1 Prologue

 Inside a white tower, a petite young woman in shackles was kneeling in the middle of a pit. It was surrounded by five circular sitting levels. Each level consisted of hundreds of people looking at her, in judgment. Two box-like seats were afloat, hovering near her. In one box sat a woman, and in the other, a young man. Both had platinum blond hair and fair skin, unlike the prisoner's black hair and light sepia skin. The woman's hair was tied into a bun and pinned at the back of her neck; the man had his hair combed over, a common style for young men. One of the man's eyes was a pale blue, and the other, an amber brown.

He glanced at the prisoner, a tender expression on his face, while the woman narrowed her eyes, disappointed in the wasted potential kneeling before them. At last, the prisoner's dark brown eyes met his, and years of nostalgic memories of their friendship shattered. She had committed unspeakable atrocities and now she was kneeling before him to hear her punishment.

"For committing the crime of murder," the woman's powerful voice echoed throughout the pit, "I condemn you exiled to a world called Earth, never to return." The spectators shuffled in their seats and began murmuring amongst themselves. "As further penalty, and to prevent any additional crime, all memories will be seized from you."

The judge's icy blue eyes remained on the shackled woman. Their uniforms mirrored each other—both wore the charcoal spandex suit of the military. The prisoner glanced at the judge in defiance, her long, wavy hair unveiled a messy red X on her shoulders pads—symbolizing that she no longer served in the military.

"However, we will show more mercy than you did to those you murdered. Upon expulsion, you will be joined by a guardian." The judge continued, casting a brief glance to the man at her side.

He froze his face against emotion, though his heart inside broke for the prisoner. He knew of the tedious journey they would have to endure ahead and wished that she would one day remember who he was. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the edge of the box seat. To him, her punishment was unfair, especially when similar crimes had resulted in far lesser punishments.

Weighed down by the shackles, the now condemned prisoner hadn't reacted to what she had been told. Her fury had kept her words inside—after all, who would listen to a murderer? She watched from her concrete circle as the levels above were soon emptied, the judge being the last to leave. Only the young man remained on the bottom floor.

"What happened to you?" he asked as the floor began to rumble around them. "The you, I once knew would never have done those things."

She looked up at him menacingly. "The you I once knew wouldn't have left me for so long."

The floor beneath them started to dissolve. Everything around them trembled as a dark vortex descended down upon them from where the levels above them had been. The temperature dropped. Little by little, the light was getting sucked away, turning their breath visible before darkness completely enveloped them. Overhead, the levels had vanished one by one. The vortex came nearer, making it difficult for them to breathe. The gravity of the vortex increased, and they could feel it pressing against their bones. Soon after, the vortex swallowed them whole.