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War II |
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The Second Elemental War |
| After approximately 400 years, the Elementals awoke once more. It is
said that when one Elemental awakens, so too do the others. Indeed, this
is the case with many of the Elemental Wars, and this is no difference. A harmless Coming-of-Age ceremony was the cause of this war. Such ceremonies were practiced by a village near the summit of Infinity Mountain, and this ceremony was held for a 16-year-old hedgehog named Andrew. To complete the ritual, he was given a quest, yet his quest was unlike any others. Believing not in the tales of the Elementals or the Ancients, or even the monster Void, he was to journey to the Temple of Fire to see for himself if the Elementals existed. He accepted his journey and set out to prove them wrong. In hindsight, the Elders of this village would have murdered themselves if they realized what they had set in motion. Andrew did indeed find the Master Elemental Emerald of Fire, deep with the Fire Temple. Inside contained Cain's soul as well. Andrew, a realist, saw no harm in touching the magnificent jewel, and when he did, his essence was conquered by the soul of Cain. He unwittingly became the host to the Soul of Fire. Upon his awakening, Cain erupted from the volcano in the form of a fiery Phoenix. His first task was to burn down the ancestral home of his most hated of adversaries, Gaea, the Soul of the Forest. Amidst this rain of fire, a young girl named Ouanda, living in a forest village, set out to the Temple of the Forest to pray for assistance. Upon entering, she was lead deep into the thriving ruins, finding herself before the Master Elemental Emerald of Earth. With the promise of revenge, she gave herself to Gaea, and brought forth the Goddess of the Earth. In the realm of the Ice Mountains, a crippled teenager by the name of Miro was drawn away from his village and into the Caves of Kaios. He found the Master Elemental Emerald of Air containing Kaios, but unlike the others, a pact was made between the two. Kaios gave Miro a new, healthy body, and Miro allowed Kaios to share the body with him. As a note, Kaios is considered the kindest of the Elementals, caring for all living things, not just those in his realm. Imbrium, the Soul of the Seas, was next to be freed. Her host would be StarGazer, a curious mer-hedgehog who was drawn to Imbrium's playful, loving spirit. Finding the Temple of Water by chance, she became lost in it's maze of halls and rooms, finding the Elemental Emerald of Water containing the soul of Imbrium. And again, a host was claimed, and the Water Elemental was born again. Lastly, the Elemental Emerald of Death was found by a thief named Crovax. He was a treasure hunter, full of greed and lust for new artifacts to sell, and his quest lead him to the Zone of Darkness and the Temple of Death. Inside, he journeyed to the core, discovering the emerald. With a single touch, death took him and with it, the Soulless one. Thanatos arose, the last of the five gods to awaken. A meeting was held on the Mountain of the Gods, a location non-existent today. The conversations were set aside and the discussions short as the Elementals began their eternal war. Like before, Tolaria sustained massive damage, incurred by the wrath of these gods. Kaios withdrew to his home in the Ice Mountains, welcoming any and all refuges who fled from the zones plagued by these wars. Even Imbrium, a pacifist like Kaios, was fighting. This only demonstrated how times had changed. Yet the more they changed, the more they stayed the same The War lasted twenty long and arduous years. Aside from Kaios, Thanatos was also not fighting. Miro and the Soul of the Skies unlocked his hidden plan and journeyed into the Zone of Darkness to stop him. He was the incarnation of Death, and as such, he grew stronger with each being that was killed. Once there, they succeeded only in trapping themselves in his realm of Death, unable to move or free themselves. It was here that Kaios proposed the shattering of the Elemental Emeralds, creating smaller jewels with which to guard the isle. To do this, Miro sacrificed his life, his energies flowing into the emeralds and breaking apart fragments that had held together since ancient times. From his efforts, 13 new elemental emeralds were created: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Death, Tech, Darkness, Life, Love, Change, Secrets, and Strength. Most of these emeralds would be passed down from Guardian to Guardian, while others were lost. There would come a time, however, when they would once again reunite with their Master Emeralds... |