Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Comprehensive History of the First World


It was not long after the creation of the world, when evil began to plague the land in high forms. Warriors stood up and fought for their families, their villages, and finally their countries to ward of what became referred to only as demons.

However, these fights were not in any set place, for the world had become populated by many who had then made provinces represented by kingdoms. At that time life also existed on the other planets, though now they have become inhabitable.

It was during a time of great trial and tribulation, when the demons seemed to be almost completely out of control that the elements chose suitable guardians, or bearers to represent them.

The elements feared that the planet would eventually collapse, for newer evils were coming over into this one from that of another realm. The realm itself was darker and more sinister, no light existed within it. The demons that came from there were strong and unrelenting; the elements knew that without aide the world, if not the galaxy, would fall.

They chose only warriors that would be able to wield their great power, without having the fear of a warrior succumbing to the darker nature of each power source.

Yet, there was more thing that they feared, one which they refused to openly voice…Fear that the great evil, which had been responsible for destroying galaxies much similar to this one, would find his way here.

Most of the evils were defeated within a hundred years due to the element's chosen, and peace reigned for a time. This was when the planetary kingdoms made contact with one another through the Universe's Representative, and finally ten years later with the Elemental Bearer's on Retah (Earth).

Universe's heritage is, and shall remain unknown; all that is known is that the elements chose her to represent them. Thus giving her the ability to communicate and use each element, and in return the elements spoke through her to their chosen.

She was the one viable link between their dimension, and our realm; and because of her link the other warriors did trust her, albeit reluctantly.

Peace reigned for twenty years until the Ambassador, as she was called, appeared to each of the Elemental Bearer's, warning them that the great evil was coming and that he would prevail unless the bearer's united together to fight him.

But to use the powers bestowed upon one, was hard and near to impossible. It put the bearer in immense pain to call forth the element and use it without a 'bridge' between the two.

The Imperium Silver Crystal had been forged at the end of the last fights, the Jewel of Life three years later, and finally the Cimmerian Crystal.

The origins of the Golden Crystal continue to remain a mystery, all that is known was that appeared in the East six years prior to the Cimmerian Crystal's forging.

The four crystals were used to represent North, West, South and East, respectively according to where they were forged/found. The Cimmerian Crystal took its power from the other three, for it has within it the darker sides of each crystal's power ready for use, as well as the power from its own source.

The Cimmerian Crystal keeps the three crystals pure and free from darkness, but when any is in possession of a darker power, the Cimmerian will lose its own, and if all three come under the fog of darkness it will become pure.

Hearing of the worries of the great evil, the owner of the Imperium Silver Crystal asked it for guidance. The Crystal answered by creating transformation lockets, one for each of the planet's bearers so that they could use their power.

On earth the Jewel of Life, revealed the existence of the yoroi, or armors. The armors first made their appearance in the world, having sensed the coming great disturbance and fearing for their realm as much as any of the others. Hearing the elements plea they lent their use to the chosen, knowing direct channeling caused painful wear and tear on the immortals bodies.

When the great evil made itself known the warriors of that time, they had barely had a month's time to practice with these objects, which were later found to be the necessary 'bridge' between our world and that of the elements.

Worse still was that their first initial meeting was on the battle field, and Akemliek proved to be more than a formidable foe. The demon feeds off of disunion and pain, much more than any other of his kind.

The warriors having just met, were not united as a group, and were only able to force him back for a time. They swore that though they could not defeat him, that their descendants would.

The warriors parted, returning to their kingdoms to rule. Soon they had families to worry about, and the elemental abilities were passed down another generation.

However, half of the Ambassador's family, and she herself had been murdered not long after the fight with Akemliek. Everyone believed that the Raikken were responsible, but there were some disturbing rumors that said differently.

"And," Elayne murmured quietly, "I think you know where it goes from there."

"Sort of," Rowen admitted in honesty, "But there are still some things about you, that I can't figure out."

"With the original Universe dead, her duties fall on me. I am now the link between the elements, armors, and you. During the first lifetime, I was about fourteen when the family was destroyed and that was the last time I ever saw a one of them. They were never reborn like you and your families were."

"And we know you were sent to live with Kayura and her family," Kirstin pondered it out, "And sometime during that, the Great Council found out about your existence and asked Kaosu to introduce you to them."

"For some reason, you were crazy enough to get involved in all of this," Lita finished with a grin. "Though, no one is quite sure why."

"That's one secret I'm keeping," the girl remarked, leaning back in the chair, "This discussion is supposed to be about your history, what are you dragging me back into it for?"

Lindsay gave a snort, "Oh just the fact we've known you practical all our lives, and just recently discovered, you're one of us, and then again you're not. Even you, An, have to admit that is a lot to swallow."

Elayne gave an impatient sigh, and then glared at her cousin, before Hotaru pointed out with mirth, "Besides, you're a part of that history anyway."

"She has a point," Cale acknowledged with a grin, "Besides, how can we help ourselves? It's a curiosity."

Her eyes went deadpan, her tone flat, "Your curiosity has led to your deaths more times than I want to count."

"Okay, moving on," Ryo quickly brought in now, trying to spare himself from witnessing a rather gory murder.

Darien thought it all over, and decided to ask a potentially neutral question, "So, how old are you?"

Elayne couldn't help herself, and she burst out laughing "Oh, you don't want to know." She managed to dab at her eyes with her thumb to wipe at the tears, not caring she was getting funny looks. "I was older than you all to begin with. But now with all the time passage, even if you put all the lifetimes together, I'm way older than you."

"Come on, how old?" Serena pressed, eager to know the information.

The girl let out a bored sigh, and recited in a monotone, "Four thousand, five hundred and twenty."

"WHAT?!"

Elayne snorted, "You asked. The Ronin are almost four thousand though, the Seasonals are." She grinned at the gaping looks she received for that comment, before leaning back into the sofa.

Deciding to spare Elayne from further demands, Kayura spoke up, "Can we call it a night?"

This sudden inquiry from the young Ancient caused the few that were starting to doze off to jolt forward slightly.

All eyes now off of her, the girl mouthed a 'thank-you' to the young woman, and kept her fingers crossed hoping the warriors would take the suggestion.

"Ya," Amara gave a considerably large yawn, "I'm with Kayura, it's late and I'm exhausted. We can talk more later on."

Everyone agreed to this proposal, and soon the living room emptied…Well, except for the Ronin Elementals. The Seasonals paused for only a minute, but then departed. If the five wanted to have a 'private' talk with the girl, then that was their business.

Sage had kept quiet, from all forms of conversation including the many mental ones that had occurred over the past few minutes. He had listened in but refrained from making any comments, everyone was starting to think he had fallen asleep.

His eyes were shut, and his breathing was slow and methodical, so he managed to surprise them when he spoke up.

"The name you have isn't your real name is it?" The Ronin of Halo murmured, opening violet-eyes to regard the girl as she answered.

The faintest of smiles tugged at the corners of her mouth, as she looked up at him, "No, no it isn't."

Black Blaze had been lying over by the stairs, but he quickly got up and padded over to her, sensing her inner turmoil and knowing she was close to a breakdown.

The swordsman waited patiently, perceptive enough to realize that she was trying to gather what little nerve she had left, in order to continue speaking.

She ran her fingers through the tiger's soft-silky fur, trying to keep all emotion out of her voice, "My real name I haven't used since I was fourteen. As for why I have the name I do, you're asking the wrong person." Now she grinned, as she said, "You'll have to ask yourself."

"You serious?" Kento queried with a tilt of his head, jabbing a thumb at Sage, "He named you."

Elayne chuckled and stretched, "Seiji got annoyed that all I ever got addressed as was Universe. He said if I wouldn't give out my real one, he'd give me one. He started calling me An."

"So where'd Elayne come from?" the Strata Ronin asked.

"That was Shin's idea," here she outright chortled. "He berated Seiji and asked if he could have come up with a shorter name. Then told me since I: "Bloody-well look like an Italian, you're getting a name to go with it!" That's what started the use of both names, and since I answered to either I incorporated them both."

"And before you ask," Ryo brought in chuckling now. "Shuu thought Mogami would be a fitting last name, simply because she and Seiji acted, and for the most part looked, related. Catarina was my idea."

The girl was now almost in stitches, "Which goes to show, you five are nuts. The name went from being 2 letters, to almost every single one in existence!"

"Hey, at least we're lovable," the archer defended with a pout.

Silence soon took over the room as the amusement died down, and the laughter faded away…Leaving them to focus on the true subject.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, knowing that they were scrutinizing her; finally her impatience got the better of her, as she demanded, "Well?"

Oh she knew it was coming, knew she was going to get told the one thing she did not want to hear from them…That they couldn't trust her anymore, not that they didn't want to, just because it was too much for them to handle in too short a time.

Kento winced at the sharpness in her voice, "Calm down mei mei."

The girl chuckled at him, and leaned back into the sofa again removing her hands from the tiger, eyes resting on the ceiling above her, "I'm perfectly calm Hardhead. You're just making me nervous by keeping so quiet."

"Making you nervous? I didn't think that possible," the Water Ronin gently teased, "You normally make everyone else nervous."

"Oh haha Cye, real funny," the girl grumbled, suddenly drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

Rowen tilted his head at her, unable to understand why she was in such a sour mood, "How come you sounded like you were reciting a textbook, anyway?"

Here a smirk crossed her face, as she cheerfully stated, "Because I was, 'Comprehensive History of the First World' or something corny like that. I was not plagiarizing either, I helped write it so," Elayne stuck her tongue out at the archer to compensate for 'there.'

The Ronin of Wildfire let out a chuckle, "You're rather moody tonight, aren't you?"

She shot him a death-glare, but thoughtfully responded, "Something has been bothering my senses lately, and I can't figure out what it is."

"It's probably just Akemliek you were sensing," the Hardrock Ronin offered, though he seriously doubted it was that; he only was trying to make the suggestion to soothe over her frayed nerves.

Elayne vigorously shook her head, "No, beneath that…Surely you sensed it? Then again, I might be going crazy."

Sage placed a hand on her left shoulder, and gave her an encouraging squeeze, "Whatever it is, imouto, there's no need to get in a stew over it."

"True," she was a little surprised at the contact, but then sighed. Meh, she might as well ask the question, "So, exactly how much do you guys hate me, now?"

The young men all stopped and stared at her, glanced at each other, and then back at her.

"Hate you?" Kento blinked, "The hell for?"

Elayne let out a low moan and rubbed at her temple, "It was a simple question. I don't know, the fact I've practically been lying to you from day one of my coming into your lives, the fact I brought you and the Senshi together because I was supposed to do it…I could list more, if you want."

The swordsman of Halo chuckled at her, shook his head, "Imouto, you're absolutely hopeless. While your cousin," the word left his mouth rather quick, a look of disgust crossing his face before fading, "Made a good point it's a lot to take in, it doesn't mean we're going to shut you out."

"Don't say if he had any sense at all, he'd do it," Ryo said before she opened her mouth to make the comment. "You know we don't, why waste breath?"

Cye gave his leader a glare, before saying to her, "Sage's right, you don't deserve the cold shoulder treatment. You haven't done anything wrong. You did what you felt was right, that's all that matters."

"If we have a problem with it, we will deal with it," the archer added in stretching his limbs, they were starting to stiffen up. "Granted, we might be a little leery of you being Universe and all, but we'll get over it."

"After all, we're not kids," Kento brought in with a smile.

Elayne gave a snort, "That's debatable." She said to their glares, "I'm practically a fossil, remember? You'll always be kids to me."

Kento gave a chuckle before walking over to her and yanking her up into a hug, "Yeah, maybe. But you're still my mei mei. I'm going to hit the sack, you stop beating yourself up over things. Or, we are going to have that talk."

The girl let out a light laugh, and nodded after Hardrock's bearer pulled away, "All right, Gege. I'll stop trying to act like Ryo."

Strata's bearer chortled at that, "Ha ha, ya do. One of him is enough. Night, brat."

"Ciao, Ro," she shrugged at Cye, "Do I get a lecture, Mother Cye, or do I get spared?"

"Hm, no lecture this time, but if you don't cheer up a little, ya never know," he winked, before giving her a brief hug and heading up the stairs.

"Nii-chan?" the girl tilted her head at him. "Exactly how often have you guys talked about this?"

Sage let out an amused chuckle, yes she knew him as well as he knew her; her question was only a statement of that, "Enough. I know it wasn't the reaction you were expecting, and don't think we're automatically accepting this, because part of it we still haven't yet…But we couldn't see putting you through more over this. I think you've put yourself in enough guilt already."

The Ronin of Halo grabbed her into a hug, and then swung her around, completely shocking her and getting a chortle out of the Wildfire Ronin.

"There," Sage put her down a grin on his face, patted her on the head, chuckling when she scowled and shoved his hand away. "I still trust you. Elayne, Universe, your title doesn't matter it's the person you are which does. Sleep well, I'll see you in the morning."

The Ronin of Wildfire opened his eyes, after hearing the bedroom door click shut, "You okay?"

His sudden inquiry startled her; she quickly schooled her features to make it appear as though she were perfectly all right, "Ya."

"Shell-shocked huh?" the Ronin Leader offered her a sad smile. "Whatever they don't accept now, they will later. Give them time Uni."

"Rekka, I'm just surprised they were willing to accept that much," the girl murmured quietly. "Really, they were far too accepting. What all did you tell them?"

"What I needed to and nothing more than that," Ryo assured her placing his hands on her shoulders, "And whatever worries you might have about the future? We're going to win this time. We have experience now that we never had before, have faith in us, kay?"

Elayne offered him a smile, "I've never doubted any of you, and I never will," She gently brushed his hands aside, and turned away, murmuring, "You were the ones that had the lack of faith and trust in me, and because of that I couldn't save you."

He sighed, knowing that in a sense she was right, "But you don't have to fear that this time. We know you now, for you, and not the person you were forced to be due to necessity."

"Furthermore," his tone of voice hardened slightly. "There's no way you're going to be kept on a leash this time. The only one you're going to answer to is you."

The girl chuckled at him, saying with a grin, "That's going to have to be a group decision, Ry."

"Oh yeah, we'll talk about it, but there is no way I am letting any of us do what the Elders and Council did to you. It's not our place to do that any more than it was theirs. Besides, it'll give you the chance to do what you need to even if we don't, or can't, see it your way."

The Ronin of Wildfire gave her a hug as well, but he refused to let her go like the others had, "You believe me don't you?"

"Of course," Elayne smiled up at him, before hugging him back and then pulling away. "Now, get to bed, before White Blaze comes down here and hauls you off."

"All right, good night," Ryo murmured before he walked up the stairs and disappeared from her line of sight.

He let out a sigh as he entered the bedroom, and closed the door behind him. He was jerked abruptly out of his thoughts when he heard chuckling from around him and noticed his four friends were sitting up in their beds.

"Ya kiss her, yet?" Rowen queried with a smirk.

Kento chortled and said in warning, "Better not break mei mei's heart, there'll be pain awaiting you, courtesy of moi."

"If she leaves anything for you to destroy Kento," Cye chuckled out in amusement, watching with great pleasure as his leader's face turned red.

"That's not very nice you guys," Sage told them, before he gave a Cheshire cat-like grin, "They have to at least make it through a first date before she'll kill him, it's only proper. Or, that's the way she'd see it."

Ryo let out an annoyed breath at his four friends gave them the middle finger, and oh-so-calmly got ready for bed, and then flopped down on his mattress. At the foot of the bed White Blaze chuckled in amusement. Too bad Elayne had missed the look on the four Ronins faces; talk about having jaws drop and clatter to the floor.