History: Ohtori Academy
Long ago, in another Age, there was the Land of Fuuka - a shining island of light and wonder. In that place, the Obsidian Lord held court over his kingdom; a demon king of phenomenal power, sealed away by the power of the Silver Crystal. To placate him, and to serve as entertainment for the masses, once in three hundred years the HiME Festival was held, where those chosen by the King's power would battle for supremacy, the King's hand in marriage - and the honor of a single miraculous wish from their new groom. It was one such wish that allowed the release of Metallia, bringing about the fall of the Silver Millenium.
Amid the ruins of the Serenity Dynasty, the Silver Queen's bindings shattered, and at last the Obsidian Lord was free. Summoning to his side the spirits and powers of his innumerable brides past, the Obsidian Lord called forth the beacon of his omnipotence, the HiME Star. With the Senshi fallen and the Earth Court sundered, the few surviving HiME themselves were forced to rise to the challenge, binding the King to Fuuka, and using great magic to seal the island away; then giving their lives to hurl the HiME Star far into space, where Serenity's final wishes ensured it would once again wander, lost.
The Age turned, as ages do; but the new world would not be safe forever. Clow Reed wouldn't break the Earth's seals for hundreds of years, but another force found its way across the stars, an alien race seeking respite from the destruction of their world by their own hubris. Crashing to Earth, the power that their science could barely contain blew through the seals hiding the Land of Fuuka from the world; when people arrived to investigate, the visitors begged for the aid of magic to seal away the accursed legacy they had created, and together, they settled what would become Southern Cross Island - and buried yet another terrible secret beneath its hills.
The greatest seal broken, the HiME Star veered toward Earth anew, beginning yet again the ancient Festival - more savage now, without the Silver Queen's bindings to soften the Obsidian Lord's ravenous malice. But the Earth was lucky, for the Obsidian Lord's new bride was cunning and brave, and found a way to cast him back to sleep and send the Star hurtling back into space. On the site of the island, before vanishing into history, she founded an academy that became the moniker for the whole island: Southern Cross.
More recently, Southern Cross Academy and several other Island schools were acquired by the wealthy Ohtori family, and the whole collection of schools renamed after its new masters. Patterning the new curriculum after Western academies and building toward a future of excellence, Ohtori became known for its harsh studies but sterling graduates. Building on that tradition of superiority, the Ohtori student council was given phenomenal power, and faculty allowed to override them only rarely. In time, a young prodigy in the elementary school campus, with bright eyes and a powerful insight, even convinced the Family to create the elementary section its own body, to protect the hearts and interests of the younger students: The Guardians.
In the last few years, the present head of the Ohtori house has fallen ill. The position of president of Ohtori Academy - de facto master of the grounds - has fallen to his daughter's fiance, Akio. Akio is perhaps the most hands-off president the school has ever seen, leaving things largely to the respective principals and student bodies of the various schools; however, when Akio speaks, every student listens.
For more information, please see: History, History: The Silver Millennium, Schools, School: Ohtori Academy, Organization: Ends of the World, Theme Primer, Theme
