Held

"*Us gods have been negligent in our endeavors.*"
―Held
**Held Yggdra,** regarded as the **Tree of Held** or the **Millennium Tree**, was one of the four gods of the Evillious universe. Incarnated as a tree during the Third Period, Held became the guardian of the forest in Elphegort. After witnessing the creation of the vessels of sin, he tasked Gallerian Chirclatia with collecting the vessels and monitored his progress throughout the centuries.

## History

### Early Life

"*Before the third paradise could be completed
Sixty two of the gods’ kin lost their lives
The land god mourned
He buried their souls deep in the center of the land
And eventually
A large forest sprouted there*"
―The Third Period's creation reinterpreted by the Behemoth Bible
Born in Second Period, Held Yggdra became a prominent multi-disciplinary biologist, professor, at one point judge, and the head of a clinic and research institute with Behemo and Rahab Barisol on staff. He also became known for developing the Swap Technique as a method of studying the occult. At some point Held married and sired a child, but unfortunately, the child became a HER. Held became desperate to find a way to help his child and sought help from Pale Noël. When Clarith and Lich Arklow became his students, Held accidentally misread Clara's name as "Clarith", spawning Clarith's new nickname. As the Second Period began to collapse due to HERs contaminating the world, Held and 71 other scientists boarded one of several spaceships intended to travel to inhabitable planets and repopulate them, theirs under the name Climb One.

During this time, Held befriended TALOS, the ship's helper-robot. As they lost contact with all their fellow spaceships, the crew of the Climb One realized they were the last inhabitants of Earth and decided to create a new species in the image of earthlings. After finding a new planet to inhabit, Held helped with creating the forests of the world and was used as a model for the Elphes.

During this process Pale Noël, an HER who had secretly boarded the Climb One, instigated the deaths of 62 of the crew members and contaminated the new species to have a possibility of developing HER Syndrome. With Behemo Barisol preserving the spirit data of the dead crewmembers, the grieving Held had them reincarnate into forest spirits to help watch over the new world, making sure to suppress their memories of the Second Period.

Knowing that his fellows were also infected with HER Syndrome, Held and his colleague Luna Hazuki rejected the idea of some of the earthlings reincarnating into the Third Period as gods to guide the new humans, and again rejected using the Hellish Yard to separate HERs from normal humans in the afterlife. In the ensuing fight over this, the Climb One crashed, killing everyone aboard and leaving only their spirit data; as Behemo and his sister Levia planned to escape by transferring their spirits into the body of a dragon on the ship, Held helped Luna sabotage the plan.

### The Millennium Tree

In BT 528, around the point when the new human race began, Held managed to move his spirit off the ship and into a Millennium Tree. With TALOS moving into the body of a bat, the two became "gods" of the world, TALOS the sun god and Held an earth god, as per Luna's request. Held was additionally tasked with monitoring Levia and Behemo should they ever escape, with the Climb One in which they were trapped becoming the revered "Sin" ark of the new Magic Kingdom Levianta. Around this time, the gods agreed to hide Luna Hazuki's existence.

Although required not to directly involve himself in human affairs, Held over time became worshiped by the people of the nearby country of Heldogort, spawning a cult sect in the Behemothreligion. He also allowed Lich Arklow to join him in the forest as a forest spirit once Lich's spirit data escaped from the Climb One, the two often quarreling.

### The Quest

"*If you say not to interfere with humans, what would you call what you're doing?*"
"*Gallerian... I have never directly had any involvement with the 'Vessels of Deadly Sin'. It was specifically because I* couldn't *get involved that I asked you, a 'human', to take care of it.*"
―Gallerian and Held
Following the Levianta Catastrophe in EC 013, Held noticed that fragments of the dragon Levia-Behemo had fallen into the forest and fused with Adam and Eve Moonlit, turning them into deteriorating copies of the dragon. In EC 014, Held learned that the spouses had unleashed into the world seven vessels of sin, using mainly the souls of former earthlings that had been reincarnated as demons. Meanwhile during the catastrophe, Levia and Behemo had cursed Gallerian Chirclatia.

After meeting Gallerian Clockworker himself, Held realized that the curse caused him to gain fake memories, including that they were once friends. He thus explained that Gallerian had been caught up by the attempted resurrection of his sister-in-law Irina Clockworker, causing the Levianta Catastrophe. In EC 015, he explained to his "old friend" what had transpired with Hänsel, Gretel, and their foster parents; then, to help Gallerian, he requested he collect and seal the vessels of sin before they could cause calamity for humans.

Not long after sending Gallerian on this task, Held met the sorceress Irina Clockworker, who began to frequently visit him in her red cat form. Worried the sorcerer would learn the truth and attempt to contact his sister-in-law, the god remained silent about Irina's existence to Gallerian. During the Glassred Event of EC 136, Held protected the members of his sect from Gumina Glassred's memory-wiping spell. Gallerian later came and described the event to Held, as well as how he had failed to acquire the vessels of sin owned by Lady Glassred and Countess Lukana Octo. Held also learned Gallerian had made an acquaintance with Lukana Octo, granting him the Loop Octopus Clan's unique Prophetic Dream ability.

Centuries later, Gallerian visited Held again in EC 325 and mentioned that one vessel, the Twin Blades of Levianta, had been located at the Behemoth church in Lucifenia, only to visit later and report that the vessels were fake. After Held calmly discussed his failure, he brought up with him how the Magic Kingdom had since been rebuilt, concerned that its new inhabitants would unearth the Sin. After that, he listened to Gallerian explain how a new thief he captured, Romantic, looked exactly like Karchess Crim of centuries previous, who in turn had looked like the Original Sinner Adam Moonlit.

They talked about the possible connections each man had to the other; assured Karchess and Romantic had no demonic presence in them, Held wrote it off as a coincidence. Gallerian shortly after departed when Held caused him to remember he'd left Romantic without any food. Several hours later, Irina approached him under her unknown mage persona. With her cat body, she began scratching Held's trunk and demanding Gallerian's location, Gallerian having stolen one of her subordinates.

As Irina was unwilling to kill him, Held pointing out that he could destroy her with his real self if she did, she continued scratching his trunk when he refused to answer her demands. Held refused as well to answer why he was so unwilling to let Gallerian and Irina meet, even as Irina made clear she would approach Gallerian one day in the future. After several minutes of weathering Irina's scratching, Held refused to divulge Gallerian's location and she eventually left with her medium.

After Irina had left, Held summoned one of his forest spirits, Lemy and instructed them to have the other spirits strengthen the barrier around the forest to prevent powerful magic users from entering--even if this also included Gallerian. Struck with the idea to have Lemy monitor Levia and Behemo after he was gone, Held also confided that one day they would need to leave the forest to protect Gallerian from someone. Soon after, Held fell asleep. When the barrier around the forest lifted, Gallerian returned to Held and described how he had lost the wine glass vessel of sin owned by Carlos Marlon to Romantic.

### Reign of Evil

"*I will lend you two of my spirits. One of them you should raise as your apprentice. But the other one will stay here, and I will have them search for the 'Vessel of Deadly Sin'.*"
―Held
During the latter half of the 5th century EC, Held expelled Lich from the forest for resurrecting Queen Anne Lucifen d'Autriche as a mud golem, with the forest spirit Eater Sabella leaving as well. Later, Held learned from Gallerian that he become the court sorcerer for the Kingdom of Lucifenia after taking its side in a war. Around EC 492, Gallerian visited the god and related that he had exorcised a demon from the Lucifenian Prince Alexiel and sealed it in a hand mirror vessel of sin.

He returned in January of EC 499, having received a prophetic dream of Lucifenia's destruction, and asked him to let him reincarnate some of his forest spirits as humans, hoping to prevent the kingdom's end using them as his apprentices. Questioning him, Held learned that Alexiel had once again been possessed by a demon of sin and would likely bring calamity just like previous sin contractors before him. He also determined that, since this time the demon was more deeply rooted in the prince's soul, Gallerian desired to use the Clockwork Secret Art, to Held's concern.

The two also debated why Alexiel was still possessed, Held suggesting that the mirror Gallerian exorcised and sealed was only a piece, with the demon living in another part of the vessel somewhere else. Held then asked the specifics of Gallerian's premonition and he related that he saw had seen Prince Alexiel being executed, armed people invading the royal palace, Lucifenia invading Elphegort, and Leonhart Phutapie murdered, with the invasion of Elphegort being the purple dream of the four. Learning he intended to flee the country if he failed, he lectured him on his flighty nature and argued that the destruction of Lucifenia might benefit the world.

As Gallerian pointed out it was his duty to stop the vessels of sin, Held finally agreed to think his request over and fell asleep. Held awoke later that month and learned that one of his spirits, Clarith, had left the forest during his slumber. Once Clarith finally returned, he furiously and tirelessly scolded the spirit for leaving when he had forbidden it. The next day, Clarith apologized for breaking his rules; after forgiving them, Held slipped into another slumber and awoke days later. By then, Clarith had witnessed an Elphe named Michaela praying for him to give them a friend.

As the forest spirit searched for a way to help the persecuted young woman, Held chastised them for becoming too involved in human affairs. Their conversation was overheard by Gallerian upon his arrival; after pointing out the irony of not involving himself in human affairs while still asking favors of him, he brought up his previous request for apprentices. He also stated that he had felt signs of a vessel of sin in Elphegort.

Meditating on this and his coming mortal death, Held decided to set up Clarith and Lemy as his apprentices; while Lemy kept an eye on Gallerian and helped him manage his cursed soul, Clarith could learn about humans in preparation for succeeding him as the Millennium Tree. Somberly reflecting on his inaction as god, Held offered both spirits to Gallerian and clarified that Lemy could be his apprentice while Clarith looked for the vessel of sin in Elphegort. Making Gallerian promise that the two would return to being spirits after three years, Held let him depart with Lemy and Gallerian for the Reincarnation Ritual. Having saved a copy of Clarith and Lemy's memories in advance, he overwrote them onto the incarnated humans once the ritual was completed, hoping to keep Gallerian in the dark about the sun god's rules for reincarnation.

### The New Millennium Tree

"*Is it here, Michaela?*"
"*Yes, this should be her original home.*"
―Allen and Michaela while planting Clarith with Held
When the Millennium Tree Forest was burned in EC 500, Gallerian's intervention protected Held and much of the forest from destruction. At the conclusion of The White Hunting, Held was approached by Gallerian and Lemy, curious as to why Clarith's body had become a tree sapling. Explaining that his mortal form would soon perish, Held revealed his original plan for Clarith to succeed him; he afterwards learned that Lemy had chosen to remain human and help Gallerian. Not long after, he fell asleep again.

In EC 505, as Held contemplated his fate, he witnessed Michaela and Allen approach, pray, and plant Clarith's sapling in the ground. He then watched Allen and Michaela's conversation, before they fell to crying and praying before the sapling for the rest of the night. Later on, Lich visited Held and the two quarreled, first about Lich's misbehavior and then about Held's decision to suppress the memories of the other forest spirits. Held then watched helplessly as Lich attacked Clarith before Allen chased the bird away.

After Germaine Marlon was possessed and transformed by the Demon of Pride, Lemy consulted Held on how to defeat Germaine and he told him to strike during the full moon, where his and Germaine's magic would be its peak. During Germaine's battle with Lemy and his companions two weeks later, Held convinced Clarith to sing to help subdue Germaine. Around the EC 530s, Held's earthly form perished and he passed on from the mortal realm, leaving Clarith with what he taught her.

### In the Heavenly Yard

"*Despite that you did obey the role I gave to you in the end. So then I don’t know why you made Clarith into your successor.*"
"*...You yourself are plotting something too, are you not?*"
―Sickle and Held regarding Clarith and Rin
Held later came to the Third Period's moon, the Heavenly Yard, in his human form. While there, he discovered Black Box above the rice fields with Rin Avadonia inside. Later he met with Talos, who had adopted the name "Sickle", in the sun god's human form. After remarking on his habit of reaping rice in this world, and remarking on Sickle's mentality of letting everyone, even HERs, enter the Heavenly Yard, Sickle asked Held in turn about why he had left a successor in Clarith.

Held evaded the question by asking Sickle about his plans for Rin in the Black Box, told that Sickle was isolating him because he was "irregular" and outside his realm of creation. Once Sickle refused to elaborate further, Held dropped the matter and left. On January 30, EC 611, Held spotted Rin Avadonia heading toward the Gardens of Champ-Élysées, Levia having returned to the Heavenly Yard and let the girl out of Black Box so she could use it.

After bringing Rin back to the black box, Held greeted Levia after he exited and chastised her over her behavior, as well as her letting Rin out and using Sickle's box without permission. After Held defended his continued loyalty to Sickle, he ordered Rin returned into the black box. Before she was put back inside, Levia conversed briefly with Rin and prepared to leave; Held stopped her, asking where she was going, and was told by Levia that she was just going to look around the world for a while. Once his former pupil left, Held returned Rin to Black Box to continue her lessons.

### World's End

After the destruction of the Third Period by Punishment in EC 999, Held fell to the ground world. He then manifested in the form of a bluebird and met with Michelle and Rin in the former Millennium Tree Forest. After bantering with Michelle for a time regarding her destruction of the world and the nature of morality, Held directed her and Rin to check out the Black Box Type S that had arrived in the sky, pointing out it wasn't an illusion. After they all said their farewells, Held left the two to their own devices. After the creation of the Fourth Period, Held became a member of the "Evillious" SNS group chat, commenting on the state of the new world.

### Legacy

"*The sorcerer Gallerian has been asked by the guardian deity of the forest, Held, to go out on a journey... and to collect the seven vessels of sin. The characters are most confusing.*"
―Excerpt from Bruno Octo's writings[src]
After Held's earthly demise and departure from the mortal plane, Clarith succeeded him as the new Millennium Tree, acting as the guardian of Millennium Tree Forest and mankind while being worshiped as Held's reincarnation. Centuries after his "death", Ma and Bruno Octo wrote several screenplays concerning Held and his interactions with Gallerian and Clarith. The scripts were subsequently reviewed by the Master of the Court, considering Held's disappearance from the mortal world crucial to the theater's origins.

## Personality and Traits

"*It is a disgrace that the 'Vessels of Deadly Sin’ came from this forest. By all rights I must take responsibility for that. But as you can see, I cannot move from here. Even so I have always thought that I should assist you at least a little bit, instead of just relying on you to do it.*"
―Held to Gallerian
Held was a meditative and reserved god. Highly observant, Held recognized everyone's strengths and flaws, and listened carefully to everything he was told before giving his own advice and insight into affairs. Cautious and careful to appraise a situation, Held often refrained from action and preferred to hesitate in view of the larger picture, although this made him stubborn and rare to budge on his own regulations. This was reflected most of all in his agreeing with Sickle's philosophy that the gods should remain uninvolved with human affairs. Despite this, he used indirect means to take responsibility for his actions and deviated from Sickle's will in appointing Clarith his successor.

Held's prudence, however, led to him having a slightly more stratified view than Sickle; blaming the mixing of good and evil to be the cause of the Second Period's demise, he believed heavily in segregation and a defined order. He therefore disapproved of HERs and evildoers being allowed to go to the Heavenly Yard with the innocents, although he relaxed this mentality by the world's end. Held similarly was strict and protective of his forest spirits, reluctant to let them go near humans or let them regain their traumatic past memories. He was also disappointed with the dwindling of religious faith in most humans, although accepting of it due to his and others' mistakes as "gods."

Normally calm and slow, Held was rarely provoked to anger and had the speech patterns of an old man despite his true youthful appearance. He was similarly forgetful in his long life and could be incredibly lazy, sleeping for months at a time as a tree. He was similarly calm enough to withstand a myriad of verbal and physical abuses. Underneath his nature as a calm old man, Held could also be quite deceptive, concealing many things from Gallerian despite their friendship, and he hid his worries about Gallerian learning his curse under a false concern for the Vessels of Sin.

## Skills and Abilities

"*That's because your transforming into an animal is from Held's power. Don’t confuse my abilities for that of a god.*"
―Gallerian to Lemy
As a god, Held wielded great magical power, able to create lands and seas as well as flora. Similarly, he had the capability to manipulate his kin's forms while they were in the forest, providing them the means to transform into physical animals and himself turning Clarith into a sapling. Conversely, in his true form he could eradicate a human being's soul should he will it. However, as a god he was unable to perform any action that could cause physical harm in the Third Period, only creating and extending life rather than destroying it. The god could also manipulate memories, including the difficult art of copying and reapplying them.

Because he was transformed into a tree, Held was unable to move, being rooted to the ground, and his divine power was limited to the borders of his forest. Should his mortal form be destroyed, he could momentarily use his full power in the Third Period. Held in his tree form was naturally unable to defend himself, although having no nerve endings he was unable to feel pain and was capable of regenerating over time. Though lacking a proper face, he could contort his tree form to resemble an aged visage when engaging in conversation. Held was an impressive heavy sleeper as well, easily slipping into a comatose state for months at a time.

His abilities as a god reflected his skills as a scientist in the Second Period, being extremely intelligent and well versed in biology as well as mechanics, soul manipulation, and other fields. He was similarly a credited mediator, being appointed as a judge at one point in time, and was able to become a professor to instruct others in his craft.

## Character Connections

Gallerian Chirclatia: An old friend of Held. Knowing his curse from Behemo, Held maintained a ruse with him about collecting the Seven Deadly Sins, as well as taking other measures, all out of concern he would learn his curse or it would grow stronger. Despite this, he seemed to get along with him and would offer him advice through his "quest."

Lich Arklow: A former student of Held's. Despite instructing him in the Second Period, Held rarely got along with Lich due to the latter's constant defiance, culminating in expelling him from the forest. Despite this, he claimed to care about Lich while he lived with the other forest spirits, although the two continued bicker over their respective decisions in later encounters.

Clarith: One of Held's forest spirits and successor. Held mourned for Clarith's death as an earthling and was extremely protective of her as a spirit. At the same time, he saw her interest in humans as opportune for her to become his successor, maintaining the hope that she would be able to correct his past mistakes. Held considered her most dear to him among all the forest spirits.

Lemy: One of Held's forest spirits. Held mourned for Lemy's death as an earthling and was protective of him as a spirit, continuing to guide him even when he later became a human. He also recognized the value of Lemy's serious and methodical nature as a means to monitor Gallerian.

Talos: A fellow Climb One crew member and good friend of Held. The two were close from the Second Period; Held demonstrated great respect for the sun god and his rules for the world, agreeing with his policies of non-interference. Despite this, Held was at times frustrated by his friend's enigmatic and indiscriminately benevolent nature, and hid from him his true intentions concerning Clarith.

Behemo Barisol: A fellow earthling. While Behemo worked for Held in his clinic, he was a strict boss and seldom gave him vacation time. As crewmembers he and Behemo were close, but they ultimately faced a division due to their opposing viewpoints and Behemo's HER Syndrome. Held additionally thought of him as a bit of a hysterical man at times.

Levia Barisol: A fellow god. Held and Levia were presumably close before the Third Period, but she saw Levia's youth as being wasted on her and disapproved of her crossdressing habit.

## Trivia

### Conceptualization and Origin

* The Master of the Court's relation to the Court is connected to the event of Judgment in Hieronymus Bosch's The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things.
* Held's last name, Yggdra, references the Yggdrasil, otherwise known as the "world tree" of Norse mythology.

### Curiosities

* It was purported that the members of the Zvezda family inherit Held's blood, though the claim was never validated.

## Appearances

* Chrono Story
* Tree Maiden ~Millennium Wiegenlied~
* The Daughter of Green
* The Son of Evil: Clôture of Evil
* The Son of Evil: Wiegenlied of White
* The Son of Evil: Praeludium of Yellow
* The Son of Evil: Praefacio of Red
* Deadly Sins of Evil: Master of the Heavenly Yard
* Gloom of Held
* Heavenly Yard (story)
* Pierrot & SCP Bonus Story
* Song of the Black Bird
* The Son of Evil (manga)
* Prelude to Forest
* Evils Forest
* Evils Kingdom
* Judgment of Corruption ~A Court of Greed~
* Evils Court
* Seven Crimes and Punishments (album)
* Original Sin Story: Complete Edition
* Clockwork Lullaby (album)