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I always believed that the worst thing one can do is sit down and await for their fate.
I knew my fate. The gray sisters had told me all about it in my eleventh birthday,upon my element's arrival,or as we call it,the anagenesis. It means to be reborn; an archaic ritual kept throughout the ages in my planet.
Each person should have their anagenesis in their eleventh birthday. It's being held in the sacred temple of their destined god. Mine was Persephone. Thus,my mother named me after her.
Upon birth a vision is given to the gold sisters,the ones responsible for our destined path. The gold sister who helped my mother deliver me,the one named Chrisia,said that Persephone had chosen me and it was my mother's imperative to name me after her,as one of her children of Spring,that's what she said my goddess wanted. It was only fitting,as I was born on the first day of Spring,upon the designed three-week celebration of Persephone.
It was the mother's obligation to teach her child all about their destined God; and so mine would take me to Persephone's sacred temple upon every spring. I had to light her candles,to pray to her and give her offerings, a plead for a fair and respectful destiny.
Nothing but darkness and ache awaited those who were cast away by their destined Gods.
And so,on my eleventh birthday a celebration was held,my own anagenesis,a ritual for which I was prepared since my birth.
After Persephone's image,as we knew her,so I should be.
My hair had to be long,never to be cut; and so,dark brown curls reaching my hips were adorned by a veil of perplexed braids and on top of my head stood a crown of thorns,white narcissus flowers in between their edges. I was wearing a light dress with a long train following my steps,held by Persephone's priestess,it's color indigo,the color of Hades's eyes,a tribute to Persephone's husband and thus her position as the queen of the underworld.
My one eye was deep blue,the other a dark green; my mother used to say it was a gift from both Hades and Persephone,a representation of the sky above my ahead and the grass bellow my feet; a child of both the land of the mortals and the heavenly ether. One eye to see through the earth above were we lived,and one to peak through Hades' own eyes,to the dark world to the dead living with us yet cursed to be alone throughout eternity. Death was a perplexed subject for my people.
The young maidens,the priestess's own four daughters,one for each pomegranate seed Persephone ate upon her descending down with Hades,were playing a melodious harmonic song with their lyres.
There were four great clans in my home planet,Pelimorre.
One for the earthly children,those who carried the power to harness the land,the rocks,the mud supporting our feet. The could bend the land to their will. Their clan's name,the Geans.
One for those who held the power of the aqua; they curved the river waters and made waterfalls with their dancing arms. They were the Hithors.
One for our gate keepers,the pacifiers,the neutral forces who bent our energetic fields,our own souls making portals to go outside the grand walls of our premises,of our world of the living to every other dimension. The Etherians.
And lastly,one for the strong wielders of our land's most precious brethren; all things shining silvery,the metals. Our mightiest warriors,the Seetheeren.
There was,though,one more clan; one long lost and buried. They were the ones who carried a power much more destructive than any of the rest,the most dangerous of all. The ones who carried the will of the flames,forming warmth and light on the inside of their palms,strong and disastrous fire lines with every kick. The Pyrephs.
Their power was growing so strong,their minds and souls blinded by such a murderous intent following their flames,they had to be annihilated. That's what our history books said at least. Our planet hadn't seen a Pyreph for almost two aeons.
One could bear two elements,though his master element the one to be shown to be more reflective of the person's personality and heart,was the one to determine their clan. To bear three elements was most rare,the people only counted in the fingers of one hand. It was self catastrophic. One could go completely crazy and nonsensical by the influence of three elements. It was a great power to wield,one element already hard enough to embrace and master. It was great responsibility,marking your very soul.
I went into the underground spring,surrounded by glimmering and colorful minerals,the light reflecting to the clear light blue waters. Only I and the gray sisters were allowed down there,though my fate would be announced to my parents as soon as I got out.
I stepped in,the melodies of the maidens accompanying me with every step.
The water was warm,so much that I wanted to go directly in; it felt like home.
“Now my child,thy name Persephone of the royal house of our protective capital; Thy father Orion the King Hithor,thy mother Melsina the Queen Gean “ ,the gray sisters chanted in turns,their voices soft and angelic in accordance to their young,beautiful appearances.
“Thy destined God Persephone,the first blooming flower of Spring. We ask thy Persephone,her protective goddess, what is your will for this young child's fate?”
I was floating in the water,my body feeling lighter than it ever did.
My eyes were closed yet I could see something around me,despite the endless darkness formed inside my eyelids. Small meteors all heading my way,burning stars surrounding me,and thus I was warm,so much I didn't want to leave.
I felt something inside me; something I had never felt before,something I could not dare find the words to describe. It wasn't anything humanly,it was otherwordly. My eyes were burning with something,and I thought that this was it.
“A young woman stands behind her” ,my mother had told me of this.
In your anagenesis people from the past,people you may have known in your life,and sometimes people whom lived aeons before your arrival in this world appeared around you. Each one to represent your element.
“Her name Ophelianta,a Gean who died fifty two years ago,your element's guide” ,so I was a Gean. Like my mother,i too was a Gean. This was good,i liked the earth. I loved the feeling of the grass beneath my bare feet,the dirt and the heavy rocks of our land. All of it. All dwelling inside me,i could feel it. I could feel my eyes glimmering green.
“Oh, but this is not your master element,child. There is another one” ,her surprise didn't surpass my own. I was a two elements bearer then?
“A child now. A child who lived a short life,died only by the age of fourteen “ ,how sad. I could feel him. I could see him,both him and Ophelianta.
His name was-
“ Mariol” ,yes. Mariol. “ A Seetheerin,i see” ,yes,i could feel the iron stuck and hiding beneath the rocks and the minerals of the land. Yes,it made sense. This was my master element.
“But,who are you young man?” ,what? Another? No,this can't be. There can't be three elements,or i'm doomed to failure and a soul cut in three pieces. No,no. It can't,it simply can't.
“Kalios,the Prince Pyreph you say? “ ,a...pyreph? This can't be true. She must have heard wrong.
“Your kind has never before appeared before us like this,not after your clan's annihilation. It is said to be due to the ill bared feelings you held on to,since we all put our hands in your clan's destruction. Your ancestors have never before aided a child after that day. Tell me Kalios,why is it that you're here?”
I saw him; a young,handsome man in his twenties. With dark and curly short hair,and light brown eyes. He was pointing at me,looking straight into my eyes – no,no. He was looking right inside my soul.
“Oh,so it's not that your kind's feelings have changed. You see something in this young girl's fate? You have chosen her” ,the sisters murmured some words I could not understand,and then after a long pause,they continued.
“ Thy name Persephone of the royal house of our protective capital; Thy father Orion the King Hithor,thy mother Melsina the Queen Gean,thy destined God Persephone,the first blooming flower of Spring. You stand as a Gean, a Seetheerin and,the first ever in two aeons Pyreph. But as the law of order has it,only one can be your master element. You,my child, you Persephone are a Pyreph. The first of your kind “ ,this was bad.
But I could understand it. I could feel the flames surrounding me,a warmth i've been yearning for since birth. It wasn't destructive,not a bad feeling,there was no murderous intent around me. There was just warmth.
“Your fate reeks of fire,my child. It's an uneasy one,chaos will try and take over your heart,it will try and crush it. Your destiny is not a pretty one,and so you will cry “
“Yet you shall find ease in the flames surrounding you,if only you are wise enough to see them as they are”
Everyone cried on that day; everyone but me and my father. For him the anger was a feeling much more overwhelming,along with his disappointment for my nature. Not only had I not inherited his element,one he thought to be greater than all the others,but I was also a Pyreph.
My nature was the cause for a lot of grief,for that day and many more to come. Upon my fourteenth birthday,a war broke.
The Eastern Kingdom didn't appreciate having a Pyreph as the next in line to rule the Capital. I should thank my father's ambitions and if nothing more his arrogance,which both surpassed his disgust of me. He wanted to take over the Eastern Kingdom,to overrule more land,to establish his dominance on Pelimorre. So,instead of giving the Eastern Kingdom my head,as requested by him, my father,the Capital's King Orion instead requested the Eastern Kingdom's ruler, King Phaellion's head in a plate by me.
Our planet was not a pacifistic one,and so war outbreaks were no strangers to us. My father seeing some form of potential in me appointed the White Guard to train me as soon as I began manifesting my elements,shortly after my eleventh birthday.
The White Guard was consisted of brave and capable warriors from all around the nation,a fitting order to protect my father and the royal family under direct orders from him. Although most battalions were formed in accordance to their soldiers' master element,the White Guard was not like that.
They were consisted of Geans,Seetheerins and Hithors all together.
As far as the Etherians go they were prohibited from entering wars. If an Etherian did so much as punch someone they were immediately punished by death by the divine laws,ones much higher than my father's or any king's own laws.
The White Guard taught me how to fight. The taught me how to manifest my elements,but as far as my fire nature went I was all alone. Thankfully I still had Kalios,my Pyreph guide. He showed me how to create sparkles,how to see fireworks through the small blue flames and had I wanted to,how to burn everyone around me down to ashes. But this was only up to me. Each element came with a risk. Even a Hithor could drown you had they wanted to; a Gean could crush you to death and a Seetheerin could use their metal edges to cut so deep in you that in the end you'd bleed to death.
Kaemon became the White Guard's leader after his father's passing,just in the outbreak of the war. Although young,and only three years older than me, Kaemon's Gean nature skills were rivaling those of the nation's finest Gean warriors. He was fierce,a good fighter nevertheless.
In that damned war everything was up to me and Kaemon,as far as the White Guards went,and our order was in the front lines always. I was using two scimitars,curved edge swords,always sharp,always cutting. Despite being able to use three elements I enjoyed fighting with more than just them. I needed to be sure of my own skills more than just rely on my elements.
It was mostly due to the peoples' fright upon seeing for the first time in their lives a living Pyreph in front of them,and thanks to my comrades' sacrifices that I made it out alive. But I too was a good warrior,having spent more than three years preparing and training and then acting on what I had learned in the middle of war. Kaemon and I often butted heads,sparring to see who would win. It would always end In a draw.
In the end it took us nearly five years,but just a little before my nineteenth birthday,we won the war and just as I promised I delivered king Phaellion's head to my father.
“The bringer of death, Persephone. Your mother was right to name you like that after all” ,that's all he said to me.
After my father's coronation as the Eastern Kingdom's king,the other kingdoms soon became obedient of his words,marking him as the “Great King of Pelimorre”.
We never had the chance to truly celebrate our was victory though. Shortly after the end of the war and my father's coronation my mother was murdered.
I shouldn't dwell on the details,for they will soon be known.
There's always more to a story than what you hear,and just like that,mine is a long one.
In the end I was banished from the royal premises and fled away from our planet. My home,Pelimorre,soon declared me the number one wanted criminal in accordance to intergalactic laws. I,a woman celebrated as the war heroine whom ended the five year war and then had an initiation ritual being held as to join the White Guards under Kaemon's orders as an honored soldier of the nation was over the span of one week named a worldwide traitor and an enemy of the crown.
The Queenslayer,so they called me.
Reeta,one of the etherian gate keepers and an old dear friend of mine opened a portal for me to travel away to a planet not bind by the intergalactic laws of our solar system. A place where I could hide for a while. I was a good warrior,but even I couldn't fight off an entire nation's army.
“It's called Earth; You will find companions there strong enough to help you grow. They will fight alongside you. Remember your fate Persie”
“Reeta they will take your head for this”
“Only in they find out” ,she put one finger on her lips in front of a childish smile.
The portals were formed in the island of lost souls and the only reason the Etherians could travel through them was because they could bend the souls of the dead. Nobody could truly understand it except from them. They held great power and that's why they had such neutral and pacifistic natures.
My gaze fell on the silver collar around her forehead; small and thin ridged silvery stripes intertwined,forming some sort of a headband which held their wills inside. If an Etherian breaks one of the divine laws,one stripe breaks and along with it a place in their bodies rots away; a sign for the the Higher Etherians to see if someone broke the laws. The moment I step inside this light blue and white galaxy like vortex the stripe will break. Etherians should remain neutral; they can't do anything more than what they're asked to. No Etherian can open a portal without the direct order of a king. This was treachery.
“Reeta....”
Etherians were beautiful people. She had light blue hair,so long they reached her hips,all braided. They didn't have pupils and so their eyes were all white for Etherians can see with more than just their eyes. Faint white lines followed her fingers upon every move,hints of her bending being active. This was it.
“I'll see you again Persie “ ,she said with that same innocent smile. I had a feeling that i'd never see her again.
“Reeta i-” ,she lifted her hand and I was sucked in by the vortex before I could say thank you. Before I could hug her or say goodbye.
Farewell my friend.