Chapter 1: Denial (beta)

Chapter 1: Denial

So many ways to start the fairytale, only one to end the nightmare..

darkness cloaking around her, numbing silence droning through her ears, yet distant sounds of war pressing through the room. armory dropping, weapons clashing, blood streaming, screams of death. they stood high above the battlegrounds, but could experience all its misery and terror, taste the blood and burned flesh.

female voice: 	"Whats wrong? This is what youve been waiting for, now finish your work"

a silhouete in the shadows, not more than a hallucination. it feels strange and terrifying familiar at the same time. did they meet before?

Emily:	"i didnt want all of this to happen.. no, i did not want it to come to this"

Her voice was shaking and her posture was weak. if she had a choice, she would flee but her legs wouldnt move, nor would her eyes dare to close. her enemy was lying on the ground, struck by her blades, wounded and helpless, but alive.

female voice:	"Finish what you started, kill her! its your duty! OBEY!"

Emily:	"no.. noo, this cant be happening..this isnt real"

Suddenly she runs, as fast as she can, not knowing where to hide, or what she is running from, not stopping or looking back for a second. but she cant outrun the silhuette or escape her fate.

female voice:	"Come back here! fullfill your duty!"

The shadows begin rampaging, leaping forward chasing after her, reaching out to her and finally swallowing her whole, muffling her last screams into a dull crying..

Not long after, she awakes in her bed, darkness was indeed surrounding her, yet posing no danger, even though the moonlight does bring up a strangely shaped shadow through her window. there was nothing but her and the sound of night. while shes still trying to catch breath and her heart is pounding seemingly endless, she said to herself:

Emily:	"Was this really all just a dream?.. it felt so real. and who was this woman? why did i try to kill her?"

She quickly calmed down and stopped worrying about a dream. she had no time to worry, afterall tomorrow was her big day. graduation from military school. It was privileg to attain such a high standard school like she did. Most Ionians barely get the chance to practice the job of a guardian, let alone participating in actual battles. Even in times of war, ionia constantly maintained a peaceful enviroment inside their borders, as this area was safe from any attacks, that means at least in the last 16 years. Stocking up on warfare was not necessary for their citizens safety. Emily on the other hand was about to follow in her mothers steps, becoming a soldier, wether she wanted or not. Her mother, Ruby, was the captain of the ionian army, one of valorans most respected and appreciated armed forced; there was no way she could cop out of her duty as the captains daughter. but that doesnt mean she didnt try.

She was staring at her clock "3:47".

Emily:	"come on.. there is no way i can sleep in again.. and even if i do, i need to get up at 6am. this day doesnt start well. the heck with it, im gonna just.. close my eyes.. for a few minutes.. nyan.."

upon opening her eyes after a not too short rest, she saw bright sunshine coming through her windows, birds singing, the smell of summer flowers covering her nose, and also the clock reading 9:13. Latter was probably the main reason why she instantly jumped off her bed, running to the bathroom and on the way cursing in a variety, which doesnt seem to be appropiate for a 16 year old girl.

Emily:	"WHY DID THIS FUCKING CAT NOT WAKE ME UP, WHY DO I EVEN HAVE A PET IF SHE CANT DO THE EASIEST THINGS"

while brushing her teeth furiously, she stared at her the fairly unintrested young dragon sitting at the doorstep, as if she expected her to respond.

Emily:	"get a pet they said, it will help you wake up they said, the pink dragon matches your hair they said.. ok, the last one is right."

the little pet-dragon, lovely named "cat", was most of the time the only one she could talk to since her mother was always working at the council of war and her father was not there aswell. cat was a gift to emilys birthday from her best friend. she was still in her shell when she got her. since she hatched, they were never seperated. despite being only a few months old, she had a better character than most people emily has seen. she likes to sing, cuddle at night, and always seems to understand what emily feels, yet she has an evil prefrence to silently mock her.

Emily:	"*sigh*, can you at least hunt your own breakfast for once?just once? youre a dragon for fucks sake.."

Cat: "meow"

she knew too well what that meant. sprinting out of the bathroom into the kitchen, she just threw a piece of meat into cats bowl, with a look saying "dont tell mom". she prepared butterred bread, got dressed, and ran out, combing her pink hair and eating with one hand, while putting on her shoes with the other one. the way she jumps up and down almost had something rythmical, she was clearly not doing this for the first time.

Emily was not like most of the ionian girls. they work hard and spent their rare freetime in the local pubs, drinking and celebrating every victory in the frontlines. emily didnt bother meeting the people from school after hours. most of her time she was either at the academy or with her best friend. as long as she was with her, she could be herself, no need to hide her sometimes goofy kind.

Emilys appearance was petite, almost weak. she was small, almost tiny compared to other ionian girls at her age. nobody would guess shes a warrior after seeing her for the first time, she wouldnt even believe it herself. it was her mothers dream to make a soldier out of her, not emilys. but what else could she do? this war is not just a mere conflict between two nations, its something personal. thats why ruby became captain of ionias armed forces. and thats why emily has to become a warrior under her mothers wing. she was different from her mother in many ways.

ruby was strong and dedicated, brave yet logical. she cared for her nations sake just as much as she cared for her comrades on the battlefield. her unit used to have the least amount of KIA - "Killed in Action". up to one day, when they were sent to a small isle group near the north western part of valoran, close to the shadow isles. it was merely a class C mission, scouting for enemies position and mapping them for future advancing towards enemy territory. nothing too worrysome, even though they were so close to the nation, they wage war against. the area used to be safe and still is, or at least they thought so. but it was just a trap. demons disguised as local citizens, attacked them once they dropped their guard. ruby was not able to save them. not even half of the her unit made back, ruby being one of them. but while escaping she protected a comrade from an enemy attack with her own body and broke her right arm to a point where she couldnt maintain active duty anymore. since that day she stayed in ionia, training the new students at the academy and planing strategical acts at the council of war.

if emily became a warrior like her mother, she could do what ruby was prevented from, advancing towards the shadow isles, breaking the enemys lines, defeating their emperor, evelynn. Emily did not worry too much about it. she was still a naive child. her whole live she was inside the ionian borders, well protected in a peacefull enviroment. the only thing she thought about at this day, was her graduation, and her start of her military duty. At last she arrived at the academy, the clock reading "9:58".

Emily: 	"2 minutes early from being 3 hours late. thats not too bad, nobody will notice"

she casually walked over to the great hall, everyone was already standing in line while Ruby delivered her final speech. just in the same moment emily wanted to walk through the door and search for her place, someone rapidly grabbed her shoulder and a strict voice spoke to her.

Irelia:	"what do we have here? 3 hours late, not wearing the school uniform, hairstyle just screaming "kill me". do you know the consequences of such behaviour, especially on such a special day?"

emily was seemingly surprised and couldnt even speak or turn around. maybe she hoped that person would go away if she doesnt move. it did not work to say the least.

Irelia: "your punishment will be... to turn around and give you old friend a nice hug.. also you buy lunch today"

Emily didnt even recognize her from being so scared. but that person was Irelia, her super bestestest friend of whole ionia.

Emily: "AAAAAH youre back from your mission! i missed you so much!"

Emily almost threw her over and started crying when she hugged her. understandably, afterall irelia was gone for the last 3 months on a class A mission. She couldnt even sent her a letter or sent homemade muffins.

This was not irelias first mission of that kind, in fact she is in active duty for 3 years. she graduated at the academy at age 18, still very young compared to others, but she was anything but unexperienced. when her master Lito died to an unknown disease, irelia was the only one capable of using his unique weapons, 4 blades flying in thin air, controlled by nothing but her own mind. some call her style to fight a dance with the blades, rythmical movements leading to fatal strikes in a perfectly timed choreography. emily always admired irelia as a warrior and as a friend. she was her role model when she grew up, and still is to this day, but now emily is not a child anymore, shes close to starting her military career together with irelia.

Irelia:	"aww princess, dont cry. i missed you aswell, my little cutie. wait, is that buttered bread in your hair?"

Emily:	"not sure.. i guess i messed up the hair combing and stuff eating parts. happens if you get exited for the day i guess"

Irelia:	"princess cant wait to be a hero, can she? oh and did you actually bite the comb?"

Emily: 	"no i did not bite the comb.. not again. and dont call me princess, im a reaaaal warrior now"

Irelia: "oh right, your graduation. didnt you have to attent any ceremony like.. 3 hours ago? i mean those stupid motivational speeches from ruby.. they always tell some storys about the war and about ionias heros and whatnot. i think shes telling that story again about master Yi defeating and entire enemys squad alone.. as if you need much skill to wiggle around with a sword. "look at me, i can use a single sword", try that with 4 at a time.."

Emily:	"youre just jealous that he gets all the attention from ruby. she doesnt tell your story, huh?"

Irelia:	"well maybe you are just jealous because she spents all her time at the council, huh?"

After saying this, she immidiately realized how insensitive and stupid that was. ruby didnt pay much attention to emily, if she wasnt in the academy, even though emily did nothing but attempt to make her mother proud. she became a soldier for her mother and her nation, not because she had a free choice. besides that, emily didnt do well with other people from school. most of them were way older than her and didnt want to bother with a child. irelia was not just her best friend, but her only friend.

Irelia:	"im sorry, emily.. lets get something to eat. you can get your papers tomorrow aswell. and dont worry about your mum getting angry, im gonna talk with her about it. we just say you were having some special training with me the whole day"

they sat down in a nearby café, still pretty early, so there was not too much traffic around. the morning sun was already set high up. irelia ordered something she havent had in 3 months, baked fish. strangely enough people really didnt gratinate fish where her missions location was, who would have known? emily ordered a childs menu with a free toy.

Emily:	"its for cat, okay? she likes toys."

Irelia:	"i wont judge. you can take whatever makes you happy, but youre spoiling that dragon too much. you know how they prepare fish in bilgewater? not roasted or grilled like normal people. they actually eat it raw or even worse. they preserve it with saltwater untill it gets all stinky and gooby and.. eek"

Usually irelia would spent all her time raging about how pirates dont know how to cook fish, but she noticed something strange about emily. she barely touched her food. she was holding her empty cup with both hands, staring to the window. her eyes were half closed, not like she would lack sleep. she was in thought and didnt even respond to irelia rambling about food. usually when irelia came back from a mission they would get all exited, gossip about how everyone elses food culture was worse than ionias, then go home, bake cake and promise they would start eating healthy the next day. but this time she was behaving different.

Irelia:	"you had another nightmare, isnt it? dont worry about it.. its just bad dreams."

Emily:	"how can you know? they get worse and worse every time.. and mom is never there for me.."

Irelia:	"I am here for you. as long as you are with me, i will protect you from any bad dreams, even the super baddest ones. just dont be afraid anymore, ok? being afraid doesnt fit your pretty face, princess"

Emily smiled for the moment, but it was not a strong smile. her eyes were still motionless fixated on the window and about to drop soft tears.

Irelia:	"I dont know why your mother is working so much on this.. i mean i understand what happened to you and how important it is to end the war, but she has a daughter, which she needs to take care of. there are enough people to plan out ionias negotiation plans."

Emily:	"negotiations? heh, not even close. if they would try to negotiate, the war would be long over"

She never thought of this war as "negotiable". she grew up inbetween ionias safe borders, but even here you can feel the impacts of the war. people going on missions, never coming back. storys from the battlefield, how the ionian soldiers are the best armed forced in valoran, handling every situation with ease, never retreating, never afraid. she considered it pathetic how everyone else seems to celebrate this war as anything it really is, a catastrophe.

Irelia:	"princess...you know what? i dont have to report for the mission before tomorrow. how about i stay with you this night? we can make a sleepover, drink some super sweet soda and watch horror movies all night long, just like we did when we were kids."

emily hesitated to answer, as if she was emberassed to get treated a little girl. yet there was nothing she would prefer over getting babysitted by irelia.

Emily:	"only if you cuddle with me.."

Irelia giggled at her saying this. hearing emily talking all about being a strong warrior and in the same breath ordering a childs menu and asking to cuddle with her. she was still her little princess, no matter what military rank she might achieve.

They just went out of the café when they ran into the person, emily wanted to see the least right now. From all random encounters it had to be the by far creepiest, most obnoxious member of irelias unit, Zelos.

Zelos:	"ohay little Pumpinface, hows it going? already done playing soldier?"

Irelia:	"Zelos! be nice for once. shes the captains daughter and a new member of our unit. show some respect for your comrades"

Irelia was was just trying to protect her. she held emily by the hand and pulled her away from him. but the only thing she did was pushing her further into the image of a small girl which needs protection, unable to fight on her own. zelos walked up to them, slightly bowed down to her so their eye levels match up, and put his hand on emilys head, gently petting her.

Zelos:	"ohh, little girl will join us? so let me get this straight, pumpkin will join OUR squad? captain rubys former squad, consisting of the most skilled soldiers ionia can offer, me, the most handsome warrior who has ever been touched the the sunlight, irelia, the only person who is capable of wielding litos sacred blades and then this little fella. a 16 year old little princess who wouldnt even be able to protect her squadmates if their life would dep-"

Irelia:	"STOP IT! every member is getting treated equally, no matter how strong they are. emily cant do anything about being like this"

"being like this"..that did hurt her more than anything zelos could say. usually she would talk back at him, but she was fed up with those shenanigans. she was tired of being looked down at. she just walked away in silence while irelia and zelos kept argueing loudly.

this night emily was staying up late again. ruby was still at the council, so there was nothing but her and the sounds of the night, also some girly movie running in the background. it was raining like almost every day. she was still thinking. about her graduation, about what they said today. was zelos right? how can emily ever defend anyone, if she cant even defend herself. if a mission escelates, would she be able to save a comrades life? would she be able to risk her own life? would she be strong enough to see a friend die right in front of her? certainly not, being afraid of nightmares and her own shadow..

then something caught her attention. she heard some suspicious sound coming from the outside. she froze for one second, remembering her nightmare from last night. but she didnt worry any further. as irelia said, it was just a dream. emily stood up and went to the open window. it was already pretty cold for the season, so she quickly looked around and closed it. nothing suspicious to find.. until that Cat flies headstraight into the just closed window. the dull impact scares emily to death, throwing her over and making her scream in a high pitched voice, which was just as likely to break glass as a fast pink object crushing into it. she didnt bother standing up right away. again she thought about how easily scared she was. nightmares, shadows, flying cotton balls, nothing which should scare a warrior. then someone knocked at the door. was it ruby? being home before emily is going to sleep? everything has a first time.

Emily:	"Mom? are you already home? im sorry for not coming to the graduation this day, but i had some secret training with irelia and -"

She opened the door and it was irelia with Cat sitting on her head. she smiled at her and was already soaking to the skin from the rain, irelia, not cat.

Emily:	"What are you doing here? havent you got some super important secret mission with the most handsome warrior who ever got touched by the sunlight?"

Irelia:	"hmm, hes not as handsome as he wished to be. and besides i promised you some super sweet soda, didnt i?"

Emily hesitated for one moment. shes knows irelia only wanted to protect her earlier. how could she be so stupid and even be mad about it.

Irelia:	"So youre gonna let me stand in the rain the whole night? my clothes wont get any more soaked up, you know."

Emily took cat from her head, tried to shake her dry and waved irelia in.

Irelia:	"ok.. are you still angry? i only want to-"

Emily:	"protect me? listen, i really apprechiate what you do for me, but i cant get babysitted my whole life. im a soldier now, participant in this war. you cant protect me forever.."

Irelia:	"i can and will protect you as long as i breathe.. i am your comrade, your squadleader and last but not least your friend, no matter if are fighting in a war or just hanging out..i will be there for you"

They stood in silence, waiting for the other one to say something. then emily laughed, not the kind of laugh one would call sane, but it made both of them feel more comfortable.

Emily:	"you are really gonna make a fool out of yourself, if you try to stop me from doing anything stupid, you know."

Irelia:	"well, that makes two idiots of us then"

The rest of the night they spent just like when they were young. watching scary movies, drinking soda, totally starting to eat healthy the next day, and the most important one, not worrying about their future

The next morning. tired from her last mission, irelia slept in pretty early and is still asleep. Emily didnt have a nightmare this time, but she didnt have much sleep either, staring at irelia most of the night. her thoughts were spread between her, the war, the graduation and thus her military duty. later this day she would be a soldier, hard to believe seeing one of ionias most experienced warriors just in front of her. irelia was her role model, but that didnt mean she wasnt jealous from time to time.

Emily:	"How can she be so strong in battle, and so cute while sleeping.. thats not fair.. she could get all the boys she wants.."

Her clothes were soaked wet from the rain and emilys clothes wouldnt fit her, so she just slept in her underwear for this night. they never had a problem sleeping like this, but now that they are grown ups, it felt familiar but also weird all of the sudden. emily watched her breathing, her chest going up and down. she placed her hand on her shoulder. her skin is so warm and soft. being close to her felt so satisfying. just as she put her arm around irelia and wanted to lay her head on her chest, she noticed something on her body. something on her chest. her skin felt not normal.. a scar? irelia never mentioned she ever had a scar there.. no, it doesnt feel like a scar, its a fresh wound. from her last mission? she couldnt see it clearly, as it was still dark in the morning, but this was definitely a serious wound. from an impact.. a battlehammer? the pirates in bilgewater didnt use hammers in combat. where did she get this wound from, if not from the pirates? why didnt she tell emily about this? it seems like she doesnt want her to worry, or just doesnt see as an equal member of her unit. in any case shes keeping it secret from her. she pulled the blanket down to see the wound better, when she noticed irelia stopped breathing. she shortly wondered what was wrong and looked up, just to see irelia being barely awake and staring into her eyes.

Irelia:	"princess..Why are you looking at my breasts?"

Emily froze in place and couldnt even respond while her face turned red. then she screamed and ran off, hiding in the bathroom

Emily:	"OK THANKS FOR COMING, IRELIA! IM GONNA SEE YOU LATER! ... AND YES I WAIT HERE UNTILL YOURE GONE!"

Irelia, not fully awake, just waited a few seconds, making sure this just really happened. She put on her more or less dry clothes and prepare to walk out.

Irelia:	"this girl is crazy.. good thing i dont have to deal with her before noon.. Emily, dont be late today or we wont get a good mission, ok?"

At the council, all the new students or "soldiers" were gathered in the halls, blocking the entrance. seeing them all in the great hall at the academy is one thing, but having everyone of them in one small place, almost like they were about to rush into battle right away. despite their mass, ionias squads are usually pretty small. some had no more than 3 members. the war was not a huge battlefield, its was several smaller missions spread over several squads. it wasnt just about fighting the enemy, they had different missions. sometimes they guard some locations, sometimes they would just assist smaller villages after a flood or other natural desasters. they support allied countrys besides fighting for them, thats why ionias army is so reputable. emily still had to get her papers for graduation, but she couldnt get past all those people, so she did the only logical thing for a soon-to-be warrior.

Emily:	"MAKE WAY PEOPLE, CAPTAINS DAUGHTER COMING THROUGH! ATTENTION, VIP ON HER WAY TO THE COUNCIL"

to her surprise, nobody moved. then someone appeared behind emily, not even saying a single word. just from the sound of her steps the crowd went silent all of the sudden and made way for them. this person was ruby. the ionians respect her so much that she doesnt even need to say anything.. or are they afraid?

Ruby:	"Emily, come with me"

ruby was warmhearted as ever. nevertheless emily followed her, while showing her tongue to those standing on the sides.

They sat down in rubys office, irelia zelos and the other members of her unit were already waiting. ruby was going through some files, as if she searched for something. then she looked at emily.

Ruby:	"im asured you know of the importance of this day? 16 years. 16 years are we in this conflict. in the same year you´ve been born, the isles attacked us. they spread terror across ionia, taking so many innocent lives. they killed your father on that day. ever since we were never able to fully recover"

Then ruby was silent for a moment. she closed the file laying right on top of the others, turned it around, and pushed it towards emily.

Ruby:	"we must not become careless. the enemy has hit us in our weakest points more than once"

Emily opened the file. it was the report of rubys last mission, the one which forced her to quit active duty. it has a red stamp across the whole page reading "fatal failure". missions details such as location, duration and objectives right beneath it. "scout for enemys movement, mark their locations, retreat to evacuation point". bussiness as usual. also a list of the units members sorted by rank. naturally ruby was on top.

Ruby:	"26 of ionias best soldiers in one squad. you would wonder why we send them all out on a class C mission.. even though ionias armed forced might be that fancy club to the ouside, the wars reality is way worse than your worst nightmares"

"worse than your worst nightmares"? emily was shaking for one moment as she heard this. she never worried too much about the war. it was this distant event, which took place far away from her home. now thinking about it as something she would play a role in, was just terrifying. her heart was beating rapidly, her face went pale. ruby noticed her reaction, she knew that expression too well.

Ruby:	"turn the page"

Emily lifted the first page with the missions details. below there was a more detailed member description. "name: Ruby. rank: captain, squadleader. status: heavily wounded, excluded from active combat".
the next one, "name: Shak, rank: captain, vice squadleader. status: KIA". the next one "status: KIA". the next one: "status: KIA" - it went on for a while, then she came across the second one who survived the mission. "name: Irelia. rank: soldier. status: n/a".

Emily:	"Irelia was on this mission?"

Ruby:	"no wonder you are surprised. she didnt tell you, did she? these mission details were never supposed to go public. officially it was a class C mission with a unit of 6. in reality it was our most recent attempt to end this war. A class S+ mission, which purpose was to break through towards the shadow isles and kill evelynn. as you can see it was a fatal failure. only 4 of the 26 members survived"

she said this as if it was just some random mission report. 22 members of her squad died on that day, but the only thing she worried about was ending this war.

Ruby:	"We were not strong enough. not even close. it was a slaughter"

Ruby went silent, stood up, slowly went to the window, watching the huge croud in front of the entrance.

Ruby:	"only 251 new recruits this year. judging by the mortality rate and the decresing amount of newcomers, we are running out of time. this war cant go on any longer. and we dont need any longer.. that is, if you will fullfill your duty. you, irelia and zelos. the offspring of ionias strongest warriors. if you were to form a unit.."

Emily:	"You want ME to fight evelynn??"

Ruby:	"you, irelia and zelos, yes. As i am prevented from going on this mission you are our best chance. of course you are not yet in any condition to face her. you will be going through special missions.. just because your time in the academy is over, doesnt mean you are fully trained. you have alot to learn. but for now, i assign you something fitting for your first mission"

Ruby took a file, gave it to irelia; she saluted and walked off, keeping her eyes on emily.

Ruby:	"Irelia will be the units leader.. you can go now"

warmhearted as ever..

They met just outside the ionian capitals borders later this day. Irelia waited for emily and already checked out the mission details. she leaned against a wall, her appearance was different from her casual kind which she usually presents towards emily. she seemed much more to be the warrior, everyone knows her for. emily ran up to her, overly exited as usual like a child in a candyshop. something in her expression would actually make one believe she just had a serious dosis of cottan candy.

Emily:	"Wow can you believe this? we are together on the strongest unit?? thats so awesome. im sure mother gave us some super secret special mission."

Irelia:	"It is special at least.."

Emily:	"WOW! what are we gonna do? fight some evil demons? rescue a princess?"

Irelia:	"ehm..Guard a -"

Emily:	"PRINCESS??"

Irelia:	"forest"

In that very instant, every excitement emily had suddenly wore off. the corners of her mouth fell down while forming a silent "what" and her eyes became starry and stopped their previously overly exited twitching.

Emily:	"are you fucking kidding me? we have to stand hear and watch trees? what is the worst thing what could happen to them except spontaneously falling over?"

Irelia:	"you heard her. you are unexperienced and we have a new team roster, so we need to get used to each other. especially you and you know who.. no matter how you treat each other, you have to fight as one.. and its not that bad here, some monsters have been sighted around here a few days ago, maybe you can find them and make a necklace out of their teeth?"

Emily:	"how about i bite you with MY teeth?.. the heck with it.. there is worse than hanging out with you, fancy pants, and the other guys.. woah, wait a second.."

Emily rapidly looked around, searching for any other member of the unit, but she only saw Irelia, who startled for a moment, avoiding eye contact and and getting the feeling of being caught out, as if she already knew what emily is about to say.

Emily:	"where is everyone??..didnt you say i should get used to the other teammembers?? how am i supposed to do that if were alone..were warriors in a war, remember? why would mother seperate me from everyone else, if she wants me to face evelynn one day?"

Irelia:	"Look at you princess, when did you get so serious about all that? never heard you complaining about some quality time with me before"

Emily:	"well i am not complaining about spending time with you. i just mean that im not your little princess anymore, this is getting serious.. at least i dont have to deal with zelos right now"

Irelia:	"Ruby just wanted you to get used to being on a mission. youre too young to let you go together with what the others are able to deal with. dont take it to heart, ok princess? it will be fun"

Irelia just smiled at her for a moment. its not only a special day for emily, but for her aswell. Since she joined this unit 3 years ago, maybe even before, she made her jealous by telling storys about glorious battles, all the countrys she could travel to, all the famous people she was able to work with. sure it wasnt all shine and glory, but a good thing about storys is that you dont need to mention all the bad stuff. she knew the day would come where she sees all the misery behind the curtains, yet she used to protect her from that as long as she could, and to some extend still is. today is not a special day because emily joined the squad, its special because its the last day, where emily can be that naive, untroubled child.

Their job at the mission was not very complicated. they had nothing to do but keep the nearby village safe and check if those suspicious monster sightings were a false alarm. there are dozens of class F missions like that. irelia spent that time doing some paperwork and finishing her last mission report, while emily -out of boredom- tried to figure out how long she can sit on her head before falling over.

Emily:	"IRELIAAA! I AM BORED! YOU SAID ITS FUN!"

Irelia:	"then go to the village and talk to some fun people"

Emily:	"I CANT"

Irelia:	"why not?"

Emily:	"IM HUNGRY!"

Irelia:	"then go buy something to eat"

Emily:	"BUT I GOT NO MONEY AND THEY WONT GIVE ME FREE STUFF"

Irelia:	"what is with the money i gave you earlier?"

Emily:	"ITS GONE"

Irelia:	"how is it gone?"

Emily:	"I BOUGHT FOOD WITH IT"

Irelia:	"then why are you hungy?"

Emily:	"I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY"

Irelia paused for a second to give emily a mildly annoyed look. she returned by sticking out her tongue.

Irelia:	"Princess, you should better get used to missions like this, where you just sit around and wait. not everything is fun and games. Do you want to know how it was bilgewater? we had to wait several days without doing anything. and even after that we were mostly standing around because of some bureaucratics and rules and whatnot. you will miss those quiet times, once you have some experience with dangerous situations."

Emily just exhaled one more time, stood up and silently walked away. if irelia wont entertain her, she needs to find something else fun to do. this rural area had a large forest, nothing too exciting, since she has been there many times, but nevertheless she might go explore what the recent moster sightings were all about. she walked for a while until the road ended. the mission doesnt allow her to walk too far off, but as irelia said, conforming the rules because of some "bearaucratics" is no fun. what could go wrong anyway. not too long after the end of the road, the forests landscape changed from a well maintained park, to a moist and dirty swamp. dead trees were not removed, but left to rod aside the small rivers crossing through the landscape. most of them were covered in mold and mushrooms, it was very different from what she has seen so far.

emily almost wanted to turn back when she noticed something which seems to be a road once, or at least a often used pathway. it was surely not used by the villagers, maybe that was where those monsters came from. curiosity finally overcame her urge to go back, and she followed that path along the river. the longer she walked, the less birds she could hear and the more twisted the trees became. then at last she stopped at some distance to an oversized rabbithole, molding and covered in spider webs.. whatever creature lives there might have been the monsters the villagers reported.

it took her some time to realize that this was not a place for her to stick around any longer, but it was already too late as an intimidating howl came out of the hole, then 2 demon figures leaping out of it in an instant. huge, winged creatures, with dark, partially ripped skin, as if it was burned and thorn apart. the smaller one of them stayed in the back, hissing at the other one, who, after menacing staring at emily, made a sprint towards her and leaped into the air, right in front of her. she drew her sword and shield while running away, knowing she couldnt win a straight fight, but hoping to maybe block one or two of its attacks and make a run for it. in midair the creature swiped its giant claw over her shield, blowing it out of her hand. it landed, made a turn and went for a second attack, this time directly striking her body, throwing her off balance and leaving a flesh wound on her back. emily fell to the ground and hit her head on a log. she made her efforts to sit up, leaning against a tree, but she was in heavy pain and could barely move. her vision got tunneled and blurry, while looking down at the blood leaking out of her wound. the creature slowly walked a circle around her setting up its next attack, then jumped and hit its claw right into emilys chest, ripping a widespread wound into it. emily screamed out, gasping for air, but every attempt to breath just made her caugh up more blood. she slowly sled down on the ground, knowing she wouldnt be able to get up again. after growling at her, the monster stopped for the moment, waiting for emily to bleed out. soon she would faint..

Emily:	"why.. why me.. how can it end like this..irelia, i.. i..."

she already stopped fighting it and just waited for the end, when she heart a strangely familiar voice.

female voice:	"so thats her.. really took some time. you made me wait, you know that, little girl?"

for a moment she did mistake her for irelia, but this voice doesnt seem to come for a person, its like it came from inside her head.

Emily:	"who.. are.."

she had no time to worry about this. emilys eyes were forced to close, as her heart stopped beating.

female voice:	"hello darkness my old friend.. i´ve come to talk with you again.. he he he.. catchy, isnt it?"

she could still hear the voice. was she dead? the pain slowly eased, as she was able to breath again. she opened her eyes, still saw everything very blurry and tunneled, but she could spot the shape of a person.

female voice:	"you are taking pretty long. sit up, girl, this is not the time to lay around"

emily tried to stabiblize herself while looking around. she held her hand on her chest, the wound was gone. her heart was pounding and she could barely breath, but she was not wounded anymore. she looked up, but couldnt see any trees or plants, in fact she couldnt see anything but heavy fog and this blurry image of a person.

Emily:	"what happened?.. what is this place??"

female voice:	"what happened you ask? isnt it obvious? you died. congratulations, really. didnt think you would make it so long. i would have bet that little dragon thing would eat you in your sleep."

Emily struggled to believe what this person just said. how can she be dead if shes talking to her? on the other hand, that would explain this strange place and her wounds being gone. the person slowly walked up to emily, still lying on the ground, and kneeled next to her.

female voice:	"the name is Kalista, remember it, girl. you can believe me, when i say youre dead. what other reason could there be for you to end up at a place like this.. you never heard of this place? doesnt surprise me, they dont teach that anymore, they treat this as a myth, told by the old and bitter, but it couldnt be more real. this is where all the lost souls go, where the sacred spirits rule over the mortal world, and also this is where i waited for you to wake me, this is the Void"

the void? kalista was right about what they label this place, a myth. emily thought this was all old tales, even being right there, she cant believe its real. she finally regained some of her eyesight and could clearly see the ground through that heavy fog, it looks like nothing she has ever seen before. she managed to sit up, carefully stabilizing herself with her arms on the ground, attemping a look at kalista. she was very pale and thin. she looks just like someone from the void, though something in her appearance reminds her of an innocent girl. she was just slightly taller than emily herself but definitely older. she was wearing a long, red dress, half thorn apart, soaked in black blood. a strange dust emmits from it and her very body. as emily looked closer, she could see the source of the blood. right into her back, there were 4 spears burried deeply, as she was spinning the 5th one in her hands. it doesnt seem like she would feel any pain from it, but it surely makes her movement a bit stiff. emily couldnt clearly see her face, since she looked at the spear in her hand and not at her but from what she could see, kalista has a big scar on her left cheek, going towards her throat. whatever caused this, probably has killed her and made her go to this place.

Emily:	"Why am i here? what has happened to me?.."

Kalista:"dont you listen? i told you, you died.. should have stayed with your friend, what was her name, irelia? she really takes care of you.. like a mother, huh girl?.. i can understand you are confused, but there is no time to waste. soon your brain will get destroyed due to lack of oxygen.. what a shame, i´d love to keep talking to you.. on a second thought, i could save you, girl. i am quite known around here, maybe i could pull some strings.. but it will cost you of course"

Emily hesitated to answer. either it was the pain or the fact that kalista just told her she died, but this situation was too much to for her. she just slighty nodded in kalistas direction without realizing what she agreed to, who silently smiled, still looking at the spear.

Kalista:"so be it. from now on you, emily, will be the carrier of me, kalista, the spirit of darkness! Seal the pact!"

Kalista threw the spear on the ground, letting emily  snap out for a moment and awake her shortly after in the other world. she was back from the void, just where she has left minutes ago. emily breathed heavily, as her heart almost felt like it was exploding. she hystericly checked her body for wounds, but her chest was good as new, even though her armor was still soaked in blood. the wound on her back was still open and making her lose blood, but didnt pose any lethal threat to her. heavily shaking, she just tried to catch some breath and get a break to process what just happened to her.

Emily:	"what the fuck just... did i.. how did...AH! this cant be real!"

Then she heard that growling again. these demons were still around and lurking for her. she could only hear them, but not determine where they were coming from, as she was still numb from just being revived from the dead. she slowly stood up and walked up to the sword, she dropped earlier. right as she picked it, one of those monsters ran up to her from behind, but something made her react quickly enough to turn around and swing the blade against its claw, cutting through it effortlessly. this strength was not her own, she clearly felt a strange power running through her body, as if her hand was led by kalista herself. the monster screamed over its split open claw, but didnt lose any time and setup for another attack, seemingly faster and wilder than the last one. it attempted to bite off emilys head with its razor-sharp teeth, but the only thing it caught was dust, as emily ducked under it and kicked into its rips, throwing it way back onto the ground. it was gasping for air and howled up, while crawling away from emily, who jumped after it and cut right through its intestines leaving a huge rip, leaking out blood and guts. Then emily just stood there silently, observing the situation, the deadly sword in her shaking hands, the downed monster losing its corrisive blood into the moist ground, making it dry out on touch, the other smaller one crying for her friend. was this was she wanted? did she wait for this all those years? she already wanted to aim for another strike, when she heard a voice shouting her name from afar. it was not kalista, this time it was irelia. she ran up to her as fast as she could, but was still very far away from her. emily knew she would take some time to catch up, so she had enough time to finish what she started. after staring at her friend for a while, she smiled in a way, she has never before, full of bloodlust and murderous anticipation. she turned back to the injured monster, rose her sword and proceeded on striking it untill it stopped twitching. its blood was all over emilys dress but she didnt mind, even further, she loved the way it felt. then she heard the smaller monster howling up again, this time she sounded scared and tried to run away. emily chased her down and did not hesitate to end its live just as she did with the other one. as her blood covered her face, she laughed insanely and stared into the sky, while standing in the remains of her foes. at this moment, irelia caught up to her, just standing there speechless, as she stared at emily. overwhelmed by her newly gained strength, she was thirsty for more blood and the only one around was her dear friend. emily slowly walked towards her while licking the monsters blood from her lips and giggling menacing. just as she stepped to attack, she felt a sting in her back. something wouldnt let her move..

Kalista:"aww, dont ya treat your friend like this. thats not very nice. do i have to teach your some manners, girl?"

Emily:	"Kalista, how dare you.."

Emily felt a heavy pain, forcing her on the ground. her veins burned like fire, her wound suddenly started bleeding again. she felt how breathing became harder and harder, untill she ended up desperately caughing for air. her heart was pounding restlessly and then slowing down to a blunt beat. instead of seeing irelia, she saw that shape of kalista again, waving towards her and disappearing into thin air, as her last moments of consciousness faded away into nothing but cold darkness.

Kalista:"Bye bye, princess <3 he he he.."