Hey everyone, Paradigm of Writing here with a new piece of mine called Icarus Chronicle. I am super excited for this piece. Instead of Creationists like I was hoping to start in July, this idea came up instead and I'm deciding to do it rather than anything else... but Creationists will still come along sometime. Just... not now. For this piece, I have created a Fantasy/Adventure/Supernatural like piece with many characters, but our mains will narrow down to Pit, Dark Pit, Lucina, Peach, Ness, Roy, and (F) Robin as our leading men and ladies in this piece. I'm more than thrilled to get into it, and I hope you are too. Enjoy, Chapter #1: Eve of the Chronicle.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. ~ Psalms 139:13-14
The land of Smash was a beautiful place. Mountains of the north, grassy plains of the south… a golden sun to shine above everything in the azure sky above. Glittering emerald glades of grass, petunias and blackthorns… where the stampeding of horses and the cries for battle viciously destroyed such a marvelous image.
Therein lied multiple kingdoms of Smash, such as Skyworld, Hyrule, Altea, Ylisse, Lycia, Kanto, Metroid… among others. Where kings of fat size would war with one another to claim dominance over one another… how their war machines and great war beasts would plague the world. So from this rowdy beginning, did the great overseers of Smash wish to intervene. Their answer lied in one of man's hardest mysteries to solve… magic.
It came in multiple forms. Fire. Water. Air. Earth. Ice. Electricity. On and on the list went, down to light and dark. These elements could be found as gifts given to the greatest the leaders of men had. Ice grew in the clouds of Skyworld's fortress, fire occupying Lycia to the south. Electricity grew in Zebes as cancerous lightning bolts that spread from soul to soul. Light and dark were never found, but legend had it that the two opposites would fight for centuries by unnamed guardians.
However, the introduction of magic to the human's hand only destroyed them further. One king grew tired of possessing only the gift of fire to lose to the kingdom of Altea with their ability in the magic dealing with water. Far more conquering spurred because of this, where the element of blood could be added to the present from above... it made the problem even worse. Smash would become torn, as kingdoms fell and they'd fall faster than before. One by one they lost to their own greed and might, till it came to three kingdoms left in the world. Skyworld, to the north in Smash, Lycia as the main occupant of the east, and Ylisse as the main occupant of the west. To compensate for having an uneven break of territory for the landmass being divided into three, there became a place where no warring would take place. A single strip of land that gave equal dominance in all three kingdoms.
Beauty in all essence, the newly dubbed land of Eagleland acted as a paradise where no conflict would stir there. The three main kingdoms created a treaty, where no fighting would take place in the paradise- and if such a travesty would occur, it meant immediate war. From the ravaging wars that destroyed sectors of Smash, it required healing... and the elements would be put in place to do this.
In Skyworld, a magical sorceress would take her throne through a peaceful movement, and it soon became discovered that she was the bearer of the element of nature- grass, sunshine, animals... and her name would be known as Palutena. Palutena Icarus ruled Skyworld, and it seemed that her reign would be lasted unopposed as her benevolent nature grew to be something beholden. However, behind the kind manner was a dark secret, something that made the flora queen darker than what had been perceived. She kept two elements from above as prizes in conquests of other nations- Metroid's electricity and the already kept ice element. Palutena put them away in hiding, the elements preserved as a single snowflake that'd never melt or an electric ion that kept its presence known by the constant cackling and flashing. She'd give the elements to her children, whenever she'd conceive and give birth- her heirs would take the magic powers of ice and electricity for their own.
Lycia would be treated as the bearer of fire, where most of the weapons kept in the kingdoms armies came from. Ravenous landscape, volcanoes, deserts... Lycia acted like a mirage to all those outside, before stepping over the translucent border to its acidic air and craggy ground. Led by king Mario Venice, the proud forger would meld an iron fortress to bar those from entering. The fire kingdom became known as the isolationist kingdom.
Ylisse to its border evolved, and harnessed the creation element of water. The new prince, Luigi Mirage, would warp his domain into an aquatic paradise, a peninsula with a single escape to the other nations, and his own Atlantis would grow from the very oceans by his side. These three kingdoms co-existed, they co-existed well. Smash had managed to live under a time of peace, it lasting for nearly three hundred years. Anyone alive in the midst of this birthing period didn't even know what war was... they had kept relations up.
All of the other elements were lost. Air, Earth, light, darkness... they vanished. No one knew where they had gone. Mario and Luigi believed the elements had died with the holders of the nations conquered in battle. Palutena, despite having her craft, could not find the magical gifts anywhere in Smash... though her suspect landed on Eagleland. Stated by the treaty, she couldn't however waltz in and comb the area with her military force. That'd invoke treason, marching upon sacred ground, and so Lycia and Ylisse would unite to fight the threat. She was insane, but smart on the same token.
Smash did know what peace was. However, even that fragile cradle would break in on itself.
It began when Palutena announced to the other two kings that she had been conceived. Not just one child in her womb.
Twins.
The Icarus twins were to be born, unfolding a series of events no one on Smash would've ever seen coming.
A new piece of Smash history would ravage the tranquil lands.
They were recorded as... the Icarus Chronicle.
Pit Icarus trudged through the garden, late one night in Skyworld, glancing up at the stars. His brother, Kuro Icarus, trailed behind him at a slower pace, taking attention to the cobblestone ground before. Their garden hung in a precious stasis of ivy ceilings and dirt floors, flower petal walls and the aroma of sickly sweet honeysuckles nearby. The brighter of the twins walked amid the soil barefoot, laughing airily as the tickling consumed his skin.
"Brother, this is so much fun!" he exclaimed. Pit and Kuro were not spitting images of each other. Despite being twins, little could give them the title of anything but that. Pit had long mahogany hair combed down to the front of his face, two glittering diamond eyes that exuberated happiness no matter where he went or what he did. Two bright as snow, pallid wings sprouted from his back, donning him as the angel from above. He clutched a tiny bow and arrow wherever he went, having been encouraged by his mother to pick up a warrior talent.
Kuro scowled. "You're just getting yourself dirty. Hardly seems enjoyable, brother." He didn't find the same excitement in what his sibling could see. Kuro's hair was of a much darker shade, like an edgy onyx or a silent black cherry. Two amber eyes protruded by a hollow white mask for a face, and there seemed to always be a scowl or frown plastered across his lips. In sharp contrast to Pit's wings, his own pair were as dark as the night with no moon, with no starlight to guide their way. A sword that could transform into a bow at any hesitation swung lazily in his hand.
Ironically, with Pit's happiness and Kuro's darkness, the twins would turn twenty-one together tomorrow, the greatest, upmost important moment of their lives. Palutena promised a bestowing gift, after observing their prowess on the battlefield and at home.
The two brothers sat over on a cobblestone bench. Much had changed in the world of Smash. King Mario and King Luigi had gone and died as old men, and at their simultaneous funerals, it had been discovered to the continent's inhabitants that the two had been long lost brothers, which was why their elements contrasted each other so well. The element of fire had been passed down to a young boy named Roy Kang, one risen from dirt poor to famous and wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. He would be crowned king of Lycia sooner than expected, which had worried Palutena for away in her land. In Ylisse, a girl by the name of Lucina Lowell would sit at the helm of the water nation, getting the magic of the life sustaining molecule in her hands.
Both angels looked up at the starlit sky. Pit let out a sigh. "Tomorrow, brother. Just wait till tomorrow."
"For what, exactly?" Kuro asked, annoyed.
"Our gift. The one mother is bestowing upon us."
A scoff came from the darker twin. "It probably is just half of that stupid walking stick she uses. We'll get a staff as our present. Doesn't sound as quite thrilling as you think."
"No need to be such a spoilsport, Kuro."
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
Pit frowned. "Why must you be so mean?"
"Perhaps I contain the element of darkness in me?" Kuro smiled to himself.
The brown haired angel stood. "Don't think idiotic things like that. It'll poison your mind. That's what happened to the kingdom of Hyrule, don't you remember? Queen Tetra thought all belonged to her, how the air could be wielded so imperviously that it'd conquer all she set her eyes to. Light destroyed her for that. Dark kept light in balance. You wouldn't have the dark power. That means I'd be light. We would constantly be at war with each other."
"And how would that be a bad thing? Mother constantly notices how my strength leaps yours by tenfold."
"You sound like an immature child," Pit stamped his foot. "Grow up. Get the fantasies out of your head."
"I'm twenty," Kuro rolled his eyes. "You're calling me immature? Please. You are the boy who finds enjoyment in running barefoot through dirt. Thinks that the element of darkness exists in a constant struggle. No, brother. I'm not the one with the fantasies."
Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. "Don't treat me like a child."
"No need. You do it yourself."
The light angel looked down at the ground, before turning around and storming off. Despite growing into adulthood, his twin sibling seemed to always find a way to pinpoint his weaknesses.
Kuro looked back at the stars. "One day, I'll rule you. With my mother's gift tomorrow, I'll become the helm of Skyworld. The accords of war need to be remembered... Smash has forgotten what the love of battle brings. Loss. Fear. Blood. It'll be my hand that will do this. Pit is a fool if he thinks the throne is his. Mother is more foolish than I thought if she thinks I don't know what is rightfully mine," A smile laced his lips. "And thanks brother... the idea of the darkness element being in my is nothing more than the truth. There is no darkness. I am the darkness." Kuro laughed aloud, his voice warping into a poisonous dagger.
Starting with the Icarus twins coronation, surely the downfall of Smash would begin.
Yes... you're probably super confused right now, but gladly try and give your input on what you think is going on. Basically, there is magic, specific elements being hosted by three most powerful kingdoms on the continent, and two children from one of the kingdoms is getting coroneted, and will receive two of the elements hidden from view. Kuro is brewing up a dark secret that no one probably will see coming... and I hope you all will stick along for the ride. Please review! Let me know what you think so far. I love you all so much, thanks for everything. Bye!
~ Paradigm