Spirits: The Tragedy of Mars

The Seeds of Life

Mars-- speaking to Treasure

As a young lad, I had a marvelous family. My mother Venus passed away shortly after my twin brother and I were born, so it left myself, my brother Jupiter, and my father Earth to rule the kingdom of Alto on Vivace. My earliest memory was when my father planted the Seeds of Life on Caesura.

What are the Seeds of Life, exactly?

I wasn't quite sure when I was young, but I later found out that they were little capsules that included parts of our DNA. By this point, Caesura was an aqueous planet with a green mass at the center. My father sent millions of capsules in a similar spacecraft that I reside in, to be planted on Caesura. Millions of years later, boom, life on Caesura. Very similar to us Vivacians, might I add. Though despite our DNA, Caesurans and other species such as between humans and dogs from there differ drastically, while on Vivace, it was just us. I've found it very odd how that works.

Anyway, my father said to me, "Mars, it's very important that our prosperity be kept in tact. I'm planting these Seeds of Life so that you, your brother and all the generations after you can have a better life, should Vivace no longer suit our needs. The kingdoms of Piccolo, Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, and Bass are doing the same." They created perfect harmony by each planting their own Seeds of Life, which might be why humans in general have a lot of diversity.

My brother Jupiter came out just as the Seeds of Life were to be sent. He was a lively fellow, one of the best friends I ever could have had.

"What's that?" He whispered to me.

"Dad calls them the Seeds of Life, they basically allow us to grow from the ground on Caesura." I whispered back, it turned into chuckling and then into laughter, as I pushed him and raced on outside, inviting him to play with me. He soon followed me outside to meet all of our friends.

"First one out is a rotten prisoner!" Jupiter yelled after me, to avoid being a rotten prisoner I stopped my motion really fast just inside the door. Then out of nowhere, Jupiter shoved me out of the door, landing my face in a mud puddle. The way he laughed was familiar and devilish. "You're a rotten prisoner, Mars!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" And I used my tail to pull him down into the mud too.

"Okay, I deserved that." Jupiter mumbled, face still in the mud puddle. Then, I heard a giggle, a cutesy one, the one distinct noise I think I could love with all my heart, Gaia's laugh.

Who's Gaia?

Who is Gaia? Gaia is— was— the love of my life. We were always childhood friends, she wasn't a queen by any means, but she was the queen of my heart, a temptress at worst, a purpose at best, and worth more to me than any fortune the world could offer. She hung upside down from a tree overhanging the palace walls, and the amulet that she had, swung back and forth like a pendulum from one side of her face to the other.

"You boys are pretty dumb," she smiled and dropped down from the tree, landing in a handstand and flopped over on her butt.

"Yeah says the one who just melted into our backyard like a buffoon!" Jupiter yelled as he cleared off his face and ran after her. "Tag! You're it!" As soon as I heard that I bolted out of the way. One thing I knew, was that Gaia could run as if assassins were after her constantly. She loved to run, especially through my mind.

A few more of our friends, Mercury, Luna, Saturn and Pluto dropped on in. Mercury was another speedster in our clan, brother of Gaia and Duke of Tenor, known for being cocky and insanely intelligent, we could always count on him for a quick rundown of how to play a game or of a plan to escape any danger we got into.