(Originally posted at Nov 10, 2019, at deviantART.)
Once upon a time, was the world we know. Humankind had conquered the entire terrestrial surface and was making proper preparations to venture even more into the space; unfortunately, the ones who paid the great price for such progress were not satisfied with such an outcome.
The Nature Forces, outraged with the way things were going, reunited with their Mother to decide on what should be done from now on – however, every single one of them had a different opinion.
The discussion lasted hours on end and, realizing it wasn’t going anywhere, Mother Nature concluded:
– Even if we do share our world with the humans, we do not live like them, we are not on their shoes. Therefore, we are thus unable to properly judge them.
She then got a hold of a handful of mud and from it formed a being whose image was perfectly alike to that of a human. She went on:
– Thus, I propose you an experiment. With the help of my magic, I’ll create children of the Earth who are not any different from the humans, which will live, for ten years, among them under the laws of humanity. When the 10-year period ends, they will share their experiences and then I will take my decision on what to do regarding humankind.
Utter silence consumed the place for several minutes, until the following inquiry was heard:
– Although, we do know the humans can be cruel and treacherous. What shall we ever do if your children never make it back?
She thought for a moment, but soon replied, taking away a piece of her newly created child’s heart and molding it into the shape of a small animal:
– I understand your concern. For that matter, I will keep with myself part of their hearts, for each one of them, which will serve as a guardian for their memories, a “memory keeper”, allowing us to know what they have lived even if the worst comes their way.
Without any protest, Mother Nature finished creating her new children and sent them to the most diverse parts of the world. Depleted with all the work, she sent home the Nature Forces and went into a slumber until the stipulated time.
The time finally had come, when she called forth all her children to listen to what they had to say, as she had access to their memories, but not their feelings.
As promised, the majority of her children had returned; some with riches, some with scars, while others didn’t come back for not surviving, or not wanting to come back.
It was easy to notice they had had the most diverse experiences, what made itself obvious as soon as they began to give their reports and opinions, many times extremist and controversial, leading to a big disagreement. Part of them weren’t children of Nature anymore, but children of the men.
The arguing was very much bathed into discord when, in an outburst, one of them stabbed who originally was their mother, stealing from her a fraction of her power and taking back their heart’s other half.
Chaos ensued.
To prevent the rebellious child completely turn the situation on their favor, Mother Nature gave what had left of magic to the others present, in hopes that at least part of them would defend her, and it was done: divided, the children of the earth started fighting between themselves. Some defending their mother, some defending the humans, some defending their personal interests only.
The Silver War had begun.
Horrified at the turn of events, the living beings clamored for help from the Nature Forces which, in a desperate attempt of helping them, tried to do as Mother Nature, creating each species a little guardian which was in charge of preserving the memories of each group and transmit them for future generations, in case those were completely erased.
The war waged on for years; kingdoms were stablished and collapsed, grandiose cities were reduced to rubble and whole countries were engulfed by the oceans, until, suddenly…
Everything got silent.
The most aggressive of the children and leader of the Scarlet Pack, Red, had mysteriously disappeared right after destroying the Village of the Seven Goats, together with two thirds of his crew, leaving everyone confused and, his allies, frightened, what caused the war to cease.
The Memory Keepers created by the Nature Forces still wander about in the world, collecting memories from the species assigned to them. Some of them wound up getting close to individuals who they forged bonds with, finding out that, when the bond is very strong, they’re able of keeping the memories of said individual as well.
The dead calm, the harmonious existence between Keepers and other living beings, as well as the slow reconstruction of the civilizations destroyed by the war, are, hopefully, signs that better times are coming to us…
~♪
Amalthea, are you busy…?
I’m never busy for my child, dear. Do you need anything?
Could you come with me to the meeting room? Mom’s memories would help us to figure out the best routes to launch the expedition.
The expedition… Are you really sure about that, Capella? We’ve been able to live peacefully thanks to the generosity of the humans here
There were no new attacks reported since the fall of our Village. I’m confident it’s safe enough for scouting and possibly gathering some more supplies since our resources are running low. Mom’s memories would also help us to avoid possibly dangerous routes, you know.
Yes, you are right, I’m just being overconcerned. I’ll be there in a second, okay?
Alright, we’ll be waiting for you.
Original text by mr-tiaa. Translation by ShiroganeRyo
Music: Fullmetal Alchemist – Bratja (Instrumental)
