Smoke, painfully nestled itself in the air. Everything was rayless, dark and cold. The only thing that would ever remind you of the world that used to exist was the snow, crunchy and soft, that rested upon the ground beneath your small, bare feet. Flashes of yesterday pulsed through your mind, bombs, fire and screams of help had spread so far, that the hold country could hear. The only light was the fire that came off the large buildings, mercilessly falling onto the cracked roads. However, there was no longer any country. There was no longer any home sweet home. There was no more happy family.

The smoke attacked your lungs, choking you with no hesitation, taking you to the afterlife like how it had done to every person you loved and called dear. Nearly, every person you loved dearly. There was still a small, helpless shimmer of hope that desperately fought it's way through. That glimmer of hope, was your big brother, who lived in a country that was ruled by the one who had done this to you. That monster.

However, your cloudy sight snapped into pitch black darkness. Your heart skipped a beat in panic, and as your eyes snapped open once again, no longer did you see the definition of discord.

Instead, your [E/C] orbs met with the dark brown ceiling of what was now your home. Your last resort from all the pain in the past. The sound of children laughing, adults conversing and birds singing flooded into your ears. The smell of warm, vegetable soup attracted your nose, causing your entire head to turn over to the side.

Your eyes softened at the sight before you, seeing your older brother sat by your bedside. He had fairly pale skin with a slight tan to it, cloudy grey eyes like a stormy night and snowy white hair that stopped right above his shoulders at a clean cut. He wore a vibrant orange tunic with black embroidery mixing in beautifully. Thick black cloth tied around this tunic, hugging his abdominal muscles tightly, as black shorts peeked through the bottom of his tunic. He wore light wooden sandals that tapped pleasingly against the hardwood floor at a slow yet steady tempo. In his hands was a plainly white, porcelain bowl full of his enticing vegetable soup. Anybody could easily detect that you both looked nothing alike and that was due to the fact he was adopted, but you loved him the same.

"Here's breakfast," He began, greeting you this morning with he same soft smile as he always did. "You were having that nightmare again. I made something easy and calming to eat so you can calm down a bit." He says, softly placing the porcelain bowl onto the dark, wooden bedside table that rested next to your bed.

"Thank you, Kai. It smells delicious.." You respond gratefully, picking up the cheap and thin metal soup that relaxed itself in the soup. You raise a spoonful of Kai's infamous soup to your lips, being greeted with the usual warm and delicious family recipe that Kai had memorised and practised for so long.

"No problem, it's my pleasure. I'll be downstairs in the workshop, I have to add some finishing touches to my submission to the competition." Kai says nervously, sighing. He looks up to the ceiling, staring off into space. "I poured my heart and soul into it, so I hope the emperor chooses me as the victor." Kai mumbles dreamily before resting his hands upon his upper knee and standing up. "Wish me luck!" He exclaims hopefully before hurrying his way out your bedroom, his loud thumping footsteps still being heard as he rushed down the thin stairway of the cheap, rickety and old house you both owned.

You stared at the soup, remembering the competition Kai had entered. It was a special competition held by the Emperor himself to find a suitable new tailor. Tens of thousands of people had entered, yet only the best of the best would be picked out by fashion experts and given to the Emperor for the final picking. Then, the winning tailor who created the outfit for the emperor would be with no doubt, showered with riches of all kinds and would be granted prosperity and fame for the rest of their lives. Sadly however, women were not allowed to join. They were seen as dolls who could only model fashion but could never really know how to properly make a fine outfit from scratch.

You sigh, upset with the gender-biased society that you lived in. Women had close to no say in anything until a group of 'rebellious' women stood up for equal rights, only to be crushed down again and again by men. You take in another spoonful of vegetable soup, dreaming of how your life would be if Kai managed to win. Besides, even if he was not a very well known tailor, his hands had skills beyond comprehension.

Kai knew how to sew, embroider, plan, merge and do every sort of thing you could ever do in the world of fashion. He knew about every technique, every fabric and every element that went into making the ending outfit, the final showpiece. However, the one area where he barely came second in, was embroidering.

You had many skills as well, however were not allowed to show them off and get admiration for them due to being a woman. Despite this, you absolutely admired embroidering. You used the most ancient and difficult technique in the history of Intuuin, able to make the threads come together to form the sweetest melody, most pleasing to the eye.

This skill grew from the pain of your past and was something you would always treasure. Back in the countryside of the fallen country of Geniroa, your mother had taught you how to use these embroidering techniques to the best of your ability before the disaster had occurred. You shake your head, desperate to banish the melancholy memories from your mind. The melancholy memories that would always stick with you for the rest of your life.

Being a sick, frail and bedridden child gave you the underhand of being delicate and barely having enough strength to push the lightest of things. However, as you sat bedridden in the days of your childhood, dreaming of playing outside with the other children, you focused yourself instead on embroidery. You were determined to become the best of the best after all.

You mindlessly eat the vegetable soup as you scroll through your mind, thinking of the irresistible sadness of your childhood. You smile solemnly to yourself, shaking your head once again. "No, today is not a day to be sad. Today is a day to be hopeful." You remind yourself, finishing the last of the vegetable soup.

You threw your legs off the side of your creaky and uncomfortable hay bed, slipping on your white slippers with faded pink detail and frayed edges due to old age. You had no money to spend on flashy and expensive clothing, so you wore a simple dark blue dress all the time. It hugged your figure in all the right places, becoming looser at the sleeves and at the end, with a plunging collar. There was orange embroidery carefully detailed, by you your very self on it. You head over to the large white door with it's paint peeling off like a frozen battlefield and gently grab the old wooden door knob, twisting it to the right and opening to the door gently, being careful not to damage it in any way. Besides, doing so would take a painful bite out of you and Kai's funds.

Your figure slowly made it's way down the narrow corridor that consisted of another door, Kai's bedroom, and an opening that lead to the stairs. Making your way down the stairs, you enter the small and cramped kitchen, with three medium sized windows that had red, translucent curtains barely keeping out the daybreak.

You place the bowl and spoon into the rusting white sink with a small 'clunk' before heading over to Kai's workshop. If you couldn't become an independent tailor/designer, you could at least assist Kai when he needed it. Besides, he did manage to pay the rent and provide the basic human necessities for not only him, but for you as well.

Turning to your left and leaving the kitchen themed of black and white, you see Kai's orange door, paint just starting to chip away. You knock timidly, not wanting to surprise him and therefore cause him to make a mistake in the masterpiece he was working on. "Come in, [Name], come in." He calls from inside, allowing you to enter. You open the door and step into the medium sized room before closing the door once again behind you.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" You ask him, smiling slightly at the beautiful yet fairly messy workshop. The walls had light blue wallpaper with beautiful white flowers blooming on it. There were three large, dark wooden desks, each filled with either material, paper with plans of future outfits, books on the art of tailoring or needles, thread, buttons, brooches and all sorts of small items. In the middle of the room was a black stand, only about a foot off the ground. On the stand was a dark black mannequin, orange and white flowers painted on it sometime long ago.

Upon the mannequin's figure was a long red tunic. On the tunic was beautiful golden embroidery of coins to symbolise wealth, long legged birds to symbolise longevity in life and white flowers symbolising purity and innocence, much the opposite of the emperor you so despised. However, this opportunity had the chance to change your life, so whoever the opportunity came from, you and Kai would take it. There was a black collar with the words 'fortune' sewn into it in cursive, adding a special touch to the outfit. There was also black cuffs on the end of the long sleeves, trailing slightly further down than how long the emperor's arm could be. A translucent black fabric wrapped around the waist and abdominal region, a thick golden string holding it in place. The shoes at the mannequin's feet were dark black with red flowers beginning to bloom on it. However, there was no headpiece as Kai most likely expected the emperor to own a much more fine headpiece, decorated with the finest jewels.

Kai looks over to you, his stormy grey orbs gazing towards you. "Little sister, there is nothing I need at the moment. However, there is a very big favour I ask of you." He begins, dropping all he was holding and facing his entire figure to you in a serious manner.

"What is it, big brother? I'd be happy to help you." You respond, awaiting what his orders were for you.

"[Name].. I want you to take the outfit to the emperor's palace. As you know, I had poured my heart and soul into this, as well as a lot of time. Unfortunately, I now have barely any time to waste. I have multiple orders to finish and completed orders I need to drop off whilst you are gone." Kai states, looking at you hopefully.

"But, brother.." You say, eyes widening. You had never been asked to go to such a grand and wealthy part of town, this was a new exciting adventure and unfortunately a scary one as well.

"But nothing. I beg of you, little sister. I will carefully pack the outfit into our largest and most expensive looking case. Not to mention, I have summoned a fairly cheap carriage to take you to the palace. I just.. I want to make sure our creation can make it there in time." Kai says, smiling solemnly at you.

You smile determined at him with shining resilience. "Kai, I will not let you down. I will make sure to be respectful." You assure him whilst making a mental note to be respectful and to stay out the way of anybody who looked important and of a higher status than you. You dusted some imaginary dust off your dress, while contemplating whether or not you should find a dress more suitable for such a momentous occasion. That is, if you even had one. Your closet was as barren as the Sahara desert, the only things inside being an apron, an outgrown pink dress from your childhood and two pairs of worn out shoes, broken at the ends and looking as though they would collapse at the slightest touch.

As though he had read your mind, Kai walked over to you with a snowy, white faux fur scarf which appeared to be incredibly thick. A small smile graces his thin lips as he securely places the fur scarf around your shoulders and pushing either end between your arms, causing the scarf to drape off your shoulders in a more fashionable sense of style. "I hope.. that this slight touch will make them give you a little more respect. It's not of the highest quality and it is just a mere spare... however, I hope you treasure it as a gift from me." Kai mutters to you in a greatly relaxed tone.

"Kai, I can not do such a thing. You need all the materials you can get and you have already given me so much. I am very indebted to you, I owe you my life. I can not accept this gift. I will return it once I return and that is that." You respond quickly, eyes widening slightly at the expensive fur that caressed at your skin. "I do not care if it is just a spare, you need it." You argue in an attempt to convince Kai to keep the scarf, as it could go to a much better cause, in terms of money and finance of course.

Kai shakes his head and laughs slightly at your rejection of his gift. "No, keep it my dearest little sister. If you don't, I will feel very melancholy. Do you want me to be solemn and isolated?" Kai pouts, playing the guilt card. He new you were quite gullible and easy to persuade, especially when interrogated with feelings of guilt and sadness.

You become flustered, cheeks red in nervousness as you cling onto the fur scarf, your fingers intertwining with the long strands. "Fine then brother, if you insist. I don't wish to see you melancholy and depressed.. gosh, why do you guilt trip me in this way?" You question, your eyes squeezing closed with uncertainty due to your decision.

He lets out a loud and hearty laugh, "Do not fuss. You are just too easy to persuade. Now, go and fetch anything you want to bring with you to the palace, not too much though, as the case with the outfit in it will already be fairly heavy for your frail body." He states, petting the fur and enjoying it's soft texture. He brushes it the correct way, trying his best to neaten it up the best he could before taking a step back and gazing at you. "Ah, how you've grown.." Kai mumbles under his breath before you make haste and zip around instantly, hurrying up the stairs and into your bedroom to take the belongings you wished to bring with you on the fairly long journey to the palace, an estimation of about fourteen hours long.

Once inside your bedroom, you scanned the room for your old, black satchel. Your eyes stop and fixate on the black satchel, seeming to blend in with the black bedside table it rested on upon first glance. You hastefully swipe the satchel up into your clutch and open it up, looking inside. There was a small, torn and crumpled up piece of paper at the bottom of the satchel, with a reminder messily scribbled onto it from a much too long ago. You grab the piece of paper and toss it mindlessly onto your unmade bed from the early afternoon before digging your hand into the bottom of the satchel to collect a few coins of spare change, not even enough to buy a slice of bread when combined. You put the coins back into the satchel before looking at the other miscellaneous inside the satchel. There was a small box, with a pin cushion impaled with needles. There were also multiple different types and colours of threads in the box, along with buttons and spare fabrics. Next to the box in the satchel was a plain white fabric scratched tightly in a wooden hoop, seemingly begging to be embroidered and made into something beautiful, colourful and new.

"[Name]! The carriage has arrived, hurry up!" Kai calls for you from downstairs, his voice reverberating in your mind with alertness, reminding you again and again to hurry up. You quickly button your black satchel closed before running downstairs, the floorboards of the old wooden house creaking underneath your fast and swift movements. As you enter the cramped downstairs area where the large front door was, you saw Kai standing by the door, holding the case in both of his arms. He looks up at you nervously, his this lips pursed into a straight line.

"My dear little sister.. please, take up most care of not only this outfit but yourself as well during the three day journey. You need to be at the palace by eleven in the morning tomorrow, alright? Don't forget to hire another carriage to drive you home as well! Make sure you save enough money to actually pay for a carriage at that too. Gosh, this is much too nerve wracking for my own good. It is just that.. this outfit gives us the opportunity to change or lives completely. It is a chance for a life of leisure and ease, we will not have to suffer any longer. We can do the things we like, whenever we please and nothing could stop us." Kai says, before clearing his throat.

He sends you a serious, straight glare that boarded into your figure. "I know how how much I tell you this outfit is a great opportunity and chance but if something were to happen in the Yunoaiu district of the kingdom, I want you to prioritise yourself over this outfit. You are the number one priority. This outfit is second. Remember, if something goes horribly wrong, contact me by the telephone or write me a letter as soon as humanely possible." He orders and cautions you, making sure you would be careful and take care of yourself as well. You nod timidly in response, finding his serious language uncommon and something you definitely could not disobey.

"I understand, big brother. I will do my best to not get into any trouble and to get things finished with swiftly. While I am gone on the journey, make sure to take care of yourself too. Do not worry over me, try your best not to at least. I am a young adult now, I am nineteen years of age." You comfort him, hoping to ease Kai's nerves even in the slightest.

"[Name].. I will pray to the gods for you to be safe and sound on this journey. I will pray to the gods to watch over you and bring you back home to me without a single scratch." Kai mumbles worriedly before gazing down at the light blue case in his arms, with his name and address inked onto the top left corner in case it were to ever get lost.

"And I will pray to the gods to look after you whilst I am gone." You respond, a small smile creeping onto your lips before Kai drops the light blue case in your arms. It was fairly heavy and weighed you down slightly more than you had expected.

"The Yunoaiu district is the closest to the kingdom.. that means the people there are all of high status and are incredibly rich. If you are to even bump into one of them, they will make sure you are charged with theft or some sort of crime. If you do not look and act like them, they will despise you. Trust me, I know. So, be careful. Be swift. Be cautious." Kai finished his warning before taking out a small pouch made of translucent red fabric with ten shiny golden coins instead, bumping into eachother with a slight 'clink'.

"Take these ten golden coins with you on the journey. Find an Inn to stay at, nothing too expensive though. Good luck, [Name]." Kai begins to say his goodbyes as he puts the sack of golden coins into your satchel. He then takes out a small, neatly folded piece of paper and slips it into your pitch black satchel as well. "This piece of paper has everything you need to do on it, my address, my number, emergency service numbers and such. Farewell now, my darling little sister." Kai says goodbye, bending over the large, light blue case to embrace you in a tight, friendly and warm hug.

"Goodbye, Kai. I will miss you terribly." You respond, smiling solemnly at Kai as he pulls away, gently pushing several strands of your [H/C] hair behind your ear.

"Good luck and good bye." He says, caressing your cheek gently before parting his soft touch from your skin. He gently opens the huge front door for you, revealing the fairly plain, beige looking carriage that awaited outside with a pair of black horses standing side by side of one another.

You hurry out the door and jump onto the road, opening the carriage door for yourself, being careful not to drop the case in the process. As you step into the carriage, you see the interior was light blue with dark, navy blue, cushioned seats facing eachother. The carriage was fairly small yet was big enough to hold four people.

You hurriedly gaze out the window as the sound of the horse's trotting at a walking speed begin to flood into your ears. There stood Kai, his dreamy white hair drifting in the wind like clouds in the sky. He waves you goodbye and you return the action, waving in a very energised manner and smiling in a way that said a thousand 'I'll miss you' s.

You sigh solemnly, feeling a heavy weight now in your heart as he fades out of sight, disappearing into the distance along with the home you grew up in. You face front forward, placing the light blue case on the navy blue seat in front of you, followed by your black satchel by it's side. You lean back into the cushioned seat, finding it slightly comfortable yet still not the best quality, in order to relax.

"We're making our way for Yunoaiu district, correct?" The driver questions, making sure that he got the right customer and right destination to head to.

Your head snaps up to face the small window in front of you that showed the back of the driver's head peeking through, bobbing up and down in time with the bumping of the carriage along the stone road. You calm down slightly, and nod as though we would be able to see you do so anyway. "Yes, that's correct." You confirm, your eyes trailing back out to the window, watching as people walked by and houses seemed to fly past your sight.

"May I ask why? If it's not confidential that is, I have no wished to intrude on private business." The driver states, trying to uphold a conversation with you in order to make the fourteen hour long ride a little more bearable and a little less boring,

"Ah, I'm delivering the outfit to the palace for the Emperor's tailoring competition. My boss made the outfit you see and he's quite busy so I'm making the journey in his stead." You respond, not wanting to give away too much information about your private life. Well, technically, you weren't lying. Your brother was your boss either ways and you were pretty much his favourite assistant. His only assistant at that.

"That makes sense. I heard that the winner gets to become the emperor's private tailor and that the emperor will even wear the winning outfit to his first matchmaking session." He replies, his voice barely just audible over the loud clicking of horseshoes against the cobblestone road.

"First matchmaking session?" You question, not having heard about that part of the competition prize before.

"Yes. It is funny really, the average life span of a person from Intuuin is one hundred and ten years old yet the emperor's grandmother insists that he finds a wife at the ripe age of twenty one. However, I heard that the young man is cold, heartless and cruel to everybody except his adviser and grandmother. After all, word does spread fast in Intuuin." The driver states, laughing slightly afterwards as he makes a turn.

"Ah.. it's funny how not much is even known about the emperor. From what I've heard, he's a bit of a fickle character when he wants to be." You reply, a small smirk cracking on your lips at your remark.

"True, I've heard so as well. He is a bit of a playboy, I would guess. Unfortunately, for the girls he plays around with, they all end up being mercilessly cast away as soon as he loses interest. Gosh, the emperor. I wonder if all these things are really true. He takes over the world in just three years, it blows my mind." The driver responds, his head visibly shaking form outside the small window as a small breeze sway the brown strands of his hair to the side.

You both continued to converse among yourselves about everything you knew about the emperor. It was true, despite the emperor being rich, proud, successful, charming, handsome and overall the nearest thing in humanity to perfection, his personality wasn't as perfect. He was indeed a bit of a heartbreaker, a good persuader, merciless, heartless and cruel. However, there is not definite back up to these assumptions and rumours the people have heard about him. Not to mention, ever since the emperor's parents died when he was such a young age, his grandmother hand been so protective over the emperor, not letting him out the play, not letting him greet his subjects at festivals and so forth. Overall, the emperor was just as mysterious to his own people as he was powerful to the entire world.

Soon enough, the sun had fallen beneath the world and the moon had risen, it's blue rays of moonlight twinkling beautifully upon every surface it came into contact with. You rested your head upon the cold and bumpy pillow of your faux fur scarf, which you also relied on to provide you with warmth form the cooler temperatures of the evening. Despite the late night, the loud noises of laughter, especially from drunk men, chatter and music was still reverberating throughout the lively and mysterious kingdom of Intuuin. During your sleep, the carriage slowly made its way into the Yunoaiu district, the district of the fortunate, famous and wealthy. Somewhere, where you would feel so out of place.

However, the sunlight slowly began to creep up again at dawn, the kingdom never seeming to die out. A new day was gifted to the people, and the usual morning errands were ran, the usual business and the usual sounds. Your eyes flutter open whilst you wiggle your fingers in a childish manner in an attempt to wake your hands up a bit more.

The driver of the carriage just so happened to hear you awaken and seemed to also hear the loud yawn you emitted from the back of the carriage, causing him to chuckle in a sleepy manner. "We're nearly there, girlie. We'll be there in just about five minutes or less." He informs you, finding it convenient how you had woken up at just the right time.

You stretch your arms forward and circle your ankles in order to stretch them slightly as well. You blink rapidly, making your eye sight clearer before looking out the window, excited to see what the Yunoaiu district looked like. Your [E/C] eyes widened to the size of saucers and you gaped like a goldfish at the extravagant sight. The people on the street wore the finest fashion couture, the latest trends and the most expensive fabric and jewels you had ever seen in your entire lifetime. The buildings were all several floors tall, some rising up to ten floors tall at the most. The buildings were made of white marble and the rooves were colourful, each seeming to be a unique and completely different colour of the colour spectrum. The windows were large, shiny and clean and nearly everything seemed to be lined with gold, just letting anybody know at a glance how wealthy the district was and how the quality of life was much above the average. In fact, compared to how things were at your home district, Ouiy, things seemed so different to the point you felt the ended to complain about how it was unfair. While they lived lavish and luxurious lives, everybody back in the Ouiy district was much less wealthy and everything was made of cheaper stone and/or wood.

You pout slightly at the sight but still could not help but smile slightly at how everybody was so up to date with fashion and how the couture was amazingly put together at every seam. You tap your chin curiously at the wealthy district before you before being interrupted by the driver.

"I'll be dropping you off at a fairly cheap inn that's within' a twenty minute walking distance to the palace. As you can already guess, even the simplest things her are more expensive than back at home. Gosh, I wish I was rich." The driver says, frowning slightly to himself as his eyes could not help but twinkle at the glamorous city that he drove through.

"Alright, that sounds good." You respond before deciding it would be best if you began gathering your stuff right now. You grabbed your coal black satchel and slung in around your figure before pulling the heavy case onto your thighs, now ready to exit the carriage as soon as he stopped. You reminded yourself mentally to be cautious like Kai had warned you to be, as well as swift and timid. You nod your head in resilience, wanting to do the best you could on your first journey to the big city, and an important one at that.

"We've arrived now," The driver mentions, slowing down the carriage before it comes to a complete stop in front of a tall building that looked just as extravagant as all the other ones. It was made of pure white stone with statues and details everywhere upon it, making it seem just that little bit more magical. The roof was purple, symbolising wealth and was made of high quality tiles. There was a guard next to the large glass door, the entrance, who looked too intimidating for his own good. "It was a pleasure driving you here, girlie. Goodbye!" The driver finishes.

You sigh, slowly getting out of the carriage with the heavy, sky blue case in your arms as you somehow managed to close the carriage door behind you. As soon as you do so and step onto the bustling pavement, the driver and his carriage drive away, leaving you all alone. Gulping nervously at the sight before you, you head towards the entrance of the supposed inn/hotel. The guard seems to look at you with a twinge of disgust as he opens the door for you, causing you to feel slightly insecure. "Welcome." He says in a monotone and listless voice as you walk pass, muttering a quick 'thank you'.

Inside, the reception was large and spacious. There was a large sitting area to the left, full of plants, flowers and white sofas spread about the area. To your right was an all you can eat buffet with an arrangement of dining tables and chairs spread about in that area. Then, in front of you was a long desk with about seven different people working. That is where you assumed you would need to pay for the accommodation and such.

Imagining how expensive it would be to stay in such a place, you sluggishly drag yourself over to the front desk, your shoes satisfyingly clicking against the black marble floor, in order to buy a room for yourself, walking under the large and breathtaking, crystal chandelier that managed to illuminate the entire reception perfectly.

You approach one of the people at the front desk, a tall woman with snowy pale skin with wrinkles beginning to form, long light brown hair and kind black eyes. She smiled surprisingly kindly to you and greets you,

"Hello miss. Welcome to the Veridalu Hotel, my name is Faye Yu. How may I help you today?"