Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Gundam Wing, and I do not make any money from the writing of this fanfiction.

Author's notes: This fanfic is alternate universe in the truest sense: no Gundams, no colonies, no technology. This is set in a fantasy world.

"We are the music-makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams.

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams;

World-losers and world-forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams;

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world forever, it seems."

Arthur O'Shaughnessy

Prologue

Once upon a time, there was a world known as Winseria.

The year is 4587. It is the fifth year of the reign of Queen Annabel Une of Lantall, the first woman ever to hold the throne of that land. She is still trying to get her far-flung lands under control; many of her territories, sensing weakness, have begun to resist her rule. It does not help her position in that she is known to be a friend to magical peoples - the elves, sprites, spirits. Once, long ago, these people were held in the highest regard, but now they are hated and feared and blamed for everything that goes wrong in the kingdom of Lantall.

Mages, a cornerstone of the kingdom's society, are in a precarious position at this time. Not quite inhuman, but not considered normal either by the eyes of the magic-less humans of the realm, they are in a continual struggle to survive and prove themselves to the kingdom.

Famous among these mages is the Winner clan. They alone, among all the human mages in the world, dared to treat with the sylven peoples, and were known as friends to all spirits and magical creatures. Legends and rumors abounded about this clan, until recently; their homestead was attacked by a force of powerful demons, and most of the family killed. The few that remained are scattered across the world.

Annabel of Lantall is distant kin to the Winners; she is seeking to gather the few of that clan that are left. They would be powerful allies if she could find any of them, but the few that remain are either unaware of their power, or they choose not to have anything to do with the current political situation.