Germany, Berlin, 1942

In Volkspark Mariendorf, Anja Kaiserin and her friend, Mila, spent their free time after school talking. Anja held her arms out straight and tried to balance on a log that was often used as an obstacle for kids in the park. She came to one end of the log without a single mis-footing. "Tada!" She raised her arms into the air and shown her face up to the cloudy sky smiling, her brown hat falling off, revealing her short strawberry-blonde hair; her green eyes beamed playfully.
"Impressive," said Mila with a sly grin on her face. She had watched Anja do this many a time. "I wish I could do that." Indeed, Mila so wished she could jump up on that log and walk on it as if she cut the dang thing from a tree. In truth, Mila suffered from poliomyelitis-in short, polio; a diseases resulting to weak muscles or the inability to move at all. She walked with a cane and often had Anja carry her school belongings-witch Anja never minded.
"You know I would help you across it, if you wanted me to." Anja turned about and started walking to the other end. Before she could reach her destination, Anja's right foot slipped on a slippery moss bit, and she fell on her side. It had rained the night before, leaving certain things like mud, grass, or this is case, moss, slippery. She landed on her black leather school bag, busting the zipper open. Some of her books slid out and Anja was quick to retrieve them-and her hat.
"Ah shoot!" Anja picked up her most treasured possession, The Hobbit, and wiped the mud off on her school uniform skirt. The ugly thing was brown so the fact that mud was smeared on it made no difference to Anja; her white shirt however, had specks of mud splattered on it. Luckily her brown Jacket took most of the damage.
Mila burst out in a fit of giggles and pointed at her friend. "You've done it now!"
"Ah heck! I don't care!" She grinned and stuffed The Hobbit back into her bag.
Mila was more serious now. "Be careful no one sees you with that book."
Anja did her best to get the remaining mud off her before answering. "Why, because it is written in English? I found it off the body of a British Soldier. It's mine now."
"You shouldn't say things like that either." Mila gently scolded. She then asked, "Is that what motivated you to learn English?"
Anja stared absently at the ground.
"Anja?"
Anja looked to her friend with a smile. "No, silly. My mother new English-my birth mother anyway. I'm sure I told you."
"Sorry, I forgot. You told me so long ago that I couldn't quite remember. Maybe this disease of mine is getting to my head, too..." A gloomy look spread across her face as she looked down at her lap.
Anja tossed her bag over her shoulder and walked up to Mila. "Hey, don't say things like that."
"I know..." Mila shyly put a long strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. Her chocolate brown eyes glazed over with tears filling to the brim.
Anja got down on one knee, cleared her throat, and lowered her voice. "Do you want me to carry your things, Princess?" Anja usually did these things to cheer her friend up, or at least put a small smile on her face. She was also trying to change the subject. They had been through this many times and ignoring this topic was often the best solution.
Mila laughed. "Is it still your dream to become an actress?"
Anja stood now, straight and tall and held a hand over her heart. "Not just an actress...THE actress! Some day I'll make lots of money and get away from here. I'll take you with me of course." Anja always enjoy doing impersonations and when she was younger she would put on shows for her parents. She was good at pretending to be someone else.
"Well, I wish you the best of luck!" Mila praised.
Anja looked up at the sky. "It's getting late and you and I know we can't be late again. Our parents would surely give us the whip this time."
Mila looked up at Anja and forced a smile while wiping away any tears that might have fallen. She smiled because she knew Anja wasn't serious about their parents whipping them. They would never do that. "Sure, let's go home."

One the way, Mila couldn't help but ask, "Why do you like that book so much? What is it called again? The Hobbit?"
Why did she like it so much? That was a tough question. There were many things Anja liked about the book. "Well, for one thing, the bad guys lose. Another thing: there is a powerful wizard named Gandalf, and his best friend is this tiny person, Bilbo Baggins, and he's the Hobbit! They go on this epic adventure with these dwarfs and they fight a dragon! Who doesn't like dragons? I mean, come on!" Anja often imagined herself in the place of Bilbo. She wanted to be the one to fight a dragon and be best friends with a wizard. At times, Anja often thought to herself, "what would Bilbo Baggins do?". And often or not she would find some way or another to get herself out of sticky situations, whether it be at home or at school. "And that's why I like it so much." Anja ended as a matter of factly.
"That does sound cool. Maybe you can read it to me sometime."
"Read it to you? No, I'll help you learn English. Then you can read it yourself." Anja said graciously.
Mila smiled shyly again. "Okay."

A nasally voice then rang out from down the street, catching the girls' attention. It was Mila's mother and she was standing at the doorway to their house.
The girls hurried over and Anja handed Mila's things over to her mother.
"Thanks again, Anja. Same time tomorrow morning?"
"Of course! Goodbye and have a good night!"
"Bye, Anja! You have a good night too!" Mila called out as she watched her friend hurry home.

"Good Heavens, child!" Anja's adoptive mother, Rachel, cried out in a shrilled voice, horrified by the mud left on her daughter's school uniform. "What did you do? Purposely jump into a swamp?"
Anja rolled her eyes and took off her hat, tossing it on the dinner table. "No, mother. I tripped and fell. Honest to goodness."
Rachel swiped the dirty hat off the clean table. "Even your hat is dirty. Go on now, run upstairs and get cleaned up. It's a good thing I washed your second uniform today, otherwise you'd be going to school smelling like a dog." She smacked her daughter's behind with the hat, forcing Anja to make her way to the bathroom. "Get some hot water running and I'll grab you some clean clothes."

The cure for a mucky day was a hot bath. There was so much steam coming from the bath that when Rachel slipped in to place Anja's clean clothes off to the side, she was but a fuzzy figure. But all the moisture and steam in the room could not mask the noise going on outside. She could hear German Solider's running about, and from time to time someone would scream. This was her life, her world, and she loathed it. If ever she wanted to forget the war that was going on right outside her home she oftentimes thought back to when her birth mother was still alive. What was her name again? Oh yes, Farah. It meant joy, happiness. But there was little joy when it came to her mother, Farah. She would feed Anja with lies of where they really came from. A place called Ivalice, and she was the daughter of a Gran Kiltias, whom she was named after. There was magic and beings of unimaginable beauty-like the Viera, or of power-like the Occuria. Such lies manifested inside Anja, making her feel unattached to her birth mother. Yet somehow, Anja so much wanted it to be true, just like her book The Hobbit. But things like that didn't happen in real life. What was real to Anja was a gun held firm in German Soldier's hand-or any soldier for that matter. THAT was real.

Once done with her bath, supper was ready and Anja soon joined her parents. It had always just been the three of them. Ever since Rachel was forced to become sterile, they were given the chance-and gift-of adopting Anja. They loved and cared for her as if she were their own flesh and blood.
While Anja was prepping her plate with food, she glanced outside to see what the commotion was. German soldiers were right next door and they did not look pleased. They were armed at the ready.
"The Fischer's are being taken away." Anja said while continuing to stare out the window. She was fixated on what was going on; her neighbors were being dragged out one-by-one and hauled into the back of a truck.
"Stop looking!" Anja's father, Hans, warned her.
With a sigh, Anja plopped her plate on the table. She didn't much feel like eating because she knew that the Fischer's would now go hungry tonight, and every night here after. But perhaps by the universes good grace, the Fischer's would all be put to death tonight. That way, they would not have to go on suffering.
"You're a growing girl, Anja. Eat." Hans said as he scooped up a spoon full of mash potatoes.

Ah, a growing girl indeed. Anja had turned fifteen just last week and her awkward stages of puberty seemed endless.
Once she finished her supper, Anja hurried off to her room, but not before giving her parents a kiss goodnight. She didn't go to bed right away though. Instead, she stayed up a while longer and read her favorite book, putting herself in the place of Bilbo Baggins and would at times read his sentences out loud in a soft whisper. Alas, Anja's eyes grew heavy and she placed her book back inside her bag. She turned off the light and dreamed about slaying the dragon Smaug with a mighty sword, or in Bilbo's case, an Elvin dagger.

That next morning was the same as the last. Anja woke up to her mother knocking on her bedroom door and forced herself to get up. When she opened her curtains she was unimpressed by the suns lack of affection. It was another cloudy day and Anja feared it would rain...again.
Nevertheless, Anja put on her clean uniform and brushed her hair before putting her hat on, which still had some specks of dried mug stuck to it. Whatever, she didn't care.
It adds character, she thought to herself.
As she finished getting ready, Anja rushed downstairs and gobbled up some breakfast.
"Slow down or you'll choke." Rachel cautioned.
"I'll be late picking Mila up for school."
"I'm sure Mila will understand if you're a few minutes late. ENJOY your breakfast, don't inhale it."
Anja didn't really listen though, and she was done with her food before her mother could sit down with her. She threw on her coat, grabbed her bag, and ran out the door.

Anja slowed down once she approached Mila's street. She took a few breaths to catch some air and turned the corner. There had always been a dreadful fear that Anja might one day come to find that Mila and her family would one day disappear. Today, that was somewhat true.
Anja stopped, almost tripping over her own two feet as she saw Mila's parents dragged from their home. Mila's mother was crying while she struggled to stay on her feet as the soldier quickly pulled her by the hair. They were forced on their knees, shivering and crying as guns were held to their heads.

It was now or never. Anja forced herself to keep walking as if not phased by the scene unfolding. She could turn her gaze on the family or any of the soldiers in fear they would harm her or suspect her. And then Mila and her younger siblings were dragged out soon after. They were all crying and poor Mila could barely hold herself up as she quivered in fear for her life and the life of her family. Her face was stained with tears, her eyes and cheeks red.
Anja knew Mila was looking at her, but alas, Anja could not look her way and continued walking looking dead ahead. She clutched the strap of her bag and cursed to herself inside her head. All the while she fought profusely to keep her emotions at bay.
"You are found guilty of harboring the enemy and therefore will be executed." A soldier announced grabbing the attention of everyone on the street.

These words this soldier spoke had Anja doubting that could ever be true. If Mila's family really was hiding someone, surely she would have told her about it! Or perhaps it was true and to keep her safe, Mila kept this dangerous secret to herself. Either way, Anja forced herself to keep moving and not look back. However, she stopped for a moment at she heard a gun go off and Mila's mother screaming. But soon, her cries, too, stopped cold and all that was left were the soft whimpers of Mila and her siblings.
"Please," Mila begged.
Yes, please, thought Anja. But their begging did them no good and the gun went off again, silencing Mila and the rest of her family for good.

As Anja reached the front doors to her school she walked stiffly, trying to keep her composure. And thus, it started to rain.
She escaped the sudden downpour as she entered the building just in time. The hallway was mostly empty, save for a few students making it to class. But Anja was not heading to class, she was heading to the bathroom. There she locked herself inside the furthest stall down and doubled checked to see if anyone else was in the bathroom. When it was clear that she was the only one, Anja let her emotions go and buried her face in her hands. She sobbed, trying to muffle her crying the best she could in fear someone would hear her. She had just lost her best friend in a gruesome manner and an ever burning hate for the sodiler's left an eternal mark upon her heart.

When the bell rang for school to begin, Anja screamed, her cries muffled by the bell.
Her throat stung and her chest felt tight. She hated herself for not being able to do anything, but what choice did she have? For if she had spoken up against these claims toward Mila and her family, surely Anja would have suffered the same fate. Now Anja would never know. To her, she was no more than a coward.

After she had cried all she could, Anja forced herself to leave the stall. She turned the sink on and splashed her face with some water. The cool water felt good on her heated face, calming her down somewhat, although, her body still shook out of grief.
Before another thought could enter her mind, an ear numb explosion went off near by. The whole building shook, causing Anja to slip and fall. Another explosion went off, louder than the first. Sirens went off, wrecking havoc in the surrounding area of the school.
Anja picked herself up and ran out of the bathroom only to find students and teachers racing down the hall.

One of the teachers grabbed Anja by the sleeve of her jacket and forced her to come along. Everyone was making their way to the bomb shelter. There was no time to ask questions, no time to count the students that followed in suit. Terror was absolute.
Anja never made it to the bomb shelter though. An explosion caused her to flee. Now everyone was running around frantically, trying to find a safe place to hide. But there was nowhere safe.
The only place Anja could think of that brought some comfort to her weary mind was home. She thought of her parents and found the courage to keep running.
She was unsure of how long she had been running. Her teachers were nowhere in sight and few students ran this way and that, making their way to what Anja assumed to be their homes as well. Soldiers and civilians alike were doing their best to find shelter or fight back.
Who was this enemy that attacked them from above? Their flags bore a different color and symbol that Anja had never seen before. German soldier fired at them with their guns but they did little damage from the ground.

Soon, German air crafts could be seen taking flight.
Besides their unusual flags, the air craft which they rode upon was giant and and made of heavy metal. The build of the air craft was not normal either, as it took on a oval shape with rings around it. Smaller air crafts flew out from the bottom of the oval shaped craft and down toward the city, hovering above the buildings. Who were they? Why were they here and what did they want? Were they part of the Americans? The French? Who?

Anja was a block away from home; she could see the top of the roof. And then...a German air craft crash landed right on top of it. A gust of wind pushed Anja back, dust and smoke flying into her face. Her ears were ringing now and she could not hear herself coughing as she choked on the smoke.
Among all the chaos, Anja could see three figures making their way towards her and all wearing masks. One was a tall female with years that stuck straight up like a bunny. The other two were regular height with normal human features, both female as well. They wore strange armor and held unusual weapons in their hands as they hurried to her side.
The one female with the bunny ears rested their weapon at their side and scooped Anja up. Too disoriented, Anja wanted to fight back, but she was unable to physically fight back and let the person carry her away.

The noise from outside was soon deafened as they entered an air craft, its doors sealed tight. From there, Anja was placed on a cot. The woman with the strange bunny-like ears took off her mask, her skin a soft tan color, her a pale blue. She said something to Anja, but her ears were still ringing.
As she lay there in pain, cold and wet from the rain, and hurting from the debris flying off buildings, Anja could do nothing but try to mentally take note of what was happening to her. She tried to comprehend that what was going on was real.
The woman with the bunny ears said something to her but Anja's couldn't catch all of what she said and remained in the dark about what was going on.

When Anja tried to sit up she was immediately rocked off the cot she was on, feeling the air craft sway from side to side. It appeared that someone had fired at them and they were desperately trying to escape.
Anja took hold the edge of the cot to steady herself. "What's going on? Who are you people?" She said this in German first and then they did not respond, she asked again in English. Still, no answer.
All three women were sitting up front. One was the pilot, while the other two sat on either side with screens and controls in front of them. Anja had never seen anything like it before. As as they went up into the sky, getting away from the cloudy skies and poisonous smoke, a bright light shone in through the front glass windows. Anja had to hold her hand partly in front of her face to block out some of the sun but she was able see well enough what lay before her: A beautiful, clear morning sky. The air craft was sitting above the clouds and high above them still were the stars. They were caught between Earth, and floating off into oblivion.
"Are we clear to move yet?" Asked one of the human females.
"Almost," said the other. "Ah! There it is, our signal!"

At that moment, more of the same air crafts joined theirs and a blackish-blue hole formed in the sky. It twirled round and round with specks of light popping out of it.
"Now!" Said the female with the bunny ears.
All air crafts came at full speed at the gaping hole in the sky. Terrified, Anja squeezed her eyes shut and grasped the side of the cot harder.
What Anja thought would be a rough ride through whatever it was they were headed towards, ended up being smooth and quiet. As darkness overcame them, a deafening sound enveloped them. And when reached the end, small light growing in size, Anja's ears popped and she could hear again.

There were mountains for the eyes to see for miles; a frozen stream lay strewn across the rigid land, and entangled with all these foreign things, was a temple, molded, shaped, and built into one of the many mountains. And near it were floating boulders that looked as if they had been cut from the very mountains they flew over, and on them were places in which people took refuge.
Anja gaped at the scene unfolding before her. For a moment she forgot her all her fears, but as soon as they neared the landing point and shut off the air craft, that fear returned.
One of the female humans brought Anja to her feet ans escorted her out of the air craft. Anja looked left, then right, her mind racing. She ran for it but was soon stopped and picked up by the female with the bunny ears and thrown over her shoulder. In the process, Anja lost her bag and it flopped on the ground behind them.
"No! My bag! I need my bag!" She cried, tears running down her face. She was overcome with grief from being kidnapped, losing her friend and also her parents. Not only that, but she was completely and utterly confused as to what was going on around her. For a moment she thought that she might be dreaming but this all seemed far too real.

Anja struggled to free herself from this woman's grasp but she could not. However, it did not stop her from trying. Only when the third female picked up Anja's bag did she lessen her urge to try and get away.
As they entered the building, Anja was placed back on her feet and with that given back her bag. The door was then shut tight.
"Forward," said the woman who hauled her inside. "There is someone who would like to speak with you."
Anja could not even dry her tears before she was forced to walk again. She still had dirt on her from the bombs going off and she was still wet and cold. The cold climate was doing her no good either.

The temple in which she stood was miraculous in detail. Tall, thick pillars stood on either side of the walkway; the ceiling was painted with wondrous colors and designs. And up ahead was a statue resembling a God of some sort, a deity these people worshiped.
"Remember," said the bunny eared woman. "Only speak when spoken to. Mind your manners as well as your tongue." The three woman who had taken Anja from her home removed their masks while in presence of the one standing before them all. The two human females were normal looking. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with them. But the third female, the one with the bunny ears, had a unique beauty to her.
"No need for that, Relj." Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to this man. He was tall with long bony fingers, his eyebrows long and bushy, and his ears wide and pointed. He wore colorful robes and a sash across his chest with swirling designs sewn into it. Even Anja could not help but stop her fussing and stare. "I am certain you have many questions." Said the man. "Fret not, I will answer them all."
He was clearly speaking to Anja, but still she felt the need to look this way and that just in case this strange looking man was not speaking to her. "I want to go home." She said immediately.
The man sighed, closing his eyes for a moment to think. "I cannot do that."
"Why not?" Anja fired back. "And who are you people...what are you?"
"We are the people of Mt. Bur Omisace. Together we are a unity of different races working together."
Anja took another look around the room. Other races? That was for sure. "That doesn't really answer my question. And what about my home...my parents? They died!"
The female names Relj stepped forward. "They are not dead. My people saved them before anything could happen."
"Then where are they? Are they here?" Anja wanted to know.
The man up front answered her honestly. "They are not allowed here. They are not your real parents, they are not of this world."
"Well neither am I!" Anja shouted. She suddenly took a step back, surprised at herself.
But the man did not seemed phased by this. Instead, he simply said, "On the contrary, you are part of this world. Your birth parents are no longer of this world, or any world. They have joined the spirits in the next life, which we all do in the years to come."
Anja was beside herself with heartache. She slumped to her knees and started crying again. "I just want to go home. Please, let me go home to my parents."
"You are home." Said the man. "Now, you dry those tears."
Anja did her best to dry her face with the sleeve of her dirty jacket and looked up at the man without hope. "Who was my real father?"
"His name was Anastasis. He was a Gran Kiltias, such as I, but I am hoping you will take my place. We have need of you, Anja, and we went through a great many ordeals to reach you."
"What do you mean?"
"Become Priestess of of Ivalice. Our country-our homeland-needs your help."
"With what?" She sniffed, trying to clear her stuffed nose.
"It has become known to us that the Esper's are stirring about. Only a Priestess can put them at ease again. We need you to do just that."
Anja shook her head. "Get someone else. I don't know anything about Espers or Ivalice."
"But you will." Said the Kiltias.
Anja took a big breath and then said, "First, you banish my mother me to another world-or so that is what she always told me before she died. And now, you take me from my former parents, kidnap me away from home and tell me I have some kind of duty to fulfill? This is NOT my problem. Get someone else!"
The Kiltias sighed, looking at Anja with sadness. "Taking you home would be no easy feat. Time flows different when it comes to our worlds. You seem to be very young still-perhaps sixteen or seventeen-"
"I'm fifteen." Anja interrupted.
The Kiltias paused and then continued speaking. "Fifteen," he corrected himself. "Yet, when your father and mother decided to have you, that was fifty years ago. If we try to take you home now, we cannot promise you will end up back in the time you left."

This was never something Anja wanted to admit to herself, but all those stories her mother told were true. They were most certainly true. Anja felt lost, confused, angry, but most off she felt abandoned. She had no one. No family and no friends. So what choice did she have?
"What I can promise you, though, dear Anja," The Kiltias began. "We will do our utmost to ensure that you are comfortable here. As long as you remain Priestess, we will protect you, cloth you, feed you, and treat you as our own."
Anja was defeated. Her heart couldn't take it anymore and finally she gave in. "What must I do?"
The Kitlias smiled warmly. "The answer may seem simply, but I assure the journey will be difficult. You must gather all thirteen Espers. Yor father's blood flows strongly in your veins."
"And what will happen once I collect all thirteen Espers?"
The Kiltias did not answer right away. There was a moment of silence before his words reached her. "The answer to that lies within you. I cannot be the one to give you this answer."
Anja picked herself up, repositioning the strap from her bag on her shoulder. A single thought popped into her head: what would Bilbo Baggins do?"Fine, I'll do it. But don't think for one minute I'm going to be happy about this." For now, Anja would play her part, and when the time was right she would find a way out.
The Kiltias held back a smile. "Of course, my Priestess."

At that moment everyone bowed to Anja-even the three females who swept here away were now treating her with great respect. Little did Anja know or even realize just how much her life had changed in that single moment.

Little Anja will be meeting Larsa in the next chapter, so stay tuned!
Leave a review please! It encourages me to get the next chapter out faster.
Also, you should know that I will take my time with this story. I want it to be nice for all of you who are reading.