"D-Dad!" I had cried out when I gotten home from school, a bruise on my arm as I showed it to him.
"Holy Grails! Who did this to you Eos?!" My Dad roared as he took hold of my arm gently and inspected it, my Mom immediately rushing into the living room.
"Diana watch her, I'm calling the doctor's office and then the damn school." My Dad hissed as I watched him grab his phone, go into the bedroom and slam the door.
"My poor baby..." My Mom cooed as she picked me up and took me into the bathroom and sat me on the sink, tears streaming down my face as I started to hiccup.
"M-My classmates...they were really m-mean! They said I was a no good weirdo!" I cried, my Mom cradling my face as she took a warm damp cloth and began to pat at my bruise.
"Hush Eos...your Dad and I will make sure this doesn't ever happen ever again-"
"They chased after m-me!"
"Shh....Eos, listen to Mommy okay? Now...fighting is never the answer but sometimes, you have to let people know you mean business. Even if it means saving your strength first." My Mom smiled, my head tilting in confusion.
"Saving your strength...?"
"Yes, always save your strength before the big battle. Treat them, big or small, as if it is the grand finale." Mom smiled gently before giving me a kiss on the forehead and then hugging me.
'A hiding spot...' I thought to myself, my eyes soon spotting a cave, my legs making a beeline towards it as I immediately slid into it and caught my breath. The monster roaring into the cave as it tried to claw me out.
'Breath Eos...rest, save your strength.' I thought in a desperate attempt to calm myself, my racing heart starting to slow down.
Once my breath was caught, I had soon felt the blood through my veins start to course through my body easier as a boiling feeling started to start up in the pit of my stomach, getting to the point where I swore, I could've heard sizzling noises. As the red flames danced around my body fiercer than ever, I had quickly ducked under the monster's paw and got into a fighting position proudly as the monster let out another beastly roar before it rushed towards me again.
'Breathe Eos...you can do this.' I thought as my eyes narrowed, the monster closing in before I soon felt the back of my throat heat up quickly, a burst of flames erupting from my mouth. The sound of the monster letting out an agonized sounding yelp signaling the end of its rather short life.
"Wow..." I gasped in awe after I finally opened my eyes and looked around me, the sight of white dust and flame sparks in the air making me grin to myself happily.
"Thank god!" I cried out as I fell to the ground and let out a relieved sigh, my chest heaving up and down as I soon felt a presence not too far away.
"For a moment, I thought I would've had to step in...but you have more than proven yourself young one," Ibis said, my gut telling me she was smiling through her bird features showed no expression.
"I would have never guessed how powerful your abilities would've been in such a short span of time." She chuckled lightly, I chuckled awkwardly myself.
I wasn't about to tell her that my old world had fantasy movies and that those movies were the reason why I knew what I knew in a way.
"Thank you but I feel like I deserve a reward, the explanation of what I am. I've never heard of a normal dog being able to breathe fire like a dragon." I said as I got up and looked up at the owl, her head nodding slightly.
"...Ignis Canis, I have gifted you the body of the Ignis Canis. Quite the powerful body I must say but...because I have given you this body, however, there is a cost."
"Which is?"
"Not only will you never be able to learn any other elemental magic type and will be vulnerable to anyone who wields Ice-"
"Doesn't seem like too much of a cost-"
"Let me finish." She hissed before clearing her throat. "You must beware of Daemoniums who were born under the sign of Heat. They were born with the natural mastery of fire and anything that concerns heat." Ibis sighed, the word making me narrow my eyes but nonetheless shrug.
"Alright but I've passed these tests of yours, can I leave now?" I asked, butterflies starting to erupt in my stomach. "
Oh yes but...I must give you a gift as well as protection." Ibis said before a flurry of feathers surrounded my neck area, a big white bow soon appearing, similar to the one I had once worn on my dress before I died.
"If you are ever in grave danger then this bow shall allow me as well as allow me to talk to you over distances." She said as she gently inspected the collar by touching it with her wing.
'Oh, come on! I have to wear a collar like I'm some sort of dog?' I thought causing me to snarl slightly.
"Why do I have to wear this? It's basically a collar for dogs!" I shouted.
"You are my champion; therefore, you are my dog and as my dog, I must protect you and keep an eye on you," Ibis said as her words immediately made my blood boil inside.
A dog? How dare she thought of me like a dog?! I may have looked like one but I was born first as a human and had the intelligence of one, I wasn't about to let a darn bird with a massive ego out of everyone else tell me that I was her dog.
"You- I am not your dog!" I screeched, stomping my foot as Ibis soon stopped in her tracks and turned her head all the way to face me.
"...I have resurrected your soul into this body, therefore that makes you my dog and you shall do my bidding when I call for it, there are no objections unless you wish to be punished." She said before she soon flew off, a string of floating, glowing feathers that led into a path making me glad I didn't have to deal with her for a good while.
As I took off running, making sure to stick close to the feathers at all times, I couldn't help but think back on how much has happened since arriving to this new world known as Balerion. From dying in a car crash, being 'saved' by a giant owl who basically gave me the spirit of some kind of frost phoenix, to taking 'tests' that were completely unnecessary!
So far, the fantasy world was turning out to be nothing like I had imagined it to be but...then again, this is just from inside a cave. 'If only you could see me now guys...your own daughter, a dog that's unwillingly serving a bird!' I thought to myself as the sounds of my pants and the rushing wind went by my ears, my eyes starting to tear up as I continued to remember them.
'The only thing that's keeping me from breaking down right now...is the fact that I'm still alive within another world, your hopes have been answered.' I thought to myself, shaking my head to get rid of the tears before I had smiled to myself.
After a good while of running, I had soon stopped by a small puddle of water, the path of feathers still going on for miles into the deeper parts of the cave.
"Man...how long is this going to take? I should've at least smelled some kind of fresh grass by now." I grumbled as I lapped up the cool water, my ears soon perking to the sound of my stomach growling.
"...How am I going to find food in this cave? All I've seen are rats." I sighed to myself as I rose my head, my nose tilted up into the air as I soon smelled something...gamey and fresh.
'Deer.' I thought to myself as I walked closer towards the scent. I had no idea how to hunt like a dog, after all, I was born human and raised as a human!
Though the thought of killing my own food has never scared me since I used to live on a farm, it was the thought of having to kill it like one of those animals on the geographic shows that make my stomach lurch a little. With my body lowered to the ground and my paw-steps slow and careful, I had taken a silent deep breath before I sprinted out of the tall grass, the deer seeming to be already on high alert as it had quickly rushed off before I could get closer to it.
"Gosh dang it! It's better to kill those things with a gun." I snarled to myself as my stomach had growled once more, a defeated sigh escaping me as I turned tails and trotted after the feather path again, trying to keep my mind focused on the goal rather than food.