9

Earth: The Awakening

At first there was just one person, then hundreds, a city and finally an entire planet. For the first time, the world was united, trapped in darkness. Then scenes began to unfold before their eyes, so that no one could say that they had not understood, because now they knew. It was as if a veil had just been lifted and humanity had awakened from a long slumber.

A voice aroused their curiosity.

“It all started on the original planet: RC20

It had neither ocean nor forest. Its soil was, however, the refuge of a resource that was to become the key to our suffering and then to our liberation.

The crystals of the world.

This resource was exploited only by the big houses, the richest families of RC20.

The population of this planet had no in-betweens, the rich proudly carried their name and the poor offered only their tired features and an omnipresent dirt that they had over time forgotten. Several generations had been lost in these dangerous mines. They regularly collapsed, made you cough blood and broke your bones. If it wasn't the mines, they had the choice between hunger and despair.

Then one day she arrived.

Her name was Ava.

She was only a young girl when she descended into the depths of the " Morte ", the most dangerous mine in RC20. She came back changed, convinced that she had found the source of all creation. Since that day she had only one mission, to unite the peoples and put an end to the Age of Servitude.

She was initially just a strange young woman who roamed the miners' quarters. Ava was there when a father breathed his last, when a far too young daughter gave birth to an illegitimate and often unwanted child. She was present when a mother cried for her son who had not come out of the mine that day. To each, she spoke of liberation, of the end of servitude. Very few believed in his promises.

But one day they realized that twenty years had passed since this famous revelation and that Ava's features had not changed, she had not taken a single wrinkle. She looked no older than twenty. The curious then rushed to hear him, the miners abandoned their work to listen to him, provoking the anger of the great families who relied on this trade to ensure their wealth.

At first, they watched her from afar. They mistakenly thought that her trickery would soon be discovered and no one would follow her. But she began to build an army of followers who obeyed only her. This was the start of the revolt. The disciples first went to the big families peacefully to make the misery of the people heard and their desire for change, they expected to be listened to. The delegation was massacred. They sent nine delegations to the other families who received the same welcome.

The young woman then decided to avenge the blood that had been shed. She assembled an army, the likes of which had never been seen before, and called upon the ten great families, one night before the assault, to surrender. Their doors should be opened to show their surrender. The next day she led the charge wearing on her forehead a silver crown on which had been mounted a dark colored crystal, the disciples had named it "Night Stone".

The battles were linked, the young woman only encountered closed doors. It conducted sieges against these enclaves for many weeks and showed no mercy. Bodies littered the floors of the fortresses and his army left a trail of blood behind them. So much so that these days were to acquire a name that would be remembered thousands of years later. They were called the Blood Marches. The war continued in this way until one day the last fortress finally stood before the army. A scout went to observe the defenses of this last family. Cries of rage, hope and impatience echoed through the ranks. The end was near. But just as everything seemed to be decided, a man approached the troops running.

It was the scout.

"Open... The doors are open!" he shouted.

The young priestess ignoring the advice of her disciples advanced alone and disarmed towards the fortress.

Once in sight, she stopped. A solitary figure then slowly left the protection of the ramparts. He was a man. The perfect stitching of his tunic suggested that he belonged to one of the great families. Yet he had advanced unarmed. The young woman noticed her drawn features and dark circles that did not tarnish her aristocratic beauty. Arriving in front of the young woman, he did what no member of the other great houses had done. He knelt down in front of her.

He had lost everything.

The last survivor of a family swept away by a virulent epidemic that had left the city desperate, he had come alone, to her, to die.

That day she spared him and told him: "If the Creator has seen fit to leave you alive, it is because it is not yet time for you to leave this world, you have one task left to do. accomplish. I will help you in exchange for your loyalty.”

The man then got up without a word and followed her.

This was the beginning of the reign of the High Priestess. She had united her planet and ended the Age of Bondage. Yet that was not enough for him. She visited 19 other planets. She was either greeted with contempt or denied entry to their territory. But she did not give up and for thirty long years, it presented itself before them, with promises of union and greatness. RC1 was the first planet to reach out to him, and the others followed, for fear of missing an opportunity. The High Priestess had succeeded in forming a confederation which she herself named the Royal Confederacy. As such, to show that they were united, the 20 planets dropped their names to become the RC numbers.

For two hundred years she remained at the head of the Heart and married the suicidal young man who had left its doors open. From a disciple, he had become a confidant and then a lover. A son was born from their union. Raised in luxury and respect, he had never known the same misery as his mother. From her he should have learned patience, humility and equality. But he rather retained from his father the importance of family, rank and above all power. He saw the RC as an empire that he alone would one day rule. When he talked about conquering other planets, his mother looked at him with a sadness he tried to escape from daily. She was his role model, but he wanted to surpass her.

Unbeknownst to her, Ava brings together her entire Brotherhood to set up the terms of her succession.

The forsaken son flew into a mad rage when he learned that only a high priest could become the wielder of the Night Stone and lead the order.

He had passed the test of the high priests and had failed the first test to his great shame.

That is why one night he invited his mother to have a snack in his apartments. He had brought this drink from RC2 known for its golden leaves which melted delicately in the milk and gave it a spicy taste. They talked for an hour. But soon, the High Priestess felt fatigue overwhelm her. She knew at that precise moment, when her legs no longer carried her, that she had been betrayed and collapsed. The son gently placed the sleeping woman on his bed. The deed done, he delicately touched the crystal lodged for all these years in the silver crown and tore it off with a sharp blow.

A shock wave then hit him full force, throwing him into the air. When he stood up, he stared in wonder at the Night Stone he still clutched in his hand. But his fascination turned to horror when he looked up at the bed: his mother had gone rigid and her veins had taken on a dark hue that reminded him of nightstone. He knelt beside her and touched her arm. It was frozen...

He withdrew his hand hastily, dragging with it a shred of flesh. The latter which had been full of life moments before had been replaced by a smooth surface of the same color and texture as the Night Stone.

In his hand, he noticed with amazement that the stone had turned blood red.

The young man disappeared that evening.

A hundred years later, the families leading the RC had to deal with a series of assassinations and kidnappings. Their relatives were killed in their beds, their children were taken from their cribs, their wives were poisoned. Panic settled in their house and the number of guards, the implementation of curfew did not change anything.

Faced with this invisible enemy, they went to the disciples of the High Priestess who had remained faithful to her commitments. They all turned out to be helpless.

An enigmatic figure then appeared before them. He wore a black robe with a hood that hid his facial features. A dark colored gem adorned her finger. The disciples then thought that this was indeed the reincarnation of the high priestess, returned again when they needed it most.

The attacks abruptly ceased. The power of the unknown was strengthened. He was there to guide them. The religion that had lost its importance since the death of the High Priestess became popular again. People traveled from afar to simply lay eyes on the new high priest.

He created a new army of disciples, even more powerful than that assembled by the priestess during the Bloody Marches, and terribly fanatical.

A year later, the unknown had arrived at the head of the RC.

He let them know that the creator had given him a new mission. He had to unite more planets under the RC banner and by all means. A crusade then began. Unexplored planets were invaded and colonized. Natives had to convert or were executed in public in order to keep others feeling fearful. The RC, which at the death of the priestess had only forty planets, had soon become the confederation of a hundred and billions of individuals had perished.

The High Priest did not stop there. He emptied an entire planet and its solar system in order to make it a sacred planet. Every year, he gathered his disciples there to observe a day of withdrawal dedicated to the High Priestess.

On both sides of the RC anger was beginning to manifest itself. But no one dared directly oppose the messenger of the Creator.

On RC 20 where it all started, a man lived in seclusion, he wore a blue jewel on his finger. He had not left this planet since the death of his wife and the disappearance of his son.

He had heard about the reincarnation of the High Priestess and laughed about it at first, but the power of the High Priest had increased considerably, so he decided to discreetly observe her actions. For him, they were contrary to the will of his wife and this stranger could therefore only be a forger. He decided to go to the center of power of the CR which was then on RC20.

He managed to infiltrate the residence of the High Priest by posing as a devout disciple and remained in the shadows for several months, hiding among the servants. One day he was asked to assist the High Priest in his libations. He watched the servants pouring milk in a bowl then sprinkle the liquid with golden leaves. They then left the room, leaving the man to his devotions. He undresses then grabs the cup before entering a basin also filled with milk and leaves.

The consort of the High Priestess, hidden in a dark corner, watched as he slowly immersed himself in the liquid and stretched out his arms to the sky to offer the drink to the Creator.

At first he only saw him from behind and was horrified at the scars decorating his back. The man in front of him must have taken hundreds of lashes.

But he couldn't help but feel a certain familiarity looking at him.

At that precise moment, the High Priest turned, a blood red stone hanging from his neck.

The next day, the man left the capital and traveled to the first planet that had allied himself with his wife, RC1.

The father's tale started out as just a rumor that went from planet to planet, from sanctuary to sanctuary, until it reached the ears of the last true disciples of the high priestess, those who had rejected the high priest and had to go on the sly.

At the announcement of the betrayal of their priestess, they let their rage burst and this anger awakened that of the old or new RC planets.

This was the start of the Great Rebellion.

For five years, the original members of the RC and their allies fought against their enemies. But the usurper's army kept growing. The opponents of tyranny then discovered the deception of RC 45 the Barbarian.

Slavery had been banished there when the high priestess was still alive, but this planet had remained one of the most hostile to the RC, so that no outsider could set foot there. In fact, RC45 had never ended slavery. The usurper provided them with children whose minds were malleable and whom they trained to become fanatical disciples.

The latter had succeeded in infiltrating the homes of the great families to massacre and kidnap their members. The panic generated by these orchestrated killings had facilitated the access to power of the usurper.

Betrayed, and determined to end this war, the Confederation signed a pact with RC45. The latter had to undertake to no longer supply soldiers to the usurper, in exchange slavery would be reestablished in the RC and RC 45 would maintain its place in the Confederation.

A few months later, the usurper was left with only a few followers with whom he had entrenched himself on the planet he had dedicated to the High Priestess. Surrounded, he surrendered and was arrested.

The astonishment read on the face of the man when he saw his father approaching him. But before he had time to plead his case, his father snatched the stone from his neck without hesitation.

The time of the Usurper had just ended.

Yet thousands of disciples remained alive to perpetuate the mission of their master. Wishing to put an end to a too long war, the CR decided, unanimously, to compel them to remain on their sacred planet, and erected a barrier which had never been seen before.

They had been sentenced to spend 1000 years on this planet, but 3 million years would pass before the sentence was lifted.

During this time, there would only be the stars to remind them of their past. Of course, none of them lived that long and over the millennia memories became tales, and then even those faded away in the meanders of time.

There was only one thing left : Earth.