The sun slowly rose, lighting up a small park of decaying trees and dead grass. The sun longed to ignite feelings of hope and joy in the hearts of its spectators.
However, today, the sun did no such thing. It was a symbol of despair, fear, and futility.
The sun told a young boy his nightmare was not a passing dream he would forget come the next day.
Hagan sat in the dead grass, in front of him lay the his mother. A horrible patch of red grass surrounded her body, continuing to grow ever so slowly.
Hagan clutched his mothers hand, weeping.
His heart cried out to the world, asking why. Why her? What did she ever do? She didn't deserve this!
As his tears mixed the blood of his mother, Hagan made a promise. A promise to never be weak. A promise to protect his loved ones.
A promise to live for his mother, Serenity.
'Whoever did this… will pay.'
"I'll kill them. I swear. I swear it! Their dead!"
Hagan got up after nearly an hour of being by his mothers side, afraid to leave her. With his body soiled by blood, his mind was in turmoil.
'Where am I supposed to live now? What about food? H-… How do I live from now on?'
Hagan moped around, not knowing where to go or what to do. Many bystanders attempted to approach him, but to no avail. Afterall, it was much uncommon and eerie to see a six year old walking around while covered in blood.
Without thinking, Hagan wandered. He went to places he'd never been, never heard of. Eventually, he ended up back at the park at sundown. The only difference being that his mothers body was gone, presumably taken by the local authorities.
As he continued walking, a tall man wearing a dark blue uniform tried talking to him, Hagan ignored him too. However, the man was persistent.
"Hey! Get back here, boy!"
Hagan continued walking but he was stopped by the tall, burly man.
"Hey, kid. What are you doing? Whose blood is this?"
Hagan looked at his feet and began to tear up once again. The man took notice and kneeled down beside him, offering a shoulder.
Hagan tried his best to hug the large man and cry into his shoulder, however he was much too large.
"Don't worry, kid. Your safe now. Can you tell me your name?"
"H-H-Hagan"
As Hagan closed his eyes, the air around him changed. In fact, everything changed.
The man was gone, the air became cold, as if to mock him, and he was having a bit of trouble breathing. As he opened his eyes to see why… everything… was different, he had no idea what was happening.
All around him, the ground was covered in snow, trees with snow covering them littered the ground. In the distance, he could see a mountain, its peak hidden behind a veil of clouds.
He looked all around, trying to find anything, a trace of human life, infostructure, anything. But there wasn't. There was only snow, trees, and mountains.
Hagan began walking forward when suddenly, he was frozen in place.
"Greetings… . Welcome to your first Trial. I am The Speaker."