Chosen: The Chronicles of Joanna Ember - By MCBadong
0
A new story for the readers out there.
CHOSEN
There exists a world much like our own, known as Altheos. A beautiful planet abound with life, Altheos has one large supercontinent known as Meldena and a smaller one, known as Neidrith.
Seven goddesses were responsible for bringing forth Altheos and all life within it to existence. The goddess of flame, goddess of water, goddess of air, goddess of earth, goddess of metals, goddess of light and goddess of darkness together created the world, striking a balance between their abilities to create a world of harmony, beauty and peace. Working together, they also breathed life into the world in the form of plants, animals and humans.
For several millenia, they observed their creations and even walked among them so that all Altheos would be aware of their existence.
Everything went as the goddesses had intended. The prime race, known as humans, built shrines and temples in their honor, revering the goddesses as creators of the world they live in. In no time at all, the humans grew to populate the far reaches of Meldena and even Neidrith.
Satisfied with their creation and how Altheos had become, the goddesses departed on a day that would come to be known as "The Great Departure". The goddesses returned to the heavens and became silent watchers once more, watching how Altheos would progress.
Centuries passed, and the continent of Meldena became a country in itself, with a great megapolis known as Cydia as its capital. However, technology, progress and science changed most of humanity - the truth of the existence of the goddesses became a myth. The ancient tales of the goddesses and how they settled in Altheos became passed off as mere legends, a "mere story primitive humans believed in due to their limited intelligence and worldview." Science and humanity were hailed as the supreme authorities that dictated the course of Altheos.
In upholding this, however, the government of Meldena came to become akin to an authoritarian state centered around the supremacy of humanity, upholding strict and harsh laws to the point where belief in any religion had become punishable by law. Meldena's long forgotten peace was gone, now replaced by a cruel government whose harsh rule led to dissatisfaction among the citizens.
This dissatisfaction gave rise to several factions within the city - the Seekers of Truth, the Volluneists, and the Black Sun. Each had its own respective agenda - the Seekers of Truth is a group of extreme atheists who are in line with the beliefs of the government and their stand against religion. However, the government outlaws them due to their extreme methods, such as burning down an entire building they believed to be home to secret worship ceremonies for the seven goddesses.
The Volluneists, on the other hand, are a cult of religious people who believe in a divine creator - however, they do not believe the truth of the seven goddesses. They worship Vollune, their god who they claim to be the sole creator of the world. Naturally, they are in conflict with the Seekers of Truth due to their being on opposite ends of the spectrum. With regards to methods, however, they are no different from the Seekers of Truth - they have massacred many who refuse to be converted to Volluneism.
This conflict gave rise to opportunistic criminals who established an underground criminal organization known as the Black Sun. Unlike the Seekers of Truth and the Volluneists, they have no particular beliefs. Instead, they choose to exploit the fanaticism of the two conflicting factions by offering each one the services of their assassins in exchange for nothing less than money.
In response to these growing conflicts, which have led to chaos in some parts of the megapolis of Cydia, the heads of Meldena strengthened their military and police, fusing them into a combined group known as CLE - Cydia Law Enforcement. They were given the task of upholding order within Cydia, which had been compromised by the existence of the three factions. Though CLE's outward appearance is a military police force that merely upholds law and order, their true purpose is the complete eradication of the Volluneists, the Seekers of Truth and any other similar faction whose existence compromises the so-called "peace" of the megapolis.
On the other hand, the lesser continent of Neidrith prospered in peace. The government of CLE originally made Neidrith a place of where people from Meldena who opposed the beliefs of their government were exiled to. Unknown to Meldena, the continent's vast forests are also home to humans, the only ones left who continue to believe in the truth of the seven goddesses. Meldena is unaware of the fact that Neidrith is occupied by civilized people, believing it to be a massive island jungle of wild creatures where no human could survive. In truth, the Neidrithians, having tamed the animals of the area, take the exiles to live with them in their towns and share with them their belief in the goddesses. They alone continue to worship in the goddesses' shrines and temples, praying for peace to be restored to Meldena.
The seven goddesses, seeing the selfish beings majority of the humans had become, decided that humanity was no longer fit to live in the world without their guidance. In order to punish humanity for its sins as well as eradicate the flawed world order that existed in Meldena, the goddesses sought to plunge Altheos into chaos and destruction and start anew. Elreoia, head priest of Neidrith, was given this vision and made this known to the Neidrithians. The Neidirthians begged for an alternative to the destruction of the world, believing that humanity was not beyond redemption. Elreoia prayed on behalf of the people for the goddesses to change their minds and give humanity a chance.
The goddesses answered their prayers and decided to change their plan - instead, they decided to pick seven women from Neidrith who would give birth to the Chosen Children - Seven humans who would each wield the power of a goddess' element.
The Chosen Children were to become living proof of the existence and power of the goddesses, convincing the sinful people to give up their selfish beliefs and put their faith in the goddesses once more. The goddesses let Elreoia know about their ultimatum - in 30 years, through the Chosen Children, at least half of the population must have changed their ways and become believers of the goddesses once more. If the Chosen Children and Neidrith failed to make this so, the goddesses would destroy Altheos and recreate it.
And so it was. The goddesses each put a small mark in the right hand of each woman who would give birth to a Chosen Child. Whoever became their husband did not matter - as long as they bear a child, that child would become one of the Chosen Children.
The women were made known of the 30 year ultimatum, and so within the year they chose to seek a husband. All was going well so far, and Elreoia believed that they would be able to fulfill the wish of the goddesses before it became too late.
However, a tragic event happened about a year later that would jeopardize the plan - a new faction that had risen in Meldena known as Exodus came to the island with one intention - to kidnap the seven chosen women. Unknown to the people of Neidrith, some of the exiled people were Exodus spies planted within the land to gain knowledge about the seven goddesses. The head of Exodus, known only as E, was one of the few people in Meldena who believed their existence, but his belief is twisted by his own selfish ambitions, so much so that he seeks a way to use the power of the goddesses for his own purposes.
As such, when his spies let him know of the Chosen Children plan, E, unable to contain his desire over the fact that a chance to wield the power of the goddesses was within his reach, sent several of his people to Neidrith to coordinate with his spies and kidnap the seven women - slaughtering anybody else in their way.
Desperate to keep the seven women safe at all costs, the people of Neidrith fought back against the technologically superior Exodus soldiers - some to the point of losing their lives in a tragic night that came to be known as The Massacre of Neidrith. Despite their sacrifices, however, the Neidrithian people lost. Exodus found all seven women with the mark and took them away to Meldena. The head of Exodus, known only as E, intended to use all seven children the women would bear to take over the continent, wielding the power of the goddesses, brainwashed and completely submitting to the will of E.
Elreoia was heavily shaken by this loss, and wasted no time in praying to the goddesses as soon as Exodus had departed. His prayers were answered soon - when the Exodus ship reached the shores of Meldena, CLE forces ambushed the Exodus forces. Going to Neidrith was forbidden by the government apart from ships transporting exiles - defiance meant death.
The ensuing chaos scattered the Exodus forces and gave the women an opening to escape. Thanks to a nearby forest, six of the women were able to flee safely away from the conflict between Exodus and CLE. One of them, however, was not as fortunate, having already been transferred to one of the APC's of Exodus, which immediately fled the battle to make haste to Exodus HQ.
Marlinna was the name of the one woman successfully kidnapped by Exodus. E, seeing that his plan to have all seven had fallen apart, changed his scheme to use the one Chosen Child he would have to kill the other six and become the only living Chosen Child, imbued with the power of a goddess.
E had Marlinna brought to him and immediately violated and impregnated her. Afterwards, she was forced into a coma, given nourishment through her veins in order to nurture her unborn child. Nine months passed and the child was born - after which Exodus injected a lethal poison into Marlinna's bloodstream, silently killing her. Her body was soon after incinerated.
The young child was named Joanna by E, after the heroine of an ancient tale who was said to have conquered all of Meldana and made it the single united continent it was. Joanna was then kept inside Exodus HQ all throughout her childhood - she slept in a closely guarded private room, she was educated by a private tutor, and every fiber of being was being molded to fit into E's model of a powerful human being succumbing to his will.
At the age of 7, E finally found proof of her abilities when at one time she sponatenously combusted for five minutes, after which she remained unscathed. Apparently, the power of Anora, goddess of fire, was the one she had.
The event, though harmless to her, traumatized Joanna. E used this as an opportunity to convince her that she would be kept safe from her abilities in exchange for total submission to Exodus. Left with no choice, she complied, and soon after her training as an elite assassin began, eventually developing the ability to control how she summons flames and effectively wield it as a weapon to kill.
E, satisfied that he had indeed a Chosen Child as a loyal daughter, began seeking out any possible leads regarding the other six women and if they had given birth. As soon as Joanna was ready, he would immediately take out the other six once they were found.
However, unknown to E, the Chosen Children do not only inherit the powers of the goddesses - they had also been imbued with the wills of each one. Anora is the source of the burning will to seek the truth, and as such, despite Joanna's submission to E, a small portion of her was beginning to doubt the history and purpose of hers that she was told by Exodus.
The lie Exodus has told Joanna is that she was an illegitimate child, left by her mother in the streets but rescued by Exodus. As a token of gratitude to them, Joanna would become an obedient foster child of E, submitting to his will alone and putting his need ahead of anyone else's. Though these lies were planted deep in Joanna, they did not take root - something within her was telling her that there was much more to her life, her purpose, and even her abilities. However, she chose to keep this a secret from E and chose to comply until something happens that would force her to change.
Little did Joanna know that this 'something' that she was waiting for would soon come. Now at the age of 19, there being only 10 more years left before the forthcoming destruction of the world if left as is, Joanna will soon discover her destiny as a Chosen Child and the great role she has to play to change not only herself but all of Altheos.
This marks the beginning of the chronicles of Joanna, who has chosen to call herself...
Joanna Ember.
CHOSEN
There exists a world much like our own, known as Altheos. A beautiful planet abound with life, Altheos has one large supercontinent known as Meldena and a smaller one, known as Neidrith.
Seven goddesses were responsible for bringing forth Altheos and all life within it to existence. The goddess of flame, goddess of water, goddess of air, goddess of earth, goddess of metals, goddess of light and goddess of darkness together created the world, striking a balance between their abilities to create a world of harmony, beauty and peace. Working together, they also breathed life into the world in the form of plants, animals and humans.
For several millenia, they observed their creations and even walked among them so that all Altheos would be aware of their existence.
Everything went as the goddesses had intended. The prime race, known as humans, built shrines and temples in their honor, revering the goddesses as creators of the world they live in. In no time at all, the humans grew to populate the far reaches of Meldena and even Neidrith.
Satisfied with their creation and how Altheos had become, the goddesses departed on a day that would come to be known as "The Great Departure". The goddesses returned to the heavens and became silent watchers once more, watching how Altheos would progress.
Centuries passed, and the continent of Meldena became a country in itself, with a great megapolis known as Cydia as its capital. However, technology, progress and science changed most of humanity - the truth of the existence of the goddesses became a myth. The ancient tales of the goddesses and how they settled in Altheos became passed off as mere legends, a "mere story primitive humans believed in due to their limited intelligence and worldview." Science and humanity were hailed as the supreme authorities that dictated the course of Altheos.
In upholding this, however, the government of Meldena came to become akin to an authoritarian state centered around the supremacy of humanity, upholding strict and harsh laws to the point where belief in any religion had become punishable by law. Meldena's long forgotten peace was gone, now replaced by a cruel government whose harsh rule led to dissatisfaction among the citizens.
This dissatisfaction gave rise to several factions within the city - the Seekers of Truth, the Volluneists, and the Black Sun. Each had its own respective agenda - the Seekers of Truth is a group of extreme atheists who are in line with the beliefs of the government and their stand against religion. However, the government outlaws them due to their extreme methods, such as burning down an entire building they believed to be home to secret worship ceremonies for the seven goddesses.
The Volluneists, on the other hand, are a cult of religious people who believe in a divine creator - however, they do not believe the truth of the seven goddesses. They worship Vollune, their god who they claim to be the sole creator of the world. Naturally, they are in conflict with the Seekers of Truth due to their being on opposite ends of the spectrum. With regards to methods, however, they are no different from the Seekers of Truth - they have massacred many who refuse to be converted to Volluneism.
This conflict gave rise to opportunistic criminals who established an underground criminal organization known as the Black Sun. Unlike the Seekers of Truth and the Volluneists, they have no particular beliefs. Instead, they choose to exploit the fanaticism of the two conflicting factions by offering each one the services of their assassins in exchange for nothing less than money.
In response to these growing conflicts, which have led to chaos in some parts of the megapolis of Cydia, the heads of Meldena strengthened their military and police, fusing them into a combined group known as CLE - Cydia Law Enforcement. They were given the task of upholding order within Cydia, which had been compromised by the existence of the three factions. Though CLE's outward appearance is a military police force that merely upholds law and order, their true purpose is the complete eradication of the Volluneists, the Seekers of Truth and any other similar faction whose existence compromises the so-called "peace" of the megapolis.
On the other hand, the lesser continent of Neidrith prospered in peace. The government of CLE originally made Neidrith a place of where people from Meldena who opposed the beliefs of their government were exiled to. Unknown to Meldena, the continent's vast forests are also home to humans, the only ones left who continue to believe in the truth of the seven goddesses. Meldena is unaware of the fact that Neidrith is occupied by civilized people, believing it to be a massive island jungle of wild creatures where no human could survive. In truth, the Neidrithians, having tamed the animals of the area, take the exiles to live with them in their towns and share with them their belief in the goddesses. They alone continue to worship in the goddesses' shrines and temples, praying for peace to be restored to Meldena.
The seven goddesses, seeing the selfish beings majority of the humans had become, decided that humanity was no longer fit to live in the world without their guidance. In order to punish humanity for its sins as well as eradicate the flawed world order that existed in Meldena, the goddesses sought to plunge Altheos into chaos and destruction and start anew. Elreoia, head priest of Neidrith, was given this vision and made this known to the Neidrithians. The Neidirthians begged for an alternative to the destruction of the world, believing that humanity was not beyond redemption. Elreoia prayed on behalf of the people for the goddesses to change their minds and give humanity a chance.
The goddesses answered their prayers and decided to change their plan - instead, they decided to pick seven women from Neidrith who would give birth to the Chosen Children - Seven humans who would each wield the power of a goddess' element.
The Chosen Children were to become living proof of the existence and power of the goddesses, convincing the sinful people to give up their selfish beliefs and put their faith in the goddesses once more. The goddesses let Elreoia know about their ultimatum - in 30 years, through the Chosen Children, at least half of the population must have changed their ways and become believers of the goddesses once more. If the Chosen Children and Neidrith failed to make this so, the goddesses would destroy Altheos and recreate it.
And so it was. The goddesses each put a small mark in the right hand of each woman who would give birth to a Chosen Child. Whoever became their husband did not matter - as long as they bear a child, that child would become one of the Chosen Children.
The women were made known of the 30 year ultimatum, and so within the year they chose to seek a husband. All was going well so far, and Elreoia believed that they would be able to fulfill the wish of the goddesses before it became too late.
However, a tragic event happened about a year later that would jeopardize the plan - a new faction that had risen in Meldena known as Exodus came to the island with one intention - to kidnap the seven chosen women. Unknown to the people of Neidrith, some of the exiled people were Exodus spies planted within the land to gain knowledge about the seven goddesses. The head of Exodus, known only as E, was one of the few people in Meldena who believed their existence, but his belief is twisted by his own selfish ambitions, so much so that he seeks a way to use the power of the goddesses for his own purposes.
As such, when his spies let him know of the Chosen Children plan, E, unable to contain his desire over the fact that a chance to wield the power of the goddesses was within his reach, sent several of his people to Neidrith to coordinate with his spies and kidnap the seven women - slaughtering anybody else in their way.
Desperate to keep the seven women safe at all costs, the people of Neidrith fought back against the technologically superior Exodus soldiers - some to the point of losing their lives in a tragic night that came to be known as The Massacre of Neidrith. Despite their sacrifices, however, the Neidrithian people lost. Exodus found all seven women with the mark and took them away to Meldena. The head of Exodus, known only as E, intended to use all seven children the women would bear to take over the continent, wielding the power of the goddesses, brainwashed and completely submitting to the will of E.
Elreoia was heavily shaken by this loss, and wasted no time in praying to the goddesses as soon as Exodus had departed. His prayers were answered soon - when the Exodus ship reached the shores of Meldena, CLE forces ambushed the Exodus forces. Going to Neidrith was forbidden by the government apart from ships transporting exiles - defiance meant death.
The ensuing chaos scattered the Exodus forces and gave the women an opening to escape. Thanks to a nearby forest, six of the women were able to flee safely away from the conflict between Exodus and CLE. One of them, however, was not as fortunate, having already been transferred to one of the APC's of Exodus, which immediately fled the battle to make haste to Exodus HQ.
Marlinna was the name of the one woman successfully kidnapped by Exodus. E, seeing that his plan to have all seven had fallen apart, changed his scheme to use the one Chosen Child he would have to kill the other six and become the only living Chosen Child, imbued with the power of a goddess.
E had Marlinna brought to him and immediately violated and impregnated her. Afterwards, she was forced into a coma, given nourishment through her veins in order to nurture her unborn child. Nine months passed and the child was born - after which Exodus injected a lethal poison into Marlinna's bloodstream, silently killing her. Her body was soon after incinerated.
The young child was named Joanna by E, after the heroine of an ancient tale who was said to have conquered all of Meldana and made it the single united continent it was. Joanna was then kept inside Exodus HQ all throughout her childhood - she slept in a closely guarded private room, she was educated by a private tutor, and every fiber of being was being molded to fit into E's model of a powerful human being succumbing to his will.
At the age of 7, E finally found proof of her abilities when at one time she sponatenously combusted for five minutes, after which she remained unscathed. Apparently, the power of Anora, goddess of fire, was the one she had.
The event, though harmless to her, traumatized Joanna. E used this as an opportunity to convince her that she would be kept safe from her abilities in exchange for total submission to Exodus. Left with no choice, she complied, and soon after her training as an elite assassin began, eventually developing the ability to control how she summons flames and effectively wield it as a weapon to kill.
E, satisfied that he had indeed a Chosen Child as a loyal daughter, began seeking out any possible leads regarding the other six women and if they had given birth. As soon as Joanna was ready, he would immediately take out the other six once they were found.
However, unknown to E, the Chosen Children do not only inherit the powers of the goddesses - they had also been imbued with the wills of each one. Anora is the source of the burning will to seek the truth, and as such, despite Joanna's submission to E, a small portion of her was beginning to doubt the history and purpose of hers that she was told by Exodus.
The lie Exodus has told Joanna is that she was an illegitimate child, left by her mother in the streets but rescued by Exodus. As a token of gratitude to them, Joanna would become an obedient foster child of E, submitting to his will alone and putting his need ahead of anyone else's. Though these lies were planted deep in Joanna, they did not take root - something within her was telling her that there was much more to her life, her purpose, and even her abilities. However, she chose to keep this a secret from E and chose to comply until something happens that would force her to change.
Little did Joanna know that this 'something' that she was waiting for would soon come. Now at the age of 19, there being only 10 more years left before the forthcoming destruction of the world if left as is, Joanna will soon discover her destiny as a Chosen Child and the great role she has to play to change not only herself but all of Altheos.
This marks the beginning of the chronicles of Joanna, who has chosen to call herself...
Joanna Ember.
1
O_O Interesting read. Need Moar! I hope there would be Romance in this. No fantasy is complete without Romance as a side-dish! Takes the Trilogy of Shannara for example. The 1st one was good but it was quite bland due to a lack of romance, but the 2nd rocked hard thanks to the romance as spice.
I'm rooting for ya. Nice pic btw.
I'm rooting for ya. Nice pic btw.
0
Chapter 0: The Runaway
The 2nd Cycle, Day C1, Year 2514.
City 5, West Zone, in the Megapolis of Cydia.
Gray clouds floated upon the bustling metropolis, covering everything from the towering skyscrapers to the concrete and asphalt of the streets below in a light rain.
Underneath the pouring rain, people walked along the streets, umbrellas covering them as they move through the sidewalks and roads. They remained quiet while moving at a fast pace, barely making any noise apart from the sound of their footsteps and the occasional cough or grunt.
Meanwhile, upon the roads that cut through the city, cars of all kinds drove, lightly honking their horns at the occasional corner or red light, obeying the rules of the road to a point where one could consider almost every driver in the city the perfect example of an ideal motorist.
One would wonder how the city, an urban jungle just like every other one within Cydia, manages to have such quiet citizens and obedient motorists. However, a quick glance at any corner immediately reveals the answer - the piercing, watchful eyes of the CLE officers.
Equipped with light pistols and electric stunsticks, the stern Cydia Law Enforcement officers were strewn all throughout the city, carefully watching the every move of its citizens, listening to any form of conversation, scrutinizing how well each vehicle obeyed the rules of the road. Under the authority of the Alediae, the ruling body of Cydia and essentially all of Meldena, in light of the recent threats to national security by the extremist idealistic groups, the Volluneists and the Seekers of Truth, all citizens outdoors are to be under the watch of the CLE.
CLE officers have been given orders to arrest without question anybody who shows signs of being affiliated with an extremist group and 'Poisoned by them to the point where inciting chaos becomes a righteous excuse to further their goals' in the Alediae spokesman's own words.
Unfortunately, in suppressing extremist activity, the CLE began viewing any sign of aggression towards a fellow citizen, whether a physical conflict or an ordinary verbal quarrel, as sufficient reason to arrest them without question. To make matters worse, the two opposing factions began resorting to code words and phrases in their conversations - the discovery of which led to the CLE closely monitoring all audible and electronic conversations for signs of extremist activity.
The latter developments led to more immediate arrests, including raids of residences where a monitored phone call or an email contained the right words to merit the suspicion of the CLE.
Fearful of the CLE, the silent, oppressive mood upon the rainy C1 day has so far remained the status quo since the anti-extremist methods were implemented by the CLE.
As vigilant as the CLE are, however, their continues to remain parts of the huge megapolis their ears and eyes have not reached. As a massive megapolis consisting of 10 interconnected cities, many of Cydia's numerous alleyways, abandoned buildings, closed off sections and even underground labyrinths were away from the CLE's areas of jurisdiction, either to their being hidden or too far out of sight or due to the massive criminal and extremist resistance that awaited them should any officers dare to set foot.
Two of these lawless areas are the base of operations of the extremist factions - one of the Volluneists in City 5 and the other of the Seekers of Truth in City 8. The others are the havens of either innocent people seeking refuge from the harsh CLE or criminals thriving in the lawlessness of the areas.
In the case of the former, citizens of different walks of life ,who have either lost their properties to the CLE or seek freedom from the oppressive lifestyle under the rule of the Alediae, have managed to form small, organized communities in these areas in order to provide food, shelter and medical care to their fellow refugees.
All kinds of people were to be seen here, each carrying part of their past life with them through what little they took with them, such as the ragged dresses some women wore that used to be elegant frocks, or the broken toys and old books that young children carried with them.
In one such area within City 5, upon a dirty alleyway littered with trash and propoganda posters, a young woman sat upon the wall, looking down on the ground, an empty look on her face which was covered by her flowing dark red hair. Wearing an old longcoat over a strapless black brassiere and long pants that ended halfway up her thighs where metallic suspenders connected them to a small belt attached to her black panties.
A small bit of roof protected her from the pouring rain, but the young woman's cheek already wet from tears, though she had long stopped crying, merely staring at the ground upon which she sat. Her body was still, in fact her current posture gave her the posture of somebody who died upon a wall.
Suddenly, the young woman's hands moved to grasp her head in pain. A piercing headache awoke her body as she wailed out loud in pain.
As she did, the events of the last 24 hours suddenly rushed back to her like a speeding bullet.
The 2nd Cycle, Day C1, Year 2514.
City 5, West Zone, in the Megapolis of Cydia.
Gray clouds floated upon the bustling metropolis, covering everything from the towering skyscrapers to the concrete and asphalt of the streets below in a light rain.
Underneath the pouring rain, people walked along the streets, umbrellas covering them as they move through the sidewalks and roads. They remained quiet while moving at a fast pace, barely making any noise apart from the sound of their footsteps and the occasional cough or grunt.
Meanwhile, upon the roads that cut through the city, cars of all kinds drove, lightly honking their horns at the occasional corner or red light, obeying the rules of the road to a point where one could consider almost every driver in the city the perfect example of an ideal motorist.
One would wonder how the city, an urban jungle just like every other one within Cydia, manages to have such quiet citizens and obedient motorists. However, a quick glance at any corner immediately reveals the answer - the piercing, watchful eyes of the CLE officers.
Equipped with light pistols and electric stunsticks, the stern Cydia Law Enforcement officers were strewn all throughout the city, carefully watching the every move of its citizens, listening to any form of conversation, scrutinizing how well each vehicle obeyed the rules of the road. Under the authority of the Alediae, the ruling body of Cydia and essentially all of Meldena, in light of the recent threats to national security by the extremist idealistic groups, the Volluneists and the Seekers of Truth, all citizens outdoors are to be under the watch of the CLE.
CLE officers have been given orders to arrest without question anybody who shows signs of being affiliated with an extremist group and 'Poisoned by them to the point where inciting chaos becomes a righteous excuse to further their goals' in the Alediae spokesman's own words.
Unfortunately, in suppressing extremist activity, the CLE began viewing any sign of aggression towards a fellow citizen, whether a physical conflict or an ordinary verbal quarrel, as sufficient reason to arrest them without question. To make matters worse, the two opposing factions began resorting to code words and phrases in their conversations - the discovery of which led to the CLE closely monitoring all audible and electronic conversations for signs of extremist activity.
The latter developments led to more immediate arrests, including raids of residences where a monitored phone call or an email contained the right words to merit the suspicion of the CLE.
Fearful of the CLE, the silent, oppressive mood upon the rainy C1 day has so far remained the status quo since the anti-extremist methods were implemented by the CLE.
As vigilant as the CLE are, however, their continues to remain parts of the huge megapolis their ears and eyes have not reached. As a massive megapolis consisting of 10 interconnected cities, many of Cydia's numerous alleyways, abandoned buildings, closed off sections and even underground labyrinths were away from the CLE's areas of jurisdiction, either to their being hidden or too far out of sight or due to the massive criminal and extremist resistance that awaited them should any officers dare to set foot.
Two of these lawless areas are the base of operations of the extremist factions - one of the Volluneists in City 5 and the other of the Seekers of Truth in City 8. The others are the havens of either innocent people seeking refuge from the harsh CLE or criminals thriving in the lawlessness of the areas.
In the case of the former, citizens of different walks of life ,who have either lost their properties to the CLE or seek freedom from the oppressive lifestyle under the rule of the Alediae, have managed to form small, organized communities in these areas in order to provide food, shelter and medical care to their fellow refugees.
All kinds of people were to be seen here, each carrying part of their past life with them through what little they took with them, such as the ragged dresses some women wore that used to be elegant frocks, or the broken toys and old books that young children carried with them.
In one such area within City 5, upon a dirty alleyway littered with trash and propoganda posters, a young woman sat upon the wall, looking down on the ground, an empty look on her face which was covered by her flowing dark red hair. Wearing an old longcoat over a strapless black brassiere and long pants that ended halfway up her thighs where metallic suspenders connected them to a small belt attached to her black panties.
A small bit of roof protected her from the pouring rain, but the young woman's cheek already wet from tears, though she had long stopped crying, merely staring at the ground upon which she sat. Her body was still, in fact her current posture gave her the posture of somebody who died upon a wall.
Suddenly, the young woman's hands moved to grasp her head in pain. A piercing headache awoke her body as she wailed out loud in pain.
As she did, the events of the last 24 hours suddenly rushed back to her like a speeding bullet.
0
Author's Note: Since I posted this on a hentai forum, I'll be putting up bonus chapters throughout the story with some sexual elements, but only upon demand. :P The scenes themselves do not need to be read to understand the story, they are simply meant to be bonus material for the happy fappers out there who give this story a chance :)