Megistos

*"They say one's freedom stops where the freedom of others begin. So who decides of that ? Power. Pure power decides whogets to enforce his will and who is forced to endure. Order, politics, equality - that's all fancy, stupid lies. The world I seek is much more honest."* - Megistos

**Megistos** is one of the universe's greatest Alchemists and the inventor of Negative Alchemy.

## Story

### The Fallen Student

Megistos was recruited by Hermes when he was just a child. Hermes taught him the ways of Alchemy to allow him to survive and, seeing Megistos's innate talent for this craft, took him under his wing as his personal pupil. Megistos grew up in the Alchemists' city, learning of his way of self-sacrifice and natural harmony.

However, led by curiosity and fear of death alike, Megistos sought to find another way to draw upon the powers of Alchemy. His great potential allowed him to reverse the natural flow of Alchemy - instead of sacrificing his lifeforce to alter the world around him, he drew upon the world's lifeforce to empower himself instead.

This forbidden art caused people to fear Megistos, and Hermes was forced to banish him when Megistos went too far. This did not prevent him from performing the ultimate experiment, turning himself into an immortal, godlike living Philosopher's Stone. The strain his existence had on the planet was too great, so Alchemists were forced to seal him away.

### The Awakening

However, the actions of Osmond Dolm and latter Aya n'Sully allowed Megistos to resurrect entirely from a small amount of his Cells, as well as half of Aya's lifeforce. Megistos, discovering that a whole group of alchemists has forsaken Hermes's teaching and followed his own instead, takes over them and forcibly directs them towards his aim - revenge against Positive Alchemists and freedom for the earth.

At the same time, he heals Aya and develops feelings for her, eventually turning her into a Philosopher's Stone like him. Then, he learns from Elene Veitie that someone attempts to use his cells for a lethal experiment : Alex Spencer seeks to forcibly immerse these cells into the world's water reserves in order to force evolution on all that exists. Refusing this, Megistos freezes the lake where Alex put his cells, exhausting his newly-recovered body.

Eventually, Aya neutralizes Alex and allows the other Alchemists to purify the lake, allowing Megistos to stop using his powers. Then, seeking to find a solution to avoid draining the entire planet with their existence, the pair departs towards a small island, resting for the time being.

### To the Cheshire

Peace was however short-lived : a few months after, Megistos and Aya were forced to face a new threat in the form of Emeria, and helped Lady Kenneon as well as her lover Paragon (which Megistos considers an adoptive son, due tu Paragon being biologically conceived using his cells) neutralize it. They were quickly called to the Cheshire Isle afterwards, where Megistos's life-draining abilities were less problematic.

Quite a bit later, Aya found a Summoning Key and summoned Amaryllis, a young woman born in Kendorma who never had a chance to live her own adventure. Megistos thus helped Amaryllis and Aya - who herself visited Kendorma but could not end her journey - with returning to Kendorma and watched them become some of the world's greatest heroines.

Aya and Amaryllis later returned to Megistos, encountering both of Megistos's Future Children, Alkali and Paopou n'Sully, and the three taught their children the arts of Hunting and alchemy alike.

## Appearance

Megistos is a massive, muscled man with long, flowing black hair, who often wears black clothes, although he spends most of the time barechested. He has shining, turquoise eyes pulsing with the constant Anima he absorbs from the land. He possesses the ability to shapeshift, his most used form being that of a titanic snake-like monster.

## Personality

Megistos is a figure of ambition, freedom and personal power, who values individuality and force of will as one's main defining characteristics. To Megistos, equality is a lie, and each individual possesses his own strength and should exploit it. Those who are unable to do it deserve to fail, and should fall, as such is the natural order.

Megistos is short-tempered, brutal, and often looks down upon most people - as he considers them weak and undeserving. However, he is quick to admire someone's determination and abilities as well, and often tries to encourage people to pursue their own dreams, no matter the cost.

Despite him constantly acting annoyed and almost feral, Megistos is quite kind to his wives and children, treating them with great respect and not only protecting them, but giving them the tools and powers to defend themselves and reach the top of the "food chain" on their own.

## Powers

* **Supernatural Physical Abilities:** As a Philosopher's Stone, he can convert local Anima to energy to empower his body. As a result, his physical abilities are virtually unlimited.
* **Supernatural Resilience:** Megistos is Immortal and can revive even from a single M-Cell, allowing him to keep existing forever. Without a body, he can implant his consciousness into a subject's body and control him from within. Nothing short of an Outer God can destroy these cells.
* **Keen Intellect:** Despite his savage attitude and natural impatience, Megistos is a genius who was able to single-handedly invent half of Alchemy by himself.
* **Alchemy Mastery:** Megistos is one of the greatest, if not the greatest alchemist ever known, rivaling with Hermes in terms of talent. By using Negative Alchemy, he can use his powers to the fullest without worrying about losing his own energy through transmutation.
	+ **Philosopher's Stone:** Megistos is a living Philosopher's Stone created from Negative Alchemy, draining the land and depriving the world of its life in exchange for said powers; this also makes him incredibly threatening in terms of transmutations and powers.

## Storylines

* M-Chronicles shows his revival.
* M-Chronicles 2 : Mercy mentions him as the source of the M-Cells.
* M-Chronicles 3 : Redemption shows him fighting against Emeria.

## Trivia

* Megistos is the one the M-Cells and M-Chronicles are named after.
* His name comes from the title of Hermes Trismegistos, where Trismegistos means "Thrice very great". Megistos thus means "very great" hinting at his megalomania.
* Megistos's behavior, ideals and symbolic choices can be put into parallel with the Dark Side of the Force and the Sith in the **Star Wars** universe.