As Time Passes

A year passed since Magnus had found Eleni. The Liberation Army had managed to take the Capital, and was in the process of setting up a democratic government called the Republic of Ishtaria. But Arris the Sage, leader of the Liberation Army, had disappeared, and no one had been able to locate him. So there was a few problems with the choosing of leaders.

The now five-year old Eleni was a little more adventurous than she'd been a year before this. She would go with Sara and Amon and explore some of the lesser-known places in Magnus's house, most notably the attic and basement. This often earned them scoldings from Mimi, who was often worrying about one of them getting hurt.

Huxley was often concerned about his young student too. He was continuing to teach her about the theories behind magic, and she often surprised him with her intellect regarding those subjects. Eleni liked her lessons with him so much that she never skipped them in order to get into trouble.

Those lessons were helping Eleni greatly. She had already gained a good grasp on the theories, and was beginning to focus on her wishes to become a Mage. With any luck, in a few more years, she would learn how to cast her first spell, the Dark Star.

Sara had been watching Eleni closely over her lessons. When she saw how determined her friend was to become a Mage, it inspired her to learn magic too. But Sara wanted to become a Healer, so she could take care of their wounds, while Eleni would go foreword and annihilate the enemies with her powerful attack spells. Neither of them wanted to advance as Monks, but rather stay on the path of magic, and help the other people they would travel with on their adventures from the back lines.

Amon decided to get into the action too. He would become an Archer, and then an Airman. He would go up and strike down the enemies that Eleni had hit with her spells. Then Sara could heal whatever damage he had sustained. Working together, they could go far in battle. Maybe they would be allowed to join the army together.

Due to the various insurgents and thieves that set themselves up in the countryside, Magnus was often not at home. Along with Dolan and Ferdenan, he would go out for a week or two in order to hunt down such groups. As the three were great warriors, there was nothing to fear when they went out, but Eleni always brooded until they had returned to the estate.

Dolan was feeling much better about failing to save his brothers. He thought about Eleni's situation, and began to thank the gods that he still could remember who he was, and that his sisters and parents were still living. When he looked at how she had bounced back from losing her entire town and her memory to boot, it made him want to be strong and be thankful for what he still had.

Ferdenan was still jumpy and had a weak nerve, but he had gotten a little better about dealing with it. Eleni understood that was just the way he was, and never tried to change him in any way. Besides, she liked him just the way he was.

Magnus still played the part of their fearless leader. He confided his fears in Eleni, who would pry it out of him if he ever tried to hide it from her. So whenever he came home, he would talk to his daughter and they would discuss the horrors of going out to battle and not knowing if he would come home again. She was understanding of his feelings, it made the child feel better to know that her father thought of such things. If he didn't, and believed himself invincible, his chances of surviving were greatly reduced.

Eleni still had that strange dream on occasion. She wondered why the woman in her dream knew Magnus. Could it be that she was a prophetess, predicting her future happiness? Or could the whole thing be just what it appeared as, a dream.

This dream was kept a secret from all of the adults, including her father. Eleni didn't want to worry them over her lost memories, as was their tendency, especially Magnus, Mimi, and Huxley. She could deal with it on her own, after all only she could understand it if it was a vision.

Even her best friends Sara and Amon weren't informed of the secret. Sara was another person who would fuss over her every problem. Amon probably would try to think of a way to solve it, which would get him in some sort of trouble due to knocking something valuable over, or getting lost in the forest. Eleni didn't want her friend getting himself into a fix because of her.

On this day, the one-year anniversary of Eleni becoming part of Magnus's family - - which she was using as her birthday - - she was sitting on the balcony and watching the sunset with Sara and Amon. As luck would have it, Magnus was late getting home from another patrol, and hadn't been there on this day. She remembered him complaining about the assignment from the second it had been given to him. He wanted to be there to celebrate with his daughter and the other important people in her life. "But my daughter's anniversary is coming up," he had told his superior, Hel Spites, "I need to be there for her. It's a very important day to the both of us."

"Who else can I send? And why should I care about some orphaned kid you decided to take in? If you hurry up and finish the mission, maybe you'll be back in time for this little party you're having," Hel stated in response.

Eleni whispered, "Why did it have to be this week? It was supposed to be a happy time." Sara looked up at the sun. "I don't understand adults. Some of them like us kids, while others could care less if we all fell into another dimension."

"But doesn't Hel Spites have a kid of his own?" asked Amon, "Wouldn't he hate it if he couldn't be with his son on his birthday?"

"You mean Kane? He's a brat. I've met him before, and he's constantly mean to me. Daddy never takes me along anymore in fear of what Kane will do. His father could care less if he ran ragged in the streets or not," Eleni replied.

Suddenly, something dropped into Eleni's lap. It was a long box, wrapped in fancy paper, and tied with a bow. Curiously, the child ripped off the paper and the bow, and uncovered the box. Inside was a staff, just the size for a young child. When she looked behind her, she saw Magnus standing near the door and smiling.

He said, "Surprise. I managed to finish my work early, and get back to spend the evening with you. I picked this up on the way back, I know you'll be able to find use for it when you learn your first spell from your lessons."

Eleni ran into her father's arms and gave him a hug. So what if this wasn't her real birthday, or if it wasn't her real father. All that she was concerned with was that people cared about her, and she about them. They went inside, where Mimi was waiting with a chocolate cake.

- - - -

A little cuteness in the end. Well, I'd like to thank the following people for making this possible. First, to Konami for making this great game. Also to my friend Dan for telling me about the game in the first place. Nothing much else, as this wasn't one of my longer or more exciting stories. I'll have a sequel up in a month or so at the most, as I've got some other projects in mind.