1 Prophecy

Several elders stood around the an orb, frowning. The room around them was dark, the magical lighting that had made the place come alive but moments ago broken. The howling of the wind was the only sound for a brief moment, then the arguing began.

"Well boys, looks like we've been had," one older man said right away, "There's no way this can be accurate."

"Whom are you calling boys? There's three women here, you know?"

"Can we get back to the topic at hand?" a wizened old man said grumpily, "How exactly are we supposed to take this?"

"The most annoying part is that with such a common name, how are we to identify the correct 'scion' anyway?"

That was perplexing. The seven elders stared at each other a moment, then, "Well, there were other signs and portents..."

"But little that counts as evidence. If this prophecy gets out we'll have a dozen boys with this name with that exact scar on their right palms."

"The worst part is, how are we supposed to share this bit of news? Should we suppress it?"

"Surely... this is a mistake of some sort. Should we try again?"

"Will it even work a second time?"

"Only if it's a powerful portent..."

"Maybe we should try and report no news?"

"Hmm... I like where you're going with this. Let's try."

The seven held hands and once more began the ritual chant of prophecy. Once more the room's temperature dropped as the very mana was drained from the air around them. Even the magic used to support the elders was tapped, the warmth provided by the spells drained as frosted breaths escaped them.

The crystal ball stood atop a pillar and began to glow a brilliant blue, it's radiance matching a clear, sunny sky. Then, a distant sound like thunder split the 'sky' and dark, angry clouds filled the image in the ball.

'You people again? Don't you listen to your god? Don't make me smite you! What, you forgot already? I almost never repeat myself, but if I don't I feel like you idiots are going to mess this up.'

There was a sound, like a throat clearing. 'Listen well Children of Sariah, for there is a grave threat to the universe. On the fourth day after the Crystal of Rhian glows orange, a storm unlike no other shall threaten the lands.'

'On that day, my chosen must be at the Cave of the Underworld to undertake a quest to save everything. With the holy weapon, my holy symbol, and provisions for one month, the boy shall descend into the depths of the cavern and, when it appears, enter the portal to ancient Terra.'

'You will know my Chosen by his name, Tim, and by the unique scar on the palm of his right hand. This scar will be known only to those within the inner temple, the Keepers of the Mysteries, and will wield the most Holy of Divine magics.'

'Fail not in thy task, children, for if aught should happen to this boy ere his task is complete, all that exists will fall to darkness.'

There was a long moment of silence, then the querulous voice snapped at them, 'Did you get all of that? Do you need to write it down, maybe?'

"N-no Father, we hear your wisdom. D-don't we? Everyone?"

Despite everyone's affirmation, the voice said, 'If you heard me so well, why do you insist on bothering me? I'm a god for crying out loud! Did you think I wasn't busy fighting off the darkness? Ah one sec...' The voice paused, then a muffled, 'Go fish... Got any Kings? Ah! Your turn...'

'Where were we? Right, busy! So I'm going back to saving the universe on my end, you make sure that boy gets where he needs to be or so help me you'll regret it!'

"Wh-when, oh lord! May we know when the child of prophecy might appear?"

'What kind of all seeing, all knowing god do you think I am? I have limits, unfortunately... It's a real pity, because that goddess of fertility, if I could sneak a peak of her in the show-ouch! HEY I was just kidding! C-calm down...'

"L-Lord god? Lord are you there? Ah... it seems to have gone silent."

"Do we try again? Maybe it was cut off prematurely."

"That's what I'm afraid off too. If our god lost his..."

"None of that!" The emphatic interruption came at good timing as the orb activated once more.

'Oh, before I forget, Tim is the son of some King on the Eastern continent. Good luck, have fun, you can do it!'

The seven holy elders waited for quite awhile to be sure their god was done speaking. At last, a humble man spoke up.

"Suddenly, we have a chance to find this Tim. The son of an Eastern King, huh? How many can there be?"

"Well... there are only about a hundred Kings in the East, we should send our pilgrims with word."

Gathering themselves, the seven let go of each others hands, slowly filing out of the room of prophecy. Many things were collected... the scroll with all the details they had, the record of events, their personal gear, and even the burned out lights.

Hopefully, this wouldn't take too long. Word was sent out at once, informing all within the holy realm of the signs and portents of the coming evil, as well as what would be required of Prince Tim, son of an Eastern King.

"So I hate to ask this," and elder finally asked of the head priest of their order, "But can god have his... you know... cut off?"

"Eh? What? Have his what cut off? Hand? I mean, he lost an arm once, but he regrew it better than the original."

"Oh... so if the thing that makes him a male god were removed, he could regrow it? I only ask because, allegedly, the Goddess of Fertility herself was dead set on removing it."

The priest grew pale, a troubled look on his face. "May we never learn the answer to that question. Our Lord God would surely be angry with us..."

And thus was the set up. A young man named Tim would all too soon descend into the Cave of the Underworld and find his way to Terra, also called Earth, where it would be on him to somehow save the universe. Gee, god was kind of a mean one, wasn't he?