The first thing she noticed was the silence.
Not the silence of a lonely bedroom or an ignored cry, but something ancient—deep and cosmic. The kind of silence that made your bones ache and your heart feel exposed. Sayo Nakamura stood in the middle of a forest unlike anything she had ever seen. Crystal trees swayed with no wind, their branches humming a soundless melody. The sky above was a river of stars, with two crescent moons casting violet light across everything.
Grass shimmered beneath her bare feet, glowing faintly with each step like ink brushed across a dream.
She whispered to no one, "Where… am I?"
Her hands trembled. One moment, she was surrounded by jeering students in a school basement, mocked for her love of romance anime. The next, she was here—wherever here was. Her last memory was reciting words from a demonic grimoire, a prank dare meant to humiliate her.
She had summoned something.
But instead of flames or laughter, the world itself changed.
Suddenly, a presence.
From between the trees stepped a figure. He did not walk—he arrived, like reality folded around him. He stood tall and statuesque, with skin pale like frozen marble and long black hair that shimmered like obsidian under starlight. He wore a sleeveless coat with silver embroidery, strange glyphs pulsing faintly against the cloth. Every step he took seemed measured, like each motion had consequence.
And his eyes…
His eyes were crimson fire, burning not with rage but with knowing.
He looked at her as if her soul were a puzzle already half-solved.
"You don't belong here," the figure said, his voice deep, melodic, and cold.
Sayo backed away instinctively. "I-I didn't mean to come here! It was a joke, I didn't think—"
He raised a hand, silencing her.
"Intent is irrelevant. The veil was torn. Something… called you."
"I just wanted to escape," she said, her voice breaking. "Everyone hated me. I was just trying to—"
He stepped forward again, and she flinched.
"You are not the first human to stumble into Crystalia," he said. "But you may be the first to survive the crossing."
She looked up. "Crystalia…?"
"That is the name of this realm," he said. "You stand on the borders of the Demon Courts."
"Demon…?"
He tilted his head, studying her. "You really don't know, do you? You summoned us. You broke a seal."
"I thought it was fake!"
"Nothing written in blood and truth ever is."
Sayo felt the weight of his gaze pressing into her. She felt smaller and smaller, like she was shrinking under a sky too large to understand.
"Who… who are you?" she whispered.
He hesitated a moment.
"I am Kael'Ryth, Prince of the Crimson Court. Second heir to the Crown of Obsidian Flame. And you, little trespasser, have stepped into something far beyond your fragile world."
She stared, heart pounding. "Are you going to kill me?"
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"No," he said slowly. "But others will try."
Suddenly, the trees trembled. Shadows crawled across the crystal trunks, gathering into shapes—tall, humanoid things with mask-like faces and needle-fingers. They hissed in a language she couldn't understand.
Kael didn't flinch.
With a flick of his fingers, arcane symbols exploded in the air like fireflies, and the creatures scattered in silence.
Sayo gasped. "W-What were those?"
"Veil Wraiths," Kael muttered. "They feed on broken fate. You're a feast to them."
She didn't understand what that meant. But the way he stood between her and them made her feel… safe.
Kael turned back toward her. "You're lucky I was the one who found you first."
The Demon Palace
The two moons watched overhead as Kael led her through glowing forests and across an ethereal bridge of light that seemed suspended over nothingness. Every step echoed like chimes. Far below them swirled colors that hurt to look at directly—reds that weren't red, blues that whispered in her ears.
Eventually, they arrived at a palace carved into a mountain of black crystal.
Guards stood at the gate—silent demons with silver masks, each etched with a different expression. Joy. Sadness. Fury. Emptiness.
The gates opened.
Inside, the world changed again.
Sayo stepped into a hall of floating lights and stained-glass windows that shimmered with moving images. The floor was like mirrorstone, and her reflection looked… faintly wrong.
Kael led her through winding corridors, past whispering nobles dressed in elegant robes and adorned with horns, tails, and wings. Many sneered at her. Others merely stared in silence.
At last, Kael stopped before a door carved with wings and chains.
He placed a hand against it.
"You'll stay here until I decide what to do with you."
The door creaked open.
Sayo stepped inside.
The room was breathtaking.
A bed floated above the floor, suspended by runes. Curtains of starlight hung from invisible hooks. A window showed not a sky, but a swirling nebula, slowly spinning. Books hovered mid-air, fluttering their pages like wings.
"I… I don't belong here," she whispered.
"No," Kael said. "But for some reason, you are here."
He turned, cape fluttering behind him, and walked away.
As the door shut, Sayo sat on the edge of the bed, shaking.
The Fire-Seer
Later that night, a woman entered her room without knocking. Her skin glowed with ember tattoos, and her hair was like smoke, shifting between red and black.
"I am Seravyn," the woman said. "Fire-Seer of the Crimson Court."
Sayo blinked. "You're a demon too?"
"I am what I need to be."
"Why are you here?"
Seravyn stepped forward. Her eyes—burning orange—stared into Sayo's.
"You carry a fracture in fate. I saw your face in fire three days before the veil opened. You are either a herald… or a curse."
"I don't understand."
"You will," Seravyn said. "Soon."
She handed Sayo a small crystal. "Hold this when you dream. It may keep the voices away."
"Voices?"
"You'll hear them eventually. All who touch the Veil do."
Then she vanished in flame.
The Dream
That night, Sayo slept—and dreamed.
She stood in a world of white feathers falling like snow. A chained moon hung above her, bleeding light. Around her, shadows whispered her name. And at the center of the field stood a man with white hair and blue eyes glowing like ice.
He reached toward her.
"You must remember me…"
Then everything burned.