Dear reader,
By purchasing and/or reading this book, you are now immersing yourself in an ages old riddle. I believe an introduction is in order.
By itself, Tales of the Sky is a tragic story filled with both morals and lessons for our generation, and future generations to come. However that's all it is, just a story... or is it?
In certain areas of the world, including one remote village in particular (which shall remain nameless due to a request for privacy), there are many different children's songs that warn of dark times to come. Normally, such a thing would be shrugged off; after all, teaching children to sing is an easy task, and can double as a way for a child to teach itself to be wary of something. It is interesting to note that some of these little limericks, however, have a common theme of ambiguity and a similar villain.
There are many other poems, recognized as literary pieces, that also have these themes and characters. Coincidence? Many think not.
In the world of scholars and historians, there's no greater treasure, nothing that would bring more fame to the finder, than the truth of what happened during the period called the "blank period", a time where it seems few to no important historical texts of the time survived. We find much information about before and after this period, but the actual blank period, dated roughly from mid 20xx to late 22xx, is almost a complete mystery. What great occasion happened, so profound, that no historical texts about the time could survive, or were not even made in the first place? Was it something so horrific that the leaders of the era wiped it from history? Or was it simply so unimportant that no one bothered to record it? Although, how could it be unimportant when our hunters and archeologists are constantly uncovering new things every day? Perhaps, then, did they record it in such a way that we can't find it? Or, have yet to find it?
These are the questions that many scholars, myself included, spend most of our time pondering when there's probably something more constructive we could be doing (or so say a few of my colleagues, at least).
Ah, but I ramble. The reason why Tales of the Sky is so profound to many scholars is by one fact; it, even though there is no hard evidence to support it, almost seems to be such a lost historical document! Over the course of many discoveries, a good amount of ancient poems, songs, riddles and so on, have been uncovered. While any bystander might think that poems and stories have no relation to history, it is the uncanny network created by these poems that incites historical interest. Many of these works contain similar characters, a prominent example of this being the ever-feared Red Demon. Why, if these were just unrelated, non-historical texts, would they all feature the same character? The same terror haunting their words as it might have haunted those that wrote them?
To simply write off such a profound, widespread coincidence is impossible. It could be that the characters involved were simply very popular, perhaps from another story of the time. But, if it was just a story, why the ambiguity? Why such a variety of literature?
As such, the critic's edition of Tales of the Sky has a compilation of a few of the more noticeable texts. Make of these writings what you will. Nothing has been done to change them; they are in the rawest form that could be found.
Multiple theories have surfaced regarding these scripts. Some of these theories may be discussed in the following texts. However, this book has been written to neither approve nor disprove these.
To the discerning eye, I bring you Tales of the Sky; Critic's Edition. May your research of these words prove fruitful in whichever endeavour you aim.
Sincerely,
~Master Mikhail
X X X X X
Author's note; Ah, children. Many times we hear their little voices singing out of happiness. Most often, though, when we hear them sing, it is because they are playing the ages-old game of skip-the-rope. Skipping, for short. Boys and girls alike sing little tunes, unafraid of being heard when they skip-the-rope. In fact, it's seen as practical, for it keeps the rhythm of the jumper and the swinger of the rope. One such song speaks of a popular superstition, Omega. Omega is the name of a dangerous omen, one that often means pain and death to the person unfortunate enough to come across the final symbol in the ancient greek alphabet. While superstition is usually set aside by most scholars, the fact that this particular skip-the-rope rhyme dates back to a similar time as other poems in this text is something to note. For whatever reasons, that particularly undocumented segment of history and stories of a great "God of Destruction" seem to have ties to the superstitions of Omega. Perhaps, then, it is more than a symbol? Perchance even a name! Alas, we may never know.
Omega
Omega, Omega,
I wonder if you've heard,
Omega, Omega,
Of this most awful word?
Fortune foul, fortune foul,
The darkest sign of all,
Fortune foul, fortune foul,
Pray you don't hear it's call!
Destroyer, destroyer,
If this shadow does loom,
Destroyer, destroyer,
You may yet meet your doom!
If you hear of its coming, do not stay, do not stay,
Take your family and go, run away, run away!
X X X X X
Author's note; the next poem has the longest accurately documented history of all the ones contained within Tales of the Sky; Critic's Edition. It may be interesting to the passive observer that this poem originates around the same nameless mountain village mentioned earlier. Curiously, it dates back all the way to an event called "the Cataclysm" by some. While this may not seem to have much to do with other poems in this book, there is mention of a "Red Demon," perhaps the same one that appeared in Tales of the Sky. Ah, but back to the Cataclysm! As far as we know, it is viewed as an event where many lives were apparently lost, but with no information as to the cause. It's a mystery that countless scholars and learned men and women have pondered until their deaths. Hopefully, our next poem may one day shed light upon it.
Echoes from an Explosion
Fire fire, all I see,
Burning around me, me,
I hear cries, cries,
No time for goodbyes, byes,
It's like a sea, sea,
Red blood around me, me
I see his eyes, eyes,
Burning with lies, lies,
It won't hurt he told me, me,
He lies from the top of the tree, tree,
I look up to the skies, skies,
Something strange there flies, flies,
Hope fills me, me,
As he frowns from the tree, tree,
He aims up at the skies, to where the thing flies,
His attention away from me, I can and will flee,
Then my ears clear
And I'm outta here!
I run to my home,
Tell all what I've known,
I told them the things I had to see,
The burning place and bloody sea,
I told of the red demon that looked up to the skies,
Where the little blue hero and his dog friend flies.
X X X X X
Author's note; Speaking of the cataclysm, it's a popular subject indeed! Countless works of literature refer to that period of time. If I were to reference them all, then I would surely run out of space in this book with which to place any other content! Another well known legend, passed on by word of mouth, comes from this period. It is the story of the Mega Man, a hero said to arise whenever the world is in peril. It is perhaps the most believed ancient legend of all. Even today, proof of it exists in the very Mega Men that walk among us! However, in contrast to the stories of old, of which there are innumerable amounts, the Mega Men of our day come in a large variety. According to most stories, the Mega Man of old was always blue, and there was only ever one.
Most peculiarly, there are two blue Mega Men nowadays. One, known as Model X, the other, Model L. What does that say for the history of the stories, then? Was there actually more than one Mega Man? Or, were more Mega Men added after a certain point in history, which our best estimates guess to have taken place approximately two to three hundred years ago?
No one can doubt the startling coincidence between the Mega Man of old and the Mega Men of today. It's hard to conceive that the title is common. Perhaps these newer Mega Men were based upon the older one, in hopes that the Mega Men would strive to bring the world into a new era of peace? We may never know. The following story can be tracked having been told for hundreds of years in various ways, but no definite original can be found. Neither can an original date for when this story first started be found. So instead, a popular sub-version of the story has been documented in this book. Read and enjoy.
When we need him, he will come
When the world does fall to ruin,
When all who live despair,
When all who walk the earth do weep,
When no stranger seems to care,
When crime runs rampant in the streets,
When children go to war,
When blood flows as free as water
When we break the words we swore
When we need him, he will come,
The blue one's name none shall forget,
When we need him, he will come,
A Mega Man will fight for us yet.
When we need him, he will come,
Believe in miracles, like you believe in the setting sun,
For when we need him, a hero will come.
X X X X X
Author's note; The God of Destruction. The name itself imposes of a terrible deity who would wreak vengeance upon anyone foolish enough to anger him. Thought to also be known as the Red Demon, he serves a great role in Tales of the Sky, as he is a character who provides a great deal of resistance against the heroes of the story. This next poem is yet another account of him, from another poem altogether. Why was this character so widespread? We've yet to find out.
My Wife is Gone, God of Destruction
I said he'd come,
she laughed.
And he did come,
she cried.
He turned to her,
she died.
God of Destruction.
I told of war,
she laughed
I warned of gore,
she cried.
And when she saw him,
she died.
God of Destruction.
I took her away,
he laughed.
I warned you not to stay
he cried.
As he turned away
another comrade died.
God of destruction.
When they found me
I laughed.
When I told them my story
I cried.
Still alive I wondered,
Why had they all died?
God of Destruction.
X X X X X
Afterword:
Characters in the Tales of the Sky are hard to find. Whomever wrote the book wrote it in a way as to hide the characters, as implausible as it may seem, and only an intense scrutiny of the texts will reveal them. The Teacher, the Oppressor (who some believe to also be the Angel), the Jealous One, Darkness, the Evil Lord, Fire, Water, Wind and Shadow, and so many more. Even the Sky seems to be a character. The only reason these characters were found is a curious tale.
A young child, having just learned of nouns, decided to read the story to their friend. Upon reading it, the pair noticed the strange use of capital letters repeating in certain places, on the same words in a fairly logical pattern. That is, if the oddly capitalized words were, in fact, names or titles, not merely words. They pointed this out to their teacher, a part-time scholar of the unknown period of history where this story is believed to have originated. From there the observation snowballed, even receiving some coverage on a national news program.
But then that begs the question; why were the names so well concealed? Perhaps the writer wanted to be cryptic, just for the whim of it. Or perhaps, the unknown history was not an accident or a catastrophe, as some believe, but an actual attempt of the population to erase some dark secret of the times? If that were the case, hiding the names so that the story could be told, without fear of retribution, was an intelligent act of the author. Alas, the author, in their absolute determination to tell this story, hid even their own name in the veils of obscurity.
But again, we may look to the observations of the children from before. The book is titled Tales of the Sky, most likely because it is an account of the character Sky. If that is the case, then perhaps Sky themself was the author? She (for female pronouns in the first few lines of Chapter One suggest that, if they were a person, Sky would have been female) appears to have had a leading role in the events of Tales of the Sky, therefore she would have had more motive than usual to have this tale survive.
Whatever the reason for it, Tales of the Sky is a mysterious story indeed. It conspicuously dances around its own plot while pointing at it like we should all know what it is. Actually, it's rather a humorous scenario when you think about it. We can only imagine how profound the story of Tales of the Sky is. Alas, we lack the base knowledge to understand its secret meaning. It's like we're staring at a history book and don't even know whether its right-side up or up-side down. Any ordinary adult would feel idiotic looking at it; it is a children's story, after all.
And with that, we leave you with our final, shortest poem of Tales of the Sky; Critic's Edition. This poem was hastily scribbled in the back of the original Tales of the Sky, and is rumored to have been the last words of a dying seer. A prophecy of the darkest nature, if it is to be true. And yet, with the undoubtedly cryptic nature of the book, can we hold it true? Or, like so many other things in this world, is it just another false entity? Another misty mirage to be looked at, feared, yet be nothing more than a dusty cloud of sand whirling in the desert?
Again, we may never know.
I leave you now, critics of this book, and hope that our world will be a brighter place than the world contained within the chapters of this book.
So shall thy Eternity fall and burn,
upon the day of the Demon's return.