7 Aeons

*Disclaimer* While I think these disclaimers are bullsh*t and that it's a given that we don't own certain characters, I don't want to risk getting sued. On that note, I'd like to say that I don't own any of the Aeons, spells, or any other final fantasy-ish term in this story. I do, however, own the main characters, so KEEP YER GRUBBY PAWS OFF! *Just kidding* ^_^

Chapter 1 – Out in the Cold

Tiasa quickly rolled underneath a massive fallen tree that was hanging over a ditch. It had been about a week since she was chased away from her own home for a crime, no, a sin, she didn't commit. For the past five and a half hours, she had been hunted by something she could not see, for it was very late at night, and on a new moon, no less.

Tiasa is a seventeen year old girl, born of the Buratonis tribe. The Buratoni have lived on a mountain in the southwestern part of a tropical continent, called Aloa. Tiasa was born with the astonishing power to create what she imagined. She lived a very happy life, and had many friends. But one night, that all changed dramatically.

She woke up when it was still dark, hearing spine-twisting screams erupting from nearby huts. She peeked out from her door to see her neighbors, Gombu and Rilla, being torn apart by a shadowy demon of a creature. A crowd of other villagers soon arrived and stood horrified at the scene before them. As the abomination tilted its head back to let the last of its victims slide down its throat, it turned to look at Tiasa, just managing to cast light on its face from a nearby torch light. The ghastly image burned itself into Tiasa's mind. A wide, shell-like head; two crimson eyes protruding from the corners of its mouth on large, meaty eye stalks; its gaping mouth filled with three rows of teeth, all dripping with its prey's blood; below its mouth were four spindly claws it used to both grab food, and to clean its teeth with, as it began to do now. The gargantuan beast gave a short growl, as if it recognized Tiasa, and swiftly glided away.

Tiasa stood, dazed. Coming out of her trance, she saw all of her fellow villagers staring at her with both disgust and remorse. "What?"

They closed in on her, forming a tight circle. The village elder approached silently. Stopping a couple feet away, he announced, "Tiasa Malkan, you has sinned; you have brutally murdered two of your own. And on top of that, you abused your god-given power to do so!"

Tiasa jumped at the accusation. "Why are you accusing me?! I could never harm anyone or anything!"

"Perhaps not, but a monstrosity of your creation could. We all saw you watch it slaughter our friends, and then proceed to communicate with it before it ran."

"You can't be serious! You're all jumping to conclusions!"

"We saw what we saw, Tiasa. For your insidious crime, you are hereby banished from this tribe, and you will be left in the Kiorok Swamps." The elder tapped his cane twice, and four of the tribe's hunters loaded her into a wooden cage after tying her up.

She struggled, but to no avail. "No! Please! I did nothing! Sto-mmmph!" A hunter had placed a gag in her mouth. She cried heavily as they began to carry her off.

The elder spoke to her one last time. "Farewell, Tiasa. You are dead to us now."

Tiasa quit her squirming after a few minutes travel, and began to think of a way to escape.