chioNightcross here, and this is the first story i'm posting to this site, so i hope you guys enjoy it! To be honest, the idea I had here come up while I was reading Titania and the Hunter, recommendation by the way, good story! Anyway This story came about while I was reading that story, along with some ideas I had floating through my head about something like this for awhile. I'm not going to spoil anything as to what's going on in the future, but I will say that i'm excited to hear from people about what they think with this!

Anyway, On with the story!

The stinging. She could still feel it no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. The stinging from the whips that the men had hit her with after she kicked one of them in the groin. The pain of the same man punching her in the stomach, the blood she had coughed up not to long afterwards. The pain her feet felt after having to step on several sharp stones while being pushed forwards. Stinging once more hitting when she felt a splinter in her foot. The pain of all the lashes and bruises in general making her wince ever step, but she refused to cry out in pain.

Fresh tears clung to her eyes, though she refused to let them fall, even as she was forced into a cage along with another child that was right beside her. It hurt more then anything to remember her parents yelling at her to run, before the loud scream echoed through the house she had been living in with them. She could still feel the bruises of when they first grabbed her, the large hands digging into her arms and the back of her neck, and the pain of when she was thrown into a wall.

Unsteadily getting to her feet by using her bruised up hands, the girl quickly fell on her face when her arms failed her. She tried again with the same results, and it wasn't until the 3rd time that someone touched her shoulder to try and help her up. The touch was more than enough for the girl to let out a surprised sound, before she clawed at the hand.

"Careful now, I'm not here to hurt you." An old voice spoke up causing the girl's eyes to snap up toward the owner. Her pupils shrunk in pure fury at the man, her whole being showing that she wasn't registered anything but to fight as hard as she could. So she did as such, her hands continuing to claw at his.

The old man had a kind smile on his face, even as a bit of blood started to leave his hands. The wounds weren't deep, he'd had much worse before, but that wasn't his worry at the moment. Careful setting his other hand on the girl, even as she thrashed around more, the yells of primal rage coming from her leading to a few more wounds on the old man's body. Even then, he still didn't let her go, until he started to channel magic into his hands, the slight green light being enough to cause the girl to stop thrashing about, even as she felt her wounds closing.

Eventually the relief of her wounds disappearing was enough for the girl to slump in the man's arms, the toll of the day causing her to fall in unconscious in his arms. The fact that she had been fighting so hard was the only thing that had the old man worried. If she was that rebellious now, then he was worried about how she would be when she became older, especially when she was finally forced to work. It worried the old man more than he was willing to admit, especially when the girl was so young as it was.

Setting the girl down, the man laid her in his lap to let her sleep longer, a hand combing its way through short brown locks. The girl's eyes had been a startling silver color when they were glaring at him, something he hoped wasn't natural. The last time he had seen someone with eyes colored like that… No it was best not to think about that for the time being.

Letting a sigh leave him, the old man felt the girl stir a bit, but knew that she would be a sleep for a bit still. He worried for every child that came into this hell, and he yearned for the times when they would smile towards him. None of the other children he saw could stay very long, so it was different to hold her in his hands, knowing that she would be in this cell.

Another sigh left the old man as leaned his head back, memories of his younger days flashing before his eyes, a soft smile appearing on his face, even as he fell deeper and deeper into sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day of hell for the newest 'Workers', and it was not one that he was looking forward to have the girl experience.

Heart of fire

Soft humming echoed around the girl, the noise being enough for her rage filled mind to calm. A pleasant feeling went through her body at the humming. The noise was familiar and comforting both,something that caused the girl to stir a bit, looking up towards the owner.

She felt tears started to come into her eyes once again when she realized that the brown haired woman holding her was her mother. She wanted to say something, anything really, to her mother, but the words refused to come out. It was like her tongue was glued to her mouth.

"It's alright sweetie, its OK to cry you know." The woman spoke with a soft tone "You can laugh, cry, smile, and even get angry at anything around you and still be strong after. Just don't lose your fire."

The words comforted her, but her memories of the day before was enough for the words to not fully sink in. A sad smile made its way onto the woman's face, a hand reaching towards her face, and gently cupping it "I might not be there any longer my sweet little girl, but remember, when someone tells you your to weak, or your not trying enough, that your flame will burn brighter than they could ever hope. Don't let them steel your heart to the world, and become a woman that will burn anyone who stands in your way."

Tears threatened to spill once more, but the girl refused to let them fall for the time being. She knew those words, and she wasn't sure if this was realy or not, but it was enough for her to hug the woman one last time, before she felt herself start to wake up. She didn't want this to end, but knew she was going to have to face the facts at some point.

Her thoughts still leading towards the unpleasant reality of not being able to see her family anymore, She forced herself to slowly wake up, eyes still closed. She had expected to be resting against stone, or some other hard surface considering that she hadn't seen anything that was soft to any degree in the 'room'. Instead, she found herself laying against something Warm,and slightly comforting. The feeling was like what she had felt from her dream. Unbidden, tears started to well up in her eyes once again. the only other person in the "room" that she could think of that would do this would be the old man from before. She didn't know why, but he was comforting her.

The hand on her head started to move, causing the girl to freeze, until the owner started to slowly moved his hand through her hair, trying to help calm her down "it's alright, I promise you. You are not alone in this hell."

Looking up towards the owner, she found the old man from before looking down at her with a smile. The soft smile was enough for her thoughts to force her to remember yesterday, something that caused tears to start to spill from her eyes. She felt so useless crying her eyes out like this, but she forced the apology out of her throat. Instead of replying though, he continued to comfort her, knowing that she would need the support now due to how hard the day was going to be.

It took her a good ten minutes to calm down after she had started to cry, but that was more than enough time for the old man to look out of the small opening they had to see the sky and take note of the time of day. As on cue, the door to their cell opened, causing several of the other people to flinch at the noise, and the small girl to look towards the opening, her eyes flashing with rage at the sight.

A hand touched her shoulder, seeing the old man standing behind her, a small shake of his head being enough to tell her that she shouldn't attack. She didn't like it, but this old man knew what was going on here better then she did, so she listened. Even then she still glared at the man in front of her, before following after the rest of the people that were leaving the cell, the old man following after her as well.

She hadn't been able to get a look at where she was before after everything that had happened yesterday, especially with the man's 'Punishment' towards her, but now she could see that she was inside of a tower. Thousands of people were all walking in the same direction, all of them with things around their wrists that had a red orb on it. The red orb had some sort of thing connecting it to something floating overhead, but that was only for certain people as well. The lines of people that went along only had a few that were not tethered, but those people looked like all hope had left them.

Fury went through her system once more at the thought, but she remembered the old man telling her not to attack them. She wasn't really sure why, but she was going to listen to the old man for now.

Down they went. Further and further down the line of people went, until certain groups were separated from the others. Her group kept going down even further, until they were brought outside, being forced to work right away. She could see dozens of people, all of them moving rubble around, trying to clear it for some purpose or another, something that she saw the old man moving to do as well.

A frown made its way onto the girl's face as she stood where she was, looking around, only for her to cry out when she felt something hit her in the back, followed by a yell "Get moving you ungrateful brat!"

Turning towards the man, the silver eyes girl looked like she wanted to attack the man, only for the old man's voice to reach her once more "Girl, come over here. I'll help you get started."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but seeing the looks for fear from several other people around her, she went over to the old man, anger never fading from her gaze, even as flecks of gold seemed to take over her eyes for a brief moment, something no one noticed. Standing beside the old man, she started to do what he was doing by moving things around, something that caused the guard from before to let out a scuff of disappointment, before he left.

"...Why do you not do anything." The girl let out, her first words to the old man, being that which many had questioned before.

A kind smile made its way onto the man's face as he spoke, never stopping the task in front of him "Because I don't want others to be hurt because I did something stupid. These men, they care little for any of us, and if even one of us steps out of line, then they will not hesitate to kill others around us as well as us. Do you wish to cause pain to others?"

"No!" The girl growled out, her silver eyes seemingly igniting with a fire that wouldn't die "I'd never want anyone to get hurt because of me!"

A chuckle left the old man, his work never stopping, the girl's pace being similar to his own "There, you see why I do nothing. This place may be hell, but so long as there are people around me, I will not allow others to come into harm."

The girl faltered in her pace for a brief, second, not long enough for the slavers to deal out a punishment, but it was enough for the old man to see that his words affected the girl in front of him. The anger that surrounded her since she had arrived started to disappear, even if only for a small amount of time, something that caused his heart to feel lighter. A girl as young as her should never have to deal with such anger.

Silence took over any other words that would have been said between the two. The small silver eyed girl continuing her work, even as her form showed that she was thinking deeply, something that caused her to have to be pushed by the old man at times for when they went to a new area to work. It had worried the old man more than once, as he wasn't sure what was going through the girls mind when he moved her from place to place, allowing her to think while she worked.

Heart of fire

The old man's words echoed through her head more and more as she thought over what she had been told, more and more. He willingly went through all of the pain, and anguish that this whole thing brought him, to protect people that he didn't know? It wasn't something she could understand. Even as she went back and thought things over for a long time, she still couldn't understand it. Her parents had always told her stories of people that would protect others even if they didn't know them, but she had always thought that it was impossible to find someone like that in real life.

She ended up being so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't notice what was going on, until she had accidentally bumped into one of the men that had brought her here in the first place. Backing up a few steps, the girl looked up towards the man that she had ran into, only to bring her hands up quickly when she saw the man lash out at her.

The force of the hit was more than enough for her to cry out from the pain, the man letting out a 'tch' noise "Trying to sneak up on me and attack were you brat?!"

Getting up to her feet, the girl looked towards the man with anger in her eyes, but taking a deep breath, the girl bowed slightly "I'm sorry for running into you."

Surprised flashed through the guys expression, his body turning to face her, as she continued onward, completely ignoring him after that, something that had caused more than a few people to stare at her as well, guards and slaves alike. The only other person who had actually apologized to them before was that old man with the guild mark on his back.

Snapping out of his stupor, the man let out a growl, before yelling "Get in your cells, all of you! Quit your gawking!"

That was enough to get everyone moving again, though a few eyes still lingered on the back of the brown haired girl that was walking away. One pair in particular was looking at her with a pair of happiness, even as he followed the girl back into the cell that they shared. He would talk to her once she was ready to talk, and not before, but he was happy that she was at least thinking over what he said enough for to not try and attack the man who just hit her.

Shaking his head at those thoughts for the time being, he sat down in the back of the cell that he shared with the girl, his head turning towards the opening that was in the wall again, seeing the sun set at the moment.

"I still don't understand." The girl's voice broke through the silence causing the old man to look towards her with considering look at her confused one "No one else would do the same for you, but your willing to let yourself get hurt to protect someone else. Why?"

Smiling towards the girl, the old man, patted the ground near him, prompting the girl to sit. She seemed hesitant to do so, but after a few seconds she did anyway, something that caused a smile to appear on his face "It's fine that you don't understand. I'm just happy that your not so angry anymore."

"I still want to know why though!" Her voice sounded out, the frustration in her voice evident.

Humming at the girl, the man smiled down towards her as he spoke "Well, the way I see it, the world is a big place, and there are so many people that would do whatever they could to make sure they stay safe, and not hurt, but what about the people that deliberately hurt others? They force people to choose whether they hurt you, or someone else. So I choose to let them hurt me, so no one else has to suffer."

"But they wouldn't do the same for you." The girl spoke with a confused, and slightly angry tone "They'd let you get hurt so they wouldn't, but if you were the one in trouble, they wouldn't do the same."

"Of course. That's expected of them because they don't have the will to fight back. But people like me, we do what we can to protect others, despite the fact that we know were going to get hurt. But that's what it means to be a hero after all." The man spoke with a soft chuckle, getting a wide eyed look from the girl "Hm… But I suppose that I can't force you to be a hero like me. It takes a lot of work to be a hero you know."

The girl's wide eyes grew wider as she looked at the old man with a look that could only be her starting to see him as a role model "Your a hero?! Prove it!"

Letting a chuckle leave him, the old man brought a palm up, and had a bit of light appear in said palm "I suppose the term wizard would be more accurate, but not just anyone can do something like this can they?"

Wide eyes stared at the orb of magic that appeared in the man's hand, the girl moving all around the old man to see the orb from all angles. This continued for a few more seconds, before she tried to poke it, only for it to disappear. A squeak left the girl in surprise at the sudden disappearance, before she looked towards the old man seeing him chuckle.

"That was cool! How did you did you do that?! I wanna do that!" The girl's voice steadily got more and more excited as she looked at the old man "Can hero's do stuff like that, or those wizard thingys you said too?! I wanna be a hero then too!"

Shaking his head at the girl, despite the joy that he was seeing at making the girl act so childish, he spoke once more"It's not enough to want to be a hero you know! You have to be very kind towards everyone you meet, and you have to make sure you protect everyone from the bad people that want to hurt them. Do you think someone like you could do that?"

"W-well…" The girl mumbled with a slightly downtrodden expression, that quickly turned into depression "No… I almost hurt people because I kept being angry."

"That's alright." The old man spoke with a soft look, his hand landing on her head once more , ruffling the brown locks "Your tried to change that when you bumped into that man earlier before we had to go back in here. That means that your trying to make up for it."

Looking up towards the man with a wide eyed look, the silver eyed girl let a wide grin appear on her face "Yeah! I'll become a hero, and save all the people that need help in the world!"

"Well, there is one more thing that you would need to be a hero you know. And that's your superpower!" The old man spoke with a chuckle, causing the girl to look at him once again with wide eyes "I have your attention then? Good."

Bouncing on her butt a bit, the girl looked at the man with wonder filled eyes "Ne, Jiji, what do you mean super powers?"

"Well, I mean Magic of course!" The old man spoke with a smile "You see, Magic is something that anyone can have, but not everyone can use. It's something you have to believe in with all your heart. Yes, everything begins from you believing with your heart. You can think of tarots, faith, prayer, and such as Magic. It's a miracle that only true believers can experience. Only those who believe that Magic exists, believe in themselves, and believe that they can coexist with everything in nature can use such a thing as Magic. Do you feel up to the task?"

The girl gave a wide grin towards the old man, as she nodded rapidly "Of course Jiji! I'll be the best mage ever and save a bunch of people, becoming a hero!"

"I look forward to seeing how that goes." The old man gave another smile, before he said something else "Oh, I realize that we never introduced ourselves to each other. My name is Rob. It's a nice to meet you."

"W-well, my name is Samantha. Just Samantha. It's nice to meet you to!" The girl joyful said, her smile widening as she looked towards the old man who had helped her today.

A smile appeared on Rob's face as he set a hand on the girls head once more, knowing that even if the situation in this place was terrible, he would be able to keep the girl smiling.

Well, what did you guys think? Originally I was just going to have Rob and Samantha talk a bit more about why she shouldn't try and attack the Cultists, but I kind of figured that since she's 9 at the moment, she'd be a bit more impressionable then any of the other kids in the tower probably would be. If you guys think that was a bad idea, I can try and change up a couple of things as a result. Either way I'm happy with the results though, and I'd like to hear your guy's opinions on it as well. Please leave a review if you feel up to it.

Till next time then!