled a bit as he thought of the logistics of absolute world peace.
It was difficult to even think about due to the separatist and violent nature that was fostered within humans with time.
But still, maybe with the combined powers of 4 gods, such a thing as true peace could've been achieved...
'Impossible... Maybe. We'll never know if it was truly impossible or not.
The God of Humanity decided to display his devious nature after the Great Empire was built.
He gathered an army of people with stolen powers. Devils spawned from that withered tree...'
Zunesha's voice sounded resentful when talking about the devils, and especially the tree.
"Withered tree... I did hear a tree being mentioned in the past. Are you referring to the tree that spawned the Devil Fruits we now use?
But I thought people gave their powers willingly to the tree to spawn the Devil Fruits, that's what Orochi mentioned anyway."
Enel scratched his chin, his hand trembling slightly as his mind seemed to start slowing down.
'Shit, I'll be running out of time soon...'
He was already feeling sluggish in his awakened form, which was a bad sign for when he eventually left it or was forced out of it.
Zunesha seemed to either not notice his struggle, or not care about it. It was too caught up in reminiscing the past to notice the present.
'Yes, that tree has long since disappeared, even I don't remember where it is exactly...
Some gave their powers willingly to the tree, others were forced into it. It was not a pleasant time to be a mythical beast.
Regardless, IMU's army of devil fruit users was powerful... But the other 3 Gods were stronger.'
Zunesha's loud voice seemed to further tire out the Emperor as he grasped at his forehead in frustration.
"I get it now... The army that IMU built, was systematically dismantled by the 3 Gods, right?"
The Emperor still managed to blurt out his thoughts despite what he felt.
'Indeed. But it was not without a price.
Many Allies of the Grand Empire lost their lives, and the war itself spanned an entire century...'
Enel's tired eyes couldn't help but widen at that notion...
And an entire century of full-blown conflict?
That was the Void Century? Just a period of absolute chaos?
That could only really mean one thing... The erasure of history didn't start with the Void Century, all parties involved in the war were erased.
Any impact they might've had on the world beforehand, also erased.
The entire legacy that the other 3 gods had built, burnt to the ground. Only ashes remained. Burnt pieces that Enel and the Revolutionaries had been trying to piece together for a long time.
'It spawned the creation of one Ancient Weapon... Pluton. You'll have to forgive me for not knowing the full details of its creation, but it was the Warship of the Gods.
It carried them into their last battle.'
Enel smiled as he also learned the origin of an Ancient Weapon, though the others were still quite mysterious...
"Wait... How come you didn't participate in the war?"
Enel finally reminded himself to ask that question. Just as his mind was starting to ache.
'Ah, yes. My sin was in not being able to accompany them. Both Orochi and I. We were stuck fighting each other.
A petty squabble that led to the both of us missing the war. At that moment, I self-imposed a punishment onto myself... Forced to wonder the world for the rest of my life.'
Enel blinked rapidly when hearing that reasoning, it only caused more confusion within him.
"A fight? You'll have to forgive me but this doesn't make much sense...
Why would the two of you be fighting at such a time?"
It seemed quite stupid all things considered, to not participate in the war with the Gods that they had befriended because of an 'internal conflict'.
Zunesha seemed to agree as well.
'We were a lot younger back then... Our comrades, Raijin and Nika, both felt too powerful to ever fail. We never felt the need to assist them... That was our mistake.
I do not know what happened during that fateful battle, but I know one thing...
Pangu and Nika died in that battle. And Raijin fled.'
Enel scowled as he felt the disk on his back trembling a bit. The Emperor could feel quite a bit of rage radiating off of it.
Maybe it didn't quite like remembering those days, hell just seeing IMU's eye was enough to make it act out on its own.
Raijin's will, although not attempting to take over his body in any way, was still very much present.
"I- I see..."
The Sky King still had plenty of questions, but his brain was already boiling in his head. His eyes were already bloodshot.
The pain had progressed a lot faster than he had expected, and Zunesha seemed to also finally take notice of it.
'Hmm... It seems you need to rest. That is fine, I will make sure no harm comes to you...'
Enel gave the gigantic elephant one last look before he undid his awakening.
Just as his eyes lost their spark, the Emperor fell unconscious.
__________________________________________________________________
Hope you liked the chapter!
Took me a bit to write, I honestly had some issues with inspiration on how to end a major fight in the advanced chapters(Luffy vs Kaido essentially).
I had to write a few scenarios and wasn't really satisfied with them, until I finally got it(I think) Anyway, I'mma go to sleep soon :)))
Story Shoutout: The Final Desperation
Discord, again: https://discord.gg/xQTK8caFEQ
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 15 chapters in advance (or 10/5 depending on tier)
_________ POV Narration _________
'Say, have you ever heard of the story of the 4 gods?'
A loud voice thundered into the Emperor's ears as Zunesha decided to start the story by probing around to learn how much Enel actually knew.
"... I thought there were only 3 gods, did I forget something?"
The Emperor seemed a bit confused, he wracked his mind as he tried to understand what the ancient Elephant was talking about.
It took all but two seconds for the Emperor's mind to remember an old legend from Skypea.
'The altar of the 4 gods... The God of the Sun, the Rain, the Forest and the Earth...'
It was an altar related to the religion that the Shandians were following. Although of significant historical and iconographic value, it had never struck out as anything more than legend to Enel in the past.
He and the Revolutionaries had somewhat dismissed that altar and the story it told as it didn't quite seem to go hand in hand with the information they had translated from the poneglyphs.
After all, the writings they found only ever mentioned the three gods that formed the Grand Empire which reportedly ruled over the entire world during the Void Century.
'It seems that you have some idea of what it is, young incarnation of Raijin...'
Zunesha's loud voice broke into Enel's mind once more and broke him out of his musings.
Enel sighed as he looked up at Zunesha.
"But it doesn't really make sense, does it? The three gods that we know of are, the God of Thunder, the God of the Sun and the God of Hearth... It simply doesn't seem to fit, does it?"
Enel decided to simply voice out his concerns, although his mind was already running at great speeds trying to figure out how that discrepancy could be solved.
And just as Zunesha spoke, he also seemed to figure it out.
"It must've been a translation error..." 'It must've been a translation error...'
Enel didn't need an eternity to figure that out now that his mind was clearer and worked much faster than before.
It was already clear from Larthy's discoveries that the Poneglyphs weren't a language that could be translated one for one, different symbols could have different meanings according to the way they were used.
It wasn't an impossible code to crack, but it took a lot of time.
Thankfully, with their efforts, they did manage to find a few more 'names' for the God of Hearth, which was ultimately what led Enel to realize that they might have been wrong for the other ones too.
'The only name we got 100% right was the name of the Sun God, as it was the most prevalent in the writings, but the others are more difficult to figure out.'
Enel's thoughts were once again interrupted by a loud voice.
'Well, I'm glad that you are at least smarter than Raijin was... His mantra was more akin to, kill now, ask questions never. He quite disliked planning things out...'
Zunesha didn't hold back at all as it poked fun at the old god, as one would with an old friend.
But Enel could still feel a bit of resentment, especially on that last part. The drums on his back seemed to react to it too, vibrating slightly out of the Emperor's control.
'Hmm... No use mulling over it.
I'll tell you more about the 4 gods.'
Enel nodded wordlessly to the voice within his head, he pondered on taking out a notebook to write everything down, but at that moment, his mind felt able to easily memorise everything thrown at it.
'First off, the God of Rain, or the God of Thunder, Raijin.
Temperamental, headstrong and powerful. Certainly the most capable of destruction among the 4 Gods originally. But ultimately righteous to his core.
He had the power to destroy the world as we know it, and now you do too, so I guess you must also be righteous enough since Raijin allowed you to awaken...'
Enel nodded when he heard that description, remembering the skeleton that had talked to him before. The same skeleton that had openly mocked the 'god' that had brought him to that world.
It was fitting for him to be remembered as the way he was by Zunesha, who was said to have spent enough time around Nika and the other gods.
Still, one thing that the Elpehant said still bothered Enel.
"You're saying he allowed me to awaken? I mean, he certainly did help me, but still..."
'He allowed you indeed... Some have tried in the past too, as you might've guessed.
But they were deemed unworthy by the piece of consciousness that Raijin had left in that fruit. They all died in their attempts.'
Zunesha seemed to be quite knowledgeable, which somewhat made Enel confused as to why Raijin hadn't just told him to seek the Elephant out...
'Then there is the God of the Sun, Nika, the one that represents freedom.
He has yet to awaken, but your appearance means he will as well. Your fates are tied together from what I remember...'
Enel merely nodded, already expecting to hear something of that nature. What interested him more was the other two gods whom he knew very little about.
'After the Sun God came the God of the Forests, Pangu, or the God of Life. He was the most benevolent of all gods, with a deep appreciation for all that was living.
He found life sacred, so he especially didn't like the 4th God...'
Enel nodded, he had also drawn the same parallels in his mind.
What was interesting was finally learning the name of the third god that was mentioned so little.
What truly interested him was just starting, however...
'Then, the last one... The God of the Earth, or the God of the Sea.
It may sound weird, but it is a god born out of the Sea to walk the Earth. Essentially... The God of Humanity.
Ultimately, he was the one to betray the others and destroy all that they had built...'
"The so-called 'Personification of the Sea', IMU huh?" Enel scowled a bit, it was almost on instinct.
The Disk hovering behind him also reacted in a similar fashion to earlier, whizzing slightly as the air around it trembled.
'Indeed.
The 4th God's ideals were what ultimately spawned the Voided War.
I was not present for the war that day... But I know the events leading up to it if you are interested in learning more.'
The Elephant's voice seemed to be filled with melancholy, it was hard to tell what emotions it was going through as it described the events of centuries past.
"How can I not be interested? I have listened so far, I have sought out this same history for years at this point... To finally learn more from a credible source... This almost feels like a dream."
Enel clenched his hand and smiled at the gigantic Elephant. His eyes burned in both lightning and determination.
'Very well...
The 4 Gods were essentially brothers.
They sought to bring the world together, to end all wars and to bring true serenity to it.'
"... That's a lofty goal. Sounds impossible really..." Enel's smile trembled a bit as he thought of the logistics of absolute world peace.
It was difficult to even think about due to the separatist and violent nature that was fostered within humans with time.
But still, maybe with the combined powers of 4 gods, such a thing as true peace could've been achieved...
'Impossible... Maybe. We'll never know if it was truly impossible or not.
The God of Humanity decided to display his devious nature after the Great Empire was built.
He gathered an army of people with stolen powers. Devils spawned from that withered tree...'
Zunesha's voice sounded resentful when talking about the devils, and especially the tree.
"Withered tree... I did hear a tree being mentioned in the past. Are you referring to the tree that spawned the Devil Fruits we now use?
But I thought people gave their powers willingly to the tree to spawn the Devil Fruits, that's what Orochi mentioned anyway."
Enel scratched his chin, his hand trembling slightly as his mind seemed to start slowing down.
'Shit, I'll be running out of time soon...'
He was already feeling sluggish in his awakened form, which was a bad sign for when he eventually left it or was forced out of it.
Zunesha seemed to either not notice his struggle, or not care about it. It was too caught up in reminiscing the past to notice the present.
'Yes, that tree has long since disappeared, even I don't remember where it is exactly...
Some gave their powers willingly to the tree, others were forced into it. It was not a pleasant time to be a mythical beast.
Regardless, IMU's army of devil fruit users was powerful... But the other 3 Gods were stronger.'
Zunesha's loud voice seemed to further tire out the Emperor as he grasped at his forehead in frustration.
"I get it now... The army that IMU built, was systematically dismantled by the 3 Gods, right?"
The Emperor still managed to blurt out his thoughts despite what he felt.
'Indeed. But it was not without a price.
Many Allies of the Grand Empire lost their lives, and the war itself spanned an entire century...'
Enel's tired eyes couldn't help but widen at that notion...
And an entire century of full-blown conflict?
That was the Void Century? Just a period of absolute chaos?
That could only really mean one thing... The erasure of history didn't start with the Void Century, all parties involved in the war were erased.
Any impact they might've had on the world beforehand, also erased.
The entire legacy that the other 3 gods had built, burnt to the ground. Only ashes remained. Burnt pieces that Enel and the Revolutionaries had been trying to piece together for a long time.
'It spawned the creation of one Ancient Weapon... Pluton. You'll have to forgive me for not knowing the full details of its creation, but it was the Warship of the Gods.
It carried them into their last battle.'
Enel smiled as he also learned the origin of an Ancient Weapon, though the others were still quite mysterious...
"Wait... How come you didn't participate in the war?"
Enel finally reminded himself to ask that question. Just as his mind was starting to ache.
'Ah, yes. My sin was in not being able to accompany them. Both Orochi and I. We were stuck fighting each other.
A petty squabble that led to the both of us missing the war. At that moment, I self-imposed a punishment onto myself... Forced to wonder the world for the rest of my life.'
Enel blinked rapidly when hearing that reasoning, it only caused more confusion within him.
"A fight? You'll have to forgive me but this doesn't make much sense...
Why would the two of you be fighting at such a time?"
It seemed quite stupid all things considered, to not participate in the war with the Gods that they had befriended because of an 'internal conflict'.
Zunesha seemed to agree as well.
'We were a lot younger back then... Our comrades, Raijin and Nika, both felt too powerful to ever fail. We never felt the need to assist them... That was our mistake.
I do not know what happened during that fateful battle, but I know one thing...
Pangu and Nika died in that battle. And Raijin fled.'
Enel scowled as he felt the disk on his back trembling a bit. The Emperor could feel quite a bit of rage radiating off of it.
Maybe it didn't quite like remembering those days, hell just seeing IMU's eye was enough to make it act out on its own.
Raijin's will, although not attempting to take over his body in any way, was still very much present.
"I- I see..."
The Sky King still had plenty of questions, but his brain was already boiling in his head. His eyes were already bloodshot.
The pain had progressed a lot faster than he had expected, and Zunesha seemed to also finally take notice of it.
'Hmm... It seems you need to rest. That is fine, I will make sure no harm comes to you...'
Enel gave the gigantic elephant one last look before he undid his awakening.
Just as his eyes lost their spark, the Emperor fell unconscious.
__________________________________________________________________
Hope you liked the chapter!
Took me a bit to write, I honestly had some issues with inspiration on how to end a major fight in the advanced chapters(Luffy vs Kaido essentially).
I had to write a few scenarios and wasn't really satisfied with them, until I finally got it(I think) Anyway, I'mma go to sleep soon :)))
Story Shoutout: The Final Desperation
Discord, again: https://discord.gg/xQTK8caFEQ
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 15 chapters in advance (or 10/5 depending on tier)
