William and Shilo sat next to each other in a near-empty park. The 15-year-old Witch was breathing deeply, trying to calm down. Remembering the day her Mother had gone crazy still terrified her even now. William was very uncomfortable. She may not have been his actual Mother, but his Stepmother had still been family through his Father. He knew what it was like to be afraid of your mother, and to have her hurt you because she didn't think you measured up. Of course, for him, it had been because of his Curse, but still. And remembering all of that caused the 16-year-old to shudder. "It's okay. Please don't force yourself Shilo, you're okay" he said softly, tentatively rubbing the girl's back, just like Julius always did for him and Patry. William understood, in a way, just how terrifying this must be for his teammate and friend- to have to go through all of this again, even if it was just a memory. And so he would be patient.

The red-haired girl breathed slowly and deeply, shaking slowly receding, "I'm, okay now. Really. *sigh* thank you, William" she replied, looking up at the masked Teenager as her heartrate slowed back down again. "Are you sure?" the World Tree Mage asked worriedly. Shilo smiled slightly, "yes, don't worry. It's okay" she replied. William nodded and removed his hand. The Witch sighed softly and leant back on the bench, closing her eyes as she did so, before opening them to look up at the sky above them, "so, after being beaten by the Witch Queen I ran as far and as fast as I could:"

(Flashback)

Shilo ran and ran, terror and adrenaline fuelling her. Despite how much her legs and chest burned with exhaustion, the red-haired Witch didn't dare stop. She was sure the Queen had found out about her escape by now and was coming after her. 'If I stop, and she catches me, I'll die for sure! My only chance is to keep running!' Shilo thought, tears welling in her eyes at the very thought of being caught. 'I really wish I'd had time to grab my broom though, I'm going to run out of energy soon!' Eventually, the girl found her legs going numb without her permission and she wobbled through the trees. 'No! please, you have to hold out! If I collapse, then-!' she thought, terror overwhelming her. The red-haired Witch gasped, trembling with both terror and fatigue. "I can't *gasp* I, have to, k-keep *pant* moving-". Before she could actually fall to the ground, Shilo managed to reach a clearing in the other forest that surrounded the Forest of Witches. Before she was able to catch herself on any of the surrounding trees, the red-haired girl fell to the forest floor.

She gasped harshly, her throat burning along with her lungs as he realised just how dry her mouth and throat was. 'I need water, my throat feels like it's on fire' Shilo thought, coughing harshly. Then she realised that she could hear something over her harsh panting. 'Oh please let that be what I think it is' the Telepathy user thought, desperate for water. Raising her head, Shilo thanked every God there was as she found a clean and sparkling river flowing through the clearing. As quickly as she could the girl moved towards the water and drank until her throat wasn't dry anymore, and her body no longer felt like it was going to break apart any second from aching exhaustion. Even so, when she tried to rise to her feet again, she found herself too weak to stand. 'No! no! no! I have to keep going! I have to escape from here! The Queen-' Shilo thought in a panic, but no matter how hard she tried, her exhausted and weak body just wouldn't cooperate. 'What do I do? If I can't get up-' the 12-year-old girl thought in terror. Suddenly she heard a snapping sound from somewhere within the trees and she gasped, head whipping around towards the direction of the sound 'she found me! I knew I shouldn't have stopped!' as the sound of footsteps crunching on the leaves and branches became louder, Shilo cowered against one of the trees.

'I'm going to die! When the Witch Queen finds me, she's going to kill me!' she thought in fear, hands covering her head, as she curled up in as small a ball as she could managed. Shilo whimpered as the person entered the clearing and squeezed her eyes as tightly shut as she could manage, 'please, just make it quick!' she thought desperately. But instead of hearing her Mother's cold voice, she heard a different voice, one that sounded nothing like any voice she had ever heard before in her life, being much deeper and stronger when it spoke: "hey, are you okay? Do you need any help at all?" it asked kindly. Trembling, Shilo's curiosity over who the strange voice belonged too eventually won out over her fear and she peeked her eyes open. The person in front of her was certainly not a girl or woman, like her and her sisters. They were tall and had thicker arms and legs than she did. They also had a flat chest and broad shoulders. Looking nervously up at their face, she saw much firmer looking features: a strong jaw, and a wider face. They also had short, scruffy blond hair and violet coloured eyes.

'What is that?! That's not a woman! Wait, hold on, didn't the Queen talk about people like this before? People who are different from those of us in the forest? Is this, a man?!' Shilo thought in a panic. She cowered even closer to the tree, 'the Queen said that all men were wicked, greedy creatures that prey on woman and are nothing more than barbarians! And I just happen to run into one after I ran away! Why is my luck so horrible today?!' she thought in fear and aggravation. "Miss, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" the man asked, sounding concerned. 'Why would he sound concerned? It has to be a trick! He's trying to make me drop my guard so that he can kidnap me!' Shilo panicked. As the man stepped closer to her, she scrambled away, "no stop!" she cried, and the man stopped, much to her surprise. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise" he said softly, holding up his hands to try and appear non-threatening. The 12-year-old girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "yeah right! As if I'd trust anything you said. You're a man after all, and the Queen said that all men are evil!" she replied angrily, but unable to keep her fear from leaking into her voice as well.

"The Queen? Where are you from? I don't know why anyone would tell you that all men were evil, but I assure you that it is very much not true" he said gently, having stopped moving towards her, but still holding his arms up in a show of non-aggression. Shilo paused, staring at the man in thought. She'd started using her Magic just now to ensure that she would know for sure that he was lying and could then just run away from him, but from the emotions he was currently feeling- mainly sincerity and concern- he appeared to be telling the truth. The young Witch felt some, not very much mind you, but some of her apprehension melt away. "Okay, I believe you about that, but I still have no reason to trust you. How can I know that you aren't trying to trick me?" Shilo demanded warily. "Would you let me introduce myself? Maybe it would help you to trust me if you knew more about me?" the blond man asked. The red-haired Witch thought about that for a moment, before finally nodding, "I'll know if your lying, so don't even try it!" she replied.

The man smiled cheerfully, "of course not, don't worry, I wouldn't lie about something like that" he promised. Shilo could tell that he was being truthful about that at least. "Okay, go ahead" she replied, a little less nervous now. "Right! My name is Julius Novacrono. I'm a Magic Knight of the Clover Kingdom and the Captain of The Grey Deer" he replied with a smile. "What's the 'Grey Deer'?" the girl asked in confusion. Now Julius looked confused, but answered her question without hesitation, "The Grey Deer is a Magic Knight Squad that serves the Clover Kingdom and protects it's people," the blond man explained, "there are several Squads, and The Grey Deer is the one that I lead, as I said". "And, you all work to protect the Kingdom and it's people?" Shilo asked, trying to understand and absorb all this new information. "That's it exactly!" Julius replied, beaming happily at her. 'To protect the people-' she thought, feeling hope beginning to grow inside her once more, 'if all of this is really true- and so far, this 'Julius', hasn't told me a single lie-, then maybe I can trust this man to protect me too'.

Shilo looked up at Julius hopefully, still with a bit of fear though, "if that's true, then can you protect me? Help me get away from here? I- I need to get as far away as I can as fast as possible. Please, I'm scared, if she finds me-" the 12-year-old shuddered in terror, looking over her shoulder to see if her Mother was going to come through the trees. Julius became serious in an instant, "if who finds you? Are you in danger?" he demanded, looking from her terrified face, to the trees behind her and trying to use his Mana to search for anyone who might be coming after the young girl, but he couldn't sense anyone else nearby. "P-please, I can't let her find me! I'm scared, help me, please!" Shilo begged, hesitantly reaching out to grip Julius's robe with trembling hands. The blond man looked down at her again and hid his worry with another gentle smile, "don't worry, as a Magic Knight, I promise you, no matter what, I will protect you!" Julius promised.

Shilo believed him. "Come on, I left my Broom over here." The blond man said. The young Witch nodded silently and softly followed behind him, still a bit too nervous to walk next to him. Soon they found his broom, and when the two of them rose into the sky and started to fly away from the Forest of Witches, the young girl finally started to feel safe again.

(End of flashback)

"And so Julius saved me from the forest and the Queen, and I've never gone back since. From rumours that I heard after I left, the Queen of Witches has changed a lot. She is completely merciless and if a Witch ever leaves the Forest and then tries to come back- she'll beat them to death, especially if she has any kind of relationship with a man. That's why I'll never go back there. I'm happier here, in the outside world where I can help more people than I was ever able to in the Forest. My only regret is that I was never able to see Vanessa again or find out what happened to her. I really hope she's okay" Shilo finished her story, before turning to look up at William, who was sniffling quietly. "William" she said softly. "I-I'm sorry Shilo. I had no idea that you'd had such a horrible childhood- that you were so much like me." He began. The red-haired Magic Knight waited for her friend to finish his sentence, but after a moment of silence, he shook his head, "I'm sorry. I know that it took a lot of courage to run away like you did. You were stronger than me- you got yourself out. Me? I didn't even try to get out of my situation by myself, I needed someone else to save me. Even so, we both do have something in common," William said.

"What's that?" his friend asked in confusion. William smiled, and it made Shilo's heart flutter, "we were both saved from our horrible past's by Julius" he replied. Shilo blinked, before a smile spread across her own face and she nodded, "yep, we both were. He's the reason that both our fates were changed for the better. And we will both do our very best to prove to Julius that he did the right thing in saving us, right?" she asked, holding out her hand. William took her hand, "right!" he exclaimed in agreement. 'I promise you Dad, no, Captain. I will prove to you that your efforts weren't wasted. I will become a powerful Magic Knight and protect everyone that I care about and who has become precious to me!' he thought in determination. "We'll do it together" Patry added suddenly. 'You're awake! Are you okay Patry?' William asked his Brother. "I'm fine now that I've had a rest. I only heard the last bit of what you two said. Did I miss something?" The Elf asked. 'I'll tell you when we get home, if that's okay?' the Human Mage asked. "Of course not, you spend some time with your Squad mate" Patry replied, happy to let his human Brother have some time with his friend.

To Be Continued