Revival

In the middle of the day a scream could suddenly be heard from the room of one person. The young man leapt forward from his bed sheets as he held onto his chest. Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he panted deeply, gasping for air in a desperate attempt to fill his lungs. His hand gripped tightly at his restricting shirt as his eyes darted around the room. With blurry vision he stared around the room.

"What!? Where…?!"

He questioned what was before him while grunting and fully removing his shirt.

"Dammit, this is too tight!"

The white t-shirt, soaked with his sweat, was tossed aside as he placed his feet on the ground and began stumbling around. A few objects were thrown to the ground as he walked into what he guessed was the bathroom before waving his hand over a light blue gemstone. Water came gushing out before he scooped it into his hands and splashed it across his face. Over and over again he repeated this process before finally stopping and looking up into the mirror. He seemed shocked for a moment as he placed his palm against the reflective surface.

"Who….who the hell-"

"HEY ZAIN! What are you screaming about this early in the morning?! You're gonna wake everyone in Ashiya up!"

"What?" The voice of his neighbor caught his attention and confused his senses even more. "Ashiya? Ashiya was destroyed, how the hell can I wake anyone up in a place that doesn't exist anymore?!"

"Destroyed? The hell are you going on about?" Confusion was evident in the voice of his neighbor. Zain sounded like a madman at the moment.

But before Zain could ask anymore questions his ears picked up on other noises in the area. He started walking towards a window before pulling it to the side. A warm breeze greeted his face as he saw the city before him. People were walking around with smiles on their faces, children playing around, as life had filled the city. Zain was taken back by the scenery before him.

"Ashiya…? How is this possible…?"

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but don't go screaming like that again alright? Go splash some cold water on you or something."

The voice subsided, along with their footsteps before leaving Zain by himself in his room. His breathing had finally calmed down before he looked around his environment once more.

"It had been so long that I forgot but…..this is my old room, isn't it?"

What was once a clean room was quickly changed into a cluttered mess from his blind confusion filled run around from earlier. Yet even with the mess before him he could feel a nostalgic sense from seeing the warm orange walls. After he calmed down again he entered the bathroom once more, and went straight to the mirror. He looked closely at his own face, examining every inch and corner. Red irises stared back at him as his black hair stuck to his damp forehead from sweating so much earlier.

"Is...is this really me? Is this my body?"

He continued to examine himself, his eyes inevitably going down towards his body. After taking a few steps back he viewed his full form in the mirror.

"This can't be... If anything my body looks more like it did in the future-"

Zain stopped himself as a sudden realization came to mind. Had he truly traveled to the past? And if so, what of his previous abilities? Had all his struggles to gain power been reversed by something he couldn't even control? He quickly fell to the ground while crossing his legs as he began meditating. His eyes closed as his surroundings vanished from his senses, leaving nothing but a vast darkness before him. As he focused he could feel the mana coursing through his body, leading to the very center of his chest. An image then appeared before his eyes, showing a six-layered circle.

'There you are.' Zain was staring at his mana core. He had spent years of his life in the future training, and fighting for the sake of survival. And with those countless years of effort he finally awoke to a power that many dream of reaching, but few could obtain. Slowly, as if he were scared of the result, Zain started activating his mana core as the rings surrounding it started to glow.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. One by one they lit up with a white light before the fifth ring changed in color. The bright light turned black as his eyes were ripped open. Zain turned to his arms that were crackling with lightning.

"It's still black..."

At seeing this, he gave a sigh of relief. He took deep breaths while running his hands through his hair before looking straight up at the ceiling. "What the hell is even going on…? Why am I in the past? How did I even go into the past? Is this even the past, or is it a dream? Was the future just a dream…?"

Too many questions swirled in Zain's muddled mind to the point he couldn't focus on a single one. He closed his eyes as anger started to set in at his lack of answers before he looked forward. "No….there's no way I could have dreamt everything that happened. All those years of my life being fake? That's not possible..."

Zain thought back to his last moments before he had died. All his struggling, his thirst for revenge and the power he obtained solely to kill the masked mage. It was all meaningless. He had obviously held back the entire time, just to appease him in his bind rage. In his silence Zain raised his hand up to his head as an orb of lightning formed in his palm.

"It's possible this is a dream as well…maybe I'll wake up if I hurt myself enough…"

Zain contemplated ending it all here. What was the point of fighting an enemy that held not only four elements, but could easily end their lives if they so wished? The energy crackled in the air for some more time before Zain clenched his fist, canceling the spell. He took a deep breath through his nostrils before punching himself in the face as hard as possible. His lip busted from the force of his own attack before he stumbled to the floor. He chuckled slightly before looking up.

"The hell is wrong with me, getting depressed like this? I'm in the past dammit! All I have to do is kill that bastard before he can even gain those powers again!"

Reinvigorated, he stood up again before walking out of the room. He stumbled a bit from punching himself earlier but it soon went away after shaking his head.

"No, first off I should grow stronger. I don't know why, but I was brought back into the past with all my abilities from the future. No, I can't even say that. I'm only certain I'm still a fifth class mage, but as for all my abilities and technique I'm still clueless. I gotta do something to-"

As he continued walking, a loud crunch was heard in the room as he felt his foot step on top of something. He looked at the ground while removing his foot to see a wax sealed letter. Confused, he reached down to lift it up, only to see the seal was broken apart now, but he could still make out the image in it.

"A phoenix?" Zain opened the letter up and began reading it's contents, and with each word he read his eyes opened wider and wider. After finishing it he gave a wry grin as more determination welled up within him.

"I remember now. Or better yet I know what point in time I was brought back too."

Zain walked towards the window again and walked onto the roofing before turning his head to the left. In the distance a tall building was attempting to pierce the sky. White slanted formations covered the horizon as flags waved in the wind.

"The School of Suzaku. This is the day I got my acceptance letter."

The School of Suzaku is a prestigious academy that trains young mages in the way of combat and how to fully utilize their magic to its fullest potential. As Zain remembered this a solemn look grew on his face. An old memory resurfaced from deep within as he saw this letter and the school.

"You want to get stronger?"

"Yeah...I still feel like I can grow stronger, but there's nobody else to turn to..."

The silhouette of a woman with long silver hair was put in view as she hummed gently before smiling.

"What if I told you, I could get you into Suzaku's school?"

"Huh? There's no way you can do that. That school is mainly for royals, or students who have sponsors with the right connections."

"Of course I can, are you doubting me?"

Despite being older than Zain the woman pouted as if she was a child before giving a cocky smile.

"Alright then, let's make a deal! If I get you into the school of Suzaku, you have to completely immerse yourself in your studies! Get out of the house and make some friends already!"

"What?! You saying I don't have friends or something?!"

Zain stared into space before waking up from the sweet memory.

"She's gone Zain....just focus on the last order she gave you. I don't care what I have to do, I'll stop that bastard from realizing his goals."