Somewhere, in a far away land, there exists an old tale of a place called; Valeria.

A kingdom located far out from the eyes of the wandering, a place where only the strong can reside, and where only the strong can reach.

In Valeria, the Ancient; a sentient force that acts as the fuel for all life, lives.

Imbuing those who accept it with the ability to use mana, an extension of the ancient that will allow anyone who uses it to stand the test of time.

I always used to dream of such a place, a place I could finally call home.

Aldrith, our world, is separate from Valeria. Many locations mark Aldrith.

Many kingdoms, many dungeons, and many landscapes.

On the other hand, demons, otherwise known as the Wretched, feed off the powerless, destroying happy homes and wrecking peaceful lives.

Aldrith is the land of the mythical, where many races and creatures coexist, and also where seed of the Awakened, otherwise known as Champions, first showed themselves.

The first Awakened ones were the first group of people who, through a set of seemingly random natural processes, were able to awaken their latent potential in terms of their connection with the Ancient.

Which allowed them to achieve skills and abilities that were beyond mortal comprehension.

This specific group of hunters would then decide to name themselves, the High Blade of Aldrith.

The High Blade would go on to combat against the Wretched, in turn labelling themselves as our glorious protectors.

Those who were able to become Awakened ones were meant to be our heroes in this society, only if it remained that way.

After the era of the high Blade, many awakened used their abilities for evil, bringing great calamity upon these lands, and in turn shifting the trajectory of our society simultaneously.

Aldrith is now a wicked land, scarce of those you consider good-willed.

So in a world of hate and grime, Valeria serves as a beacon of hope.

But as I thought about it, that dream wasn't always entirely mine to begin with.

Lurking in the back of my subconscious exists a memory; one which remains unforgotten.

A memory of isolation.

I vividly remember the feeling of the bewitching emanations girdling the surrounding landscape.

The sweet kisses of the wind gently breezing past me in the sun.

A dreadful ringing refused to leave my head, to the point where it became difficult to even describe my own surroundings. 

I solemnly walk ahead atop a green hill, my bare feet leaving mushed grass wherever I step.

All as my tanned skin took in all the effects of the blistering heat. 

My memory remains faded; however, one thing was for certain.

Even in the moment, as I lived in it, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that none of this felt real.

As I stood there, stuck in the present, it was all so surreal. Feelings of confinement, and abandonment were the only things familiar to me.

Neglected without warning, it didn't take me long to realize I was just another orphan no one would dare to care for.

Beside me stood a church. A place I remember vividly only because of the fact that no matter where I ran to, or how I did it, I would somehow always find my way back there.

Sometimes I would even blink and it would be right there. Almost as if it emerged from nothing. 

There was something , as it swayed in the breeze, the feeling of grass grazing the silk smooth outer ridges of my skin was also amongst some of the more comforting memories I possess of that place. 

But wait. There was one memory I do have of that place.

The whole reason I stayed, the whole reason I am who I am. I just can't seem to recall it for some odd reason.

A key memory that if I could just call back to it, it would somehow connect the past to the present.

The more I try, the more I feel so appalled with myself for not being able to remember something so crucial. 

Eh, whatever. It'll come to me eventually I suppose.

Anyways, back to that place, no matter how many times, or how far I ran away to the furthest sections of my conscience, it just wasn't enough. 

Benumbed to the everyday occurrences that proved constant, I was nothing but a slave there.

A slave they could use, and throw away whenever and however they pleased. And I was undoubtedly treated like so. I had always grown up being told I resembled a beast. 

They spat at me, beat me, abused me, and on numerous occasions, would take upon themselves to use my under-developed body to sate their heedless carnal desires for venereal delectation.

Even going as far as to tell me that with my more than unpleasant looks, i'd be lucky to amount to anything more than a pitied animal in the wild.

And although I had grown accustomed to it, I didn't know what exactly to tell myself to make me feel better as I spent the vast majority of my lonesome nights alone; weeping in the filthy corners of the barren shack I found solace.

The tears reflecting the distant shimmer of the moon above.

But, what I knew for a fact, is that, regardless of what I convinced myself, here?

Here I was something even less than a beast. I was an insect intruding on human affairs.

I adjusted my long, uncut black hair before glaring upwards toward the heavens above, my hair dragging alongside my nape onto the grass below whenever I made even the slightest movement. 

The obscene heat hit me like a punch to the gut, but I didn't budge.

I began to steadily raise my right hand, extending out my palm in hopes that I could just grab the star with my bare hands.

I tried time and time again, wishing that one day, my dream of placing the sun within my grasp would someday become a reality.

 A dream for power.

Inch by inch I stretched my tiny little arm out, my palm nearly swallowing the sun whole. My jaw wide hung open slightly without a single care as feelings of not only deep aspiration, but also unspoken desire came over me. 

Tears began to swell in my eyes, and before I knew it I was already crying.

Just without the typical whining you'd hear from your average child when they would usually have tears this heavy running down their face.

A sting from staring at the blinding sun for far too long, made my eyes ache with a painful throb, causing me to respond by lowering my hand a bit to shield my eyes from its rays. Tears dripped down onto my lowered palm below as I shifted the aim of my gaze towards my heated hand which now faced me. I didn't know whether I wanted to laugh, or cry harder. All I knew was that for the first time in my life, I could safely admit with certainty that I had actually felt something. An experience that to me, was as addicting as it was stupefying.

Slowly but surely, the tears continued to fall, and I had no intention of stopping them. This was life-changing. I mean I had actually got the experience to feel what everyone else my age had felt. No longer did I feel like a fish out of water. Or a wolf among sheep. I was normal.

I now stood fiddly, a blank expression plastered across my face.

I looked back up towards the far off horizon before me; still alone, and not a single spirit to share this experience with.

I stood, overcome with two unparalleled feelings. One foreign, and one customary.

Firstly was the overwhelming sensation of melancholy circling the air.

Stemming from the insignificance of my dismal life.

Secondly, was the covet and sheer desire for more.

More of whatever I had just felt.

The irresistible horizon, gusts of wind deluged my surroundings as the grass calmly flowed in the evening breeze. 

"I must have it."

I thought to myself.

I reached out again, aiming straight for the sun with all the purpose of trying to grab it.

Silly I know, but so was everything I had been through up until that point. I stretched, and stretched; until -

Plop–

I came down, blinded by the sun atlas, I fell on my rear, knocking myself hard; specs of dust girdling me as I regained my rationality. I sat there for a few, contemplating everything all at once the best I could.

"Need some help?"

A hand reached out to me, accompanied by a child-like sweet voice.

Oh, now I remember. How could I forget? It was her. 

I took a glance to my right and there she stood; Elise.

Leaning in with a helping hand to assist me, a gesture of kindness I had not been shown before. Her face somewhat obscured by the glow of the light.

Yeah, now I remember. That's just the type of person Elise was.

Elise was the only other child with me on that lone hill of unbearable solitary, that actually acknowledged my insignificant existence.

Elise would approach me one day as I was caught doing my usual; staring at the sun with eyes of fierce intent and culminating feelings of vengeance.

Not at anyone in particular, but at the world.

Elise's small, bite-sized hand lingered in front of my face.

From a single glimpse I could tell she was nervous and slightly shaking.

Maybe it was because my dull existence struck her with a fear she didn't even know she had, or maybe it was also her first time meeting another child like in the church who knows.

But a part of me likes to think that maybe, just maybe, it was because she was the only one who really saw just how vulnerable and maimed I was. 

The incandescent sun continued to peer over the hillside.

Focusing on us two lone souls. I accepted the help of this girl I had never met before in all my days of living, standing to face her which is when I was finally able to catch a clear look at her.

She was beautiful; perfect even. She had clear, unwrinkled skin, big beady hazel eyes, and long white lustrous hair that was curled into large circles. 

Stunned by her seemingly ethereal appearance, I found myself choking on my own words.

A simple thank you would have sufficed, but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to throw one out. 

That was when Elise realized just how anxious I was, and simply shot me a heart-wrenching smile, and told me that it was fine. 

"So, what's your name? I'm Elise".

She giggled out. I stared at her for a solid minute or maybe more, the same way I had been doing all this time before.

I stared for so long that at a point it became awkward, and that's when I shook right back to reality.

"U-Uhm."

I muttered. I didn't know how to respond to that. I had never been given a name, much less granted an ounce of respect or acknowledgment by anyone.

My face lowered in embarrassment, and I scratched my arm in a nervous wreck.

"Uhmm. Are you ok? Can't remember your name?"

She asked and I responded by shaking my head right to left.

"Oh ok then. Wait- Do you even have a name?"

She pondered further, and I responded by shaking my head as an indication of no. 

"Hm. Well, I guess that means i'll just have to give you a name!"

She shouted in excitement.

"Hmm. What about Kane? No, that sounds too ugly."

"Zeel? No. That's not cool either!"

"Hmmm."

It was looking like this little girl was getting frustrated at this point.

All over something she didn't even have to pay any attention towards.

She went quiet for a while, before she burst out in a hurry.

"Ah! I got it!"

"Nel!

"That's your name! Your name is Nel!

"Now as for your last name…."

She thought to herself again.

"Laurent!"

Her laughter was out of control, she was too excited for this moment. It was as if this were all just a funny, little game to her; but to me, it was everything.

That right there was the origin of our connection. 

Elise from then on would spend every coming minute and second by my side.

Offering a level of comfort and companionship like I had never seen. She would go on to share with me everything about herself and her upbringing, of which we shared a lot of similarities in.

We shared many hardships together through the years, and even grew so close to where we would sleep together in the same shack, on the exact same stack of hay. 

Tangled up in a jumbled mess of both our long uncut hair, our hands and fingers clasped together as we soothingly drifted off into a world of nightly wonders.

The only thing I feared during this time was the idea of being separated from her side. I imagined her faint silhouette fading into darkness, leaving me behind, and would always clench my chest.

All as her existence became nothing more than simply a shadow of the past. 

However one day, the day I dreaded from ever happening, happened.

There we were, side by side, at the edge of the evergreen hill, with the sun engulfing both of us in its radiance. A scene reminiscent of the day we first met.

It was so peaceful, the setting was serene, the weather calm, and it felt like nothing could disturb this moment. Which is when Elise spoke out.

"..." 

"I'm leaving Nel."

She broke the silence. I jumped up from my trance at the sound of her words.

"?!?!" 

"What!? Where are you going?!"

I begged to know.

"I'm going somewhere far, far away. Somewhere high above here."

Elise told me outright.

I was too stunned to speak.

But before I could put together any sense of anything coherent, that is when she raised her hand far above her head, pointing to the sky above. 

"To a place called."

She paused for a moment, but I could still spot a slight grin wrap around her cheeks.

"Valeria."

Valeria.

The name stuck with me, leaving a deep imprint on my small child brain.

An imprint that still maintains a grasp on me till this very day.

My eyes were as big as boulders, so much so that they probably would've popped out of my head had I let them. 

I watched her, her silk dress flowing in the wind, as the frame of her captivating silhouette became my new sun.

"So this is where I must say goodbye."

She spoke, turning to face me as she showcased her wide, alluring smile. With her voice just being oh-so elegant and charming.

"W-Wait! At-least let me come with you!"

I screamed out.

The girl giggled before uttering one last thing and disappearing from my life like the wind.

"Goodbye Nel."

And there it was.

All I remember last is running away to that same shack I had always found my peace, crying myself to sleep and awaking the next morning to no sign of Elise.

Gone she was, just like the wind.