Chapter 1 - The New Era

Where does the justice lay 

When priests lose their way 

Where does the truth stay 

When one's heart is covered in decay 

Where does the faith stray 

When people do not pray 

May those who search thy name 

Pay in blood for what they crave 

          -Page 5, Chapter 2. Poem of the condemned by George J. Northtooth. 

….

[A THOUSAND YEARS LATER]

Under the sunlight of a metropolitan city, there was a young woman who walked down the stairs of her house and went to the street cheerfully. Her humming was pleasant to the ears of the passerby around her. Melodies were dancing at the tip of her tongue while her eyes glimmered in excitement for the day to come. 

In contrast to the gloomy atmosphere she had come across on the subways, the young girl's brightness was a sight to behold. Some people could take her mood as an example that things may not be so bad. But those who held the feeling of despair and frustration within them wouldn't be so easy to convince after all. 

She bought her ticket and moved on, treading the crowd of hurried people as she tried to slip into any small gaps between them. In her vision, the train was coming into view. Just a little push more and she could step into it and went to her destination. 

"Ouch.. Sorry!" 

A shoulder bumped on her and made her stumble within this sea of people. Though she already had a hard time moving around, the unexpected inconvenience caused her to be more uncomfortable, while she mustered up a quick apology to whoever had collided with her. 

However, it would take more than this to shake her mood and bring her down. With determined eyes, she gathered up her strength and pushed through. Bit by bit, her destination was within sight. Just a little more, she can reach it! 

May it fate or divine intervention, another unexpected jolt from her back had given her the necessary push into the train. Right about time before the train closed its door automatically and was about to move to its prepared course. 

The young girl tried to search for any empty seat the moment her step was inside the train. Packed with countless people around her, the place reminds yet of a tin can of sardine. No space to walk around, along with no seats that were available for her journey. 

She sighed heavily while her hand took hold of the thin handles near her. Her eyes stared at the glass on the door as the commuter train started to activate and shook the passengers lightly. Meanwhile, a soft song from the train's company was playing in the background, with the commercial that followed it. 

"[We are thankful to be in service to all of you, our lovely passengers. Please take a seat and have an enjoyable ride with your friends and family. Cheetah Express offers you our best assurance to reach your destination as soon as possible.]" 

The cold voice of artificial intelligence sounded from the speaker. Repeating the official line of the train whenever it had started. Although it was designed to have a warm tone every time it spoke, no one ever felt anything to the voice and ignored its existence completely. 

On the outside of the train, the young girl could see a blimp outside as it flew on the horizon. There was a gigantic monitor on its side, enough to cover two-third of it. Big words were displayed on the huge LCD, the same sentences she had seen over and over on her entire life. It was the same to the others as well. 

Right at that moment, the train's speaker recited the same words which were exactly the same with the one she had seen on the blimp. This was the mandatory announcements from the media by the government. Something that people had known for long and could recall the words even in their sleep. 

"[With authority, comes responsibility. With a great leadership, comes a great nation. Federation of Crestia, the best country which values freedom and justice will protect its citizens with all of its strength.]"

Yes, it was the slogan of this country called The Federation of Crestia, or the Federation in short. There were many countries on this planet, but the Federation had enough firepower and military might to take over one of the five superpower nation seats in the world. Though, if one had to think about it, the majority of the nation's success came from its advantage in population. As the nation with the biggest population in the world, the Federation had the advantage which the rest of the countries didn't have. 

"What bull crap. Value freedom my ass. The government only takes care of those so-called espers." 

Behind her, a middle aged man complained under his breath. His eyes were rolling in sarcasm to the official line from the speaker as he spoke of his sentiment to the statement. 

'Esper…' 

The title for those who had passed the boundaries of humanity and bringer of powers. They were the minority from the masses that were granted a genetic mutation since they were born. Most of them had discovered their power in their childhood, but there were some with the symptom to show the late signs of superpowers later on. 

This was the age where one's might could affect one's future. When the imagination of fiction had come into reality and shaped the civilization. Where the nation relied on each individual strength of the special ones and gave them a reward that the rest could only drool over. 

But none of this mattered to the young girl. She was just an average girl who was on her way to her school in her ordinary days. Though in this era filled with dreams and hope, along with the despair of those who had their expectations shattered, the girl learned one thing in life. Do not have high hopes, for the hopes you have might not even be there. 

Her name is Elizabeth Bluesworth. And this is her story.