Prologue

A small girl, only 10 years old, ran through her village, or rather, the burning rubble it was becoming; her pure white dress was somewhat burned at the edges, but the hooded cape that everyone in the village always wore remained untouched by the flames.

The clockwork creations the adults of the village had made were malfunctioning, their original purpose was to protect the people, but something went wrong, it was like another force had taken control of them, there were hounds of all kinds attacking, the fire had been started by the sparks of the Bishops and the Fire Hounds.

"Mother, Father... Where are you!" She called, but it was drowned out due to the roaring of monsters and screaming of people.

"Winfree, get over here!" She heard an elder call her, she ran over to him.

"W-where are my parents?!" Winfree was terrified, he put a hand on her shoulder, his expression that of great pain.

"Dear child, you must go to the temple, it is your last chance..." He said, Winfree didn't need to be told twice, she took off in a sprint, just barely out-running two Hounds and a Spider, their temple was just ahead.

She wasn't like the other kids, she didn't understand what the adults did and said in the rituals and ceremonies, but if she asked her parents, the response was always the same 'One day you will understand...' For some reason, she didn't want that day to come.

She finally entered the temple, no monsters had gotten to it yet, frightened, she called out once again, but nobody answered.

"Hello, friend, looking for your family?" A dark voice filled the room, Winfree shivered.

"Show yourself!" She snapped, wishing she had her spear, a tall man appeared in front of her, he was wearing a fancy suit and carried a tall glass of wine, in her mind, he looked like one of the funny-looking creatures that the adults talked about.

"Now, now... No need for hostility, after all, look." He pointed to a dimly lit corner, Winfree would recognize them even if they were not dirty with ash.

She slowly walked over to them, yes, they were her Mother and Father, her Father's hair always stuck up a bit, unless it was raining, which fit his happy (if not somewhat eccentric) personality; it had a short, white tuft in the front, many people had it, including herself, as she had a white streak in her ponytail.

She stared at her Mother, she would always find her Mother to be beautiful, she was one of the very few who did not have the bit of white hair, and had a bit of a temper, but always looked so sweet, her long hair was separated into two ponytails that lay flat over her shoulders.

Her parents had fallen asleep holding hands.

"F-father... Wake up... Please, we have to get out of here... Mother...?" It didn't matter if she tugged at their clothes, or begged, or even cried, they didn't wake up.

"I can bring you to them... If you'd like." He spoke calmly, knelt down to her level and put a hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"You c-can? How? Who... Are you?" She sniffed, now with tears down her face.

"My name is Mistro... The King of the realm." He laughed darkly, Winfree tried to back away, but he wouldn't let her.

A white-hot pain roared through her, she screamed as she felt her mind go blank and her limbs go numb, she could feel the world around her start to disappear.

Where the young girl once stood, a single white gem slowly floated to the ground.