Prologue

"Can you tell me the story again, mama?" the little girl's brown and round eyes are filled with awe as she stared at the warm look her mother gave her. She giggled when she saw a smile form into her mother's wrinkled face. Lucy knew it meant she won again, and her mother will be telling her the legend like she always did so she could not forget.

Lily tucked her daughter into her blanket, took a deep breath, and began to tell the legend, "Alright. You win. But promise me that you'll flush the toilet next time after you pee." Lily chuckled when she saw her shy daughter blush and nod while giving a nervous smile.

She cleared her throat and made her voice sound like she's telling a fairytale, "Long ago, there was a prophecy. It says the future will be cold and dark, where poverty will consume life, and justice will fade as time passes; the leading ancestors saw that in their dream. They had the same vision at the same night." Lucy fixed her slouched posture and rested her chin on both of her hands. Lily continued, "They say that it will be a time where man has achieved vast knowledge that surpasses all creatures in this world. But life will be unfair and unkind to the people." Lucy frowned at the thought, "why will it be like that in the future, mama?" Lily smiled and gave her a pat in the head, "Men are greedy creatures, aren't they? Life will eventually take its revenge." the young girl sighed and waited for her mother to continue, "Yet, at that time, the ancestors will rise again. They will choose someone who will lead this world. The ancestors' voices will guide the chosen one to make this world a better place." Lucy felt relief every time she heard the last part of the story. Suddenly, she felt her eyelids getting heavy and gave out a yawn. Well, it was past her bedtime. She hugged her mother tightly, feeling her warmth as she slowly gets sleepier, "thank you, mama, and good night." Lucy kissed her daughter's forehead and also gave her a tight embrace. Lucy was Lily's world, and Lily was Lucy's world. Love was the only thing that kept them warm in the bitter reality they're facing, for Lily's father left them with another woman. "I love you, Lucy," she muttered one last time before leaving her daughter's bedroom.

"I love you too, mama," Lily mumbled while scratching her eyes. But before her mother leaves, Lily called her, "Mama! The visitor beside you. Can he sleep in the guest room? He's bugging me all night last week." Her mother stopped and looked at Lily with mixed emotions, "I'm sorry? Lucy, my darling, what do you mean?" Lucy froze and stared at the visitor beside her mum. He was tall, thin, and had a playful grin. His eyes were full of mischief when he waved at the young girl.

She didn't know if she should point at him or not. She felt her mother's gaze harden and waited for her. Those pair of eyes were different from the warmth she felt earlier. "Lucy! Answer your mother!" fear consumed the child.

Her feet felt colder while she stares at her mother's eyes. Before Lucy knew it, her tears fell and soaked her pale cheeks, "Mo-mom... Why are you mad?" she wailed. But her cry didn't soften Lily's heart. Instead, she rushes to the child, pulled her hair, and dragged her outside. Lucy screamed as she could feel her scalp tear every time her mother's grip tightens.

"A demon. A witch. She consumed my daughter. How dare she," Her voice was raspy and deep in the child's ears, "M-mom! It... It hurts!" she tried to get a hold of her mother's firm grasp and attempted to pull away, but she only made it worse. Lily, her mother, pulled her hair to a point where Lucy couldn't touch the ground anymore. In that case, Lucy didn't know which hurt more, if it was her mother pulling her hair where it felt like tearing her head from her body, the cold snow biting her toes and fingers, or her mother's anger.

They both stopped in front of a rusty gate covered in snow, with a single streetlight as their only source of light. Lucy continued to struggle as her mother rattled the gate desperately, "Help! The witch. The demon! It consumed my daughter. Please! Anyone!"

The wind blew harder. Lucy only cried louder. Her mother released her, yet instead of feeling relief, her mother slapped her face making her cheeks and lips bleed. The child stopped crying. She felt weak and numb when she crashed into the cold ground.

Her vision became darker and darker. "Why, mom?" she whispered, looking at her mother's back as she faded from the darkness, leaving her only child at a foreign place.

Lucy didn't know if she was feeling pain or if she was freezing from it.

She closed her eyes as the gates opened. She felt a warm embrace and fell into a deep slumber.