PROLOGUE

"Again." Staff hitting against the back of her legs, Sumiko, let out a small cry. Frustrated, beaten and tired. She'd been training for hours already. Beads of sweat dripping off her forehead and colliding with the polished floor beneath. No doubt something she'd be forced to clean after the lesson by none other than her father, Rokuro. A stern man at the best of times and one that towered over her constantly. As the leader and guardian of their cause he left a pretty big shadow. Always lurking in the background. The Kotomine clan had dwelled in Seven, Fiore's neighbouring country, for decades. Their goals and motivations had changed over the many years from seeking enlightenment, keeping the peace and now creating balance in an era of magic. While Mages made up no more than 10% of the population their powers were things that should have belonged to the gods. No mortal, man or woman, should be able to have the impact that they did. It was wrong and a threat to the natural order. Anyone not able to conjure it was in danger and that's why the Kotomine family existed. To protect those who could not protect themselves from the evils of magic and the mages that used them. Shunned and cut off from the rest of the world. It was a small price to pay for salvation; they were heroes after all! Doing what no one else was willing to do. Spreading a painful truth.

Amber eyes so red that the autumn leaves envied them stared up at her father. A tall, well dressed man, with dark hair and darker eyes. He'd managed to knock her to the floor, again. They had started keeping a tally but it had lost its charm after the fifth time or was it the sixth? Either way she was losing. Though that was hardly surprising. Sumiko had only recently started her training as a warrior of the Kotomine clan, publicly. Before now she had spent her time watching others and (poorly) attempting to imitate them. When she had been caught her first assumption was that she was going to be punished. Hana, the family's nanny, had always told her not to fight. It wasn't how a woman of the Kotomine family should act but in a way perhaps this was a punishment. Forced out of bed before the sun had even reared its head and knocked down again and again. A cruel cycle that she was being forced to to the cliche she had never failed to pull herself back up but it had become irksome and the floor felt so nice and cold. Brown braid slick with sweat till it clung to her. If anyone else had seen her like this there might have been quite the stir. Whispers evolving into rumors. Not many 11 year olds held such sway nor would care to. Leading a life far simpler than one she could ever hope to.

"Do I have to?" A rhetorical question even as it left her lips. Playful to an unamused audience.

"Repetition is a fools game, Sumiko." And oh how he loved to repeat it. The scolding did little to truly motivate her beyond a few annoyed crumbles muttered beneath her broken breath. Desperately trying to regain itself. Should this continue perhaps she was a fool. Running into a brick wall so many times that she had forgotten she had ever done it. With a drawn out sigh and a little help from her staff she pulled herself from the tatami, barely shining within the rising sun. An action that had taken her far longer than it should have. Rokuro certainly wasted no time to remind his daughter of this.

"You lack conviction. Is this all that I can expect of you?" His words were harsh but his voice never was. Locked in an ever calm state like the impartial guardian he claimed to be even as he held onto the bamboo. Barely putting in enough effort for the whole exercise to be worth it. Just another wasted morning.

"Can't we take a break?"

"A break? Do you think a mage is going to give you a break!?" Slicing through the air without a moment's notice Rokuro's staff swung towards Sumiko. The force caused the air to pop and the student to raise her staff in kind. Shabbily blocking off the blow with arms that shook beneath the pressure, gripped so tightly her knuckles turned white. Attempting and failing to push him back with each breath. The only defiant act left to her was a glare. One laced with venom but no true hatred. Deep down she knew this was for her own good. Begging to be taught had made the grass seem so much greener on the other side but she wasn't just doing this for herself.

"No because I'm a Kotomine."

"Then act like it, Sumiko. No one is ever going to fear such a weakness. Only the strong." The weak would undoubtedly fall. Doomed from the very beginning to be someone else's stepping stone. Their clan, their family, existed to act as a barrier. A barrier that could never be broken but before that could happen Sumiko would be forced to taste defeat yet again. Foot hooked behind her much smaller ankle the ground was swept away from her. Meeting the tatami with a cruel thump, biting into bruises from her earlier battles. It was enough to draw out the smallest cry of pain. One that was quickly silenced by the base of a staff pressing against the back of her head. Getting up this time wasn't going to be as easy. Not without first learning her lesson.

"It is because we are strong that we can protect people. Find your reason to fight, daughter. Perhaps then you'll be able to land a single blow." A final, blunt, statement. Filled with intent and too many strings to be untangled in a single morning. Dropping his staff on the ground below, Rokuro turned and left the dojo. Sliding the door behind him as he left. It seemed a little too simple. Silence flooded the room as the humiliated girl rolled around onto her back. Chest rising and falling with a depth that cried out for the air around them. Begged for it. She could never tell if he had cut their lesson short or not. No doubt another one of his tricks. Stripping the room of any hint that time had passed them by until the only thing she had to concentrate on was him. Real or not the danger he presented had to be faced. Had to be stared down but it was never that easy. There were too many facets to his design. Rokuro had not been the eldest son when he was chosen to be the next head. According to Hana it had caused quite the controversy at the time but that just showed how strong he was. Why he was the one who was worthy of leading their clan to greatness.

Reaching a lone hand out towards the cracks in the ceiling beads of light bleed through. Always reaching out towards the impossible. Perhaps, in time, she would be able to capture the light in her hands. Hold onto it so tightly it wouldn't ever be able to slip away but her dream was too far away. After all, nothing was truly in her control.

"What are you doing mopping around for?" Wrenched from the fiction she had been weaving amber eyes drifted towards the source of the voice. Her uncle, Daichi. His dark brown hair was littered with streaks of silver he had never cared to hide in the unruly, poorly managed, mess. It was far less neat then her fathers but everything about her uncle was different. The relaxed manner in which he carried himself was unlike anyone else she had encountered. Almost as if he didn't want to be here. Trapped in a sea of warriors out to save the world. Peeling herself away from the floor bare feet launched themselves across it. It was no wonder she didn't fall over. Slipping over her own sweat but never losing her balance enough to fall.

"Uncle!" Laughter broke free from her exhaustion. Drawing out the moment behind her until it seemed much farther away. Like a bad memory leaving a taste in her mouth. Salt and blood. An odd combination for someone so young yet it had become so ordinary. Especially as she threw her arms around the older man. Burying herself in his oversized kimono jacket. The fact that Sumiko had been training with her father was no secret but this? This exchange had turned into her pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

"Pah! You stink! Has that ototo-san of mine been giving you trouble?"

"Nothing that I couldn't handle!"

"Oh? Is that right then you won't mind if I just…" Wiggling his fingers around in a dramatic enough fashion that they could be considered menacing, Sumiko, slowly began to back up. Arms held out in front of her like she was ready for a fight.

"Don't." Threat aside Daichi did his best to appear intimidated though it couldn't have been further from the truth. Backing away from his small niece in a feigned defeat. He knew that she needed to win something even if it was something so childish as this. Though he had no true intention of going easy on her. Sumiko would have a long road ahead of her. One littered with people who would do everything in their power to make sure she wouldn't succeed. Too many wished for her older brother, Hajime, to succeed. Despite his poor health he was the oldest and male. Two factors that the more traditional members of the clan had deemed a necessity.

"Alright, alright but make sure you get a bath before Hana finds you like this. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side."

"Okay but don't forget you promised you'd have lunch with me today."

"How could I forget about that? Now go on. I'll clean this place up while you're gone." Shooing her away and out of the dojo, Daichi, was quick to close the door behind her. If he dragged out too long they both knew they'd get nothing done for the rest of the day. That and Hana would be chasing him around the complex with one of her slippers before either one of them could explain. She'd always been like a mother to Sumiko. More so than her actual mother but it had become so normal that no one questioned it. In fact it was strange to see the young girl without her faithful nanny. Always making sure the bumps and bruises got treated before they could even surface.

"Harsh as ever ototo-san." Sigh slipping from lips long lost to his beard the mood that radiated from him drastically changed. Mirroring something much sadder but if you dig a little deeper you'd discover the anger. Simmering away as he picked up the nearest bucket and got to work.