Chapter 1- Tragedy

"It's so hot today, the movie was a lot better than I hoped it'd be."

I was on my way back from the movies with my younger sister, Rena Tokito.

My name is Kyte Tokito, and I'm a second-year college student. Being a nerd and an otaku made it difficult for me to make friends in middle school. Having lost both of our parents in a plane crash, my sister and I grew up under the care of our relatives and we are very close. She used to cry at night whenever she missed our parents so I had to sing her a lullaby every night.

We were both looking forward to this day, the 3rd day of the Equinox month which is the 10th and last month of the year. This day was named as a worldwide holiday to celebrate the efforts of an organization that fought and brought peace to the world.

On this day, there were countless festivals and concerts and the streets were very crowded. To be honest I hated this day because of this but Rena wanted us to go watch movies and to festivals.

As we were walking on the street, Rena saw an ad for a movie that was scheduled for later today at a cinema that was a few blocks away.

"Big brother, look at this. It's 'The Wicked Princess' movie, it's finally out, can we go watch it."

She said so with a cute smile on her face. The movie she wanted us to watch was about a beautiful princess who became evil because she envied her peasant friend. I couldn't believe it when I heard that our favorite childhood novel was getting an adaptation.

"Yeah okay, give me a sec, I'll have to buy tickets for it online."

I said so while taking out my phone. After buying the two tickets for the movie titled 'The Wicked Princess', I came across an article about an escaped serial killer but decided to ignore it. Little did I know that the escaped convict would change my life forever.

"And I'm done, the movie starts in about two hours."

"Two hours, but that's too long." She was so excited she could barely contain herself.

"How about we get a snack in the meantime."

"A snack?"

"We can pass by the shopping district to get something to eat, we'll be back before the movie starts."

"I'm not really that hungry but I don't mind having a bite."

We got into a cab and went on our way to the shopping district which was about three kilometers away, it shouldn't take too long. Upon arrival, Rena rushed to a food stand and bought herself candy bars and cotton candy. Then she turned towards me with a smile.

"Big brother, what should I buy for you."

"How about chocolate-flavored ice cream and a dark chocolate bar."

"Ewe you love that bitter chocolate of yours, here you go."

"What you have a problem with that?" I muttered while staring at her with a menacing look.

"I'm sowry, pwease forgive me, brother." As she let out these words she looked like she was about to cry and wouldn't stop glaring at me with puppy eyes.

"Honestly, what am I gonna do with you? It's okay I'm not mad at you." She really is my weakness, one look at her puppy eyes and I immediately felt like she's the most important thing in this world.

"Brother can we go to the arcade; you always beat me but I'll win this time around."

"I'll go easy on you this time."

I should hold back this time, The last time we played she wouldn't stop crying after losing to me in fifteen matches.

As we were walking on the street to the arcade which was a short distance away I saw a suspicious-looking man walking in the opposite direction and his face looked familiar but I could not remember where I had seen him.

"I'll choose which games we are gonna be playing okay."

She was really excited, looks like coming to the shopping district somehow served as a distraction for her.

When the man passed us I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. It all came back to me, that man was on the article I came across about twenty minutes ago. I tried to remain calm for Rena's sake.

"Rena, try to walk faster," I whispered as I grabbed her left hand.

"But why?" She protested with a puzzled look on her face, "Isn't the arcade a few blocks from here?"

Before I could reply, from behind us the man pulled out a silenced pistol and shot me. He had realized that I knew his identity and decided to silence me, what a menace he is for pulling the trigger without any hesitation.

'I can't breathe, am I gonna die? If I die now what'll happen to my little sister.' Such thoughts filled my mind as I was collapsing.

I was not scared of dying but of leaving my sister alone. If I were to die here she would be completely alone and that would be too much for her to handle after losing our parents.

"Brother no." Rena sobbed as tears were about to run down her cheeks and was about to scream.

"..."

When she was about to open her mouth she collapsed to the ground.

"Reh... Renna."

I tried calling out to her but with my damaged left lung breathing alone was a huge task. I tried my best and crawled over to her but I could not believe my eyes.

"No no no."

I choked when I saw the blood that was coming out of the back of her head, she was shot. I could not stop tears from coming out and I broke down and cried.

I looked around hoping for someone to help but there was a commotion, everyone was running for their lives and the man had blended in with the crowd and disappeared.

"Help!" I mumbled trying to yell as hard as I could but it was impossible.

'Isn't anyone gonna help, Isn't there anything I can do to save my sister.'

Up until now my sister and I had been living a carefree life, although our parents died about ten years ago we did not struggle with anything. Our Aunt and uncle took us in and they cared and loved us as If we were their own. They were both working at the Lesis Health University as lecturers, so our lives were planned out but that was just a dream to be cut short.

"Som one... please call..." I gasped.

With the last of my strength I tried to yell for help but all was in vain as death was slowly closing in on me as well. My vision blurred and I could no longer feel anything when suddenly...

"Brother, let's hurry the movie is about to start." Rena declared with a wry smile.

"Slow down, we can still make it in time." I replied.

'Was I dreaming?" I wondered, 'Does this mean everything I saw was just my imagination?'

The scenery had changed and somehow my sister was okay and it looked like everything was just a part of my imagination. After a few minutes of walking, we were back home.

"What what's going on?" I stammered.

I was confused by the change of scenery; we were suddenly back to our hometown which was forty kilometers away from the city. I realized that what had just happened was a sudden change of scenery similar to that of a dream, and I stopped.

"Brother, why did you stop? We have to keep going." She said.

"Rena, where are we going?" I snapped.

"We have to hurry; you'll see when we get there." She answered with a somewhat eerie smile.

"Who are you and where is my sister?"

My sister cries easily whenever she is scolded so I knew immediately that the person in front of me was an impostor.

'Well that was fast, My imitation of your sister was poor but I wasn't expecting you to catch me so quickly.'

'What is this? You can...'

'Talk directly to your heart and mind? Yes, I can.'

After saying this, her form changed from that of my sister to that of a black shadow. The moment this happened my body felt heavy and fell to the ground. It was as if my whole being was instinctively afraid of the being in front of me.

"Guaah! What happeeeninng." I groaned as I could not lift a finger.

"It's only natural that your body would react that way" " she muttered, "None can withstand my true form, not even the dead."

"Where is my sister?"

"She's right there."

When I looked to the right I could see my sister's lifeless body covered in blood.

"No this can't be real she can't be dead," I complained. "If only I hadn't told my sister to hurry she would still be alive," I said with tears in my eyes that looked like they would flow until my body lost all of its moisture.

'If only I hadn't panicked when I saw that man, she'd still be okay.'

'What if I told you that there was a way to bring her back to life?' The Shadow exclaimed.

'No please don't give me hope, bringing the dead back to life is impossible.'

'What if I said there was a method you could use to revive her.'

'If that method existed, my parents would still be alive today.'

'Your sister was killed in cold blood.'

"Please stop talking in my head!" I protested but all was in vain.

"She was not supposed to die," The shadow declared with a cold voice,

"They robbed your sister of her life."

As the shadowy figure muttered these words, my mind became flooded with overlapping images of the moment she died. The images kept playing in my mind dozens of times, no more than that probably more than a million times. My mind was slowly breaking with every replay, then I started seeing images of the moment my parents died. These were scenes that were not a part of my memories but they were the memories of my parents. As my mind broke completely I screamed like a dying animal. Then the shadow spoke one last time before disappearing.

"Use the souls of the residents in the city of Lesis to revive your sister."

I had lost all sympathy, when these words entered my ears I strengthened my resolve. When I opened my eyes the scenery had changed back to that of the city and my body was healed and I realized that my hair had changed from black to silver.

"O world, let this city be what serves as nourishment for my sister's resurrection."

After muttering these words, a giant magic circle appeared in the sky and it covered the entire city. Millions of souls were reaped out of all living creatures under the magic circle and were all drawn towards Rena's body and before they could fuse with her, my body along with all of the souls vanished from the world. I was somehow hurled to the edge of the universe.

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