Bah. The first version of this fudged up. Lemme try it this 
way...Unfortunately, almost all the formatting is gone now. Anyways, this is 
also just a rough draft. Comments would be appreciated.

PRELUDE TO LIGHT

ACT 1: The Decision of a Lifetime! The Sky Knights Divided!

By Nerem

/I thought I had my life in order. I thought I could handle the danger. But 
when it came right down to it, I dropped it all and ran. I am sorry for what 
has come to pass, but there is no way to undo it. It is forever a stain on 
my hands, and many more soon joined it...This is my story./

	It began many years ago, the moment I entered the Royal Academy at the 
Magician's City Garland. I was nervous, mostly because I wasn't really a 
fighter nor magician. In fact, if it wasn't for my mother's wish, I would 
have stayed in the convent, content to just be with my friends. But in some 
ways, I must thank my mother for being so wonderful... She might not have 
had a 'good' reputation, but she was a noble woman.
	Still, I wasn't interested in magic nor physical combat, but I had to 
choose. Fortunately, I had learned about a branch of the Royal Knights that 
suited me quite well... The Shrine Knights, a group of warriors and 
magicians whose ideals fit mine, so I signed up to join the Shrine Knights 
once I was out of the academy. However, even though I was weak at both magic 
and weapons, my mother provided me with a solution. She granted me the 
family heirloom, a sword said to have killed a thousand warriors in a single 
swing... In a way, I believed the story, because of its unnerving affect on 
strengthening one's magic and guiding one's sword strikes. The sword was 
known as the World Knife, and while it wasn't all that long, it felt oddly 
comfortable in my small hands.
	For a girl my age, then of ten years, I was quite small. While every other 
girl my age was becoming quite tall, I was the contrary, staying a rather 
petite and short girl, even as I grew older, which often made me the target 
of many a bullying. Even now, my long blond hair, which several younger 
girls have called pretty, still rests upon a petite frame. Fortunately, 
while many thought that my small body meant weakness, a few people treated 
me like an equal... One of those people being the beautiful Heavenly Knight 
and my personal tutor on weapons, Sisteene Owin.
	And then there was Tina Bradmore, a girl my age at the time we met... Ten. 
Unlike me, however, she was a very well-known and powerful magician, a 
master at Devil and Dragon magic. When we met, I was being bullied by some 
boys, and she frightened them off with a glare. I was so surprised, sitting 
there as I watched a girl as tall and as small as me, with short brown hair 
and cute freckles on her face scare off three fourteen year old boys without 
any real effort involved. We instantly became friends...
	"Please, come on, get up... You'll be fine." She told me that. Funny, those 
were the nicest words I ever heard in the academy, causing me to blush as I 
stood up shakily, and leaned against her in a moment of weakness. She 
embraced me warmly, and whispered soothing words into my ear, as if she was 
an old friend comforting me. I finally spoke up, "I...I'm Lily Gracious.. 
First year." She gave a small sigh, and murmured, "Tina Bradmore, fifth 
year." That surprised me, "You are my age, and yet you are a fifth year 
student?"
         "Well..." she seemed almost embarrassed, "I came to the academy 
when I was five..." That surprised me even more, and then I felt the 
embarrassment of remembering that we were embracing in a crowded academy 
hallway, and a lot of people were staring. I quickly parted the embrace, and 
I told her, "People are watching, " in response to her hurt look. It wasn't 
that I liked her as anything but a friend... Not to mention that it felt 
kind of odd to be held that close by someone.
	Anyways, that was the first time we met. She is a bit overprotective, and 
almost possessive, but that just makes me feel safe around her. I never did 
find out what kind of magic she used until later, however. Although it did 
not worry me, considering that my specialty of magic was scary to some, and 
inconsistent with those who have ideals that White Magic is only for healing 
wounds. I am not proud of my attack spells, though... My healing ones are 
more my style.
	Those were the best moments of my life, really, in that academy. Some, at 
least. Mother filled the rest. To her homeland's people, and me, she was a 
great hero. Some other countries might not see it that way...but to me, 
mother has always been the most caring person alive...but I may be biased!


_________________________________________________________________
Join the world�s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. 
http://www.hotmail.com


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'