Chapter 0 : Prologue

In a world where gods and humans coexisted in harmony, there existed seven gods put in charge of regulating the flow of humanity. Each god played a particular role in the functioning and flourishing of their shared world. There was, however, one single god-the God of Stars.

While other gods were pleased to continue with their divine duties, the God of the Stars had an insatiable curiosity about the world of mortals. Many a time, he looked down toward the world of mortals and was fascinated by the fragility of life, the intensity of emotions-whereas in heaven, there was only eternal calmness. Love and sorrow, anger and hope-the stars twinkling in the night sky-the God of Stars ached to feel them in his own heart. That grew inside of him until it overshadowed his divine functions, and he finally could bear it no longer that eventful day. He came down from the skies for the first time in eternity and resolved to walk amidst humankind.

As his feet touched the earthly plane, he chanced upon a young maid whose eyes sparkled like the stars he was so enchanted with. Her name was Kamaria, and that meeting was instant fate-ordained by the gods themselves. The God of Stars found in her a reflection of the mortal world he had yearned to know. And from that grew love, blossoming between them from which there was no turning back.

From this union was born a child-a child unlike any other. The child, born of divine seed within the human womb, was gifted with powers beyond mortal comprehension. For him, no feats were impossible, as those for no man could even surmise to carry out-an attribute epitomizing love and divinity with which he was begotten.

But the other six gods took this union between divine and mortal as an affront to themselves, filled with jealous and fearful feelings. Some felt the child somehow would upset this delicate balance that they were able to hold. Others, perhaps envious of the God of Stars for his defiance, spread lies and deceit among the humans. They branded the god's child a demon-a harbinger of doom destined to annihilate all.

They were afraid, and the gods had turned their hearts into malevolent whispers. To them, this was a monster child-an abomination that didn't deserve a place in their lives. This very fear thus made them come to a decision-to be free from this terror. In one cruel, ignorant act, they took away the child's life.

The God of Stars, with his grief and fury now, swore vengeance upon them. So he forged a prophecy, one foretelling the fall of humanity, sealed by their own hate and prejudice. "Let the world remember this tragedy," he said, grimly adding that the mortal race should pay for their sins in full. He left humanity with a curse, saying that their future was to be designed by their emotions-emotions that would unlock powers far beyond their understanding at the cost of their peace.

Meanwhile, the god's poor lover was afflicted. She was pregnant a second time, unaware of that fact. Convinced this child would suffer a fate like her first, she fled into hiding, concealing her secret from her divine lover. She gave birth in secret and laid her firstborn to rest in a sacred place, forever mourning the lost life that could have been.

Years went by, until the 18th of March, 1850, when the skies became as black as coal, though the sun did not dim. A figure descended from the heavens: a man shrouded in mystery, his presence filled with unimaginable power. Panic and confusion spread across the land as the man revealed his purpose: he had come to bestow upon humanity the gift of Miracles.

These Miracles were powers beyond the understanding of the human mind, called upon by the intensity of one's emotions. None knew who he was, but would eventually be referred to as only "the Messenger." Immediately after giving this strange gift, the Messenger's body exploded into fragments, spreading across the landscape, as if his body was just a collection of dust from the stars. He was nothing, yet had changed the world forever.

As time passed on, the world changed. The Miracles became native to the human lifestyle, part of a person's emotions and psychology. Whenever a person felt strong emotions-be it love, anger, despair-their abilities would spring to life, influencing the feeling attached to it. This concept was better known as Emotional Resonance. A person's Miracle was unique, reflecting their innermost struggles, desires, and experiences.

One of the visual markers of a Miracle awakening was that one's eyes would glow in radiant light whenever their abilities surged. The light colored itself according to whatever feeling was feeding into their power, from blue for sorrow to gold for love to red for rage, thereby creating this stark linkage between one's soul and their powers.

Centuries went by, and the divine prophecy could not be outdone; with it, the nature of Miracles would become a bit more complicated. Sometimes, a child would inherit one power from each of their parents: a combination of fire and water to form steam, wind and earth to give birth to dust storms. Many other times, however, children would have completely new powers shaped by their own emotions.

By 2025, the world had moved on, and yet some things were still as mysterious as ever. Strange sightings had been reported in an isolated town-people disappearing and odd lights in the sky. The town was steeped in superstition; the past seemed to echo in every shadow.

Najma Kamaria slept soundly on the train en route to that town. A journalist renowned for sniffing out the truth underlying some of the world's most bizarre incidents, Najma had come back to her hometown in pursuit of an inquiry into these rumors about supernatural phenomena. The train rocked gently, and she slept blissfully, unaware of how deeply her investigation would entwine her with the dark secrets of that town.

The sky outside the window of the train was of that strange, almost-purple color; tinged purple, surreal-a shade Najma could hardly remember since her childhood. The grass down below had an eerie tint of blue and the landscape was warped in a way from the memories she retained of it. The air felt heavy, thick with presage.

As it neared the station, the train slowed down. Najma stirred out of her sleep, blinked, and sat up disoriented, as her dazed mind tried to connect the present with the past. She had left this place years ago, promising herself she would never return. But the strange sightings had brought her back. Curiosity, perhaps, or something deeper, something in the blood.

The silence was broken by the overly cheerful voices of the conductors: "Welcome to Ravenswood!" They were just a touch too warm, even for a place this unsettling. Ravenswood-her hometown-had always carried with it that air of weirdness, like it came from another world or universe. This time around, however, it seemed different. A lot more alive than before; a lot more dangerous.

Najma gathered her things and stepped off the train, tucking her journal under one arm. She was a journalist, coming out here to find the truth of these sightings, but there was just something churning in her gut: this deeply illogical feeling that something more personal awaited her in Ravenswood, something to do with her past.

The sky hung low over her, a silent watcher, its purple tint casting long shadows on the ground. Farther away, the mountains loomed with that same tint of blue she would never be able to get out of her mind. But as she stepped off the platform and into the town she had once called home, Najma couldn't rid herself of the feeling that something very, very bad, was about to happen.