For every Hypostate in Adverse, there was an opposing force called an
Apostate. These postates—to use an unauthorized collective term—could be
anyone. It was never really clear whether someone was born this way, or
became so over time. Some were humans, others were demons, and a few were
original Maramon. There were twenty-three of each, plus the primaries, and
they represented the virtues and sins that could be found in anyone and
everyone. There are two of these special people that I want to talk to you
about today. The virtuous one was named Kindness. Of course, that wasn’t his
original name, but once he learned what he was, and what role he played in
the fight against evil, he started going by it. It was kind of expected of
him, and since he was so kind, he didn’t try to stop it. Kindness was a
gentle human being, who genuinely cared about people, both on a personal
level, and in a general global sense. You wouldn’t know it just by looking
at him, though, and maybe not even after an interaction with him. He was
tall, muscular, tan; all the generic traits of a dude-bro. He liked to work
out, but he did it for all the right reasons, and he didn’t look down on
those who didn’t do it at all. He was tan mostly because it was his natural
skin color, but also because he spent a lot of time outside, and sunscreen
can only do so much. He didn’t treat people unkindly, and he never felt
awkward, but he wasn’t the most outgoing individual, and people wouldn’t
have ever called him fun. Remember that kindness was his virtue, not
friendliness. Friendliness is someone else. Those are two distinct
characteristics, and while there’s often a lot of overlap, it’s not
technically necessary, especially not for a hypostate, whose every trait is
exaggerated, and whose mind is usually hyperfocused towards a goal.
Kindness grew up with a boy who would come to be known as Cruelty. Cruelty
was exactly as you think he would be. He was a man, still—not a demon—but he
shared the demons’ compulsion for wickedness. He was clever, always making
sure the chaos he caused couldn’t be directly linked to him. People didn’t
know that he was essentially a manifestation of evil, but they didn’t think
he was a swell guy either. They generally didn’t want to be around him.
However smart or careful an apostate is, they have a hard time completely
masking their sick and twisted ways. His true nature was no more apparent
than when the two of them were together. Everyone believed them to be
friends, and most couldn’t understand why, since they were so clearly
incompatible. This was a misunderstanding that neither of them refuted.
Kindness was too kind to get angry at people about it, and Cruelty enjoyed
how much it bothered Kindness. They just kept running into each other
throughout their lives, no matter how much Kindness tried to get away. It
wasn’t a constant pairing, but the relief was never very long. They were
roommates in college, co-workers at their respective second jobs, and ended
up moving to the same street several years later. Cruelty claimed it was an
honest coincidence, but I think we all know how unlikely that is. Kindness
and Cruelty weren’t the only two postates to have known each other before
The Rapture, but they were the only opposing forces to know each other, and
they were the only ones to know each other so well. They obviously didn’t
get along, though. Cruelty would get tired of Kindness’ incessant need to
make sure everyone around him was safe and cared for. It was sometimes even
enough to keep him from torturing his frenemy. They never fought each other
when they were alive, but they were directly at odds once both of them died.
It was up to a small group of heroes to find all the hypostates, and defeat
all the apostates. They were scattered throughout the three realms,
including heaven where Kindness was found, and hell, where Cruelty was
unsurprisingly sent to.
No comments :
Post a Comment