The Heavens were not happy. They seemed to be bending inwards, threatening to collapse all. Fragility threaded itself into every Concept, on the brink of Destruction and then to Void.
The land was completely ravaged, unrecognisable from what it could have been, and what it was. Deep ravines ran through the earth, their cliffs treacherous and Fragile. One touch was all it would take to Destroy it all. On the coast, the seas were boiling themselves into vapor, cooling rapidly then forming sea again. This cycle of Nature teetering on Chaos was making the Heavens cry, and they showed their displeasure, lightning Wrath flashing across the sky, its heartbeat thundering into the World with each fork of energy.
Reality stretched for an instance, Stability battling against Fragility, as Speed threatened to rip Space apart. Stability was forced into winning again, and the Heavens quietened a little. The rain still poured, but the seas were no longer killing its life, and the land no longer would die at a touch.
On a cliff, in the epicenter of all this madness, Speed manifested five figures. There stood they, as Reality tried to contain their scope in itself, and was losing. Cracks of white Chaos started to appear in the air, when the figures' presence dimmed, and they sealed themselves up rapidly. Reality would not break yet.
All five of them seemed not human, and too human all at once. Three men, two women, all at the peak of this world, stood in a circle staring each other down.
"It is high time that we stop."
The speaker was one of the women. She was beautiful in the sense a hawk is beautiful, her violet eyes sparking with energy. Her hair was stark white, but interspersed in between were strands of blue and violet that seemed like they were buzzing with barely contained power. She was wearing a lavender gown, which seemed to float ethereally in the air along with her.
"You want to surrender now, you Crane, just when I was about to win?" one of the men retorted. He was an old man. He was so very old. Every line on his face seemed to betray a century of experience and ardour, and his face was filled with these. Yet, his thin body stood straight, his aura bursting with vitality, making the land under him repair itself against the advances of Chaos.
The woman replied in anger, "If we keep fighting, the land would die, you old Willow. No cost is worth it."
"Sister Crane speaks the truth," one of the other men replied. He was a giant, well built under layers of heavy, azure armor that seemed to shine with warm light, bringing Daylight into this crying sky. His head was completely bald, and a giant great sword hung on his back.
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The last man speaks calmly, but a raging windstorm seems to encompass his words. "Why does it matter? Its not like anyone can stop us." He seemed like a middle aged human, with a thick brown goatee, bushy eyebrows and a white streak of Wind running though his hair. His body seemed to flicker, as each gust of Wind that passed through his space grew solid, then into Wind again in an instance.
The other woman joined the conversation. A shimmer of rainbow light seemed to hide her face from all, her hair tied into a neat, elegant bun. When she spoke, Reality seemed to echo with Music and Calm, and the Heavens seemed to grow happy.
"That may be true Sky. Yet, if the land dies, then Life except us would die too. Reality needs Life to exist."
The old man grumbled, "Speak for yourself. I just want to Ascend."
The woman who was more bird than human interjected, "If we keep fighting amongst ourselves, the surrounding vultures would happily strike. We need to defend against them."
The old man and the man with the goatee looked like they had swallowed a lemon, but acquiesced the point. Collectively, the group looked towards the west for a second before turning their attention back to the conversation.
"Then what now? What do we do when there is nothing to be done?" the seemingly middle-aged man asked.
The five were silent for a few moments, each in their own thoughts, when the musical woman spoke up. "First, we repair the land. Then we make an alliance, and swear never to attack each other. We divide up the land so that all of us are equal, and govern our area as we see fit."
The group thought over it, before nodding.
"How would we divide it though?" the old man asked.
"It's simple. You get the West, Sky gets the South, I get the East, Melody can get North, leaving Crane with the Center."
Sky grumbled his displeasure. "Who put you in charge, Dawn?"
"It makes sense," Melody said. "We all go back and stay in the area that birthed us, and make it ours."
After this point, there was no more debate. Crane sighed in sadness, charging the air with static. "Look at us. Master would have been disappointed."
Willow retorted sharply, "But he left us, didn't he, when he Ascended. So it does not matter much what he would think." The air grew thorny at his displeasure, pricking Reality.
Dawn hummed, and an azure light spread out from him, bathing the Reality around them in Healing and fixing what was Destroyed. "Yes, he left us. But he also trusted us to keep the peace, and that is what we must do."
Sky and Willow made faces at this, but did not argue back. Now that the discussions were done, each of them flared their auras, their Concepts clashing with Reality to make their oath binding. Speed, Lightning, Music, Healing, Eternity and various other Sub-Concepts mixed, and the Heavens roared their approval. Chaos receded, Reality Stabilised and Fragility grew small again as the five fixed the world that was almost Destroyed by their battle. Then they turned their backs on each other, Speed blurred again, and each never saw their fellow disciples again.
Thus, the Five Great Sects were formed.