It was a lovely, peaceful day in the city of Osaka, Japan. At the prestigious White Sakura Girls Dormitory, tomorrow is the final day of school before the start of the summer quarter. The students had just finished the school finals and are looking forward to spending the summer holidays of fun with their families.

On top of a hill overlooking Osaka, four young high school girls sat upon the soft green grass enjoying their activities. All the while, the orange sun above them began to sink low into the horizon, coloring the sky with beautiful shades of orange and purple.

One of them, a youthful blonde-haired girl, laid on the grass and gazed up at the fluffy clouds, watching them slowly drift past. 15-year-old Madison Kingsleigh is a polite, sweet and well-spoken girl who craves adventure and hates boredom. She is also imaginative and curious, eager to learn and explore the unknown.

18-year-old Anna Thatcher is determined, fierce, and extremely hot-blooded, but she is also a sweet, kind and loyal girl. However, being a former delinquent, she's still clearly a tough rebel at heart and doesn't let anybody tell her what to think and how to act. Even so, she possessed a heart of gold and cares deeply for her friends.

16-year-old Jodi Triton is possibly one of the nicest girls one could ever meet. She loves to learn about the world around her and is open-minded to many things. With fiery crimson hair, a sweet, loving, adventurous personality and a beautiful voice to boot, Jodi is appraised by both her father and her peers as a brilliant singer.

And lastly, there is 18-year-old black-haired Talia Nassar. Talia is the type of girl who likes to be practical and free. A dreamer who is beautiful, free-spirited, confident and kind, she is also feisty, strong-willed and defiant. She isn't afraid to speak her mind, nor will she hesitate to stand up for what she believes is right.

"So, you girls got any plans for summer fun?" Jodi asked. Anna shrugged casually. "Dunno." she said, scrolling through her phone. "If I could, I would go for a tour around Hong Kong, or possibly Shanghai."

"I hear that Shanghai is great during the summer. Of course, it can be hot, crowded and noisy there." Talia said. "Well, yeah. I know the streets can be quite crowded, but, hey, the food and the shops there are great." Anna replied, looking up from her phone.

She then turned to face Madison. "What're you gonna do this summer, Madison-chan? Got any plans?" Madison just sighed as she continued to stare up at the purple clouds, watching as they drifted across the orange sky.

"I don't really know. Aunt Helena and Uncle Edward are sometimes busy with the bakery." she replied. "If we have some time to plan a trip, we could either go visit Paris or Vienna. But you know something, girls. I've been thinking." Her three friends turned to look at her.

"Yeah? What've you been thinking about?" Anna asked curiously. "What if there's a world we can all escape to?" Madison said. "A world where nothing is quite as it seems. If we had a world of our own, everything would be nonsense." Anna scoffed. "Tch! As if I'd believe that." she said.

Madison turned to her friends. "Just picture it, girls: A brand new world where unexpected things happen," she said, a pensive, faraway look in her sky-blue eyes. "Wonderful, extraordinary, unexpected things."

"Careful there, Alice." Anna teased playfully. "Soon you'll be asking us to follow the white rabbit down that rabbit hole and we'll all end up in Wonderland." The girls all giggled. Madison then shrugged. "Maybe, but who knows?" she said. "Maybe there is a Wonderland...somewhere far, far away."

"Well, keep on dreaming, 'Alice'." Jodi said, smiling at Madison. "But, yeah. Who knows?" With that, the girls all went back to their activities. Once the sky grew darker, the girls saw that it was time to head back to their dorm.

They all packed up their things and went down the hill. "So, Talia-chan, how is your family doing back at home? Nothing terrible, I hope?" Madison asked as they walked down the path home. Talia let out a sigh. "Well, from what I heard from Father, tensions are running high in our country right now." she replied sadly.

Her friends all shared worried looks. "Women are being oppressed in the slums, street fights are still happening everywhere, some of them deadly. Father and the council are doing everything they can to keep things under control and ensure our people's safety." Talia continued.

"Gosh, I couldn't imagine that something big like that would happen." Anna remarked. Talia nodded. "I just hope war doesn't suddenly break out. It would be absolutely devastating if that happens." she said worriedly. Jodi patted her friend's shoulder sympathetically.

"Wars are ugly, and they can be pretty hard to avoid." she said. "But don't worry, Talia-chan. I'm sure things will turn out right in the end." Kira nodded. "Yeah. And if something like that does happen, we'll be right there to support you." she added.

"We can even send in some donations like clothing, food, shelter and medical aid. We can even raise money through a bake sale or something!" Madison cheerfully chimed in. "Whatever you need, Talia-chan, we'll help you though it." Talia looked at her friends and smiled gratefully.

She felt truly lucky to have good friends such as them. "Thank you, girls. I really appreciate your offer." she said. "Hey, what are friends for?" Anna replied. She then stretched her arms and folded her hands behind her head.

"I wonder what we're gonna have for dinner tonight." Jodi wondered as they strolled through the busy streets of Osaka. "Not "Shepherd's Pie" again. I can't stand those little green things in the mash. They look like bunny droppings." Anna said in disgust. Madison giggled. "Dried peas are not that bad. They're healthy." she said.

Before long, the four girls arrived at a quiet, vacant street. There were a few houses with no cars and there was a single traffic light hanging on a post. The traffic light was now red. The girls stopped on the sidewalk. Even though there weren't any cars coming, they decided to play it safe.

As the light turned green and the girls started to cross the street, they suddenly heard a strange clopping sound. The girls all stopped in their tracks and listened. "Did you girls hear that?" Madison asked. Everyone paused.

As they listened, they could hear the faint clopping sound approaching behind them. "What's that sound?" Jodi asked. "Don't know." Anna replied as she held her hand to her ear. ...Clip, clop...clip, clop...! "Hold on. It sounds like... horse's hoofbeats." she said, raising an eyebrow. "Huh? Horses?" Madison asked.

Sure enough, the clattering of horse's hoofbeats drew closer to them, followed by loud, sharp neighs. "But where did the horses come—?" Jodi didn't finish her sentence for two jet-black horses suddenly emerged from the shadows.

The two horses galloped towards the girls, then they neighed loudly as they stopped and reared up on their hind legs. "Wha-?!" Madison gasped as she and the other three girls backed away in fear. The black horses wore harnesses and were pulling what seemed to be a large, old-fashioned, four-wheeled glass carriage.

The girls had no idea where the two horses came from or how they got here. Before they could ponder any further, three more glass carriages, each pulled by a pair of jet-black horses, suddenly emerged from the darkness and galloped towards them, neighing loudly.

Before any of the girls could question what was happening before them, the horses all suddenly charged towards them. The four girls tried to run out of the way, but their bodies somehow felt heavy and the world around them suddenly grew hazy. There was a sudden crash, then everything around them went black.

Darkness. There was absolute darkness. Nothing but darkness within miles. The girls couldn't even tell if their eyes were open or not, nor if this was just a dream. They were floating in the daunting depths of inky darkness as if they were underwater. No sense of gravity whatsoever.

As much as they wanted to move, somehow, they couldn't. In fact, they couldn't even feel their bodies. It was as if their own souls had left them. "Where...are we...?" they all wondered. "What's going on...?"

None of them knew what was happening. Suddenly, seven bright specks of colorful light pierced through the darkness. Red, gold, lavender, orange, purple, blue and green. They all swirled around their limp bodies, sparkles trailing behind them.

"Ah... My dear beloved," a deep, haunting voice suddenly echoed through the darkness, "my noble and beautiful flower of evil. You are the fairest in the land." Suddenly, the four girls found themselves in a dark, mysterious room filled with floating ornate coffins. Then a bright green light caught their attention.

The girls all turned their heads to see a large, decorative framed mirror appear in front of them. They couldn't see their own reflections, but they saw bright green flames flicker within the mirror.

"—Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most..." the mysterious voice continued. As the girls watched, they saw the flames disappear, replaced by a hazy image in the mirror. As the image became clearer, they saw eight black horses in a forest, neighing and kicking up dirt and stone.

All the while, they were pulling four baroque glass carriages that bore an eerie resemblance to funeral carriages. Sure enough, inside each of the four glass carriages were black ornate coffins, on their way to meet their fate.

"—Those who guided by the Dark Mirror." the haunting voice said. "As long as your heart desires, take the hand that appears in the mirror." The image then faded to black, and an unknown pale clawed hand suddenly emerged from within the mirror.

It was outstretched as if beckoning the girls to take it. The four girls hesitated, unsure if this is a good idea or not. "Flames that incinerate even the stars, ice that imprisons even time, the great trees that engulf even the skies," the strange voice continued. "Fear not the power of darkness. Now—demonstrate thy powers."

As the girls watched, the scene before them suddenly changed. Before they knew it, the girls saw a large, towering creature standing before a crowd of hooded figures. The monster looked like an enormous black cat with a mane of tentacles, two large bat wings and a cobra head for a tail.

The four girls watched in horror as the monster viciously breathed out giant blue flames towards the hooded figures. The hooded people retaliated and fought back, wielding what seemed to be magical pens and firing their magic at the monster.

"For me. For them. For you. We are all running out of time. No matter what, never let go of my hand—" the voice said as the scene disappeared, replaced by the pale clawed hand still outstretched towards the girls. With little other choice, the four girls reluctantly placed their hands upon the outstretched clawed hand.

As they did, they all felt a sudden painful jolt course through their souls and once more, the world around them went black as they slipped back into unconsciousness.

Welcome to the World of Villains.