Prologue

Prologue

The girl had a dream alone.

The world was silent, so very quiet that one could even hear the beating of the wings of the butterflies gathered on her black hair. She was all alone, eyes closed, dreaming up visions on the backs of her eyelids.

The girl was crouched, a pure white blade sticking from her chest. The fabric around the blade had crumbled away, revealing a glimpse of soft skin.

The Sword of Salt.

The girl’s time had stopped to resist the fragment of the white blade that reduced everything it cut to salt. She wasn’t dead, nor was she alive. Her mind was closed off just outside of time, her eyes closed tight in a silent and tranquil world where nothing could harm her.

Yes, she was undoubtedly dreaming.

Waiting for when she would reawaken.

Akari Tokitou was surely lost in a lucid dream.