Hello, I am Noelle Anna-Marie. I am honored to have permission to continue CynthiaRosenDale's story, A Goddess's Revenge.
I know what all those who are die-heart fans of A Goddess's Revenge must be thinking as you read this. You must be screaming, 'FINALLY! SHE STARTED WRITING THIS THING!'
It took a while in the making. I first had to reread both A Goddess's Revenge and the original manga, re-watch the anime, and research Greek mythology. I hope to keep as close to Cynthia's dream and the anime/manga as possible, without making the story horribly historically inaccurate.
This first chapter is going to be fairly 'all-over-the-place'. You have been warned.
Please read the prologue all the way through, as it explains some things for future chapters.
Eventually, the story will become NinaXZero. But that is a really long way off as I intend to go in-depth about Nina's life away from the characters of Mamotte Lollipop. In fact, this prologue is dedicated to some of those OCs.
I do not own the characters of Mamotte Lollipop! or any of the OCs and ideas/plot belonging to CynthiaRosenDale.
A Goddess's Revenge
Prologue
Somewhere in the Skies of Ancient Greece, 735 BC
Flight is the truest from of bliss.
I stretch my hands out in front of me. A gold chain jingles and captures the light, an ability I wish I had.
My thin, long blue robes encase my legs; acting as a barrier against the harsh wind. The skinny appendages will likely be numb when I return.
The pale fabric flutters behind me, leaving a slight trail through the sun-kissed clouds.
The sky's candle paints my world a pinkish gold. Puffy clouds, moving far too slowly for my taste, are like my own personal sea.
A laugh bubbles out of the confines of my throat.
I kick my legs around, watching in amusement as they cause the fabric to slide and swirl in a dance.
Grinning, I suddenly flip over onto my back.
My waist length flaxen blond strands immediately obscure my vision. I pull them onto the flat chest of my childhood body.
I cannot see on either side, as a mass covers my face in shadow.
Snowy white and soft, they are my favorite things in the world.
My wings move in a steady pattern of up and down.
I adjust into a more natural position and stare toward my home, the sharp peak in the distance.
Aware that my times of freedom are rare, I don't feel like going home yet.
As I turn onto my stomach once more, a frigid breeze assaults my arms. Suddenly, I regret the lack of fabric on my arms.
I twist my body around, holding my wings closer, and release a squeal of pure pleasure.
'Flight is the truest form of bliss,' I think to myself as I follow Apollo's chariot through the atmosphere.
Corkscrewing and diving into loop-de-loops all the way.
Somewhere in a Forest, 552 BC
Still Ancient Greece
Danger. Hunters.
Long, slender legs crash through the underbrush.
Brown fur, stiff and short, glistens in the dim light of a forest.
Must escape. Danger. Must out run danger.
The noise is gone. Danger gone. Have out run hunters.
Pause in movements. Head held high, sniffing for danger.
No danger.
The head bends gracefully to grass.
Loud noise. Human shouts.
"There he is! Quick, before he gets away again!"
In one quick motion, and a thud of hooves on dry dirt, the prey is gone.
Long strides are taken. Leaping over fallen logs easily, like a star athlete over hurdles.
Strong horns, like the branches of trees, crown the beast's head.
A soft 'twang' reverberates in the chaos, a thud following as an arrow embeds itself in the trunk of a nearby tree. Its target takes a sharp jerk to the left, away from the weapon.
"Hurry men!" A gruff shout howled.
Their hearts beat madly, frantic with the adrenaline.
Against many arms, pounding back and forth like a child's rocking horse, were loose long strapped items that crisscrossed their chests. Bags for preservations and water, which was held in clay jars. The bags themselves were made from the skin of previous successful poaching endeavors.
In many a hand was a long bow or a spear. A few grasped tall sticks that donned long faded strips of fabric. These were the banners, though clearly not very grand, with the colors mainly consisting of mud brown or a dull green.
The man who had yelled, their leader, a man named Causis, bellowed out a new order every few moments, urging his pack of wolves on. Something that frequently involved raising his short sword in his right hand, and jerking his horse's head back with the other. He was an old man, in his mid-thirties, with greying dark hair and gleaming dark eyes. His white skirts, normally worn to the ankles, now were expertly twisted and tied to his belt. He was an experienced hunter and an expert rider, so that he could easily maintain balance when he forced his ride to rear above the head of all his men.
The sorrel mare gave an ear-splitting whinny, causing Causis's men to scatter like rats under her hooves. She threw back her mane and screamed once more.
Causis cried out, challenging the heavens in his excitement, "Not even the mighty Zeus could stop us now!"
Shouts of agreement soon followed.
"What are you doing?"
A clear feminine voice rang out. All those pursuing the buck turned as one body.
There before them, was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen.
Her body, lounging against a birch, was lithe and slender; her arms muscular, but not brawny. Her eyes were the color of an emerald. Her single, long braid was the color of a raven's wing. Her white dress was lined with the same pale green of the banners. Gold jewelry glinted sun, bringing attention to the crown and earrings as well as the band around her upper arm. Tall brown sandals climbed to her mid-calf, matching the intricately carved longbow quiver of arrows slung carelessly against a neighboring tree.
The stag stepped daintily over fallen logs and stopped a few feet behind the maiden, but no one cared anymore.
Her voice, regal and containing an edge of impatience, rang out once more, seeming to echo against the trees.
"Don't you know this forest is forbidden?"
Suddenly fearing for their lives, the trespassers turned tail, much to Causis's dismay.
"You worms! Scared of a woman, are you?!"
Before he too spun his mount around and sped off after them, the verbal tirade never ceasing until he faded into the distance. All was at peace once more.
The woman turned her attention to the hart, her thin pink lips tugging into a smile.
She nodded her head.
A white tail flashed, and then was gone.
Somewhere Else in a Forest, 80 AD
Greece under the Reign of the Roman Emperor Titus (79-81 AD)
A swift breeze filtered through the trees, whispering age-old secrets. Secrets of the trees, of the spirits of the trees.
Tall trees, standing like roman senatils, towered over all else, their green-clad arms swinging and showering the world below in an ethereal green and gold light.
Below them, cluttered in thick patches, were a variety of ground-dwellers. Winding brown branches, wicked spines growing among the few bare patches, arched and weaved forebodingly through gently swaying branches of neighboring greenery.
A small, slender, pale hand slid between the broad, green leaves of a low-lying plant and slowly pulled it aside.
Large, bright, grey-green eyes peered curiously out of the underbrush.
Long, loosely curled, mint green hair teetered atop her head. The bun, it can be assumed, had once been in a stately order. Now, it was half on her shoulders and full of small leaves and branches.
In the distance, high-pitched shrieks and feminine laughter could be heard quite plainly.
Her lips, which were a bright pink, turned up into a crooked smirk.
Slowly and silently, like a predatory animal herself, she stepped out of the bracken, which should have been much harder than it was.
Now out in the open, it was much easier to tell what she looked like.
For starters: she was about 6 or 7 years old.
On her feet were a pair of plain, mid-calf tall, tan sandals. They made her look taller than what she really was, and she happened to be on the spindly side.
A short skirt, forest green and rimmed with dark green, swooshed around her knobby knees. The same kind of fabric was wound tightly around her chest, covering what really couldn't be found on a child her age. As it was, these meager wraps only covered what they would need to on a girl, no matter the age; and left the stomach, arms, and legs bare.
This proved quite handy, if you were to compare it to the swaths of material every other female wore over the age of 11.
Indeed, her targets were not as lucky as she. All were young women.
The girl was the youngest among their group, and happened to enjoy her position as… well…
She slipped through the underbrush unseen. Calculating her next move.
One sound, and the importance of her mission would be lost.
Her targets would be alerted to any new sound.
Luckily, she had a lot of practice in her field of study.
Or, at least… this particular field of study…
Crouching a safe distance away, but not too far that she could still hear the general discussion.
"I still can't believe Titus would do that, all those innocent people…"
"Better believe it, Rose. You know just as well as all of us that Titus was only interested in becoming Emperor of Rome." A hand flicked her long, spiky green ponytail away from her eyes. Water sprayed in a wide arch.
The pink haired maiden blinked up at the rude interrupter.
"But what about-"
"He may have been infatuated with that vixen, but she was no better than he was," Pine snapped.
The blond next to the pink-haired girl on the rock could have been her twin, had it not been for their appearance. Both were easy targets.
"You mean, she wasn't going to be the next Ester?!" the buxom blond exclaimed as the news dawned upon her.
"Who would have guessed that the princess of Palestine was only interested in saving her own skin," the trio turned to a pale dark-haired beauty. "What? Just sayin'," Birch droned.
The child listened, only mildly interested, before becoming bored of the topic of conversation all together. Who cares what happened in Jerusalem a year or two ago? Even if it was horrible, and a perfect example of how humanity had fallen under Rome's influence. Her hands searched about for the right arsenal for the job.
It was a well-known fact that both the pink-haired Rosewood and the blond Maple were easily frightened.
Her hand found the perfect specimen and skillfully grasped it in her claws. Quickly, with terrific precision, she hurled the projectile at Birch.
The girl caught the object with ease, and looked at it with little amusement.
Two identical, high-pitched screams shattered the peace of their day by the river.
With eyes crinkled in amusement, the girl darted away from Pine's inescapable wrath.
A small, slimy, green toad hopped after her.
On a Balcony in the Magic World, a Month Ago
The sky glistened the hypnotic purple-blue of twilight.
A young girl stood peering over her stone balcony walls at the colors, her long hair waving in a slight breeze. The long, wavy tendrils tugged loosely toward the lingering rays of sunlight. The same light that cast the world in a dark blue shadow.
The slow tap of footsteps on marble, and a heavy weight on her pink-clad shoulders. She didn't need her powers to know who stood behind her.
His large hands scooped her locks up and freed them from the confines of his brown coat. Silky blond hairs slowly tapered off into a rich violet as they whirled around her head. Vibrant blue meet chocolate brown.
"You shouldn't be out here so late, Milady."
There was a brief pause, "I'm worried, Gregory."
The young man's eyes furrowed, but he was not surprised. The child before him was unique, an oracle, an enchantress of the highest degree, his life-long charge. Strangest of all, was that I've never heard her laugh, he mused.
"About what, Milady?"
"That girl."
Now used to the girl's strange mindset, his response was automatic despite not knowing what she could possibly mean.
"What about her?"
Her blue orbs grazed over his stiff form before turning back to the sky one last time.
"I worry that those boys won't realize it in time and do something foolish."
Without so much as a signal, her back turned from the cityscape and she started walking toward the warmth of her massive home.
She paused, "Are you coming?"
The man meekly followed her past the French doors and into a massive parlor.
This world, so vastly different from the outside, was bathed in a warm yellow glow. Pink cushioned chairs and plush carpets. Gilded frames and a cheery fire that blazed in the hearth.
The child gave a content sigh as she plopped into the nearest high backed, upholstered chair.
"What do you wish to be done, Milady?"
The girl closed her eyes, focusing on the task at hand, and answered dryly.
"Order the boys back to the Magic World. Then I will speak to them."
This is the only really OC chapter. Again, the point of it is to introduce some OCs (that will show up sooner or later) who will be critical players in the plot.
Try to guess who they are individually: the girl with wings, the young woman who saved the deer, the girl in the forest, and the little girl on the balcony. Now guess who 'those boys' and 'that girl' are…
I am also writing a two-shot for Yu-Gi-Oh, entitled The Princess and The Dragon. My next goal is to fix Part 1 of it – after posting it, I realized that I had forgotten some scenes XD. After The Princess and The Dragon, I intend to switch back and forth between A Goddess's Revenge and either a few one-shots or another full-blown story I will release around Easter. I will finish, even if I need to get help from Cynthia, one of my friends/family, or even the audience.
I hope you will continue this story, the chapters will be longer!
Please Follow/Favorite/Review if you liked it! Don't forget to guess!
- Noelle Anna-Marie
P.S. I will often advise a song, anime, or movie during the ANs, and here is my first one. Check out the anime Kamisama Kiss or the manga version, Kamisama Hajimemashita. It is funny, romantic, yet keeps you at the edge of your seat. It can be found for free on YouTube or Mangapark, or you can buy it if you're lucky enough to find it in stores.
- N
This prologue is 2532 words long.