Where do I belong?

"A selfless deed, to sacrifice yourself for others.

Was it worth it in the end?

I won't be alive to tell."

An enternity later.

The voices were loud. Most of them were yelling. My vision was blurred, but I could see a glimpse of a person. Like an angel, trying to help me. I felt a sharp pain in the back of head, but I still opened my eyes. Before me stood a short blonde woman, with small lips and blue eyes. When I finally forced myself to take the eyes off her, I noticed she wasn't alone, the loud noise was coming from dozens of people, wearing weird clothes and weapons. They all had one thing in common. Fear in their eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she lowered herself and started checking my body for any injuries.

"Who are you people?" I asked confused.

For just a brief moment, I could see her eyes twitch, like she wanted to cry. She just hugged me. Not knowing what to do, I hugged her back.

"You only have one year, Hero."

A cold voice whispered in my ear. My mind went blank. After some time, I finally woke up in a small tent, it smelled of pork and medicine. The pain in my head was gone, but it still took me a bit of time to get out of the bed. I checked my body for injuries but there seemed to be none. The tent I was in was rather small, it had two beds, with a small table and two chairs in the corner, and a small shelf filled with jars of all kind. Right next to my bed, there seemed to be a dirty mirror. I slowly reached for it, only to see a man with dark brown hair staring at me. Is this me? There wasn't anything special about my features, young face, brown eyes, a small stuble barely visible. That's until I lowered the mirror lower. On the right side of my neck, there was a weird black tattoo. It seemed like a symbol of some kind, but I didn't remember getting it. In fact, those people seemed to know me. Did I lose my memories? Shaking my head, I put the mirror down and fell on the bed again. This is bad, but hopefully these people know what happened. Maybe they can even help me. My chain of thoughts were interrupted by a sweet voice.

"May I come in?" That same blonde woman was at the entrance of the tent, only her head peeking through, as trying not to invade my privacy.

"Sure."

With closer inspection, and without pain in my head, I could clearly focus on her features. She had a soft face, her small lips were naturally resting in a smile, and her blue eyes radiated warmth. Truly, she was beautiful, and probably not that much younger than me too. With small steps, she reached the bed and graciously sat next to me.

"Do you know who I am?" She inquired, closely observing me.

"No. Should I know?"

Instead of answering she just sighed. "As we thought, you really did lose your memories. Do you remember something, anything at all?" She tried once more.

"No, Im sorry." I lowered the gaze on the floor. I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty but then again, was it really my fault?

"Don't be sorry, It'll be okay." She sweetly smilled at me "Our mages will attempt to bring your memory back tonight, they are preparing the magical ritual as we speak."

"Mages?"

"People who do magic."

"Magic?"

"You'll see it. Feel free to explore the camp later, it might help you." She smiled again at me. She seemed rather optimistic, although that suited her looks. She did say the mages will "attempt" to restore my memories. Does that mean they maybe won't succeed? I had a lot of questions in my head but I wanted to know two things. Who this woman is, and who was I.

"So, who are we?" I slowly asked, but I realized my question was a bit stupid.

She laughed at my words "It might be hard to believe, but Im Freya, chosen by the angels, and you're the realm's strongest mage. We were comrades for six years now, going through both life and death together."

I couldn't help but make a sad expression at her words. I somehow knew that deep down this event hurt her, but she had to put smile on her face. I can't imagine what it feels like to have your comrade forget about you. Forget everything you've been through together. Not to mention, I was realm's strongest mage? How is it possible for me to lose memory that easy then, it shouldn't be a common thing. Right? Trying to make her feel better, I responded:

"Im sure my memories will be back tonight."

"Oh I know that. You've been through worse after all." She got up "I'll see you tonight, okay? Don't wander off too far."

I also got up to go after her, but she forced me to stay in bed for a little longer. I finally noticed our height difference, as she was just to my chest. Not wanting to argue with her, I complied. Freya... Why does it sound so familiar but I still couldn't remember. No, I knew a Freya once, but it wasn't this person. I couldn't shake the weird feeling until I drifted to sleep again. It didn't take me long to wake up. Maybe it's thanks to the loud noise outside, or the previous nap earlier, it didn't matter. It was finally time to explore around.

As I left the tent, sun, still high on the sky, hit my eyes. Around me were other tents in different sizes, and soldiers doing various activities. Some of them were gambling, while others were carrying supplies and training. I noticed a distinction in the clothes. Some people wore metal armour with swords, spears, axes. While others wore various robes, carrying staves, books, and wands. Everyone either nodded their head or smiled at me. I guess my reputation was good enough. I couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed of the sudden attention, but I pushed through it as I walked around. I noticed a few soldiers sparring with their weapons, and stopped to observe them. It was my first time seeing it, so I was curious. They noticed my presence and both started going harder at it, as trying to impress me. Is this magic? Probably not. It seemed like I wouldn't be good in it. Dissappointed, I continued my walk, hoping to meet someone who can do magic. Luckily, it didn't make me long to stumble upon someone. He was an older man in white robes, in the center of a big open field. He was just standing there, his eyes closed. Until he raised his hand and started chanting. Small yellow sparks emerged from his hand, going back and forth through his whole arm. It didn't take long for a yellow portal to appear out of nowhere in the sky. I was struck in awe. This must be magic. With a swing of his hand, dozens of huge white swords appeared out of the portal and struck the ground below. Strong rush of wind almost blew me away, as I couldn't help but admire what happened before my eyes.

"GABRIEL! We told you not to practice this close. Do you want to kill the injured?" Someone yelled from afar. Gabriel sighed as he started walking away from the camp, muttering how it wasn't good enough. That seemed really strong, was I also able to do that? I was the realm's strongest mage. Maybe, just maybe, I could get my power back and do magic again.

Freya told me to stay close, so it hurt my heart to watch Gabriel leave the place. It was the perfect opportunity to learn magic. I reluctanty went back into the camp to kill time. Now I know what mages can do.