Mahou Sensou:Volume 1 Prologue

Prologue

"Nii-san!"

Aiba Mui called out as she descended the stairs leading to a dimly lit subway platform.

Though none of the lights in the area were lit, her surroundings were nonetheless covered in a hazy glow.

This light emanated from several small spheres floating around her like balls of flame.

Radiating a soft, yellowish light, the three spheres dipped and bobbed as they followed her every movement.

Responding to her call, the young man turned his head to gaze back at her. He, like she, was similarly shadowed by three spheres of light.

These, however, glowed eerily with a pale white light.

He coldly turned to face her, clothed not in the uniform she was accustomed to seeing, but rather in a white shirt and jeans.

His lips never broke their silence.

"Nii-san, I've been looking for you for so long. Please, come home with me!"

As Mui neared the youth, reaching for his arm, a sharp pain flashed across her cheek.

Before she knew what had happened, she found herself on the ground.

"...Nii-, Nii-san..."

Although she'd already realized that she'd been struck, she raised her head and continued to plead with him.

The youth's only reaction to the scene before him was a wintry smile.

The contemptuous look in his frigid eyes filled Mui with fear.

"...Nii-san?"

Mui, however, looked up tentatively with hope.

Unfortunately, the sneer filling her brother's face, an expression she'd never before seen him wear, quickly replaced any such feelings with despair.

His mocking smile suddenly twisted into an angry snarl.

His first words.

"What're you crying for?"

She hadn't noticed the tears.

"Please remember, Nii-san! Remember Mom, and Dad, and me! I refuse to believe you've just forgotten everything!"

Teardrops traced the angry red lines her brother had left on her cheek.

Seeing Mui in this state, the youth's irritation turned impetuous.

With hate-filled eyes he drew his saber from its leather scabbard at his waist, and pressed its point between her eyes.

"Are you going to kill me?" Mui asked, her eyes still moist with tears.

"I won't kill you. Your abilities, after all, are needed by we <Trailers>. Don't misunderstand, though; I could kill you without the slightest hesitation. And you call someone like that your brother?"

Mui nodded.

"Yes, I'll never give up. I'll do whatever it takes to return you to normal."

At any moment, the saber's tip might pierce on through.

However, she'd sooner die here to his blade than abandon him.

"Nii-san, I beg you! Come back with me!"

Mui's desperate cries were covered up by an earsplitting thunder, the sound coming from the depths of the tunnel behind the young man.

It couldn't possibly have been a train, however.

The station the two found themselves in was abandoned like some desolate subterranean temple, and power had long since been cut.

There simply wasn't any way a train would have made its way here.

Though Mui continued to watch her brother, he had since turned to face the tunnel behind him.

As the sound neared them, it became apparent that it was the roar of engines they heard. He sheathed his blade.

Mui rose to her feet.

The young man suddenly thrust his hand out, seeking her arm, but Mui had already stepped back.

-- It's been so long and so hard finding Nii-san...

She couldn't afford to lose him again.

A motorcycle emerged from the tunnel's lip.

Mui knew her brother was about to be taken once more, but her body refused to move.

Because she understood that her brother aimed to deliver her to them.

If that happened, it'd be all over.

If both of them fell into the hands of the enemy, then any hope of saving her brother would vanish.

That was something she couldn't allow to happen.

-- If there's just one of them...

Seated atop the motorcycle was a lone rider.

As Mui calculated her chances, yet another motorcycle silently appeared from the other side. She'd been caught in an ambush.

Once more, she called out for her brother.

"Nii-san!"

She wished her brother would follow her.

She wanted with all her heart to reach out her arm, take her brother's hand, and escape this place.

The sinister smile on his face, making bare his malicious intent, dashed any such hopes to bits.

The two other riders, one in front, and one behind, approached, stepping onto the platform.

Mui's gaze never left her brother.

"Please, please come with me!"

The identities of the two men striding toward her were obscured by the helmets they wore.

Mui's heart was wracked with sorrow at having to part from her brother once more. Nonetheless, she turned and began to race toward the stairs.

A gale struck her from behind.

"Aaah!"

She fell, the sound of footsteps increasing in urgency as she struggled to rise.

She knew what they had done.

Though her palms and knees screamed with pain, she forced herself to her feet and into a run.

Racing up the stairs two at a time, she bit her lip in frustration.

Struggling to hold back her tears, they heedlessly filled her eyes.

She passed through the empty ticket collection counters, and into the seemingly endless dark of the walkway.

Charging up the stairs back to ground level without slowing, she caught sight of the sky, covered in a dusky light.

Though dimly lit, the light was nonetheless piercing to her dark-adjusted eyes, and she squinted in reaction.

Drawing her weapon from its holster, she turned around and pulled the trigger.

A yellow light flashed down the stairwell. Without taking the time to confirm the result, she continued to rush up the stairs before her.

Leaving the voices of the shouting men behind her, Mui wiped her tears and raced across the empty street.

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