Nothing should be able to disrupt the course of true love, not even the strongest of devils.

Lying comfortably on the ground, Melanie watched the skies turn dark. The stars took their time to shine and gradually decorated the skies like a garden of flowers.  She reached up to touch her coal black hair—wondering if it was always this colour. She closed her eyes, and a girl with medium–length red hair and brown doe eyes smiling at the silhouette of someone came to view.

“Mel!” A voice called out. She opened her eyes and sat upright to find her younger sister, Elliane—Elly for short—running towards her. “What is it, Elly?” She questioned, looking up at Elly. Elly did not reply as she breathed to catch her breath. Just then, their youngest sibling, Eddy, came running.

As both girls watched their brother run, the image of that girl had long removed from Melanie’s mind by then. She let out a sigh. “Elly! Elly! Wait for me!” The younger boy shouted. Melanie got up to her feet and brushed dust off the hem of her skirt. “Dinner, was it?” Melanie asked, not exactly looking for an answer. Elly nodded and ran back down, “Eddy, race you back home!” Eddy was going to run after Elly but Melanie caught him by the arm. He wheezed—his playful brown orbs were filled with annoyance and questions–as he caught his breath. “Walk with me,” Melanie said, holding his hands.

Both of them walked down the hill, approaching the port to return home. Their family lived in a small hut by the port—further isolated from the city. Their parents stood by the door—chatting with Elly—only to stop and wave at the two when they noticed them. Seeing them wave made the excitable little boy pick up speed—pulling his elder sister along.

Dinner was delicious—as always—the atmosphere was warm and homely. This was the Lockhart family—a simple and happy household–while it lasted. It made her feel like she was never sick to begin with.

Even so, night is dreadful. She felt fear, in her heart, that she might never be able to see the sun rise anymore.  Every night was a series of nightmares. She thought she was fine, but what she does not know is that no one could stop death—and by no one, I meant no one, not even a dweller of time and space.

And every night, she would dream.

A dream so surreal, she doubted the genuineness of her memories and existence.

“Beings like us can never hope to live amongst humans.”

In a place where no humans can reach—a place high above the skies, a place always on the move–resides the floating academy for young children of the Anima. Blood and bone of dwellers of time and space–tasked to learn of their history and the control over their innate powers.

This academy existed only to educate these special beings known as the Third—also known as Anima—to become guardians of time and space. The third kind exists, only to protect the balance between time and space and was never meant to live amongst humans or any other world besides their own as it only brings misfortunes and destruction. And calamity happens when the Third is present when the First meets the Second. If such a feat was done—night will fall and never shall the Sun rise.

Nothing prepared our young heroine to face her destiny—why would she be? No one would have expected oneself to be the catalyst to terrible events. It was inevitable—as foretold—unexpected and unstoppable.

It had only been one year since she enrolled in the academy. She was the very essence of a normal Anima-in-training—making new friends, surviving examinations and falling in love. The future was something she had never thought about–especially not the part where she indirectly would cause a realm to end.

The classroom she was in was one that was bathed with the warmth of the sun. It always echoed with the sound of laughter and chatter amongst the students. They were always excited as one can see from their voices, the ever loud chatter—to learn new things.

Our young heroine was a normal girl, with a small build. Her eyes were golden and had shoulder-length grey hair. She was always seen with a book—possibly the only person interested in human behavior.  Her love interest, on the other hand, was a total opposite from how she was like.

While our heroine, Lune, was a detached person, her love interest—however—possessed a certain quality which made our heroine feel like he was the epitome of cheerfulness. He was always cheerful and energetic around her. Despite being a nice person at all times, he was also a person who wanted everything to go his way, which she had later found to be endearing.

Lune had never doubted for a moment that her love interest would never notice her, but how wrong she was back then. His heart was set on hers the moment he had seen her at the orientation. It took him great courage to confess to her when she gave him a Valentine chocolate. And then, they have been inseparable since.

The day our heroine got separated from her kind and love  was exactly a year from the day she enrolled in that academy. The day their teacher decided to take them to the Human Observation Centre (HOC, for short).

Dawn had just passed and every student was summoned to the Great Assembly Hall. The sounds of laughter and excited chatter echoed throughout the hall. The teachers have been waiting in the hall. The Headmaster's voice came over the speaker system, silencing all the idle chatter in the hall.

“We’ll be leaving for an excursion shortly,” he said, and then the loud chatter returned. “Our destination is the HOC. And as everyone knows, HOC stands for the Human Observation Centre. It’s a real honor to be going there and I understand that everyone would be on their best behavior,” he continued, oblivious to the noise the students are making.

The mere mention of HOC melted their excitement to cold anxiety. There were many rumors about HOC back then and neither of them are good ones. Every student hung their heads as they head to the express train involuntarily.

The express train was no different from normal trains, other than the fact that there was a roman symbol for third at the front of the train. And that it moves on air, unnoticeable even to the naked eye.

Unless you are not human, that is.

In this fine society of Eisenberg, nothing was more important than the power of wealth and technology, and Melanie Lockhart was born of such ability. She was the finest student of the Mechanics Academy—she could make better machines than men in her class and possessed intellect second to none in her class. 

She had talents to seek what everyone wanted but yet, her health deteriorated drastically due to her exposure to machines. She was said to not live past her teens, and even the mere notion of sleeping frightens her.  

What if she fell asleep and was never able to wake up anymore?

Beings like Lune are attracted to death. When death is near, their spirit would be pulled towards the body of death like magnets. While her spirit resides in Melanie—the body lives and the soul trapped—unable to move on. Lune, forced to live as Melanie, had Melanie’s memories inscribed in hers and hers forgotten. It was a sort of thing the unconscious mind does, to protect the existence of the dwellers of time and space.

Melanie’s parents decided to make sure that Melanie’s remaining life be of joy and peace. Selling their old estate in the city, the whole family moved closer to sea—the port. They stayed for a year in a small hut and were content with their mediocre lifestyle.