"No, No, NO! You must rid your mind of all distractions, and find the source of your magic within!" The elder's shriek broke my concentration once more, dissipating whatever progress I had made. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

You're too small to strangle him, so just let it go.I kept my eyes closed, searching within myself for the source of my magic.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" A loud voice accompanied the crash of the door as someone bounded into the room.

"K'llean, Belaire is trying to practice her magic, you need to be quiet." The elder admonished, his voice nearly as loud as the annoying child standing beside me.

"Hey, why are you practicing your magic already?!" K'llean grabbed my shoulder, shaking me back and forth. "We're not supposed to start for two more years! You're cheating!"

You can't strangle him either. He's just a child. I slowly opened my eyes. "I'm practicing my magic because I want to. You have no right to complain. If you think I'm cheating then work hard to get strong too."

"I'm already strong!"

"Says the boy who was screaming at me to help him."

"SHUT UP!"

I'm sensing that most of our conversations are going to end this way.

To my surprise however, he didn't run off, sitting down beside me in a meditative posture instead. Catching my curious look, he turned his head away, snorting angrily.

"It's not that I want to spend time with you or anything! I just want to be the strongest and won't let you get a head start."

I closed my eyes once more, deciding to ignore him for my mental health.

A short while later, I sensed a glowing ball of light within the core of my body. "I think I've found it!"

"Really?" The elder's surprised shout nearly broke my concentration again, but I held on, keeping all my focus on the bright light. "Good job, it normally takes much longer to find the magic source!"

"I'LL FIND IT FASTER!"

I sighed, ignoring K'llean's shout, opening my eyes to look at the elder. "Is it supposed to be so... small?" I couldn't remember too well from my character's prior memories her initial training, but the moment of her death was vividly stuck in my mind. At that time, it was less like a glowing ball and more like an all-consuming force, ballooning outwards to be large enough to contain the entire forest. But the light I could see right now was about the size of a grapefruit.

The elder shrugged. "It will grow a small amount as you mature, reaching its final size by the age of adulthood, but it should only be about twice the size of what you see now."

"Is there any way to make it grow bigger?"

"I'm glad you asked!" The older elf grinned from ear to ear.

"... Can I take back my question?"

"The best way to increase one's magical power is to combine it with another powerful elf through a life oath!"

A life oath.

A wave of anger, revulsion and sorrow hit me, so strongly that I could only fall out of my chair onto my hands and knees, retching violently.

The life oath is a sacred oath between two elves. It binds the souls of the two together, a knot so tight that it can only be broken by death. It allows the sharing of magic powers, of thoughts, emotions...

The priestess had experienced all of K'llean's emotions, his happiness and all the tender feelings he had... towards the Chosen One. She endured as the other half of her soul, her life's partner betrayed her, able to feel that he had no sense of guilt even as he broke her heart over and over. He had even barred himself from feeling her side, unwilling to share the despair that he had caused, a move she had refused to make as it causes significant physical pain to the other partner.

Her death had released him from the promise he had made to her. To love her forever.

"Belaire? Are you okay? Are you sick?" a small hand reached out and touched her...my... forehead, checking for a fever. In my blurry vision I saw K'llean's familiar immature features, twisted into an expression of anxiety and concern. "Should I go get the healer?"

I want to kill him.

I clenched my fists on the ground, the nails piercing the skin of my palms as blood soaked my fingertips. I pushed back the murderous rage that wasn't my own, reminding myself over and over that K'llean right now was still innocent, still a child. Not the man who had betrayed and trampled on the priestess.

I shook my head slowly, making sure I was completely calm and in control before struggling to my feet.

"I'm just tired. If it's alright, I'll go home and rest."

K'llean frowned. "I'm not worried about you! I was just asking since it would be embarrassing if you died before our wedding."

"I'm talking to the Elder." I spoke through gritted teeth.

"You may go rest, child." The older elf patted my head cautiously. "Now that you know how to access your magic, you can continue practice it. I'll have you join in with the group class in the morning with the rest of the children learning magic."

I stumbled back to the home provided for me, laying back covering my eyes with a sigh. I still had so little understanding about these worlds I lived in, how I could take over the life of someone who had died in the true story. But I had never struggled so much to control the emotions still stored within the body of my character.

"I will live a happy life."

There was a strained silence in the room at my whisper, as if someone was listening.

"I am not you. I won't act on your hatred, I won't live out your dreams of revenge on a small child who hasn't done anything yet." I groaned, rubbing my temples. "But I promise I'll become someone powerful. Someone even the Chosen One can't compete with. I can't change the fact that your story was broken, that you were betrayed, that you sacrificed your life for these ungrateful jerks."

I felt a pressure in my chest, as if my heart was breaking.

"Find some peace, priestess. I'll fix this world, protect the forest, and find the life you wanted."

The room was still quiet, but it felt significantly more... empty than before. The pressure subsided. I gave a sigh of relief, and, exhausted, fell into a deep sleep.

______________________________

"Why are children so noisy?"

I stared at the chaos around me with a tired look. I had arrived to the area for lessons only to find pandemonium. K'llean and two older boys were wrestling while screaming at the top of their lungs, a group of four girls stood in the corner, chatting loudly, pausing several times to glare at me before turning back to each other. The general level of noise in the room was headache inducing.

"You're a child as well, Belaire." The elder looked at me with a pitying expression.

"Only because I have no other choice." Looking around the room, I saw one child with dark hair sitting quietly off to the side apart from the rest. Maybe I can have a friend who won't make constant noise?I walked over to the young elf boy, feeling hopeful.

"Is it okay if I sit by you?"

The boy looked up at me, and I felt a shock of recognition. He had fair skin, seeming even paler under his pure black hair. His facial features were regular, and although immature, showed potential to grow into a very handsome look, only slightly marred by a fresh wound on his forehead. His eyes were dark blue, and very familiar.

"Liam?" The name was whispered, unconsciously. He didn't look like Liam from either world, but his eyes... they were Liam's eyes.

The boy looked at me expressionlessly, without any apparent interest, without recognition.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else. Can I sit by you?"

After a long pause, he nodded.

"Thank you." I sat down next to him, a hand idly rubbing my chest as if that could relieve the piercing pain I felt there. This time it wasn't the priestess' remaining emotions, but my own.

I miss Liam.

I had hoped to see him in this world, more than I had realized. Seeing the boy's familiar eyes, I had been filled with hope that I had found him again. But even if Liam doesn't remember me, he always had some recognition of me. In the last two worlds, immediately after meeting me he had stuck closely, declaring himself to be my minion, or support spouse, or whatever would allow him to stay by my side.

This young boy seemed to have little to no reaction to seeing me.

I guess it's not him.I felt depressed at the thought.

The boy and I sat silently, both lost in our own worlds.

"Belaire! Why are you sitting by that freak?!" A loud, annoying voice broke the quiet peace on our side of the learning area.

I looked up at K'llean. "Do I know you?"

His mouth hung open with shock for a few moments. "I'm K'llean, the strongest elf warrior in the forest!"

"Sorry, never heard of you."

"I'm your future husband!"

I tensed up slightly, wondering if I would be overcome with the same emotions as yesterday, but to my relief I only had a mild discomfort. It seems the prior character had really found peace and was willing to let me work.

Staring at the boy coldly, I answered. "I have no plans to marry you. So whatever trouble you're trying to stir up by coming over, I suggest you drop it." I paused, glancing at the still expressionless boy beside me. "And you should apologize to my friend for calling him names."

At the word "friend" the boy's dark blue eyes widened, focusing on my face briefly before dropping back to look at the ground. He seemed as if he wasn't listening at all to our conversation, but I noticed his fists tightening in his lap, his knuckles white with tension.

"You can't be friends with him!" K'llean shouted, his two buddies beside him nodding in agreement.

"He's already my friend, so obviously I can."

"He's a monster!" One of the other students burst out, glaring at the child beside me. "My mother says he was born of dark magic, and will betray us all!"

"I heard he killed his own parents!"

"He's evil!"

The boy beside me still didn't react, his gaze focused on the ground by his feet. But how could a child truly ignore such horrible words? I stood up, standing in front of him, my arms crossed. "The only evil ones I see right now are you guys. Leave him alone!"

"..." The room fell into silence, broken finally by the elder's uncomfortable cough.

"Children, stop fighting, let's get to the lesson."

______________________________

After a lecture on materializing our magic core into the real world, he separated us out and allowed us to practice on our own.

I sat down cross-legged, relaxing my hands on my knees and closing my eyes. Finding my magical core quickly, I frowned, still upset at the size of my magic.

If it's this small, there's no way I'll be able to protect the forest, even if I partner up with the annoying cheating idiot.

How did the priestess grow her magic enough to cover the whole forest without his help?

I thought things through carefully, my eyes popping open at an idea. It was dangerous, but if it worked...

But I'm not going to be able to try it here; I'll have to wait until after class.

An hour later the elder called us to stop, making sure we understood that proper rest was important when practicing magic. After a few closing comments, he released us to go. I winced as the children around me screeched in excitement at being set free, remaining in place until they had left and there was some peace and quiet.

This is going to be a long ten years if they're going to be this noisy the entire time. Sighing quietly, I stood up, brushing the dirt off of my clothing.

"THIS IS WHAT YOU GET, FREAK!" At the angry shout, I ran forward, a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Three boys, one of them K'llean, were kicking the small dark haired elf as he curled up on the ground. Without a shout of pain, or even a small cry of protest, the boy silently just protected his head with his arms.

"Get away from him!" I ran towards them, shoving the group off of the injured boy.

K'llean turned towards me, his face red from anger and embarrassment. "He deserves it! He's nothing but a dark magic freak! Look at him!" He pointed at the still silent boy. "He's weak! He can't protect you! I'm better than him! So he can't be your friend, only someone strong can!"

I reared back and punched him in the face.

I didn't have much strength, being eight years old, but the years of fighting in the zombie apocalypse had honed my technique down to an art form. He flew back, landing on his butt and staring up at me with tears in his eyes.

"Why did you...?"

"Looks like you're weak too." I sneered. "So if we're going by that qualification, you don't deserve to be my friend either."

"But I..."

"Fortunately, I don't choose my friends by how strong they are." I reached down and helped the dark haired boy to his feet, checking him over for injuries. "Unfortunately for you, K'llean, I won't be friends with bullies."

K'llean's face paled at my words. Scrambling to his feet, he glared at me, wiping tears away with the back of his hand in a jerky motion.

"I don't want to be your friend anyways! You're stupid!" With that he ran away, the other boys by his side running with him.

I groaned, rubbing my head. He's just a jealous child. If he didn't try to hurt someone else I would actually feel bad for him. I turned towards the boy at my side.

"Are you okay?"

He stared silently at me, his dark blue eyes flickering between me and the backs of the group still running away.

"I'm sorry that he hurt you because I said you were my friend." I paused, before continuing sadly. "Do you want me to stay away from you in the future so they don't bother you?"

He continued to stare silently, before shaking his head slowly.

"Really? So we can be friends?" I felt happier than I expected at the thought, and smiled brightly at him.

He looked away, not answering, but I noticed the tips of his pointed ears had turned red. Glancing back at me, he waved goodbye and ran off, limping a little on the right side.

Is he really not Liam? He feels so... familiar. Shrugging, I turned towards the forest. It must be because I want to find him so badly. I'm seeing what I want to.

I headed off, finding a hidden cave from the priestess' sparse childhood memories.The inside was dark and cool, a nice reprieve after the chaos and noise that had been present all morning. The only sound came from a slow drip of water deep within the cave, and the quiet brushing of grass outside by a breeze. I sat down, crossing my legs, relaxing my limbs one by one.

It was time to try out my idea.

The priestess had saved the forest in her story, her magic strong enough to cover everyone. She had fueled her magic temporarily with her own energy, draining her life away to make it that strong. Obviously I couldn't do the same, not without failing the mission, at least.

But what if I stretched my powers out a bit, with just a small amount of my own energy. Not enough to shorten my life, just enough to tire me out... If I temporarily enlarged it, while still in the growth period before adulthood, maybe I could increase my own capacity for magical power.

It was worth a shot, at least.

I closed my eyes, focusing on my grapefruit-sized core of magic. With a deep breath, I slowly drew out my energy from my body, imaging it running along my veins, flowing into the core. As minutes ticked by, I broke into a cold sweat, feeling weak and clammy, but the core had grown at least another inch in diameter.

"It's working." I whispered to myself with a small grin. I fed a little more energy to it, starting to feel short of breath. It didn't grow much more, even with the additional energy. After a few more minutes, I relaxed, falling onto my back and opening my eyes, staring at the stone ceiling. I felt exhausted, as if I had run miles and miles without a break, every limb weak, using all of my energy to simply breathe in and out.

Now to make sure it didn't shrink back down. I focused inward once more. As the golden core came into my mind's view, I smiled triumphantly.

It worked. My core had increased in size and stayed that way, albeit just a small amount.

If I keep stretching it... keep working at it, I can be strong enough to protect everyone without dying or using the stupid life oath.

Sighing with relief, I let go of the image and rested.

I wonder if I'll be this tired every time. I feel like I couldn't move even if my life depended on it.

Grrrr

Well crap.

With effort, I turned my head to the side, only to see the shadow monster from before slowly walk from the deepest recess of the cave, its dark blue eyes staring at me.

It's the same one as before too. I could see the wound on its head from where I had hit it with the branch earlier. It must have gotten injured further since then, its right hind leg seemed to be held up slightly off the ground. The creature watched me intently, briefly baring its teeth, but seemed to realize I was too weak to move.

I struggled, my brain trying desperately to force my limbs to work, but there was no energy left. Am I going to die here?

Just as I despaired, the wolf-like creature shook itself, shrinking down in size from a large beast to the size of a medium size dog. It seemed more solid, no longer pressing on the space around it, the edges of its form clear and sharp. It padded closer.

Was it using magic to make itself bigger, more threatening? It's much smaller now... unfortunately still big enough to kill helpless me.

As it drew next to me, its head bending over, the dark jaw looming over my face, I tried one last time to move, only able to produce a quiet groan and a small adjustment of my arms. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the teeth that would soon be digging into my face...

A wet tongue licked my cheek, startling me.

My eyes popped open, staring directly into the large eyes of the shadow beast. Its eyes were bright and happy, the creature sitting back on its haunches, it tongue hanging out, its tail wagging behind it.

"Hello, there boy. Not gonna kill me?" I whispered, having an urge to pet the dog-like creature without the strength to reach out. The beast seemed to understand me, letting out a quiet whine and rolling onto his back, revealing its belly right next to my weak, outstretched hand.

With some effort, I lifted my hand the few inches necessary and gently rubbed its belly.

"Good boy."

It seemed delighted at the petting and the words or praise, jumping back on its feet, circling around me before crouching down to try to lick my face again. The speed of the tail wagging increased, until the creature's haunches were wagging slightly with the motion.

"Glad you're not going to rip my throat out, can you watch out while I take a little nap?" Unable to keep my eyes open further, I fell asleep even as I was talking, my last sight of the shadow creature its dark blue eyes as it laid on the ground near my head, guarding me.

______________________________

When I woke up, the sun outside was setting, dyeing the already dark cave entrance a deep blood red. My eyes opened only to be met with the worried gaze of the shadow creature, who was pressed up against me, whining quietly. Seeing that I was awake, it jumped up happily, licking my cheek and circling around me with excitement.

"You stuck by me?" I smiled and sat up, rubbing my sore back. The creature leaned against me, staring up at me with excited eyes. I pet his head, laughing quietly as it pushed its head into my hand. "I was hoping for a friend."

At the word "friend" the shadow monster perked up, giving a little whine.

"How about I give you a name?"

It seemed to nod in agreement.

"Wait... are you a male?" I leaned over and grabbed its leg to lift it up, but it shrunk back, staring at me with a horrified look. "Okay, okay, no checking. So what should I name you?"

Staring at its blue eyes, I suddenly laughed with a thought. "How about 'Liam'?"

I hugged the creature tightly, feeling happy. He may or may not of followed me to this world, but either way I won't forget him. It might be silly, but...As I let go of the newly-named Liam, he seemed to shake himself, and hid his face behind a paw.

"SO CUTE!" I hugged him again.

Well now I had a friend at school AND at home, and a plan to get stronger.

This world was on its way to being fixed

What could possibly go wrong?

As the thought crossed my mind I cringed, looking up at the sky. "I swear I didn't mean to think that! Don't be an ominous foreshadow!" Sighing, I petted Liam's head. "When will I learn to avoid disaster inducing clichés?!"

Liam looked up at me mournfully, giving out a quiet sigh.

"Don't worry buddy. We'll be okay...probably."