Hello there, or perhaps 'Nice to meet you,' is more appropriate.

I would like to welcome you to the beginning of a new story. My name is Zarosguth and I am glad you decided to take your time to click on this story in order to read it. I hope I will not disappoint you. Now then, let us get started with the first chapter of 'Silver Hair and Golden Eyes'.

Chapter 1: A New Home

Rena wasn't a normal girl. She was, in fact, an elf. But even then, she wasn't just any elf. She was an elf living in the world of humans. She didn't remember how she ended up living in the human world. Neither did she know how to return to the world of elves. Sadly, the human world contained less magical energy than the elven world. This caused Rena's health to be quite delicate. Nothing life threatening but she would have cases of extreme fatigue, or she would get a cold more often than the everyday person.

Despite her delicate health, Rena was a happy, easy-going girl. People liked her and respected her. And why would anyone dislike her? She was kind, thoughtful, smart, a good listener and not bad looking either. She had beautiful, long, soft, blonde hair, shining green eyes that could brighten anyone's day and a well-shaped body. Her skin was also free of any blemishes and, not to mention, soft to the touch. Of course, this would occasionally cause someone to get jealous of her. But even then, she could befriend them.

It was at the end of summer, autumn would soon begin but the weather was still very gentle. Rena stood in front of a villa just outside the village of Ruben. She was wearing a bright green summer dress that matched her eyes and light brown open-toed slippers. "So, this will be my new home." She thought to herself. She was nervous. "Me? Living in a huge house like this? That'll become lonely real quick I'm sure." She walked through the open front gate through the small front garden. The garden was full of beautiful flowers that seemed well-kept. The reason Rena had come to this house was because of a letter she'd received from someone calling themselves a philanthropist who'd heard of Rena's delicate health and wanted her to move to a place where the air and water were more clean. Rena had dismissed the letter originally but a second letter came. This letter contained a key as well as a ticket to travel to Ruben. That was when Rena decided she could do with some excitement in her life and took this as an opportunity. Rena walked up to the front door. The door was made of beautiful dark wood, decorated with a shining metal framework. By the looks of it, the wood might even have been mahogany. Rena pulled out the key that had come with the second letter and put it inside the lock. She turned it and the door opened.

Rena stepped inside and looked around her. The hallway was nothing too extravagant. There was a staircase leading up to the second floor. The floor was made of marble and looked clean enough to eat from. A few tables with flowers on them, as well as a number of scenery paintings decorated the hallway walls.

Rena stood there, quiet for a moment but then she heard footsteps approaching which startled her. A young man with long black hair, that was broken by a streak of red walked up to her. He wore a plain, red, short-sleeved shirt, black jeans and matching black sandals. His skin was somewhat tanned and he had a few scars on his face. His eyes were a golden yellow. His expression looked a bit cold but his eyes had a gentle feel to them. His left arm however, was a menacing-looking mechanical arm which slightly frightened Rena.

The man took a quick glance at Rena and spoke: "Ah, you must be miss Rena, the new owner of this fine house. Welcome. I am Raven, this villa's manager." His voice was a pleasant low tone and sounded as gentle as his eyes looked. Rena just stared at him and nodded, still nervous. Raven looked at her with understanding eyes and asked her if she'd like a tour of the house. As they walked through the house and looked at the several rooms Raven talked to Rena to try and take some of her nervousness away.
"I am very glad to have a new master in this house." He said. "A house as beautiful as this deserves to be appreciated by someone evenly as beautiful." Rena felt somewhat embarrassed by this comment but it did help to calm her down.
"T-thank you." She smiled. Raven showed Rena most of the rooms in the house. The living room, the kitchen, the recreation room which harboured a number of bookcases filled completely with all sorts of books. All the while Raven talked about the history of the house as well as what his own tasks were.
"I am in charge of keeping this house clean and everything within it functioning. The garden is my responsibility as well. My main concern however, is the well-being of the villa's owner. Which is you, miss Rena." Raven explained.
"I see." Rena said, impressed by the beauty and cleanliness of each and every room.
"This corridor," Raven explained. "Is what connects the villa to the manager's house where I live. If you ever need any help with anything, don't hesitate to visit."
"Thank you. I will."

Raven took Rena to her bedroom.
"This is your bedroom. I already put most of your belongings, you clothes etcetera, in the appropriate places. That box there contains the belongings I couldn't give a place. You'll have to see to those yourself. You can, of course, also give them a place in other parts of the house. It is your home now after all. And as such, it should feel like home." Raven smiled. "I will leave you now. Dinner will be served at six. If there's anything you don't like to eat then please tell me." Rena nodded. "Do you remember where the dining room is?"
"Right next to the kitchen right?" Rena asked. Raven nodded.
"One more thing. You must be tired so feel free to take a bath if you want. I prepared the bathroom. It is opposite of your bedroom."
"Thank you Raven." Raven bowed and left Rena alone in her bedroom.

Rena looked around her new bedroom. It was a spacious room with a huge bed in the centre. On one side of the bed stood a nightstand with an alarm clock on it. Just above the nightstand hung a small reading light. On the other side of the bed there was a built-in closet. Rena opened it to find her clothes. On the side of the bed that had the nightstand, there stood a small desk with a desk lamp on top of it. Above the desk was an open window, allowing air to circulate through the room. Rena opened the box Raven had pointed out and found her diary among a few other things. She took the diary out of the box and placed it in the drawer of her nightstand. Rena let out a deep sigh and looked at the alarm clock.
"4:45pm. I guess I could take a nice, relaxing bath." She thought to herself. She head into the bathroom. The bathroom had a shower as well as a bath. She found towels and soap in the cabinet above the washing table. She turned open the faucet above the bathtub and let it fill up.

While she lay there in the bathtub, enjoying the feeling of the water on her skin she started thinking: "I rushed into this without thinking didn't I? I hope I made the right decision. I guess I'll visit the village tomorrow. Maybe Raven can show me around a bit. I'd love to meet the villagers." After about an hour Rena looked at the clock that was hanging in the bathroom. "I should get ready for dinner." She thought as she heard her stomach growl. "Yup, definitely got to get ready for dinner."

After she'd gotten out of the bath and dried off Rena got dressed and went down the stairs and walked to the dining room. When she entered the room she found that Raven was just filling a bowl with soup.
"There you are, I was about to go and check on you." Raven smiled gently. Rena nodded and sat down at the table. Raven sat down opposite her.
"I hope you'll like my cooking." Raven said. "I've never been much of a chef."
"Thanks for the meal." Rena said as she took a sip of her soup. They ate in silence. Rena wasn't quite sure what to talk about. Plus, she was quite hungry.
"This is really pretty good!" Rena said enthusiastically as she finished her soup.
"I'm glad to hear that." Raven said. After Raven had served dessert Rena asked: "So Raven, can you tell me a bit about yourself?" Rena was curious.
Raven was a bit hesitant. "I'm not that good at talking about myself."
"Please?" Rena pleaded.
"Alright then." Raven sighed.

"I am originally from Velder." Raven started. "I used to be the leader of the Black Crow Mercenaries."
"You were a mercenary?"
"Yes."
"So, that is why you have those scars?"
"Yes, they're all old combat injuries."
"I see, please go on."
"We were a famous band of mercenaries. Our strength and devotion to the kingdom of Velder was unparalleled. That is, until the incident." Raven looked down at his plate and clenched his hands into fists.
"The 'incident'?" Rena asked curiously.
"I am sorry miss Rena. I do not wish to talk about it." Rena could see that it was clearly a difficult topic for Raven so she decided not to press it any further.
"You don't have to talk about it."
"Thank you... I will tell you this though: That incident, is the reason I have this." Raven said as he held up his mechanical arm.
"I see." Rena said. They ate the rest of their dinner in silence.

It was in the middle of the night, about three o'clock. Rena was sleeping soundly. Her bedroom window was open, allowing fresh, cool air to ventilate through the room. Everything seemed peaceful. But a sudden change in atmosphere caused Rena to slowly wake up. The change in atmosphere was not something that could be felt by humans. It was like some sort of presence had appeared in the room. Rena slowly opened her emerald green eyes, her vision still blurry. She thought she saw something moving and when her vision cleared up she saw a young woman. She looked like she was old enough to be a college student. This mysterious woman was standing in Rena's bedroom, next to her bed. Rena was surprised and wanted to get up, maybe even scream. But she couldn't. She was unable to move her body or speak. She could only stare at the silhouette of the woman standing in her room. As her eyes got more used to the darkness Rena saw that the woman stood with her back facing towards Rena. The woman had long, smooth, silver hair and, as far as Rena could see, she was wearing a plain black t-shirt and white jeans. The woman then turned around and looked at Rena. her facial expression could best be described as being void of any and all emotion.

"Rena…" The mysterious woman whispered. She leaned over and brought her face close to Rena's. Rena noticed a blue gemstone on the woman's forehead. Rena and the strange woman looked each other straight in the eyes. Even though an unknown woman had somehow gotten into her bedroom and was staring her straight in the eyes, Rena felt strangely at ease.
"Golden eyes. Just like Raven" Rena thought. The woman's golden eyes were beautiful and seemed to shine brightly in the darkness. The woman's eyes were almost hypnotising. Rena became mesmerized by them. The woman gently kissed Rena on the forehead and whispered:
"I am so glad you came here. Thank you." Rena's eyelids became heavy again and she fell back to sleep.

The next morning Rena woke up. It took her a moment to realize where she was. "Oh right, my new home." Suddenly she was wide awake as she remembered what had happened last night. She jumped out of bed and got dressed. She ran down the stairs and went to the kitchen. There she found Raven preparing breakfast.
"Ah, miss Rena." He greeted. "I trust you slept well last night?" Rena looked at Raven with wild eyes. "Is something the matter? Are you feeling alright?" Raven asked worriedly.
"I… I…" Rena didn't know what to say or how to explain what had happened last night. Raven tried to calm her down.
"Please, miss Rena. Please sit down and try to speak calmly." Raven said to Rena in a gentle tone as he helped her sit down at the kitchen table. He poured her a glass of water and sat down next to her, his human hand on her shoulder.
"Last night," Rena started to explain between her gulps of water. "When I was sleeping. A woman with silver hair and golden eyes was in my bedroom." Raven looked at Rena in disbelief.
"A woman?" He asked.
"I know it sounds crazy alright! But I know what I saw."
"Miss Rena, I'm sure it was all just a dream. Don't forget that you just moved to a new home in a completely different place." Raven tried to rationalize. Rena took a deep breath and followed it with an equally deep sigh.
"I suppose you're right. It's just… It all seemed so real."
"Don't worry about it miss Rena. Now how about we eat breakfast and I will show you around town today?"
"Okay."

Is Raven right? Was it all just a dream? Or is there something more going on here? Only time will tell.
How much time it will take to tell is unknown to me at this point in time. Don't expect the next chapter up too soon. If you wish to influence how this story progresses you can always leave feedback and ideas in a review. I highly appreciate constructive criticism.

May we meet again, fare thee well.