Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there were four towers which stood and watched over the land. They had once been known as symbols of prosperity and guidance, and yet that all changed on the night of the Eclipse.
It was as if reality itself had been torn asunder. Those who watched over the towers vanished without a trace, and in their places, the four kingdoms' princesses were chained. Great dragons came forth to watch over the maidens, preventing anyone from climbing the towers to free them.
With their princesses lost, the kingdoms fell into turmoil. A war erupted between them, leaving one in ruins and another twisted beyond recognition. The two which remained swore to end the conflict, and built their walls high to guard against the onslaught of the fourth kingdom - the mad kingdom. An uneasy peace settled across the land, and word of it soon reached the towers' lonely residents.
Believing that there was no other way to maintain the peace, the princesses suspended themselves in cages which prevented time from moving forward. With no other purpose or direction, the dragons continued their endless watch, waiting for their unseen destinies.
One night, a bright red star began to shine in the sky. It was soon joined by five others, and shards from those stars fell to the earth. One laid dormant, at the center of the circle marked by the four towers, and the others each found their way to humans - the chosen ones, which would put an end to the era of darkness once and for all.
The keys to unlocking the truth resided at the towers' pinnacles...
As the princess of the first kingdom slept in her timeless cage, she dreamed of the creature that held her captive. Upon her arrival, she had detested the odd-eyed beast, believing it to be responsible for all of her woes; however, her dreams told her a different story, an image painted in broad and unclear strokes by the dragon's own magic.
She learned that it had once resided in a distant land, hidden from the four kingdoms. It did not know how or why it had been placed here, only that it had been given a single order: to guard the tower from all intruders without exception. It asked her why she had come here, why it had to look after her, and she had no answers to its questions.
From there, she began to sympathize with her captor. It, too, was a prisoner of sorts, an innocent being who had been stolen from its home and tucked away within the walls of this tower. It didn't want to hurt people, really; it had a dream of its own, to make people smile and laugh, and in its current position, it could never hope to make that dream come true.
After all, it had learned the hard way that if it tried to defy its directive, its strength would wane and it would become helpless. The only thing it had now was the princess... and that was good, since it was the only thing she had, too.
She didn't know if her prayers would reach the heavens through her dreams, but she wished with all her heart that someone would come and free the both of them from their cage.
The princess of the second kingdom recalled clearly the vision that had been bestowed upon her when her home fell to ruin.
The image of her brother's distraught face flashed through her mind in her restless sleep, his hand futilely reaching out to her as the castle crumbled behind him. The fourth kingdom's betrayal had been so sudden that no one had time to prepare - armies dressed in deep blue and carrying weapons that dripped with poison stormed the capital, laying waste to everything in their path. Those who remained were eventually rescued by the forces of the other two kingdoms, which had been hostile until that point; however, the damage had been done, and the royal family had been all but snuffed out.
The dragon who watched over the princess spoke to her in her dreams, and she could feel its anger. It, too, had been whisked away from its home with no forewarning, and whoever imprisoned her had also laid a curse upon her guardian. No matter how it struggled, it could not leave this tower, and in every one of its thoughts, it wished bloody vengeance upon those who had done this.
Truly, the beast was terrifying, but the princess also knew that she was not alone. She did not share the dragon's lust for revenge, yet she could not bring herself to oppose its dark feelings; after all, she was sure her brother felt the same way, wherever he was now.
If a wish upon the stars was not enough, perhaps the lost prince's wrath would be...
The princess of the third kingdom dreamed first of her home, a realm that had narrowly escaped being lost to madness. Its ruler - her father - had saved the realm, but at a great cost; the people were split into two, and some remained outside the wall that protected the kingdom. Those outlanders fell into poverty, with only the barest of support from their king, and the strain between the two sides threatened to spark a new war within.
The princess' second dream was of the dragon that watched over her. It had not come here willingly, much the same as her; the land it came from had little knowledge of humans beyond their existence, and so it was more curious than anything. It wanted to know what being human was like, how humans lived their lives in their own kingdoms, and its enthusiasm was almost charming. If only it weren't keeping her prisoner, she thought - to which a glimmer of anger sparked in the beast's heart.
It reminded her then that it had never asked for any of this. It wanted nothing more than to break free from these walls, to soar the skies it loved without being restrained, and it sought to take her, its only friend, with it - to shatter her cage and her chains as well. Its freedom had been stolen from it, and once it reclaimed that freedom, it would bring an end to the divide between humans and dragons.
A childish dream, perhaps, but the princess wished with all her heart that it would come true. Perhaps then, the divides between humans could be dissolved, too - starting with the wall which hurt her people.
The fourth kingdom's princess did not dream of hope or stars or a bright future. She dreamed of madness, of an all-encompassing bloodlust that permeated the minds of every one of her realm's people; the king had started it by tapping into forces beyond anyone's comprehension, and then the wave of insanity had spread like wildfire. Through manipulation and subterfuge, the fourth kingdom had enticed the others into war with each other, and then took advantage of their tricks to lay waste to the second.
The monster who watched over the princess was no trapped benefactor, either. Even before her self-imposed stasis, it had watched her with hungry eyes, taunting her without spoken words; now, its power invaded her dreams, warping them to fit its own sick desires. She battled with the thing every day and every night, and she could feel her willpower waning with each clash.
Its venom seeped into her every thought, giving her a glimpse at the madness that had consumed her father. Though she was defiant, she could not fight forever, and her wish to the stars was for this ravenous creature to be destroyed - and for its master, whatever that was, to fall as well. She believed that only then could the land begin to heal, but in the meantime, she had a war of her own to wage.
The voice that answered her prayer was distant, yet warm. It spoke of salvation, of freedom, and that sparked her resolve anew. A thousand years would pass before she lost to this enemy, and she swore that on her life itself.
Truthfully, there was no point in living on if one's mind was corrupted beyond redemption...
The voice came to him in the depths of night, a song borne on quiet winds that he almost did not hear at first. Those around him had already fallen asleep, yet he had been restless all day; perhaps this was why, he thought to himself, as he strained to listen to that strange, unnatural sound.
Except, as the voice grew louder, he came to understand that it was natural - the voice of nature itself, calling upon him to rise against the darkness. He didn't much care for such things, as he had already claimed his rightful place in this world-
A star fell from the sky, and all at once, the world around him was enveloped in a blinding light. A searing pain burned across his arm, and when he could see again, he looked down at where the pain had been; a mark that had not been there before etched itself across his skin, glowing with a brilliant light, and he swore that the voice was louder now - clearer and more urgent.
The voice of nature told the risen traitor that he was destined for something far greater, something above even his grand station - and then, a second voice rang out, a sound that coursed through his veins like his blood. A voice of incredible power, like nothing he had ever felt or heard before, and he realized then that maybe there was no harm in following this destiny.
After all, he had always dreamed of standing at the top, and if that power were to become his, then no one could stand in his way, ever again.
It was a lonesome life in the forest, but the one whose magic had only caused others harm preferred it that way. She had her mentor, and she needed no one else - not her family that had abandoned her, nor her friends which had turned in fear from her when she showed what she was capable of. If they wished to call her a witch, then perhaps that was what she was.
Yet in the depths of the night, she heard something - someone - calling to her, muffled as if spoken underwater. The moment she stepped outside to see who it was, the world lit up, and so did her arm... in a flash of burning pain, as if someone had placed a hot brand on her skin, yet her clothes remained unscathed.
When the light faded, she pulled back her sleeve, and a jagged mark that glowed like a star had imprinted itself on her arm. She heard the voice clearly now, a warning that her current path would soon bring ruin to all she held dear, and she decided that there was no point in listening. After all, there was very little that she loved now, and who cared if it all vanished from the face of the earth?
The second voice was harder to ignore, a voice that sounded too much like her own - and yet it was different, similar to the voices of the flora that she communed with on a daily basis. It was a passionate, beautiful tone that weaved across her soul like vines, bringing to her a warmth that she hadn't felt in a long time.
Empathy, she realized. Whoever this was, they understood her well, and wished to fight by her side in the coming conflict. Yet she set aside this promise as well, and told herself that she was going to speak with her mentor come morning.
He would surely understand what had happened far better than her, and in all the time she'd known him, he had never been wrong with his predictions...
The voice came to her in a dream, a quiet whisper of despair and hope alike. It was a wonderful voice, but she couldn't hear it very well; she strained to listen, and as she did so, she felt as though she had fallen into a lucid dream.
She saw herself in a vast grassy field, with flowers of all colors blooming beneath her feet. The sun shone high in the sky, and yet an even brighter light followed - and so, too, did a pain in her arm that was brief yet intense. She glanced around her dreamscape, and then looked down at her arm, which now bore a glowing brand, every bit as remarkable as the world around her.
The voice spoke again, and this time, she could hear it as if whoever spoke was right next to her. It told her that the end of all things was on the horizon, but that if she rose up and fought, she could avert disaster and usher in a new era of hope and prosperity for all.
She was just a child, though. There was no way she had the strength to fight against the coming darkness... at least, that was what she thought, until a second voice draped over her like warm, soft wings. It told her that with the guidance of the dragons, she could overcome even the most terrible of obstacles with ease, and that she would not be alone on her journey - there were others like her, others that had been chosen by the stars to protect this world. If that was the case, then maybe following her destiny wouldn't be so bad, after all.
Lost in her dream as she was, she didn't notice that her brother had awakened from his own sleep due to the light that radiated from her.
It wasn't unusual for him to work well into the night, tweaking this or that on his favorite means of transportation. Due to the rarity of this technology, he didn't get much help, and what little he did was solely in the form of spare parts that he could use - yet he had worked for the past year on this project, determined to take back what he had lost.
The machine had not yet reached its perfect state, and every day that passed was another with the ache of a broken bond. Even if it was unfinished, he would have to take the first chance he got-
A star streaked through the sky, catching his attention for a moment before the world around him became enveloped in a pure, blinding light. His arm burned with the light's touch, and once he could see again, he witnessed a most peculiar glow from where that pain had blossomed; he rolled up his sleeve, damp with oil from his task, and saw a strange, angular shape imprinted on his skin, shining bright enough that he almost had to look away.
Then, a voice spoke to him, telling him that he had been chosen for a mission only he could accomplish. To bring together those who had rejected others, and unite the ones who had been chosen to usher in a new era... he was one of few who had the strength of heart for this task, and his own goal would already take him one step toward his new path.
He'd never been much for saving the world, but if his brother was another of the chosen ones, then he could play along for the time being. Besides, if he could help even one person on his journey - and that was what the second voice told him, a voice that swept through his heart like a powerful gale... or a shooting star.
There were three others besides him, and one who had not yet awakened. Their guides would arrive on wings like fire and wind, a blossoming flower and a guardian of all things sacred, and when the time came, the fifth would carry with them the fountain of life itself to banish the darkness for good. The first of those chosen was...
Yes, he knew that name. It was one that had pained him for the past two years, and now he had another reason to rebuild that burned bridge - one that neither of them could run from, no matter how hard they tried.