<<The Prologue>>

   " Wait! Who are you? " The girl asked as she chased after a figure that was running in front of her. The figure was supposed to be a man from his height. " Hey, I'm talking to you! Who are you??! " She shouted. However, the man paid no attention to her. He continued running and running. The girl at last gave up and fell onto the ground, breathing heavily. " Oh, darn! Now where am I? " She asked herself after looking around. She saw nothing but dead trees and damp ground. The moon shone brightly above her.

   " Princess . . . "

   " Huh? " the girl turned around and saw nothing. ' Was it just my imagination? ' She asked herself. As she was about to stand up, she heard the voice again. It was a voice of a man.

   " Princess . . . "

   " Who's that? " she asked. Fear started to emerge deep within her heart.

   " Wake up, Princess. Wake up from your sweet, sweet dream. It's time for you to get everything back . . . "

   " Princess? You're talking to me? "

   " Yes . . . "

   " Wait a second. It's right that I'm a princess but I lost nothing. What do you mean by the word 'to get everything back'? "

   " Your heart . . . Your soul . . . Your power . . . Your everything . . ."

   " Wh… " Before she could say anything, a very bright light interrupted her. " Wake up, Princess. Wake up . . . " " Wait! Urgh, the light . . . I can't see! "

<<Chapter 1: The Lost Soul of Mirage Kingdom>>

   " Weee!! I did it again! Wow! " Addea jumped up and down as she defeated her senior, Leith Humphrey in a sword-fighting match. Terra Addea Heartily is a form two student of St. Adrian School. She is a very active and cheerful girl. Actually, she is just thirteen but she skipped the fourth grade after she passed her Class-Skip Examination. She is a not-too-tall and a not-too-small girl. Although she is still young, but she is the strongest person in her school. Or . . . Maybe, she's the strongest in her hometown.

   Before she came to the school, Leith Humphrey, a form four student, used to be the school champion. No one ever defeated him in sport, karate, archery and sword-fighting match. Well, that was until Addea arrived. She defeated Leith in archery on the first day she was transferred to the school. No one can blame her for her special ability, though. Addea is a princess. Her father is the ruler of the country where she is staying. No wonder why she looked active. 

   However, she has something inside herself that made her different from the other princesses. What is it, then? " Well, well, well. I give up, princess. You win again, " Leith took his sword back and stood up. Addea quickly pointed the edge of the sword she was holding towards Leith. " One more word related to the word 'princess' and you're DEAD! " She scolded playfully. That's it. She hated to be called 'Princess'. She wanted people to call her Addea. Yes, just Addea.

   " Oh, okay! Okay! Well then, Addea . . . " Leith sweatdropped and scratched his head sheepishly. ' She's kinda scary when I mention her as princess ' he thought. " Whatever, you're strong and skilful, " he began. "Eh? " " I just can't bring myself to defeat you even I've tried the best of my ability to do so. I've never met a very skilful person like you before. " He continued and gave her a mild and sincere smile.

   'Gulp!' Addea tried to swallow the lump in her throat. ' Oh, no! He smiles like that again! ' She immediately turned around so that Leith wouldn't notice that she was blushing. Well, she always blushes whenever Leith smiles. " Uh . . . Er . . . Well . . . I'm not that good, senior. It's just that you made a very little mistake that gave me a way to cut you off~ Eheheheh! " She laughed a little without turning to look at him.

   " Senior Humphrey, Mr. Ashley wants to see you! " suddenly, a voice of a boy from the front door interrupted their conversation. " Tell him I'll be there in a second, " he said to the boy and turned back to Addea. " Okay, I gotta go now. Maybe I can challenge you again next time. What do you say? " He asked. This time, she turned to look at him. " Anytime! " She answered cheerfully. " Okay then, see ya! " he winked and ran out of the room. " See ya . . . "

   So, Addea was left alone in the practice room. 'C'mon Addea. You're too young to fall in love with that guy ' she slapped her cheek softly and went out of the room. She walked all the way along the corridor alone. Addea is always alone for she has no friends. She did not know why everyone seemed to ignore her. Only Leith dared to talk to her. Maybe, that's one of the few things that made her had a little liking on him. She stopped and looked around. The girls were walking and laughing together in groups. Yet, she was there, alone by herself . . .

   ' What did I do to deserve this? Is it just because I'm a princess?' her mind asked. The wind started to blow a bit violent. Her mind seemed to be drifting away to a land beyond. Again, she remembered her weird dream the last night. ' What did it want to tell me? Who's the guy I was chasing? To whom did the strange voice belong? ' Yet, the questions remained.

   She dreamed of herself running after an unknown guy in the dark where the moon shone brightly above her on a foggy night. Then, she heard a voice of a man, telling her to wake up from her sweet, sweet dream to get everything back. " Was it only a dream? Or, was it a sign of something? " 

   " You still don't know what's going on? " said a voice from behind. It was the same voice of the man in her dream.

   " Who?! " She turned around but saw no one. Her heart started to beat faster. 

   The wind suddenly blew very violently and Addea tried to steady herself." Wh. . . What's happening?" She could hear the students screaming fearfully of the sudden tempest. 

   " Wake up, princess! It's time for you to get everything back. It's time to get your lost soul! " The man's voice echoed. " My lost soul? What do you mean?! " Addea was confused. " Go to your kingdom and find out what is true, " said the man. " My Kingdom? What kingdom? This is already my kingdom! " She yelled while holding a tree beside her to prevent herself from blowing away. 

   " Go to your kingdom, princess. Everyone is waiting for you to come back. Go to the Mirage Kingdom and find your lost soul. Find everything! " " Mir . . . Mirage Kingdom?!! "

--- To be continued ---
Next - Chapter 2>> The Dream and The Truth