Prologue/Chapter 1:

Peace can mean many different things. Peace can be seen as a lack of combat or war. Sometimes it’s conflict handled in a peaceful manner. Peace never stays long, but when it’s within grasp it’s hard to let go. Hate is unrelentlessly addicting and can swallow you whole. It’s a never ending cycle that shows itself throughout history. Some people never experience it, the warmth that comes from a mother’s embrace. Peace. That warm feeling you get, wrapping around you like a blanket, shielding you.  Never wanting to let go. But for others there is no refuge from a cruel world, and peace is just a word like so many others.

Since I was small, a little girl really, my grandmother always told me to love, even if it’s just dreaming, love even when I’m stealing.  Without realizing it at that time, I adopted her philosophies. 

Time itself kept passing me by. Sometimes it felt like I was chasing. Chasing after something indescribable. Shrouded in the darkest depths of my mind.  These dreams of voices, people I did not understand, and could barely make out--shouting at me? And like I was under water, I could never understand them. Their voices being muffled and distorted to my ears.

This continued on for years.

And then War creeped its ways upon Granny and me. My thoughts were wholly consumed by the instinct to survive.   Small changes from a once peaceful life, like clouded judgement finally ringing true. Like a drop in a ocean, the riptides were monstrous.

The effects one man could have on society terrified me. Grandmother too once voiced her thoughts about that man, Leovanero Mortem. And like his name rung true, he brought on death and tragedy like never before. Like a god of death.

I remember this conversation Grandmother and I once had before everything turned to rubble.  Grandmother knew that I could perfectly understand. Often calling me her little genius. Her pride and joy.  She usually humored my questions with philosophy upon philosophy of knowledge. But this time, for once, I thought I understood.

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“Granny?” A little green-eyed girl questions quietly to a middle-aged women braiding her burgundy hair.

She chuckled a bit. “Go ahead, Mayu-chan, I’m listening.”

The little girl stumbles a bit on her words. Her green eyes shining in confusion and adoration as she turns to Granny. “W-why are people cruel? Why can’t we all get along?”
          The women seems to contemplate those words for a while. Clearing her throat, she tucks in a loose strand of greying hair behind her ear. “Corruption is an infestation, an illusion that some people willingly welcome into their home. That, you have to understand.”

The middle-aged women paused. She looked at Mayu with an unreadable expression.  Perhaps it was the expression of someone who has seen too much in their life. But Mayu did not know that at the time. “War changes nothing. It only gives people a reason to justify their actions, that their ways are right and the other side is wrong. Peace cannot be built upon senseless slaughter, no matter what people try to convince themselves,” she says in no attempt to comfort the child from the cold truth.

          A look of amazement settled on the little girl’s face for a while, but as the women continued speaking, a confused frown made itself known.

“But, those with the will to persevere may stumble, though they will never fall. Because, Mayu-chan, the illusion that war brings is more dangerous than the war itself.”

A confused frown stays on the little girl’s face as she stares at her hands, deep in thought, almost missing her Grandmother’s last words.

“Because people start to believe there is not even the slightest of chances of another option, so they don’t even try.” Swallowing audibly, she whispers, “Hopefully you will never experience this, ne?”

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Then one day, the world--the universe itself--stopped for just a moment.

And so life went on; I grew up, Grandmother died and I was all alone in an unfamiliar world, finally being shipped off to Community Omega, which actually happened to be the weakest and poorest of the Great twenty-four communities stationed throughout Vitiate.

Life wasn’t so great in Omega. And if you had no will to fight, then you were out of luck. It was just how things worked here; to fight or be killed. To survive long, you needed to fight dirty, only to survive another day. The person you talked to yesterday could be today’s enemy. That friend you shared stories and laughter with just a while ago could try and kill you at any given time. And your family? At any given chance they would leave you for a life of riches.

Those that show weakness were picked off from the very start. Those that looked to have money? They got mugged right during daylight and nobody chose to help and ultimately left him to face his own demise.

That little girl you saw just now? She’d be sold off to the Stealth Force for a possibly “better” future, but ultimately? She would probably end up home in a body bag within a year.

Life was very bleak, you see. To have a purpose was like asking if the sky was blue. It was, once upon a time.

Seeing all that? This huge difference compared to the comfortable life I used to have? It made me come to a conclusion.

The world had gone mad and I was the only sane person left.

And that left me walking past a corner shop for easy pickings. Maybe find some coins, or today’s Care Packages that should arrive soon to a nearby market. They were typically supplied with medical care and food packets and were exactly what I needed. 

So when I was minding my own business, I heard a strangely familiar static noise, making me freeze mid-step.

Is that…a television? I thought only Kappa Communities and higher rankings could get those? How odd, no, abnormal.  Although seeing televisions everyday was perfectly normal, if only for announcements that happen at the same intervals every single day.

Deciding to walk over and see what’s the matter, I did just that.

To my utmost surprise, it was a recording of a guy with the most unnatural blonde hair I’ve ever seen. Dressed in an…orange jumpsuit?  Battling it out, beaten and bruised, helplessly thrown around like a sack of flour. All of the enemies shared strange, purple ringed eyes, like clones. All six of them so unique, and different, yet sharing the same face.

About to walk away after a few minutes of watching this battle, that is, more of a beat down, to be honest, I listened in to what the characters were saying and the weirdest thing happened. Like something finally clicked within me, I listened in on this recording with interest I never thought possible of having. Like it was made specifically just for me, I continued watching with keen interest, my mind racing, remembering the resolve for what seems to be, a faraway dream I once had.

Then it snapped. I snapped; something snapped. The only thing I felt in that brief sense of nothingness was painSOmuch PAINmakeITstopSTOPmAkEITmaKETHePainSTOP. MAKE. IT. STOP.

And like that I was under a spell; it shattered, throwing me into a world where the unimaginable was possible. Where something so ordinary in their life could be mistaken as the powers of a god in mine.
          For such a long time, I almost thought I was that nothingness again. It was the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had.  Memories of people I’d never known, places I’d never seen, noises I’ve never heard invaded my brain.

I’m scared. Where’s Grandmo..baa-chan?  Kaa-chan? Tou-san? Brother?

Who am I?

-Kara Kutny