In the not so deep reaches of what the Terrains called "space" there are countless astral bodies, some habitable others unable. Those habitable are where human life began appearing again other then the body of Terra.
Monarchs were established, armies were formed, and everything flourished. Terra welcomed them, and all bodies, following example, embraced each other. The only one too stay in solitude was the people of the Sun, a star that had warmed Terra for as long as people could remember.
That was until one season, when the crops of Terra failed. Starving and desperate, they made a deeper ally with the people of a planet called Saturn whose crops had also failed that same season. With the alliance in place, Terra and Saturn attacked anybody they could get their troops too.
Alliances where created, then broken just as quickly throughout them all with the fighting becoming worse each and every day. Life became nearly unbearable for everyone under a fighting planet.
When the conflict escalated beyond all hopes of conflict, every ruler gathered at a neutral location, the very center of the Galaxy resided in. A single large hunk of land, set between the lands of Mars and Jupiter. All in all, ten rulers gathered all with the intent to kill and conquer each other, save for one. A young ruler named Artemis, a woman who had come to admire the Solar people and their desire for peace.
"PLEASE DON'T THIS!" She screamed at the others. "THIS IS POINTLESS!" The others around her stood un-moving all staring at her. All except Aries.
"Pointless? You jest Artemis." He mocked, and then laughed as if she had told him a joke. He looked around at others looking for support but received none from the other rulers.
"You're young Artemis. Young and naïve. And you listen to Apollo too well." Poseidon remarked.
Artemis ignored him and looked up at Gaea who stood across from her. "What if you lose? Are you willing to lose all your subjects? They'll be killed!"
"But if I win, they will suffer no longer."
"Expanding your territory doesn't mean crops will grow!"
"ENOUGH!" One finally yelled. Everyone turned around and faced Zeus. "We fight now. Artemis is merely stalling." He stated, waving his hand dismissing anything uttered from her mouth.
Around her, armed with weapons cloaked in the strongest of magics, they all prepared to strike. At first no one made a move, then someone flinched and all Chaos broke loose in one moment.
Artemis, unwilling to strike, was naturally the first target by many. Others felt she wasn't a threat and targeted the others first. But she stood her ground, only creating barriers and blocking against the barrage of attacks at her.
She parried a blow and fell back from the sheer strength that was behind the swing from Hermes. She was graced with a slight bit of luck, as Zeus threw a thunderbolt at his head. But she didn't remain lucky for long. From her right she threw up a shield, as flames, courtesy of Aries, encased her like a bubble. She knelt down and purely focused on keeping a shield around her. Strong enough to protect her from burns, but small enough to conserve her energy.
It was there, kneeling on the ground with her sword next to her as flames threatened to burn her alive, that she noticed the small shards that were scattered across the ground. There were only a few in her small circle, but Artemis noticed the perfect angular shape they made. They were clearly diamond, common enough for nobles, but somehow they were different…
Her mind slipped and for a quick second, and a single flame slipped in and singed her hand. She recoiled and threw up and extra layer in her shield. Which drained her further of her reserves. Cursing the fact that no one else had charged Aries, she picked up her sword and prepared to rush him. Examining her sword, and uttering a curse for not bringing her arrows, she looked for his assault point.
She created a smaller frontal shield and focused on repelling the flames. She stood and grabbed her sword and threw down the first shield. Immediately the intense heat collided with her and sweat poured down her body, plastering the cloths underneath her armor to her body.
The look on Aries face when she charged out from inside the flame was well worth any effort. A look of shock was evident and Artemis took a jab for his leg. He blocked. There, lost to the fighting monarchs was a "ding." And a small, insignificant chip appeared on the blades of Artemis and Aries.
But it wasn't just them. As Poseidon and Gaia struck swords, a chip appeared. And it happened everywhere, anytime two or more of these strange blades struck another. Still they continued on fighting.
Chip by chip the swords broke as the ten nobles clashed with each other. And eventually all the swords were reduced to nothing but the hilts. Soon they were cast aside and pure magic was thrown at one another. Deciding to save her energy, Artemis stood off to the side, and avoided everyone.
Heavy breathing was heard by everyone on the damned piece of dirt where they all fought like fools. A temporary peace had settled among them all. Artemis could truly kill them all right now and end the war between them and the lands.
"Let us end this now! We are tired of this! Only one shall emerge victorious!" Aphrodite called. Others agreed, and the last reserves of magic were called upon. Suddenly the monarchs were enveloped in different colored lights, a display of power. The power casted sparks as it collided with others lighting the planet in small fires.
Artemis poured her remaining reserves into creating the strongest shield that she had ever created and watched as they fought silently among each other. Sitting along the side, she watched as the tiny fragments began to react to the power they each were giving off. Surprised that they didn't break under the pressure, she went back to watch the others stupidly fight. But she was done reasoning with them. Not as if they would listen to her.
As they fought, the fragments began glowing brighter.
And in one sudden flash, barely allowing Artemis a quick second to redouble her shields, as all around her, magic was fired off at one another, colliding with others and causing an explosion and a white light to encase the planet.
One by one, pieces broke off, and those of which with an inferior size were pulled in by the nearby planets. Others remained floating, stuck in the nothingness that had formed between Mars and Jupiter.
When Artemis opened her eyes, she stood alone, cold on the remains of the planet. Around her, masses of land floated just outside of a pull. And floating in front of her was a single jewel. It was pure silver on the surface, but under the correct light Artemis could see different colors reflected. She grabbed the jewel as she stood up stumbled and caught herself. She looked around in the new wastelands looking for a sign of life.
"Aphrodite?" She called. "Uranus? Poseidon? Hermes?"
Nothing. Just like she expected. If there was anyone alive out there, they wouldn't be able to hear her anyways.
"Artemis?" A voice questioned.
She turned quickly, her silver hair snapping around as she rushed to make contact with the voice. "Apollo!" She cried. She ran, closing the few feet between them and embraced the man, her mentor, her emotional crutch. "You have no idea how happy I am too se you right now." She confessed as she pulled away from the hug.
Apollo smiled and patted her on the head. "When Daphne and I saw all that brightness, we were sure it was all the others. Tell me Artemis, why were you here? You said you wished for peace. Yet I find you the only survivor here. You didn't…?"
"No I didn't, they killed themselves. I merely survived the onslaught." Artemis said. Apollo, relieved, embraced the girl again. Artemis looked down at the jewel she still clucked slightly in her hand behind his back. It was cold to the touch, but also pulsed with life at an irregular beat.
"Come child; let us leave this horrid place." He stated, pulling Artemis along beside him. She followed, and escaping her attention, the jewel warm pulse fell in sync with her own heart.
"Personally, I can't find it in myself too shed a tear for all those bickering monarchs."
Artemis sighed as Daphne rambled on about the others as servants scrubbed her body raw. When another servant came and grabbed her arm out of the water, she cursed as a minor burn was scrubbed.
At the moment she wasn't in the best of moods. The adrenaline had left her body and she was now so weary. She was surrounded by servants who reached around her freezing naked body as she sat in a tub filled with water that had run cold.
"I can't believe you would even be found there. I thought you were against the fighting."
"I….oww…wasn't there to fight…..dammit!" She cursed again as a cut was rubbed open and exposed to the soap filled water. "ENOUGH!" Artemis yelled as her patience evaporated. "Out!" She directed at the servants, pointing at the door.
All around her, various bathing "necessities" were left abandoned as servants tripped over themselves and each other in order to escape the visiting monarch's wrath.
"Well that was a bit unnecessary." The Solar Queen stated when the last servants had left. "Oh what have you got there?" She asked when she noticed the jewel hanging around Artemis's neck. She rushed over, kneeled down and pulled the necklace closer to her face, with it still hanging around Artemis's neck.
"I have no idea. It was floating nearby when I came back into consciousness after the fight. It's an odd thing. It has a pulse."
"A pulse? Artemis, I never took you for a jester." Daphne said as she attempted to stifle the laughter that threatened to consume her. To her credit, she at least tried to hide the stupid look on her face that eventually faded away to a large smile.
Artemis, who swore that in twenty-two years, had never blushed before did just that. Embarrassment warmed her and over ran all other emotions as she sat there, shivering in the cold water, as Queen Daphne laughed uncontrollably.
"Are you done?" Artemis asked after a few more minutes of laughter. The Solar Queen nodded and attempted to compose herself, though she still had issues making the smile vanish.
A week later, and without further mentioning of the strange crystal Artemis continuously wore around her neck, she departed from the Sun. And back to her planet.
AN: Well readers, welcome to my newest story that explores the origins of the Silver Alliance, the Silver Crystal, and the history before all out beloved princesses were born. I'm not sure if I'm going to write about the cannon characters or if I'm going to place them into another story. Chances are I will, although it may take a few chapters to get to their stories. Regardless of that fact, I hope you will stick with my story.
As an interesting note, before I began researching the Asteroid Belt, my head cannon for the story was it was once a planet set between Mars and Jupiter. I was pleased to discover that this was once an actual theory in the early 1800's.
Until next time, Mackenzie.