1999

The car was speeding through the highway as its engine tore through the silence of the dark hour. Ryan Caulfield struggled to keep himself awake as he held the steering wheel firmly in one hand and rubbed his eyes to drive away the sleep as much as he could, while his wife, Vanessa, already dozed off, rested her head against the window. He looked at the dashboard clock which was displaying 3:12 am. Not the fault of the tired man, attending a quick farewell at his office, to last minute packing back at home and driving for 7 hours, only stopping for refueling, did tax him to exhaustion. Right now, he wished he had nagged at his wife to push through her anxiety and learned to drive, so he could be spared with the torture of long drives. The usual bustling highway was empty and he could count on his fingers the number of vehicles drove by his car in the last couple of hours. The silence of the night was not helping either and tirelessly trying to lull him to sleep. He thought of just parking the car and get a quick shuteye. But why now? He thought again. Just over an hour of drive and, he can have a good rest at a motel in Portland, along with his wife and daughter, Maxine.

As if the girl laid down in the reclined child safety car seat heard her father's thoughts, stirred a little and opened her bleary eyes. She slowly got up while rubbing her eyes with the back of her tiny hands and yawned a little.

"Are we there, daddy? Ak- Akadia Bay?" asked the little girl from the back, still rubbing her eyes, while hugging her small teddy bear. Maxine Siobhán Caulfield, no older than four years, Brunette hair, blue eyes with a tint of gray, like a clear sky. But the most prominent feature were the clusters of freckles spread just below eyes and over the bridge of her nose. She was excited since the moment she heard her parents were moving to a new town and probably asked them the hundredth time the same question. Ryan chuckled at her daughter's struggle to pronounce the correct name of the town her was driving to, Arcadia Bay. A small sleepy town currently booming with the flow of renovation and tourism and fruitful opportunities has open doors for anyone. The renovation was up to his alley as he had years of experience in the construction business and this was an opportunity he did not want to pass and had to take it. He took a glance through the rearview mirror to look at her daughter security tucked in her car seat.

"Not yet, sugar. Just a little farther," He replied back to her, "Why don't you sleep more, and I will wake you up when we get there?"

Vanessa jolted up from her sleep, "Are we there, Ryan?" as she glanced at the time. Ryan burst out laughing, and the little girl also giggled. Vanessa looked at them confusingly, "What?"

Ryan stiffened his laugh and glanced at her, taking his eyes off the road as it was empty and the route was straight, "Max just asked the same question and in the same manner. You both are so alike. Like mother, like daughter"

"Oh, please. She takes more after you. And by the way, Maxine, why are you not sleeping?"

"Mommy, my name is Max. I don't like Maxine. You always forget," The little girl corrected her mother as she squinted her eyes and pouted.

Ryan chuckled again, "Yeah, Vanessa, Max, never Maxine. Never forget." Vanessa slapped at his arm which he replied with another mirthful laugh. Vanessa tilted her body to face her daughter and stretched her arm to cup at the little girl's face in her hand.

"But, Maxine is such a good name, honey. Do you not like the name mommy gave you?" Vanessa asked her. Just a couple of weeks ago, Maxine or now Max, came to her and told her she doesn't want to be called Maxine. Why? She never gave a reason to.

Max shook her head and started playing with her teddy bear's ear, "I like it but I like Max more. When I grow up, I will become Super Max, and, and Mr. Captain will be my pa- pardner," she said excitedly and lifted her plushy toy to her face and pecked a kiss at it.

Vanessa frowned a little while looking at the toy which had an eye replaced with a button. She remembered when Max was three, she somehow plucked out the eye of the teddy bear and swallowed it. The little plastic was stuck in her throat and her face was turning all pale with lack of breathing. Vanessa went hysterical and rushed her to the ER to get it removed. She didn't want Max to have unsafe toys anymore and replaced with bigger ones. But the little girl was so attached to her teddy bear that she cried and pleaded innocently that she will not hurt or in her words put a booboo on Captain again, not realizing that she was the one who was hurt or worse. Eventually, Vanessa gave in to her daughter's pleading and gave her back her the teddy after sewing the eyes tighter and replacing the empty one with a button.

"Oh, I am sure you will, my baby. But right now, Mr. Captain and Super Max need more sleep so they can grow strong and fight the bad guys, Okay?" Vanessa tried to persuade her daughter to go back to sleep. She hadn't slept much throughout the day, being excited for the moving, and tried to help her parents with clumsily packing of her own. The Caulfields adored their daughter so much that they would do anything for her, and this moving to a new town was also because they wanted their daughter to have a better life and make new friends.

Sighing, and knowing her mother will not let her be up, she was a bit strict with rules as much as she was dotting, she looked down again pouting her lips. Vanessa smiled fondly at her daughter, "Aww don't be like this, honey. I'll wake you up when we reach our new house, and we can eat lots of ice cream together okay?"

Max's eyes lit up, "with wafers?" her beautiful blue eyes grew wide in anticipation of the answer and shimmered by the dim moonlight even through the darkness of the night.

Both Ryan and Vanessa chuckled at this. Vanessa nodded, "Yes, baby. With Wafers and lots and lots of"

A grin grew on her face, "I love you, mommy and daddy!"

Vanessa's heart swelled at the innocent gesture, "We love you too. Good night sweetheart,"

Ryan tilted his head a little to take a look at his daughter, "G'nite, pumpkin."

"Gu'nite, mommy, daddy," Max said with a huge smile. She hugged her teddy and lied down on the seat again.

Just as Max was about to doze off. She is startled with her mother suddenly screaming, "RYAN, WATCH OUT!" Before she could register anything, she heard a loud crash and all of a sudden, she felt everything was spinning. If not for the safety seat, she would have been thrown around all over. A few seconds later and some more crashing sounds, everything went silent. Max felt her vision darkened. The little girl was distraught, she felt everything was numb and she was suffocating, like a huge weight was piled up on her, and it scared her. She started crying and called for her parents, "M-mommy, Daddy," but there was no answer. With the numbness subsiding slowly, she felt a pain going through her whole body, probably caused by the jolting and spinning. Scared, she called for her parents again "Mommy, it h-hurts, I am scared! Daddy!"

This time she heard a painful grunt, "I'm *ugh* h-here, Max, baby. I am here," Ryan replied to her, albeit weak and heaving.

Through her bleary eyes, she tried to look forward but everything was upside down and it was dark. She could only see a silhouette of her father shuffling and was trying to struggle with something. "Daddy,"

"It's alright, sweetheart, d-daddy is here," Max heard her father say and could discern that he was trying to move his head, only to hear a sucking gasp as he muttered, "Oh, God. No... V-Vannessa! Vanessa!" Max heard him calling for her mother, but was getting not reply. She was far too young to comprehend what was happening and listening to her father's distraught and panicked voice, she started crying again.

"Daddy, I am scared, where's Mommy?" but she didn't get a reply, instead she heard a shuddery but stiffen sob. The little girl panicked, even more, she had never heard such a sound coming from her father, who she deemed as a strong person and always cheerful. It made her cry even more and she did start crying harder calling for her mother, "Mommy, mommy, I am scared,"

"M-Mommy is alright, sweety. Li- *grrrgghh* Listen to me baby," Ryan wheezed and coughed, "It's alright, daddy's here. I'll get you out of there." He assured his daughter but his voice was airy, exhausted and heaving.

Max sniffed and looked towards the front. The child safety car seat she was buckled to was the only thing that was keeping her steady, but being in an inverted position, it made her disoriented and scared. She only sobbed softly, while sniffing and hitched breaths. Max could see Ryan tried to shuffle and stretched his arm on the back and grunted through immense pain. He blindly tried to look for the release button of the straps and buckles of the toddler car seat. Max discerning this, held her father's hand and placed it on the button, which after a little struggle, he managed to press and the clipped belts were released from their confinement. Ryan held Max by her t-shirt so she would not fall on her head. He grunted again as his arm painfully twisted in the awkward position he was pinned down to.

Released from her confined car-seat, Max tried to maneuver through the tiny space and lie flat on her stomach, she sniffed and tried to shift towards her dad. She was too scared and the confinement of the car was overwhelming her.

Ryan perceived this and tried to assure her daughter, but his voice was disgruntled with both frustration and pain, as if he was talking through his gritted teeth, his breath was very weak, accompanied by heavy weaving, and a few more grunts, "Max, baby, *urggh* y-you are so brave, I am p-proud of you, *guh* N-now see if you can get out of the car, li-like how we do from the p-pillow fort, can you do that, swe-sweetheart?"

"Daddy I am scared, there are sharpies," Max looked at the shards of the broken window glass sprayed all over the floor which glimmered with the dim light.

Ryan wheezed as he tried to speak through his own immense pain, his vision was darkening, "It's okay baby, don't be scared. J-just crawl out carefully, p-put your hands on where you cannot see the sharpies okay? Can y-you do it for daddy?"

Max nodded, "Okay daddy," she carefully took her time moving step by step on her hands and knees. Looking at the shards scared her of getting hurt, but she knew she had to listen to her Daddy. Avoiding the shards of glasses, Max carefully and slowly crawled out of the open space. Face still streaked with tears, yet she had an innocent but triumphant smile on her face, she quickly trotted around the upside-down car, "Daddy, I got out," and kneeled next to the driver side door, where her father was heaving for breaths. He didn't have the strength to move a muscle. Max could see something wet dripping out profusely from her father's forehead. She gasped, and with her tiny hands, she tried to block the gash with her hands, only for them to feel the warm liquid trickling and spilling through her fingers.

Ryan was heaving, trying to breathe. He tried to speak but his words were cut by a suffocating cough. His breaths hitched, he mustered all he could from his waning strength and looked at his baby girl. With a trembling hand, shivering and wet, he cupped his daughter's cheek, "Y-you were alwa-*cough* *hak* always a good girl, my beautiful angel. Inno-" His voice broke as he coughed and spurted blood which smeared on his face, and his breathing become sharp, but he knew he had to say it, he knew it was too late. He was regretting not able to hold his daughter again, but he had to say the words, so through his airy and wheezing breathing, he continued "Innocent, and k-kind. I am g-glad and happy we h-had you *ugh* had you in our life, Max. You will grow up t-to become a…a beautiful woman, s-strong and brave, my baby, b-because, you are, mommy and daddy's s-strongest Super Max, I love you... W-we love you, Max. We l-love -." His voice was cut as a deep sigh came out of his mouth and he stopped moving.

Max who had her hand over her father's, felt the weight of his hand heavier all of a sudden and it fell off her face. Max's eyes were wide open. Again, the little girl couldn't comprehend what was happening, so she just shook him, "Daddy?" she called for him but didn't get any answers. She put both of her hands on his shoulder and propped herself on her knees and shook his shoulders, "Daddy, wake up," again, just silence, not even the insects of the night were replying her pleas. She knew she had to do something about it, but what? That something she didn't know, so she did only one thing, she called for her mommy, "Mommy, Daddy's hurt. He's not waking up," But she didn't get a reply. With fresh tears in her eyes, she got up and scurried towards the other side of the car, only to stop in her feet. The four-year-old girl was confused, what she should do? Scream? Cry? Run back to her Dad? She was just a child, she was not supposed to look as this, not look at her mother's distraught eyes, full of shock as a huge shard of glass sticking out just below her sternum, laced in her blood. She was not supposed to see a dangling lifeless body. Her innocent brain, which should have been full of fairytales, dreams, happiness, could not comprehend this and the little girl's senses gave away. She fell on her butt, she wanted to cry, call for her mommy but she couldn't. She was at a loss, loss of safety, loss of assurance, that her daddy said her mommy was alright, she was at a loss of support. A little baby girl was losing everything without her knowing at all, she just stayed there helpless, yet not understanding what helplessness meant. So, she did what she could do, what her brain told her, what the pain, yet unknown to the innocent child, in her heart told her to do, cry. So, she did, she sat in the dirt and cried, for being scared, being alone, watching at her parents, calling them, shaking them, wiping the blood on her t-shirt and shaking them again, not giving up and trying to wake them up. Telling them she will be a good girl, she will eat her vegetables, she will brush her teeth, she will not ask for anything, she will not hurt Captain. She promised she will not even ask for the ice cream or wafers her mother just promised her. All she wanted was her mommy and daddy, all she wanted was their assurance, that she shouldn't be scared, that everything was alright. She wanted them to hug her, and kiss her and tell her how much they love her. But all she heard was her own cries, in darkness and all she could do was to go back to her father's side and hold on to wrap his limp and lifeless hand to feel whatever warmth she could feel. But what else could an innocent child do? Except to cry herself to exhaustion but too scared to even pass out.

Unbeknownst to her, her fate was playing all the dirty cards it held for the poor little girl. A vile beast of nature that had no reason to be in the domain of men, entranced by the scent of fresh blood carried by the wind to the wilderness adjoined to Mt. Hood National Forest, where the little girl's parent's car crashed, and prompted the vile beast to come out of the hiding. Its mouth drooled, starved and ready to tear apart either the corpses or the little live flesh that was clinging to the arm of one of the corpses. As if nature's abomination's predatory senses kicked in, it bared its teeth and snarled at the little girl and growled throatily. Max, who was dozing off with exhaustion because of crying, was startled and looked in front of her, and her eyes fell on the monstrosity, looking at her with mouth gaped open and tongue dangling. Her eyes couldn't grow any wider, with a new surge of fear, she tried to scream but the poor girl's lungs were frozen and her scream was stuck in her throat. All she could was cling to her daddy's arm and her tears started spilling again, trailing down her round cheeks. But this time, the tears were not of the sadness or the unknown pain she was feeling, it was fear. Yet again, she was experiencing the immense fear, not like the fear of the shots she got in the clinic, or the fear of her mommy reprimanding her if she was acting like a spoiled child, but a rawer fear, primal.

The creature sensed that fear in her and it bared its teeth even wider as if mocking the little girl that it held the power to keep her alive or rip her apart. But the creature of instinct gave into its lust for blood and flesh, leaped in the air and started running towards her. Max with every ounce of her remaining courage in her, shut her eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen. But instead of feeling the claws of the creature, she felt a gust of the wind hit on her face and she opened her eyes to a slit and again looked in front of her. This time, her view was blocked by a patch of long, soft fur of beautiful white, shimmering with the saturation of blue light caused by the moon, which made the fur of this new beast glow, almost majestically. For a few seconds, Max forgot her fear, her parents, the crash, almost everything. Her distraught heart and head were full of awe and wonder. She had always been a dreamer and had an avid affinity for nature. She loved both nature and the unknown fantasy in it. She loved the picture story books her mommy used to read to her, of mystical and wondrous beasts. But to be face to face with an almost out worldly white beast had put her into a trance of her child-like glee. But the gleeful awe died as her eyes fell on the more vile and disgusting black hound.

The vile creature was on all its four struggling to get up but its limbs were shaky and it shook its head. This new beast, almost noble in the looking, looked like a dog to her, but no, it was not a dog, she remembered seeing this in cartoons, in books, a fox? No, not a fox either, more gallant, noble, yes, a wolf, it was a wolf, but not gray, the fur was longer and white, like snow, with little specks of silver gray in its inner ears and on the muzzle. But it was not an ordinary wolf. It was too big, larger than the abomination, even larger than the little girl who was looking back at it with wide eyes. Sensing the danger, it turned around and bared its white as pearl fangs towards the vile abomination. The black creature was not ready to give up either. The prey was right in front of it. It snarled and growled to intimidate the proud looking beast, which also readied itself by stretching its front paws and tilting its head closer to the stretched legs while looking towards the menace. The gazing was intense, the battle of senses started. Which one would strike first, who will win. The little girl just looked on, scared but also in awe, anticipation had clouded her mind and distracted her from the heartache.

The abomination gave up on the patience and like a hungry creature it was, tried to pounce on the white beast, which the beast easily avoided by trotting back and counted with snap of its jaw over the extended paw of the creature and with swing of its own neck, it threw the creature away from the little girl and this time, leaped at the creature before it could stand on its feet. In a midflight, it grabbed the creature's neck with its open jaw and rotated its own body, lifting the creature off the ground and slammed it down again on the opposite side. The abomination whined again like a rabid mutt it was. Before it could get up again, the wolf stood over it with one of its paws at the throat of the creature and other at the chest, with one of its hind legs blocked the creature tail, entrapping it completely. Everything was unlikely of a predator like a wolf would do, there was no sense of savagery in the wolf's movements. Everything felt planned, calculated, almost perfect intelligence. The almost mystical beast pressured its front paw at the throat of the abomination and leaned in. Their eyes met and the wolf snorted from its muzzle and bore the long canine teeth as if warning the creature not to struggle, which strangely the abomination complied and lied still.

Max was in a trance already looking at the one-sided battle of wit and savagery, snapped out of her trance and remembered where she was. Still clung to the now cold, arm of her father's, her sense of exhaustion returned and she struggled to keep her eyes open and even with her young mind, she tried to comprehend if this was real or a dream she was watching. She did not know the meaning of death or being dead, but without naming or understand what it was, she felt she should not be here, she should have been with her parents by now. Because none of this made sense, these beasts fighting either over the prey in front of them or for whatever reason, shouldn't be in the society of humans. But they were here. The little girl, again, could not understand any of this. On the verge of passing out, her tired and bleary eyes looked on as the abomination got up and scampered, quickly returning into the deep wilderness.

The white wolf turned around and slowly walked towards the girl. Again, fear gripped her, and she clutched the limp arm tightly and curled herself more, trying to hide her frame, fear was evident in her eyes. The beast got close and looked at the surrounding as if gauging the tragedy that has befallen on the young girl's parents. It tilted its head towards Max and looked at her with its eyes glowing ice blue, almost majestically. Max's eyes met with the wolf and all of a sudden all of the fear that was gripping her, dissipated from her body. The eyes of the beast were looking deeply into the girl and Max, even though a little innocent and naïve girl, could see, not the savagery of the previous creature, not the hunger of a predator, but compassion, only compassion, and kindness. Maybe it was her baby mind playing tricks on her, her affinity to fantasy and nature making her believe that this beast of nature was showing kindness to her over her loss. But it mattered not to the girl, right now, anything was better than being alone. The noble looking beast titled its head close towards Max. At first, Max was surprised and she flinched, but an unknown instinct forced her to lift her tiny hand and place it on the wolf's head. The soft mane of the wolf soothed her and she rubbed her hand on it. An exhausted sigh escaped Max's lips and she fell on her side and started to doze off. Just before she closed her eyes, she saw something glow and flicker, a glowing blue butterfly flapping its wings and hovering next to the mystical wolf. The little girl was too exhausted to keep her eyes open and fell into a deep slumber. The wolf kept on looking at the girl with endearing eyes, while the butterfly hovered near the wolf's muzzle.

The butterfly's feelers moved as it flapped its wings twice and then rested, "Is she the one?"

The wolf bobbed its head as if nodding, "Yes,"

"She is just a baby. Has She lost all the semblance of sanity!? To put such a burden on this child?" The butterfly flapped her wings sharply, causing a gust of the wind around it.

A snort came out of the wolf's nose, "It was decreed. She has to be the one. Do not question Her judgment!"

"I am not questioning Her decree. Do not put words in my mouth. What about the parents?" The butterfly's feelers titled towards the wreckage of the car.

"Dead, unfortunately. We were too late." The mystical beast bared its fangs and its beautiful glowing blue eyes turned sharp.

The butterfly spoke, there was disdain and sadness in its voice that filled the air, "This is cruel. She did not deserve this." After pausing for a few seconds, the butterfly spoke again, "Should we take her to him?"

The wolf shook its head, "Not yet. She will not be safe there. It's too soon."

"Oh, the poor innocent child." The butterfly's wings pulsed and glowed brightly, "They went too far this time. It's pathetic. When will this discord end? Why don't they understand that the land is not supposed to be ours anymore? It has been decreed."

The wolf's face contorted in disgust, as the skin of its muzzle stretched backward showing its teeth again. A hatred could be heard in the growling voice, "They are not beings of reason, it's foreign to them, not in their nature. All they seek is havoc and destruction."

The butterfly's wings pulsed, "It's pathetic. What are you going to do now?"

"Take here away from here. You should go to him. We will need his help, for the girl," replied the wolf.

"As it's been decreed, I will. But first…" The butterfly flapped its wings again, flew off the wolf and hovered down on Max's body, "…she has to bear Her mark and accept her gifts." Resting on her exposed neck, the butterfly rested its feelers on her neck, just below her ear. A glow grew from the butterfly's wings and passed through the incest's torso to the feelers. The glowing line started forming a circle going outward with each swirl and finally stopped at an open end. It formed a perfect glowing spiral, vine-like fringes grew from the edges of the spiral and traveled down in ann interloping wavy swivel, under her t-shirt, creating a beautiful glowing pattern and making her clean baby skin glow in the dark and finally resting on her open palm. After a few pulses, the glow diminished and the vines disappeared under the skin, save for the spiral tattoo of a perfect dark shade of midnight blue color rested on her neck.

The butterfly moved a bit to Max's ear and whispers, "Dear child, we are deeply sorry to put you through this burden. But you have a destiny. You have been chosen to keep your kind safe from the beings that took your parents away. This mark will help you. In Her name, I have bestowed a gift upon you. The power to rule over Time itself. You will need this gift for the hardships that are yet to come to you. But do not lose heart, my child. Be brave, for we will always be watching over you. I am Mana, the Essence of Hope."

Mana flapped its wings one more time and hovered away from the soundly sleeping girl. This time the wolf steps forward and softly places its paw on the girl's slowly rising and falling chest. Another warmer and brighter glow grew below its paw and disappeared in the little girl's body.

"Maxine Siobhán Caulfield, in Her name, I have bestowed a gift upon you. The power of intuition and command over our tongue. I am Garuga, the Essence of Pride." The wolf's voice was sterner, as its pride got a better of it. For a being like him, even though kind and compassionate, it didn't like the idea of a human having a command of the ancient telepathic language he had held solely for thousands of years. But it knew the stakes. Her words were a decree. He chided itself for even thinking pridefully against Her words. It opened its jaw and picked Max by her shirt and placed her slowly on its back.

"Where will you take her?" asked Mana while hovering in front of Garuga's muzzle.

Garuga shook its silvery mane, "She does not belong in our world yet. I will take her to the human allies. There is a family that will look after her, away and hidden from Them. What about the key?" He asked Mana.

"I haven't found it yet. But it is in the land. What or who, I haven't found out yet." Replied Mana.

With the little girl towed on her back, the wolf turned around and started walking slowly away from the wrecked car. Its body started to fade in the thin air along with the sleeping toddler, "Find it before they do or all will be lost, Mana. May Her blessing be with you." and it disappeared along with the girl.

"May Her blessing be with you," said the butterfly as it flew away.

Jonathan Hensley's eyes fluttered opened as he heard a distant howling of a wolf. He sat up on his bed and turned on the bed lamp on hi side. He shook his wife sleeping soundly next to her, "Amanda, honey, wake up."

The elderly woman startled from her sleep opened her bleary eyes and looked at her husband in confusion. Sleep was still evident in her eyes as she forced them to open, "What is it, John?" She asked in a groggy voice albeit showing a hint of confusion.

"It's them," he replied. As if the answer was a wake-up call for the woman. Her eyes went wide and fully awake, and she quickly got up and just in time a shimmering bright light filled the room's already dark ambiance and a patch of empty space started to bend and the bright light started to form tears through the fabric of reality.

A booming yet rugged voice filled the air, "Jonathan Hensley,"

John got up the bed and kneeled on the ground, "At Her service, Noble Garuga" he said though his voice was not that of a slave or a person who was afraid, but more of like an admiration, of respect.

"We need your help. Jonathan Hensley," as the booming voice spoke, the rift widened and a sleeping girl, no older than four, hovered through the rift and on the ground, right in front of the elderly couple. Confusion gripped the husband and wife, in front of them was a small beautiful little girl but the grim thing were the clothes, dirty and bloody. Jonathan swallowed hard and looked towards the rift.

"By Her will, who is this girl, Garuga?" He asked facing the rift as if directly talking to it.

"Maxine Siobhán Caulfield. This child is chosen by Her," Then the voice end up retelling the event transpired earlier. How They felt threatened by the future this girl was going to be a part of, that they conspired the accident. How this little girl survived the car crash, with her parents' dead, and a hound of darkness wanted to snuff out her life. The elderly couple looked at the innocently sleeping girl, and the woman eyes brimmed with tears, and she slowly shuffled towards Max and lifted her body in her arms. Seeing streaks of tears on the little girl's freckled face wrenched the elderly woman's heart and she instinctively wrapped the girl in her arms, but softly enough to not to wake her up.

"Jonathan Hensley, by Her decree, you will look after this child. Keep her safe, nurture her. Teach her everything about this world, about Her, about us and what is at stake. Jonathan, she will need your wisdom, your strength. Make her stronger, agile. Teach her everything that you know, she will need it for the future that will be either be the thrive or the unbecoming of us all."

Jonathan nodded, "By Her decree," he said.

Garuga paused for a second and directed its voice towards the woman, "Amanda Hensley, guide her to become strong willed, kind, compassionate and pure. Else They will corrupt her heart and all will be lost."

"By Her decree," said the woman.

"I will leave her in your care, but I will be around. Love her, protect her, for she will become your kind's savior."

"Like my own child," Amanda said, and she hugged the little sleeping girl closer to her chest. Being sterile, she never had children of her own. Even though she was content with her life, being in Her service, having a loving husband, but the empty void of not having children of her own had always saddened her. Perhaps, she thought, perhaps this is Her gift to the woman.

The rift began to close as the tear in reality started amending itself. Before it could disappear completely, Garuga spoke, "I will come back for her when the time is nigh. May Her blessing be with you,"

"May Her blessing be with you, Noble Garuga," said the couple, and the room fell into darkness again.

"This is unfair," Amanda said with tears in her eyes, "For such a young girl to be put through this tragedy."

"I know, Amanda. It is. But whoever she was, what happened to her parents, her life was changed in an instant. But this is Her will. She chose her to be part of the future, Amanda. She is in our care now, our daughter." Jonathan ran his hand through the sleeping girl's hair affectionately.

Amanda nodded and a dearly smile formed on her face, "Maxine, our daughter,"

Max opened her eyes, to find herself in a complete darkness. The little girl's eyes grew wide in fear and the first words that came out of her mouth were calling for her parents, "Mommy, Daddy, where are you?" When she got no replies, her tiny button nose twitched and her lips quivered. The memories of the accident and the gnarly face of the black hound-like beast, her father's limp hand and finally the most disturbing thing the innocent child had to watch were her mother's shocked eyes, even in the darkness, this little baby saw the fear, shock, and helplessness in her mother's dead yet open eyes and that was enough to break the little girl's dam of tears, and she started wailing and calling for her mother, "Mommy! I want my mommy!" She rested her hand on her knees and balled herself together and her sobs and hitched breaths were filling the darkness

As if her heart-breaking wailings were heard, her innocent prayer was answered. The darkness started to dissipate and a beautiful milky white light emerged in front of her, "Do not be sad, my child,"

Max sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, "M-Mommy?" Her eyes glimmered in hope but that hope soon died when a figure emerged from the light. It was not her mother. But then her eyes were widened again, in awe. The figure was beautiful. Tall, slender, wavy golden brown hair long like vines parted in two ways and resting on her shoulder above her bosom and just below her waist. Her pure silk white gown was shimmering and hugging her beautiful frame. Her face was less of round, more of a gaunt but not skinny, had enough flesh to hide the cheekbones. Eyes, glowing bright blue with patterns as if holding a galaxy inside it. Her nose was sharp and slightly tilted up. Lips pink, a color that could relate to what Max had, a pure baby pink, which was more prominent because of her spotless porcelain white skin. The way she walked near the sitting child, her every step was like breathing life to the darkness and by the time she reached Max, the whole space was shining brightly. She slowly sat next to the little girl and very affectionately start combing Max's hair. Max flinched at first, but her hands were so calming and soothed her, that she did not move but only let her comb her brunette locks.

"Are you afraid of me, child?" Her voice was like dipped and sweetened in a century old honey. Max instinctively shook her head, which made the woman grow a smile on her face and again, as Max was being guided, a smile form on her own face, but it dwindled as soon as it grew. She looked at the woman, her eyes full of questions, but she did not know what to ask, so she asked the only question that was on the tip of her tongue.

"Have you seen my mommy?" Max asked innocently to the woman, who's own smile dwindled.

"I am afraid, I don't know, my child," Max's eyes fell again and started watering as her lips quivered and trembled. The figure seeing this, cupped the freckled girl's face in her hand, her warm touch soothed the little girl's cheek and the quivering of her lips diminished, "But I am sure they are in a safe place, Max"

"How do you know my name?" asked Max. On which the woman smiled softly at her.

"Your friends told me, Isn't that your name, Max?" She asked with her soothing honey voice.

Max looked down meekly and mutters in her mouth "….don't have friends,"

"What was that, my dear child?"

"I don't have friends, my only friend is Mr. Captain, and, and I lost him," she said in a tiny little voice and sadness was visible in her eyes as they glossed over with fresh tears, "like mommy and daddy." The little girl slowly was beginning to understand what has happened. Even though she could not name it. Her four-year-old brain started working. It could have been the influence of Garuga's powers, her intuition was making her think smarter or it was the woman who sitting next to her, but whatever it was. It made her understood the loss she felt and the feeling she couldn't yet name but felt it.

"Oh, I am sorry about that, Max. But you have so many friends now, can you not see them?" Asked the women in white on which Max shook her head. The figure opened her palm, and gestured it around her, "Why not look again, child. They are your friends,"

Max looked around and her innocent doe eyes open wide in wonder, there were animals, all around her. A blue mocking jay, flapping its wing, flying around without a destination, yet excited to just fly. A cute little rabbit looking towards Max while its nose twitched. An old grizzled squirrel surrounded by smaller squirrels gazing as it was trying to break a nut. Little Max giggled at the scene, forgetting the pain. She was content, with a childlike glee, she looked on at the animals and the bird until her eyes fell on the most beautiful of them. A monarch butterfly. Its wings glowed and pulsed as it struggled to flap its weightless wings to get near Max. Another intuition hit on Max and on an instinct, she stretched her little hand and the glowing butterfly rested on her finger. Max giggled again as her finger tingled when the butterfly whipped its feelers on her skin. The little brunette looked at the beautiful figure and with a gleeful toothy smile, she said, "Pretty,"

The figure smiled, "Isn't she? All of them are your friends, child. You are not alone." Then her eyes turned sad, but it was different sort of sadness, Max could not discern it. Unknown to her, it was a regret, the little girl could not know the meaning of this expression yet, so she looked on confusingly towards the figure, "I am very sorry about your parents, Max. I wish it would not have happened,"

Max felt lost with the expression and what the woman told her, this sadness she was feeling until now, she could finally understand what it was. Loss, she felt the loss of her parents, again, she understood, the words she shouldn't know at this age were coming to her. The feelings that should never have known or at least not before she was an adult and capable, she suddenly knew and she looked at the woman, "Who are you?"

The figure smiled sadly, and she stretched her arm to pull Max closer. Max flinched a bit, "Don't be afraid, my sweet Max. Come, let me tell you a story."

Hesitantly, Max shuffled and the woman sat Max on her lap, a sweet fragrance hit the little girl's nose, and she sniffed loudly, which made the woman chuckle. Max blushed at this only to had her hair rubbed by the woman, "Aren't you a cute one. Are you ready for the story, Max?" Max nodded at this. The woman smiled and started telling Max a story.

Long ago, in a distant time, there were four Gods. Where they came from, why they were born or what they were, they did not know. They just existed, lived. There was a harmony between them, a connection. They were four but at the same time, they were one. They lived in a land peacefully. The land was their home, until one day, two new beings fell from the sky. They were a man and a woman. The four Gods met the man and woman, intrigued of what and who they were. The man and the woman told them that they came from a faraway place called Heaven. But they did something bad and they were thrown out of Heaven and down into the land. The Gods welcomed them nevertheless because they did not feel any danger or malice in the two new beings. They gave them a place on the land and gave them knowledge on how to use the land. The man and the woman did, for hundreds of years.

The Gods and the man and women lived in harmony. But then, the man and woman multiplied, they became four, more like them and then eight, and sixteen. Until the four Gods lost count of how many they were. The land was overrun by them. New feelings grew in the heart of the men. Some wanted more land, and some wanted to stay in the same land, so they divided themselves, in smaller groups. At first, everything was alright, but when the men and women kept multiplying. The land felt smaller to them. They asked the other group to give them part of their land, which the other refused. So, they fought.

The Gods saw fighting for the first time. They got afraid of these vile offsprings of the first man and woman. Three of them thought they made a mistake by giving the land to those 'humans' and decided to take back the land. They asked the men and the women to leave their land and go somewhere else. But the men and women got scared. Because they did not know where to go. Their fear become stubbornness, stubbornness became defiance and they refused to go. The figures were baffled, a new feeling grew inside them. Hatred, they hated the humans for taking their land.

They knew they could live together with the humans but their pride of being superior to those unknowing humans made them look down upon the humans in disgust. They thought they were higher and mightier than the small people and that made the three Gods arrogant, and they began to treat the men and women badly.

One of the Gods, Ahriman, opened its mouth and came out a black fog, that engulfed the men. It was called darkness. Some of the men's heart was filled with darkness as it went in from their nose to the heart and made it black. The men lost control and start hurting each other. Start killing without discrimination. Another God, Mictlan, cut its arm open and a black liquid came out of it and from inside the liquid, came creatures, strange and scary monsters. While the men were fighting each other. The monsters were destroying everything the men and women built and held for hundreds of years.

The third God, Silla, the strongest of the three, blew from its mouth and came out a huge, huge tornado. It was an abomination. Dancing like a mare with its hoof on fire. With it came thunder and havoc and with thunder came torrents of rain. It wanted to destroy the land, out of spite, without caring that the land was hurting. The men and the women, along with their children, they got scared, they could not withstand the devastation the tornado was causing.

But then, there was the fourth being. The one who had command over age, over Time. She was the kindest, most compassionate of the four beings. She came to like the man and the woman, even though they sinned and were fighting. She knew they were misguided and wanted to help them. So, she did what she could do with her powers. She made a rift, a space, where time stood still. And she made the space to suck the tornado and the beings and locked them away before they could have destroyed the land and the people.

The land was saved from complete destruction but it was filled with darkness and malice, it was almost destroyed and rendered useless. The Time Goddess knew that she had to do one more thing, one last thing. She split her soul into three small pieces. One piece held the key to the rift where the They and the tornado were locked away. The second piece held her powers, the command over time. The last piece of her soul, she merged it with the land itself to cure it as much as she could, and the land was cured, albeit with a huge sacrifice. Without her soul, she could not exist.

Before she disappeared completely, she hid the remaining pieces of her soul in two of the purest among the humans, two young women, whom she cherished the most. With that, a key and a commander of the time were born and connected the fate of the two girls. She commanded the people to keep the girls safe. For the beings were far more powerful and they will keep coming back. Only the key and the commander of time are destined to stop the advances of the beings and their menacing tornado. Then, the Goddess of Time stopped existing and merged with the very land that her kind wanted to destroy. Her name was Arcadia.

And it did happen. From time to time, the rift threatened to open. But the Time Warrior, the commander of the time itself, was always there to close the rift with the help of the key. But there were also men, corrupted beyond repair, with their hearts filled with the darkness of Ahriman, the God that corrupted the land with its black fog. They sought the key and wanted to destroy it. So, when the rift opened, there would be no key to close it anymore and every time the plans were thwarted. As long as the Time warrior and her Key exists, the land will be safe.

Max had so many feelings inside her, she was mesmerized by the tale, but was also afraid of the Gods and the beings. The woman was combing her hair, which soothed her even more and she leaned back her head and rested at the bosom of the woman. The woman smiled and pecked a kiss on the crown of the little girl and continued to speak, "And again, the time is coming, for a Time Warrior to rise and find her key and stop Silla from wreaking havoc on the land and destroying everything. And do you know who the Time Warrior is this time, Max?" Max shook her head. The woman lifted Max off her lap and made her stand, while she knelt down, "It is you, my dear child. The land has chosen you to be the next Time Warrior."

Max's eyes glimmered, she felt giddy, and a small smile formed on her face, "Like Super Max?"

"Yes, dear. Like Super Max. You want to be Super Max and fight bad guys, Right?" Max nodded enthusiastically. The woman smiled, "Then wake up, my child. When you wake up. You will see new people around you. But they are very nice people. Just like your mommy and daddy,"

Max's eyes fell again when reminded of her parents. The women cupped her cheek in her hand, "Do not be sad, my sweet girl. I know these people cannot replace your Mommy and Daddy. But they will love you no less than your real parents."

"O-okay," mumbled the little girl. Again, it was maybe the presence and the influence of the person she was with right now, she felt she should accept this unknown feeling of loss and she did. The woman got up and Max looked at her with wide eyes. Her skin was glowing this time, even brighter. Her smile was not there anymore but her eyes were still soft, full of compassion for the little girl. She put her index finger on Max's forehead, and spoke,

"Maxine Siobhán Caulfield, I am Arcadia, the Goddess of Time. Hear my words as a decree. I pronounce you as this age's Warrior of Time. Grow up, be strong, be brave, and when the time is right. The land will call for your help. Be ready, find the key, defend your people from Silla and his menace. My blessings are with you,"

Max noticed the name, Arcadia, she was one of the four Gods, the one who sacrificed herself to save the humans from utter destruction. Her eyes grew wide again, only to feel drowsy and before falling into a slumber, she heard her final words.

"Max Caulfield, many hardships will come to you, do not lose heart, do not lose hope. For they rely on your strength. Find your destiny, my child. Find the key, and remember, do not hesitate to use the key, as it is the salvation of your kind. Do not hesitate." And then there was silence only.

Max Caulfield, 4 years old. Her parents were unjustly murdered by beings beyond anyone's control. Her destiny was written by different hands. From this day on, she became the Time Warrior and started her unending struggles against the Discords of Time.

Author's Notes:

Hiya, friends. So back again with a story. Yeah. A bit different from my previous ones. And I would like to address that none of my stories are abandoned. I am just taking my time to process and write. It's been difficult for me to keep staying in one story and my mental well of limited knowledge was drying up. So I wanted to change the scenario. So here I am, with a different-ish sort of story.

I sincerely thank you STEVOCPP for initial beta-reading of my chapter and LonesemeBard for his partial beta-reading and giving me tips and other friends/writers to encourage me to write this. Thanks a lot guys. For me, this story will be a huge challenge, as I have limited skills but I will take my time with it. Taking things slow. Now that I have dived into the unknown sea and landed on an uncharted island. Let's see what challenges it will bring to me.

My idea is more of a fantasy+Lis Universe hybrid. A take on the origin story of Max Caulfield's rewind powers, what is the significance of the Storm/Tornado. Where did it come from? I have so many thoughts on how to take this story further. I will admit I am skeptical, even though writing a fiction means you have the freedom to write whatever your imagination tells you but it has to make sense. So i will do my best based on my knowledge and skills to tell you guys a different take on Life is Strange's story.

Please share your thoughts on this, reviews and comments are welcome and much appreciated as it will help grow as a writer and get connected to you guys.