Chapter 1 – The Fall of the Sacred Flame
Prologue: The Forgotten War
> "The Sacred Flame must never be rekindled. Let them forget. Let the world heal in ignorance."
Long ago—before cities, before empires, before even memory—there was the Flame.
A power said to bring balance… and destruction. Only the chosen—those who bore the Mark of the Ancestors—could wield it.
But in the end, it wasn't an outsider who brought ruin. It was one of their own.
The sky fell. The sea screamed. The sacred seals were buried beneath centuries of silence.
And the last words of the fallen warrior still echo:
> "If peace demands sacrifice… then may my story never be told."
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Present Day – Hoshizaka Town
"Kaien! Wake up! Or I'm finishing your breakfast!"
The teenage boy groaned and threw a pillow over his face. He hated Mondays. The only thing worse than school was being yelled at before school.
Kaien Raizou was your average third-year student—average grades, average looks, average life. He lived with his slightly crazy but kind grandfather, who ran a dusty old antique shop.
After a quick breakfast (mostly stolen by his grandpa), Kaien jogged to school.
The wind was crisp, the sky clear, and Hoshizaka Town looked like it hadn't changed in decades. Cherry blossom petals fluttered lazily in the breeze. The shrine bell rang from the hilltop.
Everything felt normal.
Too normal.
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Hoshizaka High School
"Late again," said Aiko Sumeragi, arms crossed. Sharp-tongued, always neat, and terrifying when angry.
"He was probably saving kittens or practicing his secret martial arts in the mountains," joked Rin Hoshikawa, spinning a pen between his fingers.
Kaien plopped into his seat. "Yeah yeah. Laugh it up."
Their classroom was noisy, lively, and warm. Just how it should be.
But during homeroom, something strange happened. The classroom door opened—and in walked a new student.
> "Everyone, we have a transfer student joining us. Please welcome—"
Her name was Sena Kisaragi. Pale silver hair. Cold eyes. A black ribbon around her neck. She didn't smile. Didn't speak.
She sat in the empty seat behind Kaien.
And for a brief second—just one—Kaien felt a wave of heat behind his eyes. Like fire. Like memory.
He blinked.
Gone.
Just a normal day.
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Later that Evening
Kaien stood outside his grandfather's antique shop, helping him close up.
"You ever feel like…" Kaien asked, "…your life's too normal?"
The old man chuckled. "That's a strange complaint."
"I dunno. I keep dreaming weird stuff. Fire. Shadows. A city I've never seen."
The grandfather paused. "Dreams, huh? Well… sometimes dreams remember what the mind forgets."
Kaien didn't know what he meant. But later that night, he sat on the roof, watching the stars. In his hand was an old pendant—something he picked out of the shop's junk box days ago.
It pulsed once. Softly.
Just enough for him to notice.
He stared at it.
> And somewhere far away, beneath ruins no one remembered… something ancient began to stir.
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To be continued...
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