Shadowed Enigma
Prologue
Magic and Earth are like oil and water. It wasn't always as such but the progression of time brought many changes. There was a time when Earth and Skylands were linked but something severed that link in the distant past. Perhaps it was the Arkeyans during the height of their empire or perhaps it was the results of some cataclysm on Earth. Our most archaic history books speak only of a one-time connection but not of what caused the separation.
Skylands never forgot Earth even though Earth forgot Skylands. Earth became a bedtime story told to the children of Skylands. It was a strange place that stole magic from the bones of those that visited it. It was a void; a devourer of natural talents and re-shaper of lives. It was said Earth was cursed, to be from Skylands and go there was to surrender all freedom and become lifeless but eternally aware and immortal. It was a prison of body and mind. It was no wonder Earth was considered a nightmarish land.
When Kaos, the most powerful of the Dark Portal Masters (or Raiders as we know them) tried to banish the army that opposed him, the Skylanders, to Earth fear gripped them and made them desperate to defeat him. He nearly succeeded in his mission. I couldn't allow it to happen. I made a choice that day and sacrificed myself to save the people Skylands looked to for protection. I merged with the Core of Light; our beacon of hope and ward against the Darkness that threatens to consume all in its path. My choice destroyed all future attempts to banish the forces of good to any world via magic. Kaos was not happy with the outcome and shifted his attempts to corrupting those that opposed him. He tried to control the Darkness and it cost him his life in the end. He was the only unifying force in the ranks of the Dark Masters. They have dissolved into petty squabbles over power while the Skylanders and elite Light Masters, my Archons, keep a unified front.
There was a time in which we thought we had a solution to the Darkness that Kaos had nurtured and empowered. Even together my Portal Master of Light couldn't defeat the malevolence of what had become a dark deity. But in our time of need something wondrous happened. Rift Engines, an ancient means of travel without the use of portals, had been rediscovered. They couldn't be blocked or stopped by the Darkness. It had no defense against them and for once the Darkness felt fear. Yet there were so few of them and they were only entrusted to a small number of Skylanders; both old and new additions. There was one great Engine that could be used to forever banish the Darkness. Kaos's vanity however brought about his demise and its destruction. That led to the subsequent corruption of each of the Rift Engines we controlled. Our trump card was lost and the Darkness managed to tangle Skylands in its web. Kaos had doomed us all with his arrogance. The Darkness had simply used him to destroy the one thing that could stop it as sure as turning a valve off stops the flow of water.
Forgive me, I have spent much time on our dilemma but have not introduced myself. I am Eon. For the longest time, centuries to be exact, I was the only Portal Master of Light. I was informally and more widely referred to as a Guardian; the title has transferred to my protégés as well. Portal Masters are powerful individuals that wield the power of Light or Darkness alongside their raw natural talent in one of the eight neutral elements of the world. It is this affinity to the building blocks of the universe, light versus dark that gives them the ability to open portals across space and even time in rare instances. Portals are not limited to just Skylands; like the Rift Engines allowed it is possible to span worlds with these gateways as well.
It is dangerous however to permit free travel between worlds via portals. Rifts were a cleaner, more precise form of interdimensional travel but also deemed more dangerous because of the volume of travel they could allow. The difference was portals were harder to maintain and needed physical strength or willpower to even work right compared to the ease of a Rift Engine. That had been the main reason the Engines were lost to history. However portals allow intangible things to float through the ether which can be just as dangerous as rift travel. With portals even after one has been closed there is still a connection between the two points like a crack around a door that allows the cold of winter to seep in. Magic, energy and even thoughts begin to bleed through the barriers that separate the worlds and change both. Some changes are for the better and some are for the worse. Ten thousand years ago the first Skylanders were banished to Earth. They remained there until recently. One hundred years ago another group of Skylanders was sent to Earth. They too have now returned. But the return of both groups has caused the protective cocoon of 'nothing' around the Earth to fail. Magic has entered the world and the sudden appearance of it there has caused anomalies that have moved people between Skylands and Earth without a Portal Master's guidance. It's a disaster and has shaken Earth with the knowledge that they are not alone in the universe.
It is these random events that have people of Earth and Skylands frightened. They can happen at any time and to anyone. The young and the old have been unwillingly moved between the worlds. Earth has not taken well to the unfortunate souls trapped there. Skylands however embraces the humans that come to us and makes the effort to return them home. Skylands residents on Earth rarely get to come back home. We have lost Guardians when they tried to return the wayward travelers. It is upsetting to say the least to find Earth mistrusts us so much. Though I cannot blame them. They simply don't understand the risks involved; how could they if they don't even understand magic? The magic between the worlds is still unbalanced and not always do our efforts to bridge the gap go well. Portals don't always work like we expect them to when travel to and from Earth is involved. It is still dangerous to open portals between the worlds. Sometimes the portals are disrupted and those traveling can be sent somewhere random or never emerge from the void between portals. The only way we can assure safe passage is by having a Guardian on each world open a portal together and strengthen it. But with Earth actively hunting anyone from Skylands it is dangerous to have a Guardian there.
Our missing people are not all Earth has to contend with. As the void between the worlds weakens it allows a tremendous force of evil to creep into a world that had been protected from it before. The Darkness of Skylands is sentient and it is the Skylanders backed by the equally sentient Light that hold it in check. Without the proper forces on Earth to combat it the people will be ill prepared for its assault and will assault it with the weapons they always use in war; weapons which are highly ineffective. But Earth will not listen to our wisdom. They deny us time and time again with claims that we are trying to usurp their order and their governments. We can't help them prepare if they refuse to accept our guidance.
The loss of the Rift Engines is felt keenly whenever frustrations over this come to a head. It all could have been avoided. Now all we have is the Light, a concept that is harder for even our own people to grasp when the Darkness makes a much more tangible impact on Skylands.
We have tried to introduce the concept of the Light on Earth but it has been widely ignored. Earth has its own ideas about a higher power and feels threatened by our attempts to introduce what they have dubbed a new religion. It is one and the same, at the core we believe in the same thing. Earth cannot see this however. They are making themselves an easy target for the Darkness. Earth is ripe for it and will fall easily unless it learns to trust and accept the guidance of Skylands. We aren't trying to overthrow the rulers of Earth, merely prepare them for what looms on the horizon. The inevitable encroaching dominion of the Darkness.
As powerful as the Darkness is, its not invincible. But as powerful as the Light it, it can only do what it is allowed to do. Light itself does not fight like the Darkness does. Light means to comfort, soothe and protect while the Darkness means to corrupt, destroy and devour. My Guardians are the closest thing to weaponizing the Light as we can come. It saddens me to admit that because the Light has not taken a form of its own to stand against the Darkness physically doubt sits in the hollow of every heart in Skylands. If we cannot fully trust in the Light, how can we hope to convince Earth of its benevolence? Earth and Skylands should work together; they need to but remain as separate and unconnected entities.
And so Skylands stands with a helping hand extended as Earth turns away feeling it knows better what its people need. Through the frustrations we continue to offer aid and send their missing back home. How long before Earth will accept our goodwill? How long before Earth allows our trapped people to return home? How long until Earth accepts the changes happening to it? How long until the stalemate ends? How long before everyone, Skylands and Earth alike, realize we need each other to make it out of this?
Authors' notes:
Seraph: This collab came about from another writing exercise my co-author (Shadowdawn199) and I were involved in. The idea was just too fun to leave as a one shot. So we put our heads together and came up with this. Keep in mind this is going to be AU to the extreme and while it's sitting at the T rating right now it will go up to a comfortable M eventually. We're going to run wild and push the limits with this. Be prepared for genderbending, deaths and all sorts of chaos. Hopefully you'll enjoy the fruits of our labor as much as we enjoyed fleshing it out and making it all fit together. The journey ahead will be dark and fraught with danger but it will have equal parts heart and soul as well. We're trying to push ourselves to creative limits and expand our horizons so please, leave us feedback!
Shadow: Welp, like my co-writer said we took an offshoot concept and ran with it, and this story is the twisted offspring. I've already had a blast working with Seraph, and the darkest stories our archive has to offer might be considered a little tame when we're through with this. Not only is there genderbending and deaths, but dalliances and pairings that were considered only as crack, not to mention some creative use of the AU setting for character backgrounds. Prepare to see the usual fan favorites suffer, while those of you who love lesser used Skylanders may see them flourish. Of course, these dark elements come from both of us (muahahaha), being a collab as it is, and our styles have meshed wonderfully. The only clue you'll have as to who is writing at any given time are certain words, as we decided not to edit the different ways we spell for a neat visual aid. So I'm writing colour and Seraph's writing color. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy, and tell us what you think.