Prologue P2: Memories

Prologue

The planet known as Earth.

The night was dark and chilly. The moonlight was obscured by the clouds, casting a shadow upon the land. The moon's light continued to gradually diminish, bringing the world into an eternal slumber. The stars seemed to lose their brilliance as a suffocating feeling of dread loomed in the air.

Somewhere in the west of the North Atlantic Ocean lay an island, uncharted by any human maps, never before discovered. The island's silhouette in the vast ocean seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Nothing surrounding it but the vast, azure blue ocean could be seen. The tide of the ocean waves drifted upon the ocean shore.

Strangely, if one looked closely, it was as if the island was in perpetual motion, easily going unnoticed by an untrained eye. This mystical island would later become the source for many future myths and legends. The area surrounding it would become known as the mysterious region of the Bermuda Triangle.

The island was a heavily forested jungle, full of wild vegetation and exotic creatures about. The forest seemed to cover the entire island except the shoreline. During the day, rays of sunlight would easily penetrate the trees, creating a beautiful sensation of light throughout the island. During the night, bright lights could be seen often, flickering on and off. These lights emanated from the mating flash-beetles on the trees. However, these miraculous insects were not the only native residents of the island; ether weed, nine jade lilies, crystal spiders, two-headed pythons, soul devouring mosquitoes, jade alligators and four-eyed jaguars could also be found. Such marvelous creatures should have never appeared on such a planet like Earth, but this island seemed to be an extreme exception.

A four eyed jaguar was rustling through the tall, overgrown vegetation, heading towards the middle of the island. Its aim was the soul nourishing pond, a natural treasure capable of inducing breakthroughs for cultivation. It had hoped that this time it would be able to reap some benefits before the jade alligator and soul devouring mosquitoes normally kept all the benefits to themselves. After all, although the jaguar couldn't be classified as weak, what was it supposed to do against those soul sucking vampire creatures? Stare them to death with its four eyes? Maybe if he had the jade alligator's hard scales that it always flaunted around. After all, its jade scales also had the wondrous quality of protecting its soul... The jaguar continued to whine about the cruelty of life as it wished for a more substantial ability... It swore it would be content with anything besides having four eyes.

Ending its rant, the jaguar shook its head, clearing its mind of those unnecessary negative thoughts. Yes, it had to have a positive outlook on life! That narcissistic alligator that thought it was the most handsomest creature in the world, and those depressing mosquitoes that only looked happy when they were sucking a poor creature's soul out of their body, after all, could not match up to his stature. One day, it too would become an expert and roam the world, unrivaled. It was only a matter of time, of course.

Looking up at the sky, its eyebrows furrowed in confusion as it stared at the normally clear sky, only to find a mass of clouds greeting him. The jaguar growled, worried, knowing that the soul nourishing pond got its power from the moonlight. Still, the jaguar continued to head to the island's center. Hopefully there would be remnants of the pond's essence left. Maybe that irritating jade alligator and those creepy looking mosquitoes wouldn't be there this time.

Indeed, a while later, when it arrived at the pond, it was met with a pleasant surprise. The surrounding area seemed completely devoid of life, the reflective waters of the pond provoking an epiphany in the jaguar. Its cultivation base slightly increasing, the jaguar headed towards nearer to the pond, still being rather cautious. When it reached about three feet away from the pond, it tensed up and stopped. After a while, it sighed in happiness, relaxing its previously tense posture. That dumb soul-jade alligator and those disturbing mosquitoes truly weren't around! And the pond seemed to have a somewhat high residue of spiritual energy. This day was truly his day. Its chance of being an expert renowned throughout the world was finally here!

Its chest sticking out in pride, the jaguar walked up to the periphery of the pond, about to take a sip of the nourishing water, when it saw a sight that made his eyes almost fall out of their sockets. Almost plunging into the pond, the jaguar quickly retracted away from the periphery, tense once again, but this time, with a clear hint of fear in its eyes.

Near the center of the pond was a human! He was floating mid-air, carrying something that it couldn't make out. Gradually, the jaguar made it out to be a human female. After all, the male and female parts of humans were easily discernible... well except those strange female humans who somehow had deflated chests... (every flat chested girl curses the jaguar to a horrid death...) Nevertheless, it was generally easy to identify a human's gender; unfortunately it was a trait four-eyed jaguars did not share. (The jaguar recalls a time when he mistook another male jaguar as a female...) -Ah wait, who the hell cared if this or that was a male or female, it had more important things to think about. Humans! There had never been any humans before on the island. All it knew of them, after all, was that they were evil monsters, ones that hid in their deceptively fragile bodies, but in reality, were hideous demonic creatures. They were even more horrifying than the soul-devouring mosquitoes, and- and their brown shells! - Although they seemed feeble and easy to shatter, they were actually harder than the jade alligator's scales! The jaguar shuddered as it remembered its parent's warnings and horrifying tales about the dreadful humans.

The levitating man seemed to not notice the jaguar at all; or perhaps he couldn't have bothered to care. His attention was completely immersed onto the woman he firmly held in his arms. Although he was covered in a loosely-fitted white garment, the male's robust appearance and strong figure, one that would have made countless women swoon, could not be concealed. The woman, although seemingly feeble, had a physique that perfectly complimented the man's; they were truly a match made in heaven. Sadly, this ethereal scene was ruined by the streaks of blood that defiled the woman's flawless lips.

The woman seemed to weakly say something to the man, his body becoming rigid as stone, his breaths becoming unsteady.

"Ari, will you forget?"

The man, Ari, looked at the woman's deep clear blue eyes, pulling him in like the ocean depths. Tears fell down his cheeks, glowing in the darkness.

He leaned towards her ear, whispering with a slight growl, "Never."

The woman smiled, finally being at ease. It was as if the stars, previously dull, had regained their radiance. All of heaven and Earth seemed to tremble before her peerless beauty.

"That would truly make me happy..."

Tears began to flow from her eyes.

"But it'd be so selfish of me to make you endure. Remembering me will only hurt you... Ari." She took a deep breath, the pain of this decision made her heart beat faster, almost to the point where it would burst out of her chest.

"Forget about me. Please." she begged, tears bursting forth like water from a dam.

"You are a star, Ari- the brightest out there in the sky. I am a dying one… and if you stay with me, I'll only make you lose your brilliance. So plea-" Her sentence was interrupted by Ari's fingers on her mouth.

"Shh. You're not a dying star. You are the moon that reflects a star's light- so that all can see it and remember. Even if the star is gone, they will remember the moon." Ari comforted her.

Tears streaked Diana's cheeks even more, as if they would never stop. Why was he always like this? Even back then… when they had first met.

"And to save the moon, the star had a deal with the devil," Ari said, his eyes brimming with confidence, but his weakening breaths and quickly paling face revealed his feebleness.

"Ari? What did- What did you do?!" she screamed, as Ari dropped from the sky like a bullet. She realized that she was able to use heavenly essence and quickly caught up to Ari, saving him from the fall.

The four-eyed jaguar, witnessing the scene, had its eyes popping out again as it saw the situation suddenly flip to the woman carrying a man. It noticed the woman's complexion become peachy, while the man's became pale.

Humans really are weird, it thought to itself. Best to stay away from them. Wait, what if they're here for the pond! I should probably stay hidden and maintain surveillance… This rock looks like a good hiding spot. The jaguar curiously stared at the tense situation between the two humans.

"Ari!" reprimanded Diana, her face blemished with tears as her breathing became unsteady.

"Diana, don't be mad. I- I had a deal with the serpent… To save you" said Ari, smiling in a nonchalant manner.

"What? You- you know it's dangerous! It's always been trying to take over you!" Diana scolded him, her lips trembling as drops of blood dribbled from how hard she was biting down.

"I know, that's why I need you to kill me before he is able to take over my body. Right now, he's in my Core. I've trapped him for a bit, but … I won't be able to hang on for much longer." Ari pleaded, his eyes brimming with conviction, as if he had no fear of death.

"K-kill you? Never! No, you can't ask me to!" denied Diana, horrified by Ari's request. She could never- no she wouldn't. The one thing she would never do for Ari.

"Diana! Listen to me please! This is for the best. This thing has been my problem ever since I was a child. If you kill me, everyone else will be safe from it, and I was able to save you. What more could I ask for?"

"No…Ari, why.. Why does it have to be you? Why can't it be that stupid son of the Life Monarch?"

How Diana hated the pursuers that had led to this situation in the first place. It was all their fault…

"Diana, it's ok. Fate brought us together… and perhaps it will again. We will always be connected." Ari reached out and caressed Diana's face, her smooth skin. Her beauty was not why he loved her … she had been born with such a huge background but she had never used it to her advantage… she had never been proud and haughty. And now, here he was, asking her to kill him. He sighed at how cruel fate was to her. He swore, if one day, they somehow found each other, he would make her live the most perfect and grand life...

"You-you… I can't! No! You…" Diana shook her head, denying that this was actually happening.

"Diana… thank you. You are a wonderful woman, and I wish, I hope we can meet again."

"Ari!"

"You know this is what has to be…"

"No… I won't accept this…"

"Please… if you love me- kill me." Ari gripped her hand tightly, their eyes meeting together.

"…" Diana froze, as she looked away and began bawling. She hugged Ari so tightly, gripping his body as if she would never let go.

"Diana…" Ari softly said, pushing into her hands an ancient sword, brimming with power. Her body shook as the added weight was set on her… but it was nothing compared to how heavy her heart was. She trembled as she grasped the sword loosely in her shaky hands, as if it would slip out any second.

"No…" she whispered coarsely. Ari closed his eyes, a faint smile on his lips.

"NO! AHHHHHH!" Diana screamed as she pushed the sword straight through Ari's body, through his core. A blinding light appeared when it made contact, and the jaguar hiding behind the rock fainted from the immense amount of spiritual energy. Some of the energy converged onto the jaguar, the creature glowing as its body began to change and undergo a qualitative breakthrough. This event was noticed by Diana, but she put it completely in the back of her mind. Nothing else was important.

"Thank you." Ari said with his dying breath, blood leaking from his mouth. His throat began to die out but his lips still continued to move, and even without hearing it, she knew what he was saying.

"I love you."

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Blinding flash.

Back to the present:

"You dummy… if the star is gone, how can they see the moon?" Tears silently flowed down her cheeks.

"Forget…" Diana whispered, her face beginning to smile, a peculiar scene to see with her tears streaking her face.

"Forget him? … Aha-hahahahhaha!" she laughed manically, a laughter filled with sorrow and pain. Her heart was heavy and her throat was dry and coarse.

What an amusing joke. Truly hilarious. Her father, the servant, the Life Monarch, his son that she was supposed to marry, haha… they all truly were so funny. If that was her fate… She would never accept it!

Her eyes brimming red with tears, she smiled with confidence and thought to herself, "Ari, I'm coming."

And then, there was a sudden bright flash.

That day, news traveled throughout the heavens that the Heavenly Mountain had been destroyed. And that the Elemental Emperor went into seclusion and permitted no outsiders to enter his domain- not even from the Cosmos, especially ones from the Life Cosmo.