Chapter One: Historical Fantasy

"The astral would devoured its way, paving me a path to follow; and at the far end, I am certain to find you. Random belief, it's not—it's not but a conviction!" 

———

Each passing of the century, there is an astronomical occurrence which had been called 'the Devouring of Astral'; So far, it is the greatest astronomical event ever known in the entire galaxy.

Often, they regard of it as 'both a marvelous and a terrifying event'. The whole force of the universe would descend on the globe, bringing end to its continents, which does not exclude the 'empyrean continent' completely. 

The 'Neverland' as long as it's still intact, it would served as a safeguard against the devouring of astral. During the occurrence of the event, a massive barrier would appear in the firmament, protecting the empyrean continent. 

With the heavenly barricade, the devouring of astral would only seemed as a great shower of stars, simply, a marvelous sight to behold.

The royal family of Magus in Mycrathineia had ruled the empyrean continent over the passing generations. 

According to legends, the empyrean continent had consisted of one forestry and five countries, each of which got residence of different transcendental species, namely: Fleurdelis, the home of the guardians pertaining to the elves; Troumus, the terrain of the blood reapers, also known as the vampires; Lupus Insignumia, shortly 'Lupus', the domain of the wolves; Mycrathineia, the Kingdom of Magus; And Deludereia, the realm of the wizards.

The forestry that had served as the bridge of the empyrean continent and the protection of the heaven had been called Neverland. All these years, the empyrean continent had managed to survived from the astral's destruction through the resources of the five countries that had fed Neverland: these 'resources' which refers to the five gems, is the reason why the empyrean continent still existed in the contemporary period.

Simply, Neverland is the heart of the empyrean continent. If one sees it that the forestial resources in Neverland are decaying, then this would also meant the end for the entire mainland.

Plucking one of the five gems out of their respective receptacles also meant cutting off a country's connection to the whole empire—in other words, committing treason. And directly, disorder would also meant death for the whole of the empyrean continent.

"ALICE!" Ms. Hamilton's voice reverberated on the hallway outside Alice's room. This was the fourth time Ms. Hamilton had called her. 

Alice quickly turned off her phone and in a lightning speed, she had managed to fix her bed and herself. With a hasty look of herself in the mirror, she turned around and leave her room, her bag settled on her shoulders as she went downstairs. 

Ms. Hamilton's face was fuming during this early morning of January. But who would not, as she could clearly recall, yesternight, when she had just arrived from her night shift, while standing in front of their household's gate, she rang Alice's phone but Alice hadn't answered her calls. Since Mr. Hamilton had gone abroad for a business trip since last week, Mrs. Hamilton's responsibility was doubled. 

When she'd gone upstairs, she'd seen that the door was left ajar. Mrs. Hamilton became nervous all of sudden, and started called Alice as if asking if she was there. She had turned on the lights, upon entering the room, then she'd seen her daughter sleeping uncomfortably, the hems of her pajama top had been raised, a part of her stomach was seen. Muted, Alice's phone was still awake beside her.

Mrs. Hamilton's anxieties subsided and a frown then emerged on her face. She did not bothered to blanket her daughter or pull her up in a good position. The brat had stayed up all night, reading again, without turning the lights on. Back then, around her teenage years, it was taught to not sleep late unless if it's for important things. The teenagers these days seemed to take everything else, even their health, too easy. She ought to let her daughter understood. 

Scowling, she squinted her eyes and read the  screen. Before the holiday vacation, there was a homeroom meeting at school. When she'd listened to the parents' complaints about their children's behaviour, Mrs. Hamilton couldn't agree more. One said her son slept late because of online gaming. Another said  her daughter stayed up all night using her phone, and when she had caught her, she'd found her daughter reading explicit contents. 

Upon the amenable air of retribution, the parents organized themselves a top mission to keep an eye on their children, especially during the time when they are using their gadgets. 

Thankfully, Alice had been reading historical fantasy, but Mrs. Hamilton couldn't care less. Staying up till night is still being irresponsible. Thus, to correct her child's progress, a retribution is a must.

Mrs. Hamilton silently closed the door and went to her own room. On the next few moments, because of her weariness, after she'd laid on her bed, she immediately fell to her slumber.

Alice had just woke up then, the brightness from her phone disturbed her gaze. Annoyed, she turned around as her vision came to focus. Upon seeing the tons of missed calls, she mentally scolded herself and looked at the time—it was now a quarter passed one. She stood up quietly and opened the door. She looked at her mom's bedroom on the end side of the hallway, and as she listened closely, quiet snores reached out to her ears—her mom was home.

Savouring the last day of vacation, Alice spent her afternoon idling around. It was around four when she'd decided to read a novel. The ranked one on the fantasy genre had caught her interest. She then started reading, only to sleep after reading the introduction. 

When she'd woke up it was nearly morning—no, it was morning already. Her stomach grumbled interrupting her train of thoughts and Alice decided to went downstairs to eat her 'supposed to be' dinner. When her belly had been satisfied, she went back to her room and continued reading up until her mom called her name for the fourth time seemingly nagging.

The second semester starts today and Alice was unperturbed; not until her mom made her lost her patience and had readied herself for such an annoying event.