A/N: Okay, now I've added in something new, rather, someone new, and a lot more details and more plot. Please reread this if you haven't seen this A/N before. Sorry for confusing you guys, but it's kinda hard work sorting out all the sudden ideas I have. Thank you for the reviews and the follow(s) :). Below, you can see a song title that matches this chapter as an opening.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all.


Opening Theme: Hologram by NIco touches the walls


Prologue

000 New World

Dark/Death/Dawn

~A peaceful breeze has begun to blow, bringing in a new age to Paltina~

~Jusice lies with the Holy Sword (?)~


'I have to save him!'

She gasped for breath, sprinting across the forest. She was covered in injuries from head to toe, and her long bronze hair was untied, covering her eyes. Her leather shirt and cloak were in tatters. Only her combat boots were unharmed, a sign of her skilled footwork in battle.

Suddenly she stumbled on a large tree root. Before she could regain her footing, she heard her pursuers draw near. She reached for her bow. It was made of bronze, adorned with carvings of runes on the sides. She wiped some dirt from her face, biting her lip. If only she had some more time...

Crunch. They were getting nearer. She reached for an arrow. There was no time to be fighting! She should be helping him right now, warning him of the danger-

'Shit!' she cursed silently. The enemy had sneaked up on her when she was thinking.

She scanned the environment. Many trees, no sunlight, a small marsh up ahead...then back to her attackers. The men brandished axes, grinning maniacally. They were probably experienced bandits. They had been hunting her down ever since they saw her lounging around their hideout, looking or people to tell her the cursed her carelessness.

She couldn't think of a strategy good enough that would work in somewhere like this. She should have been more prepared. There wasn't much that she could do without her special tactic card, Revelation. Arrows wouldn't work on these guys, but she only had her dagger left. It wasn't used for fighting; she only used it to prepare meat from her hunts. But she didn't have another choice. Besides, surely she could overpower them in terms of speed alone?

'Never mind.' She dismissed the idea as she thought of how they sneaked up on her. 'Obviously they're fast enough, so...maybe Thunderbolt would work? She didn't know what tactic card the opponent had, plus she had to charge her power before she could release the skill...

Argh! It was so damn frustating. The only way left was to charge head on, without any tactics, and pray that she would win. She grimaced. Those axes looked like they could hurt.

Before she could think, they charged. Her eyes widened and she blocked the blow with her dagger, and narrowed her eyes. 'Battle mode.'

She readied herself and dodged a blow to her right. One, two, three...her mind went on autopilot. She smiled. None of their blows were hitting! Perhaps she had overestimated them after all. Striking down two bandits with a stab to their stomach, she kicked another away. He hit the nearest oak tree, and fell down unconscious. She was grinning now. Three stood to the side, watching, frightened by the ferocity she was displaying. Her bronze hair flew as she punched another one in the face, then blocked an axe from above. Yes! She was winning.

"Well, well, let's see what we've got here, shall we?" drawled a voice beside her.

Her grin faded. She turned her head to see a young boy around thirteen smirking at her. He was holding a halberd that was blood red in colour, swinging it with ease. His clothes were made of red leather, loosely paired with a black jacket and black boots. Her eyes narrowed. The leader. How that little redheaded brat could become leader was unfathomable to her. Was he strong? From what she had gathered, he was called Vulcan...

Someone jumped down from the branches, crouching in a fighting stance behind the boy. The person's face was covered with a hood and a scarf, but pitch black eyes could be seen staring-no, glaring at her. He or she carried a steel dagger and looked prepared to strike Killia whenever Vulcan gave the order. Killia guessed that this person was one of Vulcan's trusted subordinates, as the brat didn't even flinch when he/she jumped down.

"Oi, oi! If you're just gonna stand there glaring at me, one of my men's gonna butcher you from behind!"

A cocky brat, she quickly rephrased. She didn't bother to answer, only closing her bronze eyes and elbowing the man beside her, followed by a kick. There came a crash, signaling another unconscious bandit. She had taken special care not to kill anyone.

Vulcan narrowed his eyes. "You not gonna say anything? Oh well. You haven't uttered a single word ever since we started ambushed you."

Her eyes narrowed further and she spoke for the first time. "Why should I speak to a few bandits who aren't even worth my time?" Vulcan spluttered indignantly and Black (she had temporarily named the person- black for his/her eyes) snarled and reached for his/her dagger, but Killia ignored them and continued speaking. "I don't feel like wasting my time talking to some bandits who just suffered a humiliating defeat from a girl, no less, who you ambushed." Her tone of voice was flat and without emotion. The bandits growled in anger, but Vulcan stopped them. At least the boy knew that it would be a waste of energy to fight her.

It really hadn't been a smart choice to attack her, but the bandits had probably thought she was just a defenseless girl who would scream when she saw their faces and hand over everything in her possession while trembling like crazy. They should have thought that a mere girl wouldn't be traveling alone. They should have made out that a bow and a quiver of arrows were wrapped in that old, worn out cloth she carried with her. They most definitely should have seen the way she started a fire easily and skinned the rabbit (her dinner- also a result of her hunting skills) professionally, or the way she handled the knife. Anyone would have known that this person was experienced enough to take down any bandits that came her way. Well, that was if they had a brain.

"I don't like how things are going, missy. Who are you, traveling alone in this large, large forest when you have such fine fighting skills?" Vulcan said. "You should at least be a soldier in the military."

Killia didn't bother to reply, instead darting her eyes over the possible escape routes. There were none. The bandits who were still standing were all blocking the exits from the forest, axes ready should Killia try to escape. Vulcan would also immediately retaliate if she made a move. The fact that he was still chatting with her meant that:one, he was confident he could subdue her if she tried to escape, two, she couldn't escape at all, or three, he just did not give damn.

Vulcan noticed her eyes drifting towards the bandits, gauging their strength, and scoffed. "Don't even think about escaping, onee-san. It's been a long time since we've attacked anyone," he muttered idly, twirling his axe. "Our skills might be rusty, but you'll be good practice. You seem strong, after all. Taking down so many of my men, really- quite strange for a lone female traveler."

Killia blinked. "There's something wrong with you bandits. All you do is steal from innocent people. There's no bounty on me, so you'd better just give up now."

Vulcan looked mildly offended. His eyes, however, darkened into pits of murderous flames, but his voice was till controlled and calm (if she ignored the cold edge to is tone). "Hey, we're not just ordinary bandits, okay? We just wanna fight you Fantasinian guys, cuz you know, you guys razed our home and all. We can't really rebel against you; the Queen's got a crazy strong army at the ready. Revenge- even if it's measly and slow- is as sweet as honey to us. We just loot you innocent travelers as much as possible and try to get unnoticed by the Royal Army."

It took Killia a few moments to comprehend that. When she did, her eyes widened and she looked at Vulcan and the others in pity. They were Bronquians, it seemed. And then time froze.

Fantasinians razed our home

Rebel against the Queen

Revenge against the Royal Army

Die

Die

Die

Like a breeze, the memories flew past her eyes, screams and shouts and wails and blood and tears-

Kill

Kill

Kill

She fell to her knees, eyes impossibly large, and the bandits surge forward, confusion written plain on their face. Vulcan stepped back as she babbled incomprehensible things- no, don't die, the pain the pain the pain, kill me, no, we didn't do it, it's not my fault, I have to save him, I have to save them, I have to save him- and the person behind him rushed forward, the hood falling off and revealing a young and attractive face framed with black bangs and narrow black eyes staring at Killia. No. Not Killia. Not the girl who was so calm just a moment ago; this was a person tormented by something. This person screamed, trembled, gasped for air and searched for anything- something-to hold on to, to reassure her. She's hyperventilating, the bandit thought numbly. Then her brain kicked into action. Before she knew it, she was beside the older girl, ignoring her fear and calming her and squeezing her hand through the thick gloves. They were clammy with sweat, and tears were pooling out from the girl's eyes. The bandit glanced desperately at Vulcan, who was still staring at Killia in shock. The girl was crying now, really crying, and screaming, screaming, screaming out strange words in a language she could not understand. The men shifted uneasily, not knowing what to do in this crazy situation.

Suddenly, Killia whipped her head up, bronze eyes horrifyingly blank. She couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything, only the blood, the screams, then the silence. And the darkness. Always the darkness.


Wings and purple eyes and her fight and no they died I was supposed to save them why why why why didn't he go back no no no they created me to fight they did this and blood and pain too strong too much power what happened why am I dying

Revenge and Revenge and Revenge

Kill and Kill and Kill

'P-protect him! Save him!' A request from another time, another world. A promise made long, long ago.

Protect.

She has to do this alone.

Don't die.

Always protecting, always fighting, always dying.

Please.

She promised. She promised.

A smile and a laugh, blue skies and carefree races across the green lands. Hands together, the warmth from the sun on their faces.

It's not fake.

She remembers.

Killia

Killia

Killia

'Why did you choose that name?' 'Ah. Well...it means 'protect', Your Majesty. A fitting name, I thought, and so I bestowed it upon the girl, Your Majesty.'

A conversation not from her memory.

She screamed. More images flashed by. Voices, voices from them, from them. Her eyes snapped up and fixed on a vague figure, hazily made out as a young girl. Younger than her, definitely. Surprise, shock and- was that fear?- was etched onto her face and tentative fingers reached out before withdrawing at the look in her eyes.

Kill

Kill

Kill

She remembers. Revenge, they said. Revenge.

She stared into the black eyes and lounged out, hands reaching for a bow that wasn't there (snatched away by a pale bandit when she was having a screaming fit, taking care not to touch her), reaching for arrows mechanically, they weren't there, not there, said her subconscious. She grabs the dagger hidden in her cloak instead- eyes around her widened and bodies tensed- but the girl beside her reached out and twisted her wrist, ow, ow, ow! The pain startles her and jolts her out of those images and sounds and-

Darkness swallows her.


Centuries ago, there was a horrible war that would later be known as The Mage War. The entire Vanir civilization was wiped out.

At least, for the first time.


Dark

It's always the darkness first. Always the villian's plot, then the evilness, then the mysterious paragraphs of endless words that you won't know a single thing about. You might guess (stress the MIGHT) but unless the whole story is just so terribly cliche that the plot is so classic, you would continue reading the book and reread the book until you have almost memorised every event and character's character and personality.

So. Anyway.

There are three roles in the world of books- the protagonist and his team (the good guys), the villian/antagonist(s) (the bad guys), and the neutral group/innocent civilians/Villager A and B (the guys who get caught in between and don't know what to do).

The villians, the subject of discussion here, are always influential, powerful, TOP PEOPLE. They have impossible strength, great intelligence, are sometimes immortal, always know the moves that the good guys make, special abilities that somehow neutralizes any powers the protagonist has.

Oh, and don't forget the black hair black eyes and black sword/dragon/magic/whatever that a villian usually uses.

Then there's the traitor.

That guy-or girl- is usually someone who the protagonist trusts, is a member of the protagonist's team, or somewhere up in the top and influential people. He or she would sometimes go back to the protagonist's team after a lovey-dovey reunion that involves a sound amount of arguing, fighting, the word traitor, and a lot of complicated reasoning and ideals of the protagonist and shouting of motivational speeches.

Back to the topic. So, villians.

They are a very_(insert word that describes important) role in a story. If you want a good story, you must have a good villian: one that's not too boring, too evil, too genius or too plain cliche.

No, this is not a writing a fanfiction guide. Just read it.


Death

Ah, the deaths. Very sad character deaths that make several tears roll down your cheeks.

Not much to say about this, but please bear in mind. When a charcter dies in a story, he or she stays dead. Or it's too...well, frankly, boring.


Dawn

Dawn is when the protagonist defeats the antagonist. It usually ends with an epic battle with the hero almost dying, then his strength is revived by his friend's/lover's/family's/memories' voices and cheers. It's a happy thing, and people will sometimes organise a party and break out the wine and juice (for underaged heroes). It's fun, the story's over, and it's time to reread the story again. And maybe sniffle some more at the happy, happy ending.

Just don't be expecting that in this story.


Ending theme: Tsunaide Te by Li'b


A/N: Last edited 6/10/2013