Gwendolyn H. White was your average high school student.

A gal that just lived life the way she liked it. Decent in class, and quite reasonable at her part time job. Lifestyle only had a little bit of spice.

And nothing changed throughout her first year at school. Not even the appearance of a magical being named Mia changed anything.

A small mouse-like creature that blessed Gwen with powers beyond her understanding. She was just your common background gal living their life. But when danger arises, there is only one person to save the day.

Gwendolyn the Wizard Princess.

Chosen by destiny to wield the cosmic magic of the stars. She along with others are the only heroes to stand against the forces of evil.

And now she was needed more than ever.

Lord Vanzyr's resurrection would be completed soon in his castle. His lieutenants had gathered all the necessary items for his return.

So our hero charged through the defenses and tore through his army with everything she got. Gwen was armed with a powerful blade gifted to her from the heavens. The Sky Shatter.

It cleaved through monsters and vanquished humans as Gwen continued her rampage throughout the castle.

"We should've called the others! You were foolish to fight the dark army on your own!" Mia scolded Gwen for her decision to go alone.

It was indeed foolish, but Gwen had no time left.

"Should've listened to the rat, girl!" Our hero and her familiar came to a stop. Before them stood one of the three lieutenants. It was Morgan the Beast, and he blocked their way further into the castle. "Blessed be my blade for I am given the honor to kill for you, Lord Vanzyr! Yes, silence the maw of this brat and I shall feed upon the carcass of this rat that dared to follow!"

"Ugh, not this guy!" Mia said. "And I'm a mouse, not a rat!"

"I'm ready for an eye-tingling salt!"

"What!?"

"I didn't ask for your license!"

Despite being fitted out in a heavy set of armor, along with the fact that he was armed with a sword bigger than both of them, Morgan was deceptively fast.

Gwen barely had enough time to block his attack, the full weight of his sword sent a shiver through her body.

"Gwen!" Mia cried out.

He pulled back his massive sword and slammed it back down. The floor beneath them shattered as Gwen took it all. Her knees shook as the pain finally settled in.

"Discount sales on a bloody surprise!" He roared as he went for another smash.

But Gwen dodged this time and countered with a blazing slash. As expected, Morgan was too heavily armored to be affected.

"Bless me Lord Vanzyr, for in your memory I shall be immortal!"

It was practically invisible to the naked eye. His sword flew over Gwen's head as she ducked with teeth gritted. Morgan proved to be a worthy foe, but she still had some tricks up her sleeves.

Morgan crushed the marble floor and sent cracks along the walls. He shattered the whole room as if it was nothing.

As their duel continued, Morgan had not noticed the whispers that came from Gwen. And it was far too late to do anything as Sky Shatter started to glow intensely.

"My Lord?" Were his final words as Gwen smote him with the power of the stars. A pillar of light consumed him and vaporized his whole being. Nothing was left but a smoldering crater.

"Nice work Gwen! You taught that crazy knight what's what!"

Gwen ignored Mia and pushed further.

More monsters tried to stop her, but they were nothing compared to her.

As she ran deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast, her surroundings started to change. What was once a hallway of gray bricks and fancy decorations was replaced with the coldness of shiny steel. Pipes ran along the surface of the walls with a few blinking panels here and there.

The lights bathed them with a purple glow. As they charged forward, even the monsters and humans changed for the worse. Disfigured and disgusting, horrors hidden beneath this castle of cruelty.

She came upon a large pair of doors soon after slaughtering more beasts. With a powerful swing, the doors broke apart like crumbling dirt.

"You're too late, wizard!" The witch of Vanzyr, Purpura Gladius. A nasty woman who nearly rivaled Gwen when it came to magic.

She wasn't alone, the third of the three lieutenants of Vanzyr stood before a large casket. He wasn't human unlike Purpura, no, this creature was taller than the rest and had three pairs of arms. Slender in physique. His most notable detail was that his face was spider-like.

Alexander Kincaid. And this large room… was his lab.

"As foolish as usual, Mia! You should've held that girl on a tighter leash! Well, I expected less from the sidekick, of course."

"You take that back! Gwen and I will be enough to defeat all of you! I hope."

Purpura laughed at her false bravado. "You can't even stop shivering like a child. What use would you be, pest?"

"Enough!" All eyes landed on Alexander. "My master cannot wait any longer! For years I've built his empire so that when he awakens, the world would become his! Pay attention, child, for you witness the birth of a new world!"

The black casket, adorned with gold and priceless jewels. Hidden within was the master of darkness, Lord Vanzyr.

Gwen felt the overwhelming malice from him. It was suffocating.

Before the hero could act, Purpura conjured a transparent wall and prevented Gwen and Mia from attacking.

This was bad.

Gwendolyn chanted to her sword.

As she did so, Alexander had begun his final task.

It was a race.

The two only stopped to take a short breath.

The barrier shattered into a million pieces as Gwen finished her spell.

Purpura couldn't stop Gwen as she flew across the room, sword poised to strike. Her blade sunk into the casket and a blinding light burst forth.

But when that light vanished, Gwen heard her heart roar like a rumbling storm. A gauntlet caught the tip of her sword with ease.

He awakened.

With a flick of his fingers, Gwen was propelled back to where she started.

"What disappointment." Vanzyr scoffed. "This is what he sent? This is your hero, Mia? I am insulted."

"We… we are doomed."

Just from the sight of him, all hope within Mia vanished. Faced with a powerful being of great power, there was nothing left but to beg.

Gwendolyn had not given up.

Defiant in the face of it all, she pushed forward. He was stronger than everyone in the room. Yet she pushed forward.

Everything led to this moment. The final battle between good and evil. Though she was just a human blessed with magic, Gwen knew she could win.

They exchanged destructive spells.

None escaped their wrath as everything around them was rendered to ash and dust. Throughout the intense battle, only Gwen was damaged or injured. Her armor was both scratched and dented. Some burnt spots littered what used to be shiny and clean.

As for Vanzyr, he was untouched. Compared to her, his armor was as good as new.

No matter how hard she struck him, he still stood. He was invincible in her eyes.

There must be a weakness somewhere.

The world depended on her.

Gwendolyn reached deeper into her soul for more strength.

Her blade finally left a deep cut in the brow of his helmet. A glimmer of hope empowered Gwen.

"Impossible!"

She grinned.

"Do it now, defeat evil once and for all!" Mia cheered as Gwen's attacks steadily quickened as time went by.

And with every strike, his armor started to chip away. And the fancy and ceremonial robes he wore torn bit by bit.

His remaining lieutenants could only watch as their master slowly lost ground. Years of preparation soon to be wasted by one fatal encounter.

Alexander wanted to jump in and help Vanzyr but knew that he was below their league.

"How!? How could I lose!?"

Gwendolyn said nothing. She only gave him a sly smirk. That small taunt was enough to boil his blood. And he couldn't do anything about it.

Finally, after minutes of humiliation, Gwendolyn swung her blade in an arch.

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With that, Vanzyr's head was lopped off his shoulders. Finally, a great evil was vanquished into the void.

Vanzyr could only watch as his life slowly faded away. He stared at the victor of their battle and strangely felt… content. As if his worries went away the moment he lost in that duel. Was he satisfied? Satisfied that Gwendolyn defeated him?

His eyes started to feel heavy.

This was for the best. No point in conquering a world without all of his lieutenants present. Only a few of them were around to witness his return. So Vanzyr believed that Morgan had died long before he awoke. Many others weren't present as well. Faces upon faces, even those he couldn't recognize flashed before him.

What would he even do once he ruled the world? Too many things to manage, too stressful.

This was for the best.

"Pay attention, child, for you witness the birth of a new world!"

Just as he closed his eyes, Vanzyr snapped them open when he heard Alexander.

The light nearly blinded him as the world returned. Confused, he stood there and gawked at his surroundings. It was Alexander's lab, untouched by the wrath of both Vanzyr and Gwen.

Despite things being a bit blurry, he noticed that there were five other people in the room. Wait, five?

Vanzyr rubbed his eyes clear.

Now that he could see better, everything confused him more.

A man with crimson armor stood next to Purpura. The strangest part of him wasn't the massive sword in his hand, no, it was the fact that this man was shirtless. All that armor and this man decided to go without a chest plate. Like he was asking to be killed.

There was also another person, this one stood a few feet from Vanzyr, just to the left. This guy at least had the decency to wear proper clothes. A fancy one too. The only odd part about him was the mechanical pair of arms that sprouted out his back.

Out of all them, Purpura he recognized. But she looked a little different than before.

Wait, that man in red.

"Morgan?"

"Praise you, my lord! You've returned to finally wreak havoc and free me from my prison!"

"What?"

Impossible.

This was the moment of his resurrection.

The same lab he woke up in. Again.

Vanzyr looked around more. Everything was just as before his final battle with Mia's hero.

The well-dressed man laughed. "Fools, with Lord Vanzyr awakened, this world shall experience a new reign of darkness!"

"Pause!" He demanded. "Pause for a second! I need to think!"

Everyone stopped the moment Vanzyr ordered it. Even the other two of the five people. They were just there at the entrance.

Now that he remembered them, Vanzyr looked at them a little closer.

As if it wasn't already weird enough, there was a young girl in a very pretty and colorful dress. In her hand was a golden sword with gems that decorated the crossguard. Runes written on both sides.

The next was a creature of sorts, only half the height of the girl next to it, which certainly made them even smaller than Vanzyr. Miniscule even. If anything, this thing barely reached his knees.

As for what it was. Vanzyr guessed that the creature was a pudgy and human-like mouse with faded green fur. This thing wore clothes that would've made it cute if it was… thinner. Wait, he knew this creature.

"Mia?"

"Lord Vanzyr!" It was Mia, which certainly shocked the dark lord. "Your evil ends here! Rebecca and I shall put a stop-"

"Why are you ugly?"

Everyone in the room stared at him. Vanzyr had just insulted Mia out of the blue, and her little monologue was rudely interrupted just as it started.

"Hey… that's a little mean."

"You look like a pear that grew legs." He stated. "I mean, no offense, but why are you dressed like that? Did you seriously think it was even a good idea?"

She looked down at her clothes. Mia wore shorts and a shirt with a small stain on it. If anything, that wasn't what Vanzyr remembered. It was more adorable. Was that not a vision of the future? Why was everything different?

"I forgot to do my laundry…" Mia admitted.

"You're shaped like an eight."

Even Purpura started to feel uncomfortable with Vanzyr's comments.

"Weren't you brighter in color? Like lime? Now you're just moss green."

Mia couldn't even look him in the eyes anymore.

"What have you been eating? Certainly, your lifestyle has ruined your small body more than that time I set you ablaze."

This girl who was now known as Rebecca could only watch with pursed lips as Vanzyr continued his verbal abuse.

"Yeesh, is that a stain I see? Disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself. And pull down that shirt will you? I don't like looking at the pouch you call a stomach."

"P-please…" Tears threatened to fall as Mia did her best to fix her image. Sadly, she was failing at that too; her shirt was too small to pull down.

"My Lord… I understand that your evil has no bounds, but could you refrain from any more rude comments?" The fancy man requested.

"Who are you?"

"My Lord, it is I, Alexander Kincaid."

"You? You're human!" Disbelief laced his voice.

"I've always been?"

Vanzyr raised a hand at the imposter. "Lies! Kincaid was an arachnid. You dare steal his name and make a pitiful attempt to deceive me!?"

"Wait!" Purpura stepped in his way. "He is telling the truth, my Lord! I've witnessed him revive Morgan!"

"Out of hell, buy some blood!" Morgan said.

"I… I don't understand!" Vanzyr snapped. "You!"

He pointed his finger at Rebecca.

"Where is the girl in the armor!? Who are you!?"

Rebecca said nothing.

"Very well, if you do not answer, then I shall-"

His head flew off as Rebecca sliced through his neck.

But the moment she did so…

"Pay attention, child, for you witness the birth of a new world!"

"What!?" Vanzyr screamed as his hands grasped his neck.

He wanted to glare at Rebecca but found no sign of her. Only his lieutenants, Mia, and some girl in a strange red dress were present.

"I… What is going on!?"

"My Lord! These fools dared to attack us during the greatest day of our lives! Smite them so we can focus on the rest of the world!" Alexander said.

"Kincaid, you're… not human anymore."

"What do you mean, my Lord? I've always been a demon."

"Wait… I had my head chopped off… Where is she!?" Vanzyr pointed at Mia as he demanded an answer.

"Who? Angelica?"

"No, Rebecca! How dare she attack me while I was distracted! Such dishonor will be punished!"

"I have no clue who you're talking about."

"I will not be denied! My vengeance shall be swift!"

He promised, but then he heard those words again.

"Pay attention, child, for you witness the birth of a new world!"

"What!?" Vanzyr was utterly confused.

"Lord Vanzyr! You've awakened!"

"No… this can't be… I died… Yet, how am I here?"

Were they dreams? Perhaps it was indeed a vision of the future? But it does not explain the changes.

"You…" Vanzyr glared at Mia and her companion. "What is the meaning of this!?"

"I don't understand!" Mia said.

"We've been here before… What spell did you cast upon me, you wretch! Answer me or your death shall be painful!"

The girl wasted no time and attacked, Vanzyr defended himself. But just like before, after a destructive battle between the two, Vanzyr was defeated.

He woke up once more, this time, everything was silent. No shouting, no monologues. Nothing.

Vanzyr was still in Alexander's lab.

A barrage of questions pounded in his head. Confused and tired, Vanzyr sat up and discovered that he was sleeping in a casket.

Everything felt so real. It couldn't have been a dream. Every time, things change. All of it had one thing in common, Vanzyr woke up in a lab.

He stood up and started investigating.

The whole aesthetic of this lab was for some mad scientist. Monstrosities held within test tubes. A surgical table complete with all equipment needed to save or ruin a life. Cages filled with people and animals were kept for projects that wouldn't be humane. Vanzyr didn't care much about them, Alexander was free to do as he pleased, as long as it benefited Vanzyr.

For a moment, he stared at them. He felt no remorse, but only some hint of pity.

His hand reached for the brow of his helmet. Clean as if it was first placed on his head. But he remembered it so well, how Gwen's sword sliced through years of hard work. The look in her eyes was so real. Filled with so much determination that it rivaled his. In the end, she came out as the winner of their duel.

An explosion shook the lab, some instruments nearly fell off the table but Vanzyr caught them with his magic.

Curious, Vanzyr activated a small surveillance spell.

His vision filled with locations throughout the castle, one stood out. Out in the courtyard was the aftermath of a massive war. Three stood amongst the dead, and Vanzyr recognized Morgan and Mia.

His crimson knight was still shirtless. The only noticeable difference now was that he looked shorter.

As for Mia, it was far worse than the last time he saw her. The little mouse looked exhausted. She was slouching and her arms drooped from her bare shoulders. She wasn't even wearing a stained shirt, just a tank top with some cutesy mascot on it. At least it was a clean one this time. Her hair was unkempt and frizzled. Her fur was a faded shade of green. So much so that she looked grey. At least her hair was still a noticeable green, albeit darker.

She was more of a sloth than a mouse with the way she acted.

Finally, the girl.

If memory was correct, then this was Mia's chosen hero.

The sword was in her hands.

Sky Shatter.

She was young, yet her eyes showed years of experience. No doubt about it, within this girl was Gwendolyn. For what reason she took a different form, Vanzyr does not know.

Gone was her armor, replaced with a frilly and colorful dress. Impractical, but Vanzyr knew that she didn't need any protection if she could bend the will of magic itself.

"My spine broke before dinner!"

Vanzyr cocked a brow.

Morgan was spouting nonsense after nonsense. It confused the wizard greatly.

He watched as the crimson knight battled with the hero. It was intense, but Vanzyr knew that Morgan was fated to lose. The girl was just on another level.

His vision shifted over to Mia, he had expected the small rodent to cower in fear. But instead, she was on her rear looking at the fight with disinterest.

"We must hurry!" Vanzyr returned to the lab as the doors flew open.

Two figures rushed in after.

It was a young Purpura and some small flying black cat.

"Morgan will not be able to keep her out any longer," The cat said. "We must hurry with the ritual and awaken our master! Only he can defeat Sam and that filthy rat, Mia!"

"Alexander, the coffin…"

The two panicked the moment they realized Vanzyr wasn't there.

"How is this possible!? Did her friends sneak in while we were distracted!?"

Purpura clenched her fist. "Those annoying fools will pay!"

"Fear not, I am here." He made his presence known.

Once again, Alexander Kincaid changed. Everything around Vanzyr shifted again and again. It wasn't a dream, Vanzyr concluded. He didn't know what they were exactly, but he would get to the bottom of things at a later time. For now, he must address his subordinates. One of whom was a talking cat.

"My Lord!" The two kneeled before his greatness.

"How could this be, the ritual has not even begun!"

"Purpura you fool! He is Lord Vanzyr! Of course, the master would awaken himself at the first sign of danger! What are your orders, master?"

Vanzyr was silent. He examined both of them as he was deep in thought.

One glance, and you'd mistaken Alexander as an ordinary house cat. But if you looked into his eyes you'd see an unreasonable amount of pupils. The smile on Alexander was impossibly long, from ear to ear.

It was strange.

Vanzyr remembered before his fall, Alexander was an arachnid-like being with a dangerous intellect. And throughout his visions, Alexander changed every time. If anything, the visions told Vanzyr that only one of his lieutenants changes.

"Yeah… get him, Sam…"

His attention returned to the courtyard. Mia was cheering the girl on with the enthusiasm of a rock.

Sam, so that was her name. This girl who was destined to battle him for the future of this world.

"Wait here." Vanzyr ordered his lieutenants.

They couldn't question him as he disappeared from the lab.

Morgan fought ferociously as he was backed into a corner. His sword started to feel heavy despite his amazing strength. His opponent looked flawless after all this time. He had delivered a few blows, yet none left a scratch. If he was to die here then he would gladly do so. If it meant that his master would awaken without disturbance, then he'd die a million deaths.

Sam raised her blade and aimed for his exposed chest. He was a fool because his chest was exposed.

Only for her sword to hit nothing.

Confused, Sam stared at the spot where Morgan was.

"What happened? Where did the idiot go?" Mia questioned. "Oh, great. He woke up! His ritual is complete. Sam, you go deal with him, I'll just stay out here."

The girl gave Mia a nod and moved on. There were still monsters and cultists that needed to be dealt with.

Morgan was surprised to see that he was in the lab. He would've questioned it but his eyes caught the sight of his magnificence.

"My Lord, you've awakened!" The knight nearly tackled Vanzyr in an attempt to hug the dark lord but was kept still by Vanzyr's magic. "Long I've endured a thousand steps to bathe in your glory! To taste just a fraction of your power, and learn the secrets of eternal life! For in your memory, I shall be immortal!"

"Is he always like this?"

"Only when he speaks about you, my Lord," Purpura answered. "But most of the time he only speaks nonsense. Isn't that right, Morgan?"

"Purple spits only detergents!"

"See?"

"Forgive my disgrace!" Alexander bowed before Vanzyr. "But we must acknowledge the problem at hand! Our forces will not be able to keep Sam distracted long enough! So I must ask you, Lord Vanzyr, what is your brilliant plan!?"

Vanzyr chuckled. "My plan? This Sam girl, she is nothing compared to me! With our strengths combined, we will send her to the depths of oblivion-"

That's when he realized. If the visions were all true, then this would lead only one way.

Death.

When he first was defeated by the one who placed him in the casket, Vanzyr survived the final hit. In all of his visions of the multiple futures, he dies in all of them. But still, it didn't explain the changes in everything.

One thing for sure was that there was no way out of it.

For once in his life, Vanzyr felt something he had long forgotten. It was fear. He felt it coiling around his neck, and it threatened to pop his head from his shoulders.

It was inevitable, he was destined to die. And he was scared.

"On second thought, I do believe we must retreat and regroup."

"But what of our initiates? The Cult of Vanzyr cannot be left behind!"

Alexander was silenced with a single glare.

"Do not question me, Kincaid."

The small monster could only cower before him.

"Purpura, tell me the status of our influence. How far does my power reach?"

"Forgive me," She lowered her head in shame. "Months have passed since Sam had awakened before you, my Lord. And she along with others destroyed our bases all over the world. This castle, our headquarters, is the only remaining base we have left."

"I see, so there's no choice." He waved his hand and the three felt nauseated. The world around them melted and merged.

It was as if it was simply all a dream. The cold stone surface of Alexander's lab shrunk away as, and everything he owned vanished.

The ceiling ripped apart which slowly revealed the open blue skies before trees shot up from the ground and over their heads. Soon enough, they were blanketed under a layer of green.

"W-where are we?" Purpura took a step forward but Morgan kept her in place. Her heart raced as she realized the cliff before her. And she was about to fall right off if it weren't for Morgan. "Oh, that was a close one. Thanks for that-"

"I got scurvy!" He said as he slammed Purpura into the ground.

"Hilarious," Alexander noted.

"Enough!" Thunder erupted despite the clear weather. Vanzyr brought their attention over the cliff. "I've brought us somewhere I've felt great magic residue. A familiar one at that, almost the same as yours, Kincaid."

"This…" Purpura gasped. "This place is Goldcrest! Morgan, it's our hometown!"

"This is where you were born?" Vanzyr asked as his curiosity grew.

"Yes, master," Alexander confirmed. "This is the place where I awoke your lieutenants after my thousand-year sleep!"

"I see, that explains the magic in the air."

The town below, just miles away, was fairly large. It seemed to be far from the nearest city. Secluded enough for his standards.

"This shall be where our foundation will be built! First, I must admit something to you, my faithful servants."

The three waited in silence.

"I am scared." He was honest. Vanzyr wanted them to know his reason. "Mia has chosen wisely with Sam. She is the only one in my way of fulfilling my lifelong dream."

Though he had expected them to shun him, it seemed that the three understood. Of course they did, they'd been battling Mia way before he had awakened. Sam was a metaphorical goddess compared to them. He'd seen Mia's hero unleash the power of the sun before.

Did he?

Vanzyr clutched his head as pain brought him to his knees. It felt like someone shoved a dagger into his skull and stirred it like a drink.

A vision once again, flashed in his mind and delivered a clear picture.

"My Lord!" They rushed over to his side.

He was in distress and pain. His head felt like cracking open, but whoever was the cause of it was a sadist.

"My mind…" Vanzyr muttered. "We need safety… Mia can trace my magic. If we do not seek shelter soon, they will find us here in the open."

"I know a place," Purpura claimed.