"Long ago, 400 years to be exact, a deadly war raged between two very powerful mafias. The first mafia was the Tavola. A gang comprised of deadly warriors from all over the world, it was a force to be reckoned with. The leader, Carmela Tavola, was a beautiful lady whose luxurious, blonde hair stretched to her lower back. She was the heir to a rather rich family, old money of course, and she used her fame and fortune to thrust herself into the underground world. Inherited from her bloodline was the Orange dieing will flame, a power that turned people into gods. She decided that if she was going to run a mafia, she would need to start with subordinates. She named herself and her first six subordinates after different stages of the weather. She named herself the Sky; The one who engulfs everything.
Tabitha Romano was chosen to be her second in command. She was a powerful spell caster. Labeled a witch in many parts of Italy, she used her 'magic' to swindle and steal from all over the country. It was Carmela who understood the potential of such a powerful woman. She immediately decided to hire Tabitha to turn her mafia into a powerhouse. She was the mist; The one who cannot be caged. By reality, or any other means.
Takashi Akarui was the third member of Carmela's mafia. Born in Okinawa, Japan, he was a police officer trained in the use of Tae Kwon Do. He relocated to Italy after the Tavola family forced an offer onto him that he couldn't refuse: Join Tavola and become part of the soon to be most influential family of all time, or watch your family get massacred before your eyes. Takashi, a defender of the peace, was extremely reluctant to become involved in the mafia, but he had no choice. He became the sun; The one that illuminates everything.
Pierre Foudre was the next member to be chosen. He was a French man, trained in the art of killing. He was a murderer for hire, an assassin, who used his signature chain whip to cut down his targets like wheat. He worked for whoever had the highest amount of money, and changed loyalty within seconds whenever anyone bid higher. Carmela just happened to become the highest bidder that he had ever dealt with. He became the lightning; The one who strikes harshly.
Yuri Feng came not long after him. She hailed from China. Yuri was born into royalty as she was the princess of her nation. Raised to be prim, proper, and sophisticated, at night she was anything but that. When the sun set every evening, she trained herself in the art of the sword. She became quite efficient in the use of the jian, a Chinese, one handed, straight sword. Dawning a disguise, she became stealing from her own castle and providing for the poor. The Chinese army eventually proved too great for one woman to handle, and she was caught and ordered to be executed. It was then that Carmela came to her, offering her release for Yuri's service in her mafia. Of course, Yuri agreed, and Carmela ordered her already growing mafia into action. With but four members, she was able fend off the Imperial Army of China as well as smuggle Yuri out of the country. She became the rain; The one that washes away everything.
Josh Smith joined the Tavola from England. He was heavily known throughout the land for being one of the best fencers in the country. His rapier was his trusted weapon, and with it, he could conduct a symphony orchestra. Cutting the wings off of flies, stabbing pressure points, nothing was too much of a feat for Josh. It didn't take long for news of Josh's fame to reach Carmela. The moment she heard of his tremendous success she decided that she HAD to have him. And who would say no to the mafia? He became the cloud; the one who cannot be caught and goes his own way.
Russel Williams was the final member to join Tavola. A pirate by nature, he sailed the Caribbean as captain of the "Red Storm" ship. Russel was a master of bullets. A rifle, handgun, sniper rifle, it didn't matter. If it had gun powder he could use it to lethal extent. The "Red Storm" was feared by many. It was said that if a ship came into the line of sight of the red-flagged ship, then that ship would never be seen again. One woman and one woman alone had enough guts to take on Russel Williams: Carmela Tavola. She single handily defeated his crew and took over his ship. Out of humiliation, Russel joined Tavola, but he died vowing that he would get revenge. He became the storm; the one who blows everything away.
Carmela used this group of vastly different but powerful warriors to bring Italy to it's knees. She was determined to rewrite Italy in her own image. However, there was one very great obstacle in her way: The Empire of the East. Dominating the entire country of Russia, known then as the Ottomon empire, was the mafia named Oscurita. Oscurita was headed by Nero, a man who originated from an Italian family but traveled East during the beginning of Carmela's reign over Italy. It was here where he came to power. Nero was armed with the black flame, an extremely deadly version of the dying will flame. Nero's army was lead by four generals: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They answered their code names: Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death.
Pestilence was a sick looking, but a deadly individual. He had pure white hair, a pale complexion, and his body was composed of nothing but bones. He wore a white sheet around his body. As a weapon, he used a bow to launch arrows at his opponents. Pestilence laced the arrow head of his arrow with deadly diseases, giving him an incredibly fast method to spread plagues. It was no mystery how he became known as Pestilence.
Nero's next general was War. He was a rather muscular fellow, with crimson hair. He wore a Roman-looking warrior's outfit. On his back was a double edged sword crafted out of pure ruby. He commanded his own, personal army. He was an amazing general who could quickly and easily come up with complex battle strategies.
After War came Famine. He was one of the biggest men alive during his time. Famine wrapped a sheet around his body much like Pestilence. However unlike Pestilence, Famine was forced to use a sheet because his sheer size didn't allow him to fit into any clothes. He had a near endless stomach. One of his abilities was to reduce a city's food supply to rations by simply eating everything. Fitting with his theme of gluttony, he could also absorb the life energy from his enemies. Through this great consumption of energy, he gained tremendous amounts of strength.
Nero's last general was the greatest assassin that ever lived. It was said that this man could start a holocaust with his bare hands. He was named accordingly: Death. He cut down lives, innocent or not, with his only weapon, a scythe. The Four Horsemen followed a sort of 'Chain of Command' with each general surpassing the previous one in power and skill. Death was the top of this chain and he was feared and respected by the three generals who came before him.
In a desperate attempt to stop Nero, Carmela held one last stand against Nero. She sent her six guardians against his four generals, however the results were disastrous. Her guardians were defeated swiftly by the well oiled machine known as Oscurita. Carmela and her guardians were forced to retreat back to her the Tavola's castle in Italy.
Nero, realizing that he would gain total control of Italy if he took control of the Tavola castle, invaded Italy with the Four Horsemen as well as the other members of Oscurita. With so many powerful beings coming together, he had effectively created an army. Carmela, in response, sent out her own mafia to meet Oscurita at Italy's borders.
The boss of Oscurita expected this, however he held no reservations about crossing Italy's border, even with the impending war. He had no fears, he knew he would win. When the two mafia's, now international super powers, armies met, Carmela found out very fast that the entirety of Oscurita was armed with the black flame.
On the front lines, Tavola was massacred. The powerful black flame proved too much for the weaker flames of Carmela's army. Her guardians stayed at the castle in case Oscurita managed to break through the Tavola's army, although it was heavily thought that this wouldn't happen by Carmela. She was proved to be wrong, however, when news that the last of her army had fallen reached her ears.
News was also delivered that Nero's army was retreating, but Carmela knew this was just a strategy to prevent any unnecessary casualties on his part and that more powerful warriors were coming. As predicted, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as well as Nero himself showed up at the castle's door steps. Carmela decided that it was her turn to make an appearance on the front lines, as well as her six guardians.
Convinced that she still had an advantage, she and her miniature army attacked with all its might. Nero took on Carmela while his four generals took on her six guardians. Nero proved himself once again, however, and single handily defeated Carmela while his generals beat her guardians within an inch of their lives. Nero offered her a choice; Escape Italy with your lives and never appear again, or die now with honor.
Carmela, in reply, said, "Even if I don't walk away with my life, I won't allow you to become the extinction of Tavola. Unknown to the world, I gave birth to a child only a month ago. She will continue the name of Tavola! Tavola will live in each and everyone of my guardian's bloodlines! I'm sorry, my family, but when you swore your allegiance to me, you swore your lives! Now give them to me in the name of Tavola to destroy the evil known as Nero and Oscurita!"
Then, she forcefully drained each and one of her guardian's dieing will flames and used the harmonizing power of the orange dieing will flame to combine them into one. The seven flames together produced a pure white flame, a new breed of flame and the strongest. She then absorbed the newly created flame into her body, and with it, all of its power. The flame appeared on her forehead as her dieing will fueled it. Carmela also grew bright white wings made of flames on her back, giving her a resemblance to an angel.
With a simple wave of her hand, she burned the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse alive in a brilliant shower of white flames. Nero, fearing for his life for the first time since the began his campaign, unleashed the entire power of his black flame. Carmela, using her white flame, defended herself against the blast, however it used up much of her power. Knowing that she no longer had the energy to kill Nero, she settled for the next best thing. She reached inside of Nero with her white flames, and pulled out the black flame from his body, leaving him powerless. She then separated it into seven very powerful dieing will flames, orange, blue, green, indigo, yellow, purple, and red. Carmela then separated her white dieing will flame into the original seven and combined them with the flames created from Nero, which were then planted into the future generations of Tavola, forever to pass on from parent to child. She then used the last of her power to seal Nero's body at a faraway, yet to be discovered land, far, far away from Italy.
What Carmela didn't anticipate was that years later, this land would be discovered as North America. The United States to be exact. She had sealed the most powerful man in the world in the busiest place on Earth," finished Argenta Tavola, the ninth generation boss of Tavola.
She was an older, sickly woman. She was wearing an elegant gown, not something suitable for the boss of a mafia, but comfortable against her old bones. Her hair was a shiny silver color, no doubt the graying of the glorious blonde hair she used to sport, and it cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. Her skin was shriveled from her long life and her eyes were blank and held little fire in them.
"That is a horrible, hidden past, milady. However, what does that have to do with us? The flames are still sealed, yes?" asked a small little baby, with a yellow pacifier.
"I'm afraid that my daughter as well as my guardian's children have moved to the States to give birth. I am not as strong as I used to be for when I gave birth to the next generation, the powerful sky flame created from Nero was passed down to my daughter. And now, that flame was passed down to her daughter. Reborn, all seven flames sealed from Nero are now in North America! There is no doubt in my mind that Nero, even now, ponders how to get his hands on them and revive himself!" Argenta explained.
"That's a stage set for disaster. What would you like me to do?" Reborn asked.
"Go. Go to the states and find Chelsea Tavola, my granddaughter. Train her to become the 10th Tavola boss. Help her find her guardians. If she can defend herself, she might be able to protect the flame. If you fail, Nero will resurrect himself and begin his campaign all over again, and that is something this world isn't ready for. War ships, fighter jets, nuclear bombs, they are nothing compared to the black flame." Argenta spoke with urgency and fear.
"Very well. I will be on the first flight to the Americas tomorrow. Good day, milady." Reborn didn't say another word, and left Argenta's office.
