Our Beginning

Written by Chibikan

Chapter 12

War is Hell

The Great One, his long silver hair and beard blowing in the cool breeze, watched weary out the window of the uppermost tower of the temple. As he had dreaded, war had come to his dominion. He was pleased to see that the Elements and the Seasons were wisely staying out of it. Starshine and Dark Heart were keeping an eye on the chosen ones, and Meteyo was in his normal position as High Priest, guarding the Sphere of Knowing and the Fires of Creation. But, he mourned inwardly as he knew that his kingdom would be torn asunder. A tear trickled down his cheek as Flora called forth all the most deadly of his creations, plants with poison barbs, fly traps, and tangle trees and choking vines. His heart broke when Fauna in turn summoned her own "babies", from the large dinosaurs, long since extinct on Earth, fierce boars, venomous swamp adders and the dreaded asp, to even the deadliest of small insects. Already he could feel his home begin to fade away and die. He fought screams of despair when they launched themselves at one another. The ground rumbled underneath the temple with the force of the battle taking place. When it was that nearly half of their forces were down and still they fought on, the Great One could take it no longer. He knew the war was necessary, had known it was coming, unable to stop it, but he could not bear to watch it happen.

Dark Heart, who was not with Starshine as the Great One had thought, smirked as he made his way stealthily into the temple. It was a smirk filled with sadistic amusement as he heard the sounds of his two archenemies begin to destroy each other, and at the same time, felt his own power begin to build. Now was his chance. He climbed the tall staircase drawing closer and closer to the Great One's chamber. As he grew nearer, his heart pounded steadily harder with anticipation, with excitement. Oh, how it would feel to have Great One's power coursing through his veins and knowing that finally he will have his revenge. His weapon of choice, a naginata (double-sided sword), appeared in his hand as he made his way up. "Finally, finally…my revenge will be complete," he stated out loud to himself.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Meteyo protested as he blocked Dark Heart's pathway to continue up the stairs.

The wicked demigod allowed himself to be surprised, but only for a moment. "Oh my, High Priest, I would think by now you would have realized how futile this is." Dark Heart tossed his hair with a flippant hand. "Surely you don't mean to fight me, after all, I intend to let the rest of you live, once I have won. I can give more than the Great One has ever given you. Freedom, power, riches, surely a smart man such as yourself can see the benefits in joining my side."

"Forget it!" Meteyo spat. "I don't want to hear your lofty promises. You brainwashed my sister, broke her spirit, and stole her from me. It is unforgivable."

Dark Heart laughed. "Brainwashed her? Broke her spirit? I? No, priest, it wasn't I who did this. Look around you. Do you know why the Emperor and Empress are fighting?"

Meteyo gripped his staff close to him, willing it to change into a paladin's sword, a suitable weapon for killing what he believed to be a demon. "You poisoned them! Don't think I don't know! I'm no fool."

Dark Heart lunged with his naginata, Meteyo parrying him easily as he expected. "You are if you truly believe that!" He continued, anger in his heart and eyes. "They fight because they plotted long ago to take the Great One's powers for their own but now, thinking they were close to getting what they wanted, they are annulling their partnership out of greed and power lust. Each wants to be ruler over the other as much as over the rest of us, sharing the power would simply be unthinkable for either."

The High Priest's eyes widened as he fought to keep Dark Heart's blade away from his neck with his own sword. "You lie! They are good and they only wish good for this world."

"Really? Then tell me, why did they seek to have me destroyed all those years before! Why do they hate Star? Can you tell me that? If they're so good, why did they kill Cats!" Dark Heart jumped away, ready to strike again.

As the fight took place, Starshine was entering the once beautiful realm. Surprise overtook her as she realized what was happening. Empress Fauna and Emperor Flora had finally run out of animals and plants to their fighting for them and were now against each other, and neither would last very long. Starshine ran, she knew she had to get to the temple.

"They didn't! That was…..just…a storm," Meteyo continued to parry Dark Heart's attacks, using any available opening to try to land his own blows.

"They did! Because I knew too much about them! I found out what they were up to, and was going to tell the Great One. But then they threatened Star. I backed off for a while, until Star finally told me, we couldn't be together anymore" Dark Heart's attack grew stronger, as his anger peaked. "I went back to Earth for awhile, and I found Cats, living in the lap of luxury, as a prince. I was going to stay on Earth, become mortal once more, but I guess Flora and Fauna got scared then. Scared that I would say something about their endeavors. So they sought to destroy me, maybe not by killing me, but going after what I cared about most! THEY KILLED HIM! And your Great One! He KNEW! HE KNEW AND HE DID NOTHING!" The corner of Dark Heart's eyes filled with tears. "He knew! He did! I know he did! I WILL HAVE REVENGE!!!"

Meteyo jumped at the hatred in the voice. His moment of inattention gave his foe just the opening he was looking for and he gasped when Dark Heart's blade slid through his chest like a knife through butter. Amazingly, he felt no pain, as his power left him, entering Dark Heart through the blade in his chest. His vision began to fail him and he didn't hear a thing, not even his sister screaming his name as he fell from the top of the tall staircase. He didn't see Dark Heart vanish from the temple as darkness claimed him. His last thought, his only thought left, was how he hoped Star would be happy.

AN: End Chapter, I know, I SUCK at battle scenes, I really do. I wanted to sort of give you guys an idea of what I was talking about when I mentioned in an earlier chapter, Dark Heart's friend being killed. Well there you have it. Of course, when I get that far in Written in the Stars it will be in greater detail. Yes I know this was sad. But of course it was going to be. But don't worry, I have plans for Meteyo in a later story. Oh, and if you thought this was sad, well, you ain't seen nothing yet.