A/N:Hello and welcome to my little imaginary world. I would like to thank all the organisers, participants and readers of the P.S. I love you contest. Thank you for all your support and love. I'm sending biggest warm cushy hugs to my beta Ninkita, I couldn't have made it without her. Thank you for your support and your wisdom, sweetheart. My spellings are British, sorry for the inconvenience.
DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material are copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.
Prologue
The Odeus solar system was nestled away in a quiet corner of a small galaxy some light-years away from Earth. Out of its 19 planets, only three were habitable. The tiniest of these planets was Taica. The planet was divided into Land, Sea and Sky creatures. Mother, the Goddess of nature and all elements of Taica, had blessed the Sea and Sky creatures with a just ruler known as Lagan—a flying, multi-armed creature, whose wings morphed into tentacles in the Sea. There was a palpable magic around him, but though his very aura commanded respect, none could understand the magic he possessed.
Taica was home to many Land creatures; their humanoids were known as Taicans. Taicans prided themselves on their united culture—there were no countries on the planet. Among the Taicans grew a special clan of higher, magical beings with formidable powers, who were equally feared and respected.
The Mystiques ruled the planet. They were fierce and intimidating, but the Mystiques did not believe in monarchy. The planet was ruled by a committee of Seven. The Sacred Seven were presided over by one who was wiser and more powerful than the others—the Just.
The Sacred Seven were chosen by the Mother, for she marked them at birth. They were born with unique powers, with the enhanced abilities of a Healer, a Seer, a Warrior, a Scholar, a Destructor, a Mind Reader and a Priest. The Just was always the most powerful of the Mystiques, for he or she was blessed with the power of the Mother herself.
Esme was not born with the markings of the Just—they appeared overnight on her twenty-first birthday. This was the first time that the Mother's markings were found so late on a child. The Just were usually trained from childhood in the ways of ruling. Esme was an anomaly in the unusual crowd of Mystiques, which was saying a lot.
She met the Seven the day after her birthday and found herself immensely attracted to the Healer in ways that she had never been attracted to any Taican or Mystique before. To her delight, she soon learnt that there were no rules preventing her from loving one of the Seven. Taicans believed that love was the oldest and most powerful magic of all. Hence, love was never discouraged or suppressed on their planet.
A bright white light flashed over the planet one day. The Seer danced in joy and the Mind Reader smiled. The whole planet celebrated that the Just had accepted her mate. A few months later Esme was blessed with a child. The child's magic was strong even in the womb. The new parents were ecstatic... until one day when a group of rebel Taicans decided to end what they believed to be Esme's 'phony' act.
Esme's power was unleashed on all thirty-eight rebel Taicans at the same time. One minute they were standing above ground, the next minute the land became quicksand and they found themselves buried beneath it. The minute after that it turned into solid ground again. Nobody ever doubted the powers of the Mother that resided in Esme after that fated day.
Unfortunately, one of the thirty-eight slashed at Esme before they were buried. And despite the Healer's power, he could not save the child.
XO
James was born with clear markings of the Just. No one apart from the Mind Reader knew why the Seer cried for hours the day James was marked.
James was brought to the Sacred as a newborn. He was brought up like a son by Esme; for she could not conceive another child after the one she had lost a few years back. She never understood why the Seven were so wary of James and indulged him more than any other Just would indulge their successor.
James was ten when he discovered the fabled power of love. He saw it with his own two eyes, when the Healer whispered "I love you" in the ears of the Just. Esme giggled and smiled and murmured it back, and James saw small colourful flowers bloom in the garden on their own.
The child James was happy to see the kind of power love wielded. As time passed by, however, James became jealous of this power. He said the three words to many, and they were returned numerous times too, with giggles and sighs, yet there was no magic. James grew more furious and frustrated as the years progressed. He started detesting the love he was once desperate for. His heart grew darker with malice and hunger for power.
When the next Just was born, James committed a crime the Mother considered unforgiveable. He murdered the child in its sleep. He then decided that he would completely obliterate the clan of Mystiques and their unique magic of love. If he couldn't have it, he could not see anyone else have it either.
And so for the first time, Taicans saw the rage and destruction of an Unjust. James destroyed the Mind Reader first. He then took out each of the Sacred Seven one by one. He killed all the newborn children marked by the Mother and all the Mystiques he could find. It was a genocide Taica would never forget.
Not even Esme with all her powers could contain James, for he spirited away the Healer and killed him without her knowledge. The grief of losing her love broke Esme's spirit and her magic dimmed. Esme's death was mourned by all Taicans as the end of hope.
The death of the Mystiques and their magic coincided with the disappearance of Lagan, the magical creature of Air and Sea. He disappeared into thin air just as he had appeared out of it. The disappearance of Lagan stirred a riot among the traditionally conflict-averse Taicans.
The Taicans now protected the identity of the next marked child with their lives. No word reached James about this new Just. He was born with much stronger magic than James, and when he came of age, he led a campaign against the Unjust, a title earned by James for his actions.
The Battle of the Just and the Unjust is recorded in every literary form, from folk tales, to poems, to plays. It was a battle of epic proportions. It killed James, yes; but it also killed the Just.
As much as the Taicans waited for another child marked by the Mother, none came. At first they were worried, but slowly Taicans started thanking the Mother for this. They blamed magic for the crimes of James the Unjust. Therefore, magic was never discussed beyond fables in this new society of Taicans. Mystiques no longer commanded any respect; they were a thing of the past that everyone believed should remain in the past. Taicans now considered magical creatures dangerous and alien. Anyone claiming to possess magical abilities was hunted and silenced before they could wreak havoc as James had done, wiping out more than half the population of Taicans.
As the magic disappeared, the structure of ruling modified itself. The Just was now chosen by a Council of Seven, and the Seven were chosen based on their skills.
XO
As time passed, the Mother forgave herself. She started testing a few selected children with small amounts of power. She tightened the rules of magic and made sure that the essence of Mystical magic expanded only to those that truly loved each other. The Mother believed that a heart that loved would never get darkened like that of James.
And so began the new era of Mystiques.
A/N: Thank you for reading, tell me how you feel about the story. And for those who have read the entry in the contest - this expanded version will be a tiny bit different because I've put more thought into it as I'm expanding it. So, don't skip the upcoming chapters. They might surprise you.