Long ago, the All Creators created man. A primitive sort, but amusing like toys. They dragged their arms along the ground, hunted for food, and froze when winter came. When their 'toys' began dying at this turn of events, the gods frowned and made themselves known, aiding the humans and guiding them, the toy status now removed and in its wake, man became their children, in need of ethereal parents.

Time past and man evolved into something civilized. Their brash nature still remained and the All Creators decided that they were responsible enough to live with other creatures that they wanted to create. And so they did.

Dragons began roaming the earth, along side wolves and swift quadrupeds, some with horns, other with wings, most were bare. Humans were scared of these creatures but, centuries later, learned to tame some of them. Even more fascinating animals started appearing and man respected the boundaries placed on some of them. Laws were even made, unspoken ones.

More time past and humans grew into elegant beings, completely erect in their posture with many mastered skills. They thanked the All Creators with offerings and temples. The divinities smiled at this and decided that certain objects of the world should be worshipped as well. The All Creators created immortals.

First came a woman with hair as brown as the earth and eyes as green as the meadows kissed with morning dew. The gift of life was all around her, flowers blooming when they shouldn't and recently dead bodies rose to her touch. She was Aeris, the Goddess of Life.

~*~

Next, the All Creators argued over the earth itself. The younger wanted a female and the older wanted a male. They molded them both for judgment and Aeris approached them both, touching the two statues of soil on the lips with her finger. Breath rushed into the lips and the dirt fell away, leaving behind two green-haired beauties that sang of the wind in the leaves of trees. They called him Terra Envy and her Terra Vesper.

~*~

The gods of day and night were formed by the light of the sun and stars. A golden-haired youth with fair skin governed over the morning affairs and lifted the sun from it's slumber. Later on, Seiji made a male counterpart out of the sun's fire and named him Ryo, a slight play on the green dragon tattoo covering half of Seiji's body.

From the light of the moon came a dark blue-haired man, dark toned and strong. His eyes were like the wolves who roamed his night. Once, he and Seiji fought for dominance of the day. Seiji defeated him and left a scar over his left eye as a reminder of it. It had infuriated him and pushed him to make a helper, a mate. Kale, God of the Night and Darkness, created Kayura from the silver of the stars.

Hikari minded neither birth from the light that was her realm. She had come before the four of them and was glad to be their mother, no matter how much tension formed between them.

~*~

The Terras' were one day roaming the world, contemplating creating a guardian to the earth who could move freely among the humans. Envy wanted one just in case they had to be called away. Vesper was certain that they could handle that when it was called for. But, a guardian was created, but only if Vesper was allowed to make a god out of her favorite flora. Thus, Kusanagi was born from the very substance they themselves had been, watching over the Terras' as well as guarding the servants of their temples.

Vesper kept good on her word, traveling the earth in search of a plant that caught her interest. Lillies, daisies, morning glories. She couldn't choose. No matter how plain, she loved them all. One day, she saw a male human searching through the vast fields of flowers. He looked around, finding none that interested him... until a certain patch of red blossoms gained his attention.

He tried to pick one, but the thorns covering the stem pricked his fingers. He frowned and began dethorning them. He only got through three of them before it was time to return back to wherever it was he came from. Vesper smiled as he left and gathered one of the red petals, intending to make this her god.

But before she got back to Envy, the goddess had found three other colors of the same flower. She made a deity out of all of them: Kojiro of Innocence from the white petal, Shuuichi of Beauty from the red, Treize of Honor from the blue, and Mamoru of Wickedness from the black. They were the Rose Gods.

~*~

A few gods came on their own accord, such at Ultimecia, Mistress of Time and Past, the silver-haired mute Usagi, Watcher of the Moonkeep, and, later on, Myuutsu, the strange creature who gave the aspiring humans a power called psionics. Myuustu was one of the three non-humanoid among the immortals. The other two were Bahamut and Tiger of the Wind.

Bahamut was a graceful black dragon, born with exceeding power and uncovered in his early age. He was quickly brought up to Heaven, where the All Creators made him an immortal. Instantly, he proclaimed himself the Dragon King and ruler of those who would ride his people.

Tiger of the Wind was also an oddity in his clan. A wolf with three colors, two of them blue and the other white, and horns on his head, what a joke. But despite the ridicule, his parents were proud of him and they had a right to. Tiger was faster than his cubmates and even his elders couldn't match his speed and he manipulated electricity with the crystal tips of his horns. Breezes trailed behind him and he created tempests and gales when his anger seethed to great heights.

A whole forest and several clans of wolves were wiped out before the deities picked up on this irregularity. Kale was sent to retrieve him and found him crying. Tiger has lost his one brother in his anger, the younger cub Grey Wolf.

Although Kale was upset that so many of his dark-crawlers were destroyed, the crystal tears reminded him of Kayura's starry realm and took him up to Heaven. Tiger now domains over storms, wind, rain, lightning, blizzards, tempests, sunshowers, drizzles, squalls, all kinds of weather, depending on his mood. From the lightning and wind, he made two assistants to help direct his anger. They were Raijin and Fuujin.

~*~

Death was an early creation, made from the first souls who perished in the winter. He was called Shinigami, but affectionately called Duo by Aeris and Hikari for his double personality. When he left the dying to his lover Heero, or the god known as Silent Death, Duo was perky and fun to be with. But when he welded his scythe, everything morbid known to existence was visible in his aura. Shinigami meant God of Death, but that role really meant he judged the souls that made their way to the depths of Hades. They either were admitted to Elysium, thrown in Tartarus, or left to wander the banks of the black river Styx forever.

~*~

When the Terras' asked to govern the oceans as well, they were denied, for even though there was earth and life in the waters of the world, it was not meant to be. Seiryuu, Eternal Guardian Dragon of the East Sea, spoke of a pair that would rule the watery depths. And with his instruction, Aeris made a body from the salty waters of the ocean and called him Cye.

It stayed that way for a while, but Cye soon discovered that fresh water stung at him, but fresh water /ice/ was harmless. Aeris, with the All Creators and Seiryuu's permission, made a woman out of a block of ice. They named her Ami.

Ami, the embodiment of ice, ruled the fresh water and northern caps of the planet and excepted Cye's hand of marriage when he offered. Their first child was the majestic creature Leviathan, a winged serpent who could live in both waters. He is their messenger.

~*~

One day, the All Creators were watching the humans away from the other godlings, dully pointing a few of them, and what they were doing, out. But when they came across a tiny village in the mountains, one of the All Creator's was awestruck.

A boy had caught the All Creator's attention and how. The child, only sixteen, held juvenated eyes as blue as the sea, hair as golden as Ryo's sun fire, and a body strong and dark. He was the perfect embodiment of Kale and Seiji; it hurt just looking at him.

The All Creator wanted him.

Tsunami, the second All Creator, laughed at her older and more powerful sibling's fascination with the mortal boy and commented on her sibling's fling with other mortals and that this interest wouldn't last, but the true All Creator was desperate to have him.

The All Creator did make the move onto the boy, weaving a spell over him and Tsunami watched, jealous that her sibling began paying more attention to this boy than her, and hoped the magic her sibling wove was a powerful spell that would give the boy false love and that her sibling would never gain his true love.

But she was wrong. It was an enchantment to make him temporarily immortal to prevent his death (seeing as how one could combust if not worthy) and to draw him out into the night, alone. The All Creator then went down to the boy, scaring the him at the All Creator's approach and made the boy freeze, paralyzed and terrified that he'd burst into flames at any second.

But when that never came, the boy dropped down to his knees, bowing down to the being that had made them. The All Creator was touched, but knelt down and rose the boy back up, wiping the tears away from his face. The boy asked why the All Creator visited him that night and the All Creator answered:

You have enchanted me with a magic that no other could cast or even replicate, ever. When I look at you, I see my children of Day and Night and Sea, and my servants of Thunder and Air. I see the earth itself within your eyes, your kindness and tenderness, your love for your family and friends. I see hard work and warmth to like the coldness of space that I dwell upon. I see perfection, something I never dreamed I'd see. I see hope for this race....

It was then that the All Creator spoke the boy's name, but by the will of the All Creator, no one knows what that is. The boy agreed, falling in love with the Eternal Deity's words, and so deeply touched that he couldn't refused.

The All Creator brought him back up to Heaven, giving him the gift of immortality and was titled The One With No Name.

~*~

Tsunami was upset that the boy agreed to the elder All Creator's proposal, but her sibling promised that in return, she could have her own mortal lover. All Creator Tsunami was only slightly cheered up, but was sure that no mortal would ever match that of her sibling in her heart.

Again, she was wrong, when her own heart fluttered at a black haired youth living on a plantation, farming many kinds of fruits and vegetables, but mostly carrots. Just something about him spoke of a special charm. All the local girls flocked towards his charismatic aura, but he really wanted nothing to do with them and tried to stay out of their bickering and cat fights. He seemed to be waiting for something.

Disguising herself as a mortal girl, she approached the boy. Of course, the boy wanted nothing to do with her, until she held him by the chin and let him look deep into her eyes; he found the center of the universe and that was all he needed to know.

His name was Tenchi, but his name was also confused with the word 'tenshi', which is what their children were called. The first tenshi that was born was the most important was Zechs, the winged messenger of the gods. Others were soon to follow.

~*~

There were many magnificent animals in the world, but most of them were large. None, except for certain cats and most birds, seemed to only grow below a foot. The All Creators decided then that there should be one. What was the result seemed odd. It looked like a wolf, but much smaller and with a narrower, more pointed muzzle. Its fur was an orangish-red and cat-like ears and its tail was long and bushy, tipped with white. They called it a fox.

Once the fox was released onto the world, they quickly died out, for most animals could catch then with no problem. The next time they shaped it, they gave it swift feet and excellent hearing, but before passing through the eyes of The One With No Name, the blonde boy gave it another gift: the gift of craftiness and cleverness.

This time, the fox not only succeeded, but became the first creature ever to steal and not get caught red handed. It was a trait humans soon picked up.

Thieves had no one to watch over them and ran amuk through the world, possessing no honor or dignity. Tsunami took the liberty of cleaning that up. She took a fox cub, an albino, a reject, and altered it in appearance. The coat turned silver and its red eyes golden (to represent her sibling and the more powerful All Creator's mate's locks of hair). Then, she made it grow five more luxurious tails. Its own tail represented itself, while the other five represented herself, her sibling, Tenchi, The One With No Name, and Aeris.

She placed it down and called it a kitsune, a magical fox that would grant a wish once caught, but would cast a curse if any of the tails were pulled. But something happened then. With the magic it was gifted with, the kitsune transformed into a human.... almost. He was pale and sleek, covered in white tunics. Silver ears adjourned his head and his six tails twitched back and forth behind him. And he spoke:

Tsunami, mistress All Creator, you have given me life and thus, I thank you forever. With the talents I hold, I will keep order within the ranks of thieves, for they now have someone to pray to to give them strength. But I will give them honor and if they to not uphold my wish, then they shall fail along the way. I am Youko Kurama, Master Thief and Fox God.

~*~

One day, a war started, the very first of it's kind, with brutal battles and horrid deaths. Shinigami and Heero were pleased and asked if they could rule over this glorious event. The All Creators were about to give their consent, when a woman graced their presence. Her face and hair, perfectly preserved, was stained with blood, but no cuts could be seen. A sword hung from her belt, a shield on her arm, and a helmet-crown showing the rank of highest position and beyond.

I was born from the spilled blood of this new concept, milked off of the hatred and duty swarming the battlefield. War is a beautiful thing and I want to be apart of it. I want to decide who wins and who loses. I will be fair, but I should be the one to rule over it.

Her name was Dorothy and the All Creators gave her the privilege to start and stop wars, but only with the permission of the All Creators. She was the third in the deathly triangle of herself, Shinigami, and Heero.

~*~

The All Creators weren't the only ones who took on a human for a lover. Aeris found one herself, a young man that was a lot like Tenchi, but didn't work on a farm. No, this man was a laborer. He practiced the sword, one a lot broader and heavier than Tenchi's and enjoyed, on nights when the moon was high, sitting by a small pond and watch the water ripple the bright reflection.

Aeris saw the amount of life within the man and was amazed. He radiated of the planet's glow and he, a mere mortal, was content listening to the words of Gaia. He definitely interested her.

One night, he fell asleep by the pond and Aeris approached him. Gaia's whisperings became louder in his dreams and they spoke of Life and how she would collect her knight.

When he woke up, he found the Father of Angels and The One With No Name standing over him.

At least he's alright.

Aeris will be happy, but I still think she should have given him the direct approach.

She's not the All Creators. Life is her power, not seduction. She might have scared him away and then it'd be hopeless.

Indeed, he is a real find. But Tenchi, I still think she should've asked permission. If they had said yes, they could have helped her. She kidnapped him.

Oh well, what's done is done. This one will just have to understand like we did.

Yes.

In time, the man did understand what he'd been given: the responsibility to protect and serve the Goddess of Life and listen for any kind of flux in Gaia's well being. His name was Zack, now Keeper of the Stream.

~*~

During the age when weapons were first made from metal, a second pair of twins (the Terra's being the first) came forth from a great fire, unscathed and ice cold to the touch. No fire or heat could harm them and took a great interest in the uses of metal.

They had refused their invite to Heaven and instead took refuge on a volcanic island, where they took the title Gods of the Forge. Juunana-gou, the Blacksmith, shaped the tools and trinkets of the gods, and his sister the crafts-designer, Juuhachi-gou, decorated whatever it happened to be with intricate patterns and jewels.

It's rumored that their greatest piece of work was the Hikari no Ken, the Sword of Light, for it could pierce any metal and vanquish any foe. It was also said to have been lost on the mortal plane somewhere.

~*~

The last deities to be omitted into Heaven were a third pair of twins that roamed the shadows. They played with the humans' fear of ghosts and things that go bump in the night and sang with the wolves and whip-poor-wills. The two were identical in every way except one. They wore black suits as fitting as the darkness, had dark red hair swept around into thick spikes, and were the same height.

The one difference were their eyes, where the older one had dark brown irises and the other held light blue. But no human ever saw their eyes, nor knew which twin had either, and were only associated by the covers they wore over them.

Blues, the Kagemusha of Psionics, possessed opaque glasses while Blank, the Kagemusha of Thievery, wore a thick, red leather belt (padded with black wool) across his eyes.

No one knows their parentage, but they are considered (out of rumor) the children of Kale and Kayura or of Hikari and the older All Creator. Many believed the myth of Kale and Kayura.

The grass was soft between his toes as the boy wiggled them, amused by the simple action. The sky above was a bright blue and the wind rustled the leaves in the trees eternally. Around him was a paradise, surely it had to be Elysium. An echoing laughter filled the air as he stood and ran through the field, the flowers moving aside to allow him room in his joyous playing. He stopped though, in the dead center, catching his breath and letting a smile stay plastered on his face.

From the sky, a cloud fell, hovering in front of his face. His expression turned curious as he reached with both hands to hold it.

It was heavy and the white powder fell away, revealing a dark blue ball, rubbery and alive. He thought it was cute and knew it was his without realizing why. Suddenly, the ball jumped out of his hands and started bouncing away. A new game. He followed it, calling out for it to come back and play.

It did return to him eventually and he smiled down at it, but when he looked up, the sky had darkened to a red canvas with swirls of purple everywhere. A hideous beast roared from on top of a mountain, issuing a challenge to those who dare knock him off of his place. Many tried, and all failed, death being their reward.

He was scared and looked down to the ball in his arms. It was shaking from fear.

This wasn't right. He looked behind him. The trees he had been lounging under had died and the grass for miles was withered and brown. The only growth of green was in a small circle around his feet. Life.

His face grew determined and threw the ball over the deadland, called out its name... A bright light flashed in its place, causing a rip in the world. Within the rip lay a child, his age, with long blue hair. She was crying, lost, and alone. Around her, fire raged, a fox was at her feet, and a small black-furred rabbit lay in her lap. She looked up at him then, tears falling like icicles from her chin.

Help me.... Help me find the stars. Come find me and help me..... Daisuke.

When the boy awoke, the first thing that assaulted his senses was the overbearing urge to go look at his book shelf. He hopped out of bed, lit the candle on the nightstand, and softly stepped over to the five-shelf rack.

Outside, the night crept on, and Daisuke Motomiya suspected it to be around two in the morning. But this couldn't wait until the sun rose.

Daisuke's fingers skimmed over the many hard bindings of books, each one he read at least once in his lifetime. There was one in particular though... He raised an eyebrow at one title he didn't really remember... Oh, that's why. Grandpa gave it to me a few days ago for my birthday.

He'd never looked at it though. Ancient gods and mythology weren't his thing; Dai was more of an adventure reader. Facts and stories of the Dragon Riders, the Fire Demons, the Monkey-tails, the mages.... Those weren't myths. A lesser Dragon Rider had even stopped by once to visit family, eight years ago. No one could keep Daisuke, or any of the other children, from asking questions about Dragon Riding.

The man had said that to become a Dragon Rider, you had to be a certain age to be let into the guild and a Dragon had to choose you, not the other way around. All of that nagged at Dai's mind, but it was a story from Grandpa that made it seem more wonderful.

Old man Roshi had woven the tale that claimed he had ridden with one of the Dragon Riders before. The Rider had been a black-garbed Fire Demon, who stole precious artifacts for a living. Daisuke never believed his elder, but the story never changed and he loved hearing about it, time after time.

It was the one lifeline to his dream of becoming a Dragon Rider.

He brought the book back to his bed and opened it, reading the words, studying the pictures, and wet his finger to turn the pages in the book, his sights set on finding /something/ that matched his dream.

But the only resemblance he ever found to the girl was the Goddess of the Stars, Kayura.... But there were no markings on the face of the girl in his dream. And by the time he reached the story of the Kagemusha, the two godlings worshipped by the ninjas, sleep was starting overwhelm him again.

Frowning, he placed the book on the table and blew out the candle, snuggling down into his blankets and finding his way back to the realm of Helios, Bringer of Dreams.

Miyako Inoue sighed as she stocked the Guatoma fruit into their crates, trying to keep a glare off of her face. "Don't tell me you're getting all ancient on me, Dai-kun. It's bad enough you /still/ want to be a Dragon Rider while everyone else has given up by now, but now you're looney enough to believe that a dream you had is related to Animezlic mythology?? My god, why am I still your friend?!"

Daisuke frowned and propped himself up on the crate he claimed as a seat. "Because I'm absolutely adorable and you're smarter than the rest of the people in this town to be prejudice against those who still have a smidgen of a interest in the old ways?"

For once, the mauve haired girl had no smart-aleck reply; she waved it off instead. "Whatever. You just happen to keep me open minded about the whole god damn situation, albeit by just a little. But right now," Miyako closed the crate lid and hammered it shut, "I'm thinking you're crazy. A blue haired chick that looks like the Lady of the Screaming Stars is telling you to /find/ her?? Get real, Motomiya."

"Hey! I just said that she /resembled/ her, not looked like her. And besides," he patted the book in his lap, "this book was never opened by my personal self until last night, right after I woke up. I had no frickin' clue what Lady Kayura's appearance was."

Miyako huffed. "My word, if you start honoring them, the next time you talk to me, I'm gonna say, 'Do I know you?'. ... Please, don't take this myth stuff seriously, for your own safety."

Daisuke twisted his lips into a smile that just radiated charisma. Miyako had a feeling of dread about the direction of the conversation; she knew that look well. "Hey, now you're acting like Jun in rare moments of kindness to me. But, I've made up my mind."

She stared at him for a long minute. Then it hit her and Miyako bowed her head. "I'm too late."

He nodded. "Sorry, Miya-chan. But I'm nineteen. My grandfather was exiled from the village and I want to leave to find him. Maybe he can help me in my search."

"....."

"This is what I need." Dai's eyes stared off into the distance. "I can feel it, Miyako. This dream will lead me to my destiny, but it will hopefully make your own dream come true."

"What?! Wait a minute! My dream?! Since how do you figure this?!" But Miyako had one clue to how: Dai's previous smile.

And there it was, slapped right back on his face. "You're coming with me!"

The whole area of the Odaiba town and farms heard, loud and clear, the next shrill of the youngest Inoue daughter. "WHAT?!?!?!"

^^; Ah, yes. Well, do you think Daisuke has enough charm to convince Miyako to come alone on his journey? What is Miyako's lifelong dream? Who is the blue haired girl? Is there anything I'm missing? .... Okay, zipping the lips now.