A/N: Hello and welcome to the first stage of the newest project by Hikari-kun and Cia-chan; "Beyond", officially named 'Origin'! We promised a new fic that would stand out from the rest, and this will most certainly be it, I'm sure! I apologise for the deletion of "The Shining Light" – I realise I promised this'd be up after that was completed, but there's a few small details that require tweaking in that fic, so I've deleted it until further notice. But I promise it'll go back up soon! Anyway, I'm using a few of the ideas developed through "Within the Darkness of His Heart" (formally TWDWD) for this fic, but it'll be fine for new readers to read too – I'll make sure to explain everything in detail, so you'll all catch onto the ideas. But, anyway, enough blathering from me! Onto the fic!


Dedicated to three super inspirations in my world – MaY-sempai, otherwise known as the Fluff-sama or the Queen of Randomness, the Goddess herself, Julin, and finally, one of my best friends, Kirst. To you three, I owe so very much. Thank you all, majorly!



Theme of 'Origin': Main Theme – "Gravity of Love" by Enigma (thanks MaY-sempai, for sending me this one! It so suits to be this fic's main theme!); "Always" by Kirst (the true inspiration for this fic, who tied together all the loose knots!); "The Longest Story" by Daphne Loves Derby (yet another strong inspiration for this fic!).


Beyond

Stage I: Origin

There is a land, far beyond the edge of the world. A land that has been thought to be a myth, all throughout history. But, as one person is about to find out, not all myths are just "myths".

After all, this is the land where myths are born.

Welcome to Anaeria.



Morning sunlight streamed through the windows, breaking through the barrier of curtains. A soul sleeping under the morning glow stirred, shifting around under the mass of sheets. They did little to keep him warm in the night, but it wasn't really necessary at this time of year anyway; Spring was casting it's spell over Tokyo and everyone seemed in the right mood. Lovers canoodled under bus shelters, off to secret dates away from the city. Shopkeepers opened their stores bright and early, cheery smiles alight on their faces. The city was alive with spring spirit.

One person, however, was not in the spring spirit.

He was a lonely man – a man who didn't want to be alone, but refused to allow anyone to get close to him. His golden eyes opened blearily, trying to focus because of the blinding sunlight casting it's gaze upon him. But he felt no warmth on his skin. He felt nothing. Because there was no one there. Something was missing from his life. Something, wasn't with him… something familiar that should've been right beside him.

But he had no idea what that 'something' was.

The sun could sense his loneliness. It could feel the overwhelming loneliness this man felt. It could feel it, and it wanted to make that loneliness disappear. It wanted to warm him, like a mother would warm a child, and protect him. It wanted to make that cold loneliness melt away from the mere touch of its rays upon his skin.

But the sun knew this would do nothing. No sunlight could help a lonely man.

There was a silence in the air of the lonely man's apartment. Even though the city was alive beneath his feet, in that apartment, time stood still. He was unaware of the changes all around him, and therefore his eyes weren't able to see the sun trying to ease his pain. His skin couldn't feel its golden warmth sweeping across it. It was as if his very body had become a prison, that sealed himself off from the outside world.

The sun understood this, and realised there was nothing it'd be able to do to help this man out of his loneliness.

And the man got out of bed, and began his usual daily routine. First, go to the fridge and retrieve a beer. Next, light a cigarette and sit down. And then, try and sort out how to finish this god-awful story…

Eiri Uesugi (who was often referred to as 'Eiri Yuki') was a renowned romance novelist, no matter how lonely he was. But lately, his stories had been lacking their usual romantic qualities. For some reason his ideas had been slipping away, although he had no idea why. The just wouldn't flow onto the page the way they should. They'd just sit there, in the back corridors of his mind, not moving and not connecting. He didn't understand it. Just a few months ago he'd been able to write fluently, his words carefully flowing into one another, like water. But now, it was as if the whole concept of love was foreign to him.

Just what had happened that had caused this?

He sat and thought, but his answer didn't come. He just couldn't remember why he wasn't able to write well any more. All he knew, was he was unable to make the pieces connect.

He huffed. Writing a novel shouldn't be this difficult. The idea he had, wasn't even his own anyway. He was re-using a myth he'd once heard, and attempting to turn it into a full-length novel. The myth foretold of a land at the very edge of the world, where a grand Kingdom lay. And there, it was said, that anyone could find love.

Pfft! Like that'd happen!

The sun saw the man in the apartment struggle with this work. It saw him desperately struggle with the paper, trying to turn this myth into a story. And the sun realised something.

Maybe it could do something for him. And the answer was lying in that myth.

The sun smiled, radiating a motherly love toward the man. No man should be lonely. No one deserved to be lonely. And so, it was time for this man to discover the origin of the myth. It was time for him to look further than what his eyes could see.

It was time for him to look beyond.



King Daisuke Shindou, stared into the horizon beyond the edge of Anaeria's boarders. He was an old man, hair his original black hair greying, his violet eyes focused solely on the boarder separating his world from the World. His men were constantly watching the boarders, hoping to keep the peace between the world and their land. If any mere mortal were to discover the secrets that lay in the land of Anaeria… only the Seer knew what would happen.

The Seer was a family friend of some kind. He was a young man, with blond hair and light bluey-green eyes. He had been put in charge by King Daisuke himself, for the purpose of informing the Kingdom of when someone from the outside would enter their Kingdom, crossing over the realms of fantasy and reality and entering their world. Seers had the ability to see the future, and often the past. They were able to see things from many different perspectives, and sometimes their visions of the past would be enough to make a mere mortal weep in sorrow and regret at the terrible things humanity had done to each other in the past.

Anaeria's Seer, was a man named Touma Seguchi, and he possessed an amazing power – one which could be used to bring destruction, or rebirth for humanity.

Touma stood beside the King, whose eyes were concentrating on the Northern boarder particularly, the weakest boarder of their land and the only one separating them from the World. The World, as the citizens of Anaeria called it, was a place of technology. It didn't have monsters that brought great destruction, although there were plenty of thieves and mass murderers in the World. The World also didn't have magic – in fact many of them doubted its existence. Perhaps, Anaeria was just a possibility… what the World could have been like if its citizens had allowed themselves to believe in magic and not rely on science for answers.

Either way, the people of the World must never pass into Anaeria, or surely great destruction would follow.

The Seer decided that he had to say something to his King. He had to tell him of that vision. The vision he was sure the King would not be pleased to hear.

"King Shindou," he began. The King shook his head and turned his attention to the Seer.

"No, no Touma. How many times must I tell you? You refer to me as Daisuke. We've been friends since the day you arrived from the World into Anaeria. There's no need for you to refer to me as Kingor Your Highness for that matter. Just Daisuke is fine for me," he replied, and then his gaze shifted back to the Northern boarder. The Seer laughed quietly.

"Yes, I suppose we have been friends for quite a long time. So then, Daisuke, I have some rather disturbing news for you," he spoke. The King's attention automatically was dragged back to Touma.

"What?" he asked, his voice seeming extremely anxious all of a sudden, "What have you Seen?"

Touma closed his eyes, trying to dig out the words from inside him. The words he needed to speak.

The words about his vision.

"Daisuke… I'm afraid I had a vision. And… it was not a pleasant one. An uprising is beginning in the Eastern boarder. It appears that the people from the Water land of Aquaria feel your methods for ruling are out-dated. And… they're slowly influencing the Southern side, the Fire land. It won't be long till they manage to convince the Western side, the Earth land, to join in,"

"How big will their army be?" Daisuke asked, voice shaking, "Will we be able to put up a fight?". Touma's gaze fell to the floor.

"I'm afraid not. We're going to loose Daisuke. Badly. They'll overpower us and take control of Anaeria. Our precious Air land will no longer be under our control," he replied. Daisuke took a deep breath.

"So… we will fall at their mercy?" he asked. Touma looked up at him, and shook his head.

"No. Not necessarily," he said. Daisuke raised an eyebrow. Touma continued.

"You see… I have foreseen something else in this vision too. In my vision, I saw the birth of a hero. A hero that will save Anaeria,"

"Tell me," Daisuke urged, "Where can we find this hero?". Touma sighed and cast his gaze to the Northern boarder.

"That's the problem. He dwells there. In the World,"

A silence was born into the air. Time passed slowly. Wind blew it's way through the Kingdom. The King's gaze was focused on the Northern boarder – on the World – and his eyes were widened in disbelief. It was almost as if the Seer's words could not penetrate his mind.

"He… the hero… is in the World?" Daisuke asked, his voice trembling ever so slightly, "Then how are we supposed to get him here? No man from the World can pass through the boarder! It is forbidden! The Sun gave us its word that no man would ever pass through the Northern boarder to Anaeria!"

"But I made it here, you forget," the Seer spoke up, "And I was just a mere mortal like himself when I passed through the Northern boarder,"

"You were different…" Daisuke replied, "You were a special case…"

"Either way, Sire," Daisuke grimaced at the title he was addressed, "If I made it through the boarder, everyone has the potential to,"

King Daisuke sighed. He knew the Seer spoke the truth. He knew, in his heart, that a hero would rise in the World and enter theirs. He knew this…

and he nodded.

"So… what is the name of this hero?" Daisuke asked slowly. Touma smiled and gazed at the Northern boarder.

"His name is… Eiri Uesugi,"



A/N: I've got a pretty solid idea on where this is going… it's all just a case of getting it to that point! Should be fun to type! Anyway, hope you've enjoyed the first stage of our newest project. Check back for updates!

Take care guys, review and ja ne!

- Hikari-kun -