"The end of days has come, as foretold by the Book of Revelations!"

That was the mantra everyone in America was lambasted with ever since the light bearers were discovered. The Catholics used light bearers in America as proof of holy powers, turning even those that refused to believe. Resources were dwindling, and the Hart family, distantly related to the main branch of the Ray family, was one of those that were against the use of light bearers in war. As light bearers were forcibly discovered and then shipped off for experimentation and training, even young children, more and more people began to try to rebel. But those in power, they saw the merit of these powers, using abilities not even guns could keep up with. This kind of advantage, why not try to press it? Japan wasn't the only one dealing with tyranny, America's Shoku was a certain man known as Roger Cross, and he held control tightly, abolishing elections under threat of the light bearers under his control.

War was most definitely brewing on the horizon. And so the higher ups decided to instill martial law to keep it's civilians under control as a response to insurgent activity in which rebels tried to attack light bearing facilities. It was kind of world where twin sisters Prisca and Essie grew up in, a harsh, frightening, and dangerous world.

First was the household issues. Essie, she was always a stunningly beautiful over achiever, charming and friendly, there was no one who didn't love her. Her shadow was Prisca, a shy quiet meek girl that while was liked, was clearly nowhere near as confident as the radiant Essie. The two girls were incredibly close throughout their lives, pledging each other as the other's most important, and with justified reason, of course. Their parents often fought - Harley Ray wanted to move to Japan and take in the newly orphaned Damian, to fulfill their duty as members of Sanctum, but Jared was always against the idea of introducing their children to the shadow war between Prometheus and Sanctum. With all the fighting, Prisca and Essie had no choice but to cling to one another for solace in their troubled younger days.

"Our sisterly love will last as long as this plastic rose lives!"

When the girls hit high school, their homeroom teacher, Patricia Burns, was impressed by their natural abilities and offered them invitations to the library school club. Needless to say, this club had nothing to do with libraries and everything to do with the spread of newly banned prohibited information, trying to teach and promote free speech and the idea of a world without war. Both girls were happy to learn and exchange these banned books with the other members of the Library Club, they felt as if this was their hope in a dangerous world where one wrong word would send black vans to your house to take you away, never to be seen again. Naturally, Essie befriended one of the more well read boys in the club, Callum Riggs, smart, clever, and darkly humorous, Prisca had a bad idea about him from the start. Yet one could say it was true love at first sight for Callum and Essie.

Life at home escalated of course with the finding that father returned home one night smelling like another woman's perfume. Harley Ray, who could no longer deal with all the troubles, decided that he was a bad influence on the house and reported him for sympathizing with the rebels. Jared Hart was taken away, never to be seen by his daughters again. A clever way to make someone disappear. So when the delinquent Callum kept trying to get Essie involved in actual vigilantism, to join the Freedom Fighters even if either sister was a light bearer, Prisca was always worried. Essie would always go to the fights, to help free the captive light bearers, and Prisca always feared that eventually, Essie would be caught, and worse, killed. And no matter how many times the sisters argued, Essie had already fallen in love with Callum, it was too late to convince her to stay away. Learning from her mother's path, Prisca decided to make her own decision, and became the snitch, ratting him out to the officials.

Needless to say, things got worse from here. Under torture, Callum revealed all about the Freedom Fighters trying to retake America and make it a democracy again, as well as the Library Club at the high school. A list of names was made, and then black vans came to take everyone away. Parents were shot trying to protect their children, a certain Hime used her influence to break Callum out and have him escape to Europe safely, but no one else managed to get away. Everyone involved was gathered in a room, and one by one they were suffocated with bags over their heads. Essie looked to Prisca before her bag was delivered, and one word was mouthed. Traitor. And naturally, Prisca was spared at the very end, allowed to live because she served her patriotic duty well. Her reward was to be made an experiment, to become an artificial light bearer to continue serving her country.

Prisca became a Martyr then, the first successful American-made light bearer. And with her new ability, she herself was turned into a child soldier, to fight for the country that stole everything away. Worst of all, she wasn't even allowed to die, the scientists all made sure that she never had the chance to end it all. This wasn't a reward at all, but a punishment, for snitching out everyone. Oddly enough, this act cemented America as a major power to stand against the New Japan's might after Emperor Ira Shoku defeated the Freedom Fighters and the HIVE. The two became the centerpieces of the war, and entire cities were turned into ruin as light bearers clashed with light bearers. In the end, the Yui of prophecy did something, breaking out of Shoku's control and in that final battle, she rained death down into the entire world, reducing everything to nothingness.

As for Prisca? Well, she found a certain girl during the final battle, going as Nemesis, one of the strongest under Shoku's power.. Prisca didn't stand a chance, she was going to join the dead very soon, keeping only a childhood keepsake, a reminder of her dead sister, the plastic rose. She was terrified yet also eager for a chance to apologize, and maybe she would have gotten it too, at least, if it wasn't for a fragment of the Goddess finding her and binding her soul to the rose in preparation for a new conflict...