The man with a mask kicked my mother's dead body to the side. "You were going to die anyways." I heard him say. "As for your child..." He turned to me and held up his gun...

I stepped back, carefully and slowly, to avoid pieces of the house burning down.

I tripped over a chair and looked at the man, terrified. His hand pulled the trigger and I...

I woke up with a startle. Looking around me, I sighed in relief. Eve was next to me, reading peacefully.

She looked up from her book. "Is something wrong, Elsword?"

"No, nothing's wrong. Where are the others?"

"Playing hide-and-seek tag."

"Why aren't you with them?"

"It's a bit childish..."

Oh c'mon, Eve! Have fun once in a while! I grabbed her hand, making her drop the book she was reading. She eyed me angrily. Oh well, she can get me back another time.

I pulled her over to Chung with me and asked, "Mind if we join?"

The others came out of their hiding spots. "You're awake, Els-Kun!"

"Yes, yes, Aisha. I'm awake."

"Come, come~ Play with us~"

I groaned. "Fine, fine. Eve is joining too."

Eve opened her mouth to say something. "Wh-"

I cut her off. "Yep, you're joining."

She threw me an aggravated glance and said, "Hmph."

"Okay! Now that everyone's here, let's begin!" Aisha cheered. "Whoever's the last one to say 'not it' is it! 1, 2, 3!"

"Not it!" Rena, Raven, Eve, Aisha, and I said.

"Huh, what?" Chung said.

"You're it~" Aisha said.

Chung groaned. "Fine!"

"Count to 30, bro!" Raven patted Chung on the back and ran off.

Chung muttered, "I'll get you back for that!" And started counting. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11..."

I ran here and there, looking for a place to hide. I saw a tree, looked up and thought of a brilliant idea. I started climbing, reached the second branch of the tree and proceeded to take a nap until…

"Ehh?! Els-Kun?! Nanishiteruno? (What are you doing?)" Aisha asked.

SINCE WHEN WAS AISHA UP HERE. "This was suppose to be my hiding place, but I guess it's already taken."

Aisha giggled. "I don't mind sharing~"

I sat on the branch beside her and looked down. It was that high up and it seemed like Raven's it. As expected of Chung, not letting people get away for what they did~

Raven muttered something and from what I can form out, it's…Elsword. Oh, no. No, no, no! You're not getting me, bro! Get Rena, or Eve, or, or Aisha! Oh. Wait. Aisha's with me. I mentally face-palmed and glanced at Aisha to see her peacefully reading a book.

I sighed. "Might as well just take a nap…"

Just as I was about to climb again, Aisha looked up from her book and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Up a branch."

"Oh, okay." And…she went back to reading. I climbed up a branch and laid myself in a comfortable position and looked up at the sky. Why can't this day be over already…? As I was watching the clouds move, it seemed to be luring me into a deep sleep. My eyelids slowly grew tired and slowly dropped.

His hand slowly pulled the trigger and I was shot. I placed my hand on the hole which the bullet went through and glared murderously at him. With my last bit of strength, I threw a burning piece of wood at him, and I laid cold, frozen...dead on the floor.

I have no idea where I'll end up. Who knows what'll happen when you die. Let me rephrase-what DOES happens when you die...? Something moved me, but I didn't budge.

It shook a bit harder this time. Stop it!

It shook me, again and again and again. Stop, stop, stop!

"...up," a voice said. I couldn't hear quite clearly, but the figure was still shaking me.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" It said, louder this time.

My eyelids fluttered open, the sun shone right into them and I closed them again. I opened my eyes, slowly this time. Sitting up, I looked around me and beside me was a girl, about the same age as me, with green/blond hair with a crown of flowers.

I was sitting, or rather laying, in a field of flowers, so lively and warm, full of butterflies and birds, trees with cherry blossoms, and flowers of every kind. It just looked so...magical.

"Where...am I?"

"Welcome to the land of Gardenia!" The girl next to me said.

"Gardenia? Is this a place for dead people?" Didn't I die...?

She looked at me confusingly. "No?"

"Wait... I thought, I died?" My mind played a quick flashback of the memory when the man pulled the trigger and... Huh? Why can't I remember what happened? I dug deep into my mind, trying to remember, but I couldn't. "Why can't I remember how I died?" I accidentally wondered out loud.

"Died? How did you die? People don't get sent here when they die. They get sent to either Skyria or Hellaria. Gardenia is a place for people who are close to dying, but get saved by someone or something."

"So... I got saved...?"

"Most likely."

Just then, the sky turned dark and the weather grew stormy. The sound of lightning boomed from the sky. I looked at the girl next to me; she was terrified.

"I can't stay any longer. I'd better go... Something's terribly wrong," she panicked. She got up and began running.

Wait why?! What's going to happen? We just met and something bad happens. I don't even know her name yet! I stood up and ran, trying to catch up to her. "Wait!" I called after her. "I don't know your name!"

She looked back and smiled, tears in her eyes. Tears...? Why tears? She muttered something. I knew what she muttered, but I don't know what, like I just have this feeling that I know what her words meant, but I can't grasp the meaning of it. Then she said loud and clearly before taking off and leaving me in a daze. "My name is..."

"Elsword! Elsword!" I heard voices calling me. Not remembering that I was laying on a tree, I jolted up, lost my balance and fell. It was a good thing Raven caught me until...

The girls stared at me for what seemed like minutes and I finally realized the position we were in.

I quickly got out of his arms and panicked. "No, no, no. It's not like that! I'm not gay!"

The girls bursted out laughing. "Ohmai! Did you see the position they were in?" Rena said.

"Oh em geeee! It was just gorgeous!" Aisha commented.

"Ah.. Young love..." Eve smiled.

I face-palmed. Did they not hear a thing I said?

"Ne, Els-Kun. I never knew you were...gay~" Aisha playfully punched me.

"I JUST SAID I WASN'T!" I looked at Raven and gave him the help-me-out-will-you look.

Raven walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Okay, that's enough girls. Elsword here isn't gay and I'm not too."

The girls pouted and said, "Aww... Ruined our hopes."

The sky was getting darker. "It's almost seven, guys," Chung said.

"Oh, the time... Okay, so who's house are we staying at today?" Rena asked.

"Erm... It was Chung's last time, so, this time is mine," I said.

We have this everyday thing of sleeping over at each other's house. We rotate by going in a circle from oldest to youngest, so the order is: Raven, Chung, me, Rena, Eve, and Aisha. It's a lot more fun than just staying at our own house everyday.

"Okay, let's get going to Els-Kun's house~!" Aisha cheered. Aisha likes my house a lot for some reason...

We grabbed our bags and left school campus. My house isn't that far away from the school. Actually, none of the VIPs' houses are. We walked two blocks down and I rung the doorbell.

"Who is it?"

"Tadaima. (I'm home.)" I said.

"Welcome home, Master Elsword."

The gates slid open and we walked across the front lawn. My house is a big, red mansion with a front and back lawn. Luxurious lights shone here and there. A fountain stood on the left side of the lawn; the water sparkled and lighted. Onside the mansion, there were spiral staircases, huge living room and dining room-and also a game room. You know, because I'm a boy. Just imagine this as your dream (boy/boy's) mansion. Raven's and Chung's are similar to mine, except different colors. Just so you know, the boys' houses are side by side on one street and the girls' houses are across ours on the other street, so it's really easy for us to meet up and walk to school together.

Mystic: Thanks for reading and please review. It would mean so much to me~