Kyoto, Japan. - 2002 (Heisei-Era)

A house deep hidden in a forest on a small hill beneath a temple probably build in the Edo-Era long long time ago. Beautiful and breathtaking in its height and design. Decorated with sculptures of Kitsunes that shall protect this mighty place from demons. Framed by beautiful green colored and strong trees that seem like reaching the sky and melt together with the clouds and the light blue ceiling. 

This house was owned by an old couple who were protecting and taking care of the temple in front of their small but still comfortable living space. 

This couple had a son called Hyuk who was living in Tokyo with his wife and their almost five years old daughter named Ara.
 
They loved Ara, their beloved and only grand daughter, their pride and honour. A girl whose story had been written and told long time ago to many girls before her time. Ara had been destinied to take a path that had been tried to hidden years over years. 

It was something only female desecendants had been fated with, though with every moon circle the destinied one changed. This moon circle had chose the desecendant of the Jang clan. One of the grand four clans that had been well-known as the concubines of the Yokai Lords. According to a legend those creatures were living deep in a forest far behind Kyoto. 

This very legend also describes a love story between a human and a Yokai Lord. 

Long time ago a princess called Rin Hime whose beauty hadn't been able to be described with words fell in love with a man called Han. But Han kept a secret, he was a Yokai and as if it wouldn't have been enough of a burden he was the Lord of the Kitsunes. Oh Han never told his grand love Rin about his origin and tried to hide it. 

He somehow married her and lived a peaceful life with her in a small cottage deep in a dark forest. But with time the power of his clan started to vanish. One day after a fight with the clan of the Inugami Han had been injuried, losing too much of blood he asked his wife to give him some. After drinking it his injuries immediately healed.
 
Han who realized that his wife had celestial power decided to let his clan also profitate from her healing and strengthening blood. But what he didn't knew was that as many people drank Rin's blood as weaker she got. 

As Rin and Han were expecting their first child the woman got weaker and weaker as days passed by. During the pregnancy the child had been nourishing throughout the blood of his mother and after giving birth to him Rin died out of blood loss. 

The Lord who had been deeply in love with his wife never get over her loss and forbate his clan to get friends with human. He didn't allowed his descendants to fall in love with a female of the other side. 

But the clan of the Kitsune hadn't been the only one. Moon for moon each Lord of the grand clans fell in love with a female human who had celestial power and each time they died giving birth to their child. A circle build. 

The Yokai Lords who realized that this had to have connection came to the conclusion that every Lord is destinied to get a female human that will gift his clan with power and strength but her force wouldn't last for eternity. Only until a child is born she will be able to serve under the Lord and guard his clan. They named this human Crystal of Life and recorded this down on their mighty book the Immortal Record.

This went on for thousands of decades until the clan of the Bakeneko and Tengu decided to burn the pages which described the Crystal of Life. And with this the history between Yokai and human somehow disappeared and the meaning of the Crystal of Life, too. 

But human also had had learned; in their eyes the malicious and scary Yokai stole female after bewitching them while shaping into the figure of an attractive young man. Little did they know that it wasn't the fault of Yokai neither the fault of the girls. It was a connection destinied to be between these creatures and human. 

Four clans in the world of human; the Nara clan, the Kang clan, the Gong clan and also the Jang clan were destinied to be the celestial being Yokai chose as their mate. 

Throughout the years the once true story turned into an old Japanese fairytale grandmothers tell their granddaughters. 

''Baa-Baa are there really Yokai?''
The woman in her late fourties softly chuckled at the question of her granddaughter who obviously seemed fascinated by the tale she had told her. 

''Well, some say that the Yokai still live among us Ara-Chan!'', she told the honey eyed small girl whose eyes seemed to get even larger at the answer of her grandmother. 

''Then I will find them!'', Ara said and lifted herself up from her beloved Baa-Baa's lap incase to go out and search for the mystical creatures. 

But her grandmother holded her firmly in place while chuckling at the way Ara-Chan was struggling to loosen her grip. 

''Oba-San!'', she cried. 

''My my; it is too late and too dark outside. Even if you would meet one you wouldn't be able to see one. Now you have to go to bed and tomorrow you can search them, alright?''

Even though the small Ara didn't liked the idea of her grandmother she nodded and soon she had fallen in a deep slumber in the cozy chest of Baa-Baa who was softly shaking her. 

''Oka-San, stop telling Ara these tales.''

The woman in her late fourties smiled at her son before she softly chuckled and brushed through the hair of her granddaughter who had fallen asleep on her chest: ''These tales, how you call them Hyuk-ah are a part of our history and culture. You shoul pay respect.''

Hyuk only sighed realizing that his mother would hold onto these fairytales she had got told by her own grandmother long long time ago: ''At least she fell asleep.'' 

''She is probably dreaming.'', she told and smiled while allowing Hyuk to take his daughter who let out a soft sigh at the shifting of her position. 

The man in his late twenties had to put in more force as usual in case to not drop his princess. Taking the stairs he turned to the left side and gently placed Ara on the double bed they would share tonight. He took a deep breath while pulling the blanket over her and smiled sadly before he breathed a kiss over her small forehead and laid himself down on the other half. 

''Ara-yah is growing fine Nara!'', he whispered to himself and turned to left watching the five years old girl sleeping peacefully. 

''You resemble your mother a lot, you know!'', he said before smiling and deciding to change into his sleeping attire. 

Kyoto, Japan. - 2006 (Heisei-Era) 

''Appa!'', a small girl was crying while she was sitting on the big apple tree. 

''Appa!'', she once more cried but somehow her father wasn't able to hear her and so the girl kept on losing tears of desperation and fear as she was shakingly sitting on the tree she had climbed on just seconds ago. 

Her eyes once again eyed the floor and after realizing how far she had gotten away from the floor she hugged the trunk as if it would have been her source of life in that moment. She bit her lip, still tears rolling down her cheeks and silently sighing. She only had wanted to get the cat which had been climbing on the tree. 

The cat had disappeared but she was sitting here wanting her father who would help her to get down. If he would come just fast. 

''Are you stuck there?'', someone loudly asked making Ara stop crying and search for the owner of the male voice. Realizing that he wasn't somewhere on the tree the eight years old girl finally dared to look downwards. 

An older boy was watching her with a concerned gaze. Seeing him Ara didn't dared to speak anymore, she was somehow afraid by the stranger she had never seen before in the garden of her grandparents. 

''Hey, little girl!'', he once more called and smiled as he spotted Ara who was shyly looking in his direction. 

''Wait I am going to help you!'', he said and as fast as he had spoke the sentence as fast he had been sitting next to Ara on the tree. A couple of minutes later she had been back on the floor. 

She had been reaching for air making the boy smile at her and somehow think that she was such an adorable child, she would get beautiful when she would grow up. 

''T-Thank you!'', she mumbled. 

He had once more smiled before kneeling down in her height gently patting Ara's head: ''No problem