At first, there existed nothing; it was a void of complete emptyness. Then suddenly something formed, or rather someone.
And there he was, standing amidst utter darkness, with no light to even reflect in his dead-still eyes. So dark, the man wondered if he'd actually gone blind.
*CLAP* A bright flash of light filled everywhere, with just a tiny dark orb in front of that man. The orb's color was that of the blackest of blacks. It wasn't black because of emptiness, rather it was too dense with every single particle of reality itself. That orb made a whistling sound, like it had a consciousness, a soul.
"You want to live?", The man whose silence could make anyone feel uneasy, finally spoke. And in reply the orb again made a different creaky sound, which otherwise meaningless, somehow sound as if it agreed.
"Then your wish I shall grant", said the man placing his hand in front of the orb. And another bright flash, but this time with a shattering sound.
The hollow, the feeling of emptiness, all was gone, a universe was formed.
The dense orb that was black all this time was glowing, dimming with life. It was the very source of everything that was being created.
At last, it stopped, as if its work was done, as if it were a kid waiting for their father's order. The man looked at a nearby planet, his gaze was gentle, his voice softened.
"Of all the worlds out there, I choose this one"
The man said and upon this that orb fired a bright white ray and distributed its energy all over that planet. Only a small portion of that orb remained, as a tiny violet marble.
"DIVIDE"
Said the man to the little marble which was left. And upon his words that marble split into four parts, and from each part emerged a person; Three boys and one girl.
"This world my children, is a place for you to live, to grow, a place for you to call home." The man continued, "The other beings that I've given live to might be inferior to you, but always remember they are me precious children, just as you four are". The four Gods nodded in agreement. The man smiled.
"Agni, Astra, Chakra, Kaal; Protect this world, as it is truly adored by me.
This world, my precious creation, my dear EARTH."
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23 million years after their creation, the humans became the most intelligent species. Second in power only to the first gods. But after the four celestials' sudden disappearance, the humans became power-hungry; Thus began the 'Age of Tyranny'.
Humans as naive as they were, fought each other, hurt each other, killed each other. Men from all over the world, who possessed even a flicker of power, wanted the world all to themselves.
The land the 'Great one' made was no longer green and full of life, instead that very land was painfully red and soaked in tears and blood of the one's who suffered and the ones who caused that suffering.
Amidst all this, a girl was crying, begging for mercy from a soldier, whose face had no sign of human compassion. Rather, he had an inhumane grin, as if he found pleasure in the little girl's suffering. Why did he have to be so cruel? Was he a demon, perhaps? Or did the war force him into becoming one? The girl wondered, but all of these questions were utterly irrelevant. As she was about to die.
The girl who seemed ten or eleven years old, held and shielded her younger brother who was barely five. She was not crying for herself, nor did she treasure her own life.
The girl as selfless as she was, kept begging for only her brother's life, even offering her own life just so he could live. But alas! The soldier's bloodlust didn't waver; It was quite certain the young siblings were doomed.
Unsheathing his sword, the soldier said, "You're weak, this world is no place for the weak. I'm only doing you a favor, be grateful." The girl who was looking straight towards the soldier all this time, finally lowered her head, covered her brother's eyes and closing her own eyes shut, surrendered to their death.
She was awaiting the end and then the soldier brought down his sword at the young siblings with sheer force.
"Nooooo!!!", the girl screamed with her eyes shut.
Did she regret anything now that she was dying? All regret she ever had in her short life was of not being able to protect her little brother; The brother she adored, her only family. It was the end, only if she could, no…. Only if they could live.
"Sorry"
"Aaaahhhh!!!", a bone-chilling scream, one that can make one's ears buzz. Was it the little girl? Or was it her young brother?
No! It was neither, the scream was let out by that soldier. But why? The girl tried lift her head to know the cause but she didn't need to, the soldier's upper half was lying right in front of her, but his lower half was still standing as if it didn't know what had happened. His eyes were fixated on the little girl, he looked confused, even with his body cut in half his eyes weren't lifeless yet. The girl was shaken by the look in his eyes.
"I hate those who torment the weak the most", someone spoke. Who was it? The girl hastily looked up and her eyes froze at what she saw.
A man, without any armor, bathed in fresh blood. A sword in his one hand and a mace in the other. How many men had he slain? A dozen? 3 dozen? A hundred?
No…... That man or rather that beast had devoured at least a few thousands of warriors. He was not from any of the factions who had started the war; But then why? Why did he kill so many? The girl wondered, and the beast spoke,
"Humans, such naïve and lesser being, yet in absence of someone greater, will always think of themselves as the strongest. That delusion of superiority is the source of this war, right?"
The question was not directed towards the girl nor she should've been able to answer such a question at such young age, but the war had hardened her.
"Yes, yes it is", replied the girl firmly. And to this the man smiled devilishly.
"Then I shall shatter that delusion!!"
His sheer and terrifying bloodlust could've been felt by even the little girl, she couldn't speak, couldn't move.
"Thanks", the little boy finally spoke and his words broke his sister's panic attack; she thought how could she forget to thank their savior.
"I hate the likes of you as well", said the man stopping her from thanking him, "Pathetic, helpless, weak!" The girl was not hurt even by such harsh words but she could feel her heart wrench as she saw that the devilish man no longer looked ruthless, he had a soft yet sorrowful expression and...
Are those tears flowing down from his eyes? The girl was astounded, the man who seemed incapable humane emotion, looked somewhat sad, as if he was hurt, as if his heart was broken. The man turned away; he didn't want her to notice his sorrow.
"You may live, for now; But never forget, there is no salvation for those who don't save themselves."
The man left.
He vanished just as he had come, with no way of finding him again. The siblings never saw him again; But they heard stories, of the man that slayed thousands, the beast without mercy, the monster who stopped the war. That very man was the demon that forced all the humans into unison.
But that never mattered because the girl and her brother always, will always remember him as the man who saved them, the man who brought peace into the world again.
A new age had begun, the world was divided into even more nations. But none of the nations dared to attack another anymore; everyone was afraid to start a conflict as the man, the beast, the 'Demon of the War' might return to punish them.
The world was at peace again; Harmony and symphony reigned between all the nations.
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Centuries later, the humans came in contact with a new group of celestials, descendants of the first four gods. The new gods intended to bring balance to this world but what they did, resulted in something even worse. They chose 32 individuals with great physical prowess and gifted them a single strand of celestial D.N.A; The 'Patronage' they called it.
The 'Patronage' gave the chosen ones the ability to bond with the nature itself; They could manipulate an element of nature at their will. This ability changed the world, it gave them the level of strength and power the humans never had before and never should've had either. The chosen ones each made a clan of their own descendants, and in just a few centuries there were thousands of gifted people. But with such great power came even greater greed for more power.
The humans wanted to become the apex species, and the gods were the biggest obstacles in their way of achieving that. The thousands of gifted humans forced the very gods back into hiding. Even with their sheer power the handful of Gods stood no chance against the great number of humans.
But even after winning the battle, the humans lost the gift of 'Patronage'. Their abilities may had remained but with every new generation those celestial genes grew weaker. And after a few millenniums people without any abilities started being born again all over the world. And just like that, the gifted became minority.
The war with the Gods shook the world to its core. The society was in ruins; And exactly when the situation was most chaotic the "4 Clans" stepped up. The four clans single-handedly restored the system. No one stood a chance against them; Even the prodigies of other groups were defeated by them. But what was the secret of this strength?
The celestial genes of those four families showed more resistance to the generational decay; And with every descendant the clans only grew stronger.
By 400 years after the 'Awakening', three of the clans had already turned into royal families with vast empires under their rule; The Atlan Nation, the Agni Empire and the Nife Empire.
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On the year 1989(AAY),
In the household of Agnihotri, the prodigy of her family, Nila was born. She was a true genius in the ways of flame casting ever since she was a teenager. Nila's father, Ajay Died in the revolution of the fire benders. Nila was brought up by her grandfather with great affection and adoration. But she lost all that affection when she left her home for her love.
Arjuna, the head of Agnihotri family, had to sever all ties with his beloved granddaughter to retain his family's glory.
And 3 years later, Nila returned to her family but with her she brought a new-born boy. She didn't reveal the father's identity even after everyone's countless questions, even after everyone's criticism. Even the maids of the household talked ill about their lady.
"Silence", the Head's one word was enough to silence everyone present.
"Why have you returned after all this time? Why?! Was tarnishing my family name not enough for you?" Arjuna said while his orange eyes pierced Nila. But she still remained silent.
"SPEAK!!", Grandfather's voice shook everyone and everything in the house, if not the house itself. But Nila, she was unshaken, as if she was not afraid of him or even anyone.
"I'm not here to beg you to take me back; I'm here today to hand you, your grandson", Nila said. "And what makes you think we want him? We don't even know whose son he is." Arjuna's second son, Ansh said.
"He's MY SON!", Nila yelled, "And that should be enough for you to accept him. I do not need your protection nor your name, but my son, he needs you people, he needs a family! Please take him. I beg of you." Nila finally broke down, she was crying; The strong and proud woman seemed like a helpless, little girl.
"What do you think of me as?" Arjuna spoke again and somehow he sounded a bit hurt. "I asked you not because I wanted to torment you, I'm not the monster you think of me as. I will take you back into the family but that kid, I cannot let him have our name, not without knowing who is father might be. And I assume you will not reveal it; Therefore, he cannot be an Agnihotri."
"You don't need to lend him your name", replied Nila after giving it a long, hard thought. "All he needs is your support and that only."
"Fine, but what about his name then? He cannot be without a name, can he? Lend him his father's name, that should be possible, right?"
Nila lowered her head to look at her new-born son in the basket in front of her, and with a warm smile on her face said, "Kamiyama. His name would be Blaze Kamiyama."
And thus, the story begun.
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