On Pheonix Wings Prelude - An Ancient Myth
By Elaine

Once, a very long time ago, there was nothing but chaos. And of this chaos, there was born an egg. After a while, the egged hatched and then there was Pan Gu. And all was Good. Pan Gu seperated the heavens from the Earth, and when he died, his right eye became the sun and his left eye the moon. His breath became the wind, and his body the earth and sea. The sun saw that the Earth was good and seeked to warm it, and to bring light to it.

But a voice from the heavens called out, "Little sun, little sun, what are you doing? Leave the world in darkness, for I wish it so,"

"No," said the sun. "I will bring light and warmth to this world, and it will flourish."

But the voice from the heavens called out, "Little sun, Little sun, do you not see how fruitless your efforts are? You can only bring light to one part of the world, and when you leave, the trees die and the seas freeze. Leave the world in darkness, for I wish it so,"

"No," said the sun. "I will continue to try, I will grow bigger so that I can warm more of the world,"

But the voice from the heavens called out, "Little Sun, Little sun, do grow bigger. And as you grow bigger, scorch the earth and all that is in it. Then all will become ash, for I wish it so,"

The little sun began to despair. So his sister, the little moon came to him and said "Do not despair brother, for I will watch the darkened parts and I will make sure that the trees do not die, and the seas do not freeze,"

And the two worked together and made the earth a beautiful place, with all sorts of life and wondeful things.

And the voice from the heavens howled in anger and said "Little sun, little moon. You have defied me and have not left this world in darkness, so I must destroy what you have made myself. Move away."

"No," cried the sun and the moon. "We will defend our land and the land of our father Pan Gu!"

"So be it," and out of the heavens came a giant blackness called chaos. It was bigger than the sun and the moon, bigger than the world that they had made and it seeked to devour them all. But the sun and the moon fought bravely and without fear and the chaos was driven back. But the sun and moon were tired and came back wearing tattered clothes and the scars of the great battle.

"Dearest sun, dearest moon, where have you been?" The children of the world cried.

"We have been fighting back chaos and we are so tired," The sun and the moon replied.

"Dearest sun, dearest moon, please do not leave us again, for while you left, the seas started to freeze and many of the trees died,"

"But if it comes again, we will have to fight it once more," the sun and the moon replied.

And their little brother, the wind said, "Then I will fashion creatures for you, and they will help you fight the chaos,"

He took the fire of the sun and with the wind, molded it into three elegant pheonixes, and the sun saw how good they were, and he approved.

He took the water of the moon and with the wind, molded it into three beautiful dragons, and the moon saw how good they were, and she approved.

Then, from the earth, he took mud and molded it into the form of a raven and said "Little bird made from the earth, when danger comes, You will always be the first to know. And you will warn your brothers and sisters." And the raven nodded and all was good.

And thechildren of the sun, and the children of the moon, and the little raven went and fought the chaos, and it was driven back and they were known as the seven. And they have defended the world from chaos ever since.

*~*~

He looked around at the ravages of war, the destruction of what used to be. He grimaced slightly and tightened the grip on his sword. Why oh why oh why had it chosen to attack in HIS lifetime. Why had it been HIS world of all worlds that could have been selected by it to devour? Why had it been HIS people that had had to face it? He hung his head, unsure of what else to do.

"Is everything okay?" the woman next to him asked.

"Does it look okay?" He gestured to the wasteland. It had once been a beautiful forest, filled with life and his people. "Why, Yamiko? Why'd it attack here? It used to be so wonderful..." A lump formed in his throat.

"It's fate, I suppose...the Gods had fated us to fight this thing..." She sighed quietly and leaned on her staff, golden eyes blinking. "...at least we have won..."

"But at what cost? My family is dead, the people of my village are all dead...My country is dead, look at it..." He brushed the long, dark bangs out of his eyes. "And can you truly say we have won? What will happen when he comes again?"

"Then we will defeat him again," Yamiko said.

"But this time we defeated him purely on luck..."

"The Gods will make sure we are lucky again," a new voice replied. The man recognised it as Losse, the Raven.

"Losse, you were always the optomist..." Yamiko said, ruffling the young woman's purplish hair.

Losse smiled, it lacked it's usual brightness, but it was still a smile. "Rejoice dear brother for The Destroyer has been stopped. There is nothing more to fear,"

"I suppose not...for now..."

"Anyway, there's not much else we can do...Rui, Taki, Lan Yun have passed on..." Yamiko sighed.

"And Biyo has mysteriously disappeared..." Losse added.

"That makes three of the seven left," Yamiko finished. "Isn't it interesting how it always works in threes and sevens?"

"Heh, I hope I'M not around if he comes again,"

He glanced once more at the wasteland before him. "I couldn't agree more,"

"Gods help us if we are..."

In the distance, a raven cawed...it's harsh, sad voice filling the air...