Scheherazade's Story

Episode 8

This is a story that reaches back over more than a thousand years. Civilization had flourished thanks to the ore called the Magic Stone which was able to extract the power of the stars. Prosperity seemed as if it would continue endlessly. However, people had relied too heavily on the Magic Stone for its power and the strain on the stars became too heavy. 

Thus, the Great Old Ones awoke from their slumber deep within the abyss. The power of the Great Old Ones was overwhelming. No one on earth stood a chance at fighting back. Even if all the power of the Six Sages, who held the strongest power was rallied, it was far inferior to the power of the Great Old Ones.

An outer world’s magician, Sheherazade, had thought to confront the Great Old Ones by calling things from another world for help.

Summoning things from another world meant to bring out their characters from stories and fairy tales. Her power in narrative was called the “Perfect Story,” and it was able to blur the lines between story and reality. And with her power, she was able to bring forth a great moon from another world.

At first she had called upon the world of “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter” to this world. She then said to Princess Kaguya, “Please use this power of the moon which doesn’t exist in our world so that we may seal away the Great Old Ones.”

“I understand,” said Princess Kaguya. She then took the Potion of Immortality, which was said to never be drank, and then tossed the empty flask away. Immortality meant to be cursed. To drink this miracle drug meant to give up everything, including ones existence as a human. “These will be the last tears that I shed.”

Princess Kaguya had wiped her last tears and now as the Immortal Princess she went off to the battle against the Great Old Ones alongside the Six Sages. The battle had been devastating. Warriors of the moon,  the Six Sages, and the fairy tale powers which Sheherazade handled. Even all of those powers combined were not enough to completely stop the Great Old Ones.

Almost all the flourishing cities had fallen into ruin and the number of remaining lives had become less and less.

Thinking that their entire star might be eradicated if they continue to battle on, Princess Kaguya and the Six Sages planned to seal the Great Old Ones temporarily. Though they knew that someday, they would have to destroy the Great Old Ones permanently.

The Princess was able to use ancient arts which only an immortal could have controlled. By the power of her arts, she was able to drain her eternal life force and coupled with the intense pain tearing through her body, a catalyst was created that put a one-thousand-year seal on the Great Old Ones that locked them within the abyss.

But during this time, one of the Great Old Ones managed to disguise oneself and escape while Princess Kaguya was locking the seal. And then they waited for the power of the seal to slowly wear away. As they had normally lived in the abyss of time, waiting one year or one thousand years meant little difference to them.

Princess Kaguya ascended to the Castle in Heaven and traveled forth to the moon which had appeared within the world. One of the Six Sages remained behind to guard the seal while the other five sages had sealed each of their powers into magic stones and locked them away inside the abyss along with the other magic stones which had been the catalysts for this entire event. 

By doing so, they had placed their powers upon the future. Since then, one thousand years have passed.

To be continued in ‘The Second Night’