AN:

Changed Subaru's perspective to third person

Chapter 1: Torn Away from Home

A young boy ran up to me no older than five years old, my brother Subaru Natsuki, who had a simple request burning in his mind, "Reina! Reina! Let's play hide and seek!" Hide and seek, a simple game really. One person counts down from a set number while the rest go and hide. It was the perfect game for the place we're at. There was a park not too far from our home which had a small forest next to it. It wasn't so large that you would get so lost that you couldn't find your way back out. If you were to just choose a direction and start walking, you'd be free from it in roughly ten to fifteen minutes. So, it was quite common for the children to play games in it. The parents spent most of their time sitting on the benches watching the kids play and since the children were always fine playing in the woods, they didn't see it as any sort of problem.

If a child were to get hurt while playing, they'd stop the kids from entering the woods. It was as simple as that. So, I responded, "Let's do it!" Subaru nodded his head while grabbing my hand to take me over to the other kids. My stubby legs managed to run alongside Subaru as he pulled me along. Even though I was older than him it always seemed like he was the one pulling me along. Subaru and I are about a year apart, so as his older sister it should be me pulling him along, right? Reality, however, doesn't often match with our expectations. Even though I'm his older sister he was the one to call the shots. I didn't mind it as I would end up sitting around and doing nothing besides reading children's books if it wasn't for him.

"Alright guys! I brought her let's play!" Subaru pumped his fist into the air as we approached the group of kids.

"Who's gonna be the seeker?"

"Ooh Ooh Me Me!" Subaru jumped up and down with his hand held high.

The other three kids turned to look at each other before nodding in agreement. One of the boys, whose name I never bothered to get, spoke, "Alright, countdown from 30 and we'll go hide. Nobody is allowed to hide past the large tree towards the back."

"Got it!" Everyone said in unison.

Whenever we played this game, we always set a boundary rule for two reasons. One was so we didn't get lost, and the other so the game didn't drag out too long. The boundary we always chose was a sickly-looking tree that was one lightning strike away from toppling over. I was the only one who knew that there was a small hole you could hide inside very near that tree. So as soon as Subaru turned around to begin his countdown everyone took off in different directions. I, of course, went to my little hidey hole that I scouted out a few days ago. It didn't take long for me to reach the boundary tree. I turned left and uncovered the hole that I'd hid using some leaves I found. The hole wasn't that large, but since I was small, I could fit myself inside. Nestling into it I began my wait.

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Ready or not, here I come!" Subaru yelled out for everyone.

His sister Reina was always the hardest to find during these games. He never knew where to look for her as she could always find the most creative hiding spots imaginable. That was who his big sister was, the coolest person in the world besides his parents. He knew that everyone was probably hiding in the woods as they always do so he immediately turned and ran in. He used the trees to hide himself as he slipped through the forest. It wasn't long before he found the first person. "Caught you!" He jumped around a tree to see the boy from earlier sitting behind it.

"Ahh! No fair!"

"First person down three more to go!"

The other kid got up and left as he continued his search. It was always easy to find them as they always chose the same spots. Unlike Reina who would move around often and ensure she was completely hidden. The other two were in the exact same spots as last time which meant he had to walk to either end of the boundary horizontally to the rear boundary. About 15 minutes have passed since the start of the game. Was Reina getting bored of staying in the same spot? He wondered if she moved already. He decided to stop moving around like a ninja and outright run to all the hiding spots he knew. One after the other he checked and checked. She wasn't at any of them. The last place he hadn't checked at this point was the boundary tree, which meant she had to be there. Roughly 30 minutes had passed by at this point, as he quickly made my way over to the tree.

Reaching the old tree, he jumped around it, and yelled "Found yo…u". Behind the tree was an empty hole that looked like it was disturbed. There were a few leaves moved around like somebody had been here. This was the spot she was hiding in. No wonder no one could ever find her. At this point 35 minutes had passed, and he'd given up on searching. So, he yelled out, "Reina! I give up! You can come out now!" Normally when the seeker yelled this out the hider responded, and the game ended. He waited for a minute and received no response. Did she fall asleep? No, He doubted that, maybe she already went back? He decided to head back to the park where everyone else was waiting for him.

"Did you find her?" The other boy's little sister asked Subaru.

"No, she didn't respond when I yelled out, 'I give up,' either."

"Has anyone else seen her?" Another boy asked.

"No."

Now he was getting worried. Maybe she didn't see the tree and wandered off. Or got bored and decided to walk further into the woods. At this point he knew he had to tell his parents that they couldn't find her, even if it meant we wouldn't be able to play here anymore. He quickly ran over to them in a panic, "Mom! Dad! I can't find Reina!"

"What? Did you call out?" My mom was the first to respond; a slight gasp escaping her lips.

"Yeah. She didn't respond."

"Come on honey, let's go look for her." His dad stood up, his face looking more worried than I've ever seen before. They ran into the woods and searched on their own calling out to her for over an hour until they eventually decided to give up and call the police. That would be the last time he ever saw his big sister.

"It's been 20 minutes is he gonna give up yet?" I asked no one in particular. I chose this spot because it would be hard to find, but he should have found the other kids by now. He usually gave up finding me shortly after. I let out a sigh and groaned a bit as I got out of the hole. I tried closing my eyes and listening for footsteps or really any sign he was nearby but was unsuccessful. I began walking forward when I suddenly felt very dizzy. I placed my hand on a nearby tree to steady myself as I held my head with the other hand. The dizzy feeling got stronger and stronger then faded almost instantaneously.

I felt the tree my hand was touching was no longer there as I stumbled over and landed on my hands and knees. I looked up to see the forest I was in had gotten far, far larger. The tree that used to be only 10 to 20 feet in height now towered over me even further. The sun couldn't even break through the canopy. It was so thick. I looked around and couldn't find the boundary tree anywhere. Panic began to set into me as I started running as fast as I could. If I just choose a direction and run, I should make it out in roughly ten minutes. Well, that ten minutes had passed, and the forest seemed to grow even thicker than before. I was out of breath at this point, so I sat down on the forest floor.

"Where am I? I'm scared… I want to go home. Eeeek!"

I heard a rustling sound to my right which caused me to jump up and turn towards the source of the sound. There was nothing there when I turned towards it. I started walking towards the opposite direction of the sound when I heard a low growl from behind. I turned around again and saw a pair of red eyes staring at me from the shadowy depths of the woods. I couldn't make out what kind of animal it was, but I did know it was dangerous. I turned away from the animal and tried to run as fast as my stubby legs could take me. In response to this the animal let out a roar that was closer to the bark of a dog. The animal charged me and knocked me onto the ground. I rolled over to look at it and it was shaped like a large dog at least. It had glowing red eyes and thick black fur. A small horn adorned its snout, and two rows of sharp teeth lined its mouth. The beast approached me with saliva dripping from its jaws when it suddenly disappeared before my eyes. As if it was never there in the first place. I lied there still in shock when I heard another rustling noise from my left.

This one was different, however, as it didn't sound like the rustle of an animal stalking its prey, it was far too calculated for that. Out stepped a woman clad in nothing more than a single white cloth with a blue ribbon tied to her platinum hair. Her blue eyes matched mine, however, hers were far more captivating to me. It was as if her presence demanded that I pay attention to her. She walked up to me then stopped.

"You're a long way from home, aren't you?" Her voice was just as entrancing as her appearance.

"Y- Y- Yeah… I'm. Um. Lost."

"Oh, that's terrible… A lost child separated from her beloved family…" I couldn't quite understand the way she spoke.

"Umm… Can you tell me where I am?"

"You're in the Lost Forest of Kremaldy." That was a place I'd never heard of.

"Can you help me find my family? My brother was looking for me. I'm sure he and my parents are super worried."

"I see… I can offer you the hope that you'll meet him again if you so wish."

"Really? That's great, but um… what does that mean?"

Suddenly two items appeared in her hand. On the right was a black book and on the left a small box that looked like the type of box you'd store a ring inside. She stepped closer to me before she began speaking again, "In my left is the strength to achieve your desire and in my right is the guide to that desire. Here, take them." She extended her hands outward, and I took both items from her. The black book had an ominous feel to it and the small box felt like it was screaming out for me to open it.

"What are these?"

"The book is called the Gospel; it will lead you in your desire to reunite with your brother. In the box is the power to achieve that desire. As you may have realized you are far from home and it's very dangerous to be out here on your own."

"So, what's inside the box then?"

"Open it and place it on your chest."

I looked down at the ominous box in my left hand. I set the book down next to me and put my hand on top of the box. I felt the lid start to come off and once it was off it revealed the writhing mass of shadow within the box. I stared down at the shadow which appeared to be alive as it squirmed in the box. I slowly moved the box to my chest until it was touching. The mass of shadow leaped at my chest and quickly sunk into me. I could feel it nestling itself somewhere near my heart. The unpleasant feeling it left me quickly disappeared and I looked back up at the lady in white who now had tears flowing from her eyes.

"Wonderful. Just wonderful." She clapped her hands together.

"So, what now?"

"Well now it's time for your induction."

"Induction?"

"Yes… Can't you see? We're already at the Cathedral."