Darkness.
That was all she knew.
It wasn't the kind of darkness that came from closing your eyes no, this one breathed. It shifted, pulsed, and whispered in voices she couldn't understand.
Somewhere inside it, a faint golden light shimmered, warm and steady.
She reached for it, fingers trembling.
Then she heard him.
A voice calm, gentle, like the world itself was listening.
"You're safe now."
And for the first time, the darkness stopped moving.
Elira's eyes snapped open.
Blinding white ceiling. The faint scent of herbs. A quiet humming sound, like wind moving through glass.
She blinked, and the shapes around her came into focus she was lying on a soft bed, sunlight pouring through blue-tinted curtains.
Her body felt heavy, like she'd been asleep for weeks.
When she tried to sit up, a sharp pain shot through her side.
"Ah easy there, easy," a soft voice said.
A woman stepped into view long green hair braided over one shoulder, pointed ears glinting with silver charms. An elf. Her white robe shimmered faintly with healing runes.
"You're awake," she said with a small smile. "That's good. You've been out for two days."
Elira blinked, confused. "Where… am I?"
"You're in Lirien Clinic, in the outer district of Elyndor."
The woman placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down.
"I'm Lirien. I found you outside my ward you were badly hurt, but someone had already closed your worst wounds before I arrived. A human boy."
Elira's heart skipped. "A boy…?"
Lirien nodded slowly. "Black hair, dark eyes. He didn't say much. Just told me to keep her safe, then vanished before I could ask his name."
Elira stared at the ceiling again.
The voice. The light.
That had been him.
"You're safe now."
The words echoed in her head like a heartbeat.
"I… I remember that," she whispered. "Just that. Nothing else."
Lirien sighed softly. "Then it's true you've got memory disruption. Possibly from mana trauma."
She stood, picking up a crystal tablet. "Can you tell me your name, at least?"
Elira hesitated. "They called me… Elira."
Lirien's brow furrowed slightly. "They?"
Her hands shook. "The men who took me."
Silence. The light from the window trembled slightly as her mana stirred.
The air shimmered, faint vibrations crawling up the walls. Bottles clinked on nearby shelves.
Lirien reacted fast she placed her hand gently over Elira's chest, her magic glowing a calm green.
"Hey, hey. Breathe. You're safe here."
Elira gasped, her heartbeat slowing. The air settled again.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Lirien smiled. "No need to be. You're strong, aren't you?"
Elira looked down at her hands. "I… don't know."
Days passed.
Elira stayed in the small room upstairs, watching the world through the window.
She saw elves walking the crystal streets, merchants shouting, carriages flying past in the distance.
Sometimes she'd see students in uniforms heading toward a massive gate glowing faintly on the horizon Aeloria Academy.
Each time she saw it, her chest tightened, like something deep inside her wanted to go there.
Lirien noticed.
"You've been staring at that school for days," she said one morning while changing the bed sheets. "You interested?"
Elira hesitated. "I… don't know. It just feels… familiar."
Lirien chuckled. "Maybe your memories are trying to find their way back."
Elira smiled faintly, but her mind was already far away.
Every night, she dreamed of the same light the same boy with dark eyes standing in front of her, hand extended.
But every time she reached out, he faded into mist.
She woke up sweating, heart pounding, feeling like she'd lost something that used to mean everything.
One evening, Lirien came in with a folded letter.
"This came for me," she said, tapping it lightly. "But it's about you."
Elira tilted her head. "Me?"
"Yes. The city's welfare division approved my request."
Lirien smiled warmly. "I registered you under my care. You'll be staying here as my foster daughter."
Elira's eyes widened. "Foster… daughter?"
Lirien laughed softly at her shock. "You don't like that?"
"No, it's just" Elira looked away, embarrassed. "No one's ever called me that before."
Lirien crouched down beside her. "Well, get used to it. I don't plan on letting you wander off again."
Elira smiled small, shy, but real.
That night, something strange happened.
As Elira lay in bed, moonlight poured through the window, soft and silver.
Her reflection in the glass shimmered faintly her eyes flickered for a second, revealing faint rings of light beneath her pupils.
They weren't glowing. Just shifting. Like the trace of something ancient, sleeping inside her.
She sat up slowly. Her mana reacted again, soft waves spreading through the room. The air rippled faintly.
"Why… does it feel like I've done this before?" she whispered.
Outside, the moon pulsed once and deep inside the forest beyond Elyndor, an ancient sigil carved into a forgotten ruin glowed for the first time in centuries.
A faint symbol the mark of a god long erased from history.
Jack's symbol.
Morning in Elyndor was always beautiful.
The streets shimmered with mana mist, like the air itself was alive.
Bells from distant towers rang in slow patterns, echoing across the floating bridges and crystalline domes.
Elira loved it but she didn't understand it.
Lirien had let her explore the clinic's garden, a small yard filled with glowing flowers and soft fountains that whispered in Elvish tones.
She often sat there after breakfast, her feet dangling above the pond, watching fish that swam through the air instead of water.
Lirien joined her with two cups of herbal tea. "You've been quiet again," she said, offering one.
Elira smiled faintly. "Just… thinking."
"About the boy who saved you?" Lirien teased gently.
Her smile faded. "No. Well, maybe."
She stared into her reflection black hair, pale eyes, a faint mark under her collarbone that hadn't been there before.
"It's like… I know I've seen this world before, but from somewhere higher. Like I'm looking at everything from the wrong side."
Lirien sat beside her. "You have strong intuition. Maybe your mana's old."
"Old?"
"Mm. Some souls carry memories in their mana. The elves call them Echo Spirits. They're rare, but they happen."
Elira tilted her head. "So… I could be someone else's echo?"
"Maybe." Lirien smiled softly. "But whoever you were before, you're Elira now. That's what matters."
Later that week, Lirien began teaching her basic mana control.
It started simple feel the flow, breathe with the rhythm of the world, shape intent before action.
But Elira's first attempt wasn't simple at all.
Lirien placed a crystal orb in front of her. "Just focus and let your mana flow into it. No pressure."
Elira nodded, placing both hands over it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The air shifted instantly.
The crystal didn't glow it sang.
A low hum spread through the clinic, vibrating through the floorboards, the windows, even the air outside.
Light burst around her hands, not blue or green, but gold threaded with black veins a divine hue that no normal mana produced.
Lirien froze. "Elirastop! That's!"
But before she could finish, the orb shattered silently, dissolving into light dust that hovered around the girl like stars.
Elira gasped and pulled back. "I… I didn't mean to!"
Lirien stared at her for a long moment, then slowly exhaled.
"You didn't do anything wrong. That just wasn't ordinary mana."
The elf's eyes flickered, concern hidden beneath her calm. "Elira… what did you feel when you did that?"
Elira hesitated. "Like I was… remembering something. A voice saying, Shape the light. Breathe it into form."
Lirien's expression darkened slightly. "That's not elven teaching. That's… older."
That night, Elira couldn't sleep.
She kept seeing that golden black glow, that strange sense of belonging, the voice echoing in her mind.
When she finally rose and walked to the window, she saw something impossible faint motes of the same golden dust drifting in the sky, like stars falling in slow motion.
And somewhere far away, she felt someone watching.
Not with eyes. With presence.
"You're safe now."
The words again.
The same voice that had saved her.
Her chest tightened. "Who are you?" she whispered to the night. "Why do I feel like I owe you everything?"
No answer came only the faint glimmer of the mark beneath her skin, pulsing once before fading.
The next morning, Lirien came into her room holding a folded paper.
"Good news," she said with a small smile. "The Academy's open enrollment accepted my recommendation. You've been approved for the entrance exam tomorrow."
Elira froze. "The Academy?"
Lirien nodded. "You'll start basic mana evaluation and compatibility testing. You'll do fine."
Elira looked out the window toward the horizon where the massive floating gates of Aeloria Academy glowed faintly in the sunlight.
Something in her stirred again the same pull she'd felt since waking up.
The same direction the boy had gone.
"I… want to go," she said quietly.
Lirien smiled. "Then go. Maybe that's where your answers are."
That night, as Elyndor slept, Elira dreamed again.
This time, there was no darkness.
Only a vast field of light endless, golden, alive.
A silhouette stood at the center, facing away.
Tall. Calm. Familiar.
She took a step forward, her voice trembling. "Who are you?"
The figure turned halfway just enough for her to see the black eyes.
"You'll remember when the world does."
And then he vanished.
Elira woke with tears in her eyes but she didn't know why.
And that was how Elira became Glory Lirien.
A new name for a forgotten soul.
But fate… had already chosen where their paths would meet again.
End of Chapter 5
I just realize that I didn't put the elementary school period, well am too lazy to do that so let's just flow with it like that. 😩😩😩😩
Thank u all 😘😘😘