1 Chapter 1: Oscar

"Where…where am I?" Oscar as he opened his eyes and gradually gained his consciousness. He looked around himself but he could only see a space of nothingness. 'Damn it. What kind of place is this?' he thought.

Oscar decided to walk around that empty place to find any possible exit. But he didn't find anything besides the emptiness itself. No furniture, no people or animals, no plants, and no natural views. He began to feel slightly threatened but he could still cover it with his calmness. 'I don't feel that I'm dead, but I'm not alive also.'

Oscar kept walking straight ahead looking for clues about where he was now. 'Is this the afterlife?' he thought.

Suddenly, Oscar felt that his body become heavier. Along with it, a dark purple light emanated from his body 'What kind of light is this?' he asked inside his mind. His body became heavier and heavier so he fell. He tried to get up but he couldn't. 'What the hell…I feel something weighing in my body.'

The light that emanated from Oscar's body became brighter and brighter. Oscar might only close his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, the light quickly covered his body and the whole space of nothingness, making all become dark purple now. After a few seconds, the light faded away, leaving nothing in that space, including Oscar.

[X774]

"Oii…Oii…Are you okay?" Oscar heard the soft voice of a young boy. At the same time, he felt that someone shook his body. "Oii, you are not dead right?"

Oscar slowly opened his eyes. At first, his sight was blurry. But then it got adjusted, allowing him to see two boys in front of him. The first boy had spiky black hair and wore a blue T-shirt covered by a grey coat, and black pants. The other boy had spiky silver hair and wore a cyan jacket and black pants. Both boys smiled when they saw him awake. "Where am I?" Oscar asked.

"You are near Ur's house," The black-haired boy said with a worried expression.

"H-How did I get here?" Oscar asked as he held his head.

"You ask how? What the hell man?! You live on here with us and Ur. Do you lose your memory?" The boy said with a confused face and an annoyed tone.

"I live on here?" Oscar questioned. He became confused with the boy's answers. "I can't remember."

"You are the close friend of my master's daughter. After her disappearance, you are overwhelmed with emotion and run to the forest to search for her. Then, a group of wild beasts gang you up. You may die if we don't find you. But it seemed you are somehow damaged and lost your memory," The boy said.

"Then, are you the ones who defeat those wild beasts?" Oscar asked the boys.

"No, it's not. Judging by the remnants of the fight, they are supposed to be defeated by an advanced ice magic user," This time, the silver-haired boy answered.

"I see," Oscar said as he looked at the surrounding places covered with snow. "It seems that the snow is blowing harder. Let's get back to our home. You lead the way, boys."

"Alright!" The two boys replied and brought him back to Ur's house.

Unbeknownst to them, there was a twin-tail girl who looked at them, especially Oscar. Her expression looked so sorrowful yet she remained calm. "Oscar."

.

[At Ur's House]

The boys brought Oscar to Ur's house. Seeing her daughter's close friend was wounded, Ur asked the boys to seat him on a chair. Then, she took a first aid kit and looked after Oscar's wounds.

"What happened to you, Oscar?!" Ur questioned Oscar with an anxious tone.

"…" Oscar didn't answer Ur's question and only looked at her with a confused expression.

"He was attacked by wild beasts. It seems that he lost his memory," the black-haired boy who turned to be Gray explained about the situation.

"L-Lost his memory." Ur was shocked when she learned about Oscar's condition. She gazed at him with a saddened expression. "Oscar…"

"Os…car…?" Oscar muttered his nickname. He tried to dive into his mind but he felt an instant headache because of that. "AAARGH!"

"No, Oscar!" Ur lovingly hugged Oscar and rubbed his hair. "That's okay. You don't need to gain your memory. I'm sure that they will naturally return later." She then gazed at his face and gently looked into his eyes. "For now, you only need to quickly recover." She said as she smiled at him.

"You are a good person. I can feel sincere love from your hug." Oscar commended Ur's caring and loving treatment of him.

"You come here with wounds and I treat you. That's all. I just want to sincerely help you hihi." Ur giggled as she responded to Oscar's praise. 'For now, it is better not to talk anything about his real identity. That will surely trigger his headache to come. I can't stand to see him in pain. Just let his memory come back naturally.'

"Anyway, my name is Ur." Ur re-introduced herself to Oscar despite she already knew him.

"Ur…It's nice to meet you. You said that my name is Oscar. I believe that's my name." Oscar said.

"Correct. I am Ur and you are Oscar." Ur said as she warmly smiled at Oscar. "Gray, Lyon, please introduce your name to Oscar." Ur called her pupils.

"Huh? The three of us already know each other, aren't we? Why do we have to introduce ourselves again?" The black-haired boy, Gray protested Ur's instruction.

 "That's right, Ur. What's the point of befriending him again? We are friends already." The silver-haired boy, Lyon said to justify Gray's protest.

"Boys, please understand the situation." Ur reprimanded her pupils.

Remembering that Oscar had currently lost his memory, Lyon decided to re-introduce himself. "Greetings. The name is Lyon Vastia. You can call me Lyon."

"Lyon…I am Oscar. Nice to meet you." Oscar said.

"I will not do it. Like c'mon, he will surely be able to remember himself and us." Gray said.

"Gray…Stop being stubborn and re-introduce yourself to Oscar like Lyon did." Ur reprimanded Gray again. This time, she raised her tone a little.

"Al-Alright then. My name is Gray Fulbuster. You can call me Gray. It's nice to meet you, Oscar." Gray re-introduced himself.

"Gray…Such a cool name. It's nice to meet you." Oscar said.

"Alright. Now, it's noon already. Let's have our lunch together." Ur said. "Oscar, you come it us to, okay?" She invited Oscar to have lunch together.

"Thank you, Ur. I'll accept that." Oscar accepted Ur's invitation.

Ur along with the boys had their lunch together. They chatted and joked with each other while eating their meals. Sometimes, Ur scolded Gray for taking off his upper clothes in the middle of lunch. Then, Lyon challenged Gray in the fastest eating competition. The two boys agreed to do that and challenged Oscar too. But before he could accept the challenge, Ur comically hit the two boys' heads.

"Gray! Lyon! Don't challenge a sick person." Ur reprimanded her pupils.

"S-Sorry…" Gray and Lyon said in unison as they rubbed their bumped head.

Seeing the cheerful and lively atmosphere, Oscar happily smiled. As he calmly ate his meal, he was grateful for befriending with Ur, Gray, and Lyon. 'I wish that this friendship could last forever.' He thought.

Meanwhile, the twin-tailed girl, who was seen earlier, appeared to be in front of Ur's house. She peeped at Oscar through the window. A sorrowful aura emanated from her eyes. It seemed that she wanted to be there too.

'I…I was supposed to be there, on his side. Not them the random boys that I don't even know. I am his close friend, not them.' She thought as she clenched her fist. 'Just wait for me, Oscar. I will alter the past and create a beautiful reality for us and Mom too." She promised to herself.

Feeling a familiar presence, Oscar left the dining table and rushed outside Ur's house. But when he was there, he found no one.

'This presence. It's so familiar. Ugh!' Oscar fell to the ground as a sudden headache came.

Ur panicked as he saw Oscar collapse in pain. Gray and Lyon also felt the same. They rushed to approach Oscar.

"Oscar! Oscar! What happens?!" Ur asked.

"I…I…"

Before he finished his words, Oscar became unconscious. Seeing this, Ur and the others panicked more. They then brought Oscar to Ur's room and let him rest there.