Phoenix

Memories Begin

"Em? You okay?"

Emi nodded slowly before that memory faded away and another one took its place.

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"But I don't want to wear a dress!"

"Sprinkle, it will only be for an hour. Then you can change into your clothes and we can take you out for ice cream."

Emi started to run around her room as her parents tried to catch her to put on the dress.

"You can't make me!"

The father was able to get a hand on Emi as he cheered, "Gotcha!"

"No Papa! Don't make me wear it!"

"Don't you want to look pretty for Arthur?"

The little girl blushed before she slowly stopped squirming in her father's arms.

"Just one hour, Momma?"

"Just one hour," the woman repeated.

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Arthur and Emi were at their favorite spot on the hill. They looked to be around four.

"This is so stupid. Why can't I choose who I want to marry?"

"Arthur, do you not like Angela?"

"Not at all! She always laughs at you and makes you feel bad."

"But I'm okay, Arthur. It doesn't hurt me that much. Your parents want you to marry so you can leave the village and be happy."

"I'm not marrying anyone unless it's you!"

Emi blushed at the memory, taking in the boldness of her childhood friend.

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Emi looked up at the sky as she played with Arthur. The boy said that they were late for dinner and that they should head back to their village before it got dark out. Emi happily agreed and took the boy's hand and started running.

"I'll race you there!"

The two children ran all the way to the hill that sat right behind the village. Once the two made it over the hill, their eyes widened.

"Oh no. What's happening, Em?"

Emi looked at the village in shock. She immediately started to run for her house at the center of the village. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. There in the center of the village was an extremely tall looking creature. It had large hands and horns. Emi looked up at the monster as she was running and she saw a green laser beam shoot out of its mouth before turning to powerful flames as it hit multiple houses.

"I've seen this memory before," Emi suddenly stated. "It's from that day. The day that the demon destroyed my village."

Sting looked over to see that she had started crying.

Emi saw a couple starting to run out of their house.

"Momma!"

The couple turned their heads to see their daughter before telling her to run as far away as possible. Just then, another green laser was shot out of the monster towards Emi's house, completely destroying it. Smoke clouded the girl's vision as she tried to look at the destruction. Once the smoke cleared, all she could see was her house almost disintegrated and her parents lying motionless on the ground.