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Mad World
Prologue
"Earth Mother Ponders"
Earth Mother was not pleased.
When she had created the beautiful blue orb from the dust and particles of space, she was realizing the Vision that she had been carefully forming in her mind for eons. She had watched her sisters create similar orbs from the material the Great Mother gave them. Many left them barren and rocky, but many also gave birth to spectacular and beautiful races that would populate the orbs. They made the orbs, the worlds, more exquisite and lovely than anything Earth Mother had ever seen, and for thousands and thousands of years she had yearned to create an orb of her own for her wonderful children to inhabit.
She did not expect those "wonderful children" to become so destructive. She did not expect them to abuse their world, make war with each other, or abandon her. So few were those that still looked to her for support. She longed to help them, but she knew that the only thing that would save them would be the annihilation of her billions of wayward children. And this she could not do.
Earth Mother thought of her eldest children, the race of vampires. They were beautiful, powerful, wise, and immortal. They had been the first to set foot on Earth, the first to see its plants and beasts and oceans and mountains. And they had been grateful. For ages they lived with each other in peace, thanking the beasts they killed for food for their sacrifice and thanking Earth Mother for being so kind to them. But as time went by, they began to stray. A strange darkness grew into their hearts, and soon they were no longer grateful. They killed animals mercilessly and wastefully, taking their blood and leaving the carcass to die in torment. Then, fearing Earth Mother's wrath, they no longer went out during the day, for they believed she would not see them in the dark of night. Then, they simply forgot Earth Mother, and those who remembered only mocked her and paid no homage to her.
It was then Earth Mother realized that Demons had infiltrated her perfect world, like a cancer.
At first it was only one Demon. She was a Greater Demon called Washu, and she was the Mother of Demons. Her strength rivaled that of Earth Mother's, for the Greater Demons are the daughters of the Great Mother that have fallen into shadow. However, Earth Mother loved her children, even if they no longer loved her, and bestowed a curse upon Washu. The Greater Demon lost her ability to bear young, but the curse had been too late. Washu had already given birth to five Lesser Demons that were now bound to Earth. The eldest was Ryoko, the Demon of Chaos. It was she that had driven the Vampires to the wastefulness and blood hunger that left the animals of Earth tortured. The second child was Lantis, the Demon of War. Every day, he turned the vampire clans against each other, and manipulated them into battles that claimed thousands of lives. Third was Wufei, the Demon of Revenge. He was the one who continued the war his brother started, by aiding the families of the dead in killing the murderers of their loved ones. The second daughter was Dorothy, Demon of Lust. The vampires' thirst for blood had only increased due to her interference; so much that vampires now hunted each other for nourishment, and enjoyed the sensual mind games involved with stalking the prey. The youngest demon was Hikaru, Demon of Despair. Though small and childlike in appearance, she was almost more deadly than all of her siblings combined. While they drove others to death by murder, she could truly kill them merely by being in their presence. Few survived if they caught sight of Hikaru, who extinguished every light of hope they'd ever known and drove them to suicide.
Earth Mother remembered how she had watched with sadness at the slow destruction of her planet and her children. She knew then too that the only thing she could do to stop it would be to destroy all of the life on the orb and start over completely. She could not bear to do it then either. So, she planned, and a new idea came to her. She would give birth to another race, a race of beings just a strong and wise and beautiful, but their lives would be shorter. They would not have time to turn from her. They would love her and each other always, and punish those who did not. They would be her crusaders in the world. They would be the werewolves.
At first, her plan seemed to work out well. The werewolves did not outnumber the vampires, but they could band together and fight as one. Though there were individual packs, they all served Earth Mother and acceded to her wishes, therefore were one people against the divided and warring clans of vampires. But it was their mortality that brought them down. Werewolves were not immortal, and Earth Mother soon realized that if items made of silver entered their blood, they would grow sick and die. And while vampires could be killed by fire, decapitation, or the destruction of their hearts, they were older and wiser in the ways of the world. They found their way into the lairs and breeding grounds of the werewolf packs, and slaughtered the young, the old, and the pregnant with blades made of silver. But the werewolves were resilient. Driven on by Wufei, perhaps, they took revenge on the vampires by burning the forests of the world, again killing the young, old, and others who could not fight. Thus, with both races nearly destroyed, the vampires and the werewolves ended their open war on each other, and allowed the world to heal.
But Earth Mother was shocked at the behavior of the two races. While the vampires had been murderous and bloodthirsty in battle, the werewolves were destructive and chaotic, and had nearly destroyed their own home in fury. Again, she decided to give birth to a new race, the last race. The humans would be weak, and powerless, and short lived. But they would also be compassionate, caring, and respectful not just of Earth Mother, but of the other races and the world they lived in. True, they would be targets to the hunting vampires and the uncontrollable werewolves, but they would be protected by Angels, beings created by Earth Mother from the same materials that the world was made of. It would be their sole duty to protect the young, weak caretakers of the planet.
From the nine Angels she created, she chose two of them to serve her personally. The first was Setsuna. It was she Earth Mother entrusted with her Vision, the plan she had spent thousands of years concocting before creating Earth and her children. Setsuna's Duty was to be sure that the Vision was realized, no matter what happened. She was given the power to enforce the Vision, so that if the Fate of Earth ever strayed from the path, she could do anything necessary to restore it. The second Angel Earth Mother chose was Kaho. She would govern the tiny satellite that circled the Earth, the Moon. She would also be Earth Mother's eyes and ears, reporting the events that took place on Earth.
Ten thousand years after Earth's creation, the population was complete. The Five Peoples now inhabited the planet. The Vampires, the Demons, the Werewolves, the Humans, and the Angels. Three were Earth Mother's children, one her creation, and one her curse. Life was peaceful for the following millennia, but the humans too were beginning to fail her. They lost their care for the earth, and became much like the vampires in seeking to use it only to achieve their own ends. Most forgot Earth Mother, and began to fear and hate the vampires and werewolves, but because they were so weak, they did not make war with either of them and eventually forgot about them. Of course, this made it much easier for vampires to hunt, but the humans, in their simplicity, shrugged off the bodies of their dead as "just another murder". They made war amongst themselves, but thanks to the help of the Angels, the casualties were thousandths of the Great War between the vampires and werewolves.
However, small bands of humans did remain loyal to Earth Mother, and continued to revere her and their home. Touched by their actions, Earth Mother rewarded these humans with power and longevity. The powers given to them would stem from the Earth, so they would not seek to abuse them lest they lose them all together. And though they lived long lives, they were not immortal, and could die like any other human. They called themselves witches, and sought not only to protect the Earth but also to make peace between the races. Unfortunately, they were also very secretive and had a great deal of pride, and for this, the other races did not trust them. The humans even went so far as to persecute them and destroy them. Luckily, the witches were able to protect themselves, and focused on bringing peace between the vampires and werewolves.
For thousands of years, the world had been like this. The vampires remained rebellious and taunting, the werewolves were often sober one moment and in caught in a religious mania the next, and the humans just wandered around trying not to get killed. And what had it gotten them? The clans and packs of the elder races constantly fought, though never again had the entire races united to fight the other. The humans were fodder for the vampires and nuisances to the werewolves, and ruined the Earth in their curiosity and attempts at progress. The witches tried their best to help, but the world was against them and their numbers were small. And the Demons were always present somewhere, wreaking havoc amongst the beings.
So now Earth Mother pondered. She did not know what it was she should do. War again was imminent, despite Setsuna's efforts to keep the Fate of Earth on track. And even now, almost nine thousand years since the Great War that had all but destroyed the world, the Earth was still healing. Earth Mother knew that if the races united again, and if they were backed by the united powers of the Five Demons, the planet would not survive. Nothing would survive.
She considered praying to the Great Mother, the galaxy that had sheltered her and her million sisters for eons. She also considered praying to the Mother of All, the universe. But it was selfish to think either of them should help her, a small, insignificant being incapable of creating a peaceful world. No, it would be vain to even think of asking for their help, and she was shamed that she had even thought of it. There was no point in asking any of her sisters. Even if they'd agree to leave their worlds, which was very unlikely, there would be little they could do. They were no more powerful than she was, though perhaps they were wise.
Earth Mother wondered if Hikaru was nearby, so great was her despair. The races she'd mothered had been nothing that she expected, but she loved them all the same. She loved them just as much as she loved the Earth, and the Moon, and the Angels, and all the animals and plants that inhabited it all. In a way, she even loved the Five Demons, for they had been present on the Earth almost as long as the vampires, and though they were loathsome creatures, they provided a sense of continuity, of dependence. They were bound to the world, and as long as it existed, they would be there.
It was the reminder of her love that gave Earth Mother strength. She loved the world she'd created too much to let it all slip away into destruction. There were no questions in her mind now; she would save them all. They would not thank her for it, and they most likely wouldn't even acknowledge their salvation. But it did not matter to her. Her love for them all was enough to rebuild her determination. And it was enough to give her the idea.
She was still lost as to how to save her world. But she did know how she could think of a way. Kaho had always been faithful in delivering information on the events taking place on Earth. However, that was no substitution for actually living them. If she could walk the streets of the cities, meet with the people of all the races, and understand exactly what it was that caused the hatred between them all, then she could find a way to save them.
There was no way she could go in her true form, because she did not have a body. She was a consciousness; a being that circled the Earth and protected it from intruders. No, in order to actually go to the planet, she would have to assume the form of one of her races. But which? Certainly not a vampire. She could not bear to kill any of her children, even if it was to survive. Likewise, she ruled out a werewolf as well. Although they rarely killed humans on purpose, they did tend to disregard them and turned their hatred towards the vampires. Therefore, she would have to be a human. If any caught scent of her power, they'd assume she was a witch. Yes, a human it was.
She focused in on Earth. She visualized a sandy beach, one of the things she'd first thought of when conceiving the planet. Then, she began to create an image of herself. A young woman in her early twenties, with long black hair tied up in a ponytail and soft brown eyes. Pale skin, and a curvaceous build. She clothed herself in a beige sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers, garments Kaho had described to her. Then she willed herself into the body.
Blinking she looked around. So this was what it was to live in a body. She moved her limbs experimentally, then looked over into the water at her face. Pretty enough, but not so beautiful as to stand out. She smiled. Ah, lovely.
Slowly, she walked up the beach to a large, empty parking lot. Autumn was not a very popular time to go to the beach, it seemed, with the cool breezes and frequent rains. Earth Mother tried to remember what a car looked like, then remembered. Concentrating hard, she constructed a strange silver vehicle called a Matrix. It was one of her favorites from the images that Kaho had shown her. She wondered if she would come across Kaho or Setsuna while on Earth; they frequently walked as humans in order to study the world.
Climbing into the driver's seat, Earth Mother realized she would need to think up a history for herself. Humans were always so curious, and any she'd meet would undoubtedly like to know about her. Well, she would drive for a while and see what city she came to. Plenty of time to make up a story about herself. But she would need a name.
She smiled as she thought of one.
Achika.
Author's Note:
This is only a trial fic. Depending on the responses I get with this, I may or may not continue it. This is my first major AU crossover, so it's really just an experiment. But if people get really insistent, I'll update it.
-N