-x-

Long, long ago. In the distant past, the world lived in harmony. These countries lived coexist together in peace and harmony, cooperating together, working together, and were friends with one another. They lived in such harmony that bountiful lands flourished beautifully, flora, fauna, and monsters alike worked in such harmony it was considered beautiful.

Both countries were cared and loved for by the Great Kharlan Tree, the essence of all life. In return, the creatures roaming the land loved and cared for the tree in return. The Great Kharlan Tree was protected by the Great Summon Spirit named Ratatoskr, who was known as the 'Messenger'. He and his loyal guardians, the Centurions, brought about peace and balance to the world's mana.

Time flowed on and everyone lived in unity.

…

But that time soon had to come into an end.

On a dark grim day, the King of one of the two largest countries was hungry for power and strived for territory due to the growing population. He planned an invasion to the other large country and with technology that used mana as power source, a war broke out.

That war was known as the Kharlan War.

The technology used, known as Magi-tech, quickly depleted world's supply of mana provided by the tree. Used by each and every country, developing more and more machines to have an upper hand. However, they failed to realize how the Great Tree was affected. Slowly, the Kharlan Tree withered away by the stress of mana being forcefully used.

Ratatoskr had grown furious on how they had took his tree for granted but his anger was quelled and restrained by the wind of the Northern Sky, leaving him with no choice but to aid a group of travelers who strived to stop the war.

With the power of the Heroes, the thousand year war was stopped. But the tree had withered away and had only left a single seed in its stead. Because of that, Ratatoskr and his guardians had fallen into a deep slumber until the tree would reawaken again.

By the will of the heavens, the world was cleaved into two.

But soon…a greater tragedy struck.

Many years later, the Chosen of Regeneration and her loyal warrior planted a new World Tree in replace of the withered Kharlan Tree. The birth of a brand new World Tree brought about the unification of the Sylvarant and Tethe'alla.

The world was reborn as one, once again.

The world seemed to light up as the dawn of the brand new era was born.

…

Or so it seemed…

…

…

What is a lie and what is not a lie.

No one will know.

As the tales of the history were changed and changed constantly.

Then,

What is true?

What is a lie?

Or maybe…

-x-

Chapter one: Archízo̱

-x-

The wind howled endlessly.

The townspeople of Asgard quickly fled to their respective homes which were upgraded to now withstand the harsh winds. The town was empty and bare as they waited for the winds to die down, there had been many incidents of people being swept off and carried away because the winds were too strong for them. Wind was a normal thing in Asgard, it's home to the Summon Spirit, Sylph whose domain was the wind itself.

But ever since two years ago, the wind had been much more stronger, more…chaotic than before. No one knew the reason, some blamed the Chosen of Regeneration while others believed that they had angered the Summon Spirit for not performing the ritual seriously.

Fear ruled the people of Aselia, fearing the unknown and fearing the feared. Sometimes, their own fear was overruled by their ugly green jealousy. Like how the half-elves were treated like dirt for being humans with magical abilities. For elves, they were polluted with human blood. For humans, they were disgusting humans who were able to do something they couldn't. Now instead of half-elves, it was the Sylveranti that was treated lower than dirt.

The wind continued blowing harshly, but that has never stopped a single person from going out during those days.

A honey-brown haired girl was sitting atop of a cliff in the outskirts of the city. Her long, dense honey-brown hair was tied into a low ponytail so that it wouldn't be a hassle when it would smack her in the face. She was dressed in her usual outfit meant for outdoor activities, a white vest-like sleeveless shirt that showed her midriff with a small dark blue necktie and twin tails in the front and back, navy blue shorts, thigh socks that had an armor around the top and shoes. Plus, a pair of detached sleeves and midnight blue hooded caplet made by Bell herself for her fourteen birthday.

It wasn't something that normal girls would wear from Asgard, the fabric itself symbolized that it came from a Tethe'allan city.

The girl was writing something inside a leather brown notebook with a brown tie, she ignored the wind as it noisily howled. Her best friend, Bell had been pleading her constantly to never leave the house when the wind would grow too strong but did she listen?

Nope.

There wasn't a day where she would stay in the house for half an hour, she couldn't stand being inside. She knew that outside like it was the back of her hand.

Right now, she was doodling in her notebook. Doodling her necklace to be exact.

A red orb was dangling from her neck, it was originally some weird stone but now it became a necklace on her first birthday. It was now a special thing to her and she can't afford to lose it, it was a really special memento of her late mother.

A sighed escaped her mouth, resting her chin on her hand as she stopped her doodles. "…Today is a boring day." She stared aimlessly at the white fluffy clouds fluttering by.

There was nothing interesting happening these days aside from the growing tension between Sylvaranti and Tethe'allans, the Tethe'allans looked down upon the Sylvaranti and treated them like they would towards half-elves. It was all because the Tethe'allans were much advanced than the Sylvaranti and believed them to be barbarians with their way of living. Because it was the Chosen of Regeneration who brought the worlds together, they instantly blamed her for the chaos.

And now, with all the strange phenomena occurring throughout the world, their anger towards the Chosen increased even more which led to them turning their backs against the Church of Martel. The tension was high enough to spark a war.

Lillian fell back against the soft patch of grass, one of the patches that weren't stony. She inhaled and exhaled loudly, feeling the wind ticking her skin and teasing her hair lightly. Her midnight blue eyes didn't leave the skies, staring into the unknown above the clouds itself.

The Church of Martel. It was rare to see people turn their backs—especially the Sylvaranti who were so reliant on the Chosen and the Goddess called Martel. Her father hardly talked about the Church of Martel as fondly as the Priests or the people would, she could remember him just patting her head with a smile saying it was nothing important for her to know. She didn't press the matter but still, she had to wonder why.

It was a religion, a large one. And she wasn't taught about it aside from strangers preaching and giving lectures about it. The Goddess Martel who sleeps in the center of the world and the Chosen can be the only one who can awaken her, to defeat the Desians and bring prosperity to the world again.

She relaxed for a moment, closing her eyes to listen to the wind whistling.

"LADY LILLIAN!"

Her eyes snapped open in shock as she scrambled up, her hair disheveled slightly. She stared down with wide eyes before relaxing upon realizing who it was, her eyes immediately lowered in annoyance and irritation.

It was her guardian, or what he likes to be called as, a steward. He was a large wolf-like creature with white fur that slowly gradients into ash gray color making it look ashen, tribal tattoos were etched most across his snout and forehead with one curling towards his left eye. The tattoos reached down to his paws, some were on his furry tail. Two azure earrings pieced the tips of his ears.

The people of Asgard, before, disliked the idea of having him in the city since he was large enough for Lillian to ride and looked like a monster but after showing his abilities of driving off monsters from the city he was immediately accepted as one of the guards who would often patrol every day.

He had been her own guardian ever since she was a baby, he was like a brother to her.

"Ash…" She grumbled out, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How did you find me?"

His tail flicked to the side, "I have witness your growth from the day you were conceived, you are a book to me." He gestured to the city which was down the path with his snout, "Return back to Asgard at once, Bell has been fretting about you for the past two hours."

"And go home? As if." She snorted.

"Lady Lillian, stop being stubborn and get down from that cliff."

She gestured to her ear, "I can't hear you, I'm too busy not caring."

He sighed audibly. "I have no choice then."

There was a flash. Ash's grew slanted resembling a cat's eye as it glowed a silvery hue. Lillian was about to rest back against the soft patch of grass until she felt her body automatically go rigid and stiff. Her eyes widened at the feeling of being levitated from the ground, she growled audibly.

"Here we go again." She grumbled, bracing herself when she was pulled away from the cliff and was automatically dropped. She fell down the cliff, her eyes wide with horror as she shrieked so loudly that the people of Luin could faintly hear the shrieking of a girl falling to her death.

She screamed bloody murder as she fell down meters below, her body felt light and her stomach churned.

She screwed her eyes shut and was prepared on turning into pancake but the sensation never came, the feeling of falling seemed to have stopped suddenly. She peered through her lashes to see that she was levitating inches from the ground. Without a warning, she was dropped on the floor with a harsh thud. Ash trotted up to the girl with his tail swishing to the side.

"All those teachings I've implemented always come out your other ear." He sighed, trotting over to the girl and hoisting her up using the back of her shirt.

Before she could reply, the wind blew hard against her hair causing it to be much frizzier than before. She scowled at the whole situation before trudging up the path to Asgard wordlessly, Ash just watched her amusedly before trotting after the girl.

"Not one word from you." She warned,

Ash chuckled, "I apologize, Lady Lillian. Come, Bell is awaiting for your return."

Lillian growled in the back of her throat and was ready to try maiming him if possible. Keyword, try. The last time she tried to maim him, she ended up resting on the bed with Bell tending to her wounds scattered around her body.

It took her a few minutes to reach Asgard, the winds had died down a bit to the point where children were allowed to play outside with supervision. The winds were considered a strange phenomenon and people were still investigating the stone dais for any strange objects or anything like that. Ash told her that there was something amiss with the wind but they really couldn't investigate properly with everyone practically breathing down her neck.

She fixed her hair along the way. She walked towards her home in the Northern part of Asgard in the Residential area where her friends lived in, it was a simple one-story home with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and one room dedicated to her father's studies. Most of her books and research were in there.

"LILY!"

She was suddenly attacked into a tight hug, her face smothered by a short blonde haired girl wearing a green beret. She felt like she was suffocating from the hold as the person held her tightly, to the point her face could probably turn blue.

"Are you hurt? Are you okay? DID YOU GET BRAIN DAMAGE?!" She shouted, shaking the poor honey-brown haired girl. Her eyes were beginning to water up from the thought of her having some dangerous disease or that she broke an arm or leg.

Lillian coughed before choking a laugh, the blonde haired girl turned hysterical. "OH NO! DID I GIVE YOU BRAIN DAMAGE?! THE HEALER IS AT LUIN! LET'S GO!"

This was a typical thing with her best friend, Bell. She was a very flighty girl, she too cheerful sometimes and quite ditzy. Lillian blamed her father for being too overprotective with this girl. She was cute too, which is why she was happy about hearing the engagement between her best friend and her other best friend, Elliot.

It was pretty hilarious with Elliot, especially when he's very serious, smart and a dork. He was right now at the Imperial Research Academy, he admired Lillian's father and his research so now he was over at the Academy studying about something she didn't pay attention to and researching more about the past since he and her father believed there was more to the story of Mithos the Hero than meets the eye. Of course, no one paid attention since they believed they were out of their minds.

"Calm down, Bell. I'm perfectly fine, I promise." She sighed, trying to claw out of her grasp.

Bell had watery eyes before it suddenly vanished, her smile replacing her teary look. "That's great! Phew, I thought you might have broken something!" She laughed loudly, Lillian just deadpanned at the blonde. She had short, curled blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was dressed in a simple white dress with an orange cotton vest with a green bag.

She turned to the ashen wolf and patted his head, "Thanks for bringing her back, Ashie."

"It's my pleasure." He bowed his head, "So, I've heard from my Lady that you are heading off to Palmacosta?"

Bell blinked for a moment before clapping her hands together with a smile, "Oh yeah! My auntie from Palmacosta called me over, I'm heading off today in a few minutes! Don't you remember, Lily?" She beamed at the honey-brown girl who shrugged.

"I…uh, I wanted…to, uh, see…you off at the cliff! But Ash had to forcefully drag me back!" She instantly made up and glared at Ash for effect, Ash didn't believe a single word while Bell tackled her friends into a hug and was ready to burst into tears.

"You're such a good friend! I'm so happy we're best friends!" She dramatically cried before pulling away, rubbing her green eyes. "But I'll even be more happy if you had more friends, Lily. It'll be sad once I get married and you're going to be alone." At that she instantly burst into tears again.

Lillian rolled her eyes and patted her friend's head, "Sheesh, no need to get dramatic, Bell. I'm okay! I have Ash to be by my side, you see." She patted the wolf for emphasis. Ash replied by his tail wagging slightly.

Bell paused and hesitantly nodded her head, "I guess you're right…" She sniffed before smiling slightly, "Would you like anything from Palmacosta? I know you practically have the whole collection of history books provided by your father but do you need anything? Some new clothes maybe?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "No, it's fine. If you really want to buy me a gift then I trust whatever you'll pick, I'll love it."

Bell frowned slightly, "Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure. You made me that collection of cute dolls which are still in the shelves so I really think whatever you pick it's perfect." She gave a toothy smile,

Before her best friend could respond, a call was heard from the distance. All three of them turned to see a man waving at the group with a smile, a wagon was prepared for them with tamed monsters pulling the wagon. There were a group of people going inside and placing their bags inside the wagon, Bell's eyes widened as she quickly pulled Lillian towards the wagon with Ash trotting behind them.

"Hey there! Oh, hey Little Lady and Ash. Are you seeing Bell off?" He smiled at the other two.

Lillian nodded her head, "Well, I'm worried that Bell might not last in Palmacosta if her Aunt isn't waiting for her, knowing her." She gestured to the blonde who was happily chatting with elderly people, her giggles clear as day.

The man laughed, "Well, you're right there! At least when she settles down, it might teacher her some responsibilities as a wedded woman."

"But for sure if they'll have kids, she'll be the best mom out there."

An elderly villager came towards Lillian with a smile. The woman was dressed in normal village clothing but with a brown hat and a shawl. "Will you be all right by yourself, Miss Lily? Do want my granddaughter to stop by and cook you dinner?"

"No, no. It's fine, I can live."

"How about I'll let my husband send you some blankets to replace your old ones?" Another villager said.

"It's fine, it's fine!"

"My wife and daughter can send you some fresh vegetables and fruits for you to eat!"

Lillian looked around for an escape from the crowd that was starting to form around her, "…Crap, I'm trapped." She muttered in horror.

The driver laughed at her, patting her back causing her to stumble. "Well, your father entrusted us to you. I wonder how his research is coming along—that guy always thought big." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

She paused for a moment, tapping her chin. "How long does it take to head to Palmacosta?"

"Hmm… a week and a half at most, it depends on our stops. If we were cautious about reaching there then it would take at least two weeks or so."

She crossed her arms and huffed angrily, "Ugh, I want to go too. But all I'm allowed to go is only Luin." She raised her hands and waved them around, "You can't go anywhere without supervision, Lillian. It's too dangerous. Stay here or visit Luin while I'll have fun and travel around the united worlds." She pretended to be her father, waving her hands around with emphasis.

The man snorted, finding amusement in her words. "But I agree, you can't go without supervision. Ah…looks like we're about done 'ere." He noted, seeing that everyone was finally packed up and inside the wagon chatting animatedly.

A blur of white, orange, and blonde came ramming straight onto her. "I'm going now, Lily! Take care of yourself, okay?" She looked up, actually sober for once. Her green eyes darted to Ash, "Ashie, take care of Lily while I'm away, okay?"

Lillian playfully pushed her, "How about you, are you safe without anyone?"

She giggled and showed her right hand, showing the silvery ring on her middle finger. "Yes, I have your father's gift!"

The ring was her birthday gift when she was eight, Bell had a nasty habit for getting in trouble so her father forged a ring which was enhanced with Ash's magic. It would automatically send a distress signal to Ash when her life was at the line, it was pretty useful. Unlike Lillian, Ash can't automatically tell if someone is danger unless they're equipped with his protection. Lillian already had Ash's protection since she was his mistress.

Ash's magical capability was vast, but he was sworn by Lillian that he would never use his powers unless Lillian would command so. And because Ash's loyalty was sworn to Lillian, he could never disobey the terms of a vow.

She sighed, giving a slight smile. "You better take care of yourself, you hear? You don't want Elliot to rant again about putting yourself in danger and not taking care of yourself properly."

Bell grinned, "Hehe, I promise." She gave one last hug before heading inside the wagon. She spared once last glance and a wave before she entered inside.

The driver patted her head, "Take care of yourself, little lady." He winked, ruffling her head one last time before leaving to the wagon. He prepared the monsters before hopping onto the driver's seat, there were only a few monsters that were able to be tamed normally.

She stared at the wagon, Bell was still waving happily. Her lips quirked up a little, the wind began picking up its speed causing her hair to dance along with the wind. She raised a hand and waved slightly to Bell as the wagon began moving, heading towards the entrance and exit of Asgard. She watched as the wagon slowly disappeared as it headed down the trail and towards the direction of Hakonesia Peak.

Turning towards the stairs, she wondered briefly if she should visit the Stone Dais again. Linar and Harley were probably investigating the Stone Dais again and the strange winds that have been happening for the past two years.

"Say, Ashie. Wanna visit Aisha and the others?"

Ash paused before bowing politely, "If that is what you wish."

-x-

"WATCH WHERE'RE YOU'RE WAVING THAT THING!" Shouted Harley as he ducked down for his dear life, his eyes were wide with horror and fright at the sight of the metal thing being swung around.

Linar hit the floor as the heavy blade came swinging above his head, his eyes darted to the girl who was having a hard time holding a heavy spear which was found in the Asgard Ruin—the Stone Dais. They weren't really allowed here but curiosity took the best of them and they managed to jump onto the Stone Dais and started investigating like little ants. Lillian was holding a thick, heavy spear and tried to test it out but she ended up realizing that the looks completely lied to her.

Lillian grinned to herself but that grin immediately turned into a large 'o' that resembled a watermelon when the spear slipped out of her grasp and came crashing to the dais with a loud clatter.

There a moment of silence between the three of them until Lillian shrugged, "Well, at least I got rid of it."

Harley immediately glared at her, "Stupid girl! Watch what you're doing!" He smacked her harshly causing her to glare back and smack him herself.

Linar sighed between the two and went to pick the spear up, he stumbled slightly and went to put the spear to the side for later. When he turned, Harley was pinching and pulling on Lillian's cheeks while the said girl was screaming a profanity of not nice words at him. The next thing Harley knew, he was kicked in the shin causing him to hop up and down while holding his shin.

Linar sighed, "Will you ever get along?"

The red haired half-elf looked offended, "She started it!"

"Wow, act your age, Harley. You're supposed to older than me." She snorted, crossing her arms. Her expression was the usual non-expression face. Harley just glared at her and limped away from the shorter girl before anything worse could happen to his well-being.

It's been three weeks since Bell had left Asgard leaving Lillian temporarily under the care of Aisha, Linar, and Harley who visited her, providing company and yummy food for her every lunch and dinner time. She didn't expect Harley to appear in front of her door holding a plate with an annoyed look and practically forced her to eat it and of course, gave Ash some as well.

Harley glared before turning to his friend, "Aside from the spear, what else did we find out?"

Linar mulled this over for a moment, staring at the Stone Dais. "Nothing really, the Chosen already destroyed the monster two years ago…" He began, rubbing his chin for emphasis of his thoughts. Linar approached the two, "What do you think?"

She paused for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed together. "I think I'm hungry."

As if on cue, both boys pressed their hands to their foreheads. Harley rolled his eyes, "As always, you have an enormous appetite, I'm worried you might explode." He commented, staring at her body. "I wonder how you manage to keep your figure instead of gaining weight."

The honey-brown girl wrinkled her nose, "Ew, Harley. Were you checking me out?"

Harley immediately spluttered out a reply with his cheeks turning red rather quickly. Linar had to crack a grin, he chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Asgard's never boring with you here, Lily."

She smirked to herself, "I'm that awesome."

The half-elf was still red but he glared at her, "Can you at least act like a normal sixteen year old girl?"

"Hmmm…I guess not. It doesn't run in my blood." She said cheerfully.

"By the way, where's Ash?" The blue haired man wondered out loudly, looking at the sky as it was slowly turning in a golden yellow color. It was already late afternoon and he expected that he would pop in out of nowhere and pick up Lillian as usual, it was already known that he was her guardian and practically family for her.

Lillian looked thoughtful, looking over to the entrance. "He's patrolling, he's coming back late evening or something." She shrugged, "I told him I'll be at your house in the evening and go home by myself so he could patrol in every area."

"Oh, I see…" He trailed away.

The honey-brown haired girl pondered for a moment before moving to the center of the Dais where she looked around, "Since I'll be bored inside houses, let's continue investigating. Your sister does the rituals here, waving that staff around, right? Why isn't more with the dancing instead of waving that thing around?" She pantomimed Aisha, waving her arms around as if she was holding the staff. "It's more ritual-y if they would do dancing."

"It isn't like other rituals, Lily." Harley said, "The Maiden Ritual is much easier than the others, the Summon Spirit Dancer would only just wave that wand around in a practiced form but it shows off elegance which that clothes." He seemed to smile at that thought of the clothes.

Lillian wrinkled her nose again, "Linar! Harley's having fetish fantasies about Aisha again." She called, turning to Linar.

Harley turned beet red again before storming towards the shorter girl, "That's it!" He barked angrily, ready to commit murder.

She laughed loudly, dodging Harley and practically danced around him. She stuck out her tongue, "Na-na-nena-na!" She said childishly which of course, sparked his temper as he came charging at her like a mad animal—er, monster.

"HARLEY!"

Everyone froze and turned to see a blue haired woman standing on the stairs with a displeased looked, her arms were crossed and her eyes were narrowed. It was Aisha.

"Aisha…?" Harley muttered out in disbelief.

"What did I tell you about bullying Lily like that? Her father asked us—everyone in Asgard, to take care of her while he was away! Imagine what he'll think if you're doing this to Lily?!" She barked, Harley spluttered out an excuse while Lillian just snickered to herself, Aisha was just like any older sister to her.

"Love ya, Aisha!" She hopped over to the older girl with a bright smile.

Aisha returned the smile, "Thank you, Lily. I made some snacks and tea, would you like some?"

"Snacks by Aisha, I wouldn't want to miss that."

"How about you, boys?"

Harley mumbled out a reply while Linar nodded with a smile and joined Lillian as they both raced downstairs—mostly Lillian racing Linar as he tried to catch up with the speedy girl. Aisha glanced at Harley who was trudging down the dais while muttering some words, she shook her head at him.

"You're such a child."

Harley frowned, "Me? That girl over there is a walking nightmare!"

They turned to look at Lillian who took another step down but lost her footing causing her to topple down and fall onto the ground face-first. Linar immediately jumped down and immediately helped her up. Aisha turned to Harley.

"She's truly frightening."

"S-She is!"

"Sometimes you worry me, Harley."

The day continued with the four of them inside Aisha's house, Harley was having a passionate moment and talking about the nasty rumors about Lloyd terrorizing cities that turned their backs on the Church of Martel. Lillian was sitting on the ground munching on a cookie, staring at him thoughtfully as he paced around the room with a cookie as well.

"I have met Lloyd personally, he would never do something like this. It must be some misunderstanding." He sighed, shaking his head.

Lillian tilted her head, "Maybe he encountered something life changing and decided to go for the dark side, they might have cookies."

Harley shot her a look. Lillian shrugged, "Just saying. But he seems like a nice person, he won't do anything wrong—plus, he broke something in my house and made up for it by giving me a recent creation made out of gels and other material. It's really pretty too."

"I'll never understand them."

"It's like how we'll never understand how people fight over other people's opinions."

"For once, I agree with you."

Lillian glanced to the window, noticing the sun was down. "Well then, I'm going to head off on home by myself." She stood up and stretched, "Thanks for having me over today."

Aisha smiled, "It's no problem, Lily. Would you like Harley or Linar to bring you home?"

"Nah, I'm fine. I can handle myself." She beamed at them, "Thanks for worrying, Aisha."

They all waved goodbye—Harley a bit grudgingly, as Lillian left the house. She closed the door behind her, the wind instantly howled softly against her ears and caressed her whole body with such gentleness from two years ago. Lillian shivered at the cool air and looked up at the sky, the sky was slightly dark but with an orange-red color from the distance. She wondered if Ash was looking at the sky right now, he was easily distracted by things like this.

She wondered if Bell was going home anytime soon, either that—she might send a letter about an extension at her stay in Palmacosta.

Lillian began her trek back home. She began thinking about the words that Harley had said to her before, Lloyd Irving was terrorizing cities for turning their backs against the Church of Martel. When he visited Asgard, he didn't seem to be that religious with Martel. He was just there, helping his best friend who happened to be the Chosen of Regeneration. Her father told her that she shouldn't care much about what the Church did or not, she shouldn't meddle with things she wasn't supposed to.

She grew up to be a curious girl, often joining Linar and Harley when they would do investigations anywhere. She would read up on their researches and sometimes make her own observations, having a father who happened to be a professor and researcher grew her love for having her own adventure. But she was never allowed to leave Asgard, she couldn't even visit Hima again. It's practically been years since she last visited a town.

She's been to Hima once but that was a long time ago.

Her father just wouldn't allow her to go anywhere now by herself.

She often hoped for a chance to visit a place, Ash has been to Palmacosta to accompany Elliot once under her request. Ash was able to go to any town he wished if he registered the area in order for him to teleport easily. But he didn't use teleportation unless it was important.

Halfway to her home, she noticed an ashen fur wolf galloping towards her. She grinned happily and raised a hand, "Hey, Ash—!" The large wolf came to a stop in front of her, lowering himself.

"Get on."

"Huh?"

"Get on, Lady Lillian. Now."

Lillian flinched slightly but reluctantly got onto his back, he suddenly charged causing her to yelp in shock and gripped tightly on his soft fur. "A-A-Ash?!" She cried out as everything started to glow brightly around her. A runic circle swirled below him as he ran towards the exit of Asgard. Golden particles glowed around them like fireflies in the dark night sky.

"Ash, what's going on?! Where are we going?"

He looked forward, "Palmacosta."

"Wha—?! But that'll take weeks!"

"On foot, that is correct. But we are going to teleport."

"Teleport?! Ash, what is going on?!"She demanded holding tightly onto his fur. He was running so fast and she couldn't process what was going on and why it was so urgent for her to come along as well.

He was silent, "Bell…her life is danger." His eyes flashed bright silver, a strange image seemed to flash through his eyes for a moment. "I am sensing a disturbance in the city of Palmacosta. A strong source of concentrated mana is pulsating from the city itself, I do not know if it's the reason for Bell's life in danger."

Lillian felt her blood run cold, she held onto his fur even tighter. "Bell…" She whispered, feeling her hairs stand followed by a wave of goose bumps. It was only a few weeks and her life was in danger? She wasn't there to protect her and Elliot was all the way in Sybak. She prayed that her outstanding luck would let her live until she could reach her.

"Hurry, Ash!"

"As you wish."

Lighting crackled around them, a strong burst of light shined down onto them. She screwed her eyes shut, blinded by the powerful light but cool warmth encased her body like a comfortable hug. She peered slowly through her lashes, her eyes widened when she realized where they were. They were surrounded in a white abyss with golden specks dancing around. She was always amazed when Ash would use his magic, it was unlike elvish magic that she would see when they would fight or just show off.

Ash's was beautiful, it would sometimes look like tiny fairies giggling and dancing around. But sometimes, it was so powerful it could practically destroy Asgard. Thankfully, it was sealed through his earrings on the tip of his ears.

The white abyss broke away, unfurling itself like petals being blown away by the wind. She could see the dark plains from the illumination of the moons upon the grassy ground, dirt kicked up behind as they ran through the cobble ground. When she regained her vision her eyes immediately widened as a terrified gasp came from her.

Palmacosta was in flames.

She gaped at the sight, her body went rigid as it trembled. Her grip on his fur tightened so much her hands turned white.

"ASH! HURRY!" She shouted through her shock, she felt a lump forming in her throat at the smell of scorched wood. She could smell the burning bodies in the city, they were near water but it wasn't enough to save the people from the fires.

The flames were high, licking the skies with its smoke covering the beautiful night sky. She could hardly see above Palmacosta or the stars, she saw a few people escaping and some riding on carriages that managed to survive. But it was only a few.

She could hear screams of innocent people being slaughtered as they grew closer and closer to the flaming city. She stumbled forward when Ash leaped over a large fallen log, she gritted her teeth at hearing more and more screams from the people. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the crying from the people escaping.

When she entered the city, she wanted to cover her eyes and her nose from the smell. It was sickening, the black, thick smoke make her eyes water. How much fire was there? Palmacosta was a big, major city and fire couldn't spread this fast.

Her heart clenched the sight of bodies that littered the grounds. Some were maimed, stabbed, or charred black. People were leaning against the walls, women, men, and children. Some soldiers she identified as the Vanguard and the Knights of Martel were part of those who had died. Blood was smeared on the walls and ground, some had weapons sticking out from her torso and even from their heads.

Was there a war? Between the Knights of Martel and the Vanguard she heard about?

Her stomach churned, she felt like she was going to throw up at the smell.

They reached the fountain in Palmacosta, she hopped off of Ash went he lowered himself. Thankfully, the water fountain was at one piece and bodies didn't liter around the concrete floor. Her hands felt sweaty and cold, she tried to wipe them using her shorts.

"Do you sense her?" Her senses were high as she watched the fire spread and grow thicker by the second. Thankfully it wasn't overwhelming but it was spreading fast. This was the first time in her life to witness something like this.

Ash sniffed the air, cringing slightly. "The air is too thick with acrid smoke, I can't even get a trace of her scent."

"Dammit…" She muttered to herself.

Out of nowhere, a soldier from the Church of Martel came towards her from the side with a gurgling battle cry. He held his sword into the air, she froze from the spot unable to move. Fear took ahold of her legs as he saw the murder in that man's eyes. Before the soldier could even graze her, a ball of fur bolted towards the soldier with an animalistic growl.

Goosebumps prickled her skin, Ash had torn out his throat. He turned to his mistress, "Are you all right, Lady Lillian?" He asked.

The girl felt numb but she managed to nod slightly. A person just died in front of her, a person just died in front of her. A person died.She found herself trembling uncontrollably, her knees buckled underneath her and nearly fell to the ground in shock.

"Lady Lillian!" Ash had caught her before she hit the ground.

She snapped her head up, blinking for a moment. She didn't even realize she wasn't listening, she shook her head. "I…I'm fine…I just…"

Words died in her throat. This was her first time seeing a human die in front of her and Ash understood how she felt, Lillian wasn't too keen about death despite reading so much warfare books. Sure, she wielded a sword and killed monsters herself but this was the first time she saw humans die.

He nudged her, "We must hurry, Bell might still be in Palmacosta."

"R…Right!"

Lillian ran with the help of Ash right by her side, they both darted together through the city that continued to echo with screams and crashes. She didn't know where Bell was or if she was alright, Ash couldn't tell either since the ring she wore can only tell if she's in danger or not. She felt scared—what if she was injured somewhere?

She ran faster, Ash had to pick up his pace as they dashed through the path. Debris fell from time to time causing Lillian to dodge or jump over the fallen charred wooden beams. Ash heard the clinking of metal against metal causing him to freeze instantly and pull Lillian back using her sleeves.

"Wha—Ash?" She whispered harshly, glaring at the wolf for a moment when he forcibly pushed her against the wall using his body.

"Quiet, there are soldiers coming." He whispered with his ears twitching to and fro.

Peering behind the corner, she saw the soldiers chasing after a girl with white flower accessories on her head. She was a lean girl, around sixteen with long maple hair. The girl was holding something tightly to her chest, something that sparkled red.

"There she is!" One cried,

"Seize her, I'll follow Lloyd."

The girl's eyes widened before she quickly bolted away, a group of soldiers hot on her trail. Lillian bit her lip, hating the horrible feeling of being useless for someone else who was in danger. If she were to charge in straight, Ash would clearly stop her and cause them to show their position.

"…Wait, Lloyd is here?" She wondered out softly, remembering what the soldier had said.

He sniffed the air, "I can sense a powerful aura but I can't exactly pinpoint the location."

The honey-brown haired girl pursed her lips in thought. That was a bad thing. Would that mean that there was a powerful creature rampaging or humans with powerful abilities? Or maybe was it Lloyd Irving himself? He was the one who helped the Chosen of Regeneration around the world.

"There's a girl over there!" Someone shouted, there was a group of clinking metal echoing in the distance.

Lillian cursed darkly before she quickly looked around for an escape. She noticed an alleyway, maybe a shortcut and hopefully not a dead-end. She hoped she made a right choice and ran towards that alleyway. Ash followed as well but he stopped near the entrance and growled protectively. Hearing him growl caused her to whirl around only to see Ash growling at the incoming enemies that grew closer and closer.

"Go. Find Bell and make sure you stay out of sight, I will handle this."

"But…"

"GO!"

Lillian hesitated for a moment before she reluctantly ran away, she bit back the feeling of dread for her partner. There were a lot of soldiers and Ash was just one giant wolf, she wasn't sure if he could handle such numbers without his full power. Without Ash, how could she escape once she found Bell? Palmacosta was in shambles and soldiers were practically storming its way through the city spreading bloodshed and hate.

She unconsciously brought her hand to her pendant and she clutched it tightly, "…Mom…please help me." She pleaded.

Her mom died when she was young but she had always been her source of confidence. She suddenly remembered her conversation in Aisha's house, Harley said that Lloyd was rampaging in different cities and towns because they were against the Church of Martel. Palmacosta was home to the Vanguard and the Vanguard was against Tethe'alla, were they against the Church of Martel too? She didn't know what was happening and only heard it through the words of the people of Asgard.

It made her think. Did Lloyd suddenly found powerful faith in Goddess Martel?

Lillian found herself in the main road, she looked around when she realized she was already lost. She stopped to catch her breath, looking around for a moment. "Bell?!" She shouted, turning around. "Bell, where are you?!"

It was silent except for the fire crackling around her, the noises of screams of agony were gone. They were all gone.

Nothing.

She could hear nothing. The silence was so deafening she wanted to cover her ears to shut out the noise, the noise that plunged her heart into despair. Her stomach churned in various directions, her emotions were jumbled together, she could only think of the worse thing possible to everything and to everyone in Palmacosta. Hundreds of people were dead and she didn't even know if her best friend was one of them. Her eyes watered, her throat felt tight at that thought.

She looked around, "Bell!" She screamed, "Bell, please! Answer me! BELL!"

Nothing…absolutely nothing.

"BELL!" Her voice cracked, she hugged herself. A sob escaped her throat as she bend over, tears threatened to roll down her cheeks. "…Bell…"

"Hmph, seems that there's another survivor in this hell."

She inhaled sharply, turning around to the roof of the building to see a man standing there holding a sword. He had dark charcoal hair and golden eyes that looked like they were glowing in the night sky. The metal blade glared at her from the light of the fire, red liquid coated the blade and dripped quietly. His eyes were cold, shining back from the fire that burned in the distance. Lillian stepped back.

"N-No…" She shook her head,

It was a commander from the Church of Martel.

"Hmm…interesting, you're a Tethe'allan, are you not? I thought Tethe'allans avoided the Sylveranti cities like this." He murmured then shook his head, "No matter, under the command of Lloyd the Great—we are here to vanquish the evil known as the Vanguard."

She was too stunned to do anything, the man just took once glance at her before hopping down. His sword was broad but sharp, a leather wrapped around the handle. He pointed the sword towards her, "Young one, rejoice. I will not harm you unless you tell me…who are you?"

Lillian swallowed her fear and mustered her courage to glare at him, "…Who are you to demand my name?" She hissed.

He raised an eyebrow questionably at her, before he chuckled. "What an arrogant line. No matter, I am Leonidas, Commander of the Combat Squad of the Church of Martel. Under the command of Lloyd the Great, the people of Palmacosta and the Vanguard are hereby guilty of crimes of blaspheme and heresy. The sentence…is death."

She spluttered for a moment, "That's just—?! Isn't that cruel?! I thought the Church of Martel promotes 'peace' and 'unity' or whatever you religious freaks blabber about!"

Something shiny came flying towards her and whipped past her cheek. She slowly turned to see a dagger piercing a stack of wooden crates behind her, a cut slowly appeared on her cheek causing blood to trickle down. Leonidas was holding a couple of daggers, staring at them with a bored look.

"I'd be careful on speaking, little girl. Your blunt words can get you killed, don't you think?"

Lillian was frozen, rooted to the ground. Fear took ahold of her legs once again and she felt herself light and sweaty despite her whole body being cold as ice. Her stomach did flip-flops, twisting and turning in various directions it almost made her want to puke out her dinner.

"Leonidas, what are you doing?"

From the distance, a man wearing a red outfit approached them. A sword on each hand, dragging against the pavement of Palmacosta with blood trickling down and forming a bloody pathway behind him. Cold brown eyes landed on her causing her to shiver, her thoughts screamed to run but her legs just wouldn't obey her. They felt glued, like gravity didn't want her to move at all.

He looked around eighteen years old, his brown locks were spiked up in one side.

"Sir Lloyd!" The commandant was immediately at his side and knelt down.

"…Lloyd?" She felt a combination of panic, fear, anger, and betrayal. Why was Lloyd here?! Did he really order this? Murdering the people of Palmacosta just to punish the Vanguard? That same guy who gave her that carving as compensation for ruining something in her home? That same guy who visited her when he would stop by at Asgard?

…It can't be.

"…Leonidas, head to the Western part of Palmacosta immediately. I will handle this girl." He glanced at Lillian, she swallowed thickly as mustered a glare with all her might.

He seemed to scoff at her attempt to not look frightened, "You villagers are all the same. You're all talk but no bite." He raised a sword, pointing at her. "No matter how much you beg or plead mercy, it doesn't wash away the sins you have committed."

She stared at him. This…this wasn't Lloyd. He remembered her when he visited a few months after his first visit to Asgard. If this was really Lloyd, then Lloyd would have never do something like this, right? Plus, he looked really sad about the whole Chosen thing for some reason he wouldn't tell why. But…maybe he was angry at them for not believing in the Chosen of Regeneration? She didn't know. But one thing's for certain, whoever this Lloyd was…he was intent on going to kill her.

That thought caused her stomach to do flips.

"Who…Who are you?!" She blurted out,

"I am Lloyd Irving."

"You…I don't believe you." She hissed, glaring at him. She found unknown courage swell inside of herself, "Lloyd Irving can't be you! He isn't a bastard compared to you and…and… and you smell funny!"

There was an awkward silence between the two.

It was times like this Harley would just appear and smack her hard for saying something stupid again despite the serious and tense atmosphere. His eyes narrowed dangerously and Lillian knew she had blurted out something idiotic again.

Without a warning, Lloyd dashed towards her before jumping into the air. With a battle cry, he was ready to slice her head clean off. Lillian screamed in terror and screwed her eyes shut, holding out her arms in an effort to protect herself. A small runic circle appeared in front of her, forming into a star causing Lloyd to hit that instead of her body.

His eyes widened in shock at the appearance of a small barrier, he tried to break through it but was blown back with a cry into a stack of boxes.

Lillian peered through her lashes when she didn't feel any pain, her eyes widened at the sight of the magic circle before it vanished suddenly.

It was Ash's magic.

She felt something warm on her middle finger, she looked to see Ash's ring glowing brightly with silver particles inside. They bounced around the crystal, Lillian couldn't help but admire the ring. It was Ash's emergency ring, if he wasn't around to protect her then the ring would do the job. It was only temporary and would disappear if it was used too much. The silver ring was already slowly disintegrating, was his attack that powerful?

Lloyd's groan could be heard from the boxes, she snapped her head up with her eyes wide. Lloyd was staring to stir and slowly got up with wood chips falling of his hair. Her mind screamed for her to run away before he could regain his senses, she hesitated on moving. Turning to her shoulder for a moment, she quickly hightailed out before Lloyd could unleash a move on her.

"Demon Fang!"

A blast of sheer power came towards her, breaking the ground in the process. The ring immediately reacted and formed a barrier from the place she once stood, blocking the shockwave which in return, caused the ring to disintegrate even faster.

Lillian turned a corner causing her to slip and fall. She didn't even process the pain and picked herself to continue on running as fast her legs could take her, she had spent a good amount of time running back in Asgard and she was grateful for that training.

She nearly crashed into a wall when she ran through the smaller paths and did a random turn, using the wall to push herself even faster. Her breaths grew ragged as she ran and ran without even looking back, her mind was blank except for that one word.

Escape.

When she did another turn, her horrors has been fulfilled and found herself in a dead-end.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn!" She cursed, looking for anything to escape. She could scale the building but she couldn't even lift herself up to that window, it was too high. Hopefully, Lloyd had lost her along the way.

She turned to retrace her steps but standing right there, was Lloyd Irving himself.

Goosebumps prickled her smooth skin, she instinctively stepped back and tried to hide her fear by glaring at the eighteen-year old man. He was two years older than her and he was already a murderer, which was the scary part.

His swords glinted in the darkness, poised to kill her. Lloyd's eyes were filled with unfeeling emotions, staring at her like a predator towards its prey.

"Nowhere to run," She detected amusement in his tone causing her to wrinkle her nose in disgust.

He approached her, raising his swords. "Now, be a good girl and…" He moved inhumanly, appearing in front of her as wind swirled around his sword. His eyes suddenly turned mad with bloodlust dripping from them. "DIE!"

He aimed at her stomach. Her eyes widened in horror as she held out her hands, she had always heard of the term that the world would move at slow motion and honestly…she didn't believe it one bit. It was a crazy thing. The world moving in slow motion? But…right now, the world felt like it was moving in slow motion.

So this was it? This is how she would die?

She had never got to experience a chance to actually feel like she lived and now…she was going to die? This soon? Without having an actual life?

Why…

Something throbbed inside of her, beating wildly.

…

No…

She can't die.

Not now.

Not now.

Not now.

She can't waste it now.

She wanted to live.

To live.

To live.

"I WANT TO LIVE!" She shouted, throwing her hands out in her last attempt to protect herself even if it was futile.

A white shield formulated in front of her, blocking Lloyd's incoming Sonic Thrust. His eyes widened once again as something shattered on her finger and in the blink of an eye, a reddish-purple symbol formed underneath her. An odd language he couldn't identify was etched on the edges of the circle, a large curved cross appeared with a six-pointed star in the middle of the cross. It slowly swirled around her, causing the debris around to suddenly flow around her along with the mana that were made visible.

Lloyd jumped back when the shield had shattered apart, disintegrating into white particles that joined the swirling tornado of mana. He held his swords up to protect himself from the rubble that was fired towards him at rapid speed and with the pressure that forcibly pushed him back.

Through the light and debris, he saw the girl floating in the middle of it unconscious. The mana coiled itself around her and slowly made her disappear, his eyes widened and readied himself. "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" He shouted, jumping towards her and aimed his sword to her chest.

A small runic circle appeared, spinning as it slowly disappeared along with two balls of green light. A large one spun underneath Lloyd, it glowed as wind slashes attacked his whole body without any mercy. He didn't have enough time to pull up a barrier, he cried out in pain as the wind slashed him repeatedly in high speed. He knelt on the ground in pain and held his side.

When he looked up, the odd magic circle was slowly disappearing but the girl had already disappeared from sight. He grunted, "…She got away."

-x-

It was so bright.

Floating in the middle of a white abyss, Lillian was unconscious. Slowly, she peered through her lashes tiredly and saw golden and silver specks of light dancing around the whole abyss and rising upward until they disappeared from her sight. She felt warm, a comfortable warmth enveloping her body and expanding outward.

A figure stood in the distance, a white silhouette of something.

"Who's there?" Her thoughts echoed in the abyss, she slowly blinked to readjust her eyesight since everything was switching from being blurry to clear.

The silhouette didn't move but instead, extending a hand out and released a red speck of light. The light floated towards her, she went to grab it but it slowly entered inside her chest. A warm feeling filled her whole body causing her to unconsciously touch her chest.

She turned to the figure who touched an invisible ground and began walking away, her eyes widened as she dropped down so suddenly and began chasing after the person. "Wait!" She shouted.

The white silhouette ignored and continued walking, leaving a trail of light on its wake. She suddenly rammed into an invisible wall causing her to stumble back in shock, Lillian touched the walls and tried to find a way to get through.

The silhouette turned towards her before disappearing completely.

The girl blinked in shock, pressing her hands on the invisible walls as the sudden wind blew the silhouette away.

'Wake up.'

A voice whispered into her ear causing her to look around, and oddly…she didn't feel frighten of the voice. She whipped to her side, "Who's there?"

'Wake up.'

A bright light suddenly flashed on her chest causing her to screw her eyes shut and cover her eyes using her arms, she felt a strong pressure as she was suddenly blown away from the walls. Instead of flying across she felt like she was falling, falling deeper and deeper into the white abyss.

'Wake up, Lillian.'

The next thing she knew, the white abyss descended into darkness. She felt like her eyes were closed when she pulled her hands away, even her arms felt like she was holding onto something tightly. Lillian realized she was closing her eyes and tried to make an effort to open them, she didn't know that opening eyes felt like lifting a large boulder over her head but she forcibly lifted her eyelids.

Everything was blurry and disorientated but she felt hair tickling her nose, blinking a few times to gather her surroundings she realized that she was moving—no, she was being carried.

Her head was resting against a shoulder, her arms were in an 'X' fashion against a neck. She looked up and the first thing she saw was blond.

"…Where…" She couldn't even muster energy to talk properly, she just wanted to sleep and stay awake at the same time. Her legs felt like she ran around the world nonstop and her arms felt like she lifted a mountain.

"You're awake?" The person said, looking to the side for a moment. His voice practically lulled her to sleep again but stubbornly forced herself to stay awake as much as possible. She couldn't see his eyes. Did this person save her?

She noticed that it was still dark out, they were surrounded by the plains. She tried to reply back but it came out in a mumble response. He turned back to the road, staring straight ahead. "Where are you from?"

Lillian tried to think about it, forgetting momentarily where she lived exactly. She mustered her strength to say this properly, "…As…Asgard…" It was at least understandable. She didn't know if she was still dreaming or this was reality but she didn't care, she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep. Everything started to become blurry and disorientated.

The person asked her another question but everything went deaf when she found herself enveloped by darkness again.

-x-

A/N: Rewrote it because I'm a little shit and LILLIAN IS SO MARY-SUE, UGH. Now I put more personality in her? I think? I THINK I MADE HER ARROGANT? OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE.

I bet you want to get all kung-fu on me for not updating bUT I MADE THIS CHAPTER/PROLOGUE 9,000+ WORDS BE PROUD. Actually you don't need to since I practically threw up on the document (no not literally). I don't want to give up on this because EMIL LACKS LOVE. MARTA GIVES LOVE. RICHTER GIVES LOVE. LOOK HOW APPRICIATIVE THEY ARE! Besides, I love you all and if we were together then I'll be like "Yo man, turn over and I'll massage you."

And you'll be like "oh okay."

…god it sounded better in my head.