Prologue: a letter from a weary stranger

Dear Reader,

If you thought stumbling across this story means you'll get a happy ending, and it'll be fun, and adventurous with nothing bad happening at all, think again! This is a tale of one brave human being known as the saviour of Magicia who stumbled upon a world with some similarities to earth. It's not without its pitfalls, however, that this planet is prophesied to be no more, and the saviour is at the forefront of this.

Connected through time and space by a thinly veiled thread of magic and mystery to earth, this planet is meant as an escape. But, when an escape is no longer just that, but now only filled with pain and heartache, and misery, what should you do to rectify that? A wrong was committed years ago by the saviour and their friend, so out of guilt or maybe self preservation to be exact possibly the saviour tries to undo those mistakes from when they were a child in the hopes that they can go back to their life on earth free of guilt and regret having saved the planet from its ultimate demise.

They thought it was over, it was supposed to be over with, but it's not over, and maybe it never really will be.Nobody ever tells you what you have to sacrifice for happiness, for love, or even friendship. It's always you having to change yourself physically, emotionally or in other ways or there's something to gain for it all if you follow certain steps. What if I told you that the person speaking to you in this letter, the person being spoken to in this story is me? How would you feel about that? Because let me tell you I would have freaked out thinking that person is nuts. Some days I think I might have lost my mind. Maybe I have. Who's to say really?

I mean I lost so much on earth and was powerless to prevent it, but here in this Magical world I have power, I have strength, people rely on me and want me around here. I've never had that before, I was just used and thrown away like yesterday's rubbish, but not here, people actually cared to listen to me, to be around me and show me kindness. Granted it's not always like that, especially when after 2 years of struggling on that gods forsaken planet I grew up on I had to go back to Magicia and went back to find old friends no longer working together and being there for each other, people living in fear of what lurks in the shadows.

I vowed to rectify these wrongs by any means necessary, even if it means some casualties would occur. It's a risk I'm willing to take, I just hope I'm not too late in the game to heal these fractured rifts within the planet's lands and its people. The magic of this land is way more unstable than it ever was in the past, so much so that the land itself is either too alive, too desolate, or abandoned by time and shrouded in darkness and evil entities. I wish it didn't fall only to me to fix, but this time my best friend Coryn isn't around to assist me.

I thought I fixed this problem years ago, but clearly all I did was make it lay dormant for a short while. Last time I was like a kid playing with matches setting fire to things to the point where the damage seemed irreparable. I won't make those same mistakes this time, I refuse to, I will save my friends, and try to save everyone I can. Although, judging by the cavernous maws cracking the earth's core to the deep abyss below it, something about this seems oddly familiar. It's like this situation has happened before and the power signature is different to my own, more chaotic, but strangely recognisable. Could it be...? Who is responsible for this, was it me, or someone else?

I have to wonder if there is an evil here at work responsible for this devastation. Is there someone or something lurking around the corner, maybe stalking me like prey? It would explain the instability of the planet, but why am I feeling the effects too, or is it all in my head? I chose to come here didn't I? Didn't I want to help them? Then why do I feel like I'm fighting against myself, others, and a losing battle that I can't win? Only time will tell if what I'm doing is just causing more of an effect and making everything worse, or whether it's even helping at all. It's fine though, because I always find a way to fix everything anyway.

After many pitfalls in my life, failure is par for the course for me, so maybe I should get used to it and move on to greener pastures as some people say. I can't do it though, call it stubbornness or maybe self preservation to be accurate, but I can't quit this, it's a point of pride in me to see it through until the bitter end, until I can't do anything anymore to aid these people.

I have built bridges to freedom, given advice, and accomplished far more here than on earth. I have a community, a family, friends, and colleagues that I wouldn't have back at home. I don't have that care, so how could I turn my back on them, especially when they plead for my help? I was transported through a portal of mystical energy for a reason, and it wasn't just to escape the issues I have back home. There's more to it than that, someone or something summoned me here, so I owe it to myself at least for curiosity's sake to find out who or what it was, why I was sent here, and what the purpose of it all is.

Yours sincerely,

NEFY