I'm just putting in a note to say, that until the main character remembers her name, I will write 'Her' and 'She' as her name. I know this can get confusing as the sprite is female as well but it is only for a small part of the story and I did not want to use 'Heroine' like the anime did. Enjoy!

Guardian-san :)

A Blank Canvas

"Wake up! Hey! Hello?! Can you hear me?" An insistent child-like voice called out in Her ear.

Opening her eyes slowly, she saw a strange-looking young girl peering over her. This surprised her so she sat up quickly, causing the stranger to shy away in fright.

"Ah! So you CAN see me!" The girl was… floating?!

"Wh-Who..?" She stammered, wondering if she was still half asleep.

"Laxes. My name is Laxes. And this is going to be hard for you to believe. But I'm a sprite." The little floating girl crossed her arms and legs while sitting in mid-air.

Now that She had a better look at her, she could see Laxes looked no older than ten years old. The sprite was wearing a long dark grey coat with many buckle fastenings over a rather over-sized, baggy pale blue t-shirt and white leggings. She had bare feet and two pointed dog ears sticking out of her unruly short silver hair. She stared back at Her with bright emerald eyes narrowed in a sulky expression.

"I-I believe you." She stammered quietly.

"Good, at least that's sorted out." Laxes sighed, looking relieved suddenly. "So who are you?"

"I…" She thought for a moment.

Nothing came. No name, no memory, just blankness. She tried again, harder. More blankness, like a solid, almost tangible wall in her mind.

"I-I…"

"Surely you know your own name?!" Laxes looked incredulous.

"I… don't remember…" She looked down in shame.

The sprite groaned and shook her head muttering to herself quietly. She paced up and down in the air for a few moments before turning back to her.

"You don't remember anything do you?" She asked.

She shook her head shyly.

"I-I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Laxes responded, but scowled instead of the smile that usually went with that statement. "At least I don't think it is… Listen, there's one explanation I can think of for this: You've been transported across worlds against your will."

"I… don't understand." She looked immensely confused. Was this still a dream after all?

"It's not a dream!" Laxes cried out in frustration and waved her arms. "I was crossing worlds on the way home… and then someone shoved past me, and I… must have knocked into your soul accidently…"

The little sprite suddenly looked very embarrassed and hugged her knees. She tilted her head at Laxes questioningly, still not quite comprehending what was going on.

"I… may have accidently knocked you out of your world and into another, causing your memory loss…" She explained, looking distressed. "…But I promise, I'm going to fix this mess the best I can with my limited powers, and it wasn't my fault anyway! Some great big guy pushed me! I'm only a tiny little sprite, I couldn't hold my own against him!"

"Laxes…" She smiled. "It's ok."

Laxes stopped mid rant and blinked at Her in amazement.

"You… said my name." She murmured. "That's the first time someone here has said it…"

Giggling, She nodded with a smile. "I'll help you. I want to find out who I am again."

"Alright!" Laxes cheered. "Thanks, I'll try my best. So far you're the only one who can see or hear me… But that means I can scout for information easily!"

"So do you know where we are?" She looked around the room properly for the first time.

It was a modest, relatively small room that multi-tasked as a study, living and bedroom. Everything was set in order very neatly, not a book or paper out of place. The bed was in a corner against a wall of glass that appeared to be the only window in the room. Opposite that there was a desk and chair decked out with the usual office essentials. In the centre of the room there was a sofa and coffee table facing a small TV. Beside the TV and in the far corner of the room there were two doors. Judging by the door mat in front of the nearest one, She guessed that was the front door.

"Well, no-one else is around and this is the only bed. So this must be your house." Laxes deduced. "You look like a student."

Before She could reply, a loud buzzing and ringing noise made them both jump. Laxes hid behind Her as she investigated. It was coming from a drawer in the bedside table. Opening it she picked up the offending noise making hesitantly. It was a mobile phone. My mobile phone, She supposed.

"Should I answer it?" She asked Laxes.

"Just make it stop!" Laxes cried.

Raising an eyebrow, She pressed the answer button and put it to her ear.

"H-Hello?" She stammered.

"Hey," A soft, deeply bored voice answered. "Just calling to check on you. You feeling alright now?"

"Wh-Why wouldn't I be?" She asked nervously.

"Try to act natural." Laxes whispered. "Stop stuttering."

"Well alright then, no need to bite my head off." The voice sounded annoyed. "I was worried you might have caught a temperature last night when you complained you were cold and had a headache."

"O-Oh, I'm much better thank you." She stuttered. Stop stuttering, stop stuttering…

"You going to come to work today then? I told Ark you might not but we could use help with the new releases if you're fine."

She looked to Laxes helplessly.

"Interaction with people might help you remember something." Laxes looked thoughtful. "But don't tell him you don't remember anything. He might take you to hospital and then you would be isolated."

"Hello..? Kinda need an answer here."

"S-Sorry! Yes I will." She cursed herself silently for stammering again and took a deep breath.

"Hey, you don't need to sound so scared, it's only me!"

"Sorry…"

"Is something wrong? Why do you keep apologising?" The voice was concerned now.

"I…" She racked her empty mind frantically. "Just woke up."

"Really? That's your excuse?!" Laxes slapped her forehead. "We need to work on your acting skills."

"I'm sorry, you must be tired."

"I'm alright now…"

"Ok, well just in case, I'll come to pick you up."

"Thank you."

"'Kay, I'll be there in an hour or so. Be ready by then."

"Bye." The phone cut off and she put it down.

"He sounded like he knew you." Laxes commented. "But I don't think we should tell him anything just yet."

"He's listed as… Lark, on my phone." She murmured.

"That's a funny name." Laxes raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to get changed," She decided and got up. "No peeking."

"Hey, I'm no pervert!" The sprite protested.

Smiling, She found some clothes in a drawer under her bed. Taking them out, she went to the door at the far end of the room. Through that was a small kitchen and another door with a lock. Sure enough, behind the second door was a bathroom. She changed quickly into a white blouse, pinstripe shorts and black knee socks. Adding the pinstripe waist-coat she had picked up, she brushed her chocolate brown hair and tied her fringe back.

"…I must be into steampunk…" She commented as she found a pocket watch in the shape of a cog at the sink.

Emerging from the bathroom again, she found a beautiful knee-length coat in the hallway. It was printed with a distinctly Victorian leaf pattern around the edge and fasted with two large buckles at the chest.

"You done?" Laxes voice floated in from the living room.

"Yes," She came back in with the coat.

"I was thinking, you should keep a diary of everything we find out. That way we can see all the information together." The sprite suggested.

"That's a good idea." She went over to the desk and found a blank notebook. "What's the date today..?"

"Your phone." Laxes hovered over it. "I forgot to mention, I'm not actually tangible, so I can't pick stuff up or anything like that."

She picked up her mobile and checked the date. 1st November. Glancing outside she noted the grey weather and frost coating parts of the window. She noted down the date, the weather, about her clothes, about Laxes and about Lark. Just then, the intercom by the front door buzzed. Blinking, she hurried over and pressed the button.

"Yes?" She asked hesitantly, but did not stutter this time.

"Kat? It's me." Lark's voice crackled out of the speaker.

"Oh, Lark, I'm coming." She answered.

"Kat? That must be your name!" Laxes exclaimed excitedly.

"I guess so." She replied with a smile. "I'm glad I have a name now."

She pulled on the knee high boots on the door mat and buckled them quickly. Slipping on the coat she pocketed her phone. There were some keys on the side. After a moment, she decided to take those too. Laxes followed as she hurried out of the door.

Waiting on the ground floor was a tall, skinny-looking goth. His ash mauve hair, although tied in a high ponytail, still reached the middle of his back. There were studs and belts all over his clothes as well as the cartilage of his ears; and the long leather coat he was wearing had no sleeves. Spotting her, he stood up and regarded her with icy blue eyes.

"Well, that was a blast from the past." He remarked with a wry smile.

"Huh?" Kat blinked in confusion.

"It's been years since you've used that ridiculous nickname Zephaniah gave me."

"I…" Kat swallowed nervously.

"Oh dear…" Laxes looked worried.

"Stick to Malachi, it sounds much better when you say it." He told her a little sternly. "You're not wearing your hat today?"

"It's pretty cold out there today, but I guess the guys mess around with your topper at work so I understand. Just go catching a cold okay?" Malachi shrugged.

"O-Okay." She stammered, unable to calm her voice this time. "Let's go."