It was a cold day in the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko, as usual. The Granhiert family was preparing the ingredients for tonight's festival because tonight is the founding day of the city Gusteko, the 4th of November.
It was year 495, around five years before the arrival of Jens.
??? : "Mom, why are we making so much food? Grandmother and grandfather won't come!"
??? : "Raylor, We've some guests for tonight. Go to your room and dress up nicely, be sure to say good morning to Elsa and Mellany, alright!"
Raylor: "Alright!"
His name was Raylor, Raylor Granhiery. A young boy of around seven years old. He was wearing gray clothes and a red scarf.
His mother, her name is Maija Granhiert. She is around 50 years old and is wearing clothes that represent nobility. Sadly, the Granhiert family isn't as noble as many people would think. The Granhiert family is living in the 3rd layer of Fonyai, the capital of Gusteko.
The Capital exists in 5 layers, the 5th is the extremely poor layer where people of higher ground are actually allowed to do anything they want to the ones of the 5th layer. People in the 5th layer have most of the times no houses and live in the forests. The 4th layer is a not well layer, with a lot of abandoned children and sick people. Dying is common in the 4th layer.
The 3rd layer is called the "General Layer". People have actual houses but don't have enough money to actually live of it, so they start working for the Prince of Gusteko. The 2nd layer is the noble layer where the rich and noble citizens live. Most houses are decorated with Mana Flowers and Gold. The 1st layer is where the Prince's Palace is. People of his family are allowed to live in the palace under certain circumstances.
Raylor is a casual boy. He doesn't care his family isn't rich. He claims that he had a good live and is happy with his two older sisters.
Raylor: "Elsa! Wake up!"
Raylor ran upstairs and opened Elsa's room. He opened the door and jumped on her bed and on her.
Elsa: "Raylor! Please let me sleep one or two minutes more."
Elsa was a beautiful girl. She is around 18 years old now and is considered a calm and lovely woman.
Suddenly, the second sister walked in the room and gave Raylor a hug.
Raylor: "Mellanyyyy!"
Mellany: "Good morning."
Mellany had long black hair and had beautiful blue eyes. She was wearing black clothes along with a silver necklace and one gold ring.
Elsa: "Sigh... Are we going to the festival tonight?"
Raylor: "Yes! We are actually going to the Odglass Temple and the Church of Gusteko!"
Raylor named two key structures in Gusteko. There is a religion in Gusteko which is based around Odglass, one of the four Great World Spirits and commonly known as the Mother of Gusteko. Raylor couldn't believe that his family will actually go to such sacred places.
Elsa: "Well... don't expect too much of it Raylor. It's probably a dusty place with piles of poor blood."
Mellany: "Sounds accurate to me. I hope we'll meet the Prince!"
Elsa: "I doubt that. He hasn't shown his face since he was born."
Mellany: "The previous few festivals in the last years, the Prince was there but didn't show himself."
Elsa: "Huh, I don't remember him even showing up there?"
Mellany: "I heard it at the healing church."
Elsa: "I see."
Raylor : "Well, dress yourself nicely because we've guests tonight."
Elsa : "Huh, we haven't had guests for years."
Mellany : "Did mom say that?"
Raylor : "Yes! She's downstairs preparing the food for tonight."
Elsa : "Ah.."
Elsa stood up and went to the bathroom and started changing. Mellany went to her own room and was brushing her own long beautiful black hair. Raylor went downstairs and suddenly heard the front door. A mature man walked in. He had black hair and purple eyes. He looked just like Elsa--
Raylor : "Dad!"
Raylor jumped in his arms and gave him a hug.
Alfheim : "Hey kiddo!"
Maija : "Ah... you're late Alfheim, what were you doing?"
Alfheim : "W--W--work.."
He hesitated while saying it. Maija didn't notice, but Raylor immediately knew that his father Alfheim was lying.
Maija went back to the kitchen and Alfheim put his jacket and work clothes on a chair near the front door. Couple minutes later, Elsa and Mellany went down stairs and the whole Granhiert family sat at the table while waiting for the guests and the food.
Elsa was wearing a beautiful dress. It had a black and purple color scheme. Her cape was entirely black from the outside with a purple line showing the end of the cape. The inside of the cape was entirely orange.
Mellany was wearing a plain black dress and had her hair in a ponytail.
Raylor was wearing a small tuxedo with a purple bow tie. His hair was messy, yet it still stayed cute for his age.
Alfheim was wearing a black suit with a black bow tie. His wife, Maija was wearing formal clothes that represented the trading company of the Granhiert family.
Not much is actually known, but the Granhiert family is one of the famous trading companies. However, their company isn't a success. They used to live on the 5th layer of Fonyai, but the family worked their way up to the 3rd layer and Alfheim keeps saying that one day they'll get to the 2nd one.
Raylor : "Mom... I'm hungy."
Elsa : "Quit being disrespectful, we've to wait until the festival officially starts."
Raylor was laying on his chair and gave an exhausted aura off. Mellany was reading a book called "Garden of Eden", Maija was cleaning the dishes and Alfheim was reading a newspaper. Elsa looked at her father and started thinking of the days when they used to work together at the Granhiert Trading Company, but when she starts looking at her father concentrated, she noticed lipstick on his neck. It was red lip stick, however her mom was wearing purple lipstick. Elsa's world just collapsed as she realized that her own father was cheating on her mother. However, she remained silent as she heard someone knocking on the door.
Maija : "Alfheim, can you open it?"
Alfheim : "I'm going."
Alfheim walked to the door and opened it. Two men entered the Granhiert House.
??? : "Ahh... it's warmer than outside."
??? (2) : "It sure is... ughh... it depresses me."
Alfheim : "Well hello! My name is Alfhiem Granhiert, that is my wife Maija. That is Elsa, Mellany and the youngest, Raylor."
??? (2) : "Children... Haven't seen any in ages... How sad."
??? : "Hector, please, stop depressing others. Hello everyone."
??? (?) : *Sigh*
The two men walked in and sat down. The one that entered first is described to have a "normal" appearance, with features that aren't handsome yet not ugly. He has a thin body along with white hair that isn't long nor short, nor arranged in a strange way. His black clothes follow the same concept, making him ordinary enough that people would forget about him soon after spotting him.
The second one, that kept saying depressing stuff is apparently called Hector. Hector has long blackish brown hair that reaches to his eyebrows and sleepy looking black eyes, with features that make him look like a woman. He wears an outfit which represent either that one of a Joker or a clown.
The normal one sat next to Elsa and Hector in front of Elsa.
Elsa : "I'm Elsa. Nice to meet you two."
Regulus : "Well hello. My name is Regulus Corneas."
Elsa : "Do you live here around?"
Regulus : "Ah! Good question! Sadly, no. But I'm here for work."
Hector : "How depressing, this melancholic conversation intensifies my despair!"
Regulus : "Hector, please. Keep your mouth closed for once."
Raylor : "Hi Regulus! My name is Raylor. What do you do for work?"
Regulus : "Ah! Well, I'm not really sure how to describe it. I would call my self an officer."
Hector : "Hmm..."
Raylor : "Ah.. that's cool! Have--"
Mellany : "I'm Mellany. Have you ever met the Prince?"
Regulus : "Well, yes I have."
And a silence fell. The only thing that could be heard was the snow storm outside of the house.
Elsa : "Seriously?"
Hector : "Ye~ees. We've met him together with an other associate of us."
Maija : "How great! How is he doing?"
Maija walked towards the table and gave everyone a cup of green tea. Green tea is common in Gusteko, as Gusteko trades with Kararagi the most. Gusteko sends Knowledge Scrolls with old spells and Magic for supplies like leaves, Mana Stones and for example, tea.
Regulus : "I haven't spoken with him for a long time. The last time I saw him he had a lovely face! He was always practicing his powers. I once even fought against him when we had a fight."
Elsa : "Who won?"
Alfheim : "Elsa! That's not nice--"
Regulus : "Who do you think who won the fight?"
Elsa : "I'm not sure. You have a pretty unique Aura which I never witnessed. I would assume that the Prince won."
Hector : "Ah... that does sound interesting to me. Such an unique response though! It doesn't increase my sadness."
Elsa : "I don't know who you two are. But you both look incredibly strong to me."
Regulus : "That's nice of you to say, I suppose."
Right after, someone started knocking on the door and Alfheim opened it. It was a young boy. In fact, that boy was the boyfriend of Elsa. He was wearing blackish brown clothes and a red scarf. He had red hair and yellow eyes. He had a relatively young face and a white complexion.
Elsa : "Akura!"
Akura walked towards the table and sat to Elsa's left, as Regulus was already sitting at her right.
Akura : "Haven't seen you in a while Elsa. Oh- I'm Akura Lura!"
Regulus : "Regulus Corneas, nice to meet you."
Hector : "Hector--Ughh..."
Akura : "I see. Well, did the festival already start?"
Maija : "Not yet Akura. Odglass will soon open the gates to the Temple. Couple minutes before that, we'll go outside and make our way to the Temple."
Hector : "Yeee~~ss."
Mellany : "Mom. Why did you or dad invite these two."
That moment, Regulus closed his eyes and it was visible that he became extremely angry when Mellany asked that.
Alfheim : "That's not nice to ask Mellany!"
Hector : "We came to fulfill our job, I guess you would call it like that."
Raylor : "Cool!"
Mellany : "That sounds suspicious. A bit sketchy."
Regulus : "Let's not talk about us a lot, I hate talking about myself a lot, sounds greedy, no? Let's just wait for the festival start. One of my associates is already there waiting for us."
Akura : "Associates? You aren't a Lugnician, are you?"
(Note : Lugnician = A citizen of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica or someone who is a pure blooded Lugnician, for example both parents born in Lugnica.)
Regulus : "My my, that hurts. Of course we aren't Lugnicians. I have been to Lugnica a several times for my job."
Elsa : "You were? How was it?"
Regulus : "Well, it isn't that bad. As my job makes the country a bit better every day."
Elsa : "Ah alright!"
Maija set the table and placed a lot of food everywhere. There was a lot of sashimi and Ryokucha as drinks.
Regulus : "Let's eat!"
Mellany and Elsa kept their eyes on the two, Regulus and Hector. As Granhierts, they were specialized in reading someones Aura. Both Elsa and Mellany were able to see that something was wrong and that they had plans. Yet of course, they remained silent.
Elsa however, didn't really care as she was quite broken from the inside as she couldn't believe that her father was cheating. It was horrible. The life of Elsa started to become worse. Yet, this is just the beginning.
Regulus : "Ahh.. Maija that was great! Like you've always made."
Maija : "Thank you Regulus! I haven't seen you in ages, so I'm happy that you still like it!"
Elsa : "What... what do you mean? I don't remember Regulus even being here."
Raylor & Mellany : "Me neither."
Alfheim : "Huh? Regulus was here twice when Elsa was fifteen."
Alfheim stood up and took his cloth jacket. He gave Maija's and the jackets of the kids.
Maija : "Anyway, it's time to go to the Odglass Temple."
Hector : "Aah... Now my sadness becomes even greater and greater."
Hector kept saying negative words while describing his mood. Regulus however, grabbed a necklace out of suit and stood up.
Regulus : "I hope we don't miss it!"
Hector : "That would be the definition of melancholy, missing the event we desired for so long..."
Raylor was quite scared for the Hector guy. He couldn't look at something different other than Hector. The words Hector kept using made Raylor be afraid of him. However, both Mellany and Elsa noticed something weird. They looked each other in the eyes and couldn't think of something else except the fact that Regulus and Hector never were in their lives, neither in those of their parents.
Maija and Alfheim walked to the wooden door along with Hector and Regulus. Arriving there, they all turned around.
Alfheim : "Are you coming kiddos?"
A silence fell, the three siblings didn't know what was going on. Akura sat there and didn't understand what was wrong with everyone.
Elsa : "Can we have one minute?"
Regulus : "Sure. We've enough time."
Elsa went upstairs and so did Mellany and Raylor. They went to Raylor's room and sat down. Couple seconds later, Akura came upstairs too and followed them to their room and joined them.
Mellany : "What's going on? Who are those two?"
Elsa : "I'm really not sure, I don't recall anything about them."
Raylor : "Th-That He-He-Hector guy is pretty we--weird."
Raylor was shivering and tearing up a little bit. As a young boy, he was afraid of the things he doesn't understand, and in fact that Hector guy was one of these things.
Akura : "Hey! Don't be so scared. Me and Elsa are with you, remember? We don't allow Hector to do anything to you."
A loud voice was able to be heard downstairs. It was that of--
Maija : "Hey! Are you coming or not?!"
The four kids had to respond as soon as possible, Elsa opened the closet and grabbed some knives and gave them to everyone, except Akura, as he had his own sword in his jacket which was downstairs.
Mellany : "Yeah! We are coming!"
The four kids went downstairs, grabbed their jackets and left the Granhiert House.
Regulus and Hector were leading the way to the Odglass Temple. Behind them were the parents, Alfheim and Maija. Elsa kept looking at Alfheim with hatred and wrath in her eyes.
Behind the parents, the three kids and Akura were walking and following them.
They were walking in a street near the Granhiert House. The street's name is the Fometsu Street. It's a street with various kinds of houses and normal families. The Odglass Temple was a huge tower at the northern part of the 3rd layer of Fonyai.
Hector : "Ahh! Isn't the Washuu House near? No? Ahh."
Regulus : "Hmm. You might be right Hector. But we're not allowed to interfere with them until after our job."
Those words didn't leave the group speechless. Elsa and Mellany both started to get quite nervous as they didn't trust those two at all. In fact, they were quite sure that they were part of an hostile organization.
Alfheim : "It's a couple minutes until we're there kiddos!"
Akura was already touching the sheet of his sword as he was afraid that someone would happen to his love of his life, Elsa.
Akura is a Curse Knight. He is able to curse his sword with a specific type of dark magic and then curse everyone else that is touched or sliced by his sword. Both Mellany and Elsa are assassins. They trained at the same assassin school and are relatively skilled for their place in the Capital. Raylor is a mage, however he isn't quite sure what kind of magic he can use.
Couple years ago, when Raylor was sick, his parents and Mellany brought him to the 1st layer to have him healed. Alfheim used one fifth of his total budget to have him healed. However, while he was unconscious, he was taken away by healers and was getting healed by the Prince himself. While unconscious, he didn't see his face, as when he woke up he was already at home. Due that sickness, he isn't quite sure how his gate and Aura works.
While on their way to the Odglass Temple, Raylor couldn't think of anything except thanking the Prince of healing him. He's already around two years sad that he didn't meet him and can't thank him.
Regulus : "We're here!"
They arrived at the Temple, which was a giant tower of tons of kilometers tall and was entirely made of stone and eternal ice. There were a lot of people at the entrance, mostly humans.
Maija : "Well that's too bad. It will take hours until we can see Odglass and the inside of the temple."
Regulus : "Come now Maija, don't be like that. I know a way how we can enter the tower without problems at all."
Regulus went to the right and walked towards a lady with a cloak. Her face and hair was covered by the cloak, the only thing that was able to be seen were her naked yet beautiful legs. She wasn't tall, not short, she would be around 170cm.
??? : "Regulus..."
Regulus : "Hello my lady. Could you help us out?"
??? : "Well of course. Regulus, Hector, Granhierts, good luck in the temple."
The only thing what she did was snap her fingers and the group was already in a blink of an eye inside of the temple at the very top. In fact, they were the only one at the top. It was quite a sight they had, the only thing at the top was a small blue sphere and a lot of snow.
Raylor : Wha?!"
Regulus : "That was my associates work, don't worry about it. We can go back to your house the same way."
Maija : "Let's start the meeting with Odglass then?"
Elsa : "Meeting?! Only the royal family of Gusteko has the privilege of meeting him!"
Regulus : "Yes, but me and Hector are different. Well, come here. This is a once in a life time experience."
Right that moment, the woman with cloak appeared in front of Regulus and Hector.
??? : "Archbishop Regulus... Consider your actions before actually performing them."
The lady walked towards Raylor. Elsa and Mellany immediately grabbed their knives and Akura grabbed his sword.
??? : "Don't make this difficult. Your own parents agreed on doing this. I only want to see an actual Despair Candidate with my own eyes."
The woman had an inhuman voice. She sounded like a goddess and that sound kept echoing in every ones brain.
Akura was terrified. At this point, he had truly no idea what was going on.
??? : "Hmm... Beautiful. Summon Odglass and then we'll deal with them. I'll give the parent's their memories back."
Those words where the last that Elsa could take. She then finally understood what was going on. This was the Witch Cult.
Elsa : "We've to leave!"
The kids ran towards the stairs however--
??? : "Your eyes deceived you..."
Right when the woman said those words with her beautiful voice, the stairs disappeared and the four kids were left clueless of what's going on.
Hector : "Pandora-sama... We might wanna look out of what these kids will see. We can't show too much."
Pandora : "You're right Hector-sama. Our current situation is quite rough. Kill the parents, would you Regulus and Hector?"
Regulus : "With pleasure."
Hector : "How melancholic."
Raylor : "NO! DON'T HURT THEM PLEASE!"
Raylor eyes started to fall apart in tears as he heard those words.
Pandora : "My heart starts to tremble when I heard those words. Yet, you don't understand the things that actually going. You are one of the things that we've to sacrifice. We thought of many ways of doing this, yet the results aren't successful. There are always sacrifices that have to be made and you're one of those that we've to demolish."
Mellany, Akura and Elsa ran towards Pandora and stood in front of Raylor.
Akura : "What are you? You aren't gonna kill my friends!"
Pandora : "I'm not killing your friends. I'm sending them to a better place where everyone can live in peace."
Akura ran towards Pandora and threw his sword.
Pandora : "Things aren't always as you think they are..."
Then, in a blink of an eye, the sword disappeared and ended up right in his chest. This woman was truly not human.
Akura : "Aghh..."
Hector : "Sadness embraces me! How depressing, how saddening, this is melancholy!"
Hector pointed his hand towards the sky and then---
Maija : "BLEGH!"
Alfheim : "UGH!"
The parents bodies were getting twisted, expressed, destroyed--
Their body fluids starting to flow out of their body. There was blood over the whole floor of the tower. Pandora, Hector and Regulus were untouched and not even a single sweat was shown while killing three people in seconds.
Raylor : "MOM! DAD!"
Elsa : "Oh my god..."
Mellany : "NO!"
Regulus : "I guess we do live in a cruel world after all."
Mellany : "NO! NO! NO! WHY?"
Regulus : "Wrong question."
Pandora : "I agree Regulus."
Pandora snapped her fingers, and right then, Mellany was encased with ice. She was frozen entirely and her eyes closed slowly. She was still alive, but frozen in the thick ice.
Elsa : "No... Mellany! Please... let her and my brother go... take me..."
Elsa collapsed and fell on the ground, her hands were covered in blood of her parents, her boyfriend and in snow. There were so many colors that she saw. A beautiful crimson red and a dark red that of a starry sky.
Regulus : "Am I allowed to kill her too?"
The woman with the cape looked at Elsa and--
Pandora : "No. Let her see how we'll kill her younger brother Raylor Granhiert and how we'll freeze the entire Capital. Souta's location is already unknown, so we can freeze this place with no problems."
Raylor : "No please! You've already stole my family! Don't do--"
Hector : "Melancholy, Sadness, Despair, Tristitia! This is too sad to watch! Pandora-sama, can we end this quickly?"
Pandora : "Well of course Hector-sama. Regulus, if you can?"
Regulus : "Of course..."
Regulus walked towards Raylor and grabbed his throat.
Raylor : "Ugh... Let... Go!"
Raylor was crying and his complexion was white as the snow. He was scared and nauseous of seeing his sister being frozen, his parents being killed and one of his best friends.
Regulus : "Hmm... You're such a cute boy though. Not my age of course, but alright. May the Witch keep your soul safely..."
In a blink of an eye, Raylor's head disappeared and blood was raining everywhere. Elsa was covered in blood and was crying as loud as she could.
Elsa : "Please... Kill me!"
Pandora : "My My... I'm not that cruel. I'm vainglorious. Regulus might be greedy, and Hector might be sad, but our desires have to be fulfilled, so sacrifices have to be made. However, I don't see any positive results in killing you. I'll rather erase your memories and send you to Souta."
Pandora touched the forehead of Elsa with her palm of her hand and said---
Pandora : "You'll forget my existence and will forget this event. You've no family. You're an orphan. You have the desire to listen to the Mama of the organization and you will serve the Prince!"
Pandora said those words and Elsa collapsed again, losing consciousness.
Hector : "Was that necessary Pandora?"
Pandora : "Maybe, we'll see so eventually."
Hector : "How sad. How depressing. Pandora-sama really is cruel. The chance of her regaining her memories is depressingly small."
Pandora : "That's a chance I'll take. The sacrifices we made today will not be vain. Regulus, summon Odglass and enrage it. Make him freeze the whole capital city. Hector-sama, please go back and search for Gluttony. I will deal with this young, beautiful lost girl."
Regulus walked towards the pillar where a shining sphere was. Hector opened a portal with only swinging his arm once and Pandora then closed her eyes and teleported Elsa away.
Then---
Elsa : "Uhh.... My head hurts...."
Elsa woke up in a pitch black room. A woman's voice was heard.
Even though Elsa didn't realize it. She was asleep for three years.
??? : "Ahh your finally awake."
Elsa : "Oh hey Mama."
Mama : "Do you remember anything?"
She saw a woman in front of her. The woman's face unable to be seen and she was wearing black clothes. The dark room made it unable to see the woman.
Elsa : "Of.... of course, I am Elsa. I'm an assassin working for your organization."
Mama : "Do you know what's going on in Fonyai?"
Elsa : "It's entirely frozen because of Odglass and nobody else, right?"
Mama : "Good girl..."
Elsa's memories were completely gone and she started another life with the memories the inhuman Pandora gave her. Elsa can't even remember that her own father cheated on her mother, Mellany being frozen in ice or her brother being killed in front of her...
Mama : "Don't let me down tomorrow. I've a quest for you to retrieve a feral girl."
Elsa : "Of course Mama!"
"How strange, it feels that I've slept for eternity. But everything, reality still feels normal."