-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
A boy with jet black hair and dark hazel eyes.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling of a room that was filled with cobwebs, a skill made of some wood by the looks of it.
The walls were dirty, dusty and had some holes and cracks in them.
The room was simply decorated with a bed, a table, a chair and a dilapidated closet. The floor had some holes in it, as if rats lived all over the place.
The boy got up, put on his clothes and then looked out a window.
"Oh!"
His eyes sparkled with excitement as he saw some white particles falling from the sky.
It was winter, and the snow had come that day.
He had a broad smile, despite living in a terribly bad place. The boy was five years old, quite short, and even in the situation he was in, he was still smiling happily.
Knock, knock.
At that, someone knocked on the door.
He turned his head and looked straight at the door. The next thing that came was a familiar voice.
"Asher, are you awake yet?"
Her eyes sparkled knowing it was her friend.
Every day, at this same time, his best friend came to wake him up.
However, today was a more special day.
The snow had arrived and, of course, outside was covered with layers of snow. That was a good time to have fun.
He walked to the door and turned the handle. The door opened quickly and, at that instant, a girl with ice blue hair and eyes the same color as her hair grabbed his hand and they both hurried outside.
"O-Hey... Wait, not so fast."
Despite trying to stop her, she kept running.
"Amelia."
She said her name, and then the girl stopped and looked at Asher.
"Let's go to the principal's office."
Asher knew then that she was in a hurry because today was the day they were being adopted.
This day was the day Asher and Amelia had been waiting for since they were abandoned at the orphanage.
It was like a happy day for both of them.
However, neither knew that the person who would adopt them would have a completely different background.
The two children quickly came to a door, entered and went inside.
"Oh, wow, so these are the two children."
The room was empty, with a desk, a lamp and a bookshelf.
Behind the desk, was an old woman in her 60's sitting while holding some papers.
White hair and gray eyes, with a pair of glasses of the typical kind that old people usually wear. She was wearing a black dress and her hair was combed into a ponytail.
"That's right, sir."
The old woman replied to a man.
The man was tall and had well marked muscles, his skin was flawless, with a beard and no mustache. He wore a black suit with black gloves and black sneakers that looked with his entire outfit.
At first glance, he looked like a well groomed businessman and a millionaire by his attire.
Both boys had a smile on their faces as they held hands.
They were happy.
They would finally have a family again.
Of course, Asher and Amelia had different parents before they were abandoned; they weren't siblings or anything.
Their previous parents had abandoned them, and the two children, over time, became friends. They hadn't been at the orphanage long; a year was how long they had been there.
The man then bent down and looked at them with a smile.
"Hello, little ones. Starting today, I will be your new father."
However, the man had different plans.
"But... Will we have a mom, too?"
Amelia, in her sweet voice, asked the man a question.
The man looked at her and then a smile appeared and answered.
"Of course, your mother is waiting for you in your new home."
However, his smile seemed to change a little.
Asher noticed.
"My new father... He seems happy enough, but why do I feel this is wrong?"
Still, he didn't think anything of it and left it at that.
He didn't know what kind of person his new father was. He didn't care, though; he had a family now and he wouldn't be alone with Amelia.
They had both agreed not to be separated, whatever it took.
They promised each other that they would be best friends and never part....
A couple of minutes had passed, and finally the man finished signing some papers.
"All right, children, tell me your names, I want to hear them in your own words."
"Mmm... My name is Amelia."
"My name is Asher."
"All right, then we're off to your new home."
They both introduced themselves and then the man took them by both hands and the three of them left the orphanage.
Outside, in the streets, everything was full of snow.
But, just outside the entrance to the orphanage, there was a black vehicle. In the driver's seat appeared to be a man dressed in black, wearing dark glasses and also wearing black gloves.
"Get in the car," the man told the two children.
After they had entered the car, the driver looked around and spoke.
"He chose two."
"Heh, you know me. Let's go, you know I don't have much time and I've lost enough."
"Okay, sir."
Quickly, the car began to move.
Both children looked out the car window, observing the places they passed: the square, the malls, and finally they arrived at a mansion.
Strangely, it was on the outskirts of the city, but the place was incredibly big, and the two children were surprised.
"Unbelievable, Dad's house is big," Amelia praised as she took in the breathtaking views of the entire mansion.
"Yeah... You're right," Asher said, as he wore a wide grin. Both children were beyond happy.
The day was amazing and now they had a new family, a new home, a new life of luxury, and they could finally go to school.
"Do you like it?" the man spoke, and then the two children looked at him happily.
"Of course, it's very amazing."
"It's great."
Soon, however, those smiles would disappear.
Seeing the man, with such a wide grin and his eyes wide open, they looked like those of a psychopath seeing them.
"That's because you'll be spending the last ten years here, kids. More children like you are waiting for you inside."
Quickly, they got out of the car.
The man held both children and led them inside the mansion.
They entered a strange elevator that should only be in buildings; however, it took them down.
Both children began to panic, and Amelia began to cry quietly.
Asher was quite frightened.
The strange look on the man's face left them completely confused and frightened; this was all different than they thought.
Suddenly, they reached the depths of the mansion. They could hear screams of people in pain.
There were several illuminated corridors, and up ahead there seemed to be cages where children were tied to chains.
That was the day that Asher and Amelia's life, as 5 year olds, changed completely....
Days passed.
Weeks.
Every day was torture.
Every day there were agonizing screams of adults being dragged by masked men in black suits.
The masked men would take these people to a place away from where the children were.
These were days when anyone would rather die. However, the two children persisted.
Then a year had passed.
The two children were 6 years old and, of course, the tortures continued. They were too strong tortures, not one day did they stop.
Still, they had spent all this time enduring; they cried, but they persisted until the end of the day.
"Someday... We'll get out."
Blood ran all over Asher's body.
Amelia likewise was in a terrible state; her blood dripped from her battered face.
Burns, deep wounds, bruises and a bruised body from so many tortures and beatings they both received every day.
"Just... Hang in there... Amelia."
However, that dream of escape never came true.
It got even worse as the years went by, and Asher had lost all rationality and his emotions. Amelia, however, managed to retain her emotions to some extent.
Such were their lives as children, every day with endless torture until the end of the day.
However, they both endured, but lost much of themselves.
***
-Change of scene.
Slowly, Asher opened his eyes and then found himself in a different room.
"Uh... This is my room... Where am I?"
"In the medical section."
He looked next to him, and there was Oriana.
"How long have I been here?"
"Three hours."
However, Asher felt it was an eternity.
That dream he had just had, was this time a memory of when he was a child.
That was the worst day he ever wanted to remember.
However, he quickly came back to himself and then looked at Oriana again.
"You seem to know, don't you?"
She nodded.
"Yes, if you don't recover from your mental exhaustion, then..." She paused. Asher stared at her and then she continued speaking. "Well, let's put that aside. Now then, tell me, where did you get these crystals?"
Suddenly, Asher felt his chest sink as he saw one of the mana crystals he had gotten inside Encrid's domain.
Oriana was holding her dimensional ring as she held up one of the crystals to Asher.
"I..."
Quickly, Oriana put the mana crystal away in the ring and then pulled out another item.
But this made Asher even more nervous.
It was the black colored mana crystal.
Yes, that mana crystal that all the most powerful mages in the world would kill to obtain.
"I don't know how you got them, there are too many of them and all of a high rank, and especially this one in black."
"If the tower mages, the patriarchs, the royal family, or mages from other continents find out about these black rank mana crystals, you know what will happen, don't you?"
Asher, of course, knew how serious it would be if someone found out that he had a mana crystal of the highest rank.
Many mages consider that such a crystal doesn't even exist. A black colored crystal means that you can advance to an incredibly higher power to a ninth circle.
It is certainly dangerous.
However, as long as no one knows about it, nothing dangerous will happen.
"Then you..."
"Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret."
Fortunately, Oriana is trustworthy at the moment.
However, that couldn't be said about some other person.
Asher was in big trouble, but the bigger problem was if anyone else had seen that he had that mana crystal.
"Wait a minute... The woman."
Asher then remembered the mystery woman, that woman who kept an eye on him at all times.
But it was strange.
If the mystery woman had seen the black crystal, she would have taken it from Asher in an instant; however, that didn't happen.
That means it's possible that the mystery woman is not interested in the crystal, or that she really wants Asher to use it.
Whatever the answer is, for the moment, Asher is safe, though he knows it can't be for long.
"I'll go, I'll give this back to you."
Oriana handed the dimensional ring back to Asher and prepared to leave, but then stopped and looked at him once more.
This time, with a smile that made Asher feel a sharp shiver.
"Take good care of my sister."
"..."
Those words left Asher confused.
However, he didn't pay much attention to them when Oriana left.
He looked around and saw several stretchers, typical ones found in hospitals.
"Haa..."
Asher sighed and then lay back down.
He looked at the ceiling of the room, and again, the memory of his previous life emerged in his mind.
"I remembered the past again..."
Certainly, this was strange. Before, he had no memory of his past, but now it was different.
Could it be one of the effects of mental exhaustion? That would be one explanation, after all, that's already two memories that come up every time Asher falls asleep due to mental exhaustion.
"I don't remember anything when I sleep normally..."
In fact, those memories arise when he's in a state of mental exhaustion, just when Asher feels like he can't control his body and can't stay awake.
"Haa... Well, then I'll sleep some more..."
Clank.
But just as Asher was about to close his eyes, he heard the door being slammed loudly, and then two voices called out to him.
"Asher, are you all right?"
"Don't you feel tired?"
He was about to fall asleep, but Luna and Gloriana suddenly arrived.
Still, he couldn't blame them.
A smile appeared on his face at the sight of his friends fussing over him.
"They remind me of Amelia..."
Once again, the moments Asher spent with Amelia in his previous life came to his mind....