*About four years after the Princess's attempt to take over Spectra....*
Orin sighed, looking up at the sky. This burden had been laying on him for some time, since the Princess disappeared. It got heavier every day the girl was lost. Where had she gone to? She couldn't have vanished into thin air, as it seemed.
"Orin?" Someone set his hand on Orin's shoulder, interrupting the sprite's train of thought. He turned, and smiled when he saw who it was.
"Yes, Krys?" he asked the fifteen-year-old beside him.
"Is everything all right?"
"Yes, my dear boy, everything is fine." Orin winced. He hated lying to the boy--no, not a boy anymore--who was like a son to him.
"Orin," Krys said with an exasperated sigh, "I've known you for thirteen years, and everything is *not* fine."
Orin winced again. **Nothing* gets by him,* he thought proudly, *no matter how hard I try. He'll make a wonderful father someday. His children won't be able to hide anything.* "You're right, Krys, everything is not fine, but it's nothing you should have to worry about."
"Maybe it's not, but if it's got you so stressed, then I want to worry about it."
"Krys, it's nothing."
"Does it have anything to do with the Princess's disappearance?"
*I suppose he would have guessed eventually.* "Yes, it does, but it isn't your problem."
Krys sat down beside his friend. *It's a wonder girls aren't falling at his feet,* Orin thought. *He's smart, witty, brave, a hero, not to mention handsome. But I should be grateful girls aren't. He doesn't need to be drawn into that yet.* He smiled fondly, forgetting about the Princess and the daughter for a moment. *He's grown too fast. I can remember when he still sat at my feet and asked me to tell him stories of the Great Ones.*
"Orin," Krys said patronizingly, bringing the sprite back to the present problem, "I'm an AFW Liutenant. You can trust me."
*And the youngest one ever,* Orin thought, knowing Krys wanted to say it. *If anything takes you down, young man, it's your arrogance.* "I have no doubt about your reliability, Krys. I just don't know if you want to hear it."
"Of course I do."
Orin sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Very well. Do you remember the story of the daughters of the Great Ones?" he asked.
Krys frowned. "No, not really. Isn't it about Theirael and Melayel? I can barely remember it."
"The Legend says that at the beginning of time, the universe was created by the Great Ones. Immortal, wise, omniscient, the were the most perfect of creatures. Then, all at once, they left. Where they went, no one knows. But their children stayed. The two oldest, Amira and Ceron, married, and ruled the planets that now have become the Alliance. The other planets were divided up among the younger siblings. Earth was given to the middle child, who was killed by Jiann in the First War of Good and Evil, and after that, the world was left on its own, which is why it is behind the rest of us. And Rainbowland was given to the seventeen youngest, who were insupportable."
"So many of them for one planet? What happened to them?" Krys asked, realizing how much Orin had left out when he had told him the tale when he was a child.
"I'm getting to that. The first Wearer of the Belt and the Prism Warrior lived there with the twelve Color Kids and Moonglo, Stormy, and Tickled Pink. After the ruler of Earth was killed, they decided that it was their 'duty' to watch over it. And so they did, for hundreds of years. The Wearer of the Belt and the Warrior, after a time, left to explore the universe, and try to find their parents. They gave the Belt and Prism to two young children, who were then made immortal. They lived in peace for a while, and then the Evil One attacked Rainbowland. When he gained control, the Wearer of the Belt, Eos, fled, along with Kale, the Prism Warrior. He left the Prism with me, and I don't know what happened to them after that."
"They were cowards to run!" Krys exclaimed.
Orin sighed. "You have to understand, Krys, that once the Evil One got hold of the Belt, all hope was lost. Eos was a wonderful girl, but she was not meant to be the Wearer. She was not as strong as Rainbow Brite. She could never have faced him in direct combat as Wisp did. She knew that he would not kill her, only try to make her tell him how to abolish all color."
"But didn't he know how to do that already?" Krys asked.
"No. He could not make all color in the universe disappear. But she knew how, as you know how to destroy the Prism, and how to prevent that from happening. It takes more than hiding the Belt to get rid of all hope. Where was I? Oh, yes. The only thing Eos could do was leave, and hope that he would follow her and leave Rainbowland alone, and Kale refused to leave her side. It was braver of her to go than it was to stay. If he found her outside of Rainbowland, she was worse off than she was before. But the plan didn't work. The Evil One took over Rainbowland, killing five of the Color Kids--Tartus, Phoebus, Amphitrite, Eostre, and Heliades--in the process. He hid the remaining seven in Rainbowland, and threw Stormy, Moonglo, and Tickled Pink into a deep corner of the universe."
"But why keep the seven with him, and not the other three?"
"Because he had more to fear from those seven. Stormy and Moonglo dealt with darkness, which he didn't mind, and Tickled Pink can't work without Red Butler. He needed to have the seven where he could keep an eye on him. It took years and years, even after the Evil One was defeated, for those three to work free of their prison."
"Oh. That makes sense."
"So then the girl Wisp came, and found the belt and the Sphere of Light, and--"
"And defeated the Evil One."
Orin shook his head. "No, Krys. That is where you, and most others who don't know the story, are wrong." He drew in a breath. "The Evil One was not defeated. Only weakened, and banished to the edge of the universe. So he lay there in wait, silent for many, many years."
"Then what happened?" Krys asked, eager to hear the rest of the story.
"Will you stop interrupting? Anyway, something like 30 years ago, he decided that his legacy should live on. So he took a mistress." Orin saw Krys make a face.
"Yes, that was my reaction, too, but you asked to hear it. Amira and Ceron, as you may recall, had two daughters. They were as different as day and night. Theirael, the elder, had red hair, like flame, eyes as blue as the sky, and a heart as black as coal. She was loud, ambitious, and knew what she wanted--power. And she would do anything to get it.
"Her younger sister, Melayel, was her opposite. She was quiet, kind, and gentle, with blonde hair and green eyes. She was a sorceress, carrying on her mother's trade. Theirael had no magic whatsoever, fortunately."
"Their parents gave them both planets to rule when they left to join the Great Ones. Theirael was given all of the planets that are now the Alliance except Spectra, the mysterious planet of magic, which was given to Melayel.
"The Evil One took Theirael as his first mistress, and she had a child by him. A girl, not the son he wanted. So he threw both of them back to the Throne World. And then, fifteen years later, Melayel caught his eye."
"That *can't* be good."
"No. It wasn't," Orin said, his eyes unfocusing as he remembered her, the sweet child he had known, only a child still, not even a woman, the darling of Spectra, fair and compassionate, who had so much to offer...
"Orin," Krys probed gently.
Orin shook his head, snapping back to the present. "Yes, where were we? Melayel went to live in his corner of the universe with her one servant, and she also had a child by him. The Evil One threatened many times before it was born to kill her and it if it were a girl. When it was born, the only one present was the maid. And Melayel's child turned out to be a girl.
"She begged the servant to run away, and take the child with her, and run to Spectra, keep the child for six months, and then leave her with a family on earth. The servant left, the girl--named Melglirael--with her. Melayel told the Evil One she had a boy who died a few hours after he was born."
"But he would *kill* her for that, wouldn't he?"
Orin turned to look at him sadly. "She knew that, Krys. By this time, she didn't want to live. The only thing that brought her joy was her child, and her child was gone. She had nothing to live for. That is what the Evil One does to people. He takes away their will to live.
"The Evil One killed her, and threw her body into the sea on the Throne World." He paused.
"Is that *it*?" Krys asked, disgusted.
"There is a little more," Orin said doubtfully. "It is a rumor I heard a few years ago, nothing more than that. But people say that Melayel had a necklace, passed down through sorceresses in her family since the Great Ones. It is said that she gave it to Melglirael before sending her away. Whether it is true or not, I do not know."
"What about Theirael?"
"She stayed on the Throne World, raising her daughter, and poisoning the child's mind to hate color, which she blamed for the Evil One's downfall, and to hate her sister and her sister's child. And to this day, the Princess still believes everything her mother told her."
"The Princess? *She's* Theirael's daughter?!?
Orin nodded. "Yes. She is."
Krys said nothing for a few minutes. Then, "What about Melayel's daughter?"
Orin sighed. "That's what has been troubling me. She was raised for six months on Spectra, then taken to Earth, as her mother asked. After that, no one knows. Not even the servant remembers where she left the child. She could be dead for all we know."
"So you're worried because you don't know where she is?" Orin nodded. "Why start worrying now? Why not years ago?"
Orin started laughing, and he laughed, and laughed, and couldn't stop. "You think I just started worrying about this last night? You're less observant than I thought, Krys. I've worried about this for years. Only now, her threat is more menacing."
"How so?" Krys asked sullenly, sulking about being reprimanded.
"Look around you, Krys. The Princess seems to have vanished in thin air, Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids are maturing--which *never* happens without a crisis being near, plus they can't get to Earth, the Alliance is falling apart, and Earth is....well..."
"Worse than ever," Krys supplied. "I see your point. So you think this--Melglirael--has something to do with it. But if you're right, Orin, she's younger than I am. How much damage could she do?"
Orin looked at him sternly. "Age never puts a limit on how much damage--or good--a person can do. You should remember that. Why, look at what you and Rainbow Brite did to the Princess, when she thought you were children, which you were, by the way. Neither can we forget Melglirael's parents, Krys. A conqueror of worlds and a sorceress! Even your parents weren't so ambitious as that. We can only hope her mother's blood flows stronger than her father's."
Krys nodded, and they sat in silence, each pondering the mystery of the second daughter.
Author's Note: Well, here it is. My first RB fic, though not my first fic. I'm considering entering it in a contest (once I get more done), and I thought I'd see what kind of reviews I get here. If I get a good response, I might continue it. If I do, don't exect updates often. I want to work on this story all together, not just in chapters. REVIEW!!!!!!!!! As I tell my friends, "FEEDBACK!!! I NEED FEEDBACK!!!!!! NO FEEDBACK EQUALS NO STORY!!!!!!!!!!!" Of course, this was in a more extreme case, but.....
I think I should have said this at the beginging, but *these* mean thoughts, or emphasis on a word. Two in a row (Orin: **Nothing* gets by him....) means thought and emphasis on word. Thanks!
Orin sighed, looking up at the sky. This burden had been laying on him for some time, since the Princess disappeared. It got heavier every day the girl was lost. Where had she gone to? She couldn't have vanished into thin air, as it seemed.
"Orin?" Someone set his hand on Orin's shoulder, interrupting the sprite's train of thought. He turned, and smiled when he saw who it was.
"Yes, Krys?" he asked the fifteen-year-old beside him.
"Is everything all right?"
"Yes, my dear boy, everything is fine." Orin winced. He hated lying to the boy--no, not a boy anymore--who was like a son to him.
"Orin," Krys said with an exasperated sigh, "I've known you for thirteen years, and everything is *not* fine."
Orin winced again. **Nothing* gets by him,* he thought proudly, *no matter how hard I try. He'll make a wonderful father someday. His children won't be able to hide anything.* "You're right, Krys, everything is not fine, but it's nothing you should have to worry about."
"Maybe it's not, but if it's got you so stressed, then I want to worry about it."
"Krys, it's nothing."
"Does it have anything to do with the Princess's disappearance?"
*I suppose he would have guessed eventually.* "Yes, it does, but it isn't your problem."
Krys sat down beside his friend. *It's a wonder girls aren't falling at his feet,* Orin thought. *He's smart, witty, brave, a hero, not to mention handsome. But I should be grateful girls aren't. He doesn't need to be drawn into that yet.* He smiled fondly, forgetting about the Princess and the daughter for a moment. *He's grown too fast. I can remember when he still sat at my feet and asked me to tell him stories of the Great Ones.*
"Orin," Krys said patronizingly, bringing the sprite back to the present problem, "I'm an AFW Liutenant. You can trust me."
*And the youngest one ever,* Orin thought, knowing Krys wanted to say it. *If anything takes you down, young man, it's your arrogance.* "I have no doubt about your reliability, Krys. I just don't know if you want to hear it."
"Of course I do."
Orin sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Very well. Do you remember the story of the daughters of the Great Ones?" he asked.
Krys frowned. "No, not really. Isn't it about Theirael and Melayel? I can barely remember it."
"The Legend says that at the beginning of time, the universe was created by the Great Ones. Immortal, wise, omniscient, the were the most perfect of creatures. Then, all at once, they left. Where they went, no one knows. But their children stayed. The two oldest, Amira and Ceron, married, and ruled the planets that now have become the Alliance. The other planets were divided up among the younger siblings. Earth was given to the middle child, who was killed by Jiann in the First War of Good and Evil, and after that, the world was left on its own, which is why it is behind the rest of us. And Rainbowland was given to the seventeen youngest, who were insupportable."
"So many of them for one planet? What happened to them?" Krys asked, realizing how much Orin had left out when he had told him the tale when he was a child.
"I'm getting to that. The first Wearer of the Belt and the Prism Warrior lived there with the twelve Color Kids and Moonglo, Stormy, and Tickled Pink. After the ruler of Earth was killed, they decided that it was their 'duty' to watch over it. And so they did, for hundreds of years. The Wearer of the Belt and the Warrior, after a time, left to explore the universe, and try to find their parents. They gave the Belt and Prism to two young children, who were then made immortal. They lived in peace for a while, and then the Evil One attacked Rainbowland. When he gained control, the Wearer of the Belt, Eos, fled, along with Kale, the Prism Warrior. He left the Prism with me, and I don't know what happened to them after that."
"They were cowards to run!" Krys exclaimed.
Orin sighed. "You have to understand, Krys, that once the Evil One got hold of the Belt, all hope was lost. Eos was a wonderful girl, but she was not meant to be the Wearer. She was not as strong as Rainbow Brite. She could never have faced him in direct combat as Wisp did. She knew that he would not kill her, only try to make her tell him how to abolish all color."
"But didn't he know how to do that already?" Krys asked.
"No. He could not make all color in the universe disappear. But she knew how, as you know how to destroy the Prism, and how to prevent that from happening. It takes more than hiding the Belt to get rid of all hope. Where was I? Oh, yes. The only thing Eos could do was leave, and hope that he would follow her and leave Rainbowland alone, and Kale refused to leave her side. It was braver of her to go than it was to stay. If he found her outside of Rainbowland, she was worse off than she was before. But the plan didn't work. The Evil One took over Rainbowland, killing five of the Color Kids--Tartus, Phoebus, Amphitrite, Eostre, and Heliades--in the process. He hid the remaining seven in Rainbowland, and threw Stormy, Moonglo, and Tickled Pink into a deep corner of the universe."
"But why keep the seven with him, and not the other three?"
"Because he had more to fear from those seven. Stormy and Moonglo dealt with darkness, which he didn't mind, and Tickled Pink can't work without Red Butler. He needed to have the seven where he could keep an eye on him. It took years and years, even after the Evil One was defeated, for those three to work free of their prison."
"Oh. That makes sense."
"So then the girl Wisp came, and found the belt and the Sphere of Light, and--"
"And defeated the Evil One."
Orin shook his head. "No, Krys. That is where you, and most others who don't know the story, are wrong." He drew in a breath. "The Evil One was not defeated. Only weakened, and banished to the edge of the universe. So he lay there in wait, silent for many, many years."
"Then what happened?" Krys asked, eager to hear the rest of the story.
"Will you stop interrupting? Anyway, something like 30 years ago, he decided that his legacy should live on. So he took a mistress." Orin saw Krys make a face.
"Yes, that was my reaction, too, but you asked to hear it. Amira and Ceron, as you may recall, had two daughters. They were as different as day and night. Theirael, the elder, had red hair, like flame, eyes as blue as the sky, and a heart as black as coal. She was loud, ambitious, and knew what she wanted--power. And she would do anything to get it.
"Her younger sister, Melayel, was her opposite. She was quiet, kind, and gentle, with blonde hair and green eyes. She was a sorceress, carrying on her mother's trade. Theirael had no magic whatsoever, fortunately."
"Their parents gave them both planets to rule when they left to join the Great Ones. Theirael was given all of the planets that are now the Alliance except Spectra, the mysterious planet of magic, which was given to Melayel.
"The Evil One took Theirael as his first mistress, and she had a child by him. A girl, not the son he wanted. So he threw both of them back to the Throne World. And then, fifteen years later, Melayel caught his eye."
"That *can't* be good."
"No. It wasn't," Orin said, his eyes unfocusing as he remembered her, the sweet child he had known, only a child still, not even a woman, the darling of Spectra, fair and compassionate, who had so much to offer...
"Orin," Krys probed gently.
Orin shook his head, snapping back to the present. "Yes, where were we? Melayel went to live in his corner of the universe with her one servant, and she also had a child by him. The Evil One threatened many times before it was born to kill her and it if it were a girl. When it was born, the only one present was the maid. And Melayel's child turned out to be a girl.
"She begged the servant to run away, and take the child with her, and run to Spectra, keep the child for six months, and then leave her with a family on earth. The servant left, the girl--named Melglirael--with her. Melayel told the Evil One she had a boy who died a few hours after he was born."
"But he would *kill* her for that, wouldn't he?"
Orin turned to look at him sadly. "She knew that, Krys. By this time, she didn't want to live. The only thing that brought her joy was her child, and her child was gone. She had nothing to live for. That is what the Evil One does to people. He takes away their will to live.
"The Evil One killed her, and threw her body into the sea on the Throne World." He paused.
"Is that *it*?" Krys asked, disgusted.
"There is a little more," Orin said doubtfully. "It is a rumor I heard a few years ago, nothing more than that. But people say that Melayel had a necklace, passed down through sorceresses in her family since the Great Ones. It is said that she gave it to Melglirael before sending her away. Whether it is true or not, I do not know."
"What about Theirael?"
"She stayed on the Throne World, raising her daughter, and poisoning the child's mind to hate color, which she blamed for the Evil One's downfall, and to hate her sister and her sister's child. And to this day, the Princess still believes everything her mother told her."
"The Princess? *She's* Theirael's daughter?!?
Orin nodded. "Yes. She is."
Krys said nothing for a few minutes. Then, "What about Melayel's daughter?"
Orin sighed. "That's what has been troubling me. She was raised for six months on Spectra, then taken to Earth, as her mother asked. After that, no one knows. Not even the servant remembers where she left the child. She could be dead for all we know."
"So you're worried because you don't know where she is?" Orin nodded. "Why start worrying now? Why not years ago?"
Orin started laughing, and he laughed, and laughed, and couldn't stop. "You think I just started worrying about this last night? You're less observant than I thought, Krys. I've worried about this for years. Only now, her threat is more menacing."
"How so?" Krys asked sullenly, sulking about being reprimanded.
"Look around you, Krys. The Princess seems to have vanished in thin air, Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids are maturing--which *never* happens without a crisis being near, plus they can't get to Earth, the Alliance is falling apart, and Earth is....well..."
"Worse than ever," Krys supplied. "I see your point. So you think this--Melglirael--has something to do with it. But if you're right, Orin, she's younger than I am. How much damage could she do?"
Orin looked at him sternly. "Age never puts a limit on how much damage--or good--a person can do. You should remember that. Why, look at what you and Rainbow Brite did to the Princess, when she thought you were children, which you were, by the way. Neither can we forget Melglirael's parents, Krys. A conqueror of worlds and a sorceress! Even your parents weren't so ambitious as that. We can only hope her mother's blood flows stronger than her father's."
Krys nodded, and they sat in silence, each pondering the mystery of the second daughter.
Author's Note: Well, here it is. My first RB fic, though not my first fic. I'm considering entering it in a contest (once I get more done), and I thought I'd see what kind of reviews I get here. If I get a good response, I might continue it. If I do, don't exect updates often. I want to work on this story all together, not just in chapters. REVIEW!!!!!!!!! As I tell my friends, "FEEDBACK!!! I NEED FEEDBACK!!!!!! NO FEEDBACK EQUALS NO STORY!!!!!!!!!!!" Of course, this was in a more extreme case, but.....
I think I should have said this at the beginging, but *these* mean thoughts, or emphasis on a word. Two in a row (Orin: **Nothing* gets by him....) means thought and emphasis on word. Thanks!