Prologue—What... am I?
A pair of plush pink lips moved, as the young girl asked. Looking at her own reflection in the mirror, she tilted her head questioningly.
It was when she had turned seven that the girl started asking that question towards mirrors and bodies of water and such.
On the day the girl turned seven, she noticed that she was able to produce a strange kind of matter.
It was a strange sphere darker than the night, could be felt but had no weight, and was around the size of her palm.
Moreover that dark substance could be morphed into anything that the girl imagined.
When she brought it up to her parents, they were surprised—overjoyed.
They asked the girl to make gemstones. To please her parents, she made many different kinds of beautiful gemstones.
From that day on—the girl"s life had completely changed.
Their house became large and majestic. Many servants were hired to take care of the housework.
The dining table was filled everyday with delicious food. Her father who had to go on business trips every year was able to stay home the whole time.
The girl continued to make gemstones as her parents asked.
But, in the midst of those joyous days, questions continued to build up in the girl"s heart.
Why was I the only one with this power? The girl did not know.
—What... am I?
Unable to hold it in, she asked her parents directly, and this was how they answered.
—You"re a special human.
Hearing that, the girl was relieved.
The question of how she was special remained, but it was fine as long as she was human.
However the happy and prosperous days did not last even a year.
On the night of a new moon, a group of men wielding guns suddenly burst into their house, and led the girl and her family to an unknown place.
With her parents taken as hostages, from that day on the girl started working to create gemstones for the men.
Though she was no longer allowed to go outside, as long as the girl kept making gemstones, the men were kind. They didn"t do anything violent, and anything she wanted they pretty much gave her.
—What... am I?
There was a time that the girl asked the men.
—You are a "D".
But this time, a different answer than what she had heard from her parents came. At that time the girl finally found out that she was one of the few people in the world who could produce Dark Matter.
However—the girl wasn"t satisfied. She did not want to believe that she was an existence different from humans.
That was why she continued asking, believing that there is another answer. After asking all of the men, she threw the question at her own reflection, and desperately pondered.
Through the cheerless and constrained (but not poor) days, she continued to deliberate.
Then on the day of her ninth birthday—the girl met him.
While making gemstones like always in her luxurious room overflowing with stuffed animals, the girl noticed a commotion outside.
A short while later the men came in the house and picked up the girl. Together with her parents who had been held captive, they were led outside the building.
Having been living in a place without windows for all this time, it was only then that the girl found out that it was nighttime. Thick clouds covered the sky, covering the moon and the stars. It"s almost like the night they were captured, the girl thought.
In the distance continuous bursts of explosions could be heard. The air shook. From the other side of the building smoke drifted up, and the light from the flames hazily highlighted the outline of the town. A burnt smell wafted through the air, carried by the breeze.
It would appear that this area was on the receiving end of a large-scale attack.
To prevent the girl from escaping, a group holding her parents hostage traveled in front, while the girl followed behind, surrounded by the men.
But that first group had suddenly, with the exception of her parents, all collapsed.
The men held their breath and readied the firearms they had equipped.
Without even the sound of a footstep, from the darkness a black shadow emerged. It was a dark-haired boy around fourteen or fifteen. In his hand was a strangely shaped gun, as if it was a.s.sembled from many blocks, and with a look colder than the night he studied the men.
Asking no questions, the men started to wildly fire their guns. The boy dashed around amid the muzzle flashes, shooting his own gun.
For some reason, none of the bullets the men shot hit, but when the boy pulled the trigger, without fail one of the men would fall.
It was as if he was dancing. The girl was captivated by the boy"s movements.
At last, the only ones standing were the boy and the girl. The girl"s parents had collapsed and fainted a short distance away.
The boy who had defeated all the men casually approached the girl.
The boy reached out his hand. It was then that the girl finally felt a sense of danger, reactively generating a ball of Dark Matter.
The small black sphere bursted into a bolt of high voltage electricity.
Surprised by the crackle of the lightning, the boy stopped his movement.
"———"
The boy muttered something in an unknown language. It seems he was from a different country.
There was no doubt that the fact that she was a "D" had just been exposed.
The girl lamented... but immediately stopped caring.
All that was going to happen would be that her owner would change. This time, she would probably end up making gems for the boy.
But just in case, she asked the boy as well. He might not understand her words, but the girl was curious what the boy regarded her as.
"—What... am I?"
The boy"s eyes opened slightly, and after some slight consideration, he reached out his hand once again.
With a light tap, his hand rested on the girl"s head. It felt way larger and rougher than she had imagined.
Then, with broken words, he replied in the language the girl used.
"You are a, cute, girl."
With a comforting smile, in a kind voice, he said.
"......"
The girl was surprised. That was probably, until now, the warmest answer she had received.
It was what she always wanted, to be treated not as someone special.
"Can I also, ask, a question?"
The boy asked the dazed girl, enunciating each word slowly.
"...S-Sure."
Somehow having a hard time breathing, the girl nodded. Her heart beat like an alarm clock.
"What, will you, do, from now on?"
Suddenly asked that, she did not know how to reply. The girl who had never considered that she has the right to make her own choices looked towards her parents hesitatingly.
"Papa, mama..."
"—I see, I understand."
The boy nodded as if he understood everything, and gently stroked the girl"s head.
"I hope, you live, happily."
Saying that, the boy pointed in the direction opposite to the burning town.
"If you go that way, you can meet, other refugees. Go with them, and you can probably, get out of here."
He stepped away from the girl, and turned around.
"Ah..."
Feeling a sense of desolation from losing the touch of that warm hand, the girl involuntarily let out her voice.
"If you want, to live peacefully, with your family, then don"t—use your power anymore."
But without turning back, leaving only these words behind, the boy walked into the darkness. As silently as he came, slipping into the night—he disappeared.
Since then, the girl continued to live on, repeating the boy"s words in her heart.
Even though those warm words were definitely not correct.
"...What... am I?"
The girl obtained the correct answer when she turned ten.
The witch of disaster who appeared in front of her, having scorched everything, was the one who taught her that.
"Tia, you are—a dragon."