Need 'n' Know:

Haha, haven't done any modifications to this Prologue. Sorry, been busy. I'm a senior at high school now, and I... don't feel like writing this story for a while.

So, yes, hiatus, for a while. Not like anyone'll read this.

Sapphire Stone
Prologue

Serena stared out at the sky. Her eyes reflected light blue. Her hair was a dark shade of brown.

It was nighttime. She could see a big ball of rock very high up. She wasn't sure what it was. Her geography teacher had never told her what it was yet. She often thought of it as the moon, but it looked more like Sapphire Star.

She had asked other people what it was, but they would never say anything. And she wasn't very close to her mother, so she couldn't share her feelings with anyone… anyone except her pet.

Serena wore clothes like any other students in her academy. But she was treated better and her hair was always straighter than the other girls'. Some of them often stared at her in a jealous, yet dreamy, way. She could never understand why.

She had never guessed who she was. She thought everyone lived in a big house with people serving them as she did herself. She thought everyone had a designer like she does, with the choice of cloth and patterns. She thought everything to herself, but could never express herself to anyone… except her pet, of course.

She has a Miac. She had her Miac since she was three years old. And she had thought everyone else had one, too.

A Miac is a magical creature that lives only in Sapphire Star. Its looks depend on its rightful owner, whom it only answers to, and no one else, and its surroundings. The more it knows its master or mistress, the more its colors represent him or her. If it's treated badly, it turns into a dark monster. But if it was treated with more care, love, and happiness than depression, it will become a very loyal creature. To show its loyalty, it transform into something that can talk. Yet, no one has been able to do that. So, it was a theory made by people who studied it.

Serena had Mia, her Miac, when her eyes weren't even opened yet. At the time, Mia was like a featherless chick. Then a month later, she transformed into a small hummingbird. But she was only allowed out of her cage when Serena was present. When Serena has to go somewhere, Mia was imprisoned in the cell. The cage is very large because Mia turns into a lioness since she doesn't trust anyone except Serena.

Mia has very strong senses. She could sense that someone around her mistress is a traitor. However, since her love with her mistress is not yet very strong, she still isn't able to talk to her. Mia was treated like a queen. She ate whatever she needs in the form she's in. Like, when she's a lioness, she eats raw meat. If she's a bird, she either eats berries, worms, or a formula to keep her healthy.

Serena was the one that often feeds Mia and talk to her. She expressed her heart only to her pet. After three years, their relationship was stronger than ever.

"Do you think we're all equal, Mia?" she asked, petting Mia with a finger because she's in the form of a hummingbird. Serena stared out the window.

Mia chirped, pecking at the seeds offered to her. Mia was green-bodied with purple-and-blue wing feathers on top of green feathers. Around her neck was a thin line of white because Serena doesn't have a favorite color. The white collar was also present in her other forms.

She giggled. "Of course, we all are. I'm no better than anyone." She sighed, pausing. "But why am I the one whose skin looks better, hair is straighter, and my clothes are never crinkled? Why won't my bags show and my teeth be a little more yellow?"

Her pet chirped again, this time, into her ear.

Serena looked at her. "Yes, I take very good care of myself. Thank you very much." She looked at the big ball again. She thought of it as a planet like Sapphire Star because of the blue and green and some white. Blue for water, green for land, and white for clouds.

Even at such a young age, she had a lot on her mind. She thought of everyone and everything and the reasons to everything.

"No one knows me," she suddenly said. "Only you, Mia, know me. I'm glad we're very good friends."

Mia chirped. She jumped down next to her mistress' hand and pecked her index finger.

"Ow!" Serena exclaimed, retrieving her left arm. She looked at Mia. "Sorry, I forgot about Jane and Wes."

Wes was her cousin. Jania was a friend of Wes', so they became friends through him. They were the only friends she had because she was too busy for the other kids. Anyway, Jania and Wes had always been at her house since she could remember. Their parents had died long ago, and that was how both of them met. Then they met Serena while running in the hallways.

"That was very mean. Pecking me for forgetting," she murmured, petting Mia again. Serena smiled.

She was happy being who she was. Even so, she yearned to be the other kids sometimes. Their lives seem less busy. Sometimes, she felt as if she was more superior to everyone, all because of the way she was treated. She didn't want that. She wanted equality.

Serena reached around her neck for the necklace. It was a simple necklace with a small, round star pendant. The pendant had a sapphire gem in the middle of a diamond. It was simple, yet very regal-looking.

She took it out only when she's alone because her mother directed her so. But Mia's an exception.

"Mom says this belongs to Dad. Geez, it must've cost a lot to make this." She turned it around. The back has a small "S." Serena showed it to Mia, who stared at it curiously. "The 'S' looks like the 'S's' in the words 'Sapphire Star' at the Front Gate, don't you think?"

Mia nodded in a bird-like way.

She giggled. "It must've taken a lot of money to engrave this on. The pendant's so small, and the letter is even smaller."

Serena looked down. There was a field of white Komlips that grew and pointed its leaves towards her window. A Komlip is a type of flower known to have various colors. Its petals are wide, but very fragile. The flowers faced her like a sunflower following the sun. The leaves tend to point at Serena, too, and she doesn't understand why. The Komlip was like a weed that grows taller and taller the more Serena waters it.

After years of questions and no answers, she didn't bother to ask what this flower was. She knew it was called "Komlip" because the maids told her that, but nothing else. She also knew that it was her responsibility to find her own answers to questions, such as the one about the faraway planet.

"When were you born?" Serena requested of Mia.

Her pet chirped and flew down. Mia transformed into an eagle. She scooped up a few Komlips and laid them at the ledge.

"Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed, holding them in her hands. "I wonder…. Why do you chirp? You're a hummingbird…. Well, a second ago. Anyway, hummingbirds usually flap their wings a lot of times and find honey."

Mia went, "Chirp, chirp. Chir-r-r-p."

Serena narrowed her eyes. "Is that a new language? You're an eagle."

Her eagle eyes went wide from surprise. Mia returned to a hummingbird. She grinned.

Serena laughed. "I didn't understand that, anyway. We should talk more often." She yawned. "It's time to go to sleep. Good night, Mia." She kissed Mia softly on the cheek.

Mia flew to her cage and perched on her branch.

Serena closed the cage door, leaving a small gap so Mia could fly out whenever she wanted. She always hated finding Mia locked inside, prowling around in her lioness form, and return to a hummingbird with a sad look when she returns from school. She reminded the maids and butlers not to do that, but it seemed as if they didn't understand her.

She took off her necklace and placed it in her drawer.

Why is everyone else so lucky?

—§—

I woke up at exactly 10:00 P.M. It was a peaceful Friday night, the 19th of April. I didn't know who woke me up and I thought I had a nightmare. But I couldn't remember what I dreamed. So, I closed my eyes and try to sleep again.

"Wake-up, Se-re-na!" a voice hissed. The woman was obviously trying to wake me up.

I opened my eyes and peeked at the person. "Mom?"

"Yes! Get up! And grab your stuff," she said, very eagerly.

"Why?" I asked.

"No questions."

I was too tired. Anyway, I've learned to be respectful to adults, especially my mother. We don't talk very much, though, but she's still my mother. I got into proper clothes.

"Get some clothes in a luggage and bring some money," she ordered.

My mother has dark blue eyes and dark brown hair. In the dark, however, she looked sort of black.

I did what I was told. I stood in front of her, trying not to fall asleep.

"Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"I said no questions," she growled.

Mother grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door.

"Wait! Mia!"

She looked at me. "We're not going anywhere very far," she stated.

I nodded. Since we were coming back, I scribbled down a little note for Mia and placed it in her cage. I wrote that I wasn't going anywhere far and that I was going to come back. That's when I remember the sapphire pendant. I grabbed it. I blew my pet a kiss and left with Mom. I took the necklace with me because I felt strong wherever I went with it. It was my father's, not to add. Without Mia with me, I would take the necklace to tell myself that my father and Mia were beside me.

Mom took me to our stable. She got on a white stallion. I didn't know how to ride one yet. But she didn't ask. She pulled me roughly and placed me in front of her. I was scared, being so high up.

"Aren't there people who are supposed to be with us?" I asked.

"No," she replied contemptuously.

Mother rode very far. I could only remember falling asleep, then waking up in the rising sun.

"Where—"

"I said no questions!"

I winced. Why didn't I remember that I shouldn't ask question? And she's my mother, too. I felt so bad.

It was very hot. I could hear my mother's loud panting. When I looked up, I could see sweat dripping from her forehead. She was wearing a one-layered outfit. Gosh, we must've gone really far.

Where am I going? I asked myself.

I sat there as the horse continued to gallop. The wind ran through my hair like water in a stream.

After what seemed like forever, Mom finally slowed down. The stallion seemed to like it. After all, it had ran through the night.

I refrained myself from asking where we were.

There was a legion of people that seemed eager to go somewhere. I saw them boarding a big wooden boat cautiously. All of them were holding luggages like me. I received no special attention, probably because of all the movements, and I liked it.

Mother said, "Hurry up."

She seemed desperate to board the boat. I felt as if she was taking me somewhere, somewhere I won't belong. But I didn't have the nerve to slow her down. I wanted to, but my body won't listen. I was scared.

When we got on the boat, it was overcrowded. I could hardly breathe. I was only half the height of everyone else, so I wasn't able to see anything on shore.

Mom dragged me down the deck. We got a special room. I didn't want to sleep in there. It seemed as if I was as normal as everyone else a minute ago. But now, I felt "special" again.

"I want to leave," I told her quietly.

She turned to me with a look of hatred. "No! You're staying with me, Reena."

"But I want to go home. Where are we going?"

She growled. "Stay here. And you're going to be called 'Reena' from now on, you hear me?"

"What? No… Mom, I don't to be 'Reena'…. I want to be 'Serena.'"

"You want me to yell at you?" she demanded.

I was so scared. No one was ever mean to me like that before. It felt as if she wasn't my mother. But who am I to judge when I don't know her that well?

"N—No," I slowly said.

She threw me at the top bunk. Then she left, closing the door after her.

I looked out the window. The shore was becoming more and more deserted.

"Where am I going? Why is my mother so mean to me?"

I felt scared. "Why didn't she let me take Mia? Did she lie about not going very far away?

"No. She's my mother. My mother wouldn't do that to me."

I laughed it off.

But inside, I felt that she had betrayed me. She lied to me, but I wouldn't accept it.

The boat started to move a few minutes later. That's when my mom came back with food.

I suddenly remembered that I get seasick.

She offered me the bread and milk.

"No," I said.

"Eat it." She said it very forcefully.

Doesn't she realize I get seasick?

I obeyed, anyway.

Seth Leckie, brown eyes and dark brown hair, was walking home from school on the 20th of April. He was also running an errand for his mother, who was sick in bed, while his father was out working for money. Then he passed by a small tree.

A sniffle stopped him. He looked at the direction it came from. Curious, he stepped toward the tree.

A small girl with blue hair was behind it. She was crying.

Seth bent down next to her. "Hi. What's wrong?"

"Don't bother me," she cried, moving away from him.

"Come on. Did you hurt yourself?" he asked.

"No." She shook her head.

"So it mustn't be that bad."

"How can you say turning into an orphan not bad?" she hissed. This made her cry louder.

"What happened?"

"My parents died yesterday from a working accident."

"Yesterday? You mean April 19?"

"Yes," she cried.

"No way! That's my birthday!"

"What? Ahhh!" the girl exclaimed. She cried louder.

"Whoa—what’s so bad? It was my birthday yesterday."

She looked at him with dark brown eyes. "While you were celebrating, I'm suffering!"

Seth gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry."

She started crying again.

"So, what's your name?"

"Merodi Some…."

"Well, Merodi, at least your parents aren't suffering anymore, right? My mother's sick—really sick. And I'm really worried about her."

Merodi sniffed. She wiped away her tears and looked at him.

"I'm Seth Leckie and I've just turned seven. My mother is sick in bed and my father's working really hard. Both of them are having a really hard time this year." He paused. "Where do you live?"

"Nowhere," she answered. "Since my parents are dead, they won't let me stay in my house. The tax people took away everything my parents and I owned."

"Hey! You can live at my house. My mother would really love to have extra help around the house."

"But I'm poor—"

"Merodi, they won't care."

She smiled, grateful for his help. "Thanks, Seth."

"No problem. Let's go. My mother's gonna be so happy. And did you know that a smile cures everything? If she's happy, she'll definitely get better."

He was wrong.

Seth was the sort of guy that doesn't stay in one place too long. Merodi usually trails after him and find it hard after a while. And Seth doesn't learn his lesson until something bad happens. This caused sort of a problem between them.

A year later, Seth's mother died. He grieved over her death for a few months. Merodi tried to help him. She was sad when he's sad.

After Seth was over his mother's death, he and Merodi befriend Alex William. Alex was sometimes very serious, totally opposite of Seth.

Seth's father soon also died, apparently because of his mother.

Alex's father, Al, became successful and is now governor of Ameca, capital of Zypolia and Calminee. Alex doesn't need to do anything, but he volunteers around Ameca. Merodi is one of the maids working in the Capitol Building.

Al William ordered the village to be covered in flowers so tourists will come back time and time again. He also wants the capital to be guarded. Seth finally learns to be serious and takes defense and offense schools. He helps carry out Al's plan by assisting at a fighting school.

The months went by as fast as the minutes.

It was finally "Rest Week" on August 1st to August 7th, Sunday to Saturday. On each day, certain groups of families gets the day off. They can spend the rest of the day with their family. In other words, some people have the whole day off to sleep or shop or… anything. Except for committing crimes.

Serena suffered years of hardship. She couldn't make friends because Martha constantly moves from city to city. Serena still attends school, though. She paid painful attention in each class. Everybody laughed at how poor she is, but she doesn't care.

Martha scolds Serena every time she does something wrong. She cooks at various restaurants, trying to support herself.

Serena had never faced such tragedies as this. She had to go to work after school to earn enough money, which she saved. She kept her necklace out of sight, fearing that someone would steal it or ask to buy it. She didn't care about how much it cost. She just wanted to be reminded of something she had lost when she was six years old.

Mia. She couldn't even remember her now. The chirps were also lost from her memories. She can faintly remember the thin, white collar around Mia's neck, though. Jania and Wes almost faded from her memory. She managed to keep all of them alive in her by thinking of them everyday.

As the years passed by, Serena became stronger and stronger. She was courageous and learned fast. Memories of her childhood were dark. She tried to live with what she's got. She drew pictures of Mia, Jania, and Wes, and marked each one. She wrote down things she remembered from each of them.

At night, she would cry herself to sleep. Sometimes, she was lucky and found wild fruits she was sure belonged to no one. Then she would pick them and slowly eat them, crying to herself. Thoughts of Mia found their way into her mind whenever she ate a berry.

There was no one she could rely on anymore. She didn't have time to talk to anyone because she was too busy. She realized how much busier she was now than when she was six.

Finally, after twelve years of hardship, Martha and Serena moved to Ameca. Martha thought it was a good place to stay because of all the guards and crowded places. They arrived by ship, crossing the big Larym Ocean north of the island they were on. Serena was still seasick.

Serena had graduated from school a week before she left. She used her money to buy clothes at the Capital. She kept her Sapphire Stone neat and clean. She hadn't cried for years now, because there was no reason.

Martha still lowers her spirits, but Serena realized that she shouldn't be mean just because of what someone said. She would listen to Martha's spiteful words, but it went in one ear and out another. She didn't accept the fact that this was her mother, so she told herself that Martha wouldn't have her respect as a daughter.

Serena smiles at everything she passes. She kept good track of the days.

After a week at Ameca, she finally has a job. She noted that she had it a week before August.