Prologue

The day that I first saw her, everything changed for me. 

Her eyes were hauntingly beautiful. I remember them best of all. She had these beautiful grey eyes. It was dark out, and I could barely see anything and yet those eyes shone like the moon. I was certain that she must have been an angel of sorts, even if that meant she was an angel of death. In fact, I think that I would have welcomed her happily either way. If she meant salvation, or death, it did not matter to me. In those moments all I wanted was to be taken in by those eyes, to forever lose myself in their beauty. 

Those moments gave my life significance. I was nobody, and yet, looking into her eyes I felt like someone. She saw me, truly she saw me as a human being. It was the first time someone had looked at me so truly. It was the first time I had ever felt real. Perhaps it was ironic, given that it was the moments in which I was dying that I felt truly alive for the first time. Yet I would never trade those fleeting seconds for anything. Her eyes changed me, it changed everything of who I was and what I had been previously. I only knew one thing. If I lived, I would live for her. I would give her my everything just to be seen like that again. 

That day, the day I first met her had started much like any other. Waking up early, I ate porridge that I had prepared the previous night. It was warm outside, and I hadn't slept well. My skin crawled from the filth and sweat that was slowly developing on me. There was no time to bathe this time of year, unless you wanted to take away precious rest time. The harvest meant everything to our town. If we did not make enough, it would be over for us all. We would not survive the winter. All of us spent every day tending to the crops. I didn't mind farming. I grew up doing it, and I had used to think that it gave me a purpose. 

Yet I realized quickly, on that day, that the purpose I had thought to have was nothing more than an illusion. I worked, and worked, and worked, and for nothing. In the end, I was dying, and I left no mark on this world. No one would remember me, my name, my dreams. I was no knight, nor hero. I wasn't even a grand thinker, or artist. I was nothing but a nameless farmer, in a town that was as insignificant as a bug on your window. 

It took me little time to process what was happening. If anything, it happened so fast that none of it truly felt real. In a blink, fire rained down from the sky. People screamed, and ran. I just stood there, staring up at the crimson sky with a look of awe. I didn't even think about anything other than how surprisingly beautiful the sky looked. I didn't feel the pain of the blade cutting through me. I fell, though it all felt like a blur to me. I stared up at the sky, bleeding out on the very fields that had consumed most of my life. Things grew dark after that. Crimson skies melted into a blur, and I accepted that I was going to die there having done nothing in my life. I was disappearing into the warm pain in my chest. It hurt, but I didn't resent it. 

Those grey eyes brought me back from that void I was slipping into. When I saw them, it all changed. I remember this very clearly. She bent down, her silken hair brushing against my face as she looked at me. She gently touched my face, her hand soft and cool. I smiled at her. I didn't know if even could move that much, but it felt awfully rude to not show my admiration for her. She spoke. I couldn't hear what she said to me. All I knew was that her voice was like music to my dying self. She asked me a question. I couldn't quite respond, however I hoped that whatever it was she asked me, the answer was not that important. Everything faded quickly after that. I remember nothing for a long time, other than those eyes which seemed to haunt my entire being like a forgotten dream. I vowed if I were to be born again, I would do anything for her. 

-

When I awoke I could barely move. My entire body felt foreign to me, like it was yelling at me for merely existing. I couldn't sit up, I couldn't talk. My mouth felt dry. It felt so so dry. Soon all I could think of was drinking water. I couldn't even ask for it. I just willed that someone would notice and be kind enough to give me some. 

My wish was granted after what seemed like an eternity. Someone lifted my body up, and put a glass to my lips. They tilted my head back, and I felt instant relief as I greedily drank the water given to me. I coughed as my body struggled to take in the water I was so greedily drinking, yet I didn't pay it mind. This was so much more important to me than anything else. Eventually the hands that held me up pulled the water away and I fell forward, trying to follow it. They caught me and slowly lowered me back down. 

"Slower. The water is not going away." 

I slowly forced my eyes open. It hurt, but I wanted to see whoever had been my savior. The light was blinding, it hurt. Gods it hurt so much. Yet the pain was quickly replaced by overwhelming relief. Grey eyes were staring down at me. Beautiful grey eyes. I couldn't lift my hands, but I found myself beginning to cry. It burned my eyes, yet I could not help myself. It was her, my angel… The one who truly saw me was here. She smiled so sweetly down at me. It was like seeing a goddess. 

"Shhh… It is okay. I know this must be scary for you." She said, gently wiping my tears away with a soft towel. "Can you speak?" 

I opened my mouth, trying to form words. It was difficult. My voice was strained. 

"Yes." I wheezed out. Perhaps I would have felt embarrassed if this was any other time. I am not sure I could have felt anything other than relief to see her again. 

"Good. Do not strain yourself too much. Let me explain what is going on, okay? You got hurt pretty bad, but you are okay now. We are treating you here, and after you so desire we will be able to have you work along with us, in a safe place away from all of the fighting." 

I didn't care who she was. I didn't care which side she had been fighting for, or how many crimes she had committed. I did not care if she was an angel or a devil. All I knew was that I would follow her until my grave. Even if the goddess was real, to me, she was my goddess. 

That day we met, I changed fundamentally as a person. I found a reason to live, a purpose now. Not some weak willed existence but a true purpose to serve the one who saw me and gave me a second chance at life. To me this was the most precious thing of all. 

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