Author's note: I realized that this prologue was far too confusing... at least from my perspective. And I wrote it! Therefore I present you with this re-vamped one as I truly take off with this story. I will not be including the usually page-long key I have at the beginning, and will not mark things to remember. If there is something you do not understand, the references will always be located at the bottom of the page but otherwise will not be mentioned throughout the story. This is so I do not have to interrupt how it flows.

Hope this isn't too confusing, and please enjoy my latest fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS or the characters, and any references that are made to either historical myths, legends, and beliefs or familiar concepts from video games, movies, books, etc. that you may recognize. If there is something specific that I directly insert, I will record it in the disclaimer. If I do not, it means I truly did not know and apologize in advance. Thanks.

Card Captor Sakura...
The Last Element
By : -T. (Conspiratorial Omen)
Created: June 25th, 2004
Posted: July 5th, 2004
Revised: July 28th, 2005

Prologue

It is said that there was a time when Time, itself, ceased to exist. It is said that, before the Great Shift, all matter itself existed in a single star : Gaea. Within Gaea, there lived the divine entity Kami, who was said to be made only of pure emotions, love, hope, true happiness. However, with such 'perfection' Kami began to feel loneliness... a negative feeling that soon bred what was known as 'fear' and 'hate'. Knowing these feelings would only be destructive to the beauty that was Gaea, Kami created companions that were known as the Elements: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Wood, Gold, Electricity, Rain, and Cloud, as well as their other friends and variations.

One day, Kami-sama foresaw that a catastrophic event would occur that could disturb the utopia that was Gaea; or, that the event could bring forward a great opportunity like none before. Kami decided, along with the Elemental companions, that they must use this event to their advantage. That day- the day the Great Shift occurred, Gaea shattered into an indefinite number of shards that flew in each and every direction possible. These shards were aided by the Elements with every combination and varying way, creating the many stars, worlds, and thus galaxies, that formed the Universe. This is when Kami created life for these worlds and appointed the Elements as their Guardians.

The First Age, the Age of Gaea was over, but her seeds were planted for the next.

As time went on, measured by seemingly millions of years, it seemed that all living beings would forever live in peace. However, with every light comes darkness, and soon the negativity that Kami-sama tried so hard to suppress built up, creating fear; anger; hate; doubt; jealousy; and thus death. Those beings began to see themselves as the lesser ones- inferior to their beloved guardians- and felt these negative emotions towards them. The build up of these emotions created much pain for the Elements, as the force was so strong they could not ignore it. So they could only watch, helplessly, as paranoia and corruption infected their creations, knowing the Second Age was over as well.

Another hundred Millennia would pass before balance had begun to restore itself at different intervals, and the beings continued to evolve and develop. Those belonging to the Third Age were beginning to lose sight of their roots, and were not privileged with the knowledge of their ancestors, the knowledge and familiarity of the Elementals and Kami-sama. They simply continued to exist and grow, and soon forgot that there were even other worlds out there, worlds other than their own.

However a glitter of hope shone brightly one day in the galaxy belonging to the star "Terra". Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water turned to their respective worlds and decided to do all in their power to stray them from their lonely, solemn fate. They melded their planets together to form the world known as Gaea NOVA, or the New Gaea.

It was a struggle, but the organisms that were specific to the original worlds managed to adapt to their new climate. They were able to form mutual bonds of respect and unity, bound by the same truth: that they could breathe the air; swim in the water; be warmed by the fires of their 'sun'; and find nutrients and comfort in the soil. For many years, these beings were able to live up to the ancient ways of Gaea itself by being able to coexist harmoniously.

However, unbeknownst to the beings of Gaea NOVA, with the blossoming and evolution came the familiar development of certain thoughts that had caused destruction once before. They began to take note of noticeable differences, began to categorize and then discriminate by such categorizations of superiority and inferiority. A hierarchal system was developed: beings that could not move or communicate soon became lesser beings and the race that became known as 'humans' put themselves on the top.

The unity was disrupted, and once again the Elementals could only watch as their system failed and the Fourth Age, the Age of Humans, began. The once, unified kingdom- now known as the High Kingdom- was the oldest nation. They developed a system called 'Science' that studied the fundamental knowledge of their world, including the stars and the other planets in the galaxy, hoping to revive the knowledge of the past. Still, few archives remained, and it came to pass that that High Kingdom of Clow was destined to fall into ruin.

The system known as 'Religion' was the one chosen to govern the four remaining nations which chose to isolate themselves due to their differences. Their paths took them away from being knowledgeable of the Universe, and turned them towards fearing and respecting Kami-sama. They had forgotten the concept of Gaea, and merely called the world "Nova."

Seeing the path the age was coming to, Earth, Wind Fire and Water grew saddened at the neglect of the four nations. Destruction seemed to come hand in hand with the human race, and they foresaw the falling of the High Kingdom. They decided that, with the last of their strength, they would physically protect "Nova" so it would not succumb to the fate of many other worlds before it. And therefore the Elements of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water took the forms of the Mythical Guardians of the present...

Earth took the form of the black tortoise, the Guardian Genbu of the Earth, North, winter, serenity, and faith. Genbu governed the northern metropolis known as Elancia and its earthen landscape. Fire took the form of the red bird Suzaku, Guardian of Fire, South, summer, spirit and knowledge. Suzaku ruled the powerful southern volcanic regions of Volancia. Wind took the form of the white tiger, Baekho, or the Guardian of Wind, West, autumn, stealth, and justification. Adamanii, a land of mysterious illusions, was ruled by Baekho. Water took the form of the green dragon, the Guardian Seiryu of Water, East, spring, control, and courageousness. Miirtitani, the peaceful eastern tropics, was ruled by Seiryu.

The people of Nova were intrigued by the Guardians, who were known to serve directly under Kami-sama. They erected shrines in honour of them, and fell into the routine of this religion, as opposed to following the scientific methods of the High Kingdom. Slowly, but surely, the High Kingdom-once the most respected region in Gaea NOVA- became the most alienated. Though situated in the centre, it was the smallest nation, and soon withdrew further into its brilliant defences. Many grew suspicious of the oldest nation, figuring that it had the most to hide. The ruler, Clow Reed, was rumoured to be very powerful and dangerous.

And that was how the inevitable occurred. A dark alliance formed, where the leaders of the four nations, their minds corrupted by the rumours of their people, sought to bring down the High Kingdom once and for all. No one remembered who first sparked the idea, but the seeds of war had been sewed. When time came for the attack, the four armies under one united purpose marched on the nation.

However, they were met with a surprise. The Great defences fell far too easily, and to their shock they found that the Kingdom was abandoned. The rumours were proven wrong as there were no signs of conflict, and the Forgotten Capital truly looked as if it once held the most docile of societies. There were no traces of the so-called dangerous scientific experiments and taboo, yet despite all this there were still many who were not strayed from the rumours, who still believed that great evils had occurred within the walls of the fallen nation.

It took one thing for all to realize the wrongness of their assumptions. In the abandoned castle lay a single man on the throne. A simple man, his dark midnight hair tied back and dark robes contrasting to the silver and marble of the throne room. As it turned out, Clow Reed was the only survivor of the High Kingdom... and he was dead.

Legend went on to state that he was murdered, that someone had poisoned the minds of the four nations against the peacefulness and tranquility of the high kingdom. Someone dead bent on the destruction of Nova. However, this 'someone' could never be identified, and the occurrences were soon forgotten, doomed to fade into the archives of history.

And yet, strewn about the land of Nova, were the survivors of the fallen kingdom, who held the true archives and prophecies of the past and the future. And it was soon coming the time for those legends to come into play.. for those mysteries to resurface... for the Fifth Age of Gaea NOVA...

And the appearance of the Last Element.

Author's note: Like I mentioned, the references will always appear at the end of the chapter. Although my intent is to stay true to specific cultural and/or historical accuracies, I have adapted everything myself without learning it from anyone and I am positive I will make mistakes along the way. This is why all references are my own personal interpretation that you can read or not, though if you are feeling a bit lost or overwhelmed I suggest you do. I will integrate the explanations (once again, my own) into the story as best as I can. Thanks.

-T. (Conspiratorial Omen)

References

Gaea NOVA's History

The Great Shift - basically related to the Big Bang Theory, along with the beliefs of Time Zero.

Gaea - meaning 'All earth/life', the original world
Nova - meaning 'New', the world created after the Age of Gaea (Gaea NOVA or New Gaea)
The First Age - the Age of Kami-sama and Gaea
The Second Age - the Age of Gaea's seeds, the Universe, and the worlds of the Guardian Elementals
The Third Age - the Age of the collapse of single worlds, and the melding of various planets to compensate, including our focus on the 'Terra' galaxy's planets. This includes the birth of Gaea NOVA
The Fourth Age - Focusing on the Terra galaxy's 'Nova', the age of the 'superior' homo sapien sapiens (humans).

Kami-sama - meaning 'God'. I am not associating 'Kami-sama' with any religion, more of a superior being in this story.

Genbu - is also known as Hyun Moo, Gui Xian, Kuei Hsein, etc.
Baekho - is also known as Kirin, Qilin, Baihu, etc.
Suzaku - is known as Ju Jak, Ho-oo, Feng-Huang, etc. I'd like to take a moment to stress that, although Suzaku is also referred to as the 'Phoenix', it is not to be confused with the phoenix that most are accustomed to. This is because the most popular depiction of the phoenix is that of the Western/Egyptian mythical firebird that can live up to 500 years, whereupon it then bursts into flame and is reborn from its ashes. This will become apparent.
Seiryu - is also known as Chung Ryong, Ryu, Long, etc.

Clow - the High Kingdom, Forgotten Capital, etc. A small, abandoned nation that was once the most powerful located at the centre of it all, the centre of Nova.
Elancia - the earthen nation of Nova located in the north
Volancia - the fiery volcanic nation of Nova located to the south
Adamanii - the technologically advanced, mysterious, western nation of Nova
Miirtitani - the tropical water-based eastern area of Nova