Prologue

Part 1: The New Queen

Julian Von Wincott had died. He was a respected healer among his people, and the youngest son of the current Wincott family. He was loved by everyone who knew him, inclusive of his brash young student, Wolfram Von Bielefeld, the youngest son of the current Maoh, and his godfather, Adelbert.

His blue eyes had often shone in a mixture of melancholy, happiness and courage, his hair was blue as well with a lock of white the side. "When he smiles, the world is filled with eternal sunshine," his godfather often joked. A friend of his, Conrart Weller, the half-brother of Wolfram, agreed with Adelbert. Julian was close to Conrart; their bond was so close that they could not have been better friends even if they were brothers. As a sign of utmost trust for their friendship, Julian gave his pendant to Conrad, telling him that he would always trust Conrad to make the best of decisions. The pendant held the Wincott crest within a jewel bluer than the clear sky in July.

The Great One had placed a mission for him. His soul was to be the soul of the next Maoh. Though this horrified Julian, he accepted it whole-heartedly with no regrets whatsoever. His death occurred during the battle which was fought between the Mazoku and the humans. Conrart, who was half-human, had went. Julian could not understand why humans and Mazoku were fighting. As far as he could see, there was little difference between the two races. When his godfather explained to him that was the way war was, he looked sadly with his blue eyes and said, "If you do get into human territory, there will be elderly and children who will be slaughtered?"

"I'm afraid so," replied Adelbert. "How sad," Julian said in a melancholy voice. This made Adelbert look up to his godson. What the huge blond saw surprised him – there were un-shed tears in those blue eyes. "I wish so much to see the world," the healer was saying, "where one day the humans and the Mazoku will be living in peace with each other. Side by side. Hand in hand."

Tears began to flow then.

"It may take time," Julian continued, "but I'm certain that an era will come. It does not have to be in this lifetime, but I'm certain that era will come one way or another." He looked at his godfather then. "You do understand don't you?" he asked.

Adelbert stood and wiped the tears of his young godson like he had used to when the healer was just a child. It has been a long time since Adelbert saw his godson cry. His tears were rare. He gazed into the blue eyes of his godson as he gently stroked his thumb over the healer's cheek. Adelbert did not know that these will be the last time he would gaze into the blue eyes of his godson.

A week later, with Adelbert gone, Julian assigned himself to go and heal wounded soldiers of the battle. It was in the healing camp where he died, Gisela at his side. He had preferred it that way, not telling his godfather what he decided. A week later, Conrart came back and heard the news, he went straight to the Head priestess, Ulrike, to understand why. Ulrike gave him a container containing a floating white sphere. "This is Julian's soul," said Ulrike, "before he went to the healing camp he asked me to entrust you with his soul and find the new Maoh."

Adelbert's reaction towards Julian's death was far worse than anyone had expected. Julian's death was a great loss to the whole of Shin Makoku. In anger, Adelbert did the worst thing a Mazoku would do, he abandoned the Great One therefore he abandoned Shin Makoku. Wolfram, grief-stricken over the death of his tutor, never forgave the humans for their hatred. Conrart, though sad over the death of a close friend, set out to the Human world, the Earth, to find the suitable baby for the soul.

He found the Shibuya family.

The father of this particular family, Shoma, was a Mazoku of Earth and a subordinate of the Maoh of Earth, Bob. He agreed to let his second child to be born the future Maoh of Shin Makoku. Shortly thereafter, Conrart helped Miko Shibuya, the expectant mother, to get to the hospital. She was complaining about the summer heat of New York when she along with her eldest child, Shori, went on the business trip with her husband. The month was July.

"Where I come from," Conrart told her gently, "The month of July is known as Yuri." "Yuri..." Miko mused. She gave birth to a daughter when she reached Saint Mary's Hospital. The child, like her father and brother, had black hair and black eyes. On Earth, these features are common, but in Shin Makoku, she would be seen as a person with powerful maryoku. Miko named her new-born daughter Yuri.

Soon after, Conrart approached the baby while he was at a park one day. He gazed into the stroller where a beautiful baby girl squirmed as she played with her rubber duck. "I will be waiting for you," he told the little girl, "your majesty."

"Who knows," he continued, "Maybe someday, you will be the sun to those who are in need of hope."

He thought back on what Adelbert had said about Julian's smile. "Maybe then you will give eternal sunshine with your smile," he added.