Chapter 1 : Ancient Tales - The Yisheigai World

Chapter 1 : The Beginning

It all started one stormy night many milleniums ago, in another world far away from ours. In fact, even further away than the galaxy created by Mr George Lucas (with apologies to Mr Lucas). The stage is set in Ancient Tonya, the greatest land in that world, then known as Yisheigai. It was a world where gods and goddesses roamed freely and mingled with the mortals, even occasionally falling in love with them. However, little did they know that this would lead to the greatest tragedy known to the Yisheigains.

Back to that great stormy night...... in the great palace of the Sea God, the Sea God's wife is trying to convince him of her devotion to him.

" Mariteus......" Claudine beseeched, her lip trembling.She reached for him, her white hand quivering and weak. She knew that Mariteus had somehow thought that she did not love him, How wrong he is, she thought. She would have given anything to be with him, even her life.Her devotion to him could not be described by all the words in the world!! She also thought that maybe, just maybe, she could somehow transmit these feelings through her touch.

Mariteus, sensing Claudine's attempt to touch him, turned slightly away from her, just out of her grasp. Little did he know that this little movement had torn her glass-like heart into tiny little shards, just like dropping a wine glass from a tall bar counter.
Claudine looked at his face and seeing the hard look there, knew straight away that all was lost. She bit on her lip and tried to stifle the overwhelming urge to cry. She just knew that if she cried, Mariteus would be even more disgusted with her and walk away once and for all. She didn't want that at all..... But her tears just flowed down as if from a broken tap, not caring however hard she tried to stop them. She cursed herself softly and tried to wipe them away, but they just kept coming......She had even bitten her lip until she could taste blood in her mouth, but it was futile.

Mariteus, as expected, was unmoved by her burst of emotions. He thought that it was just a ploy on Claudine's part to hold him back, and it wasn't working one bit. Well, maybe just a little bit, for a small voice at the back of his head was telling him that he was missing something very important, and doing things very wrongly. That it was no good to stand by so unmoved by Claudine's tears, for he would come to regret it later, when it cannot be undone. Didn't he used to melt when she so much as sniffled? A dark sense of foreboding stole over him, but he quickly brushed it away, attributing his "weird thoughts" to the unpredictable weather. He turned away quickly and started to walk out of the room.

Claudine, after seeing him walk away, gave a last cry of despair. She could not stand his coldness anymore. She knew that if he walked away now, he would walk out of her life forever.If she was not to have his love forever, what was the use of living then? She might as well kill herself! She looked skyward, and pleaded with someone up there to end her misery. Just as that thought filled her whole mind, a lightning bolt struck her, as if listening to her agonised prayers. She was burnt to a crisp, and let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony!

Mariteus, who had walked to the door, immediately turned back on hearing her cry of pain. What he saw made his heart wrench. For there she lay, gasping her last breath, her face and body burnt by the strike.
Claudine reached out for Mariteus's hand and on finding it, held it tightly. Using the last of her breath, she gasped out her final words,
"Mariteus....my one and...only love...please believe that my love...for you is eternal...believe not what others might say...for without you...I might as well die... and heaven has granted that to me...just as well...for it has brought you back...to my side...I love....you forever..."

And with that, she closed her eyes forever, with a tear drop rolling down her cheek.

Mariteus hugged her limp body tightly and looked around crazily for any sign that this was the doing of the other Yisheigai Gods. He caught a glimpse of a cape that had the symbol of the....sky?

He let out a great roar of anger, for he had realised that he had fallen straight into the trap set by his own brother. Wasn't it Arian, the Sky God who had suggested to him that his wife had been unfaithful to him? Hadn't he shown him the magic mirror which reflected his wife sleeping with another god? On second thoughts, that reflection might have been doctored by Arian, for the mirror was his possession.

Mariteus then realised that the murderer was not only Arian, but himself as well. For his distrust in his wife had made it possible for the schemer(s) to sow discord between them, thus giving them a chance to kill her. Oh, how he hated them and most of all, himself! Hadn't he known how treacherous those other gods were? Why had he taken their word for it? Maybe......he thought sorrowfully....I just did not love enough.....

Engulfed in a sea of rage and sorrow, he gathered Claudine's limp body in his arms and arose from his underwater palace, up and away to the Sky palace inhabited by the villianous Sky God. Floating outside the gates, he caught a glimpse of Arian frolicking with some palace maids.

Incredulous that his brother could behave in this way, his blood boiled. He shouted out in his raspy voice,

" ARIAN, YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!! (The expression was popular then too.) COME OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!"
The Sky God floated out elegantly to his brother and replied,
" Tsk,tsk, my dear brother......however furious you may be, you shouldn't have insulted our mother like that!"
" HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME IN THIS WAY, MOCKING MY WORDS?!! AFTER THE WAY YOU HAVE MURDERED MY WIFE, YOU SHOW NOT ONE BIT OF REMORSE! FROLICKING AROUND WITH THOSE MAIDS, AS IF NOTHING HAS HAPPENED!
Arian smirked and sneered in his trademark, irritating manner,
" Well, I was not the one who did not trust my wife, thus giving the enemy a chance......"

And those were the infamous words which ruined the Yishegai World. For on hearing those words, Mariteus could no longer contain his overwhelming anger. He had decided that if Arian had shown remorse in his doings, he might just let go of him. But noooo, he had to be so haughty in true Sky-God manner. It was all he could do not to rip his throat to pieces on the spot!
Mariteus knew very well that the only way to stem his anger is to destroy the Yisheigai World and all the gods in it. His trusty flute appeared and he blew a song so filled with sadness, every living being that heard it died of sorrow. At the same time, he summoned all the water in the world and drowned everything; the sky, the earth, and even the Underworld.

All the Yisheigai Gods were enormously alarmed at the chaos and tried all they could to salvage the situation. However, there was nothing they could do, for nothing was stronger than Mariteus's anger, not even the Sea God himself.

Mariteus, drowning in his own punishment, laid down and held Claudine's hand tightly, while waiting for sleep to come and last forever......

Author's Note : So, due to the reckless words of Arian, the Yisheigai Gods were destroyed forever. At least, in their own world. Will they be given a chance, and reincarnated to another place? That's for sure, but as what, and where? Find out in the next chapter of Ancient Tales - Gods of the Yisheigai World.......

Back to Intro
Chapter 2 : The Awakening
The Yisheigai Gallery