Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Mana, it's story, or any of it's characters.

The Era's End

Prologue

Nine centuries ago, the Mana Tree burned to ashes. The Power of Mana lived on inside Mana stones, enchanted instruments, and artifacts. Sages fought with each other for control of these last remnants of Mana.

Then after hundreds of years of war, as the power of Mana began to wane, those who sought it grew scarce, and the world returned to peace.

After that, mankind grew afraid to desire. Their hearts filled with empty emotions, and grew estranged from my hands. They turned their eyes away from my infinite power, and were troubled by their petty disputes.

Remember me!

Need me! I can provide you with everything!

I am love.

Find me, and walk beside me.

The Goddess of Mana cried. The people of Fa'Diel, her own creations, no longer loved her or sought her. They thought of her as the cause of their petty troubles, and they had turned their backs towards her.

The Mana Tree, the beacon of light which the world had been created from, would be restored by a hero when the Era came to a close. The Era's end was nigh. Whether the world would turn to wickedness and hate or to love and light would depend on the actions of this hero.

Pokeihl, the Bird and Poet who also happened to be one of the Seven Wisdoms of Fa'Diel, sat on a rock where the Mana Tree once stood. He was a very colorful bird with a large, wide brimmed hat on his head. He held a piece of paper and a piece of ash in his feather-covered hands. He was writing a poem of the Mana Goddess's pleas.

After a while he set them down. He looked at the sky and smiled. He then took a mailbox out of his bag. The mailbox was small and easily fit in one of his hands. It looked like a white house with a red roof, a bell, and wings. It buzzed with the power of Mana.

"I hope our creation will suffice, Goddess." He said. He then said a simple spell before throwing it at the sky.

Instead of falling back to the ground, the mailbox seemed to take flight, and soon it was lost in the sunset.

Back on the ground, Pokiehl tipped his hat to the out-of-sight artifact.

"Good luck, hero."

Chapter I

Home

Vincynt opened his eyes for the first time. He wasn't entirely sure how he knew his name; he just knew it was Vincynt. He was lying down on a bed. How did I get here? He thought. He looked around. The room he was in was simple. It had a chair, a table, a cactus in a pot in the corner, and a bench underneath a window which had sunlight flowing freely from it. He heard birds coming from outside, though he wasn't quite sure what a bird was. He quickly got up and looked in the mirror next to his bed. He yelled and fell on the ground when he saw someone looking back at him. He hit his head on a chair and was knocked unconscious.

"Master?" said a small, high pitched voice. Vincynt groggily started to open his eyes. He saw something green and pink looking down on him. His vision was still blurry.

"Who're you..?" someone asked. Who is talking? He asked himself.

"Master! You gotta get up! Why are you on the floor?" asked the same high pitched voice. Vincynt's vision cleared. The cactus that had been in the corner of the room was looking down at him with a worried face.

"What…?" the other voice asked sleepily. Vincynt realized with a start that it was him speaking. He sat up and quickly got a case of vertigo. He dizzily laid down once more. "Where am I?" he asked once the room stopped spinning. The cactus smiled.

"You're home, Master. Go to your bed and rest, now."

A few weeks later, Vincynt was still getting accustomed to being. He slowly began exploring his house in the first week, and in the second week even ventured outside. He saw that his house consisted of two floors which had his room, a dining and sitting room, and a study. His house was built on the roots of a large tree, so animals were all over.

Outside there was a path leading into the forest that surrounded his house. There was a small corral on one side of the house with no animals. Vincynt found that he liked being outside, so he spent most of his days there.

Soon, Vincynt was able to recognize himself in the mirror which had frightened him so bad that first day. He was a tall, young man with curly golden hair and big, light green eyes. He estimated that he was about seventeen.

One day he found a sword in the study. Once when he was outside, he took it out of its scabbard. He found that he knew exactly how to use it. He then began practicing with it everyday.

Soon, life became normal, and Vincynt found that he was becoming good at this existing thing.

Vincynt woke, dressed himself in simple clothes, and washed his face. He grabbed his sword and stepped outside. It was a bright morning and the sun was shining brightly. He smiled and walked out on his front lawn.

He then noticed a little fellow walking up his path. Since the cactus, which he had named Li'l Cactus, had told him that there were other places and people out in the world beyond his home, he was only a little frightened by this stranger. It stood only two feet from the ground, and it was made entirely out of leaves. It had a very childish face, and it beamed when it saw Vincynt. It ran up to him.

"I'm a Sproutling!" it said when it reached Vincynt.

"Umm…Nice to meet you." Vincynt said quietly. The Sproutling still had a look of joy on it's face.

"The world can be shaped by your imagination! Did you know that?" What an odd creature! thought Vincynt.

"I'm not sure what you mean…I…guess?" The Sproutling squealed in delight at his answer. Then it promptly looked inside it's bag and gave Vincynt some colored blocks.

"This," it began "is the town of Domina." Vincynt looked at the blocks in his hand.

"I-I don't understand. I've heard of towns; they're supposed to be big. How can this be a town?" The Sproutling just smiled.

"Just use your imagination!" It said. The little creature then turned around and sat on his lawn. Vincynt was very puzzled. He put the blocks in his side satchel and went to practice using his sword.

When the tree he used for practicing his sword techniques on was threatening to fall down and sweat was rolling down his back, he called it a day.

The sproutling remained in his yard for the entirety of the day. He tried on several occasions to talk to the little guy, but it would merely smile at him.

When sunset was drawing to a close and darkness was creeping along the lines of the horizon, Vincynt went inside. He sat at his table and sharpened his sword with a whetting stone until it gleamed with sharpness. He sat it aside and was about to get himself something to eat when he felt power coming from his side satchel. He reached inside it and found that the source of the power was the colored blocks the sproutling had given him.

"How can this be a town..?" he scoffed. His answer came suddenly, for when he held the blocks in his hand he saw just that; a town. It was a simple town where every roof was thatched; people milled and conversed with one another, two performers entertained near a fountain, and a mail pelican walked about in the outskirts. It teemed with simplicity, but happiness and calmness.

Vincynt came back to his sense as suddenly as it happened. He found himself on the floor sweating and shaking like he had just run a few miles sprinting. He slowly sat up. He looked at the blocks now on the floor. They still buzzed with energy, but not quite as strongly. He looked around. No one was there to see him collapse.

"What…just happened?" He asked himself, expecting no one to answer. He jumped in complete shock when someone did.

"That is Domina. What you just saw." said a deep voice behind him. He grabbed his newly sharpened sword and wheeled around. Standing inside the door was the brightly colored bird he has been seeing in his reoccurring dreams.

"Who're you?" Vincynt asked, keeping a firm grip on his sword. The tall bird laughed.

"I mean you no harm, young human. My name is Pokiehl. I am a Wisdom. I'm here to help you start your quest." Vincynt was still a little skeptic, but he lowered his sword.

"My quest…?" Vincynt inquired. Pokiehl shook his head.

"Nay. I cannot tell you about your quest. That is for you to find out. I am merely here to help you start it." Pokiehl walked into the center of the room. He continued to look at him.

"You may walk any direction from this house, it matters not. You will come to a stone. You will know what to do when you come to that stone. I wish you the best of luck." He then tipped his large hat and, with a ripple of power, he vanished. Vincynt tried to stop him.

"Wait! I don't understand! Come back!" But he was already gone.

After a moment of frustration a shock, he went upstairs to get ready for bed, all appetite gone. Li'l cactus was still awake.

"Hello, master!" he chirped happily. After all the weirdness that happened that day, he found comfort that the small plant was still the same.

"Hello, Li'l cactus. Crazy day today." The cactus quivered in excitement and folded its arms underneath it's head, showing that it was clearly listening. Vincynt chuckled and told the cactus all about the day, putting a lot of detail on the sproutling, the blocks that happened to be a town, and the strange visitor.

"So, tomorrow, I'll walk down my path into the forest and just keep going. Maybe I will run into that rock. If not, I'll come back and forget what happened today." With that said, Vincynt changed into his night clothes, crawled into his bed, and listened to the night sounds.

"Goodnight, Master." said Li'l cactus quietly from across the room.

"'Night." It was not long before Vincynt drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

When dawn broke over Fa'Diel, Vincynt awoke. After stretching and washing his face, he put his sword in a simple scabbard, then on a simple belt. He put on comfortable traveling clothes and his red hat which kept his thick hair out of his eyes. He grabbed his satchel and grabbed a small blanket and some rope to put in it, because though Vincynt didn't know much about the world he figured that rope was a good thing to bring. He also put the colored blocks in the satchel. Satisfied that he had mostly what he needed from his room, he went to walk downstairs.

"I'll miss you, Master." said a quiet, small voice from behind him. Vincynt turned around.

"I'll be back before you know it. I bet I'll also have quite the story to tell too." The little cactus smiled before promptly falling back to sleep.

When he went downstairs, Vincynt gathered some non-perishable foods and a few small containers of fresh water. He then looked around his home one more time and decided that he should take some money. He took a few coins out of the bowl by the fireplace, which contained 100 coins of the currency called Lucre. Or, at least, that's what the cactus called it. Vincynt wasn't so sure, but he trusted Li'l cactus, so he pocketed it and left his home.

The morning air was nice and warm and the sun was bright. Vincynt was not surprised to see the Sproutling still walking around on his front lawn. It merely smiled when Vincynt walked past it. At the end of the path, Vincynt stopped to calm his nerves, took a deep breath, blew it out through his mouth, and walked into the world outside of his safe home.