In a nameless land lies two empires: the Flame Empire and the Snow Empire. The two empires are at war, fighting each other every day for supremacy. They both make themselves stronger by gathering new troops; while the Flame Empire hires people with skills, the Snow Empire raids villages and abducts children to raise them as soldiers. When the Snow Empire raids their village, siblings Popi and Hiro Sakura plotted to escape along with their "siblings," which consists of ten orphans. However, this resulted in the orphans getting frozen and Hiro sacrifices himself so his sister can escape safely. Four years later, Popi is now the Pyro super soldier under the name of Celica, who finds herself fighting alongside the Flame Empire. Meanwhile, Hiro is alive and is now a soldier for the Snow Empire, but he has a desire to find his sister.
Characters
Popi Sakura: A sixteen-year-old girl with shoulder-length red hair, pale skin, and golden eyes. As children, she, her brother Hiro, and their so-called siblings attempted to escape when their village was attacked by the Snow Empire, but the children were frozen in the act and Hiro sacrificed himself for Popi's freedom. She is later taken in by the Flame Empire and ended up becoming the titular Pyro soldier called Celica. As Celica, she can fight with flames and can use them to form weapons, mainly a sword or a pair of fans. She is stubborn, defensive, and hot-headed, but she is kind and caring when it comes to children and other people she knows. The incident four years ago also left her vengeful and afraid of losing a loved one. However, her desire for vengeance begins to lessen when she discovers that her brother is alive.
Hiro Sakura: Popi's older brother who is a year older than her. He has disheveled brown hair, fair skin, and gold eyes. He and Popi attempted to escape their village when the Snow Empire attacked, but the plan failed and he sacrificed himself for his sister's freedom, resulting in him losing his right arm. But then, he was saved by the Snow Empire and their scientists and was forced to live under their care for the next four years. As a Snow Soldier, Hiro is skilled with physical combat and swordsmanship; his prosthetic arm enhances his strength and speed. The incident four years ago left him apathetic, but he fondly remembers Popi and yearns to retrieve her, intending to go home with her. When he finds his sister, he is relieved, knowing she is safe with the Flame Empire.
Isidore Frey: A seventeen-year-old boy with blond hair, fair skin, and brown eyes. He is a young rookie soldier working for the Flame Empire, but he is too shy to go into battle head-on. During a mission, Isidore was saved by Popi when he was falling from a frozen building and has since developed a crush on her. Isidore is a skilled swordsman and he is known for his agility. Despite this, he is socially awkward and is somewhat cowardly; he occasionally berates himself for his weakness. However, he is comfortable around the children who are training to be Flame Soldiers.
Olwen Emberton: A sixteen-year-old girl with dark gray hair tied in the back with a yellow ribbon, slightly tanned skin, and green eyes. She is the fourth child of the Emberton family and the youngest princess of the Flame Empire. For most of her childhood, she has been kept inside the palace, but nowadays, she would sneak out to fight against the Frost Empire and their Snowni (snow-like monsters that were developed by the Frost Empire). Olwen is compatible with a scythe and a rabbit-like mech suit called Alice 500. She tends to be sneaky and mischievous, but she does care for the welfare of her people. She idolizes her elder sister Lavender, who is the empress of the Flame Empire. She has a friendly rivalry with Popi, playfully competing against her for praise from the Flame Empire.
Neon Blue: A nineteen-year-old young man with cyan hair tied in a short ponytail, fair skin, and orange eyes. He is the leader of the Flame Empire's Pyro Unit, which consists of their flame-based super soldiers. As a Pyro, Neon can create flames and can form weapons like swords and spears. As the leader of the Pyro Unit, he is dauntless and has a strong sense of justice. He also cares deeply for Popi and tends to treat her like a younger sister. When he meets Hiro, he and the latter initially don't trust each other until later on.
Lady Snowdrop: An eighteen-year-old young woman with bluish-white hair, tanned skin, and blue eyes. She is a Snow Soldier from the Snow Empire who poses as Hiro's companion; she has a crush on him. Known for her ruthless fights with soldiers from the Flame Empire, she is considered to be intimidating. Snowdrop owns a crossbow that can shoot arrows made of ice and is powerful with her kicks. She is cold-hearted and quiet, but she begins to become more sociable as the story progresses. She is considered as Popi's nemesis, but the tension between them will lessen as the story progresses. Lady Snowdrop is an alias; her real name is Carole.
Preview
March 16, 21XX
Mother once told me there was a balance in life. Your life will be filled with both good and bad luck. You will win a game, but you will lose too. You make mistakes, but you learn from them. You will lose friends and loved ones, but you will learn to move on and make new ones. Life is about imperfection, Mother once told me. Not everything will go as you wanted, but you must realize that the best thing you can do is to keep going. It's not an easy thing to do. I learned that the hard way. I admit Mother wasn't wrong...
I lost my family long ago. I was taken from my home. I lost everything, I thought. I was broken, but I was reborn four years ago as Celica. But here I am now, on a plane with my fellow Pyros flying to the venue of today's new mission. I wonder what is it this time.
Oh, wait. I already know what it is. It's the damn Frost Empire and their stupid Snowni monsters or whatever. I'm sure going to have a good time today...
