Hello Everybody! Welcome to another story from yours truly! As always, I hope you enjoy the ride, reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome.

As a special treat, I have pre-written a total of four chapters for this story! So kick back, relax, and enjoy!

This story will not just focus on the main story of Fairy Tail and has a lot of Oc/AU material.

Also, before we get the story started, the Mc is male. He's just a very effeminate looking male.


A lot of people think that death is the thing to be most afraid of in life. Well personally I'd have to say that a lot of people would be wrong. For instance when I died, dying was in fact the last thing on my mind. No, what really scared me was what came after.

Oh sure I knew what people believed would come but the difference between what people believe and what really happens is often vastly different. In my opinion at least.

Not to say that I had anything against people's beliefs or anything like that. I just didn't share them. Though considering what happened to me… maybe they were on to something.

That being said, before my death I did not believe in anything related to religion. So imagine my surprise at being born... again… after I died. Reincarnation was the last thing I thought would happen and, to be honest, it was easily the most terrifying moment of my first life.

There's a reason that babies are always screaming at the top of their lungs when they are just born. You're naked, cold, covered in slime, and there are giants holding you 10 feet above the ground. Anyone who doesn't scream at that must have balls of steel or they're just plain dumb.

That must be the reason that people don't ever remember being born… or the years that come after. They are embarrassing, scary and yet so extremely boring.

It was a small fortune that I spent most of those years sleeping. Only waking for food… and not much else. Though the moments that I was awake I would catch and hear glimpses of my new life.

First thing I noticed was that my parents were speaking Japanese. I knew very little Japanese but I understood when my parents named me. Anzai Fuu. Which I quite liked. Although I thought for sure that Fuu was a girl's name.

I later found out that it was. The doctors or whoever they were had figured wrong. They thought I was a girl and it wasn't until a short time after my birth that my parents found out I wasn't.

But by then they had liked the name too much and so I was named Anzai Fuu. First name Fuu and last name Anzai for those who are unfamiliar with how Japanese names work.

I also eventually learned that the town I lived in was rather small, and the continent we lived in was even smaller. At least when compared to the other continents in the area we lived in.

But all the little discoveries I'd managed to make between nap time and bedtime paled in comparison to the discovery I'd made when I was four. A wandering stranger came and entertained our small village with wondrous magic.

Turned out that the wandering stranger was in fact a wandering mage. He amazed us all with his earth magic as he created statues and formed magnificent geological marvels.

"Woah."

That was really all I had to say about that. He was indisputable proof that the world I'd died in was not this one.

When the mage finished his demonstration I followed after him. He had magic. Who wouldn't want to learn magic if they had the chance? Well this was my chance to find out if I could.

Unfortunately after his show of magic, no one would leave him alone. I followed him for the rest of the day, which was no easy task for a four year old.

I was exhausted and seriously doubted I had the energy to follow him any further. The path the mage had taken out of the village was really weird. Almost like he had gotten lost.

We walked up and down the tallest hills in town, some of them we walked up twice and took almost every walkway as well. As it was I was lucky to have had the strength to endure the hike.

Luckily for me the mage wasn't in a rush. I had no doubt that a mage with earth magic could move extraordinarily fast on land. I followed him until it was almost night and the two of us were in the forest just outside of town.

I knew if I didn't say something then that I would miss a chance to learn magic. I didn't know how often mages came to the village and I was too impatient to wait.

Although as it turned out I didn't have to call out to him. "You have been following me the entire day." He said simply as he turned around to face me.

I looked at him in disbelief as I panted. "Y-you knew?"

The mage snorted amusedly. "Of course I knew. You think an earth mage can't tell when he's being followed by foot?"

I blushed somewhat embarrassedly. 'Of course he would know!' Then however my expression turned to a frown as my eye twitched. 'He knew…'

The mage must have read the evil stink eye I was giving him, and yet the jerk had the audacity to laugh.

"Well you can't expect me to talk to every kid in town now can you?" He teased with an impish grin.

"Then why are you talking to me now?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

The grin faded away as he looked at me with serious eyes, something that shocked me. The mage wasn't looking at me like I was a kid. No, the look he was giving me was closer to a look of respect.

And that respect I saw in his eyes, I heard in his voice when he spoke to me. "Look I may have been trying to get rid of you before. I tried to lose you in the safety of your village. But no matter what I did, sans using magic to get away, you followed me. Even to the point of passing out due to the exertion. So why?"

The words fell out before I could stop them. "I want to learn magic!"

The man gave me a shocked look, which kind of confused me. Was it really that odd for a kid to want to learn magic?

He schooled his look quickly and asked. "Why?"

Now I was really confused. He was asking a kid why he wanted to learn magic? That was like asking why a fish would want to swim. Or why a bird would want to fly. "Do I really need a reason?"

He nodded. "Yes. If you want to be any good at it then you must have a very good reason."

I thought about what he said. What reason, beyond the simple desire to learn magic, would get him to help me. Then the answer came to me. I looked back at the mage with all the seriousness of my mental age and said. "I want to protect my family."

He chuckled at my response… or maybe at the expression of a twenty year old on the face of a four year old. Regardless, he reached into his bag and gave me a book. "That's a good reason kid. A very good reason indeed."

I smiled at him as I held my very first magic book. "Thank you!" I told him as I ran off back home.

Before I could, however, the mage called after me. "Hey kid! What's your name?"

Looking back at him I gave a big grin and told him. "Anzai Fuu!" I then continued running back home to my parents.

The mage laughed after the girl ran home. 'Never have I witnessed such determination in a girl of that age.'

"Anzai Fuu. I truly hope to see great things in your future."

With that, the man turned and walked back into the woods, returning to his wandering.

After I left, the mage I returned home and before I told mom and dad about the mage I asked them why we'd never had magic around town before then. They looked at each other before telling me.

"The king doesn't like magic in this kingdom. In fact it's forbidden for any to use magic here." My mother explained.

Well… that kinda put a damper on learning magic now didn't it?

Dad continued the explanation. "Yes. However that rarely stops mages from other countries from coming. Most come just to explore the outer edges of Earthland. Although some, like the one you saw today, visit nearby towns and perform for them, knowing that we very rarely get to witness such wondrous things."

As informative as that was, it brought up a question in my mind. "But if the other countries and kingdoms have magic on their side then what would the king do to protect us should war come?"

Now to those that knew me well, this kind of comment would not be unusual. My twenty year old mind in a four year old body led to me being very... odd and rather lonely as well, if I was being honest. I was a pariah to those my physical age and those my mental age just treated me like a kid. Never mind that I was one.

"Enca is a small country, Fuu. Most of the other countries and kingdoms wouldn't even know we existed if not for our trade relations with them."

To my parents, my words were nothing new. They knew that I was a strange one, but they loved me for who I was, which is what made me love them. It wasn't exactly easy to do so, not when I could still remember my first parents so clearly.

I think I worried them with my slightly cold demeanor as an infant, but they cared for me and taught me. Learning Japanese was not easy in the slightest, even if I was determined. And I learned to love them in return.

The next five years moved on rather quickly for me. My parents had another kid during that time. A feisty little girl they named Naomi. She had just turned four, two months ago.

I learned as much as I could after she was born. Now that there was somebody else in the family, someone who couldn't yet look after herself, I had to protect them. Unfortunately, the book that the mage gave me wasn't doing me much good.

No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't get anything in the book to work for me. Not even a flicker of magic came out. I really was rather disappointed.

Oh, and by the way, my parents did know about my practice of the spells in my book. They weren't exactly pleased, but after showing my determination, they allowed it. Provided that I only practiced in the woods away from town and never showed anyone. Not that anyone would believe me anyway as I couldn't move a pebble using magic.

There wasn't much for me to learn apart from the mage's magic, since there weren't that many books in town, but I swore that I would be there for my little sister. Never had the pleasure of being an older sibling in my past life; myself being the youngest of nine.

Every now and then though, I wondered if the king outlawed magic and made books scarce so that no one would ever dare to challenge his reign over us. I mean he certainly had quite an army.

On his order, an armada of soldiers would roam through town every week or two. As though reminding us of the forces he had under his command.

Everyone in the town knew to stay inside when they came. Not that it stopped them from pushing us around. I had witnessed my own parents suffer at the hands of those soldiers.

However, as cruel as he was in ruling over his subjects, the cruelest thing he ever did was in his worship of the Goddess of Death. Even I had heard the hushed whispers of sacrifices being done in other towns in the kingdom.

My parents had seemed very determined to keep such horrid knowledge from me and as ashamed as I was to admit it, I was more than willing to bask in my ignorance.

In all honesty, I felt exactly like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. And not just because I was basically the village beauty. As kind as most of them were, they weren't exactly the brightest bunch. The consequence of no books to learn from, I guess.

What did that mean for me? A boy who was already strange and talked with years more experience than I should have? Well, a lot of people were nice enough to my face, but I caught the subtle looks and whispers behind my back.

It didn't help that I still looked like a girl to most people. My parents told me that I looked like mom when she was a kid. Yeah, totally what I wanted to hear. My long brown hair probably didn't help either.

If I really was a kid, I have no doubt that I would have grown bitter because of the treatment of the village. Though, so long as they kept it to just looks and whispers, I could deal with it.

"I can deal with it," I told myself as yet another group of teens pointed at me and talked, presumably about me. That's what I kept telling myself.

I was a solitary child in my first life as well. Between being homeschooled most of my life and living in the country… well there wasn't much in the way of social time. But at the same time, it wasn't exactly a lifestyle I was happy about.

As it turned out I wasn't destined to stay in the same lifestyle as before. Today was the day everything changed. And not exactly for the better.

I was just getting back into town from my morning exercises. Both physical and magical. To be honest I'd kinda given up on learning magic. Either I was doing everything wrong or I just wasn't capable of using it.

The physical workout was because dad promised that if I could get to a certain level of physical fitness that he would teach me to use a sword. So obviously I was determined to get to that level of fitness as soon as possible.

Of course I knew that he had said that as a way to get me more active. I wouldn't say I was lazy or anything like that. Just that I did what I had to do and anymore than that would be… troublesome.

I was so excited. I had finally managed to do 30 pushups, 30 pull ups, and run around a large track I had created by hand five times. If that wasn't proof that I was strong enough for sword training I didn't know what would.

However on my way back home I spotted a crowd gathered in the town square, which wasn't exactly odd but the way they appeared was. Most of them were dressed in black and the feeling of sadness and loss they gave off was almost palpable.

Me, being my curious self and despite a warning voice shouting at me to leave it be, decided to take a closer look. The smell of burned meat confused me as well but only encouraged my curiosity, as well as my growing sense of dread. No one paid me any mind as I weaved my way through the crowd.

On the other side I was horrified to see a small pile of bodies; two of which had had their heads chopped off and set on fire. Around the bodies, there were signs posted—a decree.

They read: "The family found here, by the decree of the king, have been selected as sacrifices to the Goddess of Death. One member of said family is still at large. Be on the lookout for Anzai Fuu. A young boy nine years of age. Any who have knowledge of said child will be rewarded for information assisting in his capture. Those who withhold knowledge or assist in the escape of the boy will be punished with death."

I felt an icy chill run down my back at those words for various reasons that were too many to count. I was starting to panic. Both at the fact that my family had been… killed, and that I was being hunted by the king.

By this point I think the crowd noticed me, because two people grabbed me by my shoulders and carried me off, covering my face to the point where I couldn't make a sound. I also was unable to fight back in any way as my earlier workout had worn me out too much. Then, I was brought into a nearby house and set down in a chair.

When I looked at the people who had grabbed me I was surprised and relieved to see Falic and Serah, who had been friends of my family for ages. The shock of my family's death and my death warrant having been put out wore off rapidly upon realizing who had taken me.

The moment Serah touched my shoulder with a compassionate look broke the dam of emotions building inside of me. I immediately buried my face in her shoulder and balled my eyes out. Neither of them said anything other than soothing coos and murmured whispers that everything would be ok. They didn't know me like my parents did. If they had they would have known that I knew it wouldn't be ok. Not for a long time.

It was there I stayed for several hours mourning the deaths of my family until finally I passed out. The next morning I hoped and dreamed that the previous day was all just a big nightmare and that I would wake up to mom making dinner, dad prepping some special surprise for me and my little sister who would wake up any moment and come jump on my bed.

Alas it was not to be. I opened my eyes and instantly knew that it was all real. I had to force myself to keep from balling again. Crying had helped me yesterday but doing so wouldn't help me today.

Serah made us all breakfast and the house was silent apart from the sounds of eating. After breakfast she gave a subtle nod to Falic, which I only barely caught.

He left and soon returned with a pack and a sword. I was confused until Falic explained. His expression full of pain and sorrow. "The armor and sword in here were made for you by your father. We barely managed to salvage it from the fire."

Fire… they had burned my family's house down. They had burned it down and then they took my family and burned them as well. I felt the feelings of rage building up inside of me, which I would have probably expressed if not for Serah grabbing hold of my shoulder. I was about to snap at her when I caught her serious expression as a sign to remain silent. She guided me to a nearby window and pointed out the armada of soldiers all around the town.

"If anyone makes even a slightly loud noise they will charge in and take anyone inside."

"They are going door by door. We don't have much time Fuu. We must get you out of the village before you are discovered." Falic told me.

I turned to him in disbelief. "How on earth am I supposed to get by all of that?" I asked him, being sure to keep my voice low.

Falic cleared his throat awkwardly and turned to his wife who rolled her eyes and reached into the pack and pulled out a set of clothes… girls clothes.

"They are looking for a boy. No one out there knows your description apart from pictures and none of them will think you would be dressed like a girl."

"Yeah, probably because I am not a girl. Nor have I ever been one." I protested, not liking the proposed idea for various reasons.

Serah was adamant however. "We all know that. But this is just to get you outside. If you're worried about standing out, then don't be. It would hardly take any effort at all to make you pass off as a girl."

I just stared at her. "Gee thanks," I said sarcastically.

She shrugged. "Hey, it's the only plan we've got."

I then pointed at the offending clothing almost accusatory. "Why do you even have clothes like that already? You shouldn't even be due for another year at least."

My statement shocked them. "How did you know I was pregnant?"

I rolled my eyes at them before putting up a finger. "First, I have been walking by your house to mine every day for the last year. About six months ago, Falic started treating you like you were made of glass, all while being extraordinarily happy. Not to mention your own glow you acquired around the same time."

The second finger came up as well. "And second, my parents…" I shook off the wave of sadness that came over me at the mention of my parents. "My parents and the two of you were the closest of friends. They were ecstatic to hear that you were pregnant and before you ask, I'm nine… not blind."

Falic and Serah seemed almost embarrassed having been caught by a child, but in a way it helped me.The small joke helped lighten the mood, at least until my parents were mentioned anyway.

Serah took charge of explaining things. "Well, you're right about that. These clothes came from the other villagers. If these don't fit, we've got a whole pile of clothes to choose from."

What she said had me confused. "The villagers? Why would they care?"

Serah and Falic looked shocked again by what I said. "Why would they—Fuu the town loves you."

"It does?"

"Yes. Why do you think people are always talking about you? You are like the town's golden child."

"But I thought that everyone found me weird."

Falic knelt down in front of me and said with a soft smile. "You're right about that as well. You don't fit the normality of the town. You don't fit the normality of anyone in this country. That is why your father made you the armor and sword. Everyone has great hopes for you Fuu."

"I… I still don't understand." Truth be told, I don't think I had ever been this confused before in either of my lives.

Serah joined her husband in front of me. "You will in time, but for now we must get you ready to leave."

"We're going now? It's the middle of the day!"

"Exactly. Everyone's going to be on high alert and very suspicious of anyone leaving at night, but a couple traveling out of town with their gorgeous daughter?" My stomach twirled at how she said "gorgeous daughter". "Well I hardly think they'll bat an eye at that. The king still thinks most of us are perfectly ok with how things are in this country."

I eyed the clothes in Serah's hands and knew that she spoke reasonably. Even if I didn't like it, it would probably be my best bet at getting out of here alive. It was ironic. The one thing I had been self conscious about all my life would now save my life.

So, I swallowed my pride and said, "Let's just get this over with."

Serah almost took too much fun in dressing me up in my opinion. Though I had to admit, by the time she was finished, I very much looked the part of a girl. With a brown off-shoulder top, black tights with denim shorts on the bottom, and a pair of black ankle boots for walking in, I was the spitting image of… of what my sister might have looked like in a couple years.

With that image in my mind I wasn't able to stop myself from tearing up a little. Serah seemed to see it as well, as she brought me in close with a hug.

"I know dear. We'll all miss them."

After my tears had dried and everything was stowed away, we got in the back of a horse carriage. To keep my mind off everything, I asked the two of them some questions. "So where are we going?"

Falic answered me as we got onto the road. "First we're going to a town called Dabron. It's down by the coast. There, we'll get you a change of clothes and get on a boat to the country Sin. And from there… well, we'll work it out."

I sure hoped we would. These clothes weren't exactly making me feel comfy and cozy, and my discomfort only grew as we saw soldiers block our path.

"Halt! Where do you think you are going?"

I swear my heart just about stopped when the soldiers came up to the carriage. My eyes kept looking down at their hands resting on the hilt of their blades as though they were about to pull them out and chop off my head. At this point, I didn't care about my mental age and held on tightly to Serah, never taking my eyes off the soldiers.

Serah was much more coolheaded than I was at the moment. "My husband and I are taking our daughter on a picnic to celebrate her good exam scores in school."

The soldier gave Serah a look as though she had spoken out of turn or something, but ignored her and stared at me. Playing the part of the scared little girl, though only the little girl part was an act, I tightened my grip on Serah and looked away.

I heard the dumb soldier boy ask, "What's the matter with her?"

This time Falic spoke up. "You really have to ask?" I heard him take in a sudden breath before he spoke again, this time in a softer tone. "Do you have kids?"

"I do."

"Well, have you ever looked at your kids like criminals while in your uniform?" Falic asked.

When the soldier spoke again he almost sounded somewhat humbled—almost ashamed. "No… No, I have not. I apologize. Carry on."

After a moment of pause, the carriage moved on again. Luckily the mood was kept somewhat light as any time Serah looked back at me she would smile. It was an understanding, sympathetic smile, though I tried my best to ignore the sympathy part. It would only bring back that gruesome image.

However, my own hope that everything would work out was suddenly cut short as we came across a blockade. Soldiers from miles off blocked practically anyone trying to get through on horse or by carriage, which meant I'd have to go on my own.

I grabbed my gear and started putting on a long black trench coat over my clothes. That would at least help give me some cover and stay hidden from the knight's sight. I strapped the sword to my back and started on my way.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Serah asked me sternly when she saw what I was doing.

I looked back up at her and Falic and calmly told them. "I'm going out the rest of the way alone. I'm not having the two of you risk any more than you already have."

"And what if you get caught!" She quietly yelled.

"If I get caught, then at least the only one to die will be me alone and not me plus three others," I said, quieting them. "Besides with me going alone in my completely black armor I'll be a lot less noticeable than if anyone comes with me." Seeing their unsure looks I sighed. "And I'll be going for it at night if that helps any."

That did in fact help… somewhat. Enough to the point that they were willing to let me go at least.

"So, what do we do now? Just turn around?" Falic asked.

Serah looked like she was about to agree but I shook my head. "No. We're already in sight of the guards. If you just came up within vision of them and then just turned around and left they might get suspicious. We don't want that. If you go up to them without me and state your business for leaving town, they might let you through, of course they might not but at least that way you can turn around and head home without getting them overly concerned."

Falic chuckled and jokingly said. "Are you sure you're only nine?"

I knew that he meant that as a joke, but I was in a less than joking mood at the moment. "After today? I don't think I can say that I'm a kid ever again." I told them; my mind flashing back to the image of my beheaded and burned family.

The mood was tense as we said our last farewells before Serah and Falic moved on, only to return home shortly after. Unfortunately they were unable to move past the guards and had returned to town. Meanwhile, I had hid myself in the tall grass nearby and watched till nightfall where I could sneak past the soldiers unnoticed.

When night did come I could hardly breathe, let alone move. Despite my brave words and decision, I was terrified. If they spotted me, I was a dead man. Worse than that, I was a dead man in girl's clothes. It wasn't exactly the most dignified death around.

A few deep breaths later and, though my body felt like lead, I stood up and moved through the blockade. It wasn't easy with all the lights out but I was able to get through to the other side. Unfortunately, fate had decided that I was having too much luck as of late and decided to screw me over yet again.

"Over there! Stop! Halt!" One soldier shouted.

I immediately broke off into a run as more soldiers shouted. Alarms were sounded, ringing throughout the forest I had run into for cover. I could hear the sound of horses and footsteps behind me, crushing leaves and branches alike. My lungs felt like they were on fire as I pushed myself to run faster than I ever had before.

Out of nowhere, a soldier grabbed my arm. "Aha! Got you!" He shouted, drawing the other soldiers to his voice.

Knowing how very little time I had left, my body just reacted. I drew the sword my father made for me and before he could react—probably because he thought I was just a little kid who couldn't possibly hurt him—I plunged my sword through his body.

When he fell to the ground, I only barely managed to come out of my shock in time to resume fleeing; running downhill away from them. With it being as dark as it was in the woods, I could barely see anything and, like a fool, I looked back to see where the king's soldiers were.

Almost immediately after I looked back, my foot tripped over a branch and I went tumbling down the hill and off a small cliff; breaking my arm.

"Ahh!" I screamed before roughly burying my face in the dirt to silence myself before the soldiers heard me.

I was barely aware of my surroundings, but I did manage to notice lights from on top of the cliff and commanded my body to be as still as a rock. Hoping beyond all hope that they would think I was dead. Soon it felt like my hopes were answered as the lights went away and I allowed myself to cry.

I cried for all the pain I endured in the past two days, cried for the life I had taken, cried for the pain I was currently in and for the pain I knew was in store for me. It was almost cathartic.

I stayed in the forest for the next two years, just trying to survive. That was my only goal. Survive. Every other feeling, any thoughts, any hopes or any dreams whatsoever, all went away unless they had anything to do with my survival.

My arm was now practically worthless. Even with my knowledge of how to take care of a broken bone, it still healed wrong. Worst part was that it was my good arm, my right arm. This, of course, meant that I now had to learn how to use my left arm, and only my left arm, for everything.

Luckily for me, the king thought I was dead. Now, I would have gladly gone back to my little town but at first I didn't know how to get back and by the time I knew, I couldn't go back. Falic told me that everyone in the village had great hopes for me. If only I was the same boy.

That boy could laugh and have fun and enjoy life. He had a reason to be hopeful. I did not, and I couldn't do those things anymore. The only thing I did was survive and trained myself to run faster and build the strength in my one good arm.

I worked for two years on my physical abilities and mapped out Enca on the side. I took some parchment paper from my bag and made notes of the locations of the different villages. I was even able to find the king's castle where I took note of possible entryways and the structure. Not because I really thought I'd be able to do anything about the king's reign; it was just as a pastime.

That was how I remained. A cold, withdrawn boy without even a flicker of hope or joy. My skills in stealth got better with time as well. I would sometimes find little encampments of the king's soldiers and had gotten good at sneaking in and stealing food. Not a whole lot, mind you, but enough to get by.

One night as I slept, I heard a voice calling me. "Fuu-chan~." It sang tauntingly.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the forest. Instead, I found myself in what looked to be a throne room of some kind. A throne room of hell. It was as hot as, well... hell, and made up of some kind of red marble, which actually looked kinda cool. That is, if it wasn't for the menacing stalagmites and stalactites coming out of the floor and hanging down from the ceiling.

"You know it's rude when you call for someone and they don't respond right?" The voice, a woman's voice, said teasingly.

I looked back to the throne where the lady who spoke was standing. She wore a completely black outfit and had long platinum blonde hair. A long black sleeveless dress hung from her neck and she wore a shawl that looked like it was made from raven feathers. She also adorned herself with bracelets, rings, and even a necklace that looked as though it was decorated with raven bones.

"You know it's rude to call someone by name without introducing yourself first, right?" I shot back.

"Ooh, sassy."

"You got that right. Now, who the fudge are you lady and what the heck do you want with me?"

The black-clad lady smirked at my attitude. "I… am the Goddess of Death."

Upon hearing that, I felt the first surge of emotion I'd had since the moment my family died: rage. "You…" I practically snarled at the Goddess.

"Careful now, deary. Don't forget who you're talking to."

"Oh, I know exactly who I'm talking to. You're the thing that killed my family!"

"Oh, don't be so naive!" She snarled back angrily; the mere power in her voice enough to throw me on my back. "I did not kill your family! It was your king that did that particular deed!"

"Under your direction." I bit out weakly.

"If that's what you want to believe. But I'm not here to talk about who's to blame for the problems in your life."

"Then what are you here for?"

The Goddess smirked maliciously. "I'm here to help you." Before I could react, the Goddess held her hand up to me and I was pinned to the wall. She ignored my struggles and pointed at my arm. "Now this won't hurt a bit."

"Ahhh!" I shouted as my arm erupted in pain.


I gasped as I woke up from my nightmare. "Yeah, that's all it was. Just a nightmare." I told myself, wiping the sweat off my forehead. "Huh?" Looking down I noticed that I had used my right arm. "It's fixed."

Then I heard the Goddesses voice, 'Don't get used to it. This will be the last time I help you after one of your screw ups.'

"Yeah well you said it wouldn't hurt."

'I lied. Come on, I'm the Goddess of Death. Any help I give is bound to hurt somehow.'

'Right.' I thought back sarcastically. 'Well regardless, thanks for the help.'

The mental presence of the Goddess faded away and I admired my arm with a smile, something that tugged muscles I hadn't used. It was the first smile I'd had in a long time. My arm was usable!

Then I noticed something that brought me back to reality. Or rather the lack of something. "It's quiet." I murmured looking around the forest for any predators out and about.

Looking up I saw a really weird beast. The creature looked like a half bird, half lion thing. It was a rather intimidating figure, for me at least.

The second it lunged I tried to jump out of the way. However I quickly learned that I was not faster than the creature and earned three long gashes on my newly healed arm as punishment.

"Ahh!" I shouted in pain as I fell to the ground. Despite the pain my eyes immediately found the beast who was staring at me.

When the animal broke into a charge toward me I did the only thing I could do. I closed my eyes, brought my injured arm up and braced myself against the ground with my good one, thinking of just how useful it would have been to use the earth magic I'd seen so many years ago.

As soon as I did that, I felt the ground beneath me tremble and heard something hit the floor. I curiously opened my eyes again, to see why I wasn't dead yet, and was surprised to find a wall of earth in front of me. I didn't even know how that had happened.

Then I heard the creature again and looked over to it. It's feathers were ruffled and it looked like it had been launched away from me. The animal charged at me again and I moved. This time my eyes were open to see what had happened. My hand touched the ground and a massive magic circle opened up underneath me.

The earth trembled again and another wall of earth erupted in front of me. I smirked as it went up. 'Yeah. Now I can fight back.' This time however, much to my dismay and destroying any smugness I felt, the creature flew over the rock wall and was about to pounce on me when a massive surge of fire blasted it away.

I frantically looked over to where it came from and saw a tan woman with her hand stretched out. She had short green hair and wore a black jacket over an orange turtleneck. Her face looked like she'd scold you for looking at her funny.

The moment I thought that was when she decided to look at me. "You! Get over here." She said shortly.

Not wanting to risk her wrath, especially after witnessing her magic, I moved behind the lady as quickly as I could. However, as impressive as her show of power with her magic, I was shocked to see that the creature was wary, but ultimately unharmed. It gazed back at the two of us before it screeched and flew away.

I heaved a sigh of relief as it faded into the distance. "What was that thing?"

"A griffin. A creature of old magic." She told me simply before looking down at me, annoyed. "What are you doing out here by yourself anyway? This is no place for a kid like you. Especially around a creature like that griffin."

I looked at her like she was crazy. "First of all, no duh! I wouldn't be out here by myself if I had any choice in the matter! And as for that griffin, it attacked me! I wasn't out and about looking for it! I didn't even know something like that existed here."

The annoyance in her face gave way to concern. "'Any choice in the matter', huh?" She repeated, before realization dawned. "Oh, magic."

While I was sure that the king would have killed me for knowing magic alone, it wasn't that. "Not quite, the magic thing is new. No the king…" I paused, not knowing what to say but went for the truth. "he sacrificed my family to the Goddess of Death two years ago. I was the only one to escape." My head was bowed as I spoke, the pain of my family's gruesome deaths still haunting me years after.

Realizing the touchy subject of my family the lady changed it. "So that magic… where did you learn that?"

"A mage came through when I was a kid, around 4, and after he showed his magic to us I followed him around the whole day trying to talk to him." I told her, smiling slightly at the memory of that time. "I was about ready to pass out by the time he spoke to me. He gave me a book on earth magic and I tried to learn it but I hadn't had any luck at all."

"Until now you mean."

"Yeah."

"You're telling me that you did all of this," She gestured to the destruction I'd caused with my magic. "when up until ten seconds ago you couldn't even move a pebble?"

"I could move a pebble, just not with magic." That comment earned me a blow overhead and a remark that I shouldn't be a smartass. I rubbed the back of my head and said, "Yeah. Basically."

The lady stared at me a while longer before she turned and walked away. "Come on then."

"Huh?"

She stopped and looked back at me. "Unless you'd rather stay here that is?"

I immediately shook my head and walked up next to her. For the first time since my family's deaths I was happy. At the very least, happy to be getting out of this cursed country. Today marked the start of my new life. And if I had my way? I would never think of my life here again.

And hopefully… my old life would never think to drag me back.


End of chapter 1