1 Prologue

Prologue 

It was freezing cold in the early morning, the very tips of the branches of the trees froze like icicles. Amongst all the frozen trees, there was but one tree that was not frozen. While the other trees were frozen solid. This particular tree was a tree of spring, cherry blossoms bloomed and unlike the other trees that were dying from the winter cold, this tree was alive with no frozen path. Rumours sped around town. Some people called this strange tree the tree of life, and some called it a tree of calamity.

The tree never withered, and the tree never changed, it continued to bloom all year round.

Under the cherry blossom tree, there was a beautiful woman wearing a clad white gown. Her hair was the colour of the cherry blossoms and she had crimson red eyes which was as dark as a red apple which contrasted against her pale, white skin.

She was gently holding a small baby in her arms. The baby had silver-white hair and scarlet red eyes. The woman smiled at the baby while singing a sweet lullaby. "Ceres." A young man with crimson blue hair calls out to the woman called Ceres. She turns around to face the young man, she smiles warmly, "Jin! So you finally came to visit me? I'm so happy!" The young man named Jin gave her a sad smile. "Ceres, I am so sorry." Ceres looks at him curiously. "Jin? Why are you making such a sad face when we've reunited? You didn't even bother to congratulate me for giving birth to such a beautiful baby, isn't she just adorable?" She runs towards him and brings the baby towards him. "Neo said he'd be home before dawn because he wanted to be the first to hold our precious baby. My husband will love the baby more than his own wife! Well although

I also love this beautiful angel too."

"Ceres...I—" Jin's face was covered with sorrow and regret. "Ceres, the truth is—" Ceres places a finger onto his lips and smiles at him sadly. "Don't say it Jin. Neo's coming tonight and we don't need any disturbances."

"Ceres."

"Jin. Please don't say a word. Right now I'm feeling blissful."

"Ceres!!" Jin shouts grabbing onto her shoulders tightly. Warm tears fell from his eyes. "Neo is dead! He was killed by a holy priest and used as a sacrificial lamb! The village elders ordered it! Because they hate him for hiding you away from their presence!! They know you are an esper, and because of that they killed your husband!"

"What?" Ceres's eyes widen as Jin continues. "The villagers... They want to use you as a sacrifice to the holy church!!"

Tears flowed out of Ceres's eyes and her crimson eyes shine as she gazes at the moonlight. Clutching tightly onto her baby gently, she smiles at the baby sorrowfully. "Oh my beautiful child, the world is too cruel to us. We who are different from normal humans are scorned at by the world!"

While Ceres was weeping over her baby, dark figures approached the cherry blossom tree. It was the villagers. "Come out now Ceres Scarlet!" one man said. "We know your there! Come out and offer yourself up as a sacrifice!" yelled another.

Jin shook Ceres desperately saying, "Ceres! Please! I'm begging you! Leave this place at once, your life is in danger!"

Ceres shakes her head and passes her child over to Jin. She smiles gently at him then slowly walks away from him and heads towards the villagers. Jin runs after her desperately crying, "Ceres, please don't do this to me! Are you really going to waste away your precious live for these selfish villagers? It's not worth it! What about your child? Are you going to leave her all alone in this world that is cruel to Espers?!"

The morning sun sets, Ceres turns to Jin smiling while tears falls down her rosy warm cheeks. "Yes. The world is indeed cruel, but that can soon change. My child will be strong, so please care for her until she matures. She will be this world's last hope."

She takes off leaving Jin behind the cherry blossom tree. "Why? Why? Why?!" he cries out in despair, "Neo... You promised you'd protect your wife. You told me you would brother, you were foolishly smiling like a fool in love. You happily cried like an idiot when you heard you were going to be a father. And yet, you just go out there and get yourself killed! I hate you brother! I hate you for leaving your wife, for leaving your child as well! Foolish and naïve brother. You thought that everything would be alright if you loved her with all your heart? Fool! I was the one that fell in love with her first! Why was it you? Why wasn't it me?" Jin cries his eyes out, "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU BROTHER! I WON'T EVER FORGIVE YOU FOR DYING AND LEAVING ME, YOU'RE BELOVED WIFE AND CHILD! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" Crying and cursing his brother while at the same he holds the sleeping child as he is overflowed with tears.

He loved his brother Neo and he hated the fact that Neo threw his life away in the name of love. And as his unrequited love for Ceres who fell in love with his brother was going to also throw away her life in the name love.

Slowly, he whispers to the baby, "I guess this first love of mine will remain forever... Those fools. To leave this child all alone. You'll both regret it!" sitting there, he cries softly as the cherry blossoms cover his painful expressions of regret for not being able to stop his beloved brother and first love from giving up their lives for the villagers and their child.

A FEW SECONDS PASSED AS CERES STOOD IN FRONT OF THE VILLAGERS a few metres away.

"Ceres." Out of the mob there was a particular young man who was in his early seventies dark brown hair, and gloomy shades of grey. He wore a black cloak and his blazing red hair was frisky and overgrown. Ceres glares at the man, "Atrocious! Alistair Von Auclair! This is outrageous! We have done no harm to the villagers, we stayed quiet in and lived away from the village and lived our lives peacefully where the cherry blossoms bloom. Why do you and the church disrupt the peace between us Espers and the ordinary humans?!"

The man named Alistair sighed remorsefully while looking up at Ceres, "oh Ceres, if only you had listened to the church and joined the Imperial Court Guards then your husband Neo Belizaire would not have had to die. It was all due to your stubbornness. Even Jin Belizaire tried to talk you through it yet you ignored his warning!"

"And what point is there to joining the Imperial Court Guards?! They will never treat Espers as equally as they do to normal humans treat our kind like humans! They only see us as monsters! Despicable people! Humans are despicable! To be shunned by your own kind just for being different from each other, do you not care how much the Espers suffer because of the your selfishness and refusal to accept us? We try to fit in! But you won't even give us that chance! You force us to work for the Imperial Court Guards, yet you do not even treat us well!"

Alistaire smiles slightly but then frowns, "Ceres. A human being born capable of mental abilities is something highly extraordinary in this world. They have no choice! That goes for the child you gave birth to!"

He knew that I gave birth to a child?! Biting her lips, Ceres glowers at Alistaire, "You dare to touch my precious child?!"

"Ha! Well of course we'll give the little princess more love than you'll ever hope to imagine!"

Ceres's crimson eyes suddenly turned crimson jade blue, distorted wind surrounds the cherry blossom trees. Raising her right arm, the ground splits apart in two and the air itself turns into a vacuum.

Alistaire grins, as if he knew what was to come he yells at his comrades, "activate the holy death array!!"

A crimson red light engulfs the ground and slowly forms a magic circle, the ground shakes and cracks. Ominous energy soon surfaces and rises from the magic circle forming into sharp, spiky tentacles - in an amazing speed, the tentacles headed straight for Ceres.

The young woman dressed in clad white raised both hands up. Her crimson eyes glowed and a gentle yet eerie light beam formed.

The moment the tentacles reached Ceres, in an instant, they exploded and were scattered all over the ground.

The villagers stared at the tentacles that had had exploded scattering all over the place.

All of their vigor and arrogance was soon replaced by absolute fear. They had forgotten the prowess of an Esper and how absolutely terrifyingly powerful they were.

As the villagers shivered in fear the light beam between Ceres's hands got bigger and bigger. And before anyone could react, the now incredibly large light beam rose from Ceres's hands the the center of the the dark morning sky.

She smiled at the very man which caused her to lose everything that she held dear. Her crimson eyes stared coldly at Alistaire.

Her rosy red lips curves upwards, "This is the end Alistaire!!"

As soon as Ceres finished speaking to the light beam drops down onto of her and the villagers.

In a spit second, villagers scurried away desperately trying escape.

However, it was already too late to save themselves. The eerie light reached the floor decimating everything. Everything perished within a split second. Nothing remained.

The eerie light slowly disappeared leaving only bones and torn up human flesh.

Only Ceres's body remained intact. She coughed up a large amount of blood. Her eyes returned to normal.

This was it. Her life was nearing it's end. Yet, she did not regret her decision in the slightest.

Her eyes became blurred and a tear trickled down her cheek. Slowly closing her eyes, her only thoughts were of her family.

My dear daughter, my beloved husband... Jin... Goodbye...

A sorrowful smile appeared on her lips. The beautiful woman closed her eyes and ceased her breathing..