Skye: And again we embark on another journey!
Nova: I wrote most of the story.
Skye: and I edited it all.
Cassandra: We do not own any of Sega's characters.
Boo: If you want, you can skip the prologue or just skim it; it's not really important, and it's just here to help you understand the story a bit better later on.
Around 2000 years before the reign of Thorvlad, the country of Fortis on the planet Mobius was embarking on it's first space quest to other planets. The spacecraft was powered by nothing more than mechanics, as the Master Emerald, or any one of the Chaos emeralds were too much to spare. It was quite a large ship, able to easily fit over 2000 bodies, however, only 1000 were embarking on the journey. Their mission was to colonize on the planet Aestus, the closest planet to Mobius away from the sun.
King Solis and Queen Lumine were the rulers of Fortis at the time. As they were both koalas, it wasn't surprising that they lived close to the equator. They were fair rulers, and the Fortis remained war-free throughout their rule. It was Queen Lumine that had suggested the journey, and the counsel had quickly approved the idea. It would greatly improve the knowledge of space, and give the astronomical engineers something to do. It was also the Queen who chose the 14 leaders of the mission. Presently, the day before the launch of the space vesicle, all 14 were summoned by the Queen to the floating Angel Island, home of the chaos emeralds and Master Emerald.
There were 4 men and 3 women, all of them different species, and from different parts of Fortis. The leaders included Luna Caliga, a female black-furred tenrec from an island in the tropics who was skilled in Astronomy, Nemus Sero, a male mountain lion from the northern region of Fortis who spoke most languages known on Mobius, Ventus Videlicet, a male brown galago who had previously served in the Fortisian Army as a pilot, Incendia Flamma, an female albino tiger, who was a medical worker, Silicis Aurum, a male panther, who was a geologist, Aqua Caeruleus, a female grizzly bear who excelled in mechanics, and Levitas Fulmen, a a common red-furred male hedgehog; an architect.
All of them answered the Queen's summoning, and on the morning before the launch, they gathered at the site of the emeralds. Queen Lumine was waiting for them.
"Now," the Queen announced, "You may all be wondering why I have summoned you." A slight breeze ruffled her dark brown wavy hair.
"If I may, your majesty," Ventus the galago cut in. "What does Angel Island have to do with this? You were very precise about the location."
Queen Lumine smiled. "You'll find out soon." Turning toward her right, she spoke to the Master Emerald's guardian, Praeses, a bright red Echidna, "You can bring them out now."
Praeses nodded, and walked behind the Master Emerald. He returned a moment later with a tray. On it were 7 vials of liquid, and 7 pairs of bracelets; each pair was a color of one of the chaos emeralds.
"These bracelets are enhanced with the shards of chaos emeralds," Queen Lumine gestured at the bracelets as she spoke. "Praeses here allowed two small pieces to be chipped from each of the emeralds. One shard each was put into the bracelets. The others were merged with this sterile saline solution you see here in these vials."
All eyes drifted from the bracelets to the 7 vials, each slightly tinted with the color of emerald it was enhanced with.
"But what does this have to do with us?" Aqua asked curiously. "Why did you do all this?"
"Each Chaos Emerald represents an element," Queen Lumine continued, "Purple is darkness and shadows, Green is plants and vegetation, White is wind, Red is fire, Yellow is earth and rocks, Blue is water, and Cyan is electricity and lightning. With your permission, each of these vials will be injected into your bloodstream, and you will receive your corresponding bracelets. They will increase your power and ability for the journey by allowing you to control your corresponding element."
"How do we know that this is safe?" Incendia asked suspiciously, "Fragments of crystal in our bloodstreams?"
"They're safe," the Queen replied, "Trust me."
"Why would you have to inject the emerald residue into us, though? Why not just wear the bracelets? Wouldn't that work?" Incendia asked again.
"Initially, we tried that," the koala explained, "But whomever touched the bracelets received an electric shock. Eventually, we figured out that unless you had the element literally inside you, and flowing through your veins, you couldn't touch them."
The albino tiger nodded in understanding.
"But why us?" Nemus asked suddenly, "Most of us don't even know how to fight! I mean, look at me!" the mountain lion gestured to himself, "I'm just a simple linguist! I can understand why you would choose Ventus and most of the others, but... why me?"
The Queen smiled. "It wasn't coincidental that I picked you seven. Sure, there are others out there, but... You're special. Do you remember the blood samples we took from you earlier on this year?"
All of them nodded. Prior to their selection for the mission, all of them had received a full physical and blood test. But that was nothing unusual...
"All of you have DNA that is compatible with these emeralds. Luna is darkness, Nemus is plants, Ventus is air, Incendia is fire, Silicis is earth and rocks, Aqua is water, and Levitas is electricity and lightning. I don't know why you're compatible, but you are. And so will be your descendents." Suddenly, Queen Lumine's voice grew serious. "This mission isn't the only reason why the bracelets were created. There will be a war, 2000 years from now, and your descendents will be the only ones able to fight. Praeses has been told this much from the Master Emerald. However, you do have a choice. You can back out of this now, and go on the mission without the elemental power of your bracelets. It's up to you."
"Count me in," Aqua stated immediately, stepping forward. "It serves a greater purpose, and I want to be a part of that."
"I'll take them too," Ventus spoke, joining Aqua.
Slowly, all the others joined Aqua and Ventus, and each, in their turn, were injected with the saline and crystal, and given their corresponding bracelets. Luna was the first to put hers on, and instantaneously, she gasped as a tingling sensation occurred on the inside of her right ankle. As she rolled up her pant leg to get a better look, she saw a purple crescent moon imprinted on her skin and fur.
"There's a mark on my leg!" she exclaimed, and hurriedly took off the bracelets. It was still there.
"The mark appeared on you when the solution was injected into you," Queen Lumine explained, "It reacts when you put the bracelets on."
All the other leaders experienced the same reaction. Nemus had a green leaf shaped mark on his shoulder, Ventus had a white swirl on his back, Incendia had a red star on her right thigh, Silicis had a yellow triangle on the back of his left hand, Aqua had a blue raindrop near her right elbow, and Levitas had a cyan lightning bolt on the top of his right foot.
"Only two beings can have the same mark at one time," Lumine told them, her green eyes searching every face, "The owner of the bracelets, and the one who will inherit them."
"What if we never have children?" Levitas challenged, "What do we do then?"
"If you want the bracelets to carry on, then someone must transfer some of your blood to theirs. Even then, the bracelets won't work properly. As I said, your DNA is compatible with the emeralds. It would still work for others, but not as it does for you." The Queen turned and rested her hand on the Master Emerald. "I will allow you to figure out the powers and abilities of the bracelets on your own. You are excused."
Bowing their heads in respect as they left, the seven leaders departed from the island. As soon as they were gone, Praeses spoke, "You know that they'll never make it to Aestus."
Lumine nodded. "I know."
"Why didn't you tell them?"
"Because then, they would never have left. If what the Master Emerald shows us is true, then there really will be a war in 2000 years. I want whoever is fighting it to be prepared." Slowly, the Queen sank to the ground, her fingers still trailing along the smooth green emerald. With a sigh, she murmured, "I know what will happen to their ship, and I know that we will never see them again. I just hope that whatever planet they land on, they'll be safe..."
Skye: hope you like it so far!
Cassandra: They're probably bored already! Nobody reads prologues!
Jolie: I do...
Skye: On to chapter 1 My minions!
Nova: I'm the one who wrote the story! I'll decide what we do!
Skye: Aha, but you didn't write the prologue. Or chapter 1. Or chapter 2. I think. :D
Boo: Please Review! Visit skysong-angel's Deviant Art account! Link is on skysong-angel's FF profile!