Mephisto Pheles

Mephisto Pheles
Info
Gender	Female
Age	10 days (debut)
Date of Birth	904 A.C.
Family	Ashtaroth (creator)
Manga Debut	Vol. 22

Mephisto Pheles (メフィスト・フェレス) was a demon created by Ashtaroth on 904 A.C. She was Reiko Mikami's past life and the origin of the entire plot from the series.

History

Mephisto was created with the only objective of collecting souls for the Energy Crystal, which she was supposed to accomplish by using deception in men who gave their souls to her in exchange for her granting them three wishes. A few days after her creation, she found her first victim, a lusty onmyōji named Takashima that was held prisoner for carnal crimes; thinking it was going to be easy to catch him, she offered him three wishes, but he was ready to turn the situation in his favor and not be fooled.

The three wishes

Takashima`s first original wish was for Mephisto to "become my property" which she comically denied without considering his first shot chance as consumed, so he corrected his choice and instead asked:

• "I want you to love me" (俺にホレろ)

As a young demon, Mephisto had no idea of what "love" was, so she was unable to concede the wish, but her curiosity led her to offer Takashima a chance to have a sexual approach, his lust went high but he realized that sentimental part was important on sexual encounters; the grant of wishes was interrupted because of this but they became closer while holding a long conversation.

The chatting was interrupted when Reiko Mikami arrived, and her physical similarity with Mephisto got both of them confused. They started a fight and Mikami managed to place a ofuda in Mephisto's forehead; Takashima protected the demon, and they escaped; this act turned them even closer than before.

Ashtaroth perceived a sudden raise on Mephisto's powers and sent Sugawara no Michizane to annihilate her, this raise had no other reason than the confusion of auras caused by the proximity with Reiko Mikami, and since they are technically the same being their auras where the same, resulting in Ashtaroth believing that Mephisto have had an unexpected empower.

Michizane found Mikami instead of Mephisto, and started a battle against a team composed of Mikami, Yokoshima, Hyakume, and Saigō. His attacks revealed that Mephisto and Takashima were spying them, and Sugawara mortally wounded Yokoshima, obliging Hyakume to possess him and try a time travel to take him to a future hospital.

The plan failed, and only Mephisto and Mikami traveled, meeting the alter ego of Sugawara no Michizane a deity, who offered assistance with advice and four Monju to return in time and fight.

In order to get enough power to beat the bad Sugawara, Mephisto returned to Ashtaroth's base and swallowed the Energy Crystal, increasing her power. She managed to defeat Sugawara, but Ashtaroth himself showed up and killed Takashima, which caused the memories from Yokoshima's past life to temporarily control his unconscious body.

After his burial, he used Yokoshima to ask her the two last wishes. The second was:

• "I want you to become human." (必ず人間になれ)

This wish was granted some time after Mikami and company returned to their time.

After the return of Mikami to the present days she saw Yokoshima in the hospital totally recovered causing tears of happiness to come out, and a final memory to reveal, the last wish of Takashima was:

• "I want us to see each other again." (また会おうな)

Life after the visit of Mikami

After Takashima's tragic death, she decided to live on Earth among the mortals, Saigō honorably decided to take care of her as a sister.

Mephisto took the name of Kuzunoha (葛の葉), and it was rumored that she became the mother of Abe no Seimei, a famous onmyōji.

After her death, Mephisto reincarnated as Reiko Mikami. The Energy Soul, as well as her enhanced powers, were inherited by her.

Appearances in the present

Remnants of her memories are present in Reiko Mikami, and she eventually appears taking place of Mikami's conscience to debate with Luciola after watching Yokoshima fight against Ashtaroth, Mephisto observing how close they had become and reacting by taking the word on Mikami's body, arguing with her about his affections.

And so whenever she feels Yokoshima is getting closer to another girl than Mikami, Mephisto appears to remember him his promise.

Gallery

Mephisto and Mikami first encounter

Etymology

Mephisto Pheles is named after Mephistopheles, a male demon in German folklore. The name may derive from the Hebrew מֵפִיץ (mêp̄îṣ) which means "scatterer, disperser", and tophel, short for ט֫פֶל שֶׁ֫קֶר (tōp̄el šeqer) which means "plasterer of lies". The name may also be a combination of three Greek words: μή (mḗ) as a negation, φῶς (phō̃s) meaning "light", and φιλις "philis" meaning "loving", making it mean "not-light-loving", possibly parodying the Latin "Lucifer" or "light-bearer".