This story was first written and posted two years ago, when I was twelve. Keep that in mind as you read the first few chapters; it'll get better when you get to the more recent chapters, I promise.
Soleanna was busy. Thousands milled around in the plaza, seeking entertainment, food, or just a place to hang out. Many of the people were tourists, come to gawk at the city of water where the Three Heroes had long ago vanquished the evil sun god Solaris. Many of the buildings in the old part of the city had statues of the Three Heroes on narrow ledges meant for just this. The Three were the city's heroes, and some even prayed to their likenesses for redemption for minor sins and misdeeds instead of the god they had once wrongly worshipped. None quite remembered what the Three had looked like, as they were long gone, but some members of the esteemed Prower and Rose families were able to boast of their ancestors' close friendships and dealings with the Three.
The city still retained its waterways, and a small gondola wound its way through one of them with a cargo of tourists: A big male and two female humans, one adult and one about 12 years old. The twelve-year-old was wearing a sparkly blue blouse, cream leggings, and a wide pink headband, and was staring excitedly at the slow moving scenery. "Wow, Mom! This city is so beautiful! I'm so glad we were able to come after all!"
The male, presumably the girl's father, rolled his eyes. "WHO was it that convinced your mom to agree to this?"
The girl shrank back. "I-I'm sorry! You're not mad, are you?"
"Humph."
The other lady wrapped her arm around the girl. 'It's okay, honey,' she signed. The girl nodded, then signed back. 'He just scares me, that's all.'
The father glared. "You know I can't read Sign Language, so stop using it! It's like you're whispering behind my back!"
The girl's ears turned a little pink, but she sat up a little straighter. "It's not our fault Mom's got weak vocal chords! You knew that when you married her, right? You should've learned how to sign yourself, so you wouldn't make her talk when it hurts her!"
The man drew himself up, and the gondolier recognized the time for an intervention. "...And there's the border between the New and Old cities. If you look, you can tell the difference because of the little statues on the buildings of the Old City." A spark of interest in the young girl's eye didn't go unnoticed by the gondolier, and the father settled back in his seat, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms as he did so. The gondolier nodded, then began again. "It's a little story we have here that those statues move at night. They switch places when nobody's watching."
The woman turned to inspect the statues, and raised a questioning eyebrow at the gondolier.
"You're asking why the statues are of Mobians when everyone knows their kind is persecuted here, right?" the gondolier questioned. When the lady nodded, the gondolier tapped his chin. "I thought so. Let me see... In those days, the Enemy was trying to take over every city he could to turn our country of city-states into a Republic, and then a monarchy, with him at the head of it as ruler, of course. The Swift One, whose name is lost to time, had thwarted these plans time and time again, sometimes with the help of the Despairing One. At some point, the Enemy tried to take over this city and let loose its dormant god so he could control it to take over the country." The two females present gasped. "But luckily, the Swift One was visiting our city and was able to foil the Enemy's plans for the moment. However, in the future, the Shining One was being misled by the spirit of the evil god, who had been accidentally awakened by the Despairing One. The Shining One was led to believe that the cause of his world's disintegration was the Swift One, and was then dispatched through time to kill the so-called 'Iblis Trigger'. He almost succeeded in his mission, but the Swift One's friend, who had befriended the Shining One without knowing his purpose, bought time for the Swift One to get away with his life still intact. But the spirit of the sun god came back also and killed the Swift One. So all of the Swift One's friends, even the Despairing One, collected the Mystic Gems to wish the Swift One alive again. When the Swift One came to, he was in his so-called 'Super Form', and used some of his power to turn the other two into their 'Super Forms' also. Together they defeated the sun god, who was finally whole again, and restored peace to the land."
The girl gasped. "Mobians did all this? I was always told that they were no good animals!"
The man at the head of the gondola smiled sadly. "Yes, I bet you were. In actuality, they're very nice, smart, kind creatures. It's only because us humans let stupidity win over common sense that the Mobians are in exile."
The girl's father started. "Those dirty animals have no reason to provoke pity. Those foul critters live only to show off their fancy-shmancy 'powers' to all of us good folk. The lot of them should be put down! Don't you say another word to corrupt my daughter and wife. We're getting off now."
The girl gasped. "But Remus-!"
The father, now identified as Remus, stopped the gondola, forcefully picked up his wife and child in one burly arm, and jumped onto the bank of the river. The gondolier took off his red necktie and quickly tied it around the girl's wrist with a whispered, "Don't let your father see it!" -And then they were gone.