It was the next day. Nova wanted to tell me about the Celestial Sages' history, as well as the history of the Gaara race as a whole. She began telling me the following:
Gaara are a humanoid race with some differences from humans. The first difference is the fact that they have pointed ears and enhanced hearing, making them able to hear almost any sound at any frequency.
The second difference is that they do not have any eumelanin in their skin under any circumstances, which means that their skin will never darken. They are also immune to skin cancer, and there is a different substance protecting them from ultraviolet rays, or rather not protecting, but transforming ultraviolet rays into energy for them, which is why they can survive without food for very long periods of time if they are exposed to ultraviolet light. The only exception are hybrid Gaara, who can have their skin darken.
The third difference is that Gaara are all deathly allergic to any kind of milk, regardless of its contents or what animal produces it. They do not breastfeed and instead supply their offspring with energy that they obtain from ultraviolet light. Basically, the Gaara parent obtains energy from ultraviolet light and transfers it to their offspring through a spiritual connection. If a Gaara does consume milk in any shape or form, it will result in intense vomiting until all the milk exits its system. This includes dairy products such as cheese, cream, sour cream, ice cream, and so on. This also includes any products that contain milk, such as dough cooked using milk. Hybrid Gaara are not exceptions to this rule.
The fourth difference is that Gaara have a way wider range of hair and eye colors than humans do. Gaara hair also does not lose color as they age, and retains its color all throughout their lives. They also cannot suffer from alopecia (a medical condition that causes balding). Hybrid Gaara are not exceptions.
The fifth difference is that Gaara age slower, and they live longer (usually from 100 to 200 years). For example, Astra and Zeneca look like preteens, despite being in their late teens. Heimdall and Varna are in their forties, but look about two decades younger. All throughout their lifespans, they retain the same level of strength, vision, hearing, and smell. They also do not develop diseases related to aging that are common in humans. Hybrid Gaara are not exceptions.
The sixth difference is that they cannot experience mental illnesses. Hybrid Gaara are not exceptions.
Now, about the Gaara history. Gaara are a species of unknown origin. The only thing known about their origin is that they appeared around the same time as humans, however, they appeared in their complete form and did not evolve. When humans were basically apes with primitive stone tools, Gaara were already beginning to build their civilization on Asgard, a floating continent separate from Planet Earth, but within Earth's atmosphere. Their language was the true earliest written language. However, Gaara did not share their knowledge with humans, as early Gaara were arrogant and deemed humans to be below them, and thus unable to understand their language or technology. The ancient Egyptian civilization was entirely separate from the Gaara, however, they did communicate with the Gaara on a few occasions. Other ancient civilizations before ancient Greece were also independent of the Gaara.
However, the ancient Greek civilization did have a lot of contact with the Gaara. The two civilizations shared quite a few similarities, and the gods of Greek mythology were Gaara. Even though their tales were changed and greatly exaggerated, some things in them were true.
The Roman Empire also had a lot of contact with the Gaara. Many ancient Roman rulers were either of pure Gaara blood or were hybrid Gaara. Up until the Middle Ages, the Gaara had a lot of contact with humans. They protected and enlightened humans, and peacefully coexisted with them.
However, the Middle Ages came, and with them came disaster for Gaara. The Church and especially the Inquisition were unhappy with the existence of Gaara. They believed Gaara to have been created by Satan, and that they had crawled out of Hell to destroy humanity from the inside out. Many Gaara were tortured and murdered, however, the civilization lived on. One of the most notable figures in the Gaara dark age was Queen Kalai'an. She was a hybrid Gaara with dark skin, dark red hair, two pairs of horns, and white stripes on her dark skin. For the medieval people, she was a demon, but for her people, she was a symbol of beauty, and her beauty was mainly in her uniqueness.
She once met up with the Pope of that time, and made a speech in front of him and his entire religious organization:
"I am Queen Kalai'an. Not a spawn of Satan, not an evil creature made to bring disaster to this world. I am simply a hybrid of Gaara, human, and dragon. And I am here to tell you. We Gaara are not evil. We are innocent of all wrongdoings, and all that we ever wished for was to enlighten humanity and see them prosper. And you respond to our blessings with evil. Slaughtering us and wishing death upon our entire civilization, hiding this under the guise of doing a god's work. Whatever god approved your actions, that god is the one truly deserving death. Didn't your god tell you to respond to kindness with kindness, and even respond to evil with kindness? So why are you responding to our kindness with evil? We demand an explanation for slaughtering those who are apparently witches, heathens, or heretics, without any actual evidence of their wrongdoing. Especially heretics. All that they did was interpret the sacred scriptures differently from you! Who told you that your interpretation of these scriptures was the only right one!? Nobody! There are endless texts with varying interpretations, and without a clearly correct one. We do not want war. But, I must set this ultimatum for you. Either you stop slaughtering my people and repent for your sins, or we will have vengeance! Just like you burned my people at the stake, all the power-hungry, arrogant, greedy, morally dead rulers of this civilization will burn in the fire lit by their own sins. Again, you have two options: stop and repent, or willingly start a war with us. Which one do you choose?"
The Pope could not tolerate what she had said. She had exposed him and his entire organization, however, he was unwilling to accept the truth he knew. So, he responded to her speech:
"I choose war! You despicable monster! All that you want is to make our faith, the true faith, seem evil, and make our holy nation drown in darkness and heresy. Just know that even though you seem greater than God, you are absolutely nothing compared to Him. You and your entire godless civilization will be destroyed once and for all by our Lord and Savior, as well as the forces of our holy knights fighting for the sacred cause. Crusaders! Seize her!"
Countless crusaders ran towards her and restrained her. The Gaara queen hoped for peace, even in such a hopeless situation. She wanted to say that she repented for her sins and beg for forgiveness, however, the fighting spirit burning in the depths of every Gaara's heart didn't let her do so. She was not going to lose to an entirely corrupt and morally dead organization that wished for nothing besides keeping power in their own hands at all times and conquering the world. She let out a blood-chilling roar and broke free from the restraints. She said one final thing to the Pope: "Our civilization was a blooming flower that wished for nothing but to provide blessings, but, you trampled and burned it. Now, the fire that you yourself lit shall consume you, and the flower that is our civilization shall be reborn from the ashes!" and teleported away.
After that, a war between the Inquisition and the Gaara began, the Gaara winning in the war. The Gaara faced massive losses in the war and were at the brink of defeat, but, they won. Their victory shattered the Inquisition into pieces, freeing Europe from its clutches. Humans and Gaara began to coexist peacefully once again, although the Gaara civilization had faced a severe decline and Gaara almost went extinct. Nowadays, most humans don't know that Gaara are real.
Now, about the Celestial Sages. The Celestial Sages are the ruling party of the Gaara civilization. By tradition, there are eleven Celestial Sages. The Celestial Sage ranked first is a de facto leader among them. Every time that a Celestial Sage dies or steps down from their position, they are replaced with a different person.
About Gaara traditions and societal rules. First, remain politically neutral. Gaara view human politics as petty and below them. The only political party a Gaara can support are the Celestial Sages. Second, remain nationally neutral. Do not consider yourself a citizen of any human nation and do not own any human documents of personal or national identification. Third, remain religiously neutral. Do not consider yourself part of any religion or religious ideology, besides egotheism (believing yourself to be a deity), technotheism (viewing technology and knowledge itself as godlike), atheism (not believing in the existence of or worshipping deities or the supernatural), or agnosticism (not worshipping deities or the supernatural and not considering oneself part of any religion, but believing that deities or the supernatural might exist). Many other rules exist, but, most of them are not important.
Now, onto the frequently asked questions section. Gaara mustn't consider themselves part of any human nation, because these are nations of humans, and we aren't humans. It is like a lion considering itself a wolf and living among wolves. We also mustn't support any political party besides our own, as it is like a lion hunting prey together with a wolf pack. We mustn't follow any religion, as we believe that the true godly power is the power of technology and knowledge. Other frequently asked questions...hmmm...Gaara beauty standards? Unimportant. Gaara dress code? To sum up our dress code, female Gaara normally wear flowing, ethereal clothing. Sometimes, feathered skirts and dresses. Many of us include a diamond shape in our dressing style. The Gaara men are usually in armor, but when not in armor, they wear loincloths and small capes on the upper part of their bodies, as well as sandals. That's it. We Gaara don't have many everyday garments that cover everything. Most of our all-covering garments are battlesuits and ceremonial garments. I hope that explains everything. By the way, is it alright if I call you Syrtos? Syrtos is the Gaara version of your name. Also, here's your Gaara outfit, in case you need it.
After Nova finished her lecture, I said that I was fine with her calling me Syrtos. I also thanked her for telling me about Gaara history, and giving me a Gaara outfit. I went to change and looked at myself. The outfit was a small cape covering my shoulders and part of my chest, a loincloth, and gladiator sandals. It was of a light blue color. I went to Nova to show her the outfit. She blushed, looked away, and said: "Oh...It looks great on you! Also, don't look at me like that! There's absolutely nothing wrong!" Judging by Nova's reaction, I understood that something was certainly going on. However, I decided to ignore it. Nova said: "By the way, Syrtos, I have prepared over 40 different explanations on why you are wearing that in case someone asks. About my reaction upon seeing you...it's because...this is my first time seeing a human in Gaara clothing. Yes, that. Totally. Very convincing explanation." I laughed it off and also asked Nova if she wanted to go somewhere. She said: "Ummm...Not really. I'm unusually tired today. I'll probably go get more sleep." Nova walked away. There were no more notable events that day.