Chapter 2: Asher Starlight

Ava's pov

The door opened, and a small boy with hair the color of mine, and eyes that mimicked his father's stood. He wore a blue tunic with a lovely flower pattern flowing from the bottom of the tunic to his arms. It was my youngest son, he held the frame of the door before he spoke.

"I need help...with mana manipulation", he was hesitant "I've been practicing what you told me but I don't see anything"

"So you have been practicing!" I yelled, practically jumping with excitement, "I'll be with you in a moment, I have to get something"...

The boy quietly closed the door as I searched for it, this will definitely boost his confidence. I found it, a small translucent orb with a slight glow, the mana crystal should be helpful. I rushed out to the training yard where my husband and my two sons were. My oldest son, Azaria, was positioned by a dummy that he struck with consecutive punches. Azaria wore a long black hooded trench coat that covered his short black hair. He was tall but he seemed almost fragile despite his muscular physique, like something was weighing on him, something that could break him.

"Asher! I have something" I said as he rushed over "I brought this, it's a mana crystal and it should help measure the amount of mana you hold"

"Good luck, shortie" Azaria yelled from a distance.

"I'm not short, I'll grow!" Asher shouted, just before he asked "How do I use it?"

"Place your hand on the orb and I'll do the rest" I held out the orb and closed my eyes to visualize his mana, I was surprised to see a feral purple fire, "IT'S PURPLE!" Both Azaria and Akira whipped their heads around to face us. Asher looked up at me in confusion, the orb began to glow before it cracked and popped with purple mist. 

The orb then bursted with a loud crackle, and disappeared with a cloudy purple light.

"What does that mean?" Asher's eyes shined with eagerness to see what would happen next.

"Ash, your mana is unique, it's purple—the color of power. Once you learn proper mana manipulation you'll be one of the strongest eleven warriors."

"Strongest Warrior? This little man?" Azaria joked as he fuzzed Asher's messy hair.

A person's mana signature is determined by their personality, capability, and it even helps predict what their future might hold. The color blue represents wisdom, green is maturity, red is courage, and white— 

"ASHER!?"

Ashers Pov

What…what happened, why did everything go dark? My parents were gone, and my brother was nowhere to be found. The area is cold and moist and something is watching me...I can feel it. I looked down to see nothing—my hands, feet, and body gone. Did I die again? My heart started racing, and my mind filled with questions only one person could answer— that damn goddess. She sent me here with no explanation and expects me to fight off the "evils" of this world—honestly I'd much rather fight her. I saw something, the room I had seen when I first met the goddess. The room felt different somehow, like it's fading…it's missing something.

"Zander...I apologize for bringing you here" I heard a familiar voice, but there was no one in the room...."I cannot reveal myself to you Zander, I've grown too weak"

"You can call me Asher…now tell me why you called me here" the room began to shift and mutate. It moved like a book telling a story, each mutation flipped as if they were the pages. The story was about a man… or what seemed to be one, his mana signature burned a bright magenta. The man had long braided red hair that reached the middle of his back, and a short red beard.

His dark brown skin was rough and aged, he had a jagged X shaped scar across his face. He stood tall with long spiked axes that he held in both hands. The man wore a blood red trench coat, which had buckles and belts patterned all over it. He was staring at someone or something, I hadn't noticed but there was something in the sky. Creatures of various colors flying towards the man. Behind him looked like my parents' kingdom, he was protecting it from something big.

"That is not your world, it's a world that's already far gone" The goddess spoke in a broken voice.

"I learned about that man in history. He's Andriel Indigo, the hero you chose before me, right?"

"Correct, but like I said it is not your world. This is an alternate reality...what would have happened if the hero failed that day" The goddess began flipping the pages and stopped on a hazy canvas with shadows that mimicked the image I had seen before. The man was now a flamy shadow figure while the monsters were small specks of gray, and white. "This is your power, use it…travel through broken worlds and use them to your advantage"

"Broken? How can a wor—"

The world began to shift again—everything faded. When I opened my eyes I was surrounded by the castle's medical mages. My mother sat at the left side of my bed while my father sat at the right. They looked relieved to see my eyes open, my brother slowly walked in just before my mother pulled me in for a hug.

"What happened? You suddenly dropped to the ground, are you feeling alright?" My Mother's voice sounded pained and scared.

"I don't know what happened", I lied. "How long has it been?"

"Only a few minutes, your father panicked and rushed all these people here" My mother answered in an amused tone.