A/N: Before you start reading this, if you're the type of reader who wishes to read a fanfic where the 3 mages appear a lot, this is not the story for you. But I still hope that despite reading this, you decide to actually give my fanfic a chance. (please, it's my first avalon fic)

Another thing, I have not read this series in around 4 years, so if I miss out some minor details from the original story, please excuse them and just continue on reading the story overlooking that error to the best of your ability. Or even better, fill me in on some of the details that I may end up missing. Although those details may end up severely damaging my plot so never mind.

I hope you enjoy. :)


Tiny, white, flakes fall from the blurred clouds above me. The flakes reflecting a spectrum of pastel colours off of each other. It was a pleasant sight. One that brought peace and tranquility to your mind. Yet a feeling of anxiety as I stand there, watching the snow fall, thinking, "Is it really over?" I take a look at my surroundings, how white it seems. Like the world has come to an end, and time froze right there, right now. The figure of a shadow forms from the corner of my eye and I whip my head around to see just the borders of the figures. Of the people becoming clearer, yet fainter by the second. Until I was left standing there.

Alone. Desperate.

The fallen snow tainted with red.

Blood red.

And I'm falling, further and further into an abyss of never going back.

An abyss encircling me with the darkness from my past, and present.

Light breaks through the darkness in front of me and I wake up startled to see the sun. "Light." I think. Where I come from light was an unknown mechanism which only comes once every year. Above me, strange bird-like creatures with wings the colour of pink and yellow fly by, and luscious green treetops surround me.

Aldenmor.

A world I have only ever heard of from books and tales back home. Despite the sharp, prickly, pain in my back I sit up and analyze myself in the reflection of the pond in front of me, my eyes widening at the sight. I'm still wearing the blue hooded coat Mother made me back when I was young, and my black crop top still reaches midway on my front. But on my skin I see faint black splotches on my joints, and other various places on my body.

Feeling alarmed, I quickly raise my sleeve and drown one arm in the pond, praying that the coloured areas are just soot and ashes which have grabbed ahold of my skin. When they didn't go away, I drown it again, rubbing my hand frantically against my already wet skin but to no avail. The black splotches stayed, stubbornly onto my pale skin. I stare and ponder about them for a while. Analyzing what they could be with my clear, ocean green eyes. They don't seem to be causing me any harm, and I could have been born with these splotches as well. The only reason why I haven't noticed them before may be the result of the lack of my exposure to light. They aren't very noticeable either. On top of that, I have always wanted to have a birth mark so it might as well be this.

I sit back and stare up at the crystal, clear, sky, my eyes adapting to the new brightness of light however large it may be. I take a deep breath and calm myself down. My life is going to be different now. I can change it, turn it into something more inspiring. Something that I can really say was worth it when I lay on my deathbed in the far future.

My name is Gray. Gray, Gray, Gray, Gray, Gray. I say it over, and over again in my mind. Something about saying it repeatedly always reassures me that I will be alright, and I always am. I stand, stretch out my arms and legs, and look ahead into the forest I begin my journey in. The forest twinkling with magic.

"Gah!"

The sound a loud voice catches me off guard as I warily stare in its direction. I could already feel the goosebumps on my arms as my senses become more attentive. That loud, boisterous voice sounds again. Followed by a resounding crash and a cry for help. Curious, I run through the brambles and low-branched trees which seem to become lower and lower the further I run inside the forest. The plants becoming more bare as dirt and sand expand their territory. I begin to run faster when the voice yells again, gradually becoming louder until it suddenly stops.

Dirt flies into my face from suddenly stopping and I search around wondering where the owner of the voice had run off to. Around me were trees, shrubs, and three distinct dirt paths urging me to take one of them. I take one more look around, hoping that the voice would holler again. There are no creatures anywhere. Just trees. Trees and shrubs with wide gaps of dirt between them. It's strange; there are no magical creatures yet I could feel the forest's magic filling in inside me.

My focus goes back to the path and the voice calling for my help. I close my eyes and reopen them, hoping that the decision I am about to make proves to be correct. Staring at the path to my right, I set my back foot deep into the ground to create momentum when that rambunctious voice yells again.

On instinct, I swiftly turn away form the paths, run through the trees ducking away from low branches trying to interfere with my mission. I swear I feel something scratch my leg but I ignore it and continue on running. My heart begins to beat faster and I can feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins until I crash my head into a large tree branch and do a front somersault digging my face into the dirt.

"Oh, great! My saviour was defeated by a dumb tree branch!" The voice irately exclaims.

I groggily get up, already feeling annoyed by whoever this person is, and I glare daggers into their soul. Although, my vision still isn't clear so I basically end up looking around frantically and glaring like an idiot.

"I'm over here goddammit!"

I look to my right, my vision finally becoming clear, and seeing a orange-gold coloured creature dangling upside down from a vine. I walked closer to the animal, taking a better look at him. He had a very loud mouth that was for sure, an annoyed expression, a tail and little ears. He was a weird little thing. Of course, I grew up in a place far different from Aldenmor so I probably have no right to judge appearances in this situation.

The animal opened his mouth to yell out something, when I grab ahold of the vine tangled with his foot and carefully undo the knot. The loud-mouthed creature falls with a thud and stood up, trying his best to look menacing.

The creature and I share our gaze for a moment. Him trying to shoot me down with those hazel eyes despite his small size, and me blankly staring back wondering what in the world he even was.

"You're a weird one aren't you?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"What's your name?"

"What's yours?"

I stare back at the orange little thing, making it clear that I wasn't about to let down my wall for some little animal no matter how huggable it looked.

He stared at me for a moment, sizing me up and down making sure that I'm not a potential threat.

"I'm Ozzie. Short for Ozymandius."

I'm bewildered and totally lost. "Ozymandiwhat?"

The creature lets out a large sigh (which I'm pretty sure shouldn't even be able to be classified as one because of how loud it was) and runs up my leg and onto my shoulder leaving my body twitching and trying to shake the thing off me.

"Hey! Simmer down over there!" He yelled in my ear making me jump back and almost fall over. When I calmed down, he spoke once more, but it felt louder as he was blaring his message right into my ear.

"My name is Ozzie. Just leave it at that. Now what's yours."

"Gray." I blurt out almost immediately, not trying to waste any more of my time. From the corner of my eye I take a glance at Ozzie, sitting on my shoulder, playing with the strands of my long black hair. Mother used to say it was even darker than midnight but I never believed her. Ozzie looked back at me, somehow he seemed less angered now that he was no longer dangling upside down by a vine.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Ozzie suddenly asks, eyeing me hard in thought.

I profusely shake my head. If I had ever seen such a strange creature I think my mind, however cluttered it may be, would remember it.

"I don't mean to be rude. But what are you?" I ask.

Ozzie gawks at me for several seconds before he makes a face looking as if his eyes were going to pop out. Seeing this, I can't help but smirk a little. "You mean you've never seen a ferret before?" The tone of his voice tells me that he is rather dumbfounded and shocked all mixed into one. I shake my head slightly, not sure of what I should say in return. "That means you're not from Earth right?"

Never heard of it. But instead of saying that I shake my head once more.

His eyes seem to bulge once more, making me giggle. "So then, you're from Aldenmor right? You're just another human from Aldenmor."

Human? I shake my head once more. I'm not exactly human, but I certainly look like one. "I'm not from here."

Ozzie stands up and ponders for a moment on my shoulder. I find myself amazed by his extraordinary balancing skills on such a small place. I gulp, because for a moment I get the feeling that he was going to ask what I think he is but instead he climbs further up and onto my head, pulling my ears in the direction behind me. "Well then I, Ozymandius, shall be your official Aldenmor tour guide!"

I let out a laugh and turn around but the sight in front of me drops a heavy stone into my heart. The land is barren. Just dust and sand. This isn't the Aldenmor I've read about in books back home. It was something beyond what I imagined. Behind me, the rich forest beckons, assuring me that the Aldenmor I thought I knew was in there. But for some reason the desert is the only thing on my mind.

I stretch my arm out towards it, finger pointed. "Ozzie, is that Aldenmor?"

There was a pause. I know silence is supposed to mean no answer, but I feel as if this silence proves my judgement correct.

I hear a small gulp before an, "It is."

My heartbeat begins to race faster and the desire to know what happened to this place. No, what is happening overcomes me. I feel Ozzie shift around on my head before saying, "We should probably head back into the forest though. It's-"

I don't let him finish. I jump down from the cliff, landing on my feet and run faster and faster, my field of view increasing the greater the speed. I have to know what's happening. I need to know what's happening to Aldenmor. The place Mother always talked about. The place she first met Dad. I have to know.

Something pierces my head and my eyes look up to see Ozzie looming over me. "Hey, calm down! You can't just go running off on your own without knowing where you're going."

"But-"

He cut me off, and his eyes begin to soften, almost pitying me. "I'll tell you the truth."

And with one more gulp, he says, "Aldenmor is dying."