The Age of Fairy Tales:
The New Gods XII
Once upon a time, there was a girl. Beloved by her father, he sought to keep his fair child safe for all time. Sealing her into his tallest tower under lock and key and spell. Pampered though she was, with all the toys and books she could ask for, all the sweets the cooks could make, the girl was very lonely. She would look out the window and wish upon every star for someone, a charming prince, a brave and dashing warrior like those in the books to come save her.
Eventually she had enough.
Gathering pen and paper, the girl wrote to her prince, whomever he might be and breathed life into the paper. With the wings of a bird, the paper scattered and flew to the far corners of the land. She waited and waited, watching over the horizon for a hero to appear and to her delight, not one but many would come. But sadly, none would make it up to her tower as her father and his army protected the castle against all who would come for her.
The girl watched in dismay as one by one, the warriors she had summoned were struck down and turned away from the window.
And then one day, came a man in silver armor and holding an emerald staff.
More cunning than brave and wielding powerful magic, the man fought his way through the castle, vanquishing the Red King and fought his way up the tower. The door opened, revealing the girl who turned and leapt into the man's arms. The two fought their way out of the castle and once outside, the girl offered the man not only the castle and her father's lands but her hand in marriage. Instead the man told her he had come to right a wrong and that she had rescued herself.
Hand in hand, the girl left the tower behind and ventured into the world.
The book closed and a young brunette girl with mismatching eyes, one brown and the other pink placed the book on the table next to her bed. She stared at the title of the book:
The Girl In The Tower
The girl lied down and fell asleep…
And as she slept, somewhere far away another book opened.
A little girl with lilac eyes and blond hair in pigtails, happily climbed up onto a couch, sitting next to a woman who wore a long white cloak. The girl rested her head on the woman's lap and opened the book labelled:
The Emerald and the Ocean Knight
Once upon a time, a warrior wielding an emerald staff faced down an evil king. He was captured and was to be fed to the monsters the king kept as pets. It is there he met a woman in blue and silver armor, wielding a black key shaped sword. Together, they fought and defeated the evil king and freed all his slaves.
The Emerald Warrior was grateful to the woman's help and they parted ways but they would soon meet again. After rescuing a young maiden, the two would journey across the world for some time before returning to the Warrior's home. There, a dark monster had risen up, leading an army of dark creatures that threatened the Warrior's kingdom.
The Emerald Warrior was joined by his fellow knights and comrades and surprisingly, the woman in blue and silver armor appeared to aide him against the monster. Working together, the monster was defeated, and peace returned to the land. In gratitude, the wise king knighted the woman in blue armor, dubbing her the Ocean Knight. Together, the Emerald Warrior and the Ocean Knight were hailed as the greatest knights of the kingdom.
And yet, tragedy struck.
The Emerald Warrior was struck down by an illness and the Ocean Knight attempted to find a cure. She found a small feather that could heal anything and was instructed to give it to the man upon his death bed. However, before she could do so, the Emerald Warrior's enemies had gathered and attempted to finish him and his beloved off. Working together, the three fought for one last time and in the battle, the Emerald Warrior's beloved was struck down.
Faced with an impossible choice, the Emerald Warrior asked the Ocean Knight to save his beloved before succumbing to his illness. Honoring his wish, the Ocean Knight saved the woman her friend had loved with all his heart, but the woman was heart broken that she could not be with him in living or in death…
The book was closed, and the girl fell asleep on the woman's lap. The woman placed the book on the table and picked the girl up, taking her to bed.
Far across Remnant, another book was picked up by a young girl with short black hair with cat ears perched on top and yellow eyes. She climbed onto the couch in her father's studies and opened the book labelled:
The New Gods
In times long past, a world of sadness and misery there lived a king and queen who had no castle and no lands and yet were blessed with the gift of magic. Using this power, the two would build themselves a kingdom where the people would prosper, safe from the monsters roaming all of the lands. As time would pass, the walls would grow outward and the castle would grow taller, grander and more powerful.
The queen would look across the neighboring lands and would see many people sad and wondered aloud to her king: 'Would it be wonderful if we could share our peace with them?'
Hesitantly, the king agreed.
And so their lands expanded and the people were happy.
Beyond the paradise they had made, the king and queen spied more lands, filled with chaos and strife and the queen wondered aloud to her king: 'Would it be wonderful to share our prosperity with them?'
The king agreed more readily this time.
However, instead of being meant with cheers and fanfare, the land refused their offer of aid. When the king told the queen of this, she answered: 'They know not of what they wish. With us, they will have more than they can ask.'
The king agreed and so, they made the lands more prosperous and the people rejoiced. For this, the people built statues and in the center of their kingdom, a tower was built for the king and queen to look down upon the people, becoming hailed as gods.
The queen spied further lands across the mountains, wondering to her king: 'Would it not be wonderful if those out there were as blessed as we?'
The King agreed.
However, while the people over the mountains would refuse like the people before them, the king and queen would meet someone. A woman who was said to wield the gift of magic like them. Unlike the King and Queen, the people of the far lands did not consider this woman a goddess. Rather, they believed her to be a wise magician, a knight or a teacher sent by the gods to teach and protect them.
She used this magic sparingly, helping only whenever there was a problem, such as a plague, helping to build a bridge of trust with the people. The only thing she wouldn't help with was war and declared that the people of the far east lands were not blind to the truths of the world, and they were blessed and prosperous enough as they were.
The king told his queen of this woman, and she told him: 'I am with child, a child who will one day inherit all of these lands, for the sake our child, this woman and her people will be brought into the light.'
The king reluctantly agreed.
However, their attempts to bring the far lands into their kingdom would fail as the wise woman faced their attempts not only with defiance but the people rallied to her, wielding powers of their own. The queen grew evermore darker as her husband's attempt to pacify the far lands failed, the woman in blue and silver armor able to fight off their armies and monsters and more people would rally around her, denouncing the king and queen as Gods.
The queen grew angry at this defiance, wishing that the woman in armor would disappear from the lands.
The people would grow discontent with their queen, seeing her fury as something to fear and her desire to destroy her enemy becoming her one single desire.
Finally, the woman in blue armor would face the king and queen in the tower…
And the queen's fury would cause the tower to crumble, collapsing onto her castle and kingdom below. This remains a cautionary tale for all of those in power, warning them of the dangers of having too much power and not enough wisdom to rule kindly and justly.
Xxx
Salem sat on her throne waiting for the news on her and beloved's conquest over the world.
"Your Grace." One of her generals bowed before her.
"General Darren." Salem greeted with a nod. "Do you have a report?"
"Yes, my lady. His Majesty has sent a report…" The general hesitated for a moment, making Salem raise an eyebrow. "It seems His Majesty's forces were repelled."
Salem's eyes widened at what she had heard. "What?"
"His Majesty arrived at the Far Lands as planned. For the past weeks they had been scouting out the lands and finding people have been fighting against the Grimm." General Darren answered. "When His Majesty met with the locals, he was met with rejection which was predicted. Only when he was prepared to remove the obstacles…"
Xxx
His Majesty, Ozma was surprised to see a small group of warriors standing before him and small army. They were all dressed rather uniquely and wielding different weapons.
A woman in a black cloak with a skull mask over her face, holding a golden scythe that he remembered a magical weapon that controlled the earth.
A young red haired woman, wearing dark green armor and holding a sword in one hand.
And led by a woman wearing blue and silver armor, holding a key shaped sword in one hand.
They asked him and his army to leave but he refused, stating that these lands belongs to the kingdom of Dracon now. They refused to surrender and so Ozma ordered his soldiers to subjugate them.
Only they failed.
The three women and the others with them moved with astounding speed, grace and strength as they easily overwhelmed Ozma's soldiers. Ozma himself was beyond stunned, seeing some warriors manifesting abilities he almost thought was magic.
The red haired woman's sword was ablaze with fire as she cut through the weapons and armor of the soldiers attacking her.
The woman wielding the golden scythe seemed to command the very earth itself, using it to strike down over a dozen soldiers.
How was this possible?
Magic was supposed to be gone.
He watched as the blue knight approached him. "I won't ask again. Take your men and depart these lands."
Ozma tightened his grip on his staff. "How have you done this?"
The woman said nothing, merely raising her key shaped sword. Realizing he would not find out anything by talking Ozma decided it was best to defeat her and make her tell him once the battle was over. He pointed his staff at her, releasing of blast of green magical energy straight at her, expecting a quick victory as she could not hope to dodge in time.
Imagine when his surprise when she raised her sword…
And knocked it right back at him!
Ozma was so surprised that he was sent staggering back by the force of his own magic. He tripped over a rock and fell to the ground, briefly out cold. While he was unconscious, the blue armored woman helped in repelling his soldiers, her key shaped sword breaking through sword and armor with ease but no one died.
In fact, none of the warriors resorted to killing Ozma's soldiers, only rendering them unconscious if they continued fighting.
These band of warriors were easily taking down an entire army of soldiers, their Aura protecting them and allowing them to fight longer and harder than the soldiers.
And the woman in blue armor…
A golden aura surrounded her and she immediately smashed her through dozens of soldiers, becoming invulnerable to any weapons that might have actually hit her. She moved swiftly and gracefully, striking with enough force to render her opponent unconscious and did nothing more than that. She fought her way through the main group while her comrades took out any stragglers left in her wake. By the time Ozma regained consciousness he was greeted with the surprising sight of nearly all of his soldiers defeated by the warriors that had come out to stop him.
This was…
"Impossible…" He muttered, staring in shock.
He barely even noticed the warriors surrounding him as the blue armored woman slowly approached him.
"I won't say it again." She pointed her key shaped sword at him. "Withdraw your forces and leave these lands."
Ozma could only stare up at the woman, wondering what she looked like underneath that armor…
And why there was something familiar about her.
Xxx
Salem couldn't believe something like this most of the humans especially the new race were not capable of defeating the Grimm, especially the unique ones.
How could this be possible?
"His Majesty is returning, withdrawing to bring the injured troops home." General Darren continued the report. "He should be back by the end of the week."
"Make sure none of what you have told me is found out by the people." Salem immediately ordered. "I want all knowledge of this completely suppressed."
"Yes, Your Grace." Darren bowed and was dismissed.
Salem stood up from her chair and walked over to the nearest window, placing a hand over her swollen belly that was still hidden under her robes.
Their first child.
She hoped it wouldn't be their last though.
Xxx
"They let us return to our ships and depart their land." The White King Ozma spoke to his wife and general of what he had witnessed.
Upon his return, he immediately wished to speak with his wife and general in his private study. Outside of his wife and most faithful servants, no one ever came into his study. It was a literal library with a desk and fireplace to keep the place warm and provide light outside of the candle lights that wisely kept away from any books.
"A small group of people was able to do defeat your entire army?" Salem questioned skeptically.
"They may have been a small group of people but they showed enhanced speed, duplications of themselves, increase strength, and more unknown abilities that I have never seen before." Ozma replied, sitting down at the table with a sigh.
His mind wandered back to the woman in blue and silver armor that lead the warriors against him.
Why did she feel so familiar?
In the meantime, Salem debated with herself on whether this was a threat or a boon. No one had ever defeated her husband in battle, even before the Devastation that she called the day of when the Gods wiped out her army and stripped mankind of magic. This would be seen as a dangerous obstacle for their plans of uniting the world under their banner. And yet both rulers considered something like these abilities would give them the upper hand in their conquest.
"Did they have more than one ability?" Salem asked her husband.
"Just one from what I saw and it was unique to each warrior." Ozma answered, thinking back to the battle.
That was disappointing to hear.
Even if this new power was interesting to hear about, if they could only manifest one ability than it was doubtful this power could be considered magic.
"General Darren." Salem turned to the top general of her husband's army. "I want you to send a scout to the far lands to spy on the people behind this uprising. If we cannot defeat them in battle we will simply have to measure the limit of their strength before we try again."
General Darren bowed his head in compliance. "At once, Your Grace."
Ozma watched as he left before turning to Salem. "Is this necessary?"
Salem glanced at him. "What do you mean?"
"If they wanted to, they could have killed us when they had the chance. Instead they only disarmed us or rendered us unable to fight until the battle was over. They granted us mercy in exchange for leaving their lands." Ozma stated.
"Ozma…" Salem took her husband's hand and placed it over her stomach. "Do you feel it?"
Ozma's eyes widened for a brief second and then smiled. "Yes."
"Our first child will be born soon. Whether or not they are to be born in a world chaotic or peaceful is up to us. We decide the kind of world we wish our children to live in and if we allow this one defeat to go by unchallenged, the people will begin to doubt our rule." Salem released her husband's hand and sat down. "Our child will one day inherit all of these lands, for the sake our child, this woman and her people will be brought into the light."
Ozma tried to come up with a reason to argue…and couldn't.
His wife was right.
Since they had chosen to take on the persona of Gods to the people, they had to present themselves as completely untouchable or their kingdom would fall apart. As much as he disliked the idea of being a conqueror, some people could not be reasoned with, and he had been forced to take drastic action in response. If word got out that someone could challenge and defeat them, the people would begin to question their validity as Gods and would risk the unraveling of what they trying to do.
And with Salem now pregnant with their first child, that was something he could not allow.
"Very well." He sighed.
Salem smiled as she took his hand into her own. "We are on the right path, my husband. This is just one of many tests before us, but I know we will overcome it…together.
Xxx
In the following months, Salem and Ozma sent a spy to the far lands to find out as much as they could about the warriors and their special powers. During that time, Salem had given birth to their first child, a daughter.
Salem had been so happy to hold her daughter in her arms for the first time and Ozma…
He couldn't believe how blessed he was in that moment.
They both were so happy and that no long after…
Salem was pregnant again.
Perhaps she could have waited but then again, she had been waiting to have this with her beloved Ozma for so long that found herself not caring at all. It was only when she halfway into her second pregnancy that the scout had returned from the far lands with a report.
"Your Majesty, Your Grace, our scout is ready to make his report." General Darren bowed to them and turned to the door. "Enter."
The general's scout walked into the king and queen's chamber, immediately bowing once he was before his rulers. "Your Majesty. Your Grace."
"State your name and report." Ozma said and gestured for the man to stand up.
"Gallimerd, Your Majesty. I spent over the last year traveling the far lands as ordered to learn as much as I could." The scout stood up and spoke. "There is someone there with magic who has been training the people there."
Ozma and Salem were surprised by this as they had believed they were the only magical users left. "Go on."
"From what I have been told, everyone has their own different idea of what she is. Some believe she is a goddess…Though she has outright denied that. Others consider her a magician, teacher or a healer sent by the Gods to teach people willing to learn. She travels across the land, stopping by villages in peril from the Grimm or bandits and she often stops there to try heal the sick and wounded." Gallimerd continued. "And the people she has trained are granted a power known as Aura."
"Aura?" Ozma questioned, feeling some sort of…familiarity with the name.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Gallimerd nodded. "When one trains to use this power and hone their skills, they are able to unlock a power called a Semblance. Apparently, this Semblance can grant only one ability to a person. Some call it a wish, a desire or a manifestation of their souls."
Salem and Ozma were again silent as they took this in, trying to understand how such a power came to be. Sounds miniscule compared to true magic but at the same time, it was granted by another magic user so there must be a reason for that.
"Do you know what this magic user looks like?" Salem asked.
Gallimerd nodded. "Yes, Your Grace. She is a young woman with blue hair, blue eyes, flawless skin and wears blue, black and white attire of a knight with silver armor and she wield a blue key like sword. People call her the Ocean Knight…But her friends call her Aqua."
Both rulers looked at each other, neither of them seemingly remembering that name. Deep in his soul, the host of Ozma felt the confusion and yet familiarity that Ozma felt upon hearing Aqua's name and description and tried to keep the memories of her that he retained forgotten by Ozma. They were quite surprised even also intrigued about this individual we're able to train great warriors with grand abilities.
"How is this done? This power called Aura." Salem asked the scout.
"From what I learned, this power was granted when she was glowing and cast the energy in her hand and transfers through the hand of whomever she was holding, causing them to glow. She would glow blue while the other person would glow a different color." Gallimerd answered. "One of the other scouts try to acquire this power and take it to make it our own to aid us."
"And did it work?" Ozma asked.
The scout hesitated to answer which the two rulers noticed, and both realized something might have happened.
"The Ocean Knight noticed we were not who we claimed to be." The scout finally answered. "We were call captured not long after. We were sent back here with a message."
Salem and Ozma were stunned about this. Perhaps this Ocean Knight was indeed magical if she was able to see through their disguise.
"Is there anything else you know?" Both of them asked the scout at the same time.
"Well, the Ocean Knight has become a symbol. She liberates many people, including those Faunus…people who have been enslaved. Many of them join her side to becomes warriors like her, fighting against bandits and slavers."
This would be a problem.
Ozma was not one for slavery, but he knew of several kingdoms that had yet to join them supported slavery for Faunus and peasants. In fact, part of him was applauding this Ocean Knight for her actions and was amazed there was someone out there who not only possessed magic but was also a great warrior of morals and justice that was perhaps needed in this world.
Perhaps one day he could meet this Ocean Knight someday after all of this outside of the battlefield.
Unless his wife the Black Queen says otherwise.
Xxx
Salem had just lied her daughter down to sleep and sat next to her crib, smiling at the sleeping child. She rubbed her belly, knowing the second child would be here very soon.
She hoped it was another girl.
As her child slumbered peacefully, Salem thought back to what she had been told about the mysterious Ocean Knight, this magical user. She hadn't heard anything matching this woman's description and it bothered her that someone with magic had surfaced only now when she and her husband were building their kingdom. It made her nervous, knowing there was a magical user out there who could denounce her and her husband of being Gods.
She could not allow that.
The question was though, how to solve this problem?
She had already proven herself to be a skilled warrior, capable of defeating even her husband in battle and Ozma had already been a mighty warrior who had defeated man and beasts that many could not.
'If I cannot send a dozen warriors to defeat her perhaps I can rely on the Grimm…' Salem had a hand to her chin. 'Of course, there is the matter of the warriors she has trained to fight alongside her, having their own powers now.'
Miniscule powers compared to the magic her and Ozma possessed but enough to spread doubt.
'Still, if I cannot rely on our soldiers to stop her I will have to rely on the Grimm instead. The only question is if I can find her.'
From what the scout had reported, the Ocean Knight traveled all across the lands, even onto lands that had been absorbed into her kingdoms. Since she had no permanent place of residence it would make it difficult to track her down, considering how long the scout took to report back.
'A difficult task but not an insurmountable one. I will have just have to bide my time and wait for her to be found.' Salem thought to herself as she stood up and headed for the door, taking one last look at her sleeping child. 'No one will threaten the life I am building with my family. No one.'
She would see the world burn before it took anything else from her.
