CHAPTER 1

Melisa, Queen of Vermia walked among the people of Vermia, alongside with her entourages. The people were down on all fours, bowing their heads in reference to her. She was their goddess of light. Her face radiated as the sun, they whispered to each other. Every step she took was as grand as ever and she was the most beautiful thing they had set their eyes on. Her smile was as gracious as the moon, the same as her heart. Her skin shone like gold and her pupils seemed to be made of glass. She was loved by everyone. They sang praises of her name. Who knew? The prophecies of ages could have been her. She was just like her Father, they said. He was right to have given her the crown. Another savior to rule them. Selinus must have been just like her; good, loving and kind. She was just like every other Guardian with only two of the gifts, but her presence maintained balanced in the world. She was made by the creators with wisdom, love and beauty. Healing was restored to every sick life she touched. A saviour of many, an envy of one; her sister, Quetan.

Quetan was the first offspring of Teral, the late Guardian and father of Melisa. A great King who lived for many years and was succeeded with no son but two daughters. He loved the two equally but gave the crown to his second daughter, Melisa. This created enmity and strife in the kingdom as Quetan longed to be the rightful owner of the throne. Quetan was made by the creators with power, might and light. She was a great warrior who lived years on the battlefields of Vermia, protecting her world from solar flares and all other cosmic catastrophes it was bound to experience because of its exile. Refusing to live in the shadow of her younger sister, Melisa, she revolted and began to absorb cosmic energy, losing her light to become a fallen Guardian. She became extremely evil and killed whoever got in her way. She became the darkeness which coexisted with the Vermian light. If she was not going to rule Vermia, she was going to set up her own dark kingdom and rule it her way, and she did so. Building her own nest of darkness, Quetan took a portion of Vermia with her, settled in the west, and built her lair. Many others who thought she was powerful enough to lead, or perhaps, worthy enough, pledged allegiance to her and followed her, other Elphims included.

However, she believed Melissa not only took her inheritance, but the one she had given her heart to; Levern; her powerful, young and handsome cousin who ended up marrying Melissa. Quetan was set to have revenge and take back all she had lost even if it meant killing all that stopped her. Maybe she was the one the prophecy talked about, she was much more happier she was making history. And her nemesis as the prophecy had described, she would find whoever that was and destroy him. But before then, she would just continue to absorb the powers of many until she was certain there was no one as powerful as she was in the universe.

* * * * * * * *

Quetan stood in her dark Chamber awakening the power of the Orbit of life. The orbit gave its handler a view into the life of any one he or she wished to see. She casted a few spells and called out her sister's name; Melisa and there it appeared. Melisa was projected in the orbit, her tour around some cities in Vermia. She stood there In silence, observing every part of the action projected in the Orbit.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Quetan said to one of the servants who stood behind her. The servant began to stutter. Quetan waved her hand across the orbit and it went dark immediately. She turned to the servant. "Your Queen speaks and you dare to be silent?"

The servant fell to the ground, trembling. "I am sorry, my Queen. Forgive me"

With a smirk on her face, Quetan bent, balancing her height with that of the servant and fiddled her hand across his face slowly. "What do I do with you?" Quetan muttered a spell after

"no.."he cried, began to gasp, holding his neck. A middle aged man walked in

"My Queen!.." bowing his head. "We have news from the east".

"Ah! Calgeno, my favorite advisor," Quetan stood up.. The servant removed his hand from his neck and struggled to stand. " Speak Calgeno!" She ordered.

" Its the Tower of the Seers. There has been said to be a new prophecy!" He said. "Hmm, I see. Capture the seer alive and bring her here. We should have a feast." She smiled. Calgeno nodded and walked out of the room.

"So , where did we stop?" Quetan said as she turned to the servant.

* * * * * * *

Melisa walked around the royal garden observing the beauty of nature. Next to her was her trusted maid; Vera.

" Have you heard anything about my sister?" Melisa asks.

"Lord Levern Is in control of every single thing, so you don't have to worry my..."

"... How much time do we have left" Melissa interrupted

" One month" vera answered. Melisa became quiet. "My Queen, the prophecy is a good one. They.."

"... The tower of the seers has been raided by Quetan's men. She has probably heard about the prophecy by now. No one is safe." Melissa interrupted again. She sighed in fear and worry.

" Do not be worried my Queen, it's not good for the baby." Vera said as Melisa smiled. She was expecting a child. The next guardian of Vermia. She was excited. Atleast, she tried to be. Such an innocent child should not be brought to the world at a time as this. There was indeed a new prophecy of the birth of the guardian, the one with the soul in the likeness of Selinus. The one to bring back the Niara Crystal. The one to destroy he that would bring doom to the world. This birth was here. The birth of the guardian would be marked by a solar eclipse. It was Melisa's child. She was carrying the one the seers had talked about all along. Her baby didn't deserve this, she thought.

There was a seer for every centurion, and the one for their time was called Sothia. Quetan locked up the seer in her hell hole. Sothia was to serve her and only her. Her divination was to be made for only her ears.

Sothia was tied up in Quetan's dark fortress. If one were to look at her from a distance, one would think she was crucified. Blood tickled down her face, her white robe had become brown, her blood had made its own footsteps on her garments. Hanging with a rope from the top of the room, her clothes were torn with whips of thorn that had been used to torture her. Two huge men stood beside her, hitting her every chance they got to. An action prompted not out of will, but more of fear of what their Dark Queen would do if she realized they weren't doing their jobs properly. The hitting stopped as their dark Queen made her entrance into the torture chamber. The servants bowed her head immediately as she smiled.

"Oh, dear Sothia, this was not the great feast I planned for you, for us" she said "... Set her loose at once". The rope was loosened and the seer fell to the floor. She whimpered in pain and looked up to Quetan.

"Bow before the Queen at once" Calgeno commanded. Sothia looked at them both with disdain

"she's not my Queen!" She reverted.

"..You wench!..."Calgeno quickly retorted but stopped when he saw Quetan raise up her hand to shut him up.

"Calgeno please, don't you curse at my guest. She's our seer, the last of her kind in this centurion" Quetan said and began to laugh, her servants behind her squealed as loud as they could. She raised up her hand to stop them again and they did immediately.

"So I hear there's a new prophecy, tell me about it" Quetan asked, while Sothia scoffed.

"I see only for the throne, not for Elphims". She said and Quetan smiled.

"I am the rightful heir to the throne. The throne was supposed to be mine..."she yelled..,"....but it's okay, I'll take back my crown. I am your Queen!" She said, muttered a spell and Sothia began to gasp.

"..you see, some years ago, while I was still protecting our world from cosmic flares, I absorbed the powers of the Chime, the biggest Cosmic flare in the Universe. With the powers I have to transfer heat from within to the insides of me, Just imagine how much heat that would be for you, my dear.." Quetan watched as Sothia began to cry out in pain. ".. that's what Is happening to you right now, the heat burns up within you. It starts from your intestines,...." Quetan watched Sothia gasp and groan. "... then to your kidneys..." Sothia yelled as blood began to drip from her nose. "then, your heart" Sothia yelled begging. Quetan freed her from the spell and Sothia let out a sigh of relief. Silence reeked the atmosphere for a while.

"The prophecy of the birth of the guardian is close to fulfilment. She lives in the womb of Queen Melisa. On the day of her birth, there would be a solar eclipse. She is the nemesis of the doom bringer." Sothia stuttered as blood sprinkled forth from her mouth

The new prophecy, she believed, was to her delight. Her sister, Melisa, was with a child? How interesting. Melisa had a child with the man she loved and that child was destined to bring back the Niara Crystal. If she could not have the crystal, then no one else could and would.

" Seer, do you see your own death?" Quetan asked Sothia.

"I see yours, in a few years time."

" I write my own prophecy.. lock her up" Quetan scoffed and walked out. She certainly did not believe that the Creators made the destiny of any man. She created her own destiny, she believed. She was going to overthrow Vermia. It was originally hers anyways, she thought. Her sister, Melisa, was no match for her but her sister had the Celestial Stone. It was sculpted as the shape of a diamond, hanging on neck of the wearer as a chain. The Celestial Stone was a stone the people believed the Creators gave Selinus when they created him. It was passed down from generations to generations and it should have been hers. But no, their Father gave Melisa. There was abolutely no inheritance for her. The Celestial Stone carried the powers of the Celestial bodies. It rejuvenated the body of its wearer, repelled Elphims and demons, and gave the power of healing to its owner. It was believed that the Celestial Stone in the hands of the chosen Guardian was the key to the Niara Crystal. No one had ever really been able to understand the power of the Celestial Stone since the royal Vermians lost their gifts. Only the guardians with complete gifts could unlock its true power.