Backstory
Simply put, the Miseries are deities created by higher gods as scapegoats. When a follower wallows over a bad experience, they lose faith in their Gods, but if they see the malediction as the fault of another being that their Gods protect them from, their faith grows. Why should a God grant unconditional blessings if faith wanes, when they could conjure a plan to make believers desperately worship. For such a being like Ephialtes, being enlisted as a villain isn’t so bad when they don’t care about humans in the first place, and it’s a job where power grows. Prior to escaping the original Pandora’s box, a beautifully intricate box containing humanity’s Miseries, they spent much time discussing their next moves with the others sealed. Some just liked to stir trouble, some expected to be sealed again or never unsealed, and Ephialtes coveted strength— power great enough to challenge a God.
Although that is the type of personality they once had, and a handful of their acquaintances didn’t share their ideals, Chimäre got along well with Ephialtes. When they weren’t thinking about human conquest, Ephialtes was less overwhelming than the others in personality and fairly agreeable. Chimäre didn’t have a goal when unsealed, sure she was going to bother humans as much as any other Misery, but that gets repetitive. She wouldn’t bother fighting a God if the result won’t have her revered with the wrongdoings considered, and it could lead to more Gods hunting them. Ephialtes always gave her the option to join their side with welcome arms should her mind change.
And so, when they were free, everyone went their separate ways. Ephialtes focused on terrorizing humans, becoming stronger and stronger with each nightmare granted and encouraged. However, they weren’t the only one gathering power, two other Miseries named Merikh and Pagule worked together to double their power. Briefly visiting Chimäre after their escapes, who was now raising a human child, she would still refuse to join their side while her adopted son was around. While Ephialtes whined that they could’ve accomplished much with Chimäre’s support, they still did their own thing until they ran into the malignant duo of Miseries at the wrong time.
Seeking to destroy the original Pandora’s box, Merikh and Pagule returned to Greece and stumbled upon Ephialtes whose messy trail led to one God finding them. Annoyed by their trouble leading to human death rates soaring, one Reincarnation God Isiktan was avidly hunting the Miseries with Eden in tow. Eden was the Hope left behind in the box, a bad omen for the Miseries, and a blessing to humans. Blessed by the Gods to counter the abilities of the Miseries, a great battle ensued. Since fighting was not up Eden’s sleeve, it was really up to Isiktan to subdue Ephialtes, Merikh, and Pagule. The grudge Merikh and Pagule hold towards Ephialtes still exists for letting a God discover them. Isiktan had used a large portion of their divine power to try reincarnating the deities, but unable to fully undo their existences, the Miseries ended up settling in weaker states in the form of children, Ephialtes included. Their first instincts were to retreat, Ephialtes running far away before Eden could ultimately capture them. What happened to Merikh and Pagule was beyond them, but they had also run away to try regaining their power.
Years later, Ephialtes figured they should look for the others to work together after that encounter, but Chimäre was no longer in the town she lived in, it was set to fire years ago and a new land existed. Investigating her whereabouts, they went from Europe to Asia. Those who could find Miseries were the Pandoras, humans blessed with divine power to see the supernatural and act on it. Finding Chimäre was arduous without that ability, playing by ear with humans and spirits who pointed them in the right direction. Chimäre was sealed years ago in an urn tucked away in a Chinese temple. How she got there didn’t matter, but Ephialtes needed to get their power back. Rummaging through countless temples and cemeteries, a ghost girl caught Ephialtes’ eye; it was Paris. If a Misery could have an indication that another Misery was once around, the only thing they could detect was afflicted beings, and Paris was supposedly cursed by Merikh, the Misery of death.
For Paris and Ijus, first born daughters in their lineage were cursed to die, the fate perhaps set in stone countless generations ago. Pointing it out to her, that her living cousin Ijus was also afflicted by the curse, Ephialtes offered to help Paris end the curse so Ijus could live a long life. Tricking her really, Ephialtes needed access to a warehouse on the temple grounds to search for the urn, which Paris had Ijus open up. Ijus wasn’t meant to open the urn, but out of curiosity she did so when she could sense a sadness within it, in turn freeing Chimäre who instinctually possessed her. Uncaring that Chimäre now had a human vessel, Ephialtes tried to run off with their old friend, Paris following seeing that this was not part of the plan. Of course, Ijus’ wife Gingko caught a glimpse of the whole ordeal, shocked, but determined to get Ijus back. Now, with Chimäre, Paris, and Ijus, Ephialtes thought they had an advantage over other Miseries with their flexible team.
Many spiritually aware humans and pandoras wouldn’t lay a finger on Chimäre while she inhabited Ijus, an innocent human, but Ijus and Chimäre struck a mutual goal to stop other groups looking for the other Miseries. With that decided, Ijus could get control of herself when she wished to do so, personally getting to know Ephialtes better. In doing so, the two ended up getting along very well. Ephialtes was never fond of humans, not a single one of them, but Ijus spoke so fondly of her experiences enough to pique the Misery’s interest. Trying to expand their team while searching for sealed Miseries, Ephialtes eventually learns to warm up to humans(at least a select few), and genuinely wants to defeat Merikh and Pagule to undo Ijus’ curse of an untimely death.
