The light of the gas lamp flickered ominously as a cold gust of wind entered from the open window. Above the howling of breeze and the loud rustling of leaves, soft and distant gallops can be heard. The sound of the hooves stopped, followed shortly by the muffled sound of leather padded boots thumping against the stone floor. The sound of steps turned louder as it became closer and closer to the tower room. Soon enough, the heavy wooden door burst open and a plump, white-bearded man with bedraggled mane burst in.
'My lady,' the man stopped, trying to catch his breath. His face is red from exertion and there were beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. 'My lady, there was a letter. From the crows. Something bad has happened.'
A girl stood up from behind the gauze-like white curtains framing a majestic four poster. Her lithe, graceful figure rose like a cloud separating itself from the sky. She stepped from the dark and the dying flames from the fireplace threw light on her small, perfect, heart-shaped face. Her dark brown hair was tied in a thick braid that fell on her right shoulder. Her beautiful light-brown eyes were alight with worry and her angelic face was slightly creased into a frown.
'What is it, Auguste? What is the news you bear for me?'
'Lady Chloe. The saggitus stellum. It has been stolen. The guards of the labyrinth found its pedestal empty a couple of hours ago.' The man unconsciously gripped a rolled parchment on his hand. The force he applied seemed to have made him aware of what he was holding and he immediately handed it to Chloe.
Chloe clapped her hand against her lips, a soft cry of mixed shock and fear coming out of her. She immediately grabbed the letter, unrolled it, and went towards her window to read the text using the light of the moon.
'Oh heavens. This could not be happening. This…this can ruin everything. Our existence. Our very world,' she whispered harshly to the night in fear. 'The kingdoms, have they reacted to this, Auguste?' she whipped around to face her advisor who has proceeded into twisting his hat furiously with his hands.
'Not yet, my lady. As of time this is the only letter that the crows have delivered to the temple.'
Chloe shook her head. Her face fell into a deeper frown.
'But my lady, isn't that good news? They may not have heard of the situation yet,' Auguste asked in a strained voice. He seems to be convincing himself instead of asking aloud.
'No. All kingdoms have their own messengers. They might have known about the news earlier than us. The fact that we haven't received letters yet is an ominous sign,' she faced the window again and looked over the land, sea, and mountains that she can see from her tower room. 'This means that they are thinking carefully about the content of the letter they are bound to send to us.'
'What does that mean, my lady?'
Chloe gripped the windowsill, her knuckles turning white and pale with the force she was using.
'It means there may be war brewing among the empires, Auguste. A great battle is bound to befall us.'
'Madelaine, your cup of tea.' Porcelain clinked musically with wood. Madelaine looked over her book at the gray-haired man standing over her.
'Thank you, Percival. I was just about to request for one,' she tugged at the book's string and marked the current page she was in before putting it down. Her advisor peered at the title and chuckled.
'Reading about the seven kingdoms again, I see.'
Maddy blushed a little and sipped on her tea. 'Yes, I need to do as much reading as I can, being new to this regent thing and all. I want to be a good queen,' she put down her cup and looked at the lands beyond the open window. 'I'm afraid our kingdom is well behind the others and I don't want it to stay that way.'
Percival pulled back a chair and swished his long flowing robes before sitting regally. 'I assure you, your highness, that Arcana is not as left behind as you fear it is. And as for your other point, I'll say it out again as many times as I can. Our people cannot ask for a better queen than you.'
Maddy sighed and trained her dark-brown orbs at the elderly man before her. He has always been more than her advisor. He was her mentor, the person she treats as close to a father. 'Thank you, Percival. Of course, these books are still no better than you as a story-teller.'
He laughed good naturedly. 'Knowing things is one of the rather few gifts old age has given me.'
'Can you please tell me the story again?' she turned her body a little forward, her stance making her look like a child waiting for a special treat.
'But you've heard it more than a hundred times already,' her advisor widened his eyes in playful surprise.
'It never gets old,' Maddy smiled cheekily and nodded for him to start. Percival sighed and clasped his hands together, preparing himself to tell a story that gave birth to the world as we know it.
Hundreds of years ago, our world was divided into two races. There were the mortals and the ethereals. The mortals have the gift of knowledge and vitality while the ethereals were provided long life and the ability to yield magic. Both race lived in harmony for a long time until jealousy caused their peaceful bond to crack. The mortals wanted to have the power the ethereals have while the latter desired to claim the vitality of life that they cannot enjoy because of their long years of living. Blinded by their lust for the things that they cannot possess, a war broke that nearly tore not just our world but our very universe to pieces.
The war raged for years and both races almost dwindled to near extinction. Just when all creatures were about to be wiped out, a miracle happened: A mortal man and an ethereal woman fell in love with each other. Being descendants of the two warring races, the lovers had no choice but to flee. Time was not kind to them. War was widespread on almost every part of the earth and they were left with no place to stay. One rainy night, they decided to finally pave their way to the sole path that both mortal and ethereal have never stepped on before.
Believed to be the place that the spirits of the universe has claimed on earth, no soul has ever dared to go there since the dawn of time. Simply wishing to die together rather than being caught up on the battle between their races, the lovers decided to go there to have the spirits give them their peaceful death.
However, it was surprise that greeted them when they reached the place. It was different from what their people believed. The lands were rich and fertile instead of being covered by the bones of the dead the spirits have judged to the afterlife. As they walked the lush lands hand in hand, a force suddenly enveloped them, and they were brought to the spirits that govern the universe. Suspended in time and space with only stars and beautiful colored gases surrounding them, they heard voices speak not to their ears but directly to their hearts.
Seeing how true the love between the two is, the spirits of the universe believed that the couple is the hope for the new beginning that the world needs. The two were granted the blessing to start anew on their very own land, safe from all harm and threat in the warring world. When the time comes, their children will be brought back to the lands they've escaped from and be tasked to bring back order to the people who will survive the war.
The two lived happily in their very own piece of heaven and it was no time until the woman was with child. She gave birth to seven beautiful females, all special and powerful in their own different ways. Years passed and the children grew to become formidable young women. Their parents, knowing their destinies, knew it was time to go back and heal the world they have left behind.
Gaining control and order over the few thousands of people who survived the war was not easy for the seven. There were those who questioned and threatened them but they've succeeded over the quest with the help of each other and the special powers granted to them by their lineage and the universe itself. In a couple of years, they were able to recreate an empire where both mortal and ethereal lived together in quiet.
Time passed and the seven finally felt the pressure of having to rule over one kingdom together. There were clashing of ideas and desires and disagreements soon broke loose within their royal rank. Knowing that their individual ideals can wreck war on the world they've worked so hard to build, they decided to split the lands into seven kingdoms and became the ruler of each.
Seeing how the seven persevered to keep the world from teetering into the brink of destruction once again, the spirits of the universe granted them their second blessing. Each was given regal symbols to which they can get the power to rule their own empires. The Queen of the North became the Black Jaguar, the West the Blue Eagle, South the Red Hare, and the East the White Snake. The one who ruled the lands not within the reach of power of the Northern and Eastern Queens became the Silver Falcon and the queen who took over the untouched areas of the Western and Southern Queens took over the role of the Gold Hummingbird. The youngest of them all, being the one who love peace the most refused to take any territory. Instead, she was given the role of the ruler of the center of all directions and became the Bronze Deer.
Knowing that there will be times when the powerful queens will also be challenged by the world with its bitter trials, the spirits of the universe also granted each four knights who will protect and help them with their goals. These knights possess powers of their own, given to them as weapons to yield only for the interests of their queens. Without their ruler, they will not gain proper access to these abilities. A formidable amount of the Queens' abilities were also locked away without them. Each knight will come from the greatest clans of the present time and shall promise allegiance to their dominion alone. Lastly, the Queens were given a compass which will both serve as a symbol of their commitment to their kingdoms and to each other. The compass is a highly magical and powerful device, being the capsule that contains the powers of each ruler. In times when a great darkness threatens mankind, it will be unleashed to annihilate any enemy it was aimed to. The compass was given to the youngest, the Bronze Deer who rules the center of the directions and was the mediator of all kingdoms.
Centuries passed and the descendants of the seven took over the thrones. To keep their lineage and their magical blood from thinning, the queens coupled mostly with their knights whose races are also blessed by the spirits. Being half-mortal and half-ethereal, all members of the royal families and line of knights were granted with long lives and unmatched knowledge which helped them make their own kingdoms flourish.
But time proved to be mischievous for history decided to repeat itself again. One of the queens was corrupted with the desire to yield more power than she was allowed to have. One dreadful night, she decided to steal the compass with the help of her knights. Blinded and consumed by the power of the weapon, she announced war against the other unsuspecting regents and wrecked havoc on their kingdoms. The six other queens decided to come together to fight against her but the damage that their corrupted sister has already done was almost beyond repair. The six kingdoms almost died in the war and for the first time since many many years, the once undefeated rulers did not know what to do. All were desperate to save their own domains, and their individual dilemmas ate away at their already weak bond with the other regents. They all knew that the only way to save their kingdoms was to use their own powers against each other, giving birth to a new and larger battle. Sister turned on sister, each bent to lord over the other regents, with the exception of the Deer who still remained neutral.
The Deer, seeing that the battle is slowly destroying the world the first queens have all worked to build finally decided to call upon the spirits to help save them all. The spirits were adamant at first, disappointed of the fact that the descendants of the children they blessed in the past have let themselves be affected by their selfish and worldly desires. However, seeing that hope is still not lost with one ruler still on the right path, the forces of the universe have again decided to aid their help. They took back the powers that the queens were born with, rendering them incapable of effectively fighting each other. They also took back the compass from its current holder and reinstated it again at the temple of the Bronze Deer for protection. Nevertheless, the queens were all forced to leave their battles unfinished and were reduced to being plain individuals devoid of any power.
After securing the safety of the compass, the spirits left their message to the seven.
'Your insolence and selfish whims have turned the world unbalanced yet again. As punishment, your future descendants will not wield the same power both you and your ancestors were blessed at birth. For a century, your children will live as normal regents. The abilities of your line shall only be granted once again after a hundred years. The search for power will also not be easy on your descendants. They shall strive to gain and hone their abilities originally promised to their lineage. The compass you've all desired shall also turn into a double-edged sword. The moment any of your descendants decide to wage war against each, it shall train its powers upon you, wiping you all from the face of this world. It is inequality that you want and it is inequality that you shall get. And this will be the last time that we will save you from yourselves.'
With a flash of light a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun, all trace of the spirits of the universe vanished from the earth, never to be seen again.
And so years and years passed by. Queens took over the seven thrones but they were as plain as the average milkmaid, devoid of special powers their ancestors once had. All kingdoms struggled to build itself again. Their once allegiance to each other was never rebuilt and their co-existence stayed strained and forced. Some kingdoms rose to power while others struggled. Things made a turn for the worse when the turn of the century came and the generation of queens who were promised to have access to their lineage's powers once more were born. Competition brewed among the kingdoms again though the antagonism was kept under check out of their fear of the curse of the spirits. The compass stopped them from doing drastic moves to conquer each other though animosity continued to bubble underneath the surface. It is this strained peace that we are suffering until now.
'And this is the story behind all seven kingdoms which have been left teetering on the thin line between peace and war for many years now. This is the story of your ancestors, Madelaine. '
'And it is a story that is bound to repeat itself again if we do not do something about it.'