PROLOGUE: — "Welcome to Eclipsera"

The city of Eclipsera never slept.
Not because it was alive, but because it was too broken to rest.

Abandoned skyscrapers pierced the dark sky like jagged bones. Faint streaks of elemental energy slithered along cracked walls, pulsing with a quiet, eerie heartbeat. Even the wind seemed wrong here, whispering low through ruined streets, carrying the taste of rust, dust, and magic.

Humans had left this place long ago. What remained were Elementals beings, born with the power of nature, chaos, and rare forces beyond comprehension. In Eclipsera, power was everything. Without it, you were just another body waiting to be erased.

Itsuki didn’t want power.
He just wanted to get through the day.

He walked through the empty street with his hood up, hands stuffed into his sleeves. His steps were quiet, careful. His dark hair fell messily over his eyes, and the faintest trace of light followed his touch as he brushed past a cracked wall, unintentional, instinctive. A soft shimmer of pale blue light pulsed along the surface like a living ripple before fading.

Itsuki didn’t notice.
But others always did.

Eyes followed him when he passed through Eclipsera. Some curious. Some jealous. Some hungry. He pretended not to see them. If he didn’t look, maybe they’d leave him alone.

He was on his way to the Elemental Training Academy, one of the few safe zones in this city of chaos. At least, that was what they called it. But Itsuki had learned quickly that nothing in Eclipsera was truly safe, not even the walls built to protect.

Just keep walking.
Don’t talk to anyone.
Don’t make trouble.

That was the rule he repeated in his head.

Unfortunately, Eclipsera didn’t care about rules.

“Hey, you!”

Itsuki froze.

A group of Elementals, four of them, stood ahead near a cracked fountain where glowing water hovered unnaturally in midair. They were older, maybe nineteen or twenty, dressed in torn combat uniforms marked with elemental sigils. One of them was practicing fire bursts on a target dummy. Another had shards of stone floating lazily around his shoulders.

Itsuki had accidentally walked right between them and their target.

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to walk into people’s space?” the tallest one said, stepping forward with a smirk. His eyes burned a faint red, matching the flickering fire along his knuckles.

“I… I’m sorry,” Itsuki stammered, instinctively stepping back. “I didn’t mean to—”

“Didn’t mean to?” another one mocked, rolling his eyes. “You blocked my shot, freak. You think you can just walk wherever you want?”

“I’ll just go,” Itsuki muttered, turning slightly, hoping they’d just let him pass.

They didn’t.

The tall one caught him by the collar, yanking him back and slamming him against the cracked wall behind him. Itsuki gasped as his back hit the cold stone, the glow from the fire Elemental’s hands casting sharp shadows across his face.

“Going somewhere?” the boy hissed. “People like you make me sick. Always walking around like you’re special.”

“I don’t want trouble,” Itsuki said, voice shaking. “Please—”

“Trouble found you, weakling,” the second boy sneered, raising his hand as jagged stone fragments floated toward Itsuki’s throat.

Itsuki’s pulse raced. He didn’t want to fight. He could fight, but that was the problem. If he lost control… things would get bad. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to breathe, trying to disappear into the wall.

And then… the air changed.

The temperature plummeted in an instant. The soft glow of floating water dimmed. Even the fire Elemental’s flames wavered like they were suddenly starved of oxygen.

A laugh echoed through the alley. It wasn’t loud. It was soft. Feminine.
And wrong.

Before any of them could react, a black blur cut across the fountain like a shadow given form. The tall boy’s hand never made it back to Itsuki’s collar. Instead, a crimson blade of energy burst through his chest with a wet, tearing sound. His body didn’t even fall... Akari kicked it aside like garbage.

The second boy screamed, launching a barrage of stone shards. She moved faster than his eyes could follow. One moment she was across the alley; the next she was inches from his face, her lips curved in a sweet, chilling smile. Her blade whispered once, clean and silent. His scream was cut short.

The remaining two tried to run.

They didn’t get far.

The shadows swallowed them. Bones cracked. Something wet hit the ground.

And then it was quiet again.

Itsuki’s breath hitched in his throat. He slid down the wall without realizing, knees weak, hands shaking. The faint glow at his fingertips flickered wildly, he couldn’t control it. He didn’t even understand what just happened.

Bodies lay sprawled on the cracked street. Their blood sizzled faintly where it touched the glowing sigils carved into the pavement.

And standing in the middle of it was her.

Akari.

Her long black hair swayed gently in the cold wind, streaks of red catching the dim light. Her crimson eyes burned, not with rage, but with something worse.
Possession.

Her blade, a strange fusion of shadow and flame, dissolved into embers at her side. Her boots crunched softly on the cracked pavement as she walked closer.

Itsuki’s heart hammered in his chest. He had never seen her before in his life. He didn’t know her name, her face, nothing.

But she…
She looked at him like she’d known him forever.

Her gaze slid over the broken bodies without care. As if they weren’t people. As if nothing in the world mattered but the boy trembling in front of her.

She leaned down slightly, her face inches from his. He flinched. Her lips curled upward into a soft, almost innocent, yet menacing smile.

And then she giggled.

“...You’re welcome, sweetie,” she whispered.

Before Itsuki could move, speak, or even breathe, she was gone. Melted back into the shadows as if she had never existed.

Only the faint scent of burning lingered in the air.

Itsuki sat there for a long moment, staring at the empty space where she’d stood. His hands were still shaking.

What… what just happened?

Above the city, crimson lightning briefly flashed across the sky. And somewhere deep in the ruins, a girl with red eyes whispered his name like a promise.