Almost twenty years ago now I had an idea for a story that was the kind of dumb story a teenage boy writes filled with action and adventure and lots of OCs and that's fantasy by way of random half-finished jRPGs. That story was originally about a Luke Skywalker expy named Aiden who's backstory was ripped off from Tales of Symphonia. It was about a girl who fell from the stars (but not actually inspired by Stardust, I saw that later and watched it because of my story). There were things about the plot that were genuinely neat ideas, and I do still think about it sometimes. Hence this.
The rough plot outline is that the bad guys, an organization known as Sephirot (I knew of the Final Fantasy VII character, but I took the name from the Kabbalah after reading the Wikipedia page for it) clone the setting's Adam and Eve (Ash and Embla) as the security keys to get into Eden so they can essentially hack the planet and rewrite reality. Ash's nurse/handler sees how emotionally tormented he is and puts Embla into an ejection pod and sends her away with the help of some traitor Engels (the soldier grunts). Embla's escape pod crashes, Aiden finds it, he and his older sister with the incurable anime cough of death help Embla and get her awake and think she must have amnesia, because she literally has no memories. Embla and Aiden bond, and then Ash comes and attacks the village, demanding Embla back. Aiden's sister fights him off, but the villagers exile the family because they're trouble. Then the three of them start traveling the world going through jRPG style bullshit, eventually learning who Embla and Ash are and fighting the seven Sephirot, each one with a personality based on one of the Seven Deadly Sins, all while putting together a group of quirky misfits. Also, Aiden's sister dies and he later finds out that she was actually his mother but lied so that no one treated her like shit for being a teenage single mother.
Also, the setting was called Vindae, which is the web address of this blog, even if the actual title is Esperism. When I was about 17 I came up with like 20 different characters, most with only one or two paragraphs worth of personality, who would join the party. It was way too many, but if it had been an RPG it would have been good. I even put thought into the different cultures and fantasy races, although they were mostly some variation of Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Human. And there were only like eight "Cultures".
Gunshots rang out on the lower deck of The Empyrean. Black armored engels raised their weapons, waiting for the fighting to come to them. There was no way they’d be able to stop their own commander, but maybe if they gave it their all, they’d slow him down. The commotion on the other side of the bulkhead died down as men fell. Each of the soldiers held their breath.
Without fanfare, the door was blasted off its hinges. The commander dashed into the room, a tongue of flame springing to life on the carpet wherever he stepped. Panicked shots went wide. Where they didn’t, Ash’s skin seemed to catch the blasts and burn them up.
He barely flinched, and cleared the hallway in seconds, not hesitating before punching the foremost man in the throat, then sweeping him with a kick that sent him sprawling. The engels started rushing the commander, but even with deflective top of the line armor he went through them. Makeshift barricades of upholstered furniture caught fire and were splintered. The ground around him would frost over, and then he’d shove his palm forward, crushing a soldier in that armor. Completely unarmed, Ash was taking out twelve men. If he broke a sweat, it was quickly burned up by the searing heat coming off of him.
Only the captain of the defectors put up a real fight. He wasn’t some simple lab grown grunt. He managed to block Ash’s flaming blows, redirecting them with his own power, sending out ripples of pressure. He pulled a dagger from a hip sheathe, putting the commander on the defensive until he grabbed hold of the wrist and squeezed. The air grew cold and the elbow of the captain’s armor burned with heat and locked up. Before he could push back, the dagger was out of his hand and in his chest.
“Where is she,” Ash demanded, through gritted teeth. The dagger twisted, and the captain sank to his knees.
“She’s gone by now, I hope,” the captain spat.
“Where. Is. She.” Another twist.
The dagger was hot enough to cook the flesh. It scraped against ribs.
“Pods! Escape pods. She’s taking the girl and running!”
Ash stopped turning the dagger, and stared into space, stunned. That was crazy. Then again, he thought, looking at the purple strips of cloth tied to the wounded men’s arms, this whole plan was crazy.
Standing there with an enemy is a bad time to get lost in thought, and Ash felt his fingers grow cold before he had time to react. The captain had healed his wound with the dagger still in it, not even thinking of the consequences, and was healthy enough to struggle.
It wasn’t enough. Ash grabbed the man by the forehead so hard that something snapped. He didn’t bother to restrain himself. Fire poured out of his hand and he burned the captain’s head until it was so charred it left soot on his palm.
Leaving the dead and dying where they lay, Ash rushed down the rest of the corridors until he finally spotted Bronwynn, pushing a hovering cart down the halls at a brisk pace. When she spotted Ash, she stopped feigning an important task and started in a run. This section of the Empyrean wasn’t taken over by the traitors, and was still going about its day normally, and the rushing cart barreled through people, who had to leap to the side to avoid getting knocked over.
Before they could even get back to their feet and pick up their things, Ash was charging through knocking them over again, with even less care than Bronwynn had in her half-assed mission. Ash clenched his teeth and slid into the wall as he took a corner, but she was too far ahead.
By the time he caught up, Bronwynn was already at the escape pods. She turned and slammed the button to lock the chamber, and without even thinking about what he was doing Ash reached to his side and in one swift motion threw a knife at her. As soon as it left his fingertips he regretted it, and he could practically feel it himself as it slipped between the closing doors and drove through her shoulder.
Her cry of pain was cut off as the door slammed shut.
Fighting through the pain, Bronwynn pulled the insensate young woman off the gurney and put her into an escape pod, bleeding on the controls as she did. She didn’t get in with her, slumping down the wall as she tapped the buttons to send her hurtling off to who knew where.
All the while, Ash banged on the thick glass, tears running down his face.
“Why did you do it?” He shouted, trying to punch through the bulkhead and get to her.
Leaning against the door and smiling through the pain, Bronwynn hazily drew a bloody heart shape with her finger, and put her hand to the window.
“I love you” she mouthed.
Ash put his hand to the window.
“Why? Why did you betray us?”
She shook her head, and slumped down the door. Ash was calling for help, someone to get the door open, medical teams, but she couldn’t hear it as she blacked out.
Meanwhile…
Aiden lay on the roof and looked up at the sky. It had been a long day, and he was sore from doing odd jobs around the town and just wanted to relax in the cool night air. The sky was so big and so peaceful, with the night bright enough that bands of colour could be seen stretching from horizon to horizon.
“Help!”
Aiden sat up with a start, almost rolling off the roof. Where was that voice coming from? Had he been nodding off? Just as he was about to lay back down, he saw something in the sky. A star, falling from that swirling band of colour. It came closer and closer, and as it neared the ground bursts of energy came from beneath it, slowing its descent until a sail unfurled, catching the wind. With a crash that could be heard all the way at the farm, the tops of trees cracked and splintered.
“What was that?” A voice called from inside the house, as Elwynne came to the window to look out. There was a cloud of smoke rising up not too far away.
“Something fell out of the sky!” Aiden said, voice rising in excitement.
He slipped down from the roof and climbed the porch pillar.
“Where are you going? It could be dangerous.”
“I think someone was in it,” he reasoned, not wanting to tell his older sister about the voice he heard. “They might need help”