Celestial year 840 / Earth Year 2840
In Celestial Year 830, the sunlit gardens of the Celestial Palace were a sanctuary of white marble and blooming astral lilies.
Crown Princess Angelica remembered the warmth of the sun on her skin, the gentle chime of the wind and the sound of her own laughter.
She was in the prime of her youth twirling her elegant silver rapier as she playfully sparred with High Paladin Vance.
"Your footwork is flawless, Your Highness,"
Vance had grunted blocking a flurry of her strikes with his heavy kite shield.
"But Eris of the Primordial Empire will not yield so easily in the royal tournament."
"Let Eris try,"
Angelica had laughed, her silver hair catching the sunlight.
"And if Lady Seraphina complains that my swordplay is distracting from my magic studies again, you can tell her I’ll duel her for a passing grade."
She had turned, sheathing her rapier and walked over to the marble pavilion where her younger sister sat.
Princess Annabella was reading a heavy tome looking so small and fragile beneath the grand pillars of the palace.
Anna always looked tired like she was carrying a heavy burden that Angelica could never quite understand.
Angelica had plucked a glowing astral lily from the garden and gently tucked it behind Anna’s ear.
Anna looked up, forcing a small fragile smile.
"You study too much, Annabella,"
Angelica had scolded gently sitting beside her and wrapping an arm around her sister’s shoulders.
"You are the Shield of the Realm. But a shield shouldn’t have to take all the hits."
"Someone has to take them, sister. So that you don’t have to."
Anna had leaned her head against Angelica’s shoulder, her voice barely a whisper.
Angelica had frowned squeezing her sister tighter.
"I am the Crown Princess. I am the sword of our people. I promise you, Anna, as long as I draw breath, nothing in this universe will ever hurt you. I will always protect you."
CRACK.
The golden memory shattered into a thousand pieces replaced by the deafening shriek of tearing metal and the suffocating smell of burning air.
Angelica gasped, her eyes snapping open as red emergency lights strobed in the dark cramped interior of the escape pod.
Her pristine royal armor was cracked and a warm trail of blood trickled down her temple.
Beside her, High Paladin Vance was slumped over in his restraints.
Anna, Angelica thought, the name echoing in her mind like a dying bell.
The memories of the Celestial Royal Cruiser flooded back with agonizing clarity.
The Abyssal horde.
The corridors choked with necrotic flesh.
And Anna.
Angelica remembered running toward her sister Anna.
She remembered seeing Anna standing before a terrifying creature.
And she remembered the look on her little sister’s face.
It wasn’t the face of a terrified girl.
Instead was the face of a veteran making a calculated sacrifice.
Anna had turned to her.
Her hands were glowing with golden fire.
And instead asking for help, Anna had unleashed a concussive blast of divine mana striking Angelica.
Angelica fainted into the waiting arms of Sir Vance dragging her inside the escape pod.
"I’m sorry, Angelica,"
Anna had whispered, tears spilling over her cheeks as the blast doors sealed shut between them.
"I hope you are finally safe this time."
And then, the universe had turned white.
Angelica squeezed her eyes shut with a broken sob tearing its way out of her throat.
She thrashed against her harness, her fingers desperately clawing at the buckles.
"Anna..."
Angelica choked out, the tears mixing with the blood on her face.
"Anna, no... I promised. I promised I would protect you."
The crushing weight of her failure settled over her.
She was the Crown Princess.
She was supposed to be the sword that struck down their enemies.
But when the true dark had come, it was her little sister who had stayed behind in the dark.
Anna had stayed behind so that she could live.
Angelica’s hands fell away from the buckles.
She went entirely limp in the harness with grief draining every ounce of fight left in her soul.
She closed her eyes wishing for the dark to just take her.
Wishing she had burned with the ship exploding ship.
SCREECH.
The sound of thick Celestial grade metal groaning under immense pressure echoed through the pod.
Angelica slowly opened her tear filled eyes.
The heavy sealed hatch of the escape pod was buckling inward.
Someone or something was outside gripping the reinforced metal with unimaginable physical strength.
With a final CRUNCH, the heavy hatch was ripped off its hinges and tossed aside like a piece of scrap metal.
Then blinding luminescent violet light poured into the pod forcing Angelica to squint.
The humid sweet smelling air of the alien jungle rushed in, clearing the smoke.
Standing in the doorway was a giant.
He was entirely clad in battered metal armor.
It wasn’t the elegant rune carved plate of the Celestial Vanguard.
Instead was crude scarred and completely unfamiliar, radiating a terrifying aura of ancient endless war.
His face was hidden behind a opaque visor.
Angelica stared at the armored man with her mind too broken by grief to even reach for her discarded rapier.
If this was the monster sent to finish her, she welcomed it.
But the armored man didn’t raise a weapon.
He stood still with his heavy gauntlets resting at his sides.
The way his visor lingered on her.
It was not of malice, but of profound relief.
As Angelica looked past the armored giant, her breath caught in her throat.
Looming high above the canopy behind him, illuminating the alien sky, was a colossal glowing tree.
Its massive branches stretched into the heavens pulsing with a deep ethereal magic.
It was wilder and more violent than the one in her memories but the silhouette was undeniable.
It looked exactly like the divine Tree of Creation from the Celestial Palace gardens.
"Where... where am I?"
Angelica whispered, her voice trembling.
The armored man reached out, offering his blood stained gauntlet to her.
"You are alive,"
The Armoured man responded.
"That is all that matters right now."