Fire. Burning. Ashes. Smoke. Death.

She could hear it. Taste it. Smell it.

Her eyes opened to a blazing fire - a terrifying wall of flame before her. She watched as the ground slowly moved in front of her. What’s going o-?! She reached for her throat, but her body wouldn’t listen. I can’t speak?! She saw people running by her, some holding their hands up, a beautiful ice blue glow emanating from their palms. The buildings around her collapsed and crashed with a mighty boom. Her eyes grew watery, and she tried to close them, but still her body refused.

“Princess!” Someone yelled out to her. Her body moved on its own and she looked up.

It was a young woman, wearing beautiful white armor. She had flowing white hair, and had piercing, violet eyes. Soot and ash dirtied her white face. Her ragged breathing tickled Avice's ear as the woman held onto her collar tightly. Her head tilted down and saw another person rushing towards her. “Princess! Are you okay?!” It was a man, and he donned a similar armor to the woman. “Aya, what happened?!”

“I-I don’t know! Hurry up and help me get her up!”

Avice felt her body stand slowly, and she felt a sudden rush of nostalgia and emotion. “I-I’m fine! I’m fine!” Her mouth opened on its own. “I just got hit in the head… Where’s my father, Alan?”

Another building came crashing down. “P-Princess… I believe he’s still in the Castle. We need to hurry, the Clansmen are holding off the beasts, but there’s too many of them!”

Her head nodded, and began sprinting on its own.

It was as if she was watching a movie from her own perspective. It was strange.

A bright flash of red cut across the sky and all three of them looked up.

“Bring it on you fucks!” A booming, playful voice rang loudly from above, “Go ahead and try to take me down!”

It was the figure of a giant, flaming man, throwing balls of fire across the sky. “Ifrit!” Avice tried to call out to him, but millions and millions of white specks and spots surrounded him. “Shit…” Avice cursed.

They ran and ran, until they found themselves in front of a pearly white castle.

“My, my, if it isn’t Little Avice.” A huge orb of blue light approached her. It swirled around and became the form of a woman.

“M-Mistress Sirene… what’s happening?”

“To be honest, I am unsure. Poor Ifrit looks like he has succumbed to the evil...” Sirene looked down warily. “Hurry on inside, Dear. Aural and Gaea should be by your father’s side.”

After finishing their conversation, Avice and the other two ran inside, finding hundreds of people huddling around, panicking.

“Magic doesn’t work! Our Blessings fail us!”

“W-What are they?! Those beasts?!”

“Your Majesty save us!”

Avice’s heart churned at the sight of their cries. Their hair… all of them… Every single person in the room had cloud-white hair and violet eyes.

“Princess, hurry.” Alan said from behind.

“Right.” She said as they continued swiftly up the stairs.

They ran through hallway after hallway before finally coming upon a massive door. Avice pushed through it and a rushing wave of heat overwhelmed her. “F-Father!” She cried out.

An elderly man stood before her on a balcony, and behind him floated two giant balls of color and light - Green and White. “Avice!” He approached her and embraced her. 

W-Wha…

She embraced him back, and tears fell from her eyes. “Alan, Aya, thank you for bringing her. Please go out and assist the Clansmen.” The two shared a glance, nodded, and left the room swiftly. Her Father turned to look to her and held her tightly. “I am glad you are safe, my daughter.”

“Father what’s happened?!”

“I-It’s all our fault, Avice,” Her father said. “Our fault… And because of us, our Divine Gods are suffering…”

“We ain’t sufferin’, you old man!” The white orb became the figure of a young boy. “We’ll beat those random things forshure!”

“Worry not, my son. With Aural at my side, we will not fall like Ifrit has,” The green one became an older woman.

Avice’s heart melted at the sight. “T-Thank you! Thank you!” She cried out, before a terrifying boom interrupted them.

Behind them, on the farthest edge of the balcony, stood a tall, tall white figure. It appeared to be a man, but its body parts were all different - the leg of a goat, the arm of a bear, the torso of a lion… It was like a mish-mash of every living thing jumbled and thrown together into a horrid misshapen man. Its pieces interchanged at different intervals, the grotesque figure inching closer and closer.

Its white glow pained them, and its piercing blue eyes shook Avice to the core.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be the one, huh? Let’s fight!” Aural inched closer to the figure, but he shattered into pieces as soon as he came into contact with it. Avice shrieked in terror, and her Father hurriedly brought her over to a nearby wall.

“Aielo! Do what you must, quickly!” Gaea cried out before she lifted her hands, melting the ground and floor around her and formed a giant wall in front of them.

“A-Avice, listen to me. Our prototype… This machine… this machine will keep you safe… Hurry, get in.” He pushed a button against the wall. A slit split open the wall, exposing a cylindrical glass tube that opened up. “We had no time to test it… It would’ve been impossible to… But please.” Avice hesitated, but she did as she was told.

“You foul monster…” Gaea growled as her defenses fell apart and she disappeared into dust.

“C’mon!” Her father yelled as the tube finally closed.

“F-Father…” She could taste her tears.

“You may not remember this, Avice! None of it! But know that I pray for your safety and your happiness.  Be free and loving, my daughter, unlike your old, stupid father.”

He beamed when a fearsome spear penetrated his stomach and Avice cried out, before her vision started to blur and she closed her eyes.

Avice jolted awake, and she tried to get up before her head was pinned down to the ground.

“Ah, she’s finally up,” a vile voice touched her ears. “This one must be Ava.” Her eyes swam around in confusion and she tried looking around when she noticed that Veral was buried in the ground except for his head, and Dall was tied up next to him, his mouth gagged. Her heart raced quickly, and she heard a terrifying scream coming from above her. Dall struggled and started pounding his head against the ground, and he yelled loudly. “Oh, seems like the boys still aren’t done.”

They were the only ones in the main lobby. Not a single soldier in sight. “You fucking bastards… I’ll kill each and every one of you!” Veral growled.

Pieces of earth snaked around his neck and solidified around his mouth. “Shh…” Elran smiled. “The music of those screams… Delightful isn’t it.”

“D-Dall!” A woman’s voice cried from above. Avice recognized it, and when she did, her heart dropped. Liliana? Her voice continued to cry out before it stopped completely.

Dall tried to stand, but he fell to the ground as Elran tightened his fist. Tears swirled around his bloodied eyes.

“Oh, listen to that one! Feisty, ain’t she.” Elran snickered. “This is your punishment Dall.” Elran sighed. “The Will of Father isn’t one to be messed with.” He tapped his fingers against Avice’s forehead. “You really shouldn’t have messed with Solace’s mission that night. If he’d done what he was supposed to, then we wouldn’t need to wait for tomorrow.” Then he looked down and made eye contact with Avice. He smiled wickedly. “And you... look exactly like the girl that he said messed up his whole operation.”

“Get the fuck off me,” she growled.

He put his knee on her beck and pressed down on it, forcing her to scream. “Attitude, missy.” Elran said. “If you want, I can throw you up there to have fun with everyone else.” She widened her eyes and a shivering cold overcame her body. “Now listen here. Usually we’d kill everyone in this town after we raped ‘em, but I’ll make you a deal.” Veral and Dall glared at him. “The Black Forest sounds like a reaaal dangerous place. Those monsters in there sound super scary, according to Solace. I don’t want my men gettin’ killed off for no reason, y’know.” He got up from Avice and walked in between all three of them. “And so, along with my best troops, I’m gonna take you three tomorrow with me. Be my meatshields, my friends. We’re going hunting.”