New Erebos
Nimara
Prologue
New Erebos, Devil's Night October 30th, 2651
Devil's Night has always been a yearly highlight among the denizens of this wretched, scrap metal and chipped stone, seaside city. One could call New Erebos ruins. Ruins. The word seemed appropriate most on this night out of all others. There was always a past-dwelling sense of rapture that occupied the minds of the revelers on this holiday. It is a mildly morbid celebration for what we have in common- the darkness, our fears, and the inevitable end. These absolutes, neither positive nor negative, had become part of New Erebos's core and also imbedded into the souls of her people. Her battered skeleton is all that remains, resting on the coast, facing the endless tumultuous sea. Though the City was scaled down, deteriorated from its former glory as a prosperous metropolis of old, it was still too big for her current people. Most learned to live under her weight, other left their minds to rot along with the world. But some…a handful through the decades rose above the cracked asphalt, twisted metal, and dense sea fog.
These individuals found the ability to be nurtured somewhere in the bowels of the unforgiving empire. It was more than luck and more than the toss of fate's loaded dice. New Erebos bore down more heavily on hers who thought they could rise above the shadowed skyline. The ant does not feel the cage, does not see the immoveable bars on all sides. It is the beast that does though, and more enraged it grows as it fights the given limits of its world. Conquer or break, but death is inevitable, regardless of our attempts to distance ourselves from it. And the only different between the beasts themselves was how long their struggle would last.
How far we have come, but how strikingly the same we still are after over seven hundred years since our ancestors in the Nuclear Age, or whatever name those live-fast, die-youngn's ended up settling on calling that time. When RIVAN came, we were not prepared and it was that collective mistake of humanity that still reverberates through our lives after nearly half a millennium.
The moment the first child of that new age was born, a deep foreboding chill ran through the spine of every industrialized citizen. I can only image what it must have been like to be there as suddenly thousands of these children were born a day and would ultimately die twice as slowly as the child who was born immediately prior. The reaction was not slow to come, nor did it simmer quietly. Records show it was violent, chaotic, and fearful. Fear that we had finally overstepped our bounds with nature. RIVAN was not our problem, though that was their outcry at the time, was it not? It merely set the stage for the natural balancing act that would occur- that we thought we could escape. Man's greatest Golden Age had to cease at some point, but pitifully, it would seem that they did not realize they were in one until it came to a grinding halt. The law of natural forces was always in play. Did they think they could somehow escape that? Had these people of the olden days somehow forgotten? The higher we rose, the further we could fall and there did not seem to be any terminal velocity for humanity's plummet at that great height. I enjoy thinking that New Erebos encompasses all of our humanity's lessons that were given, though not necessarily learned. Luckily, she gives us plenty of opportunities to try and get it right.
Still, our industrious nature prevails, despite our elongated lifespan. It is a dangerous combination that we have only begun to grasp the true consequences of, long after the dust has settled. In individuals it means an intensity that I doubt our overall short history as animals here on earth got to see very often. The young and the resilient are raising their voices again, realizing they can move and mold the world. Will they make the same mistakes as their predecessors? Who will choose to boldly take the stage? Who has been waiting in the shadows, hidden even from my eyes?
Despite the uncertainty of so many variables, one rule remains the same, beaten or bred into every citizen: In New Erebos, trouble is the great equalizer.
-The Arbiter of New Erebos
Disclaimer: All non original characters belong to the copyright holders of MaiHime/Otome (Sunrise). All original characters are fictional.
Trigger Warning Note: The following story will deal with mature subjects and mature action. Among the serious tone the story will take, but not limited to, are scenes or allusions to are drugs, sex, human trafficking, violent acts, and suicide.
Author's Note #2 (Dec 2015): As I update the story for new chapters, I do realize how imposing the verbose language and length can be. I think a big tip for reading this story may be to take your time. Do not try to get through all of it in one sitting, especially in the beginning. The Prologue is for flavor but if it is hard for you to understand, then simply move onto later chapters and come back to it later. There are many parts of the story that can be re-read at a later date again because of plot twists that will occur later in the story. I thank you for your patience and the time you take to read this story. Hopefully I will see you at later chapters!
Author's Note: Welcome to my newest story. For those who have had to deal with my long absence and string of unfinished ShizNat works, I thank you for your continuing support. The status of the other stories are still to be determined (The Greatest Gift / Three Wishes or You), but they will likely be finished as I ease back into things. I hope you enjoy and continue to support writing and the fandom and I look forward to hearing from you.
Nimara