History
Part 1: The Wars of Northern Gaya
Chapter 1
By: Charlie Chaplin 2
Email: charliechaplin2@yahoo.co.uk

Disclaimer and AN: nothing from sailor moon in this story is mine, it belongs to
the original people who made it or the people who now own it or most likely
both.
I don't intent to make a profit outta this, unless you call spiritual wellbeing
some kind of profit, but I don't. And anyway, according to basic economic laws
of supply and demand, in order to bring in revenue for this story, I have to be
paid, are you people really gonna send me money? You're quite welcome to, just
if anyone asks, say it's charity, coz my story writing skills are next to nill
and I don't have enough common sense to realise that making fried ice cream is a
very dangerous and evil thing, no matter how good the restaurants make it taste.
Right wyse? (oh, Wyse has some excellent original stuff on ff.net which are
quite entertaining.) Um, is that about it? oh yeah, I'm broke, so don't sue me,
(another reason for charity).
PS: thanks again to lady fenix, who although is very busy, still takes the time
to edit my stuff. THANK YOU!
Anyhoo, I don't want to bore you to death, (to late). He he, so on with the
show. (and yes I realise this is as short as the very long prologue, oops,
you'll have to forgive me, this is my first fic, although that hardly counts as
an excuse :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The main Temple was hidden in a wide valley a few miles east of the palace.
Largest in Thelis and the most important, it housed the seven Prophets, over one
hundred priests, four young children and, for the next few months, the Queen
herself. 
The temple was made entirely of white marble, gold and glass. While containing
only one floor it had ceilings that reached up to seven meters high in the
Meditation and Prayer rooms. The massive windows were either stained, depicting
major historical events and such or completely clear, giving the person looking
out a breathtaking view of the gardens. It held the largest collection of rare
books on the planet as well as having the biggest and highest quality stock of
incense, scripture ink and burning oil. 
Like in all temples the Inner Square was located in the centre of the building
and was open to the sky, however it was not used solely for ceremonies and
stargazing, it was also a training area for the Chosen Ones.
The biggest difference however between this temple and others was the statues
sleeping in the largest room. They were the Prophets, seven souls trapped in
stone bodies who awoke only to give predictions and warnings, mostly the latter.
Very little was known about them except that they were ancient and very
powerful, nothing they said was ever ignored. 
The outside atmosphere was a mixture of peace and mysticism and everything was
in a haze. A small river streamed alongside the temple, while thousands of
Cherry Blossom trees surrounded the building. In the summer time, there was
always a warm and gentle breeze blowing which meant that no one ever managed to
enter or leave the sacred building without being covered with petals, even those
walking along the paths or in the training areas. 
If one stayed in the gardens for too long they would often find themselves in a
dreamlike state, not quite sleeping, but not quite awake either. Intoxicated by
the perfume of the millions of flowers covering the grass, they would start to
hear the soft laughter of the trees and glimpse tiny pink fairies drifting by,
swirling in the wind.
Normally the only loud sounds heard around the Temple would be those of the
children, crying, laughing or chattering. Other than that there would be the odd
murmuring of priests or the soft sound of their footsteps along the white
marbled tiles. But today the tranquillity was pierced by ear-aching screams as
the Queen gave birth to the heir of the Thelisian throne. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Majesty," Erode bowed low as he entered the Meditation room, his grey beard
touching the floor. 
King Akron had his back to him as he gazed at the mural on the left wall. "Have
you heard? I have a son, and a sturdy little lad it seems." He said turning.
"Congratulations Your Majesty," answered Erode offering a rare warm smile, "may
I ask how the Queen fares?"
"She is as well as can be expected. Right now she's asleep, as is Endymion."
"I take it that is the Prince's name?"
"It is. Come, sit with me." He said as he moved over to the central fireplace,
which currently was out. He sat himself down on one of the kneeling mats. 
"The people will be singing it in celebration tonight." Erode said as he joined
his liege. 
The King smiled at the thought, but then his mind turned to other matters and he
looked out the window.
"Majesty is something the matter?" his steel eyes never missing anything.
"Several things are troubling me Erode. Like my hand for instance." He lifted it
to show his High Priest. It was red and slightly swollen. "Who thought that one
so tiny and fragile could have a grip of steel?" He said amusedly.
"This was the Queen's doing?" Erode asked somewhat surprised.
"Hard to believe isn't it?" Akron smiled.
"I'll send for a physician to take a look at it, but I don't suppose that was
the reason you summoned me."
"No, it isn't." He turned to the window again, "I love them very much. It's
frightening almost. I've seen my son for no more than an hour and I feel as I
would die if something happened to him."
"Unfortunately Your Majesty your grief would not be allowed, you belong to
Thelis and cannot abandon it, no matter what the cost."
"I have had that drilled into my head since I was five," he said rolling his
eyes, "and besides, they are just fears. Things I can conquer eventually." He
looked over to Erode, "How are the little ones by the way?" 
"Eager to see the prince, Nick especially."
"He is a lively one, not as bad though as Jed, eh?" 
Erode smirked lightly, "He is...excitable"
Akron sighed, "Where do they get the energy? I'll never understand."
"You're making it seem like you're an old man! It doesn't reflect well on me,
I'm almost twice your age."
"You're doing well though, you're still as tyrannical as ever!" 
They both laughed heartily. 
Akron leaned toward Erode slightly. "But you see, something else confuses me.
These emotions, the way I feel towards my son, I would assume most parents feel
the same about their children, am I right?"
Erode looked at him confused.
"So what I don't understand is why on Gaya Jared's family is dead...I couldn't
imagine how they must've felt to lose him, but to lose them all? Nick's father
was in grief if I'm correct, and as for Senator Matthew, well his death
was...how can I put it? not a heavy loss. But why Jared's family? I have a
feeling you ar keeping something from me. "
The question came out of the blue and threw Erode back a little; it had been a
year since the Search.
"How long has this been troubling your Majesty?" he asked, slightly concerned.
"Not long, it was only a recent thought. Endymion has made me rethink a lot of
things." 
Erode was silent.
"If I didn't know you better, I would have passed it off for several good
explanations. But then I realised that your never told me what option they
took."
"I offered them the choice." He answered looking into the Akron's eyes, never
flinching.
"Ah yes," the King said nodding his head slowly, "I know that, but which one did
they pick?"
"Is it not obvious?" Erode answered simply.
"It wasn't before, but now it is." He sighed, "why Erode? Was destroying their
lives not ruthless enough for you?"
"I think you know why Majesty. They were a risk you didn't need, blocks may be
powerful but sometimes they are not enough. I spared two of the girls, they are
in one of the eastern temples, they had not formed a link and they were both
quite young, and hopefully in time the trauma of that night will cause them to
hide away those memories. I think you soft-heartedness is rubbing off on me." He
said with the faintest twitch of a smile, " but if they so much as mention Jed,
I will have them disposed of."
King Akron shook his head, "sometimes Erode I am truly frightened by your
loyalty. The lengths you will go just-"
"Are you questioning it?" asked Erode sharply.
The King smiled; very few people could stop him mid-sentence without receiving
severe punishment.
"No just marvelling at it."
"I live only to protect the Temple and the Royal Family. Nothing else."
"What of the people?"
"They are your responsibility, not mine."  He replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Akron laughed, "I pity little Jared."
"I am not sure whether or not to take offence."
The King patted him on the back, "Think of it as a compliment. They say children
learn the most within the first ten years of their lives, you will be with him
for half of that. If he does not go insane under your command, he will become an
incredible leader to the other three."
"Now there is another topic of discussion."
The king frowned, "How do you mean?"
"I don't think Jared was destined to be the High Commander."
"Oh?" the King asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He is most certainly a Chosen, but neither he, Nicholas nor Seth emit even half
the power Caius does."
"We made a mistake?" the king asked, frowning.
Erode nodded and looked out the window. "It was wrong for us to assume he would
be the highest ranked of the four just because I found him. It was a stupid
oversight on my part." 
"One though, we can thankfully correct." The King said reassuringly, "Now come,"
he said standing up, "I don't think you've been introduced to my son yet." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A year later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Long pwetty hair! Long pwetty hair!" chanted the little three-year-old.
"Seth, stop it." Isis commanded from her desk. He'd been at this all day.
"Why? I want long pwetty hair like Isisissy!" he crossed his arms and pouted.
"Seth you can't have long hair like Isisi-" she stopped to correct herself,
"Isis. I'm a lady, you're a boy. You don't want to be a girl do you?"
"EWWWWWWWW!!!!! I'M NOT A GIRL!!!!!!" he wrinkled his nose in disgust and shook
his head.
"You're right, you aren't," she mock gasped, "Silly me!" 'Finally' she thought
'I'm getting somewhere.'
Seth giggled "Yeah, silly Isisissy!" 
Not missing a beat she added, "And silly Seth for wanting girlie hair."
Seth stopped giggling and stared at her, taking in her words. After a moment he
continued his chant, "I want pwetty long hair! I want pwetty long hair!" Isis
dropped her head in exasperation; logic was never a big thing with children.
"Why on Gaya do you want long hair?"
"Isisissy hair is pwetty and I love Isisissy!" He scrambled onto her lap and
gave her a hug, his arms barley wrapping around her neck and tangling themselves
in a mass of navy waves.
The words hit her like a ton of bricks. She should have anticipated this. He
would naturally try to latch onto someone. He was a child. It didn't help that
she was female, the closest he would ever have to a mother. Isis pitied him. If
his affections for her grew too strong the block she had put on herself the
night of the Search would cut it off, leaving an empty space in his soul. At
least that was how Erode described it, and he would know, after all he was a
Chosen One himself.
"But I thought you loved the baby prince?"
"I love Neddy too! Neddy and Isisissy! I want long pwetty hair!" he jumped off
her lap and ran out the door still chanting. He had just made it into the hall
when he fell over onto the marble floor and burst into tears. Isis hurried over
to him and picked him up.
"Come on Seth, stop crying, it's ok" She cooed, "see? No boo-boos." 
His tears tuned to sniffles and hiccups. He inspected his hands and knees and
upon finding a sore area on the palm of his left hand, he promptly started
wailing again. "I'm bleeeeeding!" He cried out, "It hurt!"
"Calm down! You aren't bleeding. There isn't even a cut. It's only a little bit
red."
"Am I gonna die?" His eyes were wide a saucers and his lip trembled. 
Isis couldn't help but laugh, "No little one, you're going to be perfectly fine.
In fact, if you stop crying I might let you have a surprise for being so brave!"
she added with a gleam in her blue eyes.
He stopped immediately. "Pwomise?"
"Promise."
His eyes lit up "I want long pwetty hair!"
"Seth!"
"But Isisissy pwomised!" his lips started to wobble again.
"I was thinking more like an extra bowl of pudding at din-dins."
"I want that too!"
Isis shook her head, "You mustn't be greedy"
"OK then, I jus' want long pwetty hair like Isisissy."
"How about just pudding?"
"OK, choccy puddy too."
"No! You can only have one," She said sternly. 
Seth tilted his head in thought "Then I want long pwetty hair, no choccy puddy"
Isis started to speak but then stopped as she realised she had given him the
option to let his hair grow long and worse, he had taken it. She eyed him
suspiciously; she wouldn't have been surprised if he had set the whole thing up.
"You can start to grow you hair when you're five."
"How many dayses is that?"
"Days Seth. One day, two days, not dayses." She corrected.
The little boy looked utterly confused. Isis sighed; after all he was only three
years old.
"A hundred dayses" she answered. He had no concept of numbers over twenty and
saying over a thousand would probably give the impression it was an eternity.
"A HUNDRED!" He cried in despair. Okay maybe she should have used a smaller
figure.
"Yes Seth, now go play outside with Nick until I call you for din-dins."
"But that's so long!" He whined, unwilling to change the topic. 
"Seth, go!"
He huffed in defeat, "Awight."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All the priests were sitting at the communal dining tables, Erode at the head,
Isis and Opifex on his left and Isaacry on his right. The children had long gone
to bed; they ate early in the evening because it often took them over an hour
after being tucked in to fall asleep.
Giggling could be heard from down the hall, then a thump and then crying. Erode
made to get up but Opifex stopped him. "It's Nick crying, I'll go."
"It was Jared laughing, I'd recognise it anywhere."
"Erode, give him a break! He's a child!" Isis said as Opifex left. "I'm sure
whatever happened was an accident."
"He disobeyed me. That's all that counts." Erode rose again.
"Let Opifex check on them. If you start shouting and punishing, they'll get
scared. They'll never get to sleep then." Added Isaacry, his soft brown eyes
pleading.
Erode sat down and grumbled. "At least they'd be quiet." 
Isis smiled, "Obedience through fear?"
"And what's wrong with that? Would you let Seth be burned before you stopped him
playing with fire? Harsh as it may seem, they must always be prepared for the
consequences of their actions."
Isis rolled her eyes, "Knowing you, yes, that's exactly what you would do, you
would make sure he would set himself on fire, just to prove your point."
Erode flared his nostrils in aggravation.
"I think it's going to rain tomorrow," Isaacry started trying to dispel the
tension that was quickly building. Erode and Isis looked at him as if he gone
mad, "maybe even with a little bit of-" he was cut off by Opifex as returned.
"Well it was only a small thing," he said sitting back at the table, "Nick fell
off his bed, he's a bit excited about visiting the Prince again I think. Seth
and Jed are pretending to sleep and at the same time are trying to out-snore
each other. I believe Cai is the only one who really isn't awake." 
Isaacry laughed lightly as well as several other priests sitting nearby. Erode
simply humphed and tucked a piece of grey hair behind his ear.
They continued to eat in silence for some time. Faint whispers of conversation
by other priests could be heard.
"When will the boys start training?" Isis asked eventually.
"The day after Endymion's first birthday."
"But Erode, that's only in three weeks! Why didn't mention you this before?"
Isaacry cried out.
"You never asked."
"It'll be a relief, I feel Seth has been trying to link with me and I've been
worried about it."
"Still, you could've told us sometime sooner." Put in Opifex.
"Well now you have been told. Look on the bright side, we'll see them a lot less
frequently since they will be moving into the Palace and they'll be more
disciplined."
None of the other three smiled.
"It's not like we'll never see them again." Added Erode getting frustrated, "It
is still our sworn duty to have a hand in raising them until they reach the age
of five. That's still another two years, one for Caius."
"It won't be the same. You can't tell me you aren't going to miss them."
Erode looked sternly at Opifex, his temper flaring. "Our emotions don't matter.
The Chosen Ones are not here for our amusement. They must become the strongest
men in the entire planet; it is their destiny to protect the future King of
Thelis, dare you jeopardise the monarchy simply because of your selfishness?" 
Opifex stared down at his plate.
"He was only asking if you'll miss Jared," said Isaacry. He cast a knowing
glance at Isis, "I think you just answered the question." Isis tried to contain
her laughter.
Erode gave them both death glares and stormed off the table. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But I don't wanna live with Ednyphone!"
"Jared be quiet or I will make you. This must be absolutely perfect!" Erode
yelled at the boy.
"But-"
"Jed do not tempt me!"
Jared rolled his eyes and knelt on one knee again. Seth giggled but kept his
eyes downcast.
They were in the Inner Square rehearsing the Initiation Ceremony which would be
performed in front of the entire kingdom. Erode was in charge of organising it,
needless to say he intended it to be completely flawless, despite the fact the
children had trouble with words more than two syllables long. Even Caius was
stumbling with some of the sentences.
"Now again! From the top!"
Four groans of despair were heard. 
"Perhaps they could use a lunch break?" suggested Isaacry, "They might be able
to concentrate better once they've rested a little while."
Erode considered it for a moment then turned to the boys, "Fine, if you can get
through the entire speech without making a mistake, then we'll have a break. But
until then, Your Royal Highnesses..." He began, trailing off as the children
started reciting. They didn't have the energy to complain. 

By early evening Caius had pretty much memorised the whole speech. Seth and
Jared faltered in a few places but Nick had figured out that if he kept his head
very low, his face would be hidden enough so that no one could tell when he was
speaking or not.
"Alright, one more time and then you can have lunch."
"Don't you mean dinner?" asked Isis sarcastically, walking towards Erode. 
"Whatever, now hurry up! We have less than a week left to prepare and you
children haven't even tried it yet in full ceremonial dress!" He bellowed.
"Speaking of which, I've just come from the seamstress. She says their clothes
will be done by day after tomorrow." 
"I want to inspect them personally."
"Don't you trust my judgement?"
"No, not really." He smirked turning back to the boys.
Isis clenched her fists and stared at him hard, sometimes she could just...no,
she was a woman of the temple and would not resort to being so petty. She closed
her eyes and counted to ten, trying to concentrate on her breathing. She smiled
at the thought of landing her fist into his face...well there was no harm in
dreaming was there? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day had almost arrived. People everywhere were preparing for the celebration
of the Prince's first birthday and the unveiling of his future guardians. Food
stands were being set up and decorations were everywhere. Music was constantly
playing and of course there was an extremely high level of alcohol being spread
around.
At the temple however, everything was silent. It was the last chance the
children would be able to practice so all the priests had congregated into the
Inner Square to watch. 
Caius was the most finely dressed of the boys, and the most comical looking. He
was barely three feet high and yet wore a black cape twice that length. His robe
was richly decorated with gold lining and red swirls, long blue tassels were
found on every area imaginable causing him to trip constantly. On his head he
wore a thin silver crown which kept slipping down to his eyes. After several
futile attempts to secure it, Erode eventually decided to leave it off until the
actual ceremony where he would glue it on.
Nicholas wore a simple green cloak, topped with a magician's hat so small his
head looked big. Both items of clothing displayed images of stars and moons.
Jared was in the one most in pain as his purple tunic felt as if it had been
laced with itching powder. He had scratched his neck so hard in some places that
scabs started forming. However he was quite happy when he was given a small,
blunt dagger to wear on his belt. Unfortunately he kept playing with it and
almost managed to poke Erode's eye out at one point, needless to say Jared was
in a lot of trouble and thereafter, never touched the dagger again. 
The one who complained the most though was Seth; that was of course, once he had
started talking again. 
For the ceremony, all the boys had to have their heads shaven. Isis had wisely
kept Seth separate from the other children until it was his turn. When he
figured out what was going to happen, he ran out into the gardens and hid in one
of larger trees. Once they finally found him (it took the entire temple two
hours) three priests had to restrain him before they could even wet his hair.
Opifex realised, after he managed to lightly scrape the poor child's head and
stab his own hand, that it would be easier to do the deed while Seth was
sleeping. So they did. When Seth woke up he was practically in shock, it took
Isis some time to explain that his hair would grow back and just like she had
promised, once he was five years old, he'd never have to have it cut again. From
then on, Seth would ask every minute or so how long it was until he was five and
if his hair had come back. 
Seth was dressed in a fuchsia shirt and silver pants. On his ankle he wore a
golden bracelet that jingled every time he moved. At first he found it quite
amusing, but after about five minutes or so it started to drive him insane.
It jingled; he looked down 
"Stop it!" 
He shook his leg in frustration. 
Jingle jingle jingle. 
"Get away!" 
*Jingle* 
He stamped his foot.
*Jingle* 
He tried to pull it off. 
*Muffled jingling* 
"ARGH!" 
*Stamp* 
*Jingle* 
*Stamp* 
*Jingle* 
*Stamp stamp stamp* 
*Jingle jingle* 
*Crying* 
Isaacry tied a piece of string around the anklet so it was tight against Seth's
leg.
For the final touches each child had to wear a necklace. It consisted of a
rather large and unpolished rock hung on a fine silver chain (gold for Cai).
Each stone was different, Jared's was made of Jadeite, Seth's was Zoisite and
slightly smoother than the others. Cai's was Kunzite and Nick, which was a piece
of Nephrite, kept trying to eat his. 

The rehearsal went quite well. The only faults being the odd mispronunciation
and Caius getting up too early after the main speech. The priests clapped
encouragingly at the end which made the boys very embarrassed, except for Jared
who proceeded to dance around smiling at about a thousand kilowatts. Erode
started to scold him when Opifex suddenly got a vision. 
The Prophets were calling. They wanted to see the Chosen Ones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~