Prologue: The Beginning

Hope.

What is hope?

Despair.

What is despair?

Are they two sides of the same coin,

or totally different all together?

I want to find the answer,

that is why I fight.

Mondays were the worse, and that was one thing the young teen knew for certain. She hated Mondays like most people; it was so hard to get up in the morning, and the entire day seemed to drag on way slower then on any other day of the week.

But, regardless of how she felt, fourteen-year-old Jessica Evans had no say in the matter of getting up early, an hour after sun raise to be exact. If it was up to her, she would skip school all together and sleep all day, but that was one thing her mother wasn't having. Young Jessica's education was important, so if it meant her suffering through the terrible hell known to the world as 'Monday', then her mother would make her walk through it with no remorse.

"Jessie~! It's time to wake up!" Jessica groaned, and pulled her blue blanket over her head. The small fists pounding on her did nothing to move her from her spot, so the petite and rather adorable creature opted on using the next best thing. Jumping on the teen's bed until he got up, right next to her head, no less. "Wake up, Jessie, wake up!"

"Alright, I'm up." The dark skinned teenager uttered, tossing the blanket off of herself. Groaning, she rolled lazily onto the floor, and laid there for a moment, starring up at the ceiling. Jessica's bed was close to the floor, so it wasn't like she would hurt herself if she fell off it suddenly.

The teenager's little sister, a nine-year-old named Susanna, starred at her from off the side of the bed, her head tilted to the side slightly. "Um ...morning."

"Morning," Jessica replied.

Her little sister then smiled. "You should really get up, now." She said. "Mom says she doesn't want you being late on your first day at a new school. Oh, and breakfast is almost ready."

"Tell mom I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay~!" Susanna nodded. She then hopped off the bed, and over Jessica, almost scaring the teen into thinking she'd accidentally jump on her. But, luckily, she didn't ...this time. Susanna ran out the room, the pitter-patter of her bare feet fading down the hall as she went.

Jessica sat up, a small smile on her face. She was no longer tiered anymore, and after being woken up the way she had, who would be. "That little girl, can't even get mad at her." How Susanna could be so perky so early in the morning, was one of the things she had yet to figure out.

"You know, in the future, she might make a great magical girl." A voice spoke from her windowsill. Jessica tilted her head up and saw her contractor and friend. A small blue cat with a black line running along both of it's abnormally large ears, a bushy tail, and two beady red eyes.

Though she was happy to see the odd looking cat, what it had said rubbed her the wrong way.

"I told you before, I don't want her involved in this, Ruby," Jessica said, sitting up. "I want my sister to have a normal life. I don't want her to be like me."

The creature she called 'Ruby' nodded. "Understood. I guess one magical girl from your family is enough." The alien cat hopped off the window and landed next to her. "I can always find other girls to strike a deal with."

"As long as it's not Susanna, I could care less who you make deals with."

She got to her feet, and made her way out the bedroom towards the bathroom, the strange cat following a few steps behind her.

The hallway was clean, the brown wood floor boards almost seeming to sparkle from the sunlight coming through the hallway windows; it was to be expected, the house was new after all.

A new house. In a new city. In a new country. Jessica never once thought that she would one day be living in a country other then the United States. Thinking back, her life back in Philadelphia hadn't been all that bad at first. She had lived in a fairly good neighborhood compared to most of her friends, and her family was content, but she had wanted something better, something more then just a life on low income, having to scrape at the bottom of what little bank savings they had just to eat sometimes. They had struggled like any other family, and somehow always gotten through it.

Then one day here mom got laid off; everything seemed to domino effect from there. They ended up getting evicted from their apartment and had to move into a shelter, things went from bad to worse in a matter of months. Her mother was deep in depression, while at the same time trying to find a job. Susanna was getting bullied in school, her grades slipping from how good they used to be to barely passing, and she was stuck in the middle not knowing what to do.

Everything seemed so hopeless.

Then a miracle happened in the form of a tiny blue and black alien cat thing named, Rubey(though she usually called him 'Ruby').

He gave her a chance to save her family by granting her one wish: for her family to live a better life, a life where they wouldn't have to struggle and do nothing but hope for the best . Of course, nothing in this world comes free, that was one thing her mother had told her time and time again since she could understand right from wrong. In exchange for that one, and only wish, she was thrown into a life she was barely prepared for, having to fight witches, creatures who spread despair and hatred throughout the world.

Rubey had not only made her wish come true, he also gave her the power to fight witches, in the form of what he called a 'Soul Gem'. It was what all magical girls like herself drew their magic from. The cat had even explained to her before the wish that her soul was what made the gem, and she should never be more then one-hundred meters away from it. Jessica didn't really care much for the details. She made the wish anyway, even knowing what the cost was.

That had been a year and a half ago, almost.

At the moment, her soul gem rested around her wrist in the form of a silver bracelet with a light brownish green orb in the center. It had been quite some time since she had gone out hunting for grief seeds, and she knew she'd have to go witch hunting sooner or later to keep her soul gem pure.

It shouldn't be that hard, though. I'm sure there are plenty of witches to go around. She thought.

"As true as that may be," Rubey said, having heard her thoughts clearly. "There's a high possibility that you'll be hunting in someone's territory."

"Well, too bad for them, I live in this city now too." Jessica said, smugly. "If they don't want to share, then I guess fighting is the only real option left." Reaching the end of the hall, she pulled open the slid open door to the entrance room of the bathroom as she continued. "Besides, I'll be damned if I have to travel all the way to the next town over just to hunt witches."

Rubey shook his head, chuckling in amusement. "For someone always bragging about being the hero, you don't seem to have a problem choosing the violent scenario."

Jessica grabbed her toothbrush out the holder, spreading toothpaste over the bristles. "And for a creature claiming not to have any emotions, you sure react like you do." She retorted, turning on the sank, as she began brushing her teeth.

"It's not that I have emotions, per-say." The magic dealer said, leaping onto the bathroom's footrest, watching as the teen freshened herself up. "I just react the way you humans would in different situations. Doing so makes it a lot easier to talk to girls with the potential of becoming magical girls."

"So, you're pretty much acting."

"Yes, that's one way to put it."

Guess that would explain why he laughed at Stefanie's corny jokes. Jessica continued to wash her face. When she was done, she looked at herself in the mirror, turning her attention to her brownish, green hair, which should have been the very definition of bedhead. Let's see, what style should I go for today? I wanna make a good first impression. She took a minute or two to think about it, straightening her shoulder length locks with her hand, before she finally decided. "Well, Mom did always say my hair look good with my natural curls."

She waved her hand under one of her locks, and her haired glowed a light brown color before it curled itself with magic. Jessica looked over her self from different angles and smiled, turning to the alien cat near her. "So, how do I look?"

"Presentable," Rubey answered, simply.

"Wow, thanks a lot, Ruby," Jessica said rolling her eyes, her voice laced with sarcasm. "You sure do have a way of making a girl feel nice, don't you."

"I'm just stating what I see." Rubey tilted his head. "Isn't being presentable what you were going for, anyway?"

Jessica sighed. "Never mind." She walked out of the bathroom, and made her way back toward her bedroom to get dressed. Rubey paced up beside her. This would be the second time she wore her new school uniform; in her opinion the skirt was a too bit short for her liking, but that was nothing a good pair of tights couldn't fix. And the last thing I want is for some perv to get a look at my panties because the wind suddenly decided to blow.

XxxxX

The sound of sizzling and the smell of breakfast was the first thing that greeted Jessica when she got down stairs. The house that her family had moved into was a little above average size to most people, but to her it was huge, having only lived in an apartment for most of her young life.

She crossed the, still fairly empty, living room and entered the kitchen. Her mother was standing over the stove, making what smelled like bacon, and her little sister was sitting at the table, sipping on a glass of orange juice.

The six-year-old was the first one to take notice of her. "Oh, wow, you look really pretty today, Jessica." She complemented.

Jessica smiled, taking the seat across from her. "Thanks, Sus, you look nice today, too. That uniform makes you look very cute."

"Thanks, Mama said the same thing~!"

"Well, I see someone trying to impress the boys." Jessica's mother, Rochelle, spoke. Half turning toward the teenager. "Trying to get a boyfriend on your first day, huh?" She teased.

Jessica gave a nervous laugh. "What …? No, not at all," she said, before sighing a little. "If anything, the boys would be more intimidated by my height then anything. I doubt I'll get a boyfriend in high school."

"Awe, come on now, don't say that." Rochelle said. "You know, there are some boys out there who find tall girls attractive."

"Yeah? If that's true, I've never met em'," the dark skinned girl replied, poring herself a glass of orange juice. "I was taller then most of the girls in my old school, and a few of the boys. Plus, from what I hear, Japanese people are a bit ...on the short side." She then groaned, another thought occurring to her. "God, I'm going to be a freakin' giant at school, aren't I. This sucks." I hope I don't get any weird nick names, this time. Getting called a 'tree' was so annoying.

"Hey, I'll have you know that being a tall girl isn't a bad thing. Your grandmother was tall, and so was her mother, and they were both pretty popular with the guys." Rochelle said to her daughter. She finished up the last of the food, and brought over three plates of strawberry pancakes, bacon and eggs. "Just be yourself, make some friends, let people get to know you. It might be a bit hard at first, but everyone will warm up to you, eventually."

Easy for her to say. Jessica thought, starring down at the food that her mother had placed in front of her. It was one thing being a tall person. Being tall and a girl just made her stand out more back in her old school. Now they were in a totally different country, and most of the people here have probably never seen someone of her nationality before ...well, besides on television, maybe.

If you ask me, I doubt people will care much after a week or so. Rubey thought to her, from his spot on the counter, scratching behind his ear with one of his hind legs. But, I could be wrong. You humans like to pay attention to even the smallest details on others different from you. It's been like that since the beginning of your history.

As if I didn't know that already. Jessica thought, as she began eating her food.

Breakfast had passed by pretty quietly, with the only one really talking being Susanna. Like always, her mom had outdone herself; she was a cook after all. So no surprise there.

Once breakfast was done, Jessica went and grabbed her bag from the living room, and made a few last checks on her appearance, before getting ready to leave out the door.

"Jess, make sure you call me if you go anywhere after school, okay?" Rochelle said from the kitchen entryway.

Jessica nodded, and opened the front door. "Sure. See you later."

"Be safe, hon."

The teen made her way out the house, closing the door behind her. The cool morning breeze blowing gently on her; the sun was shining and it seemed like it would be a pretty nice day. As she took a slow breath, to calm her nervousness, Rubey hopped on her right should, his body much lighter then it should have been.

"Well, here goes nothing."

"You'll do just fine, I'm sure. Just act as you always do," the alien cat said.

Jessica sighed. "Yeah ...okay, just be normal. Got it." And with that thought in mind, she started off towards Mitakihara train station, mentally preparing herself for whatever her first day of school might bring.

So, I know I've been gone for a while, but I'm not dead! I have just been busy with life, that, and bettering my writing skills as well as developing my writing style. So ...yeah, I will be updating a few of my other stories, and continuing this one. I'd really like some feed back on it, should I continue it or not?Also, this story takes place a year or so before the events of the series.

Until next time!

Peace~!