As Fate Decides- Chapter 1

Creation- 459 AD

It was a damp morning that day in Ancient Rome. A Chinese silk trader wheeled his cart into town. He was short, bald, and wearing dark red robes. He set up shop in a large marketplace. Very few people purchased any silk all day, so he decided to pack up and stay at a local Inn. Before he could, however, a man, dressed in dark violet robes, approached him. He was very tall, indeed, and had brown hair. The silk trader needed the business, so he asked, “How may I help you, sir?”
“I would, obviously, need silk. I’ll give two hundred Roman coins for an arm’s length of it,” he replied.
“Most certainly,” said the silk trader. He handed the man an arm’s length sheet of silk. As the man dug in his pockets for the money, the silk trader noticed a cylindrical object fall out. It was completely covered in jewels, and roughly as wide as a Roman Coin. “May I ask what that is?” He inquired.
“Oh. Well, do you really want to know?” he asked in return.
“Yes.”
“Truly?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then come to my house now. I’ll wait until you pack up. Hurry!”
“Well...,”he said. He had nothing to go back to in China, and he had no life here. It didn’t matter if this man was a murderer, or burglar, or something worse. He had nothing to lose, so why not? “I’ll be packed up in ten minutes.”
Ten minutes later, they were off. After about twenty minutes of walking, they reached his house. It was night now, and a chill was sweeping the Roman air. “Let’s go inside,” the man said.
They walked in. His house was not ostentatious, yet not frugal or plain. He motioned for him to sit in a chair to the right of them. He took out the object that had brought them there in the first place. “This,” he said, “is a way of reaching inner powers not yet known. It will change the world, and so will you, if you’re up to it.”
“Up to what?” the silk trader asked, starting to wonder whether coming here was a good idea or not.
“Just watch,” he said calmly. “I will show you the powers this, called the Mostirus Rod, after myself, gives you.” He then stood up, but motioned the silk trader to stay seated. He took a fighting pose that resembled those of martial arts, and with this came a whooshing sound and a slight wind blew from around him. The mosaic he was standing on lost some tiles. He stood at an angle, with his left shoulder to the silk trader, and his arm outstretched ending in a hand with all of the fingers bent to look somewhat like a claw. His other hand was exactly the same, but it was just behind his ear. In the middle of his right hand, the one by his ear, a ball of light materialized. He then thrust the ball at the silk trader. It instantly turned into a beam of yellow energy, as wide as his hand. This beam hit the silk trader and he was blasted backwards onto the floor. The silk trader’s clothes were partially burned in the front.
“Well, that’s a low-power attack. I could probably kill you with some of the others...”Mostirus said.
“Low power? LOW POWER! You’re insane! These powers could destroy civilization as we know it! ...But on the other hand...it may be good for...um...self-defense. Oh, and Yu’s the name,” he said as he got up, robes smoking.
“So, you want it for yourself, eh, Yu? Well, if you truly desire it, you’ve to do something for me. I need you to give the Magical Community unity and guidance,” said Mostirus.
“Wait a minute, there are more of these Magics? Surely you jest! I mean...well...how many are there?” asked Yu in disbelief.
“At the moment, around twenty thousand,” Mostirus replied.
“Twenty thousand? And I’m supposed to find a leader for these people?” snapped Yu.
“Let me explain,” said Mostirus. “I am putting you in charge of creating leaders. Yes, creating. I will be giving you instructions on how to make them. You will hereby be referred to as The Guru. I will not be around for ever, but you will. Creating these leaders (demons as I call them) will let you live forever, if you so desire, and will make you more powerful than any of the demons. This isn’t a difficult task, and I expect it to be done by tomorrow morning. Now, on with your powers.” He ignored Yu’s expression of disbelief and took the Mostirus Rod from his pocket.
“What are you doing?! I can’t make a person! And what do you mean, ‘if you so desire?’” Yu said disbelievingly.
Mostirus ignored him once again and aimed the Mostirus Rod at Yu. He then let go of it and stepped back. It didn’t fall; however, it floated in midair. Suddenly, the jewels all broke away from it and floated roughly six inches from the golden center. The jewels then flung into motion, all spinning around the golden core. The end that was facing Yu was pointier than the rest of cylindrical rod. The spinning jewels were now spinning so fast that they were a blur to Yu. Electricity from the spinning jewels shot into the central golden part and it seemed almost as if they were charging it up. Then, they all halted to a stop and a beam of white light shot from the tip of the golden center. It hit Yu in the chest, and the most peculiar sensation occurred.
It felt as if there was a large parasite inside him stroking every part of his innards. He felt that, once the jewels had clung back onto the golden part of the Mostirus Rod and it fell to the ground, the parasite was gone. He also noticed more things around him. He felt that there were people walking down the street outside, and he could feel how strong they were, too!
Mostirus then asked, “So, that wasn’t so bad, now was it?”
“No,” said Yu. “Not at all, but why can I feel people? How am I supposed to shoot that beam thing?”
“Don’t ask questions, they’ll tell you everything you need to know,” Mostirus said. “It’s time for you to leave. There’s a cart filled with all the ingredients that you’ll need. Here are the instructions...” Mostirus handed Yu a small, leather-bound book and showed him the door.
“Wait a minute! Who’ll tell me?” Yu asked.
“You’ll find out. Oh, and remember, you’re not Yu anymore, you’re The Guru.” Mostirus replied. It did not seem like a good enough answer, but Yu...er...The Guru walked back to the Inn all the same. It was around midnight when he finally got to work. In the cart, he found strange bottles that were filled with glowing liquids of various colors. He also found a map of a very large area, but it wasn’t familiar to him. However, he did see something on the right side of the map. He saw Italy. He also saw what looked like the terrain of his homeland, China. He then realized what this map was, a map of the world. A map of lands not yet discovered.
On the map were stars in various locations. Each star was accompanied by the name of an element or elemental force, like fire, water, strength, rock, plant, etc.
After looking through everything in the cart, The Guru began his work. He opened the small book that Mostirus had given him. The instructions resembled a recipe:

The guru followed these instructions to a tee and then, fifteen minutes later, the mixture began to glow and a man climbed out of it. He was tall and skinny. He appeared to be frail.
“This must be a mistake, I mean...you aren’t strong...um...get back in the pot!” The Guru stammered.
The demon said, “I am no mistake, I am just in my human form. You see, there are different levels of magical abilities, or levels as they’re properly called, they are as follows; First off there is level zero, or human form for demons, then there is level one, essential for any magical attack, it is also the weakest. After that is level two. In this level, your muscles start to beef up and push-beams can be performed. Level three is next. Your hair gets silver streaks and wave attacks become available. The second strongest level is level four. In this, your hair is completely silver and has a metallic look to it. You can now do extremely powerful attacks, which, if used in the right way, could destroy the planet. By this time, you’ve become incredibly strong and agile. The strongest level is level five, also known as Dragon form. Your body completely morphs into a humongous dragon. The dragons that you can turn into are actually something called Minions. These minions are the Demon’s helpers if you will, and, depending on which one you turn into, reflects which Demon you’re most loyal to.”
“Well, kind of a long winded answer, don’t you think?” The Guru said.
“I suppose you’re right, but there is much for you to learn. You might as well learn it now. But as much as I would like to teach you, you must continue to create us,” Fire said in response.
“Fine,” said The Guru, “but don’t you think that I really should get some answers?”
And, in a roaring fury, Fire bellowed, “GET BACK TO WORK! YOU’LL GET YOUR ANSWERS WHEN I SO DESIRE!”
Fire had ascended to level one. Unlike how humans look at level one, Fire was engulfed in flames. He was eight feet tall and three feet wide. The Guru was in utter terror.
“I’m sorry,” fire apologized, “but I just got...erm...carried away. Do your job, I want to go home.”
“Home? Where?” The Guru inquired like a small child asks a question to an intimidating adult.
“Don’t make me lose it again!” yelled Fire.
“Gotcha, sir!”
“Well get to work!”
“Certainly.”
“And what are doing at the moment?”
“Talking to you.”
“THAT’S MY POINT! GET TO WORK!”
The ground shook when he screamed.
So, The Guru got back to work creating Demons. He created these in the order of the way they appeared in the instruction book: Water, Ice, Plant, Animal, Sound, Speed, Strength, and Rock. He ran into a problem for Weather and Air, however. It read that they were husband and wife and would create their children Demon on their own. He had to consult Fire on this one, “Fire, it says here that Weather and Air will create their own children?”
“Yes,” said fire in reply. “Do you have a problem?”
“Well, yes. You see I don’t know if it’ll work, I mean...” The Guru said.
“Don’t be stupid! Follow the directions! You must have been awful in school!” Fire exclaimed.
The Guru went back to creating the Demons. He finished creating Weather and Air, and they told him to leave them unaided for while. Weather was an old man with a long white beard. Air, however, was barely even visible; something had gone wrong with her. Even Fire, when he peeked in through the door, looked worried.
The Guru left Weather and Air alone and talked to Fire about this new development, “What’s wrong? I don’t understand...you know, I told you it wouldn’t work!”
“I don’t either,” said Fire, “but I think it has something to do with Mostirus’s instructions. You see, the essence required for her is not like the rest of us. Her essence was a gas, not a liquid. I don’t think that she is stable or, even if she is, she may never be able to get out of level one.”
“What do you mean?” The Guru asked. “You mean she’ll never be able to go into human form or level two and such?”
“Yes,” he replied with a sigh. “It sure is a pity though, she’s going to die.”
“Die? How...how...how...”The Guru couldn’t get the words out.
Fire answered his unasked question, “She doesn’t have the correct formula for eternal life, and she’ll eventually just become part of the air we breathe. Quite sad, isn’t it?”
The Guru didn’t have time to answer, as the door from the room where Weather and Air was swung open.
“Would you like to see our children?” Air asked in an I-don’t-care-if-you-want-to-or-not way.
Weather walked out of the room with three children. All were in their human form. The two oldest looked about seventeen and twenty two, both male, and the youngest, a girl, was probably around eight or so.
“This,” Air indicated the oldest son, “Is Wind.”
“Hello, master.” Wind said very politely. He was tall and strong, with an exceptionally masculine voice. He had deep brown hair with blond highlights. He was wearing brown robes.
“Why, hello, Wind!” The Guru said in return, proud of this fine demon.
“This is Lightning,” Air pointed to the teenager.
“Uh...hi. Am I supposed to call you ‘o great one’ or something like that?” Lightning said. He was relatively strong-looking, but not like his brother. He had eyes that matched his electric blue hair. His skin was a tad pale. He wore light blue robes.
“No,” The Guru laughed, “you don’t have to call me anything.”
Lightning smiled weakly and then stepped back, as if trying to divert attention from himself.
“And my daughter, Precipitation,” said Air.
The smallest child blushed and said nothing but gave a sheepish curtsy. The Guru waved politely with a twinkle in his eye.
“And he saw that it was good!” announced The Guru and then everyone started to cheer, all except for Fire.
“We aren’t done yet. There are still two Demons left to create,” Fire said sternly.
“Fine,” The Guru sighed. He got back to work.
When he got started again, the last two Demons were Light and Darkness (they’re brothers, they come out together). He carefully mixed the ingredients and then Light came out without any trouble. When Darkness started to come out, however, Light had the idea to help him out of the cauldron. This was a very bad idea, indeed, for when Light touched Darkness’ hand, they instantly fused together and then a humanoid, sunset-orange figure was formed, but only for a split second and then Light and Darkness shot out of the figure.
Now there were two Demons on the floor and one, new Demon standing up.
“Hello, Master” said the new figure with a sly smile. “I do believe that you’re utterly confused, no? Well, my name’s Twilight. I am a fusion between the two Demons Light and Darkness. My formula is exactly the same as the two of them except for one ingredient, the Bottle of Essence of Compassion. This ingredient stops the Demons from doing evil deeds. I, of course, would never do anything like that. It’s not my character, I’m just merely human.”
“Um...well...I...I d-don’t know...” The Guru stammered.
“What’s there to know? I am no different than any of you. I mean, do you have a Bottle of Essence of Compassion in you, Master? You don’t? Well I see that you’ve turned out nicely, so why is it so bad that I don’t have it?” Twilight inquired furtively.
“I don’t understand,” The Guru said blankly, as if he hadn’t been listening to a word Twilight was saying.
“It’s not that hard,” Twilight said, near yelling. “Do you want it I every language? 我們是同樣。Wij zijn het zelfde. Nous sommes les mêmes. Wir sind dieselben. Είμαστε οι ίδιοι. Siamo gli stessi. 私達は同じである。Somos iguales. We are the same!”
“Come conoscete tutte quelle lingue? Ahh! Comment savez-vous toutes ces langues? Arghh! Hoe kent u al die talen? Ok, what’s wrong with me? How do you know all those languages? How do I? Comment est-ce que je sais? No! I don’t want to speak French! Je ne veux pas parler Français!” The Guru exclaimed.
“You know because you are The Guru, and I know because I am a Demon. What I mean is that we have the ability to speak in many tongues so we can communicate to everyone. Now, please stop being stupid. The one thing I hate most is stupidity. Kindly hold back your incoherent comments until you die, thank you!” Twilight said coolly.
“But I can’t die...”The Guru whined under his breath.
“Not only can I speak many languages,” Twilight said in return, “but my hearing is also exceptionally good!”
“Ok,” The Guru said weakly.
“Let’s allot lands to each other to govern!” Fire ejected to end to awkward silence that followed.
Everyone looked at Fire and lowered his or her eyebrows.
“What?” Fire whined. They all walked into the living room, shaking their heads.
The living room of The Guru’s hotel suite was not large, yet not small. There was a large sofa in the middle of the room, with two armchairs flanking it. A small coffee table lay between the sofa and fireplace. There was a small dining area behind the couch, and a large window behind that. Most of the Demons were sitting, except for Preciptation who was running around the room laughing, and her father, Weather, who was trying to catch her.
“So, what should we discuss first? Lands will be decided at the end of this meeting.” The Guru inquired.
“There is nothing to discuss, so please can we go home?” Twilight burst out.
“Au contraire,” said The Guru, “there is much to discuss.”
“No, there isn’t! I don’t understand why you must be so, ignorant!”
“Shut up!” The Sound Demon screamed so loud that the whole inn shook.
Ignoring this commotion, The Guru asked, “Can I have my answers now? I’ve been waiting all night, so please?”
The room fell silent all at once, and not a single Demon spoke.
“Yes, I suppose you may,” Fire sighed.
“What, is it not in your favor to do this? You want to get back in the pot? I’ll throw you in!” The Guru’s temper was finally rising. He realized, at last, that he was in control of these people and he could tell them to do whatever he wanted, as long as it wasn’t evil.
“No, master, no,” Fire made himself small.
“Good, then. C’mon, tell me,” The Guru said triumphantly.
“Ok, well, I’ll start from...um...where?” Fire asked sheepishly.
“The beginning, I want it all.”
“Well, it starts from when you met Mostirus.”
“Yes.”
“He never did mention anything about attacks or form or anything like that, did he?”
“No.”
“Then that gives me a lot to explain. Well, to start, we are, obviously, leaders who were created by you to govern the world. Now, this world that I speak of is mostly unknown to this part or the world, and in that part of the world, this part is not known. You see, most civilizations don’t have any clue about anything other than what they believe is the entire world. Now, of course, what they think is not the entire world, and neither is what you think. Do you understand?” Fire droned like he was reading out of a textbook.
The Guru responded, “Sort of. What you’re saying is that no civilization has an accurate knowledge of other civilizations?”
“That is correct.” Fire said. “Anyway, would you like to know where each of us is going?”
“No he does not!” Twilight burst out. He regained his original composure and continued, “Sorry, I couldn’t control myself, but still! Do we really need to tell him everything? We aren’t here to provide him with irrelevant answers to questions that are incoherent to our situation; we are here to rule the world! Sorry for my bluntness, but that’s all we need to do, and if it requires memory injection, then so be it!”
“No, not memory injection!” pleaded Plant. “It drains my power to do it! I can’t just remain in Rome, bedridden, for five years because we were too lazy to just tell him what he needs to know!”
“Do it!” Twilight ordered.
“No.”
“That was an order from your superior, now perform the technique!”
“You are not my superior!”
“Is that what you think you are? Equal to me? I think not!”
“We are equal!”
“No, we aren’t! You are a weak-minded fool, Plant! You follow the morals of the Xioxia, just like eons ago, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but whatever it is, you won’t say it any longer!”
With this, Plant extended his arm and made a fist with his index and middle fingers aimed at Twilight. He shot five large, green seeds into Twilight’s body, which quickly took root and grew thorny vines. Once these vines stopped growing, they formed large flower buds on the end of each. These buds weren’t flowers, though, and Twilight quickly found out, because they bloomed into humongous mouths with many rows of huge, serrated teeth which then bit and tore at his body. Amidst screams of pain and terror, Twilight fell out of the window, but, just before he did, he announced that he was leaving to his castle in the vast canyon of western North America.
When the Demons looked down into the street below the broken window, all that remained on the cobblestone path below were shards of broken glass, Twilight was nowhere to be found.
It appeared that the tensions between the Demons and Twilight had been established.

(Most of the rest of the novel is located at www.geocities.com/nicksax90/works I just can't fit the whole thing with only a free membership)