(This is a prelude to the upcoming mission idea I wish to create)
The call seemed urgent when Zachary got the letter as he and his friends had gathered and had a means to come to the Celestial Realm-- or rather space where they could meet with others of their realm. Thanks to the aid of Arcadia and another Celestial Wizard, they were given passage. As he stepped through the portal, his companion, Hope the Star Fairy remained seated in the hood of Zachary's jacket. On his shoulder was Ruby-- aka, Ruby Carbuncle. However, what he didn't expect with him as he entered the Celestial World-- his spirits followed. All of them, and not in their familiar forms. Their larger forms. While in their actual world, they could remain themselves without the risk or needing to take smaller forms and staying close to Zachary.
The celestial realm was a strange mix of terrestrial ground, roads, stars and spaces where the sky seemed to meld into the terrain. It was fantastical, and yet calming as Zachary saw small planetoids float around in the sky like islands, fascinating him.
"Let's go," a gruff voice spoke-- soon Zachary turned to find out it belonged to Leo. The lion, still in his preferred form of an anthro white lion with tribal gear stood beside him. He was the one who led them towards there they would meet with the person responsible for calling upon them.
Leo led Zachary and his other spirits down a long widing path through a field of stars that continued to mesmerize Zachary and Hope both as they followed the white lion. He soon brought them to a large temple like something out of ancient Rome-- majestic and towering before them. Once there, Leo led them up a series of stairs where his spirits followed-- to a platform of magic light, capable of holding t hem all as they stopped.
"Um... who are we waiting for?" Zachary asked Leo.
Leo didn't turn to him but kept his gaze forward. "Just be patient. He will show soon enough." the lion replied curtly.
Zachary rocked on his heels as he waited-- and soon the sky began to shimmer. As if the stars themselves collected to form it-- a massively tall creature came into being before them, revealing a large figure, bathed in starlight, marked by armor, a cape, a helm-- and a massive mustache that stuck out from his face.
Upon seeing him, the other spirits either knelt down or bowed their heads to him. It was the king of the spirit world-- the Celestial Spirit King himself. Zachary was still fascinated by him, looking up at him in wonder.
It wasn't long before Leo noticed and he gave a growl to Zachary. Realizing his error, Zachary bowed deeply-- almost dislodging Hope from his hood in the process. "Y-your highness!" Zachary corrected, "It's an honor to meet you-- sir. I mean , your majesty! I mean..."
The king gave a soft chuckle as he was amused by the human. "You may all be at ease. There is no reason for formality in a time like this. Forgive these summons, but you young human-- I felt you would be a good means to discuss what is happening. NOt only are you a capable Celestial Wizard, but you also champion our spirits. Your deeds have not been ignored. So... we felt you could be of help prevent this disaster." the Celestial Spirit King said.
Zachary rose up and looked to the king, Hope fluttering beside him as the other spirits waited patiently. "O-f course, sir!" Zachary said respectfully to the king. "I'll do anything I can to help you prevent this disaster. "
The king nodded in thanks. "Now to the reason why you are here, young human. It had come to my awareness that you had a gift to aid you in this. You have a specfic... insight, that allows you to perceive worlds beyond your own."
Zachary cast his gaze away from the king for a moment, embarrassed. "You're referring to the Stargazer eyes?" he asked, "It's not something I specifically have been able to make heads or tails of. Its not exactly consistent or easy to control."
"Be that as it may," the king said, "It will be necessary to see the world where the spirits have come from that had declared war upon us."
It was then that Zachary heard the flapping of wings. Nearby-- he saw his owl spirit, Prof. Nyx , flutter down-- to which Hope gave a happy squeak at the flying white owl in joy. "Zachary, are you aware of the Midian Zodiac?" Nyx asked.
Zachary blinked at his owl spirit-- now speaking on behalf of the Celestial Spirit King. "Um... kind of. Midian culture have a set of Zodiac animals representing different years and constellations of their own in the sky, right?" he asked.
The Celestial Spirit King nodded, confirming Zachary's information. "Indeed... however, they are not mere fables or reitterations-- they are seperate spirits in their own right, of their own realm." the king explained.
"What? Really? There are more than the Celestial Spirits here?" Zachary asked, genuinely surprised by that.
"Professor Noctura, could you explain to your student?" the king asked.
The owl gave a soft hoot and unfurled her scroll she kept in her talon. The scroll came to life and flew up beside her-- like a chalkboard as a diagram began to appear of a an oval-- with a night sky above. Zachary listened carefully as he took Hope out of the air and held him in his arms-- while Ruby rested on his shoulder and the other spirits with him watched patiently.
"Ahem," Nyx began with a movement of her wing, "As you know-- this is earthland," she said and pointed to the oval. "The earth on which we call the terrestrial world. Above is the stars, planets and other realms that exist beyond it. However-- that isn't the Celestial World we are in now." With her words, she made a small cross of her wing-- to draw an arching line over the oval that represented Earthland. "The celestial world is an intangible, unseeable or transversal layer of reality that roughly exists between the two. This 'layer' we shall call it, represents the physical realm which we live in and the magic that exists there and we depend on. However, what is not known is that we are not the only spirits who dwell in the heavens. Those outside the scope of the Fiorian and Eastern constellations. And as such..."
In further movements, the owl drew more arching lines one on top of the other, almost to make a rainbow of lines dividing the earth and the stars.
"There are other realms. Other worlds these spirits live in, right?" Zachary concluded before his teacher could.
The owl gave an affirmative hoot and bobbed her head.
"Normally, these worlds are as divisible and apart as nations or even continents-- but not impossible to cross over," The Celestial Spirit King spoke up, continuing the briefing. "As such, we received the declaration of war from our 'neighbors' and we wish to diffuse this situation with post haste. Powerful as we are, none of us desire a war over the heavens."
"But what do they even want?" Zachary asked, now growing concern that the topic went back to the topic of war.
"While the worlds of the stars are shared-- the magic that governs them is not. Just like us, these spirits draw power from the Stars. Some of them are not happy we have ascended to become capable of being far stronger than others," The king said matter-of-factly, "They would occupy our world, and take the magic that the stars govern."
"You mean like Leo-- how those of the Golden Zodiac thrones can have exclusive access to a single star's magic-- while other spirits usually share from the surrounding ones, " Zachary explained, "Am I correct on that?"
The king nodded, confirming Zachary's hypothesis. "This is a serious matter, one that I fear mere words or devotion will not stop. These spirits harbored a grudge with us for some time. We need you to act as an intermediary between them. For better or worse, it would be important that a human would go to try and see if peace is possible-- or if not, to quell this war before it begins."
WC: 1396
The call seemed urgent when Zachary got the letter as he and his friends had gathered and had a means to come to the Celestial Realm-- or rather space where they could meet with others of their realm. Thanks to the aid of Arcadia and another Celestial Wizard, they were given passage. As he stepped through the portal, his companion, Hope the Star Fairy remained seated in the hood of Zachary's jacket. On his shoulder was Ruby-- aka, Ruby Carbuncle. However, what he didn't expect with him as he entered the Celestial World-- his spirits followed. All of them, and not in their familiar forms. Their larger forms. While in their actual world, they could remain themselves without the risk or needing to take smaller forms and staying close to Zachary.
The celestial realm was a strange mix of terrestrial ground, roads, stars and spaces where the sky seemed to meld into the terrain. It was fantastical, and yet calming as Zachary saw small planetoids float around in the sky like islands, fascinating him.
"Let's go," a gruff voice spoke-- soon Zachary turned to find out it belonged to Leo. The lion, still in his preferred form of an anthro white lion with tribal gear stood beside him. He was the one who led them towards there they would meet with the person responsible for calling upon them.
Leo led Zachary and his other spirits down a long widing path through a field of stars that continued to mesmerize Zachary and Hope both as they followed the white lion. He soon brought them to a large temple like something out of ancient Rome-- majestic and towering before them. Once there, Leo led them up a series of stairs where his spirits followed-- to a platform of magic light, capable of holding t hem all as they stopped.
"Um... who are we waiting for?" Zachary asked Leo.
Leo didn't turn to him but kept his gaze forward. "Just be patient. He will show soon enough." the lion replied curtly.
Zachary rocked on his heels as he waited-- and soon the sky began to shimmer. As if the stars themselves collected to form it-- a massively tall creature came into being before them, revealing a large figure, bathed in starlight, marked by armor, a cape, a helm-- and a massive mustache that stuck out from his face.
Upon seeing him, the other spirits either knelt down or bowed their heads to him. It was the king of the spirit world-- the Celestial Spirit King himself. Zachary was still fascinated by him, looking up at him in wonder.
It wasn't long before Leo noticed and he gave a growl to Zachary. Realizing his error, Zachary bowed deeply-- almost dislodging Hope from his hood in the process. "Y-your highness!" Zachary corrected, "It's an honor to meet you-- sir. I mean , your majesty! I mean..."
The king gave a soft chuckle as he was amused by the human. "You may all be at ease. There is no reason for formality in a time like this. Forgive these summons, but you young human-- I felt you would be a good means to discuss what is happening. NOt only are you a capable Celestial Wizard, but you also champion our spirits. Your deeds have not been ignored. So... we felt you could be of help prevent this disaster." the Celestial Spirit King said.
Zachary rose up and looked to the king, Hope fluttering beside him as the other spirits waited patiently. "O-f course, sir!" Zachary said respectfully to the king. "I'll do anything I can to help you prevent this disaster. "
The king nodded in thanks. "Now to the reason why you are here, young human. It had come to my awareness that you had a gift to aid you in this. You have a specfic... insight, that allows you to perceive worlds beyond your own."
Zachary cast his gaze away from the king for a moment, embarrassed. "You're referring to the Stargazer eyes?" he asked, "It's not something I specifically have been able to make heads or tails of. Its not exactly consistent or easy to control."
"Be that as it may," the king said, "It will be necessary to see the world where the spirits have come from that had declared war upon us."
It was then that Zachary heard the flapping of wings. Nearby-- he saw his owl spirit, Prof. Nyx , flutter down-- to which Hope gave a happy squeak at the flying white owl in joy. "Zachary, are you aware of the Midian Zodiac?" Nyx asked.
Zachary blinked at his owl spirit-- now speaking on behalf of the Celestial Spirit King. "Um... kind of. Midian culture have a set of Zodiac animals representing different years and constellations of their own in the sky, right?" he asked.
The Celestial Spirit King nodded, confirming Zachary's information. "Indeed... however, they are not mere fables or reitterations-- they are seperate spirits in their own right, of their own realm." the king explained.
"What? Really? There are more than the Celestial Spirits here?" Zachary asked, genuinely surprised by that.
"Professor Noctura, could you explain to your student?" the king asked.
The owl gave a soft hoot and unfurled her scroll she kept in her talon. The scroll came to life and flew up beside her-- like a chalkboard as a diagram began to appear of a an oval-- with a night sky above. Zachary listened carefully as he took Hope out of the air and held him in his arms-- while Ruby rested on his shoulder and the other spirits with him watched patiently.
"Ahem," Nyx began with a movement of her wing, "As you know-- this is earthland," she said and pointed to the oval. "The earth on which we call the terrestrial world. Above is the stars, planets and other realms that exist beyond it. However-- that isn't the Celestial World we are in now." With her words, she made a small cross of her wing-- to draw an arching line over the oval that represented Earthland. "The celestial world is an intangible, unseeable or transversal layer of reality that roughly exists between the two. This 'layer' we shall call it, represents the physical realm which we live in and the magic that exists there and we depend on. However, what is not known is that we are not the only spirits who dwell in the heavens. Those outside the scope of the Fiorian and Eastern constellations. And as such..."
In further movements, the owl drew more arching lines one on top of the other, almost to make a rainbow of lines dividing the earth and the stars.
"There are other realms. Other worlds these spirits live in, right?" Zachary concluded before his teacher could.
The owl gave an affirmative hoot and bobbed her head.
"Normally, these worlds are as divisible and apart as nations or even continents-- but not impossible to cross over," The Celestial Spirit King spoke up, continuing the briefing. "As such, we received the declaration of war from our 'neighbors' and we wish to diffuse this situation with post haste. Powerful as we are, none of us desire a war over the heavens."
"But what do they even want?" Zachary asked, now growing concern that the topic went back to the topic of war.
"While the worlds of the stars are shared-- the magic that governs them is not. Just like us, these spirits draw power from the Stars. Some of them are not happy we have ascended to become capable of being far stronger than others," The king said matter-of-factly, "They would occupy our world, and take the magic that the stars govern."
"You mean like Leo-- how those of the Golden Zodiac thrones can have exclusive access to a single star's magic-- while other spirits usually share from the surrounding ones, " Zachary explained, "Am I correct on that?"
The king nodded, confirming Zachary's hypothesis. "This is a serious matter, one that I fear mere words or devotion will not stop. These spirits harbored a grudge with us for some time. We need you to act as an intermediary between them. For better or worse, it would be important that a human would go to try and see if peace is possible-- or if not, to quell this war before it begins."
WC: 1396
