Riviera: The Promised Land

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Riviera at all, that's all on Sting's and Atlus' part to pay thanks to. This disclaimer will only be used on this chapter, but will be representing the entire story so people won't have to keep seeing this at the beginning of every chapter.

Empty…

That was the best way the boy could describe what his eyes were beholding. That was the best way to describe how soulless the area had been. Even with his partner clad in a red and maroon tunic, who was no less than a mere two feet away from him even, the place still felt as empty as ever.

A frigid wind swept across the boy's skin which was soon followed by a sharp hiss, giving him goosebumps as his body attempted to counter the freezing effect of the wind-chill. The clothes he wore weren't preventing much of the cold to flow throughout his body as he cursed himself in an ancient tongue at his foolishness to wear short leggings and a sleeveless tunic. A blue, what appeared to be, scarf was loosely wrapped around the boy's neck, but it too did not meet his needs as a warm protector.

The boy wondered how anything was able to survive in this frigid weather but knew that the cold had not been from the god's original creation. This cold, empty feeling came from something else – something incredibly dark and evil.

The man, adjacent to the boy's side, had come to this conclusion in his mind already, yet his face had not shown any signs of accomplishment in his discovery, as if nothing was peculiar about it. "It appears we have arrived at the gate," the man stated calmly, his golden locks of blonde hair waving in many directions contrary to directions the wind was blowing.

The boy was amazed at his partner's ability to endure the cold without showing any slight of reaction to the spine-tingling chill, but then again, the clothes his partner wore looked much heavier and appeared more suitable to cold weather unlike the boy's clothing.

"The cold air has become thicker; the evil presence is undoubtedly near."

The boy looked over his shoulder to the new voice that had spoken with a doom that worried the boy of the trials yet to come.

"So this is the presence of something more wicked than a demon," the boy said more to himself than anyone else. But the voice, which was now clearly detectable as a female's voice, spoke in return.

"It is no doubt the presence of an Accursed," the female said, jumping on the boy's shoulder.

The boy looked at his familiar, who had the form most would mistake as an ordinary house cat. Although there was a clear difference between the cat on the boy's shoulder and a normal cat, and the difference were two black featherless wings that protruded from the back of the familiar's back.

"An Accursed?" the boy turned to his cat in question, "What's that?"

"We do not have time to converse about it," the blonde haired man spoke in a duty-bound tone, "Our mission is to actuate the Retribution and to protect Asgard from any future demon invasion."

The boy nodded his head to his partner's re-statement of the mission. "Right, such is the fate of all Grim Angels. We will lay down our lives down for the safety of Asgard."

And with that said, the small group of three, including the cat, walked forward, passing an ancient ruin that was showing age of their final destination.

Unknown As To Where His Memory Lies; An Unfamiliar Surrounding

Young savior of this sacred land…

It is time for you to awaken and let time flow for you once more…

With a slight groan of awakening, a boy awoke in response to the voice he had heard echo in his ears. Pushing off the covers that bore a large yellow question mark for design, the boy unconsciously looked around as he examined the area he had woken up in.

He was in cylindrical room with bookshelves filled to the edge with thick books, and a table and chairs to seat a family of four; wooden designs made the walls appear to be made from living bark and a glassless window allowed the sunlight to come in and illuminate the room for him to see more designs of things that his eyes came across. A small kitchen was visible down a hallway making its way out the cylindrical design, and a staircase leading to a higher area in the room could be seen extending upwards to an unknown area to the boy. There was just something wrong…

…he didn't know where he was…

Without panic, the boy arose from the comfortable bed realizing that he had no shirt on at the moment, but his leggings were still on. His chest was covered in thick bandages, as dried blood was visible through the thick wrappings.
The wounds had, no doubt, time to heal as the boy felt no bodily pain whatsoever from his sudden movements around the area.

His shoeless feet met with a soft carpet that tickled the heels of the boy as he traversed across the delicate, soft material. Though shirtless, his body felt warmth when he stood in the sunlight's rays coming in through a window as his shadow lengthened in size from where the boy was standing at. Such things he was feeling was something he was sure he wasn't used to, but at the moment he would enjoy what he could make of it…

"Lina!" Arose the cry of a voice unfamiliar to the boy, "Do you want to play today?"

The boy looked around the area he was standing in, although the voice had clearly come from outside; but soon after, a young, green haired girl about half the size of the boy had come running in from what appeared to be the front door of the house, letting in a large beam of sunlight that blinded the boy momentarily.

There was a slight pause of action as the boy felt as if a pair of eyes had come across him to examine him. "You're not Lina!" the rather high-pitched voice of a child declared in exclamation.

Once his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the room, the boy looked down at the girl, a puzzled look on both their faces.

"Lina?" the boy repeated in confusion at the unfamiliar name.

"Who are you?" the girl asked in a voice that sounded threatening and fearful at the same time as she took several steps away from the stranger before her, bumping into one of the bookshelves against the wall.

The boy could only remain silent as he pondered the question the girl had given him; but after seconds of silence the boy had made a startling discovery – he didn't know his own name!

"I don't think I know the answer to that question," the boy said, breaking eye contact with the girl to prevent her from seeing the blush that had appeared on his face with his embarrassing answer. No matter how many times he tried digging through his mind right now, nothing could be found that could give the boy a clue as to what his name was. Could it be that he didn't have a name to begin with? Worry began to fill the heart of the boy as the little girl looked up at the boy.

"That's not a very good answer," the green haired girl replied as she began to think if she was in the correct house. But a quick examination of the room confirmed that she was in the right place. "What are you doing in Lina's house…wait…unless you're a - "

There was a short pause from the girl as her eyes examined the boy once again. The boy, curious as to why the girl stopped only said, "A what?" to help her finish her sentence. If this girl knew anything about him it would be nice to get the information out of her.

"A...a…" the girl stuttered and the boy noticed her take a big gulp as her eyes widened in horror. Was she afraid of him? "Thief! Thief! Thief!"

At first, the boy stiffened at the loud shrieking cry the green haired girl was giving, but soon calmed down as he didn't understand what the girl was trying to infer.

Apparently, the girl took notice in the boy's action and was surprised that he hadn't made a run for it before she quieted down and said, "You're not a good thief, are you?"

The boy blinked. At least now he knew what he wasn't. "I'm sorry, I guess not," the boy said as he scratched the back of his head in shame…kind of...

Immediately after the boy finished his sentence the girl in front of him broke out in laughter. Had he said something wrong to her?

"You're strange, you know that Mr. Thief," the girl said through now softening giggles.

"Mr…Thief?" the boy could only breath out…was that his name? Hadn't this girl said a few moments ago that he wasn't a thief? He was beginning to get confused all of a sudden thanks to this girl but he didn't have time to ponder anything what was happening right now.

"Uh-huh," the girl smiled though a giggle, "and since Lina isn't here to play, you can play with us." And with a quick motion, the green haired girl grabbed the confused boy and dragged him out of the house he was staying in; although the boy didn't bother to fight against the girl's tug, "Gill, we're ready to go!"

And with no answers to where he was or who he was, the boy had already begun an adventure he didn't completely understand.

Shopping for groceries is normally an easy task to fulfill in the town of Elendia, but today, the day they went out, was the day everyone else in town decided to visit the market grounds. Items sold fast as Sprites would literally have to fight for the freshly picked fruits and newly grown vegetables the stands had to offer. A thirty minute task, lengthened to over two hours of frantic pushing and shoving.

Lina, a golden blonde girl who had her long hair tied by two black ribbons into matching ponytails, sighed as the two baskets of fruits and vegetables she had been carrying appeared to be getting heavier and heavier with each forced step she took. Now two baskets of food wasn't at all hard to carry, but when they were filled to the brim and over some, things would begin to get complicated, not to mention a need for balance was also called for in carrying the baskets without dropping a piece of food.

"Why did we have to get so much stuff, Fia!" the young teenage girl wined similar to that of a little kid, seeing as there house still had a ways to go so any hopes of resting were all but killed off.

"Because," a girl with long green hair replied to the blonde, "we were running short on food to eat and I wanted to make sure we'd have enough for a while. Not to mention these things were on sale today!" Fia giggled. Unlike her friend, the girl named Fia did not tie her hair into ponytails, but instead, let the long strand of forest green flow gently against her back with a matching green bow tied on the back for looks.

"Where do we get the money for this much stuff anyways?" Lina tonelessly put in but Fia seemed to ignore the girl completely…it wasn't as if she had been earning any of the money anyways.

"And don't forget," Fia spoke, seemingly continuing her speech as if Lina hadn't spoken at all, "with that boy staying with us we'll need to make sure we have some food to offer him when he wakes up."

"If he wakes up…" Lina added, a little troubled at the thought she had given herself. From her count, it had been over a week now since she found a boy lying in the middle of the forest floor unconscious, light that had broken through the forest leaves shining onto the boy as if he fell from the sky. Who knows how long he had been knocked out before she had found him! This only added more stress to the blonde.

Fia sighed at her friend's remark. The boy was alive; she had made sure he had been properly bandaged to stop the wounds that would not stop bleeding when he had been moved from his spot in the forest; as if they refused to heal even. Even her healing magic could not completely heal the wounds…slow them down, yes, but not stop or completely heal them. It was as if the boy had been sealed in his sleep as well as other parts of his body that would normally recover from injuries such as cuts and gashes. Fia's mind could not help but wonder at this predicament.

"Finally!" cheered the voice of Lina as she began to run with the baskets full of groceries in her hands as if they weighed nothing whatsoever.

Fia questionably looked ahead at her younger looking friend as she realized that they had already made it to their tree home. In a matter of seconds, the golden blonde girl had entered the house, leaving a large lead between her and Fia. Relief came to the green haired girl as the thought of putting her share of baskets down made her smile in ease, they were beginning to get heavy for her after all -

"Kyaaaa!"

Fia unconsciously dropped the baskets she had been carrying as the scream quickly came to her ears. A scream she knew only to belong to Lina as she made her way to the tree-like home.

Rushing inside the open wooden door, Fia entered the hollow tree of the house and immediately came to the scene that had made her friend scream in fear. It only took a second, but soon, Fia froze next to Lina, both looking at the empty bed that used to have an unconscious boy on it.

"He's gone…" Lina finally said after a moment of silence, a large amount of worry was detectable in her voice.

Fia wasted no time as she ran up the stairs of the house to search other rooms for the missing boy. Too bad Lina was too much in a state of shock to even mention to the green haired girl that she had already checked all the rooms of the house, she was fast after all. All she was able to say were small audible mumbles to herself from the shock of the discovering that the boy had left.

When it was clear that the boy was not in the house, Fia raced down the stairs to get Lina, only to notice the blonde's dazed state. With a grab of both her shoulders shoulders, Fia shook the blonde wildly in hopes to snap the smaller girl out of her daze, "He's not upstairs! What are we going to do - "

"The old man's gonna be mad when he hears about this," Lina interrupted, giving Fia a smile that just freaked the green haired girl out. "We are gonna die when he find out about this."

"He couldn't have gotten far," Fia pointed out to the smaller girl. They had only been out for a couple of hours and the boy was in the bed when they had left. "We have to find him before grandpa finds out about this." And with a grab of her wrist, Fia dragged the blonde hair girl out of the house to search for the missing boy.

Several minutes had passed by since his encounter with the small green haired girl, Molan, and her blue haired friend, Gill. And yet he still had no idea what he was supposed to do with these kids and where he was.

The sunlight was somewhat too bright for the boy being dragged by the two children, his eyes had still not gotten completely used to the bright light; but at least the rays of light kept the boy warm, after all, he was still only in his leggings with no shirt or shoes. At least he was also able to see the children dragging him off and around a forested area.

The girl called Molan wore a large brown cap that covered most of her long green hair. In fact, the cap she wore was large enough to cover the girl's entire face if she wanted to; she also had on a bright-yellow tunic that showed traces of dirt and was roughened up a bit.

The boy named Gill also wore large cap that almost covered his short blue hair; the same deal was with Gill's cap, and looked too big for him to say the least. He wore a blue tunic that seemed to match the bright-yellow tunic Molan was wearing in design; and just like Molan's tunic, Gill's tunic also showed traces of dirt and looked roughened up as well. It looked like these two liked playing outdoors a lot.

There was also one thing that caught the eye of the boy: both Molan and Gill had long ears. The boy, who was still being called "Mr. Thief" didn't know whether this was normal or not, but after checking his ears with his free hand and finding that they were round he wasn't quite sure what was normal around here.

Finally, the two children halted in their tracks as they gazing at a river before them. 'Mr. Thief' could only imitate the children, but he was not seeing what they were in surprise.

The river before them was a rapid one as water rushed by with enough force to carry a person away downstream. Small droplets of water splashed the chocolate haired boy from the rapids nearby, informing the boy, just from the small splashes that he was getting hit with, that the water was frigid.

"This river flows to Undine Spring," Molan nearly said at the top of her small chirpy voice, "downstream is the waterfall and under that is Undine Spring."

Mr. Thief blinked in confusion, wondering why he was being told of a place that was completely unknown to him, but he got his answer soon.

"Across this river is the place we're going to, a secret place behind the Crystal Caverns back in town," Gill spoke in the same loud manner as Molan did, trying to stay above the sound of the rushing water that went against his voice.

Though he didn't know what these Crystal Caverns were, Mr. Thief did understand the incentive of these two. "So how do we get across," he asked, a little nervous of the coming answer.

"See those rocks over there?" Molan pointed a little further downstream from where they stood. After a moment of scanning downstream, the boy was able to see clearly what Molan had been pointing at. Four rocks, each spread only inches apart from one another looked clear as a path to go through. "They're flat enough on top to hop across, and they are not too far away from each other, so getting across is easy."

"Really?" Mr. Thief was lowly able to say, to low, in fact, to be heard by the children right beside him. "And if we fall?" he asked, this time loud enough for the two to hear.

"If you fall, then you get pulled to a big waterfall that leads you to Undine Spring," Gill had declared over a voice that indicated the fall ahead was not survivable. At least that's what the boy had thought.

"Is there another way around," the boy asked, nervously laughing at the thought of actually falling in the river, especially when he had nothing but the bandages across his chest and the leggings he wore as the only clothing he had on.

"Yeah," Gill replied in a bored tone, "but the other way takes us the opposite way of the river until the water calms down. But that's really far upstream; it's a lot faster taking this as a shortcut."

"Come on Mr. Thief!"

The boy looked to where the voice had come from, which was presently coming from downstream where the rocks the children had pointed out to him were.

"M-Molan!" the boy stuttered in worry as he saw the girl standing on the second rock that lead across the rushing river. But before anything else could be said, the green haired girl had jumped from the third rock and then to the fourth rock before landing safely on dry land, opposite to the area Gill and Mr. Thief were.

"Come on," Gill exclaimed hurriedly as he ran to where the first rock was. Apparently, Molan had traversed across the dangerous path without any flaw, as if she'd done this so many times she could do it with her eyes closed.

By the time Mr. Thief had made it to the starting point of the path Gill was already waving at the boy on the other side. So far, he had made it across with the same ease Molan did. If children younger than him could do it, then why couldn't he?

With a deep breath taken in to get as much oxygen he could in his head, the boy jumped onto the first rock – and had already found trouble as the rock he had jumped to was not really far away from him than it looked. The boy landed on the rock, but almost slipped on the wet surface the rock had presented. Once he had gained his balance, the boy went onto the next rock, this time taking a long step as not to overshoot his landing like the first time. But before the boy had made contact with the second stone, he had noticed that there had been moss growing on the rock. Making sure not to slip on the algae, the boy prepared to lengthen his stride even more and was successful in avoiding the slippery green flora. The last two steps had been a lot easier to the boy than he had expected; both were wet and slippery but he had already prepared for that encounter and was safely granted access to the other side of the river.

"That was long," Gill said monotonously.

"It was his first time after all," Molan defended the boy.

"So where is this place you wanted to go?" Mr. Thief spoke up, feeling more anxious now that he had crossed the rocky path without fail. He also was feeling a prideful moment and full of energy as he finished his jumps.

Both Gill and Molan gave a big toothy grin as excitement filled each one of their faces. They were each ready to continue on to the place they wanted to show Mr. Thief until -

"Lina knew we'd find him here!" exclaimed the voice of a young female who had been yelling across the river. "There!"

Molan, Gill, and Mr. Thief all three glanced at where the high pitched voice had come from. There, across the river, stood a girl pointing a finger at the group of three. The girl was shorter than Mr. Thief, but taller that the two children that were by the boy's side. She had long, golden-orange hair that was knotted into two ponytails and still managed to still to reach a ways downward up to her shoulders. She had amber colored eyes and wore a yellow, sleeveless tunic that formed to a skirt at the bottom of the clothing several inches away from her knees. On each arm, up from the girl's elbows, appeared to be two largely tied sleeves, but these were not sewed onto the tunic she wore; instead, it was tied by a black ribbon: the same type of black ribbon that was tied to make her ponytails. Attached to the back of the girl's tunic, mainly near the top of the skirt, was a drape that dragged down below her knees; as if untied from front but not the same in the back. A black under-laying was slightly visible on the girl under the tunic that she wore, but from the boots she had on, the black under-laying was clearing visible and had risen up slightly above the knees, just inches away from touching the skirt. Finally, a brown sash was wrapped around her waist and a golden-orange neckerchief that matched the girl's hair perfectly were the final things the boy had taken notice.

"That's him," the girl clad in yellow spoke up happily, still having a finger pointed at the boy across the river.

"Thank goodness we found him so quickly," announced the voice of another female as she made her way out of the forest in the background.

Unlike the young girl in yellow, this new girl was more noticeably clad in green. Her hair was a grassy green, a green that was little lighter in color to Molan's hair color, and was long enough to stretch down to the girl's back. She had emerald colored eyes and wore a green colored ribbon, one that was darker in color to her own hair and was dressed more formally than that of her orange haired friend. She wore no tunic, but instead, an attire that was completely unfamiliar to the boy. A black vest was buttoned up and covered the white cloth of a shirt that spread out thickly on the girl's shoulders and then tightened up down her arm until it was a mere inch or two away from the girl's wrist, where it would open up to let the hands freely rotate without ruining the delicate cloth. The girl also wore a large green dress with white edges curled on the end, though the dress did not go as low as to touch the ground; small brown boots covered some of the white stockings the girl wore as well, but most of the stockings were covered by the large dress. And finally, a black ribbon, one that was very similar to the ones the girl clad in yellow and orange wore, was tied as a bow around the collar of the girl's white shirt.

The girl clad in green also turned to Mr. Thief, which surprised the boy a little before the blonde spoke up. "Molan, what do you think you're doing with him? Why are you taking him to the secret spot!"

"Secret spot?" the green haired girl across the river repeated after her friend. "What secret spot?"

The blonde froze and put on a look that wanted to hit herself for what she had said out loud. "Oh, it's nothing really, Fia," the girl forced a laugh out, twirling the ends of her ponytails with her fingers as she tried to escape the glares from taller girl. "Molan just likes to come here a lot. That's why I had a feeling she'd be here; we were supposed to play today so Lina thought she would be here."

Fia continues to stare the smaller girl down, making Lina shrink down than her normal size as she attempted to escape this conversation. "If that's the case, were you actually looking for him," Fia ended by pointing at the boy across the river.

"Eh heh heh," Lina shyly laughed, "I only came here to see if Molan would help us look for him. I didn't know he would be with her…"

Fia could only stare at the grinning girl, but remembered she had better things to do at the moment than interrogating her friend. Turning to the group of three across the river, she yelled over the current, "Molan, Gill," both children turned to face the green clad girl in response to their names, "that boy is a very important person, and he needs to be in a meeting with my grandfather very soon. If you could please say your goodbyes and we'll be taking him for you that would be really appreciated."

The two children turned to face each other and appeared to be in the middle of a conversation when they turned to the shirtless boy.

"Hey, Mr. Thief," Gill started in a whisper, "did you have a meeting with the Elder?" Molan stayed close to the boy to hear the conversation that was going to take place.

The boy closed his eyes and he undoubtedly tried to search his head for any remembrance in having a meeting of any sort, but when nothing came to mind he only answered, "No."

"Liar!" Molan cried out to Fia from across the river with a pointed finger, making the green-haired teenager flinch that she had already been caught in her lie.

"Molan, you better bring him back or else you'll be in so much trouble when I tell your mom!" Lina screamed back at the young girl, who hadn't even flinched at the threat.

"This is your fault for not being able to play with us," Molan shot back slyly; "Mr. Thief is our new friend."

"Mr. Thief?" Fia said to herself in confusion at the awkward name. But by the time the green haired girl was able to completely say the name, Molan, Gill and Mr. Thief began walking off at a brisk pace away from the teenagers on the other side of the river.

"Why you little…" was all Lina could say as she ran down the flow of the river, her hands shaking in rage.

Fia quickly took notice of the girl's action and was able to breath out, "How do you plan to get across?" before the orange clad girl was out of distance to hear.

Fia didn't get her answer in words, but instead saw the smaller girl jump on a rock that was stuck deep in the water with three more stones ahead of her as alternative steps. "You're not gonna show him that secret spot," Lina said to herself as she jumped to the second stone, unable to hear Fia's cries of warnings that the path she was taking was a dangerous one if she slipped. But it had been too late as the orange haired girl landed on the second stone, slipping on the wet moss that had been growing on the inward side of the stone and falling into the water being pushed away by the water's strong current.

"Lina!"

Mr. Thief had heard the cry, and so had Molan and Gill who had done an about-face and ran to where Lina and Fia last were.

They arrived in moments, catching eye of the green haired teenager running downstream as fast as she could as she chasing an orange and yellow blur which Molan recognized to be Lina. Gill noticed this too, and instantly ran with the flow of the river as Fia had been doing. Molan chased seconds after with Mr. Thief in pursuit.

"Lina," Gill cried out to the drowning girl; only deep gasps of air and some waterlogged coughs answered the boy back which worried him.

Lina could desperately be seen trying to swim across the river to at least grab the edge of the trench, but her attempts failed as she was flailed around; her little body being an easy victim for the powers of the rivers current.

"What do we do?" Mr. Thief asked in fright to Molan, trying to block out the cries Fia was giving to her friend to concentrate if anything came to mind.

Molan didn't answer the boy, though Mr. Thief could easily notice tears flowing on the side of the girl's face.

"If you fall, then you get pulled to a big waterfall that leads you to Undine Spring." The fact that Gill had given him soon rushed Mr. Thief's head as he saw Gill and Fia far ahead of him and Molan; Lina was even further ahead than the leaders and was loosing them fast.

He had to remind himself that he only had his leggings on; no shoes or tunic, and the only thing keeping him warm were the rays of sunlight and the thickly wrapped bandages with dried blood visible through the wrappings. But it didn't take long for Mr. Thief to jump in the water, immediately being swept by the force of the current, and start swimming to the orange haired girl.

Molan and let out a short scream with a cry of, "Mr. Thief!" as the brown haired boy passed Gill and Fia with the help of the current.

Gill was speechless and Fia's eyes could only widen in fear as she saw the edge of the waterfall making its way up not too far ahead.

Mr. Thief swam as fast as he could, water being inhaled in the process of breathing and his body already shivering from the cold water as his body temperature was no doubt beginning to lower; but he pushed himself as he neared the nearly unconscious girl in the water.

Lina had stopped making an attempt to grab the edge of the trench and was slowly sinking deeper into the water. Her eyes, from what Mr. Thief could see, had been hallow and showed no signs of color.

The trench was beginning to shrink as the edges soon merged with the ground – this would have been a great chance to escape, if only he had the girl secured first.

But things went from bad to worse as Mr. Thief heard the girl name Fia scream out, "Watch out!"

The boy didn't know what she was trying to warn about right now, but he had to pay attention to saving the nearly drowning girl in front of him; he was almost to her.

With a couple of strides pushing toward the helpless girl, the boy finally was able to grab a free hand of the girl and…

…he felt weightlessness as the water he was swimming in was beginning to disappear beneath his feet, the girl named Lina still in hand, but both falling down the large waterfall that was soon to be their…their…

The boy closed his eyes; he had soon awakened from a sleep where he suddenly forgot everything he thought he knew, and was about to die just like that. He had wished that his final moments were like the girl he had in his hand – unconscious. That would be a better way to go right now.

The fall below them was a long one, but they were filling the gap within seconds…seconds before they would hit the rocks below and under the waterfall.

That was until the boy felt a hand clasp his free arm while his other was occupied holding onto Lina. "Already into trouble, I see." A voice said to the only conscious person in the situation; the voice that was carried had a stern feeling into it, a demanding voice that asked the questions instead of answered any. And the biggest surprise to the boy was that it was feminine. "You have a meeting with the village elder to attend soon." The sound of flapping wings could be heard but the boy couldn't clearly see who had saved him and Lina thanks in part to the sun blurring out the view.

So he did have a meeting after all…who knew…

Mr. Thief, the boy without memory of who he really was or where for that matter, shivered continuously as he tried to dry himself off with the wool woven towel he had been given by the green clad girl, Fia. But it was very difficult for the boy not to shiver, as Fia had been performing a healing art on his body, trying to close some of the wounds that had weakened and opened up in the water; a white light emanating from the hands of the girl as she concentrated deeply in her art of magic to perform her duty.

The boy didn't notice he had opened his wounds during his rescue attempt, but now he was given new bandages to cover his cuts due to the fact that the ones he had on had been wet and was now useless.

The boy's leggings and undergarment had been soaked and were hung up to dry on a nearby rope connected from two trees a good ways apart from each other. He was given a spare legging and a tunic from the village elder and was to stay outside the house that belonged to that very man as he and a woman, a Harpiua as he was told a few minutes before, were discussing something inside the house, no doubt something about Mr. Thief.

Lina, the girl Mr. Thief had tried to save in the river, was several inches away from the boy but in the same condition he was in. Soaked, wearing spare clothing given to her by the elder, but all-in-all unharmed. Her hair had been let down from the regular ponytails she had on earlier today and a look of great discomfort befell her face as all she could do was stare at the ground by her feet without saying anything.

"There, I think that should do it for now," Fia said with a breath of relief as the bright light that had been emanating from her hands on his chest slowly began to dim. The green haired girl stood up as she wiped some of the sweat that had formed on her brow and looked down at the boy, "Your wounds should be closed, but try not to move too much. We wouldn't want to have them open again or I might not be able to heal them this time."

The boy looked at the girl questionably but replied, "Thank you." before Fia walked over to Lina to check up on the blonde.

When Fia was close enough to her smaller friend, the blonde spoke up in a disappointed tone, "We're in trouble, aren't we?" Somehow, the boy had been able to hear this moan from the saddened girl.

The green haired girl sighed lowly and answered, "I guess it couldn't be helped," as she sat on the ground with the soaked blonde; apparently, Mr. Thief was able to hear what she had said clearly too, even when they were talking in whispers.

There was a quick silence that opened up, the only things audible were the sounds of voices coming from the hallowed tree house Fia, Lina, and Mr. Thief were laying their backs against.

Several minutes passed by before a voice spoke up, "So, um…what's your name."

The boy shot his head from his resting position against the outside wall of the house, facing the green haired girl that had just spoken to him. "Huh?" was all the boy could answer unexpectedly.

"Your name, what is it?" Fia asked, no doubt trying to start a conversation while the three waited for the elder to speak with them…their doom.

It took a while for the boy to respond, but he quickly thought of the name he had been given earlier today. "Well…it's Mr. Thief," the boy said, for some reason blushing as he said the name.

"Mr. Thief?" Lina leaned forward to get a view of the boy since Fia was in her way, "what kind of name is that?"

And to be honest with himself, the boy didn't know. He still hadn't received an explanation from Molan what a Thief was, so he didn't know if what he was saying as his name was an insult or not. "Where am I?" the boy asked, trying to get away from the topic about his name.

"You're in Elendia," Fia spoke with a sweet smile as she looked up at the orange sky; the sun had been setting by this time. "A peaceful town located in the middle of Rivera."

"Riviera?" the boy said in a whisper to himself.

"What was that?" the green clad girl asked, unable to have heard what the boy had said.

"Oh," the boy spoke louder, "nothing, I was just thinking to myself."

"Where do you come from?" it was now Lina's turn to talk as she wanted to join the small conversation that was taking place.

The boy sighed at the blonde's question before replying, "I don't know."

"Wha!" Lina nearly screamed, "how do you not know where you're from?"

The boy didn't answer as he only looked at the ground the same way the blonde had been doing only moments before this conversation had started.

Fia shushed the girl beside her and asked, "Is Mr. Thief your real name?"

Another slow moment had passed before the boy answered, "No, it was the name Molan gave me."

"Do you know your real name at all?" Fia continued to press the boy. But when the boy shook his head to her question - her suspicions had been met. "I thought so," Fia said to herself quietly before turning to the boy, "amnesia-"

"What!" Lina screamed again, "How?" she asked the boy, but realized that she wasn't going to get an answer to that question.

Another moment of silence had arisen, this one more awkward than the several few that had occurred just seconds before this one.

"Well then," Fia spoke up in a more cheerful manner to clear out the heavy mood, "I guess you'll have to see some of your stuff so you can remember your name? Maybe even remember more from before we found you. Hold on a minute," and with that, Fia ran into the elder's house leaving the memory ridden boy confused where he was sitting.

The boy sighed again to himself. So many things had happened in just one day. Was this a life he had been used to? Somehow, he could deny that line of thought from his mind, but what if he could never get his memory back-

"Um…Mr. Thief…" a voice broke his line of thought as he turned to Lina, the only girl outside with him at the moment. From what the boy could see, a pink hue was seen on her face as the brown haired boy wondered if she had been getting a cold from the freezing water. "Thanks for trying to save me today and all." It was then that Lina made eye contact with the boy and smiled at him, only to have the boy smile in return.

"Don't mention it."

After he had said that was when Fia came rushing out of the house with a big yellow-golden item in her hand. The item was about three-fourths the size of the boy and Fia and jagged points on edges as the direction of the item seemed to flow into one motion but yet at the same time move in different direction to form something the boy, Fia, nor Lina could not make out. A handle was noticeable at the bottom of the object where Fia had been holding it and a name was eligible at the bottom. The item was thin in design, but thick enough to look dangerous enough with its sharp edges. A final point was noticeable on the top of the object as getting poked by that thing was the last thing the boy would ever want to experience.

"You were holding this in your hand when you were found," Fia informed the boy, trying to get his hopes up in any way to remembering what had happened to him before today. "There's even a name on this thing," Fia finally said before giving the item to the boy.

"'Ein-her-jar'," the boy sounded out the name that was written at the bottom of the handle.

"Grandpa didn't know what it was either but said that 'Einherjar' is the name of it; but since it's yours he has no idea what it really is or if he's correct in his assumption."

"Do you remember anything," Lina asked in a more than excited tone, hoping that there would be some progress in this attempt.

"No, I can't." the boy said in disappointment. "You said you found this with me?"

"Well, you were holding onto it when Lina found you," Lina spoke up in a voice that only seemed to annoy Fia from the smaller girl's brag.

Even though it was said to be his, this Einherjar item was something he couldn't remember. Nothing had come to mind to help remind him of the days before today. What could that mean…did it mean he would never be able to retrieve his memories?

"Lina thinks we should call you Ein," Lina spoke up, standing from her seated position on the ground and walking toward Fia and the boy who were both giving her questionable looks. But Lina gave a triumphant smile that showed she knew what she was talking about.

"Why do you say that, Lina?" Fia asked, not understanding the blonde's decision on the name.

"Lookie here," Lina pointed out as she used one of her hands to cover the –herjar on the bottom of the handle of the item in the boy's hand. "When you cover that word, you get a real name," Lina started as she used her other hand to move aside a strand of hair that had pasted itself on her face, "maybe you named this thing after part of your name."

It took no time for this information to sink into the heads of Fia and the boy. "That does make sense," Fia said to herself as she turned to the boy, "is that ok with you?"

The boy only looked at the two girls in front of him in an amazed stare. In no time at all he had been given a name that could have possibly been his and he didn't even know it. These girls, from what he had heard, had taken care of him since he had been asleep. Maybe it would only be fair to let them pick a name for him after all the trouble he had already caused them; besides, he didn't mind the name 'Ein' at all.

"Sure," Ein answered, "that works for me."

Both Lina and Fia smiled at Ein's agreement for the name as they each gave their own cheers to congratulate the boy. "By the way, I'm Lina," Lina said, pointing a finger at herself with a grin.

"And I'm Fia, it's nice to meet you, Ein," the green haired girl gave a bow at the boy before her.

And for once since his awakening, Ein smiled at both girls' introduction. Maybe not remembering things would be good for a while. At least he was able to meet some nice people today. And that wasn't so bad; in fact, the feeling he was getting in his chest and mind easily told him that he was not used to this sort of thing, but he liked it anyways. It was a feeling he would want to keep forever.

Howdy, this is Rune Ocarina here, and I'd like to thank those of you who took their time to read this fic with a big 'Thank you!' Now, I wanna explain some things about this story before I go on.

First of all, though this may be a novelization (sp?) of the Riviera: The Promised Land video game, I want to point out that I am trying my best to make sure that this story does not become a walkthrough of the original game. That is why I am entrusting you, the reader/reviewer, to correct me on any mistakes you find during this, and any chapter, I put out. Also tell me when things get a little out of hand or too crazy. (I may have written on some works for the past few years, but I still make mistakes and I still consider myself a rookie among the better writers of fanfiction.)

Secondly, as a lot of people know, Ein, the main character of this story, gets into certain relationships trials and tribulation as I like to call it during the game. So I want to let the readers know that this story isn't just to satisfy one pairing; I will try to satisfy all of the parings the reader's like and in a ways, making this more interesting…hopefully.

Lastly, I am working on another novel; this one is an original found in fictionpress, and I will be working on this and my original novel at the same time. This will not be an easy story to write, but if I have enough inspiration from my readers then I'm sure I can finish this story as well as keep the Riviera section moving!

One more note, I know that Lina has orange hair, but I will still call her a blonde just because it makes writing a lot easier. If this annoys anyone please let me know so I can find a way to make things easier on me and you. And finally, since this was my first chapter, don't be surprised if things seem a little odd here. I always suck with beginning chapters; it's just a curse that seems to haunt me every time I try to write something new.

(Anyone know if Ladie is really a Harpiua and if this is the way to spell it. It would really be appreciated if someone could correct me on this if it's wrong.)