The 70 Million Year Prologue
The little blue and green planet drifted silently through space. From the depths of the glittering blue oceans to the dry hearts of the deserts that formed its continents, this primordial world teemed with life. Giant, terrible lizards dominated earth and sky and sea. And their time was coming to an end. In a geological heartbeat, their kingdom would disappear in ash and fire. Their successors were already there - small, furry creatures who cowered beneath the feet of the terrible lizards. But there was a faint spark of intelligence there. And someday, their descendants might well journey out among the stars. If they could survive long enough.
From somewhere else, some place far beyond any mortal conception of time and space, two immortal beings of great power watched. For long eons they had fought, each seeking to destroy the other, but neither able to do so without destroying the very heavens in the process. And so, they had agreed to limit the scope of their eternal conflict.
(Very well,) one said, (If those are your terms, then we shall play the game.)
And time seriously began to pass.
The Six Year Prologue
The little blue and green planet hurtled through the starlit void of space, its inhabitants dreaming, but unaware of what truly lay beyond. The dominant species, ape-descended creatures not as far removed from their primitive ancestors as they liked to think, had just barely gotten the hang of powered flight and digital watches. And yet, from across the gulf of space, alien minds regarded the planet with envious eyes.
The invaders had been searching for this world for a long time. But finally, they had found it. At first, there were only two, blending in, observing, learning. When at last they knew the planet's weaknesses and strengths, more arrived. Slowly and silently, they carved out a small foothold. Unseen. Unknown.
The Four Month Prologue
Possibly the two cosmic beings did not at first realize when a third entity took notice. But in any case, their own agreed-upon rules sharply limited their ability to interfere, even as the third entity poked and prodded at the diverging paths of space-time surrounding the planet. (Well, this is very interesting,} he drawled, {So many different futures surrounding this world. So many possibilities for entertainment! But... only if the right side wins.)
He looked through the past, present, and future, saw countless important events centered on a single small city. It was a cosmological fulcrum - a little pressure on one side or the other, and the future could be drastically altered. And so much of it depended on the actions of a handful of young humans - just five of them, against an army. There were so many possible futures where they lost. Most of those futures were, quite simply, boring. But the futures where they won? They promised so much more entertainment for him.
He could see every possibility for change. Patiently, he considered where and how to push and nudge towards the future that suited his whim the best. The two game players would be sure to object if there was too blatant of an intrusion. So, he scanned and scrutinized, looking for suitable pawns to act on his behalf. He would only be able to manage small manipulations, at first, but he'd interfered in the affairs of mortals before - it wouldn't take long for his manipulations to send things completely off the rails.
There was one thread of life in easy reach. It wasn't an obvious piece to use, separated from the others by over a thousand miles. But there were three other lives he could influence slightly to bring this one into the game. Just a simple matter of drifting back a few months in time, planting a couple of ideas, manipulating a few emotions... and it was done.
The intruder slid back to the present, saw that his first pawn was in the right place at the right time. There was a margin of only a few minutes where the child might completely miss everything, but he'd made absolutely sure to connect his own pawn to one belonging to the other players. Then he created a body for himself, in order to watch the critical moments as closely as possible...