The island of Mizuhana is a curious one. Coated by its unique, lavish, purple-tinged plantlife and creatures, Mizuhana earns its place among the Islands of Wonder.

Inhabitants of this island often develop a feature similar to that of the plant and wildlife, that being specks of purple in their eyes or streaks of purple in their hair. This, no doubt, is a direct result of the island's unique atmosphere—where the air is sweeter and the rain is always soft as it falls and gathers into the purple streams, where a gentle breeze makes the purple trees sing and white flashes of lightning give birth to new life. Hues of purple make up the island as a whole, an attribute granted to the island and its inhabitants from the composition of the island—the ground being infused with the rare gemstone taaffeite deep below the surface.

The people of Mizuhana have adopted a simple way of life, living in harmony with the island itself. Different herbs are used for medicine and cooking while other plant life is useful for building shelters and clothing. The various animals of Mizuhana, only ever used for sustenance and never for sport, work, or clothing, have a mutual respect with the native humans.

While the inhabitants of Mizuhana are just that—human—there is one girl who stands out among the village. Amari Kiyoko, with her lavender hair and amethyst eyes, has always felt a stronger connection to her island than most. Her father, Isamu Kiyoko, and her mother, Sakura Kiyoko, are skilled botanists who have devoted their life's work to studying the island's remarkable plantlife. Thanks to them as well as her own adventures throughout the island, Amari has more knowledge about Mizuhana than any living being—well, almost any living being.

Among the village lives the elder Emika. Viewed as the village's crazy lady due to her past as a pirate, none of the other villagers dare cross her path in fear of being cursed by her assumed wretched nature. Regardless of her past, Emika was born and raised on the island of Mizuhana and left her old ways behind to return to a life of peace on her home island. Instead, now she watches the village from afar in the comfort of her hut, waiting for something that has not yet been made known to the others.

.・。.・゜・.・・゜・。.

This morning is just like every other morning on Mizuhana. A soft glow emanates from around the island's plantlife as the sun begins to rise over the horizon. The songbirds sing their praises from their perches in the tall trees as the villagers begin to stir in their homes.

"Mira?" Sakura, Amari's mother, calls softly. She draws the drapery that divides Amari's her room from the rest of the hut back to find the small bed neatly made and sighs.

Her husband, Isamu, appears beside her and chuckles. "Always off on an adventure. Reminds me of someone I used to know." He smirks as he kisses the back of his wife's hand.

"She will be of age soon, 'Samu. She's begun no preparations for matching." Sakura stresses.

"She'll be fine, 'Kura. She is our daughter, after all." He smiles sweetly, earning a curt nod from the woman.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, rapid footsteps pound against the bare terrain of the island. Amari weaves in and out of the tall trees, racing against the sun as she approaches what's become her favorite spot on the island. She reaches a cliff that extends high above the sea of Paradise and slows herself to a stop.

As the sun begins to peek over the endless sea, Amari climbs the single tree of the cliff, sprouted much further from the rest of the forest. Once she reaches the top, sticking her head above the brush of the tree, she watches in awe as the golden sun illuminates everything in sight. Her whole life everything she's known has been different shades of purple or the purple-ish blue of the sea surrounding the island. The contrast in color of the golden sun mesmerizes her, which is why she races to admire it every morning.

The sun nestles itself in its place among the clouds and Amari sighs, knowing it's about time for her to head back to the village. She was sure she'd be in for another lecture from her mother about disappearing before dawn, it's become part of their daily routine now.

Amari climbs down from her tree, ignoring the bad feeling in her chest as she attributes it to anticipating another lecture. She begins walking back to the village, taking her time to admire the island around her and graze her hands along the overgrown plant life. The sound of a branch snapping reaches her ears and her heart starts to beat faster.

She quickly turns to look at her surroundings but can hardly see through the lush plant life. After taking a few moments to listen for any other movement she decides to continue on her way, but is pounced at by a black cougar before she fully turns around. Luckily for Amari, the cougar overestimates its jump and lands in front of her as the girl falls to the ground. Quickly turning to face it's prey, the cougar lowers it's head and begins to circle Amari.

Thoughts of worry and fear flood her mind. The cougar must be able to sense this within the girl, as it begins to close in on her. Amari's heart races and she clenches her fists, refusing to go down without a fight. As the cougar pounces on her once again, its aim is spot on and its strong jaws wrap around Amari's right forearm, which she raised in an effort to protect herself. To her surprise, she feels no pain. Her eyes open hesitantly to find the cougar only a few inches from her face with her arm still in its mouth. Upon seeing her arm, her eyes widen. A shiny black coating has covered her entire arm, almost like armor that's prevented the cougar's jaw from claiming her limb.

The cougar, now enraged, releases the girl's arm from its grip and pushes her back to the ground. Amari, seeing that her right arm is still coated in this mysterious solid armor, swings as hard as she can at the cougar. As her fist contacts the cougar's snarling face, the animal is sent forcefully against one of the tall trees surrounding them. The impact of the cougar against the tree causes it to creak as it falls to the ground.

Amari's eyes widen even more as she looks down at her arm. The shiny black coating seems to melt before her eyes, revealing her skin once again. She turns to the cougar, laid at the base of the fallen tree, to find that it's unconscious. Deciding that she may not have another stroke of luck, she dashes off in the direction of her village.

The village is carrying on as normal, everyone tending to their daily duties to keep the village and its people prosperous and healthy. Amari runs through the village in panic, causing confusion and earning concerned looks from everyone that she passes. Once she's inside her family's hut, she slams the door behind her and presses her back against it.

"Mira?" Sakura appears in front of her daughter. "Where have you been? Do you have any idea what time it is?" She begins to scold the young girl.

Isamu appears next, furrowing his eyebrows at the sight of his daughter. He moves between the mother and daughter to place a hand on Amari's cheek. "What happened to you?" He asks softly, noticing the scared and confused look in her amethyst eyes, which seem a few shades darker than they normally are.

There's a knock on the door, which suddenly alerts them to the unusual silence of the village outside of their home. Sakura glances at her husband in concern and Isamu moves the girl behind him with her mother. The father opens the door to reveal an old woman with white hair, slightly tanned yet wrinkly skin, and dark purple eyes that seem to be black at first glance. Those dark eyes travel to look behind the man, at the girl, and a wide smile creeps across her face.

Amari's eyes widen as a sense of power overcomes her. Her breathing quickens as she looks up at the older woman.

Whispers regarding the witch can now be heard from the villagers outside as rumors begin to spread like wildfire about the Kiyoko family.

"Elder Emika." Isamu addresses the woman. "It's been a while since anyone has seen you in the village. We were all beginning to wonder if you were still alive."

A stifled laugh escapes Emika's lips. "I've had no reason to make myself known." Her eyes look back to the girl. "Not until now."

Sakura clutches to Amari's silk dressing, now dirtied from her adventure, fearful of the old sea witch in the doorway.

"Oh come now, Sakura. It is below me to kidnap a child." Emika states. "Amari is almost of age, then she can make the decision for herself."

"What decision?" Sakura snaps at the old woman.

Emika raises an eyebrow as she averts her gaze to Isamu. "Still keeping secrets, I see?"

Sakura turns to face her husband. "Samu," she begins, "what is she talking about?"

Isamu takes a deep breath as he looks down at the old woman. He turns to face his wife and daughter before crouching to his daughter's level. "The day that you were born, there was a powerful force present. None of us knew what to make of the sensation as we have never faced such a power before." He explains. "Not knowing where else to turn, I became dependent on old pirate legends, desperate to find a cure or even a way to help tame the power inside of you—but to no avail." He sighs. "You have something within you, Amari. Something far more powerful than we are able to understand." He looks to the old woman. "Your grandmother has experience with this type of power as she also wields something of the sort."

Sakura's eyes widen as she looks at Emika, who has a smug grin on her face. Amari, on the other hand, is beyond confused. She shakes her head as she looks down at her hands. If it hadn't been for her experience in the forest moments ago she'd never believe a word of this.

"In seven days' time, when you become of age, you will be faced with a decision." Isamu continues, lifting Amari's head by her chin. "You can learn to tame this power within you, or you can let it die and pursue a normal life."

Sakura shakes her head. "She's not nearly old enough to make a decision of that sort." She exclaims.

Isamu sighs. "Yet at the same age she is ready to be married off?"

Sakura scoffs. She'd never heard her husband speak against her in that way.

Amari feels the power emanating within her and lifts her eyes tower the old woman once more. Emika offers nothing but a curt nod to the girl before turning away. Left with her thoughts, and too many at that, Amari shuts herself in her room to make sense of it all. She's not sure what's to come, how could she be? She'd always felt different, could this be the reason? Is this power what saved her in the forest earlier that day? If this truly is such an important decision, why has it been kept from her for so long?

Among all of the unknowns, there is one thing that Amari knows for sure. These next seven days are quite possibly going to be the most difficult days of her life.