In the alternate world of Maia, the islands rose from the oceans long before the dawn of humanoid civilization. The first Mäiosians were adapted for this world, possessing the natural ability to fly as easily as they drew breath. And then there was the magic, Aereum, as they called it. Aereum energy fueled everything in this world, from weapons to the skyships to Celestial artifacts. The scholars of Maia surmised it was natural-flowing aereum that lifted the islands into the skies and allowed people to fly. Interestingly still, all Mäiosians have two hearts, but some were particularly special, born with a third heart, an aeonheart, a reservoir filled with additional Aereum that granted them a supernatural magical gift, each unpredictable and unique and beautiful and scary. These magically inclined Mäiosians would come to be known as Mystics or The M.I.I. (Magically Inclined Individuals).
But there was something peculiar about this additional energy source that the Mystics possessed. You see, on the 12th moon of the year X339, a wrinkle in the sky opened, and a swarm of colossal sentient effigies, the Ni-Ruuk, spilled forth and drained the aereum of the Mystics who were unprepared for The Time of Tears, as the event would become known as in the history books. For hundreds of years, Mystics lived in fear of the Ni-Ruuk, and Mäiosians were enslaved to them. The Ni-Ruuk's single-track focus to drain the essence of Mystics was insatiable. They were drawn to the magical aeonhearts that beat inside the Mystics' chests; that is what brought them to Maia, after all. It would be discovered in time that Ni-Ruuk gained immortality by siphoning the aereum from Mystics' aeonhearts, killing them in the process.
After 250 years of Mäiosian enslavement to the Ni-Ruuk, a young mystic named Harold Qel was born. She grew up to be a powerful mystic, and arguably the most capable mystic Maia had ever known. Harold was an even more charismatic leader and, fed up with the suffering of humanity during The Time of Tears, put together a secret group called The Order of Harold and Hope (O.H.A.H). OHAH was a group of powerful mystics from all across Maia who came together to put an end to the deathly reign and tyranny of the Ni-Ruuk. For years O.H.A.H recruited members and trained them to use their magical gifts to save humanity. And finally, after 72 years of war against the Ni-Ruuk, (The 72 Years Liberation War), the Mystics freed humanity from the Ni-Ruuk by harnessing the power of the wrinkle in the sky to create their own portal. With heavy, sorrowful hearts, this allowed the Mäiosians to leave their homeworld for safer pastures. Though naturally, many Mäiosians were unable to escape their dying homeworld alive.
The Ni-Ruuk that remained in Maia, unable to drain the aereum of Mystics in vast quantities anymore, eventually turned to stone — petrified, lifeless effigies of their former selves (the stone effigies are referred to as Ruukaris). Mystic artificers would later learn how to animate these Ruukaris effigies with aereum and use them as vessels of defense, an ironic ending to the Ni-Ruuk, for now.
Unfortunately, the wrinkle in the sky that loomed over Maia never closed, so the Mäiosians could never safely return home (Ni-Ruuk still come through the portal looking for Mystic sustenance in Maia).
The Mäiosians' new home, the world where the portal took them, was Earth.
The Mäiosians' new home, the world where the portal took them, was Earth.
After the Mäiosians materialized on Earth, suspended high above the clouds in their floating, mobile cities (called Citadels) woven from extraterrestrial ore, they watched the humans below with wonder and caution, for the world they had sought refuge in was not empty, and unfortunately, the humans who inhabited Earth did not welcome them with open arms.
Tensions simmered between the Earthborn and the Mäiosians. The Earthborn were wary of the Mäiosians' magical powers and alien technology, the Mäiosians feared the Earthborn for their sheer numbers and immediate hostility. For years, both sides hovered on the brink of open conflict, their misunderstandings growing into the threat of war. The Mäiosians didn't want to subject themselves to more war and devastation. They had just left their homeworld because of it, they knew they couldn't survive another conflict.
It was not until the signing of the Earthborn-Mäiosian Treaty of 1962 that hostilities finally began to cool. The treaty, fragile as it was hopeful, sought to bridge the chasm between earth and sky. As a symbol of this newfound peace, several programs and initiatives were implemented to facilitate cohesion and understanding between the two humanoid species. One such unprecedented program was born from this——a student exchange program...
The Horizon Initiative for Learning and Integration (H.I.L.I).
As they put it, "A new horizon, a better future for the youth of today, and tomorrow, of the earth, and the skies."
As they put it, "A new horizon, a better future for the youth of today, and tomorrow, of the earth, and the skies."
In collaboration between the Mäiosian Parliament and the governments of several First World Nations (including Nigeria), Mäiosian youths would descend from their floating cities to live and attend international schools on Earth and Earthborn young adults would, for the first time, ascend into the skies to dwell within the Mäiosian citadels. The exchange program has occurred every year since its inception, with multiple cohorts of students exchanged between the two races each year. For one year, each group would live, study, and dream within the other's world, with the hope that through understanding and integration, peace between both species may continue to thrive. A shared future in the skies and on the ground is possible, or so it seems...
