Finally... An original and unedited chapter... Enjoy... :3

Serene groaned as she opened her eyes... Her vision was blurry and images were swimming around everywhere. Trying to sit up, she was suddenly seized by a huge splitting headache. It felt like a thousand Chappis thwacking her head with their hammers. Holding her head and yelling in pain, she fell flat down on her back again.

Lying there on whatever she was lying on, Serene closed her eyes and laid there prone till her headache had turned to a mild throb. Only then did she open her eyes to look around again. However, this time, in stead of blurry images swimming around, she noticed four rather concerned-looking individuals staring at her.

Groaning and attempting to sit up again, Serene rubbed her temples and whispered, "What happened?"

Fia merely forced Serene back down gently and answered in hushed tones, "That's what we'd like to know to..."

Confusion apparent on her face, she asked, "Wha-What do you mean?"

Looking at her and feeling her forehead for any signs of fever, Fia whispered urgently, "You mean you don't remember anything about the battle?"

As soon as the words "the battle" left Fia's mouth, memories flashed back through Serene's mind...

Flash

A group of people were dumped out of the portal in front of them...

Flash

She had rushed into the battle headfirst...

Flash

She was about to deal the finishing blow when she was intercepted...

Flash

Blind rage...

Flash

She was about to strike some red-headed girl...

Serene's eyes widened as she finally remembered. Burying her face into her hands, she stared blankly and spoke to apparent nothingness, "You mean I did all that? I nearly killed an innocent?"

Just then, there was a derisive snort from behind her and the tone was acrid, "Nope... You didn't nearly kill me. I got this injury by falling down." Serene, having heard this whirled around and saw the red-head that she had seen in the flashback. With some of the remnants of the rage she had felt before, Serene stood up and clenched her fists and yelled at the red-head, "Look... Whoever-you-are, I wasn't myself!"

Rolling her eyes, the red-head spoke to herself, out loud... for Serene to hear, "Yeah... Sure... And I'm supposed to believe someone who kills on sight?" She paused for a moment, the let the effect of her words sink in, before continuing, "The name's Jenna by the way..."

Eyes blazing, Serene's hands balled into fists as she trod heavily over towards Jenna. Jenna merely raised an eyebrow and glared at Serene sourly, as if daring her to make another move. Serene gritted her teeth as she finally reached Jenna and was about to punch Jenna in the face when someone reached out to grab her and hold her back.

Shrieking wildly, Serene kicked and flailed, attempting to break out of her captor's grasps. "Let me go!" Serene raged, "I'm going to beat her to pulp! That'll teach her to sass me!"

With that, Serene started shrieking more and some rather profane words started being heard, resulting in winces from the people around her. Suddenly, there was sound of a slap... And then, stunned silence. Cierra, who apparently had been the one to slap Serene, yelled at her, "Serene! What's wrong with you? You're not being yourself!"

Upon hearing those words, the fight seemed to leave Serene and she slumped down onto the person who was holding her and broke down. "I don't know..." Serene whimpered as tears slipped down her cheeks, "I really don't know..."

Ein, who had been holding onto Serene throughout, merely let out a sigh and sat her down on the bed. He was about to say something when Gill suddenly burst into the house through the doors and yelled frantically, "Demons! There are demons attacking Elendia!"

Everyone stiffened at the sudden arrival of news and looked at each other grimly. With that, everyone (with the exception of Ein) rushed out to the battle scene to defend Elendia. Ein looked back worriedly at Serene as she merely sat on the bed crying before rushing off to follow the others.

After a while, Serene stopped sobbing and stood up slowly. "What's wrong with me?" Serene thought as she flew out to join the battle...

-Central Elendia-

Upon reaching the village square, what was seen was a scene of utter chaos and destruction. Demonic mages were pouring in from all sides and Elendians were running around in panic. Homes could be seen burning and even more were set aflame as the mages cast their arcane spells and incantations.

Amidst the chaos, three lone figures could be seen, along with a large group of fairies, attempting to beat off the invaders. A loud war-cry was heard as a valkeryie flew swiftly towards one of the invaders, ready to run her spear through him. Smirking, the valkeryie's target merely directed a hand towards her and a wave of dark energy surrounded the valkeryie, sending her hurtling into one of the houses.

Meanwhile, another similar female figure was valiantly attempting to ward off a few of the weaker invaders, only succeeding in getting sent hurtling into the same house that the valkeryie had been flung into. Now, only a young, raven-haired witch was left... As she and the fairies channeled their magic, they sent streams of light hurtling towards the invaders, but the spells merely flowed off the fields that the enemy mages cast, leaving the targets unharmed.

The raven-haired witch groaned in frustration as she attempted to cast another spell, but she was interrupted by a bolt of lightning that just missed her by a hair's breadth. Looking at the direction at which the bolt at lightning had come from Soala's eyes widened as she saw a group of mages, the same group of mages that had cast the numerous fire and protective spells... the same group that had struck down Rebecca and Ladie... An ominous chanting came from them as darkness swirled within a strange pentagram that had appeared from nowhere. Slowly, the darkness and void within the pentagram deepened. One of the mages looked at her, eyes empty and void of any emotion, spoke out coldly, "Thus the first sacrifice shall be made..."

With that, the pentagram flew towards witch and she merely stood there, too stunned and shocked to move. As the pentagram quickly drew closer to the witch, there was a desperate cry, "Soala! Watch out!" Then, there was another yell, "Haze!"

Upon that, the pentagram swallowed her entirely and Soala braced herself, ready for the pain of her soul being wrenched out... Moments passed as she waited, but no pain came... Only a white fog around her... As the fog faded away, Soala saw a bird-like creature floating in front of her, before fading away.

Filled with bewilderment, Soala looked at the group of mages and saw their apparent leader staring coldly behind her. He whispered harshly, "So... That's who you are..." Then smirking, the mage leader continued, "So be it... We have found out what we needed to know... Fall back!"

One by one, each mage disappeared in a flash of dark energy, leaving only the leader behind. Bowing at Soala mockingly, he merely said, "It was a pleasure meeting you young witch... Take this as my parting gift..."

With that, the house that Ladie and Rebecca had been flung into was surrounded by a dark cloud before it collapsed entirely and the mage leader disappeared in a flash of dark energy...

Alright... I hope this chapter was good. Please read and review... Or I might not feel like updating...