“Mom!!"

A force that levels the entire third ring sends Koa flying into a nearby house, knocking him unconscious. Hours later, he awakens…Koa, Surprised to be alive, is met by a daunting silence. Covered in ash, he looks around. Everything is destroyed, and his family is nowhere to be seen. He calls out to them but no one replies. He is alone…

“Mom! Nova! Can anybody hear me!!”

Koa breaks into tears and drops to his knees. His body ached all over but no pain could distract him from the hole in his heart. He hears the sound of rocks shifting a few feet in front of him and quickly lifts his head to see if someone was there. It's difficult at first but he eventually is able to see a gray figure walking towards him through the smog. His first thought is that it may be his mother, but as the figure gets closer, he notices it’s a woman with black hair, silver eyes, and skin that glowed like honey. Too shocked to move he watches her as she kneels down in front of him. Her presence was not like anything else he ever felt. Her glow was warm and her eyes were calm. She reached her palm out to him and wiped his tears. She spoke softly.

“Fear not Koa, I mean you no harm. I’m sorry to tell you that the pain you feel now is merely growing pains in comparison to the pain to come.”

Koa is silent, not knowing how to respond.

“My powers are limited right now, but I can see greatness in you. After today, seek me out, and if you can find me, I will answer all of your questions.”

“W-What do you mean?” Koa said confused.

"There is no time." She said as she subtly placed her hand upon his forehead. A strange powers courses through Koa’s body, causing him overwhelming pain.

As this power surges through his body, the ground begins to shake, just moments before he is struck by a streak of green lightning. The sound alone was so blaring that it caught the attention of the Dawn-core, who had only moments ago regained their consciousness after the explosion.

They all move quickly to investigate. When they finally arrive, they witness first hand Koa's ascendance as he is levitating and enshrouded in green lightning. They approached cautiously just before Koa passed out from the pain. One of the guards moves quickly to catch him just before he can hit the ground.

“Captain, do you believe this child to be the cause of such destruction.”

“I-I'm not sure..." The captain replied.

"Well what should we do?"

"We'll bring him back to the capital. The general will want to see him when he awakes.

One of the guards steps forward and casts a magic rune. A yellow ring appears in front them. They each take turns entering before being transported back to the capital, where Koa awakens in a medical tent.

---Days Pass---

Koa finally awakens in a daze. Confused, he looks at his bandages and check the back of his for bruising. The pain is sharp but tolerable. He closes his eyes to conquer the pain before he overhears what sounds like a doctor standing outside his tent talking to a woman. When he leans up can could catch a slight glimpse of the woman. She had red hair and broad armor. She sounded angry, which was reason enough for Koa too be worried considering he didn't have a clue where he was. Of course, soon enough that worry turned into curiosity when Koa saw the Dawn-Core Emblem on her sleeve. Desperate, Koa attempt to sit up and get a better listen, before incidentally falling out of the bed in pain. The sound of him falling is so loud that the doctor hears him from outside the tent and rushes back in to immediately help him up. After he is placed back on the bed, the red-armored woman slowly stepped into the tent just before locking eyes with Koa. Her eyes were like blades piercing his soul. Koa felt immense power coming from her and thought to himself.

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"What is this power I'm feeling... It's like I can feel her power pressing on my chest!"

Koa swallows his pain nervously as the doctor tries to assure him that he can relax, but just before he can, the woman steps forward.

"State your name!"

Koa's confidence was killed in a mere second. Almost too nervous to speak, he manages to just barely utter his name.

"What do you know about the magic used to destroy the third and second ring? How can someone so young be capable of such an atrocity!"

"First of all, I'm twelve. Second, you can't be seriously thinking I'm the cause of all this...I had nothing to do with this; it was that huge monster and the creepy guy in a cloak."

Unsatisfied with his answer, she gets upset and grabs him by his shirt before pulling him in closer.

"No one here remembers any monster or cloaked man! Now, If you don't start making sense soon, you will be put to death by me personally!"

Koa's body tenses at the thought of her thrashing him around the room like some kind of rag doll, but swears he is telling the truth. Still in disbelief she grunts in anger before releasing his shirt and storming out of the tent.

Koa could hear her outside the tent.

"He doesn't leave this tent, you understand!"

"Yes General!" said the guards standing in front of the tent.

Meanwhile, inside the tent the doctor packs and gather all of his things. Just before departing he turns to speak to Koa one last time.

"Just try and get some rest, Okay? I promise you the General isn't usually like this...

(Koa silent)

The doctor places his bag at the foot of Koa's bed. "It's been a dark couple of days for all of Atowa, and she just buried another one of her comrades today."

"She's the General? I didn't know...wait...Days! How long have I been asleep, and where is my mother? My little sister, has anyone seen them?"

"No son, I'm sorry. Unfortunately, you're the only recorded third ring survivor... I'm so sorry."

Koa, heartbroken. "Can I at least help search for them?"

"Unfortunately, you're in no condition to be moving around and have been ordered to remain in this tent until your trial tomorrow."

"Trial? That can't be possible, I'm just a kid. You can't really think I did this? You got to believe me!"

The doctor steps back from Koa. "It matters not if I believe you son, the high council will make their decision tomorrow."

Koa, disappointed, lies down and tries to gather his thoughts. The doctor exits the tent and leaves Koa to himself. When Koa covers his face, he is alone in silence until a familiar voice invades his thoughts.

"Koa, come to me."

Before Koa could react he succumbs to the vision of a woman dressed in white and gold. Unable to place the vision, he fears that his mind is playing tricks on him. That's at least until his body begins to glow moments later. Unable to control the light excreting from his skin, he watches in shock as all his wounds are healed. When the light fades and the pain is gone, he can't believe it.

"W-What the heck? I-Im healed. The pains it's...It's gone."

Koa see's this as an opportunity, and slowly creeps from his bed and towards the entrance of the tent. When he peaks he catches a quick glimpse of the two guards in charge of watching the tent. His timing is perfect, as the two guards seem to be more concerned with passing the time than actually doing their jobs. Unseen, he sneaks out the front and makes his way around the back of the tent, where he finds a brick wall. He climbs atop that wall and without hesitation drops on the other side. He finds himself on a stone road that gives him a view of all of Atowa. From where he stood he could all the damage the city had taken.

Standing just within the first ring, a place he never pictured himself being, he is overwhelmed with sadness as he drops to his knees. As he cries, the subtle footsteps of someone approaching from behind become evident to him. The same subtle footsteps stop to his right as he turns his head to the glimpse of someone's feet standing next to him. His eyes trace that person feet all the way to their head before he notices It's a girl, perhaps around the same age as him standing next to him.

"Why are you crying?", she said.

Koa, too distraught to lie confides in her. "I couldn't save them. My mom, my sister..Anyone. They're all just...Gone."

"I'm sorry to hear that...My mom died a long time ago..She always said to me that through Eos, she would always be with me. It's just my father and me now, though."

Koa saddens, "That's only if they ascended. No one from the third ring has ever done that."

"That can't be true. When I heard the guards bring you in, they said you had just ascended, and you're from the third ring, right?"

Koa smiles slightly. "I guess you're right."

"Anyway, what could you have done against that monster?

"W-Wait, you saw it!" Koa turned with his eyes widened.

"Of course, how could I miss it!"

He moves awkwardly close to her, "You have to come to my trial tomorrow and speak on my behalf. Please, you're my only hope!"

She blushes just before quickly turns her back to him. "I can't...My father has forbidden me to speak of what I saw, I'm so sorry."

Before he could convince her otherwise, she vanished into thin air. Koa is left confused and hopeless without even getting a name. With no choice, and no interest of becoming a Atowan criminal, he decides to hop back over the wall and sneak back into his tent. Unnoticed, he lays back down on his bed and attempts to gather his thoughts. Everyone he loved is gone and it seems as if all is lost. His mind wanders, as the possibility that he may be persecuted for something he didn't have anything to do with racks his brain. All his life he thought about what his life would be like if he ascended. The fact that it could all end tomorrow was overwhelming, as he closed his eyes to try and at least get some sleep. Praying that tomorrow he would wake up from this nightmare he thinks.

"I'm so screwed."