Chapter 1 Echo's Origins
The sound of the school bell could be heard for a few blocks in the small modern town. Swarms of teenagers came rushing out of the school doors, completely filling the streets to try and get home. There was only one exception to this description, one girl that always stayed on the roof of this school, watching the masses of people run throughout the street.
"Hehe. They always look like ants down there." she mutters, biting off a piece of a pork bun put in her lunch by her uncle.
This special girl goes by the name of Echo Korrin, a Junior in her high school. She has light brown hair, reaching her lower back. Her skin is tan, but is paler than most. Right now, she's wearing a dark blue tank-top under a white cardigan sweater, which was part of the girl's school uniform. The other part included a knee-length black skirt, but she luckily can go without wearing it as long as she wears the sweater.
She tends to be very kind, even if she has no sense of modesty when it comes to other people. Echo always says what she thinks of people, unless she's told not to by her uncle. Her uncle's name is Chace, Echo's dad's big brother. He has raised her ever since she was the age of 5. Echo had apparently gotten into an accident with her parents, killing them both and making her lose any memories before the incident.
After being in the hospital for at least two months to heal, the incident luckily only left her with two big scars, one on her right shoulder, going from her back to collar bone, and one wrapping around the back of her left ankle. It may have been over 10 years since the accident, but not a single memory has come back to her, no matter what she's tried. It also doesn't help that her uncle had the two of them move to a completely different state once Echo was out of the hospital, and he how he never talks about the accident.
"Whelp, better get moving." Echo muttered, swallowing the last of her pork bun.
Rising to her feet, Echo walked across the concrete ground of the roof, her bright neon blue hightops making the only noise she focused on. Before reaching the door, Echo suddenly turned on her heel and began running towards the edge of the roof and, once at the edge...she jumped off. One more detail about Echo, she can't stand doing things normally.
She'd always find a way to take things through her own course. She never could explain it, but Echo just loves the rush it gave her everyday. Just like right now, free-falling off the roof, she began her usual 'routine'. It starts off by Echo slowing herself down by grabbing a branch of the closest tree, leading to her jumping from branch to branch to get down. Then it finally ends with her purposely landing in the fountain in front of the school. It luckily only ever reaches just below her knees.
"And she sticks the landing!" Echo exclaimed, making a triumphant pose with her hands in the air. Before she could continue celebrating, a familiar feeling of a sandal smacking her on the back of her head interrupted her.
"You must really have a death wish huh?" A rough deep voice said behind Echo's back.
Tilting her head back, Echo could now see the familiar sight that is her Uncle Chace. He stands at exactly 6 feet tall, having a muscular build with dark skin, and has a constantly shaved head even though he has a beard similar to lumberjack's. He's
"Hehe, sorry Uncle Chace. And no, I plan on living for a bunch of years." Echo replied with a laugh. On that happy note, Chace grabbed Echo's collar and began dragging her to his truck.
"And that's why I'm gonna die too soon." Chace said with a sigh.
Echo simply snickered as she was being dragged along. Once near the truck, Echo jumped into the bed instead of actually getting into the truck. Letting out a chuckle, Chace got into the truck to take her home. Seeing how this happened everyday, most people in the town knew Echo. They lived closer to edge of town, but their how was actually bigger than most. Her Uncle Chace runs one of the most popular dinners in town, Echo even has a part time job there.
Throughout all of this, with Echo being happy and satisfied, there was only one thing that Echo simply couldn't get over. An abandoned house, a single one practically falling apart on a hill close to the river in the town. No one would or could say why, but no one was ever allowed to go near it. Echo's uncle was more serious about that rule than anyone in town, but he would never say why. But, today just felt more different than others, so Echo decided to do something more...'risky' than anything else she would do...
In the complete dead of night, the moon and stars giving off the majority of the light, Echo snuck out of her room to head to the abandoned house. Even if she could never explain, Echo only needs a matter of seconds to be able to find spots to hide or take cover. Anyway, it didn't take long for Echo to reach the house. Finding the window with the loosest boards covering it, she pried off the majority of the boards. She crawled through the now open window to get inside.
Inside, the wooden floor boards were all completely rotten, holes in almost half of them. Besides the one she crawled through, all of the other windows were either sealed completely or were broken through. The walls were covered in what remains of some blue wallpaper. There was what remained of a small staircase, but any steps above 3 feet were gone. Basic furniture, a cut up couch, chair, and a desk was all that was inside.
"Huh, so this is the so called forbidden house." Echo muttered, stepping inside.
Looking around to see any other secrets, she spotted one thing. A doorway, just barely opened. Watching her foot to avoid stepping on any weak parts of the floor, Echo was able to reach the door, to find that it was slightly stuck. Using enough force, she was able to get into the room. Inside, it wasn't like any other part of the house. This room had no floor, only ground, the walls were perfectly intact, and there were no windows. Only one thing was inside the room...a mirror.
The mirror stood at 6 feet tall, the rim holding it completely white, almost appearing to give off a glow without any light even coming into the room. The mirror didn't even have legs, it was like the whole thing came out of the ground. Echo noticed that the mirror wasn't exactly showing a reflection of anything, the glass seemed to covered from the inside.
"A mirror? Why would it be just left here, and intact of all things." Echo said, all the while approaching the mirror.
Even as she felt some cold and dark feeling coming form it, curiosity possessed her reach out and touch the mirror. When only one of her fingers only grazed the mirror's face, the feeling grew even more. Unfortunately, her entire hand now laid on the mirror before noticing ripples appearing all over the reflective surface.
"What the-! I-I can't let go! What's going on!?" Echo exclaimed, scrambling to move away in any direction.
Sadly, it was too late for her to run, and that notion sunk in for Echo as she saw a light beginning to erupt from the mirror. Before losing consciousness, the last thing she remembered was the feeling of being thrown back by some strong force.
Darkness...the wails of unholy creatures...freezing cold coming from all around...
"Help! I can't look away!"
Echo's eyes snapped open, her whole body shooting up in the process. However, pain suddenly coursed through her body, one unlike she's ever felt. It was enough for her to shut her eyes again and shiver.
"Damn, my head. What happened?" Echo groaned.
"Last thing I remember is touching that stupid mirror." Echo thought, cracking open one eye as she scratched the back of her head, however, that caused panic replaced any signs of pain as she took in her surroundings.
Instead of the old rotting insides of the abandoned home, she actually found herself inside what looked like a massive leather and cloth tent, arrows and bows lined up along the walls. Looking down at herself, Echo now panicked at the sight of the clothes she wore. Instead of her pjs, sneakers, and jacket, all she had now was a set of leather armor which seemed vaguely familiar. Scrambling to her feet, Echo patted herself down, seeing how her entire body was now unfamiliar to herself.
"What the hell?! Why am I wearing armor, why am I taller...do I have elf ears?!" Echo panicked, just feeling her ears.
Finding something that gave a reflection, being a sword in this case, she took in her new appearance. Her hair was now pure white, somehow being perfectly wavy while reaching her hips. Echo's eyes now were ruby red and a simple tattoo of multiples lines coming from the corner of her right eye and ear all joining at the jaw line under her right cheek.
"No way, did I...j-just become...an elf?"
