Prologue: Gaia
And mankind forgot.
What happened, no one can say. Was it as simple, like the passing of time from one age to the next? Was it the divine wrath of a vengeful god, his name lost forever in his fury? Maybe it was something we brought upon ourselves. A natural phenomenon erased our memories. We broke a rule of an unknown power, and thus were punished. Like small children, reduced to something little more than animals, we roamed in time as our civilizations crumbled around us. The world became ruins. The ruins turned to dust. And the dust blown away by the wind.
Back then, our world had a different name. But no one remains to remember it.
In our world, our beloved Gaia, there arrived a Messiah, between the ashes of our own wars. He called himself Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was a figure of heavenly light, a beacon in darkness of doubt that dazzled kings and beggars alike. He brought with him the word of God, a God who ruled over everything and gave us the power of life and death. And thus his word became law.
His word said that all of us were equal in God's eyes, that we all had a place in his home in Heaven, but also to fear him and his mighty vengeance. Magic and the precepts that came with it had no place, or anyone who used it. As his word spread, he gained followers, twelve apostles who bore his creed and let it spread throughout all of Gaia. And by word and sword, he was able to accomplish something never done before: unite the world under one flag.
But all good things, as they always do, must come to an end.
At the gates of Solomon, the last stronghold of an ancient empire, one of Christ's own, a man named Iscariot, betrayed him. In payment, they gave him thirty pieces of black metal, said to contain the knowledge that could change Gaia. Woe onto anyone who holds even one of the thirty, for it bears all the sins of man.
Christ was crucified that very night. For thirteen hours, he hung on a cross with great nails in his hands and feet, a crown of thorns upon his brow as all of Solomon taunted and berated him. When he expired, the skies did not open with rain, nor did the earth tremble. The water did not turn to blood, and firmament did not darken. He simply died.
And from his death came a new beginning. Three years after their master had died, he apostles finished the impossible dream for him, tearing down Solomon's walls and bringing about a new age of man in Gaia. The apostles lay Christ in a tomb, and built a city around it, calling it Archangel, and it became the capital of the world, laying the foundation for the Sacred Holy Empire of Abel. From that empire, the apostles created eleven dominions, for ruling the world as a single country would be too difficult. They proclaimed themselves prime spiritual leaders of these dominions, and in time became holy enforced their doctrines with great stricture, banning magic and the mystic sciences, and in time man and the supernatural drifted apart. They closed their doors to other races, lost in their own thoughts and dreams.
Was this the true intention of Christ? Or had we gone astray from the Messiah's words? No matter who one would believe, the faith viewed other races as demons, monsters born from dark and impious arts. Wizards and mystics were tortured in killed by inquisitors. Even though they were blessed with long life, the apostles did die, one by one, and their progeny inherited the kingdoms. As was wont to happen, disputes began. The holy kingdoms began to separate, joining in various alliances that would maintain tense relationships for over two hundred years.
But far away, formed in the shadows, a twelfth kingdom of man existed. Ruled by the last descendant of man, known only as Rah, decided to make his move. His mighty nation, known as Judas, rejected the Christian dogma and called out to those who were persecuted by the Church. All manner of barbarians, pagans, and wizards joined Judas's army. He called out to the Duk'zarist, a race of dark beings that had existed since time began, promising to end their weakness to metal.
But Rah did not want to conquer. He wanted more. He wanted to destroy God. By destroying God, men could rise to become gods in his place. He viewed all religion, not just the tenets of Christ, until everything was turned to ash on the pyre of his dreams. And in the year 223, he declared war on all of Gaia. And thus began the War of God.
Rah's army astounded all who saw it. Cosmic horrors and Great Beasts walked alongside men, Duk'zarist and giants, laying waste to everything in sight. None of the kingdoms knew how to react, having grown distant from one another over the years and unable to respond cohesively. Millions cried as blood was spilled, but the heavens remained silent. The Sylvain, known once as elves, were not able to sit around, but mankind refused their help without question. So they fought independently, but even they couldn't stop the might of Judas.
And then, a hero arose.
Zhorne Giovanni, the uncrowned heir of one of these holy kingdoms, changed the tide of war and brought us hope. A natural leader, he united the remaining armies of man and Sylvain and all others who opposed Rah. As he fought to stop the advance of Judas, a Duk'zarist messenger managed to find his empress, Ark Noah, imprisoned in Rah's castle. After freeing her, he then discovered Rah's secret weapon: a machine powered by the lost souls of all who lost their lives in the War of God. Realizing what had happened, the Duk'zarist withdrew from the war, attacking Judas's forces as they did. With the Duk'zarist turning against their allies, Giovanni saw his opportunity and took the fight back to Judas, chasing them to the shores of the continent, before taking his forces across the seas to Judas itself.
And then, from his castle in Tol Rauko, Rah cackled, a laugh of sadness and bitterness. Rah knew his dream was falling apart, so he decided that if he couldn't save the world, it would be destroyed, and thus he started up the machine with Giovanni pounding away at the gates. As the spiritual world and the physical world warped under the strain, two great beings, known in the old texts as C'iel and Gaira, intervened, stopping the holocaust in its tracks, but the damage it had begun to wreak was already done.
Rah himself disappeared off the face of the earth. Theoretically, being in contact with the machine, his body and soul couldn't take the strain the machine had destroyed. Three years after it had begun, the War of God was over, but there were no victors on either side. More than a hundred million all told had died, and racial hatred reached outrageous levels. What was worse, supernatural beings were suffering, like they were lacking something vital as air. As time went on, these supernatural forces simply faded away, like ash on the breeze. And so magic faded from our world…until now.
It is the year 989. Magic is returning with strength to Gaia, and the line that separates the world of Wake with ours is becoming more fragile by the day. The Empire is no more, and a three-way battle for control is about to commence between the child Empress, Elisabetta, the Lords of War, and the Church. The souls of all the supernatural beings who died in the hundreds of years since the War of God are reborn in human children, giving rise to the birth of the Nephilim. And entities that have survive for eras hidden from man's eyes have realized the time has come to manifest themselves.
All of them can feel it. It has begun.
And all the things I have told…I have seen them.
Because I never forgot.
And that was my damnation.
Welcome to Super Fantasy Taisen, a take on the crossover style employed by Super Robot Wars. You'll find a series list below.
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
Bleach
Fate/Stay Night
Fairy Tail
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy X
Golden Sun
Hellsing/Hellsing Ultimate
Jak II
IS: Infinite Stratos
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's
No More Heroes
Romeo X Juliet
Ruroni Kenshin
Sailor Moon
Tsukihime
Valkyria Chronicles
Zatch Bell
ATK Originals
Everything belongs to its respective owners. The only thing I own are the original characters of the series, one of which we'll be meeting in the next chapter.