Prologue ~ "All the World's a Stage"
There once was a world, a long time ago, where people dwelled in the sky. There was this one island, almost an idyllic paradise called Serathlia. The people on Serathlia were a magical people, befitting the land: They could cast all sorts of magics, and sprouted wings in times of need or want that suited the person's personality or power. (A.F.: We'll see later that, for example, Eikre gets eagle wings, while Nova get's Phoenix wings.) And they had built their society around this.
And, of course, greed being a part of mortal life, they were attacked more than a few times. After the last attack, a solution was reached. Only the pure of heart could ever find Serathlia, and they became isolated from the rest of the world.
Try as you might, one constant in the world is that peace never lasts, much to our dismay. The longer lasting the peace, the more spectacular the rapture. Trust me, here, things are going to get explosive. Now, pay some attention. Important plot points ahead, and we spent forever on getting the special effects just right.
--V--T--
"Status report!" shouted the Queen, a clean cut regal figure, with just-as-royal-purple hair slightly disheveled and frazzled looking around her head. She and her few advisors stood around a large circular table with the middle cut out to show a magical rendition of the city as it is now. Or course, ths, there were parts of the city crumbling, and others on fire, and flying ships and boats unloading more of the assailants doing the damage.
Her answer came from a small man, dressed in alternating darkest black and brightest white, with hair to match. "Milady, to put it simply, we are losing, and badly. However, the warpath they are taking is going straight to us here in the palace." And he pointed this out with two fingers, adorned with a black and white ring on each finger, where the fires and destruction seemed to be in a few straight lines heading to the crystalline palace in the middle of the island's representation, at the base of a mountain range. And the fires were getting pretty damn close.(A.F.: The island is indeed almost circular, and the mountain range creates a waxing moon shape in the back.)
"At the very least, I think you should evacuate, milady." Spoke another voice, a militant figure with the professional look of a military officer, Adorned in blue, gleaming chainmail, with plate covering the more vital spots.
There was a murmur of consensus that was silenced immediately when the Queen announced, "That would be a great idea, if it weren't for the fact I'm holding them off, so you all can get away safely." She looked at the stunned group of faces gathered around her, and smiled, "I can tell by your silence that you agree. Now, Gemini and Lorelei, please get the kids. And do try to keep them quiet without force."
As the two previously described people left, (A.F. Duh, I described the black and white guy, and miss-I-look-sexy-in-a-suit-of-armor) the other three began to voice their concern for their Queen, who held up a hand to silence them again. She put on the same sweet voice she had previously used to say, "No matter what you all say, I'm still going to help our beleaguered soldiers. I think our assailants are here for me, and if they get me, maybe they'll let you live longer. It's the least I can do to pay back Serathlia.
At that moment, Gemini and Loreli came back, carrying three sleeping kids between them. "Ah good," the Queen commented, "Now, as you all know, there's a hallow in the middle of the island. Wait there for a while, and do what you have to do."
Chapter One ~ "Double Eclipse"
"Mom!" shouted a boy, as he woke up from the dream. His shock of silvery white hair stuck to his sweaty face, (and the waist-length rat-tail stuck to his back) and his sky-blue eyes looked at the fading images of the dream with a fearful look at the last time the Queen was seen by her subjects and family. "Get a hold of yourself, Eikre," he said to himself as he pulled himself out of bed faster than almost any other teenager thought possible. Filling the closest bowl he grabbed with cold water he dumped it over his head, sighing with relief as the liquid purged the thoughts from his head.
"Can't sleep little brother?" came a voice from behind him, sweet as only a sister could manage.
"Not anymore," responded Eikre as he dried his hair off with a rag, "and I'm pretty sure if we're part of a triplet set, we're not older or younger than one another." Smiling at his sister, he noticed, sonehow, her tall and slight frame held a positive image early in the morning. Haloed by a mantle of raven-streak-platinum-blonde hair, her own sky-coloured eyes the same as Eikre's own, much as the rest of her was. "I'm pretty sure I don't have to recount that dream again."
Juno narrowed her eyes at him, and said softly, "I think you know just as well as I do we all had the same dream."
A third voice joined the chorus, "And then I suppose it brings up the next question; does the blind boy 'see' the dream too?" A third sibling, the finish to the triplet, stood beyond Juno in the small hall of their abode. He had the same tall and skinny build, and the same sky-blue eyes, but his hair was a simple shoulder-length mop of jet-black hair.
"So you're warming up to our sight jokes, eh, Vanyel?" asked Eikre with innocence falsely place, "I thought you'd never stand another one."
Before something happened between the brothers, Juno mediated, "Rather than argue about the state of each other's senses, how about we try and figure out what this means. And don't tell me you think it's a coincidence either. If two of us had the same dream, then maybe I'd brush it off, but if all three of us have the same dream, all at the same time, I'm just more than a little suspicious."
Eikre answer calmly, "We could do all the speculations you want, but if we never went out..." he paused, and Vanyel finished for him, "We'd never find out, would we?"
"Oh yeah," Juno said, using her turn to be sarcastic, "We'd definitely find something or someone while everyone who'd wish us harm would be hunting us within an inch of our lives."
"Don't be such a downer Juno." Eikre said as he pulled a light-blue tunic on over his head, and a pair of khaki-grey cargo-pants. Fixing a blackened, yet ornate breastplate to his chest with the words "Mortals take flight, the sky is not the limit" in large script on the back, he spoke with a mixture of sadness and hope, "We've known for a while Mom was alive. Now we have reason and hope to go find her ourselves."
Already dressed in her own kimono, the purple-embossed-navy-blue garment was cut short around mid-thigh, and her right elbow was gone completely, along with the entirety of her left arm, she fixed it by wearing a prismatic chainmail underneath, and mid-thigh-high boots, she simply left the area, going around the corner of the hall, and down a level.
Vanyel, not caring to much for his appearance, (After all, he couldn't see it,) had changed into a white long-sleeved shirt, with a green short-sleeved pea-coat overtop (A.F.: A pea-coat is basically a trench coat without the long bit covering the legs.), and simple pair of acid-washed denim jeans. He asked Eikre, "Do you think Lorelei and Gemini are gonna go with it?"
Eikre walked out, and gave Vanyel a physical signal of where to follow Juno to. Walking down a level in the empty complex they used for an HQ for their as-of-yet-unnamed group, the found Juno sitting in their "common room" with Gemini and Lorelei, both of whom had been with the Triplets since the event all those years ago that the dream had covered.
Oh, wait, you want an account of what happened in those years? Wait a bit, it's coming. Gemini spoke to the guys first, with a joke first thing, "How'd a couple of guys get beat by a girl coming down and getting dressed?"
"Nevermind him," Lorelei piped in, "Juno tells me you have another hare-brained scheme. So tell us, oh fearless leader, what do you have planned?"
The "fearless leader" replied without missing a beat, "I would like to check up on three main locales...or, really, not as main. The first would be the center of the island." Eikre surveyed the expressions of the group. No real surprises, they were all waiting to hear the rest before passing judgement, "Second would be in the back alleys of the slums, in the shadier areas and groups. Third would be in the Dar'Nell palace itself. (A.F. There's only one palace, and we already know where it is. Put two and two together, will ya?)"
--V--T--
[[Done for tonight. I'm getting tired. Update again tomorrow.]]
