Rising Power (#1 of the Canton Chronicles Series)

The Last Memory of the First Leader (Prologue II)

(From the personal diary of Edward Canton, the Island's Founding Father)

Canton City Centre- 17th July 50 A.D (After Discovery)

I am writing these lines with the last of my strength... Bloody Hell, I don't even know where this strength came from since my nerves and muscles have long forsaken me. But I need to write this down. This information must be passed down to the generations ahead.

My name is Edward and in my thirty-fifth birthday, I manned a ship with a hundred passengers and took it onto a journey to the unknown. I should have been long gone in the black abyss of the sea, had it not been for them... And it's them I want to talk about. My own personal saviours. The Deities.

My dear Elisabeth was the first to come in contact with them, God bless her brilliant mind. She took me and Jonathan by the hand and led us to their lair, deep inside the dark forest.

I remember asking if this was the right way, frustrated from my night's sleep on the uncomfortable ground, under a canopy of leaves. Two weeks had gone by since we were lead to this paradise and our settlements were still primitive.

My wife's answer was firm, as her walking came to halt. They were there, their presences already weighing heavy on the atmosphere. We had reached a small clearing by then, hidden by the shadows of the gigantic pine trees. The ground was rocky and hard, and the area was devoid of the small animals we had till now encountered, leading to a complete silence.

And that's when I saw them. God's daughters on Earth.

They were three tall, ethereal figures, standing next to each other, their auras intertwined. Their bodies, if someone could call the colourful pools of light bodies, resembled liquid mercury. Blue, like the waves of the eternal sea. Red, a fiery flame, ever-burning. And black, the most un-moving and slow of the all, symbolising the sturdy earth and soil.

They introduced themselves to us. Elonia, the fire bender, her voice sweet and innocent. Magenta, protector of the earth and mountains, strong and stern. And Aurelia, the wisest and most powerful of the three, ruler of the Island's energy and controller of its barrier.

We talked for a long time. Aurelia welcomed us to their Island. She had been the one talking to me on the ship, and she still insisted that we were special. Blessed. She filled our brains with promises. A new place for us to stay, live and prosper. Extraordinary strength, mental and physical. The chance of ascension to a greater state than that of a mere human.

All those things I had been dreaming of, all my life.

I will never forget my wife's question, however, not as long as I live. She asked what the Deities wanted in return. Their hidden plan. I was irritated with her. These superior beings, God's daughters themselves, were giving us a lifetime's opportunity and she was rudely questioning it.

Aurelia had laughed then, an ironic chuckle. Her voice was mellow as she revealed her demands. The Deities were ethereal beings, created by an unknown Father and left to protect this holy island. Alas, they had never been able to touch, drink, eat or love, cursed to live eternally but never enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. That's why Aurelia and her sisters wanted our help. A physical body to live in. To finally know what it is to be human. The sacrifices would be scarce, and the chosen few would not die, rather than gift their bodies to the Goddesses. An honour, really.

Her answer had sealed the deal, despite Elisabeth's moral protests. And the Deities had, indeed, stayed true to their promises. Fifty years on this island, and we are stronger than ever before. We have raised buildings so tall their points graze the sky. We have optimised the means of production so no citizen will have to go hungry again. The Institute of Science, responsible for every invention and innovation, is thriving and the Council of Thirteen rules this land with justice and candour. Canton will only know peace and prosperity, and will never be stricken by war and famine, like the rest of the known world, with whom we have no connection anymore.

Very rarely, Aurelia allows desperate Rest-Earth travellers to cross the Island's barrier, but only when she thinks they are worthy enough. Worthy to gain one of the Deities' Powers. We are glad for the occasional visitors, though. It is my pleasure seeing my Island grow with ideas brought from bright minds.

We have indeed become something more than mere humans. And the price to pay was insignificant. Superhuman abilities, for an occasional body given to the Deities, a skin to live in. An amazing deal, right? All the citizens came to terms with the disappearances and deaths after a while, mesmerized by their new Powers.

Elisabeth never changed her mind about the Deities, not even on her deathbed. Her memory hurts me to this very day, and as I feel my own death closing in, I see her spirit. Everywhere I turn, below and above me, she is there, looking at me with eyes burning like coal. You did this, she keeps telling me. You have sent us to our deaths. But what was I supposed to do? Aurelia and her sisters had been so kind to us. And they needed those bodies, desperately. They need us, humans, so they can have a taste of normal life.

Elizabeth was wrong. I saved these people, I didn't condemn them. That's what I keep telling myself at night, as I cry myself to sleep. But if that's the case, why am I so afraid that my wife's words were true? If I am so innocent, then why do I feel like the guiltiest man alive?

A.N: The image roughly shows an impression of the Deities'  auras.