Sickle

"This isn't the "ended world", Held. This is the place everyone returns to when they have completed their lifetime in the Third Period: the Heavenly Yard."

- Sickle

Sickle, also regarded as the God of the Sun, was the god that oversaw the creation of the Third Period. After the destruction of the previous worlds, the god created a new world, incarnating his fellow gods there before transforming himself into a bat. Accepting the name humans gave him, "Sickle" chose to solely observe his creation, curious about what path humanity would follow without his interference.

Early Life
"It's the world you created. It's fine for you to do with it as you like."

- Held

Since time immemorial, the sun god and his kindred enjoyed paradise in their world. When their world suddenly collapsed, the gods boarded the ark Sin and traversed the black sea until finding a new place. There, they created the Second Period and prospered in the new paradise for a thousand years. When the Second Period faced destruction, the gods dubbed the cause "Malice". The sun god and 71 of his kin successfully escaped the world's destruction on Sin, sailing to another new place.

Heading the creation of this Third Period, the sun god tasked the other gods with the creation of individual aspects of the world, focusing his efforts on creating the air and light that would fill the new land. While the gods Levia and Behemo were creating the humans, he had the Elphe race modeled after the earth god, Held. As time progressed, the sun god developed the different rules governing the new world; among these rules, the god prepared for the world he created to end in one of four different ways.

During the process, 62 of their kin died and the surviving ten completed their creation by BT 528. Deciding to leave their new paradise in the hands of the humans they created, the sun god shared his plans with the other gods and earned Held's support and the other eight gods ire. After quarreling with Levia and Behemo over his decision, the god of the sun transformed the twin gods into a twin-headed dragon, tasking "Levia-Behemo" as the "temporary gods" for the humans of the new world.

After the twin gods and six kin began breaking his rules and caused chaos in the newly-made world, the sun god reluctantly dropped the ark Sin and other technologies into the north of the Third Period. Shortly after, he imprisoned the eight gods in Sin, burying all the relics deep within the earth. The god of creation tasked Held with watching over the twin gods and protect humanity from them, incarnating his green-haired friend as an immovable tree to prevent repeating his previous mistake with the twin gods.

With both Held and Levia-Behemo set as "temporary gods" for a limited time, the god transformed himself into a bat and roamed the Third Period's landscape to see what path his world would take without his interference. During this time, he continued to cultivate the Second Period's ruined land with golden rice fields, making it an afterlife for all the humans of the Third Period: the Heavenly Yard.

Observing Evillious
As the Third Period continued, the god observed the numerous individuals in Evillious. Following the Levianta Catastrophe of EC 013, the god took interest in the "resurrected" vessel for the twin gods breaking his rule for time, Elluka Clockworker, and followed her exploits. The creation god later kept watch over Irina Clockworker and her actions over the course of Evillious' history involving the vessels of sin.

As the centuries progressed, he witnessed the Venomania Event in EC 136 and Duke Sateriasis Venomania's demise by Count Karchess Crim the following year. He later observed Banica Conchita devour herself along with the Demon of Gluttony possessing her and become the demon herself in August of EC 325. At some point, the bat was spotted by a human and dubbed "Sickle" for his oddly shaped wings and the god decided to adopt the name for convenience.

At the turn of the sixth century EC, the god witnessed the events occurring in the Kingdom of Lucifenia unfold. Interested in the Lucifenian Revolution and Allen Avadonia, the god speculated the boy was derived from Hänsel's birth; later on, Sickle realized the boy existed separately from Hänsel's soul, making him outside his scope of creation and an existence that shouldn't have existed. After Allen's demise on December 26, EC 500, the sun god met with the boy in the Heavenly Yard and answered all his questions about where he was and what had happened, revealing his own confusion about the child's peculiar existence.

The creator god then tasked Allen with learning about all of the Third Period's history from the Black Box device in order to understand the mechanisms of the world. After explaining the complex mechanics behind the magic tool, the former servant was placed inside Black Box and left in the fields of the Heavenly Yard. When the boy expressed his desires to see his family and friends at the faraway Champs-Élysées, Sickle forbid it. Around the same time, he was concerned by Held training Michaela as a successor and grew curious about what the earth god expected of her.

When Allen expressed his desire to interfere in the world to protect his sister from the possessed Clarith in EC 505, Sickle answered his whims and let the boy return there for a brief time, showing him how to use Black Box's transfer device to quickly apparate on the Lucifenian coastline. After seeing the battle at Marlon later that year, Sickle again permitted Allen to briefly interfere with the third world when Germaine Avadonia and Yukina Freesis confronted Irina on the Lucifenian coastline.

In EC 549, Sickle noticed that war began breaking out in the Eastern region and flew toward its source at Jakoku. Finding the former maid, Chartette Langley, just outside Enbizaka, he witnessed the old woman hand off two pairs of scissors to a young man that reminded him of Duke Sateriasis Venomania. Once the Venomania descendant left, he saw Irina battle and swiftly defeat the aged Chartette in battle.

When the sorceress unexpectedly looked up at the sky, seemingly straight at him, the confused god felt her immeasurable hatred before she returned her eyes to the ground and moved on. Afterward, the god watched the civil war across Jakoku, paying particular attention to the young man from before as he slaughtered his opponents. Once he saw the war end and a new ruler be crowned, Sickle left.

Brief Return Home
"But in the end, you obeyed the duty I gave you. Therefore I don't understand. Why did you leave Michaela as a successor?" "Well, aren't you plotting something too?"

- Sickle and Held regarding Michaela and Allen

Realizing Held had probably already returned to the Second Period, Sickle flew back to his golden rice fields and, back in his human form, immediately began reaping any weeds he found. Once Sickle found Held at the center of his field, the green-haired god noted how he still maintained his farming hobby and said it was meaningless to cultivate the "ended" world. Insulted, Sickle countered that it was where everyone went to after their life in the Third Period was up and Held scoffed at how that way of thinking was what infuriated Levia.

The scythe-wielding god then questioned if he meant his neglect for the Hellish Yard and asked Held's thoughts on the matter. When Held expressed the belief that segregation of good and evil was necessary, Sickle brushed it off as his opinion and asked why he left Michaela as a successor. Held refused to answer, instead pointing out the black box in the sky and saying Sickle too had been plotting something. When pressed why Allen received special treatment, the creation god explained the boy's "irregular" nature.

In response to Held's conclusion that he was choosing to exclude the child, Sickle insisted it was the opposite and summoned the box down. The Master of the Heavenly Yard then stated their talk was over, since Held refused to elaborate on Michaela, and Held left, saying he too loved the world Sickle created. After unlocking the box with the golden key and finding the sleeping Allen inside, he wondered if the recoil from his visits to the Third Period tired him out and asked the unconscious boy how he was feeling.

Defying the End
"No one's here?" "So you noticed, Allen. Yes, it's just you and I in the Heavenly Yard now."

- Allen and Sickle

As time went on, Sickle reviewed the course of Evillious history. At some point, he told the bored Allen that he would soon no longer be just reviewing the world's history in the box. In EC 998, Sickle witnessed the Third Period's collapse due to Nemesis Sudou and her weapon Punishment, see the ground world become part of Hellish Yard and pull all the souls from Heavenly Yard onto the ground as he had set up to be the worst of the four endings.

Disapproving of these events, the god decided to break his rules and interfere in his creation, deciding to borrow Michaela's power. After stating it would soon be Allen's turn, Sickle met with the surviving Michaela and Held in the destroyed Millennium Tree Forest and related his plans to the two gods. He then tasked Michaela with helping Allen meet several of the vessel of sin owners via the seven demons while he completed his own preparations for the next stage.

After they and the demons agreed to cooperate, the sun god returned to the fields of the Heavenly Yard and opened Black Box. Peering inside to see Allen awake, the smiling god asked how the boy was doing. When Allen retorted that he seemed to be in an usually bad mood, Sickle asked if he really looked like that. Once the boy explained his eyes looked angry, questioning if he was indeed angry at the world's destruction, the sun god shook his head and insisted he wouldn't be angry at something like that.

He then cited he had expected the world's end from the start. As he began to qualify his statement, the god brushed it aside and said they should first get him out of Black Box. Once Allen exited the device and noted how no one was there, Sickle affirmed that they were the only two left in the Heavenly Yard. When the child asked about what happened, Sickle explained how the souls had been pulled to the ground with the destruction of the Third Period and elimination of the boundary it created between worlds.

Allen then surmised the ground world had become part of Hellish Yard and Sickle compared their relationship to that of a magnet where they were pulled toward the more powerful force. Turning his eyes to stare at him, the god told the boy it was his turn. When Allen surmised he wanted him to restore the fallen souls, Sickle admitted that was the end result before qualifying he first needed to prepare a bit more and tasked him to review history. As the boy retorted he had already done so, Sickle interjected that he only knew the history as information and needed to contact the individual souls of those eras to understand them.

After Allen responded that conversing would take an enormous amount of time, Sickle explained he only needed to contact particularly important souls, namely those influenced by the Demons of Sin. Once Allen readily agreed to the task, the god realized he wanted to see his sister, Riliane. He then teased how obedient he was suddenly being before pointing out it was only natural.

The god then related that Held and Michaela were awaiting him and that he should contact them once he arrived in the ground world. After Allen reacted to hearing Michaela's name, the god questioned if it was unpleasant for him to see her and the boy explained it was just embarrassing. Sickle immediately pointed out that neither of them were normal humans anymore so it was too late to feel that way. Allen then admitted that the god was right.

Noticing Allen had fallen deep into thought, Sickle stated it wasn't a bad thing to think before saying that he wouldn't start anything if he didn't act. The god then criticized that the boy often only completed things in his head. When Allen questioned if that was so, Sickle reiterated that it was, pointing out that he kept thinking things over while time continued moving, only acting after it was already too late to avoid the situation.

The boy then admitted he might've been right before announcing he'd go to see Michaela and Held. The god approved and asked if he still remembered how to use the box's transfer device, setting its destination to the Millennium Tree Forest's location. After Allen said he did, the sun god declared the preparations were finished and that he should arrive at the forest once he pressed the box's switch.

Once the boy jumped back in Black Box and left, Sickle resumed his preparations for the following stages in the plan. Later on, after Allen had visited the seven in question and retrieved Nemesis Sudou's golden key before being caught in the blast of Punishment at the Grave Yard, Sickle retrieved the boy and returned him to Black Box. Some time after, Sickle opened the box again and peered inside before greeting Allen again in the habitual manner. The human then exited the box and the sun god announced that it was finally his turn.

Personality and Traits
"As I thought, you are angry that the world has been destroyed, correct?" "I wouldn't be angry at such a thing. I expected the world's end from the start. But..."

- Allen and Sickle

As the god of the universe and its creation, "Sickle" was easily attached to his own works, especially the Third Period, developing a unique aesthetic for each human race there. Curious of how the world would develop without his interference as God, the deity purposefully isolated himself from his creation, choosing instead to act as a mere observer in its progression. In contrast, the god showed indifference towards the suffering and death the third world's humans endured, noting the concept in an aloof manner.

Despite this, he still valued his creations, demonstrated by his efforts to turn the decimated Second Period into the "Heavenly Yard" for all of them, good and bad, to arrive at after death. Because of this, Sickle was particularly attached to the heavenly domain he cultivated; although extremely strict about his rules for the third world and even setting up the four potential ends for his creation, the god reluctantly broke his own rules in an attempt at restoring the lost souls to the Heavenly Yard after they were pulled into the Hellish Yard.

Although fascinated by the unique existences of Elluka Clockworker and Banica Conchita, Sickle was especially attracted to Allen Avadonia's "irregular" existence and gave the boy special treatment. Despite his impressive role in his creations' lives, Sickle preferred to watch the world in anonymity and showed no desire in flaunting himself as their maker; as a result, he wasn't bothered by the names the humans gave him while in his bat form or being mistaken as simply a unique species.

Still, the sun god possessed a great deal of pride in himself and what he created with his fellow gods and often had a smile. Therefore, he was stubborn and sensitive to criticism, ignoring Held's advice despite their close friendship and brushing off his concerns as merely his opinion. Regardless of his bias towards his rules, the creation god had no qualms indirectly interfering with it by permitting Allen to return there to satisfy his whims and put great faith in the boy. Sickle also had a hobby of farming and took pride in cultivating much of the destroyed Second Period into a golden rice field.

His mentality about rules extended to his thoughts on the Third Period's humans, lacking faith in them progressing without eventually developing their own pantheons and chose instead to have them worship "temporary gods" he set up for a period of time. Similarly, although considering his fellow gods as friends, Sickle disregarded Levia and her role as the Master of the Hellish Yard and forcibly made the hated siblings one being to act as humanity's temporary gods; he also imprisoned them, although reluctant to do so, and used them as tools for his plan for humanity.

Skills and Abilities
As the god of creation, Sickle was able to create an entire universe along with its laws and inhabitants. The extent of his power allowed him to even recreate the gods in new, mortal forms, as he had done when creating the Third Period. While in the Second Period, the god of creation maintained a human form with an always severe expression, even when not angry. In the Third Period, Sickle assumed the form of a bat with wings that had the unique shape of scythe blades.

Regardless of his form, Sickle maintained immortality and, when not restricting himself, omnipotence. As a bat, Sickle was capable of flying for days without getting tired and could quickly travel across the Bolganio continent to observe anywhere in the world. Aside from his godly powers, Sickle had a talent for farming and was careful when reaping the golden rice fields of the Heavenly Yard.

Character Connections
Held: A close friend and a fellow god. The god of creation got along well with Held and valued his contributions to the Periods, later modeling the Elphe race after Held's human appearance. Appreciating Held's wise sense of judgment, the creation deity trusted him to monitor Levia and Behemo in Bolganio; despite this, he occasionally argued with Held over his ideals for the Heavenly Yard and was curious about the other god's intentions for Michaela.

Levia: A fellow god. The god of creation originally trusted Levia and worked with her during the Second and Third Periods, turning her into a powerful mortal form to watch over Bolganio. After Levia began causing problems with her brother, he recognized the danger that they both faced and sent Held to monitor them. He also showed a disregard for the god's feelings, neglecting her role as Master of the Hellish Yard and merging her with her hated brother.

Behemo: A fellow god. The god of creation originally trusted Behemo and worked with him during the Second and Third Periods, turning him into a powerful mortal form to watch over Bolganio. After Behemo began causing problems with his sister, he recognized the danger that they both faced and sent Held to monitor them. He also showed a disregard for the god's feelings, merging him with his hated sister.

Elluka Clockworker: A woman the god of creation kept an eye on. Although acknowledging that she was a friend of Held, Sickle disapproved of how Elluka broke his rule of time, enjoying an extended lifespan through unnatural means.

Irina Clockworker: Another woman the god of creation kept an eye on. Sickle deeply disapproved of the pain and suffering Irina brought to others, considering her an incarnation of malice, and felt she deserved close surveillance.

Banica Conchita: A woman whom the god of creation observed. He found Banica's actions and transformation into a demon deplorable; he believed that she was incapable of understanding the situation, particularly in becoming the Master of the Graveyard, and that she didn't comprehend what consequences there could be.

Allen Avadonia: A boy the god of creation gave attention to. The god of creation found Allen an oddity that was beyond the scope of his own creation, and became fond of him despite noting his tendency to not act until it was too late. Due to his regard for him, he would often allow Allen to interfere in the world despite his own rules against doing so. He later trusted Allen enough to involve him in his plan to save the ground world, tasking him to review history by meeting with the seven vessel owners.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * Sickle's name and bat incarnation are taken from mothy's logo, comprised of two crossed sickles that vaguely resemble the form of a bat.
 * The god may be inspired by Cronus, the leader of the Titans in Greek mythology; he is often portrayed as wielding a sickle or scythe.
 * Sickle may also be inspired by the Grim Reaper, who is also commonly depicted wielding a sickle or scythe.
 * The Master of the Heavenly Yard's relation to the Heavenly Yard is connected to the event of Heaven in Hieronymus Bosch's The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things.

Curiosities

 * In Heavenly Yard, Held addresses the god as お主 (onushi), a polite form of "you" used to address one's equals or inferiors; it contains the Japanese character 主 (nushi) used for the four "Masters".
 * In Seven Crimes and Punishments, the Demon of Envy refers to the sun god as "Professor".

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