Chapter 1

Nikira London fiddled with her long tresses of hair, nervously coiling a strand of a light brown colour around her index finger. With her other arm she hugged her duffle bag close as she leaned against the wall. Classes would begin soon. Having visited the principal’s office the day before, she knew where her homeroom was and had a schedule in her bag, but that was it. She knew absolutely no one here.

The bell rang, and she sighed. She had dreaded this very moment since coming to this city. She’d spent the last weekend before the beginning of a new school year unpacking her things, and though most would need more time than that considering the amount of stuff she had, it wasn’t much of a problem for her. It’d been the fifth move she had experienced, after all.

The girl’s brown eyes shifted nervously toward the ground as she walked, watching the floor move under her feet while making sure not to bump into anyone. Upon arriving at her classroom, she meekly seated herself in the back of the room in the hope of not drawing attention to herself. Through all of the unfamiliarity, she took note of a scent common to her, and smiled to herself slightly. This was Art class. Nikira had a passion for artistry, one that her mind could simply not ignore as the familiar waft of equipment reached her nostrils.

Suddenly, her attention moved from the classroom itself to the teacher that strode up to his desk. He seemed to be one of those easy-going types, sporting slightly dishevelled oak brown hair and a pair of warm blue eyes that scanned the room. He wore a simple grey sweater and a pair of pants to go along with it; nothing flashy. Often it was this simplicity that Nikira liked most.

Though, despite her interest for art and culture, the new girl couldn’t help drifting to unintelligible thoughts when the teacher started to explain what was to be expected from them this year. If there was an attentive teen out there, listening to the standard speech every year, Niki certainly couldn’t imagine it.

Crystal Heights Academy was on the western side of town. Just like the other main high schools, Silver Springs High and Rolling Hills Academy, the first day of a fresh new year started off with meeting your new teachers, and listening to aforementioned speech. Boring as it was, usually no assignments were given. Many believed this as one of the few advantages of the day.

But alas, no matter what she thought of the teachers or students here, Nikira would have to cope with it. Out of the three schools, Crystal Heights was the one that suited her interests and abilities best. The slightly tanned girl was startled out of her thoughts when that already familiar bell rang. The teacher stopped mid-sentence.

“Well, it seems that was it for now. I trust I will see you all tomorrow. Don’t be late, now!”

He couldn’t have been sure whether the class was even listening to him or not, because most of the teens had already filed out of the room when he spoke those words. Nikira was one of the last to leave, nodding shyly to the teacher before exiting as well. The halls were a mix of excited chatter, shouts, and the occasional laugh. She tried to the best of her efforts to block out the sounds, and instead focused on getting to her next class, English. Fortunately, that was another subject she was good at. Perhaps it’d be able to calm her nerves.

Once seated, she took a look around the classroom. She recognized several people to be her classmates from Art, some looking a bit nicer than others (in her opinion, of course). The walls were adorned with several posters, some sporting poems and others showing an article or pictures.

Hearing murmurs and whispers from the right, Nikira looked into the direction of the sounds. There was a small group of people near her, muttering things and snickering when they noticed she was staring at them. It took every shred of courage (and dignity) she had for her head not to become beet red. Flustered, the shy girl shifted her gaze to the front of the class, determined to concentrate on a pen lying still on the teacher’s desk. She pretended to eye it with great curiosity, attempting to forget the situation. A moment later, she was grateful for the female distraction that walked into the room.

“Good morning class.” the woman greeted casually. The students mumbled something back that held the middle between a reply and a moan.

Nikira sighed mentally. It always bothered her how shallow some teenagers could be. They winced at the word ‘teacher’ and tried their best to avoid the subject. Her opinions on the matter were quite the opposite. Having a shy nature, she was not one to quickly make contact with people her age, and she often saw teachers as people she could confide in. They were still adults after all. Even the most strict teachers were kind and pleasant outside of class…of course, unless you’d done something to displease them.

Again came the speech. It was as though every teacher had decided to work independantly and simply assume that this was their first class.

Things continued their merry – and sometimes not-so-merry – way for the rest classes. Time passed by quickly yet leisurely for the new girl, so when the final bell rang she couldn’t help feeling reieved that everything had come to an end for one day. The way those classmates had looked at her and made fun of her still bothered her in the back of her mind, but she tried not to think about it too much. After all, this was only her first time here and she was certain people would become more social with her once they’d had the time to get to know her.

Now it was several hours later. With the needed difficulty she’d found her room and dropped her belongings there. It was time to look around town a bit more. Shyly the sixteen year-old walked down the street, making sure to keep tabs on where she was going so she could find her way back later on.

Eventually when she rounded one of many corners, a perplexing sight awaited her. There was a girl lying unconscious in an alleyway. Nikira nervously stepped a little closer to investigate, hardly noticing the strange clothing this girl wore nor the amount of similarities there were between the two of them. On the moment she kneeled beside the teen, her eyes fluttered pen and she groaned.

“Where am I?” she spoke softly, more to herself than anyone else it seemed. It took her a few moments to notice Nikira. “Who are you?” The person in question flashed her a small, unsure smile.

“I’m Nikira.” The girl nodded.

“My name is Kasumi Mitsuko.” She looked around, a sense of confusion filling her at her surroundings.

‘That smell… It’s so pungent.’ she thought, mentally wrinkling her nose in disgust at the foul smell that had long since enveloped the alley. ‘Where in all of Lunaria have I ended up?’

“Are you okay?” Niki asked her new friend hesitantly. Kasumi smiled reassuringly.

“I’m fine. I’m just wondering where I am, that’s all.”

Nikira opened her mouth to answer that question, but before a single syllable could escape her throat the surroundings were lit up by a brilliant blue light. A blue glow that radiated from Kasumi’s very hands. It seemed the lost girl herself was pretty amazed at this as well, for she was staring at her palms with wide eyes. She did seem to know what was happening though, and urgency and fear settled in her pools of brown.

Enthralled by the mystic sight, Nikira apathetically reached for Kasumi’s hands to touch that light. Just when they touched, the glow grew brighter until it engulfed them both, knocking Nikira senseless. All around in the city people could see the bright light that illuminated their hometown, but as quick as it had come it had gone as well. When it had dimmed completely, the spot where Nikira and Kasumi had been moments before was empty.

“Come on, wake up!” There was a yawn.

“Mira, cut it out…”

“… Mira?”

“Mira, what-”

Nikira blinked. Towering over her wasn’t her little sister Miranda as she expected her to be. Instead, she saw the beautiful form of Kasumi Mitsuko. The girl was, as she noticed now, clad in a black with slits to her thigh and silver vinelike designs on the edges. She also wore black and silver wrist guards from wrist to elbow, soft leather boots, and small silver hoop earrings. And instead of lying comfortably in her bed at home (which wouldn’t be possible anyway because she technically no longer lived there) she felt lush grass gently prickling her skin. She was now the one to be confused.

“Where are we?” she asked quietly, panic flavouring her voice. Kasumi wrung her hands nervously.

“Uh, well…”

The Crystal heights student looked around. The grass stretched out for miles around, and hills blotted her surroundings. In the distance she could see a mountain range. Strangely enough, Kasumi seemed to fit in this environment. And needless to say that discomforted Nikira even more.

“I’m so sorry…” Kasumi suddenly spoke up meekly. Nikira cocked her head in puzzlement.

“What are you talking about?”

“I… I didn’t mean to bring you here! I really didn’t!” she half-wailed. “Oh, what have I done? I can’t just leave you here, but how am I going to explain everything to the Trinity?”

Nikira sighed, feeling an ache starting to settle in her head. Trinity? What in the world was this girl babbling on about? Slowly she got up and stood on wobbly legs, and then grasped Kasumi’s hand. It promptly silenced her frantic ramble, though tears still glistened in the corners of her eyes.

“Calm down.” Nikira soothed her gently, rubbing the hand she held. “Let’s just get to…er…civilization first. Then we can talk, okay?”

Kasumi just nodded and took a deep breath as if to steel herself. Then, she silently turned to the mountain range and started walking slowly, tugging Nikira along smoothly. The two teens looked at the blue-hued distance wryly, and for a moment they seemed to think the same;

‘This is going to be a long walk…’

As they traversed the land, Nikira just couldn’t keep her eyes off her companion. What was it that made the student think of her with every step they took? Were it her clothes, or simply her name? Or was it the fact that light had shone from her palms? Nikira didn’t know. It wasn’t like she assumed she’d find out anytime soon, either.

Time moved on, and eventually they arrived at a river. Kasumi, noting that her friend looked rather tired, proposed to take a rest. Nikira happily accepted. She was handed a full flask of water and chugged half of it in a few seconds, feeling the cold liquid rushing through her veins and refreshing her from the inside. She released a content sigh, and Kasumi chuckled.

“Just thirsty, I guess?” Nikira just grinned, but didn’t respond n words. Not that there was much to talk about, anyway.

Anei’s face bore a scowl as she was brought the news. That girl, that mage…she had never arrived in the Abyss. She furiously reprimanded herself for not looking on longer. Now her target was gone. He sighed, and then smirked. It didn’t matter. Both sides were already fighting fiercely regardless of that ant’s presence.

‘Not long now...’ she thought deviously. ‘Soon those fools will be in for a nasty surprise. Soon indeed.’