Date: January 5th, year 1286 Location: Village of Oakvale

  I’ve been doing this “farm work” thing for a few days. I’ve learned a bunch of stuff during that time! Like how that uncomfortable feeling is called “pain” by the humans. And farm work is a lot of pain! But it’s fun to do things with my hands, so I don’t mind. Humans also changed calendars apparently, ever since I went to sleep. I like Andreas, he’s an entertaining guy, and he taught me how to eat food and drink water like a proper human. Alice is weird though, she keeps asking me who I am. I tell her I’m Vanessa now, and she gets mad sometimes. I don’t know why, but it’s kind of entertaining so I don’t mind!

  One day, someone knocks on the door of the farmhouse while Andreas and Nyx are having dinner in the kitchen, after a long day of farm work, while Alice watches them from the couch of the living room. Alice gets up to open the door, and after a few seconds of silence Andreas and Nyx suddenly hear her screaming for help. Andreas jumps from his seat and runs over to the door, and Nyx curiously follows him. When they reach the door frame, they see a fully armored man trying to drag her outside. His chest plate had a symbol carved on it, representing three swords crossing blades. Alice was holding onto the door as if her life depended on it, her fingers digging into the wood and slowly breaking it into splinters.

  - “You’re been picked to be the sacrifice. Stop fighting back and get moving already!” The armored man yells. "(What's with this damn strength?...)" He grumbles under his breath.

  Andreas silently takes a step forward, as if his body had moved on its own. His eyes were wide open, and his hands were trembling. He tries to speak, but no sound comes out. The armored man turns to him.

  - “Ah, it’s you. Bad luck, but I guess your house had to be picked again eventually eh? No tough feelings. Don’t try anything stupid, you wouldn’t want everyone here to die right?”

  - “I…” Andreas grits his teeth. “I’ll protect my family this time! Hands off my wife!”

  Andreas rushes forward and tackles the man, forcing him to let go of Alice. They both roll on the ground.

  - “Big mistake, farmer.” The armored man says as he gets up and unsheathes the short sword on his hip.

  - “My mistake was not doing that the first time you guys knocked at my door! If you try to harm them, you’ll have to kill me ten times!” Andreas shouts back, standing in front of the door frame.

  Meanwhile, Nyx was observing the scene, standing still with a wide smile on her face. Alice notices that when she looks over, and her eyes widen, in fear and somewhat in anger.

  - “I knew it!! You’re not my daughter, you’re just some kind of monster that possessed her body!” She screams as she points at Nyx.

  - “I already told you multiple times, I’m Vanessa!” Nyx replies. “Also I’m pretty sure you got it wrong, I’m not a monster I’m a goddess.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Nyx turns her attention back to Andreas. She didn’t want to miss a second of what was about to unfold. Andreas was bleeding from his arms and chest, having managed to dodge multiple fatal sword strikes. The armored man was unbothered, slashing repeatedly at Andreas while the latter tried to punch him, to no avail. His fists would simply bounce on the metal, becoming increasingly bloody as the fight progressed.

  - “elp..” Nyx suddenly hears whispered in her head as she witnesses the scene. It was a weak voice that sounded vaguely feminine.

  - “Huh?” Nyx looks around to meet her interlocutor, but finds no one.

  - “Help… dad…” The voice continues.

  - “Huh? No, why would I do that?”

  - “Help! Dad!”

  - “Ouch! Stop screaming in my head, that’s really painful!”

  - “HELP! DAD! NOW!” The voice panics.

  - “Fine fine I’ll do it!” Nyx exclaims. “Just stop screaming!”

  Nyx walks up to Andreas and the armored man. Andreas notices her, and quickly runs in front of her to shield her.

  - “Vanessa, go back inside the house!” He yells.

  - “No, I need to help if I want the voice to stop screaming.” Nyx replies as she walks around Andreas to face the armored man.

  - “Aren’t you the girl we took to the Pit three years ago?” The armored man asks. “Aren’t you supposed to be eternally asleep?”

  - “Nope! I don’t remember anything about a pit!” Nyx replies before looking back at Andreas, who was struggling to walk up to her. “Could you maybe stop killing my father?”

  - “Ha ! He chose to die, I didn’t make him!”

  - “Okay, that’s unfortunate. Well, I don’t like pain, so I would like you to be returned to atoms.” Nyx says, and then she waits. A few seconds of silence pass before she exclaims. “Oh it’s not working! I guess that makes sense, I don’t think I’ve seen humans make things happen just by wishing them to.”

  She is interrupted by the guard raising her hand and punching her in the nose, with enough force to project her to the ground.

  - “Vanessa!” Andreas desperately screams.

  - “That’s painful.” Nyx says while holding her broken nose.

  - “This isn’t a joke.” The armored man replies as he sighs. “You know what? You should probably be sacrificed to the Pit instead of your mother. I’m curious what would happen if someone was sacrificed twice!”

  - “I want to see the pit!” Nyx excitedly answers.

  - “That’s… good?...”

  - “But first, I need to make the voice go away. Sorry, don’t worry you will be replaced.”

  - “Alright I’m losing patience. You don’t need to be alive for the sacrifice.” The man says as he walks over to Nyx and raises his sword.

  In response, Nyx raises her hand towards him, and a miniature star forms inside her palm. It slowly travels towards the armored man, who looks down.

  - “What is this?... Wait, are you a mage like the captain ?!” He yells. While his face wasn’t visible due to his helmet, it was easy to tell by his voice how incredulous he was.

  Feeling a new sense of danger, the man takes a step back and evades the miniature star, before striking down at Nyx. He starts with an obvious feint, intending to decapitate her after throwing her off balance. His sword slashes straight into her shoulder instead, stabbing deep into it.

  - “You didn’t try to dodge ?!” The armored man exclaims.

  - “Why would I?” Nyx nonchalantly replies as she waves her hand towards the man.

  The miniature star behind him instantly changes course and rushes towards him way faster than it initially was going, like a comet. The second it makes contact with his armor, it engulfs the man in a ball of pure plasma. It emits so much light that Nyx is temporarily blinded. When her sight is restored, she notices that all that was left of the man was a pile of sludge and liquid metal on the ground. The half melted sword is still planted in her shoulder, but she gets up as if nothing happened.

  - “Vanessa?...” Andreas asks, his voice conveying a mix of fear, anticipation and relief. He had one knee on the ground, blood soaking his shirt and overalls.

  - “That’s me!” Nyx joyfully replies.