1 United, Yet Still Divided?

EARTH, POST OUTBREAK

I still remember the uproar caused by the disruption in the Kyōkai mechanism. All of the time I spent as a child listening to lectures on the significance of the indestructible boundary, a supposedly successful solution to the Great War.

Now I see how the idea of a wall created by all of the "united" realms, used as a symbol of peace and harmony with each other, was just a sham. An excuse to put a quick stop to all the futile suffering after realising how dire the situation became. It may have been successful in that sense, obviously no one deserves to suffer, but it was never a long-term, well thought out decision on The Order's behalf.

I cannot and will never comprehend how all of the intelligent beings within The Order failed to see how it was a ridiculous decision at the time of the Kyōkai's unfortunate birth - for you cannot unite divided realms via a creation, which was made to segregate them entirely. Even at the time the war was ongoing, my mother told me all the rumours she heard of humans intermingling with other species - such as a witch or devil - back then, but now it's completely unheard of. Along with the Kyōkai, The Order made a list of laws, which all beings were obliged to abide by. One of them being the prevention of realm diving.

Realm diving was the fascinating creation of Professor Edward Stewart's. It was a way of transporting yourself across, what he called, "multi-dimensional bridges in the celestial void" with great ease. Professor Stewart was popular for his ambitious projects and innovative ideas; however, I feel that lead to his mysterious and abrupt death. He was a great man, who promoted ideas for a true harmonious future with other realms. Of course this was deemed as a threat to The Order's questionable laws. As a result of this, I assumed that his death was a planned assassination - then possibly censored by The Order in all reports to make it seem as if he died through an "unexpected malfunction" during an experiment. After this, it was prohibited for anyone to travel to a different realm or communicate with any species that wasn't of the native realm.

Because of this revolutionary invention, the Professor gained an excessive amount of followers. This mass of people were known as The Rebels or Outcasts. Their core beliefs in the removal of the boundary in hopes for a better, more diverse world were dubbed to be "Stewartsist" and were deemed unorthodox or against the law in The Order's eyes. Maybe his followers were fond because of curiosity. Maybe ideas of a future filled with diverse species free to live and thrive wherever they please was new and, in a sense, intriguing. They aren't afraid of the unknown; the idea of unison after all these years of segregation. Unlike The Order, on the contrary. Fear is the only thing stopping them from doing what is right.

Fear of what... ?

That is another thing I fail to understand at this moment. Perhaps the thought of their control slipping away evokes somewhat of an insecurity about their precious power.

Revolts against the order were extremely common and still are to this day. However, there was a big event that shattered The Order's confidence in their authority over the division of realms. Outbreak is what it is known as. I could only watch as The Rebels stormed into my family's castle from the apparent safety of my bedroom window. The few of them that managed to creep through our sturdy Lalithian defensive system were extremely intelligent individuals and clearly knew what they were doing. There's no doubt that they sneaked through some sort of secret entrance. The guards would've been more alert if they tried to barge through the castle's defense head on - but I heard no signs of incoming danger at the time.

I still remember the astonishing quake that occurred at the moment they removed the core. Everyone was in a mass panic for all of a few seconds. Without its sacrosanct heart, the Kyōkai was temporarily unable to uphold the multi-dimensional barrier it was creating. This wasn't a major problem though. The Order put precautions in place in case of an extreme situation where the Kyōkai interfered with. Another one of their quick and (in some way) effective ideas and, not surprisingly, a faulty one too. The substitute heart left fractures in the barrier, which allowed people to realm dive again - with the right technology. This kind of equipment was almost impossible to obtain or create as it was based off of the extreme development of Mr Stewart's invention that was discontinued. In addition to that, any blueprints of the technology's original designs were either stored away with The Order or completely destroy for the sake of "Earth's safety". So at the time everyone within the castle ignored it.

This was because The Rebels' intention was not just to destroy the Kyōkai, they wanted to obtain a bargaining chip. Something useful to them that they could exploit for the benefit of their cause. Something useful to them that would allow them to get away with anything they wanted. Something useful to them that was easy to get. Something... or rather someone.

And, of course, that someone was me.

There was no easier target than I, the Princess of Lalithia, who couldn't defend herself. The guards were rendered hopeless as they were forced to lower their weapons instead of come to my aid. The threat, given by the tallest rebel with long, blonde hair tied loosely in a ponytail, was that they leave unharmed with the heart of the Kyōkai or else...