Marionette Queen (An Anigomi Original Story)

Prologue

Two hundred years ago, the world was in peril.

A war broke out between man and monsters alike, three races in particular leading the charge into the bloodstained battlefield.

The Elementals, who's control over the skies and seas made them a force to be reckoned with.

The Youkai, who manipulated their enemies by drawing on the power of the veil between this world and the spiritual realm.

And the humans, who weren't necessarily gifted in any way, but what they lacked in magical and supernatural prowess, they made up for in will.

This war raged on for ten years. The humans were dwindling, almost to the brink of extinction. How could they compete with the other races, who's power simply outclassed their own? How far could their willpower carry them until it died out completely?

But then, the remaining human leaders were visited by a strange creature. This otherworldly entity gave them a weapon that would give them a fighting chance; something that would cause even the Youkai and Elementals to cower in fear.

This weapon became known... as the Throne.

With this new power at their disposal, the humans charged the Youkai and Elementals under the ash-filled skies, and after many days and nights, had finally brought the war to an end.

The three human leaders that survived the ordeal divided up the land equally, and two more thrones were created so that there would be no fighting between them over its great power.

One leader sealed away the remaining elementals in his land, preventing them from leaving their elemental planes without authorization.

Another leader took the Youkai within his land and sealed them within the veil, as punishment for their use of necromancy and foul magic during the war.

The final leader took his place upon the throne, and created a paradise for his people to live, and that welcomed all those that did not take part in the war or who had already lost before the three major races had taken over. Elementals, Youkai, and humans alike came together in the hope that they will live free lives.

But time changes people, and soon they became unsatisfied with their spoils of war.

Knowing that each region had a throne of their own, the leaders knew it wasn't wise to launch an attack in a quest for more land. However, they still needed a way to satiate their greed. They began to plunder the villages of the old races, desecrating their holy lands and even resorting to graverobbing to attain the ancient treasures and weapons their rulers were said to have buried with them.

With the power of the thrones on their side, there wasn't anything anyone could do to stop them.

Another decade passed, a time filled with tyranny and worthless bloodshed. A group of heroes rose up to fight against the aristocracy, armed with weapons that could destroy the thrones and their rulers with them; two elementals, two humans, and a Youkai.

The temptation behind the power of the thrones could have ended in the summer of that final year, and the world would finally know peace.

But the hearts of man are easily swayed.

One of the heroes, a human by the name of Mahsur, succeeded in defeating one of the leaders but was soon drawn in by the throne's immense power. The remaining heroes were forced to fight their former comrade, who refused to fulfill their goal. Three of them perished, but in the end, it was the Youkai that managed to slay the traitor.

The throne, however, could no longer be destroyed. Not by a single person, anyways. Realizing this, the Youkai gathered the weapons of his fallen comrades and fled, using everything in his power to resist the temptation of the throne. He scattered the weapons across the kingdom of Malthen Las, where the original throne resides, before disappearing into the veil.

The hope that a new band of heroes would rise up and take their place disappeared with him. The people of Malthen Las have long forgotten this story, unaware of the dangers as a new leader had risen to the throne. But it's as they say, if you can't learn from history...

You are doomed to repeat it.