1 [Arc 0]. Prologue

A young brown-haired woman sat down beside me on the bed; her gentle eyes gazed into the depths of my heart as she asked, "Do you want to hear a sad story with a beautiful ending, my dear child?" while closing the book she held.

"Mhm…" I nodded before her smile grew, combing my hair as she looked out towards the window with a gaze filled with nostalgia before saying.

"Well then, be sure to listen clearly as I will only tell this story once, okay?"

Without any hesitation, I nodded before her lips opened as she looked out towards the window and spoke in a melodic voice.

"Once upon a time, in an unknown magical planet called EGO; a visionless young girl who lived in a poor village looked out towards the window. The young girl could hear people harvesting wheat, conversing with one joyous…"

"The girl was envious of the people who could see; she could feel their happiness from their voices, but she could see their smiles, it made the child jealous as she sat on a dusty wooden chair, biting on her bread as a warm hand brushes through her hair."

"The person who brushed the little girl's hair whispered into her ear, 'My dear daughter, for your heart is pure and not blinded by appearance, the true appearance of the world can be seen only by you and the people who live the same as you…' taking the little girl by surprise as the little girl questioned, 'What do you mean the beauty of the world, Mom?'"

"The person who was none other than the mother whispered to the little girl, 'It is what I mean, this world is blinded by corporate greed and corruption… the people you trust could be the people who will betray you… as someone who could not see but could feel, this corruption is visible to you…'"

"'Follow what your heart may tell you as the heart shall never betray you,' the mother said to the little girl who seemed confused but nodded anyway as the two continued on with their business, passing through the days with a seemingly boring routine…"

A heavy breath echoed throughout the room as the brown-haired woman who was none other than my very own mother took a deep breath as she continued on.

"The days were seemingly joyous for an entire month, the village got wealthier each passing moment, but all those smiles crashed in a single moment; darkness engulfed the entire planet, climates declined by a large margin, blocking the sunlight and causing the yield of the village to vanish…"

"All around the world watched as the horror of the world started; the village could not stand by itself anymore, food became scarce as wealth drained in an instant… people started perishing from hunger and the greed of many rose…"

"The young girl's family started a meeting, their wealth had been drained enough that they are no longer capable to provide one another, a decision had to be made… and so, after a day-long of deciding, the elders had finally decided to relieve the most incapable person in the family…"

I felt my body shivered upon hearing the verdict of the family, it felt cruel yet at the same time! A family should risk loving one another, no matter what circumstances there may be! This is simply cruel!

"The person who was to be relieved was none other than the little blind girl whose mother rebuked as much as she could only to be killed late at night, the little blind girl had no one to lean on as her father took her out in the guise of a jog…"

"Her father had tricked her into coming along with her, the little girl was too young to realize and not long after, she was brought to the forest where after a long walk, she was abandoned by her father; left alone in a deep forest as she wandered around, confused…"

"The little girl asked several times, 'Where are we going, father?', 'It is cold!' but no one responded… the little girl suspected that her father didn't want to respond but after an unknown amount of time, the little girl soon realized the truth…"

"Crying and crying, the little girl asked dozens of times, 'Why have you abandoned me… Father…?! Mother…?!', 'Please, don't leave me alone!' but her pleads were left unanswered, she cried until her body staggered to the floor, her cries were never heard…"

"And after an entire day of wailing with no food, water while in freezing temperatures, the blind young girl submitted to her fate, agonizing as she awaited her death… her heart had turned dark, closing itself as hopelessness filled her…"

My heart felt like bursting apart, anger rose inside me but I couldn't thrust this anger towards anyone at all… it felt annoying while at the same time, I felt like running towards the forest to find this little girl and protecting her…

"All of a sudden, under her dry mumbles… a voice suddenly echoed inside her mind; the voice was that of a child similar to hers, the child screamed at the little girl: 'It's not over yet! You can still live!' which surprised the girl as flames spread out throughout the forest, burning her body crisp…"

"'It's futile!' the little girl refuted as the heat roasted her skin before all of a sudden, the heat vanished as the voice echoed once more inside her head, 'I won't let you die!' before all of a sudden, her blindness vanished, all the pain she encountered was as if a passing dream…"

"Sat beside her was a book, a weird dusty old book; the book was brown and of leather, it looked old and bad but at the same time, the little girl felt that the book was the one who saved her and stood beside the book for a long time until the voice came back once more, confirming the little girl's suspicion…"

"And that was how the Goddess of Kindness and the Grimoire of Love had met, a sad yet odd ending..." the brown-haired lady said, her unusual pink eyes blinked as she looked at me with a smile.

"What happens next, Mom?" I asked before she shook her head, combing my hair as she replied.

"It's all up to your imagination; remember this my dear Althea, no matter how harsh life may be… there is always a bright light waiting at the end, never lose hope and faith… Live not for yourself but for the people who care for you, okay?"

I felt a bit confused but nodded nonetheless as drowsiness soon struck me, forcing me to close my eyes as I listened to the beautiful melodic voice of my mother…

Three years later…

"Mom…" I looked at the skies, holding onto the chains of the swing as tears fell from my eyes; the playful sound of children playing around me echoed throughout the playground, children who were like me… who lived inside an orphanage for years now.

All of a sudden, a gigantic shadow engulfed the entire playground, taking me by surprise as I stood up and looked upwards, rubbing my eyes several times as a burning plane could be seen facing towards us as it descended at a speedy rate.

"RUN!" I tried screaming but it was too late as the aircraft smashed throughout the entire playground, turning the joyful playground into an unbelievable hell… concrete surrounded the place, everywhere was in flames and pain erupted in every piece of my body.

I fell unconscious a few moments into the crash, waking up inside the hospital ten days later as I looked at the ceiling with a tear falling from my right eye, "I wish… I wish I could be a grimoire…" before darkness filled my sight.