Under a bright blue sunny sky surrounded by vast fields filled with busy farmers, two teenagers a boy and a girl were carrying a bag full of junk metal.
Well, only the boy was actually doing all the carrying. A black haired seventeen year old boy with no special features, Clove Virago. The girl, a blond sixteen year old with bright blue eyes, Emilia Virago.
"Clove can't you be a little more faster the sun is too hot."
"Well maybe if you put a hand here we'll get back a little faster."
"What are these parts even for? What is father making."
"Emilia, is tha- , Wait now that you mention it I think it was something about magic tools for the soldiers in the fort."
"By magic tools you mean wands right?"
"Emilia!"
"Clove don't you remember that he said he would have nothing to do with Avaram because he became a soldier."
Emilia suddenly felt something inside her chest, a strange feeling as if her heart was drenched under water.
Emilia stopped walking and Clove stopped right after her, although a bit annoyed because of the bag he was carrying. For a brief moment a cloud blocked out the sky and there was a gentle breeze along with it. Emilia was looking over the fields, at a building in the distance.
That was the fortress where their older brother Avaram worked as a soldier. Their small nameless village was actually at the very end of the territory of their kingdom, Teutoberg. It was one of the many nameless border villages with a fortress.
This was actually to their benefit. Many of the other peasant communities that were further in the territory of the kingdom had to face harassments from the knights that were supposed to protect them but here the Knights and their soldiers were mostly occupied by trying to track down enemy spies.
Emilia didn't know any of that though, all she knew was that their eldest brother had left home to become a soldier instead of following the family trade of blacksmithing. It was something they didn't like to talk about because their father was angry at the decision. Even though Avaram had become a high ranking soldier due to his high aptitude for magic and he always occasionally came by to give them money.
Their father on the other hand used to be a very wealthy blacksmith who made all kinds of magic tools and was actually quite prosperous for a commoner. He got married to one of the daughters of a low ranking noble and had Avaram and Emilia while Clove was adopted long after Emilia was born, when he was about eight years old.
Their mother died on that same day they found Clove. It was in an attack by bandits who had snuck into their village but were eventually stopped by the soldiers from the fort. That event made their father stop making magic tools used to kill.
"It's not for the soldiers. There has been attacks, probably a wild beast. A few of us hunters and former soldiers asked your father to make wands we can use to hunt the beast."
A large well built man clearly advanced in his years popped up behind them, startling both Clove and Emilia.
"Calm down you two, don't you believe in your father?"
As he said those words he even picked up the heavy bag from Clove with a single mechanical arm.
"Don't forget your father built me this arm"
The two of them just silently followed him carry the bag until they got to their house.
He was one of the villagers who used to be a soldier but retired to become farmers because of injury. Someone who was very loud and always talked about glory days, very unlike their own father who was pretty much lifeless after their mother passed.
Their house was very different from the rest of the other houses in the village. Aside from being bigger than most of the houses it had both a living space and a workshop built into it.
At the workshop their father was holding up a wand with a frown on his face. Some people would call it a gun or more specifically a hand gun, but it was just another tool used to kill.
When he saw them returning he angrily scolded at them for no reason in particular.
"Where have the both of you been? Hurry over and get to work organizing this workshop already!!!"
"Virago go easy on them, they're just kids"
"If I yell at them isn't your problem mister. What do you want?"
"I came to take any of the wands you're finished with, have to be prepared you know."
"Come back later, by nightfall."
Emilia watched her father send off the man that had followed them back home. Today he was specially angry, about something she didn't understand. She decided to talk back instead of just quietly watch.
"Father, what is the problem today?"
"Emilia-"
He wanted to scold or yell but looking at her determined eyes he couldn't stay angry at her. He just sighed and began to explain. Emilia had always been his weakness because of how similar she looked to her mother.
"They say a wild beast has been attacking people, bodies with missing hearts have been found. Now the village head wants me too make wands so they can hunt it themselves all because the soldiers in that fort that keep taking protection fees are refusing to help. But I know that it's just going to end in more people dying, It always ends like that Emilia. And all I can do is make sure the weapons that will take lives gets to the hands of those who do not need it."
"Father I don't understand you"
"I don't expect you to understand, not now anyway. But you wouldn't let me go without an answer that you're satisfied with right?"
He laughed a little. Just like he had said Emilia didn't understand what he said but would stubbornly pester him until she got an answer she liked.
"The simplest way I can say it is that the beast isn't the problem."
Just as he said those words Emilia felt as if inside her chest, a splash of cold water touched her heart again.
Her father who was just talking to her was cut in half by a thin dark red ray of light.
In front of their house stood the strangest of creatures.
It looked like a person and a shadow at the same time, it was pitch black but had a reddish glow somehow and instead of eyes a strange red diamond shaped symbol ♦ was where a forehead would have been but other than that it had a mouth like a person.
It had appeared out of nowhere and shot that red beam from one of its fingers.
Emilia screamed.
The thing laughed.
"Oh dear, are you in pain? Don't worry, I'll be giving you peace now."
As the creature finished speaking it grabbed the air with its palm and made a throw. A small red ball flew at Emilia.
The world began to slow down as the red ball came closer and inside her Emilia felt as if in her heart water was flowing out in strong waves.
She began to glow bright white yellow and the red ball finally hit her and it burst like a bubble.
The creature in front of her was visibly suprised by the burst of bright light from her body and instantly began to throw more of those red balls rapidly but it was of no use. They were all very slow to Emilia. When she tried to dodge though she instantly appeared a far distance away, almost as if she had teleported.
The bright yellow light had faded away and what replaced it was a fully transformed Emilia.
She looked half transparent, like a ghost but her feet and hands were completely invisible and on her back was a large bright white yellow glowing pattern.
From were she was she could clearly see that the red balls she had avoided completely ate through the building and the terrain like water had been poured on salt. And also she could still see her fathers body now with a few new holes.
She felt the urge to faint from the sight alone but somehow couldn't and even worse, the creature was running away. A sudden anger replaced all the other feelings inside Emilia and she wanted to hit the creature.
Her legs turned tangible that instant and she appeared just near the creature with that instantaneous movement, only that this time she hand punched its head off.
The creature fell lifelessly and the shadowy black on its skin began to fade away to reveal the body of a normal person.
Emilia just stood there in shock, looking at the body of the creature slowly turn into the body of a man wearing blue armor.
That was when Clove came out from what was left of their house and screamed.
A few villagers had run over from the fields because of the screams and the sound of the house falling apart.
They all stopped to stare at the ghostlike appearance of Emilia and the bodies most notably the body turning from a shadowy black to a humans body.
"She's a diviner"
"She killed all those people"
"You mean the corpses we saw on the way here?"
"What else could be the cause? Don't you see her? She's just like the priests describe."
"So all those missing people. Its her, she used her evil powers to turn that person into a seiteme"
Different voices accusing Emilia came from the crowd that kept increasing yet no one came any closer. Only a few people threw stones at her but those stones just went right through her as if through the air.
Only Clove remained among the people she knew so Emilia went closer to him. This time her feet didn't briefly appear and she didn't instantly appear next to him. Instead she hovered to were he was slowly without moving her legs.
Clove just stared at her like the rest of the villagers present, in disbelief, in fear and in shock.
The sky was still blue and sunny.
"Clove I-"
"Get away from me you monster"
Emilia slowly began to transform back as she realized what just happened.
Everyone knew the story that the priests or priestesses always told.
They where taught that among the everyday people there were extra ordinary people called whom Elves called the diviners. These people are wicked beings that have the ability to turn other ordinary people in seiteme, pitch black monsters that ate hearts to keep on living. The hearts of all living things in this world contained a small crystal inside, that crystal is their fate the evidence of their contract with God about how they would live.
The seiteme have no fate.
That was what she and every other villager believed but now, in this short tragedy Emilia had realized that she didn't create the seiteme and yet she was undoubtedly a diviner.
Just then under all that confusion an armored vehicle like a military use jeep came driving through from the back of the crowd.
The vehicle was painted blue and had a golden engraving of three circles and a sword on both of sides, the color and symbol of The Kingdom of Teutoberg.
Soldiers in full body armor with same symbols came down from the vehicle and marched to Emilia, all of them holding up wands.
"Kindly come with us, your existence has been deemed a threat to The Kingdom of Teutoberg so from hence forth you are considered any enemy and the soldiers of the Varese Territory have full rights to execute you on the spot if you choose not to be cooperative with us."
"So we suggest you get into the chariot."
Just like that Emilia and Clove were taken into the vehicle with chains tied around their hands. The soldiers from the fort had come to take the diviner because of reports from the villages.
Emilia was still confused and everything was happening quickly yet when she came close to the chariot that same feeling of water in her chest splashing over her heart returned and inside she saw a man with a bald head and the outfit of a noble. He was the head of the fort, a man commoners like her would only be allowed to refer to as Lord Heffner Varese.