A/N: Yo. Been a while since I wrote here and stuff… This idea's been in my mind for a long time, and finally its first chapter is done. *Whoo!* Forgive me if it looks a bit choppy in the fight scenes, or basically everything. This is my first time in nearly a month or so to write fanfics again, nonetheless of a new series I like.

This chapter will just introduce our three main characters (the ones who will be replacing Lloyd, Genis and Colette that is), the Temple scene will be next chapter.

I own nothing!

Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana.

Emil felt like falling asleep. True that he didn't listen much to the lecture before, but the legend of the Giant Tree and Lloyd the Hero sounds more like it's made from the stuff that fairy tales are made of. Either that or he was led to believe it is such...

But a war caused the tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed.

"I'll close my eyes for just a few minutes," Emil muttered to himself as he felt his eyelids droop "I'm sure Mithos wouldn't mind..."

Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict…

Emil didn't hear the rest of the legend anymore. He was sound asleep; his face nestled unto the black scarf that became his makeshift pillow.

"... Marked the beginning of the Regeneration of the World." Mithos finished. As the young elf closed the book, he noticed that a certain friend of his, the same one who asked to be tutored, was sleeping.

"Why you no good..." Mithos growled lowly, his soft blue eyes attempting to pierce through Emil's skull. After the ridiculous attempt, he settled for his brother Yggdrasill's method: he smacked the older boy's head with the heaviest hard-bound book he could find. Luckily for Mithos, and unfortunately for Emil, that surely woke him up.

"Gah!" Emil's emerald eyes widened as a pain that resembled being hit against a wall settled in. Once his blurry vision became clear, he found himself staring face-to-face with an angry Mithos.

"O-Oh, hey Mithos..." Emil stuttered.

"Don't you 'Oh hey Mithos' me!" the young elf shouted back at the nervous teen, slamming the table as he did. "You were the one who kept insisting, and insisting, me to teach you, and the moment that I finally agree and do so, you SLEEP ON ME!"

"I-I'm sorry…?"

"Sorry won't cut it this time, Emil Castagnier!" Emil winced as his young friend was about to reach the peak of his infamous temper. "I've held back on pouncing that face of yours for too long! And I don't care if everyone will end up seeing this; I'm so gonna stuff a damn fireball up your-"

"Stop it!"

Both Emil and Mithos turned around to see Marta looking at them with slight exasperation and, although not much evident on her face, weariness.

"First things first," Marta started, "Emil, you should stick to whatever you want to do and not just slack off in the end. And then you, Mithos; you shouldn't let your emotions take you over like that. Both of you are close friends! You shouldn't bicker like it's a daily basis!"

"Sorry Marta…" Mithos said, his head hung low.

"I believe it's not me who you should be apologizing to." The girl stated, her eyes pointing at the boy who just plainly looked at her.

Sighing, the elf forced himself to look at Emil and said, with a hint of resentment, "I'm sorry for getting angry at you like that, Emule…"

"Ahem?"

"I mean, Emil…"

"It's alright." Emil quickly said, his eyes still glued to the girl in front of him. "And Marta, I think you've forgotten something."

"Hm? What is it, Emil?" Marta asked, confused of what she had forgotten, if she did forget something.

"Mithos and I…aren't friends." Emil stated with a serious look on his face, gaining shocked and surprised reactions from both Marta and Mithos.

"W-What?" The two gaped at the teen. Is he kidding? Mithos thought, worried that he had actually found out something that he himself was hiding. That's not right, Marta said inside her head, Emil isn't the kind to think like that.

"Mithos and I aren't friends, because…we're BEST friends" Emil grinned, "Also, Marta, you're our best friend too, so don't just exclude yourself from your own sentence like that."

"Why you…" Mithos started to growl, but instead punched the older boy on the arm. "Don't just say stuff like that with that serious expression! It scared us!" Marta, on the other hand, ended up cracking a smile and giggled,

"You're right. How silly of me to forget that", which caused Emil to blush.

"A-Anyways," Emil said, shaking off the fluttering in his stomach "today's the day you will receive the Oracle right?"

"Yup." Marta nodded, smiling as she did. "I'll finally be able to save the world."

"Hmm…Judging by the time you got here, I'd say many of the townspeople were giving you their best wishes and all that for the journey?" Mithos bluntly asked.

The girl nodded, revealing for a short moment, though undetected by the two boys, her frown. "They all really want me to succeed."

"Well of course you idiot." Emil said, startling Marta. "They want you to be safe on your journey, and that when it's all over, you'd come back to us!"

"Yeah, what he said." Mithos nodded in agreement. Marta didn't know whether to cry or keep quiet, so the next thing the two boys said to her was a complete surprise.

"Happy Birthday Marta!" Both Emil and Mithos greeted, at the same time bringing out two small pouches which were their gifts.

"O-Oh! Thank you!" Marta said in surprise, not expecting the greeting or the gifts. Since the moment she stepped out of her house, the people of Iselia were already lined up to greet her. Not for her birthday though, but to congratulate her, as the Chosen, for finally reaching the age of sixteen so that she could start on the journey of Regeneration.

"Here!" Mithos said as he gave his gift to Marta "I baked you some cookies. It's your favorite too! Strawberry-filled cookies…"

"…with a dash of mint." Marta finished, her face practically glowing. "Thank you Mithos, I love it! The three of us should eat this together after classes."

The little boy grinned, happy that his friend is happy as well. He turned to nudge Emil, who was busy watching Marta.

"H-Huh? Oh right, h-here's my gift for you, Marta." Emil stuttered, fidgeting as he talked "It's that secret project I've been working on. I'm sorry I was keeping it hidden from you."

Marta's eyes widened as she opened the small pouch, revealing a simple necklace, with a gem that resembled a ruby studded at its center. She was quite at a loss for words. Mithos merely rolled his eyes.

"Women…" he muttered. Emil merely smiled, glad that all his efforts were worth it.

As Marta was putting on the necklace, she suddenly asked out of the blue, "Where is the professor anyways? He's never this late…"

"Oh, about that" Mithos said, twirling a lock of his hair, "Yggy said that he was going to be a little preoccupied today, so he told us to study on our own."

"Is it alright for you to call your own brother that nickname?" Emil asked.

"Yeah, he's fine with it. It was either that, or we both be called Mithos." The younger boy quipped, wondering why he was named Mithos when his older brother was already named Mithos as well. He even ended up wondering why he was only wondering of this just now.

"I see…" was Emil's only reply.

After a short silence, a bright light had grabbed the attention of everyone present in the room. Some shielded their eyes from the intensity of the light, while others let themselves be temporarily blinded by it.

"W-What was that…?" Emil asked to no one in particular. Marta knew the answer to that, although it was what she hoped for it not to be.

"That…That came from the temple." She said. "It's time for me to accept the Oracle."

As Marta headed for the door, she was stopped by Emil.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Emil asked in a stern tone.

"Emil, that light came from the Colette Temple." Marta said "As the Chosen of Regeneration, I must go accept it."

"Alone?"

"I can manage on my own."

"No way am I letting you go there all by yourself."

"What? Emil…"

"Mithos and I are going with you. Right, Mithos?" Emil grinned at the surprised Mithos.

"You want me to go too?" The young elf asked, surprised.

"Of course! You don't want Marta to go all by herself now, do you?"

"…Fine." The blue-cladded teen grinned once again as he saw the younger boy's defeated look. Marta couldn't help but smile.

"Shall we get going then?" She asked. The two boys nodded as she once again headed for the door.

"What…happened here?"

As the trio stepped out of the school, they were shocked at what they ended up finding. Some of the plants were stomped on; some of the signposts were completely destroyed, but what topped it all off was that the village was completely silent and desolate. There was not a single soul outside their homes, save for the trio.

"Marta!" a man who appeared to be in his late thirties ran to the group. "Thank the goddess…you're safe."

"Father!" Marta exclaimed as she was pulled into a hug by her father.

"Frank, what happened? Why is Iselia…?" Mithos asked.

"Some Desians just passed by a while ago. Fortunately, they didn't harm anyone." Frank replied.

"Where are they headed now?" Emil interjected.

"They were headed for that direction." The man pointed.

"But that's…" Emil's eyes widened as he realized the location.

"That's where we're headed!" Mithos finished his friend's sentence.

"I can't risk you kids going there on your own…" Frank muttered.

"But father…I must go." Marta stated hesitantly.

"Don't worry Frank." Emil said "We'll protect Marta until she reaches the Temple of Colette."

"But…"

"Please trust us." Mithos said, looking at Frank innocently.

Giving in, the man sighed. "Well, I suppose I could." He said "You three be careful, alright? If anything happens, come back to our place and I'll heal you."

"Yes sir." The three nodded. As they waved goodbye to Frank, they continued on to the Temple of Colette. But, there's just one problem before they even reached the outskirts of Iselia:

"Wah! A monster!" Mithos exclaimed as they saw they were being approached by a zombie.

"Tch. Looks like we'll have to defeat it if we want to continue on." Emil said. "Both of you prepare yourselves!" He commanded as he brought out his wooden sword from its sheath.

"Right!" Marta and Mithos nodded as they brought out their respective weapons, a dual spinner and a kendama.

The zombie gave out a gurgled growl as it attempted to swipe at the three. Both Marta and Mithos jumped back, while Emil quickly sidestepped the attack and began to slash the monster. Mithos stood back as far as possible and began to cast a spell, a glyph forming beneath his feet.

"Marta! Help me out here!" Emil called out as he pushed away the zombie that was inches from his face. Marta nodded, jumping in and slashing the undead monster with her saw-like weapon.

"Fire Ball!" Mithos shouted out as he unleashed fireballs directed toward the zombie. Emil and Marta jumped out of the way, letting the zombie take on the searing ball of flames. As the zombie shriveled into ashes, along with a horrible stench filling the air, Emil checked up on his two companions.

"I'm fine!" Marta called back.

"Same here." Mithos said.

"That's good." Emil smiled wearily. He was unaware though of the ghost that's creeping up behind him, causing Marta to jump in front of him and kick the monster.

"M-Marta?" Emil asked in surprise.

"Pay attention!" the girl shouted at his face before pointing out to the ghost that was temporarily stunned by the kick. She then proceeded to commanding Mithos to focus on the ghost, while she and Emil pound on its zombie companion.

Man, Martmart can be real bossy when she wants to…Mithos thought to himself as he focused on the surrounding mana unto the spell. The chosen herself, however, was in a tight spot as she kept being pounded on by the ghost with its hammers. While she was aware of that, she was quite unaware of the zombie behind her.

"Marta, look out!" Marta looked up just in time to see Emil blocking a zombie from attacking her. "Demon Fang!" Emil cried out as a blast of energy coming from his sword cut the zombie in half. As Mithos finished off the ghost with a Spread attack, Emil proceeded in scolding Marta.

"You should be more careful Marta! Who knows what would've happened to you if I wasn't there to save you?" he snapped, not noticing the tears forming in the girl's eyes.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…" Marta quivered.

"…" Emil's eyes misted as he realized his mistake. "N-No Marta, I should be sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you like that. Please don't cry…"

"Great, just great Emil. Now look at what you did." Mithos said, sarcasm dripping in his voice. Emil glowered at the young mage, and then proceeded to hug Marta, which caused her to blush a bright red like the hem of her skirt.

"I'm sorry…" Emil said in an almost pleading voice.

"Aww…you know I can't stay mad at you, Emil~" Marta said, quickly forgiving the boy.

Phew, that's one situation averted… Emil said to himself. Mithos merely smirked at him.

"Hey, if you two are done there," the elf called out "we should get going."

"Right." Emil nodded in agreement. Looking at Marta, he asked "So, am I forgiven?"

"Yes. I'm sorry Emil." Marta replied.

"I just told you Marta. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"Oh, um…sorry."

"Stop saying sorry, Marta."

"Sorry."

"Oh goddess…" Mithos sighed, watching the two as if all hope were lost.

A/N: So…how was it? Please review! Up next is the Temple of Colette! (Hehe…it's funny saying it like that) Richter's appearance! The person replacing Botta! ...Should I even replace Botta or let him keep his role?

And also, while I'm at it, most of the characters that I'm using here don't even have a liked or disliked food. Help me out with this! The characters who need a taste right now are Emil, Marta, Mithos, Yggdrasill and Richter. Leave in the review what you think suits them~

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!