Zodiac Legacy: Rise of the Celestial Guardians

Laying by the roots of the oldest tree by the village, arms supporting my head and my leg over the other, I look at the sky covered by the leaves. The cool wind kisses my damp skin. The peaceful ambience of the forest made me reflect on what truly life is, its purpose and importance of its existence. Life is both wonderful and terrifying. It's the bliss of firsts and the fear of never taking chances. If to ask someone what life is, a simple old man could say that life is a tree. The young seedling buried deep into the heart of the earth and nurtured from the hand of the skies as it rises from its' roots and meets its' caretaker. You may think, "Foolish old man. Trees may be the symbol of life, but it definitely isn't the perfect symbol of life." Trees live up to thousands of years, whereas living beings, such as humans and animals, have their limits--- Then, a sound of my name echoed through the forest. "Efton!" It rang, breaking my train of thought. I looked around trying to find the direction of the call and spotted village elder Ban standing by the village arch. I stood up to where I was laying and approached him. "You called, Elder Ban?" I asked. "Young Efton, the High Elder wishes for your presence," he said to me. Voice dripping with pity, my heart fell to my stomach. Judging from the expression and tone of the elder, I knew it wasn't good news. I told myself that it wasn't what I was thinking. It took a moment for me to respond, to hesitate, to reassure myself that I was called for something else. I nodded my head and walked in front of the elder, heading towards the High Elder's lodge. The other elders of the village gathered by the entrance of the High Elder's chamber. They seemed to notice my presence as they made way for me to enter, Elder Ban trailed behind and blended with the other spectating elders. Gloom. That's what dripped in the back of my spine. Pity and sorrow. That's what was written in everyone's faces. The village healer sitting on a stool next to the High Elder's bed, pressing two fingers against the High Elder's radial side of the wrist. There my mother laid still on the bed with her eyes closed and mouth parted a little, trying to save her energy. You could see the painfully slow and rise of her chest and she struggles to achieve a breathing pattern. High Elder's chamber was truly a room for one. It wasn't spacious that made it seemed empty and lonely, and it wasn't too small for it to feel cramped and suffocating---- ironically, that's what it felt, suffocating. I knew what was up and I was aware of what was bound to happen. The room was dead silent that you could only hear the High Elder's breathing as she takes in and drags in all out. The floor panels creaked a little with every step I took. The closer I got to the bed, the louder my heart beats and my ears ring, the harder it is to swallow. With the footsteps being the only sound, it caught mother's attention. Knowing that it was me, she slowly opened her eyes and turn her head towards me. The village healer gently let go of her fragile hand, stood up from her seat, and bowed, acknowledging my presence, and mixed with the elders. "Come, my son. Accompany your ill mother." My mother breathlessly called, her weak voice causing my heart to cry. She struggled to lift her right arm to reach out to me. I rushed to her side, pulling the stool closer to me and grabbed her shaking hand. I held it tightly for this might be the last moment that I may hold her hands. "Mother, are you leaving me?" I asked. I let out a long shaky breath, trying to control myself from crying. "Why would I ever leave you, my love?" she smiled. She cradled my face in her hand. I could feel the coldness of her palms against my skin. "Mother," My voice cracked. "Please, don't go," I cried, failed to resist the emotions in me. I knelt by her side, not caring that the stool tipped over, set our hands on the hand, squeezing it in heartache and hung my head low. "Why are you crying?" Mother asked. "Forgive me, mother. For showing you how weak and how much of a coward I am." "You're no weak and you're no coward. Letting out your emotions is what makes you a strong and brave lad," she said as she reached for my eyes and wiped the tears away. Mother struggled to sit up from the bed. The village healer quickly took a step forward to urge her to lay down. She waves us off and pushes herself anyway. Mother sits up from the bed and slouches to save her strength. I grabbed both her wrists. "Everything made in this world is temporary." She drew in a long breath. "Life, to be exact." Exhale. "We are not the owners of our lives. Our precious lives were only borrowed from the God of All. We have our limit and someday, we have to return our borrowed life to him. I am ill, my son and my time had come to return my amazing life to him." "I am still not ready for you to leave me." I sobbed, tightening my grip and looked away as I shut my eyes, letting all the tears roll. "You have to, my love. Be strong," She gently grabbed my chin and tilted it in her direction. "For mother." She gave a weak smile, grabbed both of my hands, and planted a small kiss on each hand. Mother gently squeezed my hands and nodded towards everyone in the room. No word has left her mouth, but everyone nodded in response and left the room at once. "Before I part this land, my son, must you hear a tale told by your mother? A tale that is meant to be untold for it reveals the forgotten past of how the world and humanity itself existed. Lend me your ears, my love, for I will about to tell you my farewell tale that will surely help you in the future journey of your life." And she began. "The World at first was nothing but an endless space in where only the creator Himself exists, the God of All. This world had no time, no form, and no life. But, there was a world created in His mind. Eventually, with the willingness to create a wonderful world, the infinite creator created two celestial spirits that will help him in granting his wish. The God of All named them Lumina, the celestial spirit of the light and life, and Grimmock, the celestial spirit of darkness and death. Both celestial spirits succeeded to grant the God of All's wish, to create a wonderful world. Lumina blessed the world with the shining sun and the Gift of Life, and on the other hand, Grimmock blessed the world with the depths of the universe and the Home for the Lost. Upon working, the two celestial spirits fell in love with each other. And with the power of their love bears fruit. The greatest thing they had ever made, humanity. And so, humanity continued to grow, and grow, and grow. The spirits were overjoyed seeing the outcome of their efforts and continued to do their tasks. The God of All saw how happy the two spirits were and decided to make them the Gods of the world that they had created. However, the spirits must follow one important rule- the Celestial Law of the Universe. They must keep the balance of the celestial powers- light and darkness and if they failed to achieve the equilibrium of the two powers, a devastating consequence will happen that might destroy the wonderful world they had made for years. The two feared they might lose what they had been persevering to make for the past years and so, they promised to keep the two celestial powers balanced. Years have passed, the two spirits were devoted to their promise. They kept the balance of light and darkness. As humanity grew larger and larger, many kingdoms had risen. Humanity with their own traditions, practices and more began to occur and evolve. They each had their own different ways of living, but all kingdoms believed and praised only two celestial spirits, them. Many praised the two spirits as people believed they were the creators of the world they had currently lived in. Everyone lived in peace and filled with pure happiness. But those happy days did not last long, everything changed. Grimmock realized that many people worshipped Lumina more than him. Many saw Lumina's celestial power as a gift and Grimmock's as destruction. He was overshadowed by the love of her life and jealousy overcame him. He wanted to fill the world with only darkness eliminating the light within it but to fulfil what he desired, he had to eliminate the source of light, the love of his life. He knew that he will break the balance of the celestial powers, disobeying the most important rule of all. He was aware of the consequence but he continued what he had planned. And so he took actions, he turned the world on chaos. He made dark creatures to destroy every single creation, including humanity. He was unstoppable. He successfully filled the world with his darkness. Lastly, to keep the world into what he desired, he had to eliminate Lumina. And so, the greatest battle of the two celestial spirits happened. The two spirits fought with each other seeing who is the strongest among them. Lumina tried to stop Grimmock reminding the devastating consequence that will happen but he still insisted. Grimmock burst out all of his powers towards Lumina, but she managed to stop it. Their battles lasted for days. They fought and fought but unfortunately, Lumina became weak. She cannot stop Grimmock anymore. To save herself, she used her spare power and imprisoned herself into an orb for eternity. Grimmock felt envious for he failed to eliminate the source of light. He tried to break the orb where Lumina was in but he failed. He was furious for the fact that someday Lumina will be set free and light and life will soon fill the world once again. He was scared that again he will be overshadowed by her. And then, a devastating earthquake occurred. It was the sign of the consequence the God of All mentioned. The real chaos had occurred that can easily destroy every single thing in the world, including the two celestial spirits. Kingdoms were falling apart. Many people were dying in despair. The world that He and Lumina had made was destroyed, but not fully. One kingdom had survived because it was protected by the power of the orb where Lumina was in. Grimmock felt guilty. He thought of the fact that the world that He and Lumina had created was destroyed because of his horrendous act. But deep inside of him still wanted to accomplish his desires- to remove the light and life in this world. To destroy the person that he once loved. And so, Grimmock vanished into thin air. No one had a sign where Grimmock had gone. The only thing that was left by Grimmock were the dark creatures. After Grimmock vanished, the chaos had stopped. The only Kingdom ever survived rose and continued to live. Later, the Kingdom was named Kingdom Imperia. The Kingdom's people rejoiced. From that day, the Kingdom of Imperia became more aware for they still believed that Grimmock is still out there lurking around. They also knew about the dark creatures made by the dark spirit out in the destructed places which later was called the "Lowlands". So for their safety, they built a strong and tall wall around the kingdom. But the story did not end there. Years after what happened. Imperia grew into a much peaceful kingdom. The orb where Lumina was imprisoned became the heart of the kingdom. It helped protect it from Grimmock's dark minions. It has Lumina's power of light. As the time Lumina imprisoned herself from the orb, her celestial power separated into twelve zodiac powers and scattered throughout the Kingdom. Aries, the zodiac power of the Ram Taurus, the zodiac power of the bull Gemini, the zodiac power of the Twins Cancer, the zodiac power of the Crab Leo, the zodiac power of the Lion Virgo, the zodiac power of the Virgin Libra, the zodiac power of the Balance Scorpio, the zodiac power of the Scorpion Sagittarius, the zodiac power of the Archer Capricorn, the zodiac power of the Goat Aquarius, the zodiac power of the Water Bearer Pisces, the zodiac power of the Fish These twelve zodiac powers scattered around the place to find the chosen bearers to inherit the powers, the people who were willing to protect the kingdom against darkness and to set Lumina free from the orb. Once the chosen person inherits the zodiac power, zodiac marks will appear on the person's body. Unfortunately, things did not end well with the first bearers of the zodiac powers. One mistake can destroy everything as one member of the Zodiac twelve became an accomplice with darkness, Agmus Murdock. He betrayed his colleagues and sided with the dark God. He planned to kill the other members of the Zodiac Twelve. Murdock was given the privilege to inherit Scorpio, the celestial power of the Scorpion. Every celestial power had its own hidden abilities and for Murdock's zodiac power, Scorpio, he had the ability to poison people with just a little s***h of his dagger. With his zodiac power, he managed to poison his colleagues killing them despairingly, but not all of them. One managed to survive with the help of her zodiac power's hidden ability, regeneration and strong resistance. She managed to weaken Murdock and captured him. After Murdock was captured, he was expelled off from the Kingdom for eternity. He was sent off to the lowlands where the dark creatures of Grimmock were, and those creatures were later called "Murdocks" in memory of the dreadful act of Agmus Murdock." "The end" with the little bit strength left within her, she struggled to lay back down. "Let me help you, mother" I assisted her to lay down on her bed. This time she did not resist. "Mother, do you know who the last member of the Zodiac Twelve was?" I asked her as she nodded back at me as a response. "Who was it?" "My palm has the answer, my love" She smiled. Tears fell from her eyes. "Farewell" and mother took her last breath. Out of curiosity, I turned her soft pale hands over and on her left palm, I saw a familiar mark and realized... She was the remaining Zodiac Twelve.