A great battle had ravaged the earth.
Towns and cities were destroyed. Roads and forests torn apart. Rivers and lakes ran red with the blood of countless victims that had fallen to the enemy.
What was the enemy you ask?
God itself.
God was angry with humanity. It wanted to punish them. It wanted to reprimand them. It wanted to discipline them for the foolishness they had shown countless times over the course of history.
And so, it had sent down angels to carry out that duty.
None were spared from God's judgement as they came down to earth.
Many had tried to fight back but to no avail, their resistance was utterly futile.
Humanity has angered God countless times. Multiple purges had danced across the earth for several thousand years, each one just as merciless and bloody as the last.
But one day, a man stood up to resist God's will.
He questioned if what they were facing was even a God, if it was nothing but a monster in disguise.
He had fought the angels and won each and every time, yet felt like the battle had yet to start.
You may ask, "How did this man become the exception to all the others who had tried to resist God?"
It was the work of countless others who had granted him the power to do so.
Yes, the man himself did not have the power, for the power wasn't his.
Through humanity's collective thoughts and wishes, a power that was just enough to face God was created, and through unknown means, was given to this man.
The Celestial Qualia, a divine power crystalized and given form, was a perfect counter to God's wrath.
Or it should have been.
The man had fought against countless angels with his comrades, climbed the Yggdrasil Tree that the supposed messengers of heaven had descended from, and walked upon the moon's surface to face God who resided inside it.
And lost.
Yes, the man who had the power to stop god once and for all, lost.
He and his comrades had retreated, but not without a price.
The Celestial Qualia had become contaminated with God's will. And someone, someone very dear and important to them had sacrificed themselves to buy time for their escape.
Once they had returned to earth, the man was put into a deep slumber. To hibernate. To recover from his wounds. To purify him and the Qualia from the contamination.
In one world, he would've lost his memories in the process, and would have woken up without a clue as to what had happened to him. Not aware of the battles he had fought, not aware of who he was, nor would he know the power he had previously obtained lies dormant within him.
This is not that world.
One small change can go a long way.
...
In a forest near a village sits a small lake surrounded by trees taller than any other. The lake itself was a clear blue, its surface untouched with barely any ripples bouncing across it.
It was a quiet and peaceful scene, with the chirps and the flapping of birds and the noises and buzzing of insects being the only things that were present.
In the center of the lake, floating in the water, there was a sleeping boy.
...
"I'll be back mom!" A girl with short red hair called out. "I'm gonna go visit the lake!"
"Ok, be careful then, Lisette," an older woman answered back.
"I will!" She puts on her shoes and begins to walk out the door she just opened and through the village she lives in.
It was early morning. The sun had just peeked over the horizon in an orange light as the rays has filtered through the nearby forest and laid across the quiet little village. Lisette walked at a steady pace as she headed east of the village, where a dirt path lead into the forest.
She took her time down the path to take in the scenery. Even if she had walked down this path countless times, the forest was always something that puts her mind at ease. She has walked through this forest for as long as she could remember.
Eventually, she arrived at her destination of a small lake. The peaceful and quiet scenery made her nostalgic as she went over to the shore and got on her knees. She clasped her hands together in prayer and close her eyes.
"Elcrest...thank you for this life I have lived," She began, praying to the hero that was praised throughout Regnant. "It has been peaceful so far and I couldn't have asked for anything more enjoyable."
She tightened her lip, with a new thought conflicting with what she had said.
"But..so far my life has been a lonely one. I have no real friends, and I simply look after the children of the village, reading them stories, and playing games with them. But I feel out of place, being the only one older than them.
"I wish I had a friend, around the same age as me. I wish we could spend time together and have fun. I just wish I wasn't alone…"
Splash!
"Huh…?" Lisette had opened up her eyes and looked to where the source of the sound was.
There, in the middle of the lake, was a boy with black hair roughly the same age as her. He looked around confused as he splashed a little to turn his head, looking around. It seemed he hadn't noticed Lisette's presence yet.
Normally, Lisette would've been excited at the thought, that by some mere coincidence, her prayers have been answered.
But the boy was swimming in what was considered almost sacred to her village, to the point of having to make up stories about a woman drowning herself to keep the children from playing in the waters.
So naturally, she marched into the water to get the boy out. She didn't care whether or not her clothes got soaked.
...
Elcrest woke up to what looked like a small lake in a forest, confused as to why he was here and not with his comrades for what felt like not too long ago. He thought about this and tried to recall what happened before waking up here.
Oh right, he thought. I lost.
The battle itself wasn't much, it was the skirmishes that lead up to their fated battle with God. Hordes among hordes of angels had tried to stop them as they climbed up the Yggdrasil Tree that lead to the moon. Once they had actually reached the moon, the assault had lessened, and they were met with small groups. Once they had reached the place God— The Mother Qualia resided in, it had done little to defend beyond summoning angels and what looked like black fire surrounding it to protect itself.
The battle didn't take too long as he and the witches performed the Celestial Hymn and managed to the damage the Qualia to the point where it slowed down the summons, and even disperse the black fire around it. He was going to take the final blow then…
A wall of black flames appeared.
And once it had died down, a girl with teal hair stood in its place.
If he hadn't known any better, he wouldn't have noticed the immense malice and killing intent radiating off her like the uncomfortably hot summer sun with its scorching heat behind that innocent smile. He was too confused by the sudden appearance to back away from more of the black fire the Mother so favored using. He became engulfed in them and screamed in pain as the girl laughed at him, watching in delight as he was burned alive by it while his comrades yell his name.
It was then he was pushed out of it by someone, and his screams died down only to be replaced by theirs. He was in too much in pain to register whose it was. He also, albeit vaguely, remembers a commotion going on before he was teleported out of there.
He remembered being carried and placed down. He had felt the flames do more than burn him. He felt them giving him impulses, destructive impulses. It had taken a great deal of restraint to hold back. His mind lurching back in and forth as he tried to stay his hand from just reaching out and hurting his friends. He had begged and pleaded for them to end his life right there, the pain all too much to bear.
Occupied trying to withstand the pain and hold back his impulses, he heard another commotion. Suddenly the pain was gone, and he no longer felt like he was trying to reign in a violent beast. His vision went black, and he fell asleep. His sleep was dreamless and was in this state for quite a while, longer than expected. It was then he felt his sight and other senses come back to him, feeling his clothes suddenly become soaked. He woke up in this lake.
He pushed the water with his arms so that he was floating upright instead of on his back and began moving some more as he tried to look around. From what he could gather, there was no one around and the forest itself seemed to remained untouched. While he would no problem trying to get out of the forest, it was where and how he ended up here that he was questioning.
Splash!
He tried to turn around as he pushed the water quicker than usual at the new noise, something had entered the lake he was in. He wasn't alone.
There was a redheaded girl marching through the water, and she was NOT pleased to see him.
The water was shallow enough so that she was wading through the water without having to swim, Elcrest had yet to notice this himself as he tried to back away in minor panic. He wasn't sure if she was a potential enemy or not and was not taking any chances
"Get! Out! Of! The! Water!" The girl said before grabbing his leg, as it was close to her while he tried to swim backwards away from her. She pulled, hard, and proceeded to drag him across the water back to where she came from. Elcrest struggled a bit as his head was constantly submerged then bobbed up out of the water randomly, not doubt the girl not giving him time to adjust so that he could level his head properly. He could only spout out a few words every time his head rose out of the water.
"Stop..! Let..! Me…! Go…!" He could only say in between breaths. It seems as if the girl did not care as she had not let up on the harsh pulling.
He felt his body hit the shore but he was still being dragged. His head was completely submerged now as the incline pushed up his body feet first. He had to hold his breath before he felt his head rising up out of the water again, he felt it drag across the sand before meeting the grass and the pulling stopped.
He rolled over and got on his knees and hands, coughing up water. A little water got into his lungs and he certainly didn't enjoy being dragged across the water.
He noticed a shadow casting over him and looked up. It was the girl again, still very displeased and was soaking wet just like him. She was covered in water all the way up to her waist and dripping.
"What were you doing in the lake!?" She demanded, her hands on her hips as she looked down on him. "That lake is very important to our village, and we don't need people using it as a bath!"
"Whaa…?" Elcrest could only mutter in confusion as he began to stand up. "I don't know what you're talking about, I just woke up like that."
"Just woke up like that?" She found it hard to believe what he was saying. "Sure, the middle of a lake is a great place to take to nap!"
"I'm not lying?" Elcrest wasn't sure what to say. "Why would I bathe in my clothes? I don't even remember how I got there in the first place."
Her eyes widened a little at this. "Because..!" She paused at this before sighing. "You have a point I guess. Do you really not remember though?"
"I don't… I was… " He wasn't sure how to word this without sounding crazy. "I was fighting something..? And I lost… then I woke up here."
"Oh, so you don't..." The girl trailed off. "Sorry I thought you were trying to take a bath in our lake… Do you know the way home?"
"I don't. To be honest, I don't exactly know where I am." He looked down on his completely soaked clothes. "You don't suppose that you have a fresh change clothes for me or anything before I go though, right?"
She gave it thought. "Oh, I do! My village isn't too far off from here." She turned to walk back to the village before she paused. "Ah, sorry. I don't think we introduced each other yet. I'm Lisette!"
"I'm Elcrest."
She blinked in confusion. "Elcrest…?" She shook her head. "Well nice to meet you! C'mon! This way!" Lisette continued walking and gestured at the dirt path leading elsewhere, waiting for Elcrest to follow.
He did, and once he caught up they both began walking down the path through the forest.
Lisette occasionally threw a glance at him, and he couldn't help but wonder why.
"Um, is there something on my face?" he asked.
She turned her head again towards him. "Oh, I was just looking at the pendant you have there. It's really pretty! Where'd you get it?"
"Pendant..?" He asked, his eyes following to where she was looking. "Oh…"
The pendant he wore hung around his neck with simple grey string, it was a teardrop shaped crystal attached to a golden base and hoop where the string went through. Looking at it, the shape of it felt very familiar.
Oh, he thought. It's the Water Qualia.
"It was given to me by a friend," he said, recalling an image of Francisca, the Water Witch and his friend, wearing around her neck like he did now.
"Oh, where did they get it from? To get it to shine like that, it must be from the Capital!"
He wasn't sure if he should reveal the origins of the Qualia so he went along with what she said. "Yeah, probably. She never really told me where she got it from, actually."
"Well, it's really pretty, so it must be." She smiled at him. "Your friend must think you're important to get you something like that."
"Yeah… " He said, thinking on this.
Fran, why did you leave this behind with me? He thought.
They continued down the path towards Lisette's village.