A/N: Hey guys! I usually write on fanfiction(dot)net (same username, if you want to check it out) but I'd like to submit my nanowrimo story. Yea, it's been a while, but I just went back to it and it wasn't too bad. Enjoy!

Introduction/Prologue/Whatever-You-Want-to-Call-It

Hey. I don't really have much time before they catch me with this, so I'll be quick.

My name is Sapphire. Sapphire Ceyouse d'Croix, to be exact. I'm seventeen years old. I live in the Elisus district in the world of Venficia. My parents are scientists, or that's what society calls them. Now that I know the definition of scientist, I wouldn't call them that anymore.

The year is 2888. According to our history lessons (and our textbook, The Great Book of Histories) the world wasn't always like it is now. Before the Great War of 2388, people lived primitive lives. They communicated with bulky devices called phones and computers. They used a grand invisible network called the internet. Heck, they wrote with pencils and pens. On paper. No one does that anymore. It isn't taught in school either. Only a few respected scholars even know anything about writing.

According to our history lessons, two countries (whatever those are) got mad at each other and tried to blow each other up with atomic weapons or something. I forgot what countries they were; I never liked history much. But basically these two powerful countries (I think they were called superpowers?) had a big disagreement so they started blowing each other up, and the rest of the world got involved, and everything just got out of hand and every country was bombing another and everyone and everything was destroyed.

The end.

Well, no, not exactly. Two scientists (the real ones from a long time ago) figured out humankind's inevitable doom and built their own underground bunker thing in Siberia as fast as they could so they would be able wait it out. At the time they were considered two of the most ingenious men on earth- a German (what's a German) named Alexander Schafer and a Russian (what's a Russian) name Sergei Pavlov. So the two of them took with them ten of their smartest scientists and went underground. Apparently Pavlov had invented a really advanced (not really anymore) machine that could detect when the atomic bombings were over without being destroyed by them. So the twelve people in the bunker waited until they could come back out. While they were in the bunker they discovered something that would change the world.

They discovered magic.

Yeah, yeah, I know you're probably thinking that I'm crazy and that magic doesn't exist. Well I'm going to tell you it does. It's a very, very real part of my life. Whether it's good or bad… I can't say.

So basically when Schafer and Pavlov were in the bunker with their ten extremely intelligent helpers and their advanced equipment (advanced even by today's standards!), they were able to unlock the power of the universe. That's how school explains it to us. It's the power of the cosmos, the power of mother earth, the power of everything that ever existed. It's called "Versium," apparently some archaic translation from Latin, but since a lot of people are stupid, Schafer and Pavlov decided to call it magic. The magic enters our world through a portal that Schafer and Pavlov opened called the "Speculim." I've never seen it; only the most trusted mages and higher- ranking conscenfs can even see it. The magic textbook, The Great Book of Magic, describes it as a ovoid shape, with a twisting, shimmering, beautiful vortex of color, ribbons weaving sinuously against a continuously moving backdrop of shifting visions.

When they unlocked the power of magic, they received a set of instructions called the "Decretum Vitalis." It's basically a set of laws for working with magic (which you'll figure out later, they're not important), and if you screw up, you die. Yipee.

But the laws aren't all that bad. The worst part is the stupid "aperios." Another thing that happened when the power of magic was unlocked was a massive web of snow white fabric fell through the Speculim into their laboratory. Schafer and Pavlov were completely confused about it and just left it where it fell.

After they determined it was safe to come out of the bunker, Schafer and Pavlov went around the globe in an airplane (those things are so outdated) and rounded up all the remaining people left on earth, which was only about a thousand or so people that had survived. Two women, Ellen and Cerah, were both near the end of their pregnancies, so they delivered back at the bunker area.

Imagine Pavlov and Schafer's surprise when the cloth flashed blindingly white as two cloths wrapped themselves around the babies when they're born. Cerah's baby, Hope, had a bright green cloth while Ellen's baby, Charity, had a dark orange one. Pavlov and Schafer went back to check the original cloth and found that it had disappeared, with another set of instructions left in its place- the "Decretum Seconduo."

The second decree basically states the laws of the aperios and what they do. When a baby is born, it is automatically given an aperio (yes, it changes length as a person grows). The color of the aperio symbolizes the person's natural innate magical reserves and power. The farther the color is down the rainbow (red is the weakest, deep purple is the strongest) the stronger it is. However, the greater the power of the person, the more responsibility they have and the more likely they are to "atvero," which means to consume themselves with their own power. The magic is dangerous, and most purples, unable to control their own power, go through spontaneous combustion. Only two purples have ever been able to live to old age.

Everyone born green, blue, or purple is considered a mage while everyone that is red, orange, or yellow is considered a conscenifirma. Only mages have enough power or reserves to specialize in magic studies, although not all of them do. Everyone in Venficia learns basic magics, then at the age of thirteen they choose their specialties- Hestus (history), Psychus (psychology), Neurus (neurology), Gentus (genetics), or, for the people that are terrible at magic (usually the reds), Plesus (basic need services such as food service or housekeeping) . The final specialty is Venficus- magic.

For people that specialize in Venficus, as a person learns new magics, marks pop out on the aperio. So far, very few people have mastered 7 elements (ignis, aero, aqua, terra, animus, obscuritum, lumino, and natra) - all elements except for the elusive 8th one, and all but one have been either deep green or sky blue mages. The last one is me.

I'm also the only person who's ever had her aperio change colors.

A/N: How was it? Review please!