After Atlantia's figure had faded under the waves, the six surprised men stood there, watching Ambrose as he stood, silent and still, over the waves, escaped strands of hair wafting along on the breeze.
Ambrose soaked up the experience in silence, listening to the lapping waves and the calls of the water birds as they flew about. With a sigh Ambrose turns back to his company, key in hand, and in a blink of an eye was standing next to them.
"Come…it is time that I take you to my home."
With that Ambrose takes Serverus' hand and leads the men over a small outcropping of rock that had previously gone unnoticed. The group stopped on the crest of the outcropping. Looking down into the valley below them, they find a rustic mountain villa (sort of like a really lavish and very large log cabin) nestled in and amongst a sea of flame-colored roses in full bloom.
The house was huge, sprawling out over much of the northern end of the rather large valley. As the men followed Ambrose down the hill and into the valley, they find that the house has been made out of a never-before seen tree. The logs used had a diameter comparable to that of a several hundred-year-old oak tree, only the polished wood had the look of tarnished silver. Depending on the light, however, the wood would sometimes appear black, sometimes silver, and at other times a pure white.
Walking forward, Ambrose headed straight for the door, while the others tarried amongst the roses. Zoicite, a master of all thing botanical, had never seen the particular variety of roses that seemed so at home in Ambrose's garden. With the front door unlocked and the key safely put away, Ambrose leaned against the doorjamb as he watched his guests wander through his garden. From the hill it seemed as if the entire garden were made up of the flame-colored roses, when in fact the roses were just a border. Beyond the protective wall created by the rose thicket, lay 14 separate gardens, each with a theme that coordinates with a particular god or goddess. The gardens, when looked at as a whole, flow into each other, creating a seamless mural of the pantheon of gods.
When his guests had finally pulled themselves away from the flowers, they found Ambrose sitting down in a porch chair, reading an ancient book on potions, long thought of to be destroyed and wholly forgotten.
With his long hair over his shoulder, Ambrose sat in utter contentment. When he heard the footsteps of his friends on the stairs, however, he laid his book aside and went to meet them at the front door. Holding the door open for his guests, he gave them a brilliant smile, and said, "Welcome to my home!"
With a sweeping bow Ambrose invited his guests to enter his home. Upon entering the exotic house, Serverus, Albus, and the generals found themselves in a room sporting Ambrose's signature black and white colors. In the entrance hall the polished silver beams that made up the walls had been left exposed. Their dull silver color adds a cultured elegance to the room. Walking past his guests, Ambrose continued on into the house.
"Come along then. There is more to see and a lot to be told before the night is through."
With that said Serverus, Albus, and the generals followed Ambrose as he gave them a short tour of his magical dwelling. Each room that they entered never seemed to be what they expected, as they went further into the house the black and white motif became less and less dominant as other colors came to the fore. Everything, however, seemed to be in just the right balance, nothing overpowering the other.
Finally, after a seemingly never-ending walk through countless rooms, Ambrose led them into his favorite room, the "work room." The "work room," as Ambrose had dubbed it, was anything but. It was in fact a hobby room, boasting a collection of swords and other arms on the wall, musical equipment of all kinds by the welcoming fireplace, and a few caldrons happily simmering away in a corner. The room itself was a welcoming one, cheery and open. Done up in the colors of the sun and the moon, the colors lend a soothing, warm feeling to the room. This is the room in which Ambrose spends the most of his time.
"Take a seat my friends. I will be right with you…."
As his guests take a seat in the many comfortable chairs surrounding the fireplace, Ambrose heads straight to his caldrons. He had three potions that had been brewing ever since his mortal parents had been killed. One was an antidote for the Crucio curse, the other for the killing curse, and the other as a taming of the wolf for lycanthropy. They had been brewing for 16 long years under Ambrose's watchful eyes. Tonight would be the night that the final ingredients would be added before the last six months of needed brewing time.
Ambrose remembered when he had gotten permission from the Fates to complete these potions. He had asked them out of a sense of professional courtesy, as it were, for it was their jobs to determine when a person's life should end, and what actions are needed to make the life threads spin true. They had given their permission because through some loophole, the people dead and dying because of the killing curse were not meant to die in that time and in that manner. After their conversation Ambrose had gleefully walked from his aunts (The Fates) house to begin the research needed to develop these momentous potions.
The potions themselves would be the only batches made. They were however in a highly concentrated form, and the patient would only need a drop on their tongue to regain whatever they had lost.
Ambrose looked up from his work to find his guests, especially Serverus, watching his actions with wonder. With sparkling eyes, Ambrose called his guests down. Serverus, eager about anything to do with potions, was the first person to reach Ambrose's side. At the side of each caldron, on a pedestal, stood a long sheet of paper, bearing the notes on each potion. Ambrose had written them in a variation of Greek, the godly language. Seeing Serverus' confusion, Ambrose waved his hand over each of the parchments, causing the words to be translated into English. Leaving his guests to wander and look at the potions (they had been protected with charms, from any additions not added by Ambrose's hands.), Ambrose returned to his detailed and precise ingredient preparations.
The Generals and Albus soon grew bored with the potions, and Ambrose, seeing this, gave them permission to wander through his other hobby areas. Malachite, Jedite, and Nephlite who had been eyeing the weapons, made a bee-line to the suddenly created weapon's arena. Albus, eyes aglitter, went to the extensive library, and Zoicite went to look at the musical instruments.
Ambrose's voice suddenly cut through the room, "Zoi? I am pretty sure that your flute should be in there somewhere."
Zoicite looked from Ambrose's form to the tastefully laid out instruments, a large and happy smile creeping over his face. Stepping up his efforts, he was soon able to locate his beloved instrument.
The other generals were having an equally fruitful time. They had easily found their own weapons, long thought to be lost, among Ambrose's weapons collection. Setting Zoicite's weapons aside for later claiming, the generals jumped into the practice area, determined to get used to their weapons once again.
Albus on the other-hand, had quickly found a book that could interest him for hours. The library in the hobby room was made up of a selection of Ambrose's favorite books while the rest of his collection could be found in a massive room further inside the house. Taking a seat, Albus became oblivious to the world.
Serverus, meanwhile, had finished his review of Ambrose's work, and was now at his student's side, watching as Ambrose carefully chopped the very rare ingredients carefully.
"You know Serverus…a lot of this," and Ambrose's hand swept out to encompass the caldrons, "is because of the skills you have taught your class."
Serverus looked at Ambrose with a blank look, unable to comprehend how his teaching had been able to assist a GOD in making potions.
"How?"
"I may be the god of balance, and have a little of each god and goddess in me, but I learned that a certain level of grace, sharp mindedness, and understanding was needed in this delicate art, from you."
Ambrose returned his attention to the ingredients, but not before he caught the proud and happy look that passed over his teacher's stoic face. Smiling himself, Ambrose turned to the potions with his prepared ingredients. The adding of the ingredients went surprisingly fast, and soon Ambrose had everyone once again seated around the roaring fire. With another sweep of his hand Ambrose brought into being glasses of Lunarian wine for his guests and himself. The generals eyes seemed to light up upon seeing the wine. It reminded them of long cold nights spent snuggling with their loves.
Taking a glass each, they settled into their chairs. Ambrose sat, wine glass held lazily in his hand, as he sighed.
"This, my friends, is a very long story. Uncle Cronos has given me as much time to finish it as I need. We are suspended in time while we stay here. When we leave these chambers the time will be the same as when we entered it."
The generals, Albus, and Serverus nod their heads in awed understanding.
"All right then…this is my story." Closing his eyes, Ambrose continued on.
"When the gods and goddesses of Olympus were born, the world was newer and cleaner than it is today. The titans ruled with an iron fist, but Zeus' birth heralded the end of their tyrannical ruling. When he was old enough Zeus defeated his father in battle, imprisoning him in a strike of lightening until he could find a way to make him understand the meaning of ruling fairly. His freed siblings, became gods and goddesses of their own right. Claiming a niche all their own. Ares became god of war, Hephestus became god of the forge, Hera became goddess of beauty (A.N. to tell the truth I have no idea what Hera rules over), Hestia became goddess of the hearth, Demeter became the goddess of the seasons, Hades the god of death, Athena the goddess of wisdom and childbirth, and Neptune the god of the seas. Years passed without much changing. Until one night, when the moon was full, a beautiful woman rose from the sea foam. The gods and goddesses named her Aphrodite, and she became known as the goddess of love.
Through Zeus' philandering nature, more gods and goddesses joined the inner circle. The twins Artemis and Apollo became the goddess of the moon and god of the sun, respectively, and rounding out the circle, Hermes became the god of messages and mischief.
Over the next few years the gods and goddesses realized that while the world was progressing and life was flourishing, there was no order, no balance to life. Therefore on a night when the full moon shown bright and clear, all of the gods and goddesses, major, minor, and those long forgotten came together. Mother Earth gave them earth, The Winds gave them air, Lord Fire, an ancient being that had been a part of Mother Earth since the dawn of her creation, gave them a magical flame, and Lord Cronos, grandfather to them all, gave them timelessness. Into the form that these elements created, each god and goddess added their blood, which was a part of themselves and the substance that held their powers. With a flash of blinding lightening and a boom of thunder, a being was born. A being that had the power of all, and had somehow, in such a short time molded it and shaped it into something wholly new and his own. On that night, I was born, a being of infinite power, a being of light, truths, hope, and dreams.
I was born knowing that I was the god of order and balance. I knew that while I had infinite powers at my disposal I would only use them to maintain the balance of our reality. I was born fully grown, as you see me now, and though it has been over a million years since I was born I have not changed. My being as you see it now will live forever, growing in wisdom and truths, but never dying, never needing the restorative powers of Hera's golden apples or Ambrosia. I am, in the truest sense of the word, immortal."
Ambrose opened his eyes to see the reactions of his story on the faces of his listeners. There was the expected shock, wonder, confusion, and dawning understanding, but there were subtler shades of these emotions floating around within their minds. Questions still to be asked, and thought trails left un-traveled. Taking a sip from his wine, Ambrose waited, letting the story sink in and give answers for itself. When finally he felt that they understood what they had been told, Ambrose continued.
"Over the years that followed my birth, the gods and goddesses around me married, had children, and grew content in their positions. This was fine with me, but with new families and their responsibilities; they almost forgot that I even existed. It didn't help that I was oftentimes to be found on earth, in human form, keeping the balance from down there. The children of the gods grew up, married, and had children of their own, all before I stepped foot in Olympus again. I had been called back from my earthly wanderings because of the evil that I had felt developing beyond the rim of our solar system. I had arrived just in time to help Athena in a godly birth. Artemis, even though she had made a vow of chastity, had found her soul mate in a descendant of her brother's. A powerful half-god, that helped his father with the affairs of the sun. While I was away, I found out, the gods had divided the planets amongst themselves, and created races of their own. Artemis had taken the Earthian moon as her domain, and had found her half-god soul mate in the form of the ruler of the sun kingdom.
Zeus gave his daughter the permission to break her oath, and once more had given her permission to marry Dymion. I arrived, to the great relief of the mother and Athena, just in time to relieve Athena, who had been working without sleep for a little over a month. Artemis was carrying twins, and was having trouble with the birthing process. Athena, for once had run out of ideas, and she was hoping that as the god of order and balance I could find a way to help the exhausted mother.
Giving Artemis a through examination provided the information that the babies were somehow able to halt the birthing process. (A.N. I know wholly unfeasible, but its my story, and I couldn't think of another reason for Athena not being able to do it on her own) I threw everyone out of the packed room, put the mother to sleep for some much needed rest, cleaned up the area, and sat down to wait. I waited for two days before I saw that the contractions were starting again. Artemis was still asleep, and exhausted as she was she didn't seem to feel the stirrings in her body. Starring at her prone body I sang. I do not know why I started I just found myself not wanting to stop. With my singing as a background presence, Artemis woke refreshed and the twins made their entrance into the world.
Dymion and Artemis named their little twins, a boy and a girl, Tranquility and Serenity. The twins were darling children, full of mischief and fun. I was named their godfather, and I was a constant presence in their lives. I was there when they took over for their parents as ruler of their respective worlds. Serenity became ruler of the moon and Tranquility took over the ruling of the sun. They were wise, kind, and just rulers. They however were not gods. Sometime during their birthing process Athena gave Artemis a dose of Ambrosia. Instead of amplifying their godly blood, the Ambrosia did the opposite. The Ambrosia stole their godhood, but in exchange gave each a powerful crystal which imbedded itself into their bodies.
Serenity and Tranquility each eventually married a mortal from their own kingdoms. Serenity married a wonderful man. Michael was kind, physically powerful and strong, and amazingly wise. They eventually had one daughter, Serenity. She is the princess of the Moon Kingdom that you all know and love, generals. She was the product of a union of love and equality, and her parents raised her to be just like them.
Tranquility ended up marrying a young woman of inner and outer beauty, her name was Maya, and she was a perfect match to Tranquility's nature. She was a great queen, and the Sun people loved her. In turn, on the same day of the same year as the Princess Serenity's birth, the royal couple of the Sun gave birth to a Prince. They named him Apollo, after Tranquility's grandfather.
I was named as the protector and godfather to both infants, and I loved them as if they were my own. I had finally found my chosen. Each god has them. They can be their priests or priestesses, or just a favorite mortal that the god seems to have a certain bond with. Apollo and Serenity were born in the age of darkness. The negaverse, as the darkness had been dubbed, was slowly defeating world after world. Pluto, ruled by Cronos' son, had already fallen. The survivors mutated into hideous monsters, who were no longer human; the only survivor of the planet's destruction was the planet's princess, Cronos' heir, the protector of the time-gates, the one they call Sailor Pluto. Soon Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn had fallen in the same manner as Pluto. The scouts and heirs were dead, and I could do nothing about it because it was a part of the balance, and besides that I was away taking care of other problems. Light had gone on unhindered by the darkness for to long. I knew that without the darkness, light could not shine, and without the light, darkness could not exist.
All that stood between the darkness and the inner planets now was a thin band of asteroids, which were quickly passed. The negaverse had made it to the moon, the heart of the Silver Millennium, the lead planet of a system-wide alliance. Bypassing the moon, Serenity the first's kingdom, the negaverse made a foothold in the earth. From there the Negaverse monsters, once citizens of the outer planets, began the systematic destruction of the inner planets. Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter fell. The people of all the worlds had fought admirably, but the darkness had waited to long to be freed, and it was strong.
Light cannot survive without darkness, and vise versa, but darkness had the inherent quality to strive to take over and rule over everything in its path. This is why the classic battle between light and dark must exist. I'm working on a way to cull this tendency out of darkness so that light and dark can coexist, but as of yet I have not been able to find a way to accomplish this. To tell the truth I am not sure if I should! These two forces were created the way they were for a reason, and I should just do my job and keep the tentative balance that they create."
Ambrose stopped his story as he stared into the flames with haunted eyes. Serverus, who had taken the seat next to Ambrose, leaned over and re-filled Ambrose's glass, then slipped his hand into Ambrose's, squeezing it in reassurance. Ambrose turned to Serverus with sad eyes, but didn't say a word. Turning to his glass, Ambrose took a deep sip, and closed his eyes as he swallowed. He did not open them again, but instead gave Serverus' hand a squeeze to tell the man that he was all right.
"Soon all that stood against the darkness were the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. I returned to this tense atmosphere to find that the darkness had not claimed everything. While I was away Princess Serenity had fallen in love with the Earth prince, Endymion. I knew as soon as I saw them together that they were right for each other. Secretly, with only the couple's knowledge, I created a soul-bond that would rival that of a god's. I knew what was to happen, I was after all an heir of Cronos, god of time, and therefore could walk through the timeline without having to deal with the protective wards and guards. I may be the god of balance and order, but I am not the god of fate, and fate had decreed that the battle must be fought."
A silent tear ran from Ambrose's still closed eyes, but another reassuring squeeze of his hand gave the god enough courage to go on.
"During Endymion's frequent visits to the moon, I met and became friends with his generals and best friends. We soon found a common ground in our deep-seated need to protect the Prince and Princess. We were never far from the lovers when they were together, but one by one the generals became distracted by Princess Serenity's beautiful guards. They were the Inner Scouts, the four princesses of the four inner planets. Soon, I was watching out for Serenity and Endymion by myself, and I assure you that my protection was enough, and I was happy for my new found friends.
On a fateful day the Prince and his generals did not show up as expected. I transported myself to earth to see what had happened, and I was just in time to see the generals taken. I later found out they had been possessed, and were now the Negaverse queen's generals.
I took Endymion back to the moon, where I told the Princesses what had happened. The Inner Scouts, were heartbroken, but they hid away their emotions so that they could focus on protecting the people of the moon.
The time for the last battle came on the night of Princess Serenity's coming out ceremony. It was the night that Endymion and Serenity's soul bond would have been announced, but the evil attacked before the joyous announcement could be shared. The moon was utterly decimated. In a fit of rage Queen Beryl, queen of the Negaverse, ended up killed Prince Endymion, and in an utterly heartbroken action, Princess Serenity took her own life, and I lost my one of my chosen and one of the last of my living favorites.
Of her own volition Queen Serenity used the moon crystal, the gem given to her in her mother's womb, to capture the evil and send it into the future where humans might be strong enough to fight it. With her last remaining strength Serenity used the crystal to send the moon people, her daughter, Prince Endymion, and the Scouts into the future. The Queen died in my arms.
I buried her body, under the soil of the moon, her home, and went to tell Tranquility, Maya, and Apollo the news. The sun had been untouched by the hands of the evil, for the sun was light incarnate and impenetrable to evil. While the people of Earth and the Sun rejoiced, Tranquility and Maya left the sun to join their Uncles, Aunts, and parents in the past, in which they had retreated.
They left, entrusting the mourning Apollo to the ruling of the sun. I decided to stay with my last remaining chosen. Apollo was after all the last of my living chosen ones, and I was mourning as well. A few years passed without anything major happening. The people of the Earth were slowly rebuilding. The fact that they ever had a royal family was slowly forgotten, and with that fact fading into myth, the peace was shattered.
By that time in the Earth's history there were two very different races of Human Beings, one normal everyday version, and one version that were able to see the magic in everything around them. These people eventually learned how to harness the magic inside themselves. They created a whole culture revolving around the fact that magic existed. They dubbed themselves magicians and witches.
It remains a fact that people are afraid of what they do not understand. It has been a fact throughout history, and was once again played out during this period. The magicians and witches had only just begun to form communities. Merlin," and Ambrose looked up to nod at the two wizards in the room, "was a major presence in these first tentative steps of development.
Then came the witch-hunts, and the magical community was once again thrown into chaos. It had only been ten years since the moon had been defeated, and yet the war had been utterly forgotten. Apollo and I, however, were unable to forget. I therefore suggested that Apollo get away from the sun for a while. I told him to find something that he could help with, getting his mind off the thoughts of his cousin, and the destruction of the moon. He agreed, and after setting me as regent, went to the earth in the form of a mortal magician. He named himself Godric Gyrrifindor, and in the ensuing 120 years, he and his new friends built this very school, and brought order to a now secret and separate world that is now inhabited by all things magical."
Ambrose's emotions finally allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he remembered the havoc his godson had created as a mortal magician. It was fun to watch Godric, a natural born leader, turn chaos into order. Apollo had gained a new direction, a new purpose in his trip to earth.
Opening his eyes Ambrose raised his hand and pointed at the wall above the fireplace, in the previously empty space now stood a picture of who obviously was Ambrose, standing behind an ornate low-backed chair while a young man, looking about 18 years of age sat in the chair. The Ambrose in the picture was smiling down at the blond-haired boy as his hand rested on the boy's shoulder. Ambrose's eyes however were shadowed with sadness.
The real-life Ambrose looked at his company, "That painting was painted just after Hogwart's had been completed. I had come for a visit, and Godric wanted a portrait of the only family he had left. I was happy to oblige, and this is the product."
Albus and Serverus were looking at the picture in shock, never expecting all that had come out in the story that had been told to them.
Squeezing Serverus' hand, Ambrose laid his head against the man's shoulder. The coming part was the easiest part of the story to tell. Closing his eyes once more, Ambrose's voice broke the silence.
"Soon after the completion of Hogwart's, one of the founders, Salazar Slytherin, let his hate of the muggles get too much of a hold over his heart. He was not content in just living separately from them; he wanted to destroy them as they tried to destroy the magical community. If it were not for Godric, Rowena, and Helga he would have succeeded. Helga decided that her loyalty lay with the protection of the school they had created, and therefore she became the first headmaster of Hogwart's, using her position to help her friends in their fight.
Godric and Rowena succeeded in defeating Salazar. Godric realized then that his presence was no longer needed on the earth. The Magical community was safe, its children were being taught, and he was in love. Godric proposed to Rowena Ravenclaw, and when she accepted he told her of his ancestry and duties. Godric and Rowena soon disappeared from the face of the earth, no one but Helga knew where they had gone, and besides, by then no one would have believed them anyway.
Apollo and Rowena are still very much alive; the sun's time is different then earth's. When I last visited they were quite happy, and were ruling over the sun and their small brood of children kindly and justly.
It has now been a thousand years since the fall of the moon, and the prophecy has been fulfilled. Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion, and the Scouts have been reborn. The darkness has been freed, and the generals purged of their evil. The great battle has been fought and the light has won.
Tonight, though…tonight, everything has changed…."