The Five - Prelude
Prelude
Some things in life are unavoidable. You have to do them; they have to happen to you. Rich or poor, young or old, eventually everything happens to everyone. It’s one of those facts of life. Of course, not all of these things are bad. There are good things, like falling in love and making a friend. Due to the nature of humanity however, there are many more bad things then we think of. Disappointment, jealously, anger, all will be experienced over a lifetime. It is only by understanding all of this that we can be called wise. People become wise at different ages though, some when they are babies, others when they are elders.
Many years ago there was a girl who wished to be wise. She wanted to know everything, and she set out to accomplish her goal by traveling around the land of her birth and talking to the people. From her travels she gained much knowledge, and what she saw broke her heart. People everywhere were sick, in their bodies and in their hearts. War had claimed many lives, and lives not taken by war were being claimed by disease. The crops on which they depended were not growing; the desperate animals quickly ate any that did. The sun was too hot, the night was too cold and it changed on the whim of the gods. Something needed to be done.
After spending many precious nights wondering what to do, the girl, now almost grown into a woman, made her way to the Temple of the Gods. The Temple was a small shrine only found by those who truly needed it. She prayed to the Gods, offering her immortal soul if she could be allowed to fix the ruin she now saw. The Gods were tempted, but for the soul of anyone, especially someone so wise, was not to be taken lightly. It was priceless, so if they took it there was nothing they could refuse under their own laws. The girl offered her soul and told the Gods her plan. They smiled, for the plan was good.
The girl offered to become the soul of the world, the living embodiment of the earth. As she aged the land would too, it would eventually become old and shriveled, and as her memories were lost so the winds too would loose their paths and the clouds would cry and thrash in mourning. Eventually, she would lie down to sleep, and as she did she would return to the young girl not yet reached maturity. When she awoke so would the land and sun, they would blossom into maturity and then start the descent into elder age. The cycle would ever be repeated until the death of the world.
The Gods agreed, and, taking her soul, sealed it into the core of the earth. She was now the very heart and soul of the earth. Her name was Gaea.
One goddess, feeling pity at the loneliness the girl now faced, proposed her own plan. Each generation five people would be called, one aligned with each element. They would be called to protect Gaea as she slept, protect her from the evil they could feel stirring even now, evil that would seek to kill the heart of the world as she lay at her most defenseless, evil that would have the earth return to the wild, uninhabitable state that it was changing from. Also, the goddess added with a smile, the five would talk to Gaea, give her comfort in her stone body.
At her words, a Five rose, each called by an echo, a pull deep in their soul. Generation after generation, a new five would rise to take the place of the five before them. Each five was different to the one before, each a different mixture of male and female, some all male, some all female. Each came from different areas, each was called by something deep in their soul. Often they didn’t speak the same language; sometimes there was great difference in their ages. However, there were similarities that each five carried through the generations.
One aligned with water, one aligned with fire, one aligned with air, one aligned with earth and one aligned with the spirit world, the mind. One for each element, powerful on their own, together - unbeatable.
As it be the will of the gods, so be it.
Something I wrote a few years ago now and should will probably return to.
Some things in life are unavoidable. You have to do them; they have to happen to you. Rich or poor, young or old, eventually everything happens to everyone. It’s one of those facts of life. Of course, not all of these things are bad. There are good things, like falling in love and making a friend. Due to the nature of humanity however, there are many more bad things then we think of. Disappointment, jealously, anger, all will be experienced over a lifetime. It is only by understanding all of this that we can be called wise. People become wise at different ages though, some when they are babies, others when they are elders.
Many years ago there was a girl who wished to be wise. She wanted to know everything, and she set out to accomplish her goal by traveling around the land of her birth and talking to the people. From her travels she gained much knowledge, and what she saw broke her heart. People everywhere were sick, in their bodies and in their hearts. War had claimed many lives, and lives not taken by war were being claimed by disease. The crops on which they depended were not growing; the desperate animals quickly ate any that did. The sun was too hot, the night was too cold and it changed on the whim of the gods. Something needed to be done.
After spending many precious nights wondering what to do, the girl, now almost grown into a woman, made her way to the Temple of the Gods. The Temple was a small shrine only found by those who truly needed it. She prayed to the Gods, offering her immortal soul if she could be allowed to fix the ruin she now saw. The Gods were tempted, but for the soul of anyone, especially someone so wise, was not to be taken lightly. It was priceless, so if they took it there was nothing they could refuse under their own laws. The girl offered her soul and told the Gods her plan. They smiled, for the plan was good.
The girl offered to become the soul of the world, the living embodiment of the earth. As she aged the land would too, it would eventually become old and shriveled, and as her memories were lost so the winds too would loose their paths and the clouds would cry and thrash in mourning. Eventually, she would lie down to sleep, and as she did she would return to the young girl not yet reached maturity. When she awoke so would the land and sun, they would blossom into maturity and then start the descent into elder age. The cycle would ever be repeated until the death of the world.
The Gods agreed, and, taking her soul, sealed it into the core of the earth. She was now the very heart and soul of the earth. Her name was Gaea.
One goddess, feeling pity at the loneliness the girl now faced, proposed her own plan. Each generation five people would be called, one aligned with each element. They would be called to protect Gaea as she slept, protect her from the evil they could feel stirring even now, evil that would seek to kill the heart of the world as she lay at her most defenseless, evil that would have the earth return to the wild, uninhabitable state that it was changing from. Also, the goddess added with a smile, the five would talk to Gaea, give her comfort in her stone body.
At her words, a Five rose, each called by an echo, a pull deep in their soul. Generation after generation, a new five would rise to take the place of the five before them. Each five was different to the one before, each a different mixture of male and female, some all male, some all female. Each came from different areas, each was called by something deep in their soul. Often they didn’t speak the same language; sometimes there was great difference in their ages. However, there were similarities that each five carried through the generations.
One aligned with water, one aligned with fire, one aligned with air, one aligned with earth and one aligned with the spirit world, the mind. One for each element, powerful on their own, together - unbeatable.
As it be the will of the gods, so be it.
Something I wrote a few years ago now and should will probably return to.