The Thousand-Year War

"People are a bunch of idiots," thinks the priest as he walks toward the circle of elders.

Upon reaching the center, he kneels and begins to murmur words that cannot be heard. "They think they'll gain something from this war, but all they're achieving is destruction," he continues to think as the circle where the elders are gathered around him begins to glow.

IN JAPAN, PRESENT DAY, 2024

Sai stands looking out over a deep drop with a sad expression. "I shouldn't spend too much time here," he thinks, getting up from the ground with a look of satisfaction.

"My mom's going to worry," Sai says as he turns around.

Shortly after, Sai leaves the abandoned building. He runs, leaving it behind.

After running for a while, Sai arrives at a modest house with worn steps, a rusted tin roof, and walls of weathered cement. The house is old. Sai enters with a sigh of exhaustion as soon as he steps in.

"Mom, I'm home!" Sai shouts, leaving his shoes at the entrance and putting on slippers as he steps into the living room, where he sees an older woman watching TV.

"You're back," his mother says, looking at him with a smile.

"Yes," Sai replies, nodding happily with a smile.

"I'm sorry, dear. We don't have enough food to make something to eat today," his mother says, looking down regretfully.

Sai moves behind her, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"It's okay," Sai says, pulling back and gently touching her cheek.

Sai's mother smiles softly, gazing at his ruby-red eyes.

"I'm going to bed; I'm a little tired," Sai says, running to his room. He opens the door to a room where a futon lies on the floor, and he lies down comfortably.

When he closes his eyes, he feels his mother kneel beside him and hears her softly hum a song.

And Sai falls asleep with a smile on his lips.

Hours later, at night, Sai wakes up, rising carefully from his futon. He rubs his eyes as he stretches and begins to walk, looking over at where his mother is asleep on a separate futon. Distracted, he stubs his little toe.

Sai bites his lip to hold back a scream, taking a step back, only to step on his futon sheet, causing him to slip.

He falls to the ground, rubbing his head. "What luck I have today; I almost woke Mom," Sai thinks, leaving the room.

He heads toward the kitchen, walking quietly. Reaching it, he takes a glass and fills it with tap water.

After drinking, he tries to sneak back to his room, but suddenly he feels a tremor.

Sai stops in his tracks and looks around cautiously. The tremor grows stronger, and Sai falls to the floor, as a few flower pots shatter to the ground. "What's happening? An earthquake?!" Sai thinks, struggling to get up using a nearby table.

Suddenly, a glowing circle surrounds Sai, lifting him off the ground.

His mother wakes up abruptly, alarmed.

"Son, what's happening?!" Sai's mother shouts, trying to reach him, but she can't pass her hand through the glowing circle that's lifting him.

The tremor intensifies, causing her to fall.

"Mom!" Sai shouts, trying to reach her hand, but he can't. He rises higher. "What's happening?" Sai wonders in fear, watching as various objects shake around the house and his mother cries, screaming, "Son!" with all her might, but the tremor keeps her from standing up.

Suddenly, the circle disappears, the light vanishes, and so does Sai. The tremor ceases, and his mother collapses, crying out, "Sai, honey, where are you?!"

It seems he wasn't the only one to disappear; across the country, ten other children vanished in the same way as Sai.

This mystery will never be solved, but there's a great story behind these disappearances.

Sai opens his eyes and finds himself in a blue, white-tinted space.

"Where am I?" he asks, looking around the emptiness.

"You will be transported to a new world, Sai Takamiya," says a mysterious voice.

"W-what?" Sai asks, confused.

"You, along with ten others, have been chosen to participate in the Thousand-Year War. You have been summoned by the church to fight in the war," the voice says, taking the form of a faceless, bodiless woman.

She approaches Sai, who is too shocked to respond.

She places her hand on his cheek, and Sai begins to glow. His black hair changes, half of it turning white, and one of his ruby eyes changes to yellow.

Suddenly, Sai closes his eyes and appears in a magical circle, surrounded by priests, with one standing before him. He's not alone; ten other children are with him.

Sai looks around in terror, remembering his mother's tears before he disappeared.

Tears run down his cheeks, his expression sad, as he hears the kids behind him either crying or screaming in fear.

Sai looks at them with sorrow and notices they all have hair half-white, with one eye turned yellow.

Sai stands up, looking at the priest. "Why did you bring us here?" he asks, clenching his fists.

"I thought the goddess Lia had told you," the priest says, approaching them.

Sai takes a step back in fear. "Yes, I spoke to her," Sai says, swallowing hard as he recalls the words of the mysterious voice. It seems she was a goddess, Sai thinks, looking into the priest's eyes.

"You are here to go to war," the priest says with a sinister smile.