PART I: BEFORE THE SEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 12: War Against the Black Mage

With the destruction of the Anti-Black Mage Coalition at the hands of Von Leon, the people of Maple World were quick to place their hopes in the Heroes as stories spread of their successful exploits. Though they were the most well-known group of freedom fighters, there were still other factions that participated in the war against the Black Mage.

Destonen was a great pioneer of Maple World, having sailed in search of new continents before the rise of the Black Mage. During his adventures, he met a half-elf named Yuris, who was traveling on her self-made airship. The two soon fell in love and had a son named Tess. Destonen and Yuris eventually joined the fight against the Black Mage. Around this time, the Black Mage devastated the continent of Ossyria, causing a chunk of it to break off from the mainland and float away, eventually becoming known as Victoria Island.

(A/N: Before the Destiny update, Destonen was said to be the first pirate who was rumored to have fought with his bare hands. The original lore on Destonen stated that he had a battle with the Black Mage after Victoria Island broke off from Ossyria. I swear that I remember reading that Destonen’s battle with the Black Mage was the very reason why Victoria Island broke off from Ossyria, but for the life of me I can’t find a single source to corroborate it.)

In Ereve, Empress Aria had created a secret organization called the Silent Crusade, which had been made to unite the people of Maple World. After the Empress’ death, the Silent Crusade had vowed revenge against the Black Mage and his forces, working in the shadows for centuries in order to collect information on the Black Mage, as well as to defeat powerful monsters that threatened Maple World.

(A/N: In the original Silent Crusade storyline, it was initially stated that the organization had been created by the Cygnus Knights generations ago, but as the Cygnus Knights themselves didn’t exist back then, the wording was later changed to say that the former Empress had created them. This detail was preserved in the revamp, with the addition of a few minor details, such as Aria’s purpose in creating the Silent Crusade.)

On the Heroes’ front, Freud served as their strategist and attempted to find the best way to defeat the Black Mage. Though he hoped that the Heroes would be able to defeat the Black Mage, he created two contingency plans in case the worst happened. For both cases, Freud drew upon the power of the World Heart, knowing that its power exceeded that of both the Ancient Gods and the Transcendents.

After the Ancient War, the divine power of the World Heart contained within the Godspheres had permeated deep into the lands of the three worlds. Just as the elders of Grandis had used the World Heart as a template to create the Godspheres, Freud extracted the World Heart’s residual power from the continent and created his own version modeled off the Godspheres. As they had been created to seal away the Black Mage with the power of time, Freud chose to name them Seal Stones.

During his research on the properties of the Seal Stones, Freud discovered three main features needed to awaken their power: firstly, a focal point for where its power must be channeled, ranging anywhere from a person to a continent; secondly, the combined will of five individuals to give the intent for its power; finally, a strong desire to abandon destruction and seek peace. He also learned that the Seal Stones required the desperate wish of many in order to use - in other words, they would not grant the wish of an individual. Once it demonstrated a power greater than cause and effect, the Seal Stone would be destroyed.

(A/N: The conditions to create and use Seal Stones was revealed in the magician storyline for the original RED Explorer story. While this has been retconned out of existence with the revamped Explorer storyline, there are hints in the new story that this lore still holds, and so I’ll be keeping it in.)

Freud’s first contingency plan was to use the Seal Stones and combine them with a sealing spell that could bind the Black Mage to eternity in the event that the Heroes were unable to defeat him. His second contingency was to prepare for the situation that his sealing spell failed. By distributing Seal Stones to the people of Maple World, he hoped that the damage done to their lands could be undone. To this end, Freud and the other Heroes distributed at least seven Seal Stones, one for each of the regions of Orbis, El Nath, Mu Lung, Ludibrium, Ereve, Ellin Forest, and Victoria Island.

(A/N: In the original Explorer storyline, it was shown that there was also a Seal Stone of Nihal Desert, although all references to it have been removed in the new storyline. I won’t list it here, but it’s entirely possible that it could have existed. Currently, it remains unknown why Ellin Forest has a separate Seal Stone from Victoria Island, as Ellin Forest is literally a part of the island. In Aran’s storyline, the Black Wings travel into the past to steal the Seal Stone of Ellin Forest, but the Seal Stone of Victoria Island still remains safe.

Before the revamp of the Ellin Forest storyline, time travel mechanics were undefined, and so I made a theory to explain how this could be true based on the principle that the game doesn’t operate on a causal loop, which is that going back in time and changing the past is what shapes the events of the present that were always meant to be, just like how Harry goes back in time with the Time-Turner and saves himself from the Dementors.

Assuming that we’re not operating on a causal loop, the Black Wings go back in time in Timeline A and steal the Seal Stone of Ellin Forest. This creates a divergent Timeline B where the Seal Stone of Ellin Forest is lost, but they instead return back to Timeline A, where Aran is in possession of Timeline A’s Seal Stone of Ellin Forest, which we rename the Seal Stone of Victoria Island. The Black Wings bringing back Timeline B’s Seal Stone of Ellin Forest allows for two of the same Seal Stones to exist in Timeline A, while Timeline B is bereft of its Seal Stone of Ellin Forest.

With the introduction of the Ellin Forest storyline revamp, time-travel mechanics were established and it was confirmed that the game operates on causal loop mechanics. In fact, causal loops were even stated to be one of the fundamental laws of time established by the Overseers in order to ensure that time remains fixed and unchanged. As a result, my theory can no longer stand. However, Nexon has stated that they plan to revisit many old storylines and revamp them in order to fit together better. Since they’ve retouched Aran’s Ellin Forest Seal Stone quest, it seems that they’re aware of the Ellin Forest Seal Stone problem, and it’s entirely possible that they might address it in the future.)

Before the death of Empress Aria, Freud had entrusted the Seal Stone of Ereve to Shinsoo, the divine beast of Ereve. During Lotus and Orchid’s attack on Ereve, a large majority of the Noblesse, as well as the Knight of Light, lost their lives while attempting to defend his Empress. The Knight of Light was a title that referred to the guardian of the current Empress. There had been many Knights of Light since the dawn of Ereve’s history, each wielding the power of light through the Soul Shield.

With the death of Aria’s Knight of Light, he was succeeded by his disciple. Having grown weak without an Empress to claim her power, Shinsoo decided to entrust the Seal Stone of Ereve to the new Knight of Light, who placed it within the Soul Shield in order to ensure that none but an awakened Knight of Light could retrieve it. Shinsoo also gave a new name to the Seal Stone: Shinsoo’s Teardrop, in memory of Aria’s death.

(A/N: Mihile’s post-Ignition story revamp revealed that Freud had created and distributed the Seal Stones before Aria’s death, which was also before Phantom joined the Heroes. It always seemed like a logical inference that he created the Seal Stones after all the Heroes had joined, but it looks like he was already out saving the world on his own, although it’s possible that he made the Seal Stones when all the Heroes except Phantom had joined.)

During the war, Alicia decided to back the Heroes with her powers as a Transcendent. Though she originally did not interfere in human affairs, Ryude’s bravery moved Alicia into actively take a stand against the Black Mage. (A/N: We don’t know what Alicia did specifically to help the Heroes, but it’s said that she was instrumental in sealing the Black Mage away.)