It takes the slightest event to alter one's fate.

One simple act or stroke of chance and an individual’s life is changed forever. I have experienced such many times, witnessed may who’s lives took unexpected turns due to the unseen hands of destiny. Those unexpected turns lead to altering and conflicting many fates, both personally and indirectly, both positive and negative, two sides of the same coin one could say.

I call such individuals Anomalies.

Those who break from the norms of reality and alter even the course of history.

As a recorder of such events, I make it a point to never interfere with the world of mortals, an oath I took to ensure neutrality for the sake of my compendium. And so I watch the weaves of this reality bind, taking in the curious threads of fate weaved by these anomalies.

Hm? Oh, my apologies! I suppose I haven’t properly introduced myself.

My name is Ark.

Within these pages confines a path one such path that changed the hearts and destinies of may, a curiosity case that even I grew an attachment to.

This is a tale of the Goddess Chosen.

****

A dark pit of a world, cut off from any sources of light. Violent storms raged outside. The only building stood out in this dark, gloomy abyss, a giant cathedral that stood in defiance to the elements.

Within its dark walls, four figures stood around a crystal ball.

"Are you sure about this?" asked one of the gathered, sounding particularly irritated.

"It's no lie. There is a great amount of mana gathering here." Said another.

"It's been over 1500 years since it appeared first, why would it appear now of all time?" said a woman who sounded almost amused.

"Regardless," said a final figure who sat on a black throne. "It poses a serious threat if it chooses a wielder." He then turned to the woman, "Send some of your Assassins to seek it out."

"And if it has chosen a wielder?"

"Eliminate them."

*****

Two blurred figures stood on a beach. Both posed to strike. Both were unrecognizable. One wielded a blackened sword, the other, a sword of bright light. In a quick motion, the two collided in a flurry of black and white.

The buzz of the alarm clock awoke the girl from her slumber.

"Hmmm...." She groaned as she reached around, fumbling for the switch to turn if off.

The girl sat up, sheets pulling off, revealing the 15-year-old girl with long blond hair. "Another weird dream again...." She muttered, putting a hand to her head.

She slowly got up, walking around her cluttered room with clothes, passing the draws with figures that one wouldn't expect to find, making her way to the desk, circling the date.

She had been having strange dreams for a week now. The same dream of two figures fighting to the death, over and over again.

"Allisa! Are you up?" A voice called out from outside the room.

"Yeah, I'm awake!" The girl called back.

She sighed to herself, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh well, it's just a dream."

The girl picked up her clothes from the floor, picking out her undergarments and a new shirt, glancing towards her calendar. "Two more days left," She said as she brushed her hair before tying it into a ponytail. She finished off by putting on a hoody and picking her school bag.

Her name was Allisa Reed. She was an ordinary girl, living an ordinary life. Today would start out as any other day.

And by the end of the day, her life would be forever changed.

****

Allisa let out a yawn as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen.

"Morning."

Allisa looked to her mother standing by the cooker, Alicia, who was preparing Allisa's breakfast.

"Morning mom," Allisa said wirily as she took a seat at the table as her breakfast was placed before her.

Sitting at the table was her 9-year-old brother, Luke, who had begun to eat his breakfast. Unlike Allisa, he had brown hair, which was inherited from there farther. Allisa how inherited her bothers long, blond hair.

"Are you ok, dear?" Alicia asked all of a sudden.

Allisa realized she had dozed off slightly. "Oh, yeah. Just had a rough night." She hadn't told anyone about her strange dreams.

"A rough night doing what?" Luke scoffed.

"None of your business," Allisa shot back.

"Now now, there's no need for that," Alicia said.

At that moment, a tall man with brown hair, much like Lukes, walked in carrying a newspaper. He was Herb, Allisa's father, though most couldn't really see the resemblance since Allisa inherited her mother's hair color.

"Good to see you're finally up." He said as he took a seat next to the table.

Allisa grumbled quietly to herself, "It's not like I was taking my time,"

Not hearing her, Herb took out the newspaper, reading the current news. "That reminds me, Chris told my Lucy's got herself on that archery course over the summer,"

Allisa flinched. "I-I know...."

"You got two more days till summer vacation, and I told you before, I don't want you waiting that time doing nothing."

"I know dad." Allisa sighed inwardly. It wasn't the first time she had resaved a lecture from her father on the mater, or the second.

"Sucks to be you," Luke jeered.

"Same goes to you to, young man." Herb said quickly as he got back to reading his newspaper.

Allisa finished up her breakfast as fast as she could to avoid staying longer than necessary.

"Ok, I'm off." She announced as she got up from the table.

"Want me to drive you to school?" Herb offered.

"No thanks," Allisa said quickly. "I'm walking with Lucy."

"Ok, have a nice day dear," Alicia called out.

****

Her School, Little Wood school, was located outside the town, near a forest. Her town, Little Wood, had little to do, apart from the shopping mall located in the town center. It was relatively big, and in the middle of a woodland area, but besides the few nature walks, there wasn't much reason to come to this out of the way little town. The school was a short walk from her house; she preferred the walk to being driven.

"Allisa!" A girl in glasses called for her. She also went to the same school as Allisa. She was wearing more stylish clothes compared to Allisa. Her hair was brown and was tied in a small ponytail.

"Hey Lucy," Allisa replied back. Lucy was Allisa's best friend, for a long time, going back to elementary school. They both took the journey to school together, where they mostly talked about what was on their minds.

"Are you ok, you seem a little down?" Lucy could always tell Allisa's moods, she knew when she was feeling low. "Is your dad still bugging you about summer vacation?"

"Yeah," Allisa sighed, "he even brought up your archery course,"

"Ohhh, Sorry, my Chris must have told him at work." Lucy apologized.

"It's not your fault," Allisa smiled back, shaking her head, "it would help if I knew what I wanted to do."

"Well... Look on the bright side. At least you're not taking summer school." Lucy said, trying to change the subject.

Allisa slumped down letting out a loud groan. "I only 'Just' avoided that, and my parents went happily at all. Even my brother did better than me."

Allisa was not good with academics. Her grades were average, bordering on fail. She also wasn't good at any particular sports, had no extracurricular activities of the sort. By comparison, Lucy was a straight-A student, and while was bad at sports like her friend, had a talent for Archery.

****

Little Wood elementary was both a High school and Elementary school, although they were kept separate. It was the only school in the town so everyone sent their kids there. It was your typical school, divided by popularity and other such conventions.

If there was one place Allisa felt she didn't fit in, it was school. A large part of it involved her interests, which were against the norm of a normal high school girl, aiming more towards comics and action figures against everything else.

****

"I'm sure you'll find something to do soon," Lucy said as the two approached their lockers.

"I hope so, or I'll have my dad in my case as usual." Replied Allisa.

"Well, if worst comes to worst, you could help out in the comic book store. You always go there anyway so I don't see that guy having any problem with it."

"Yeah.... I'm not that enthusiastic about that,"

"Well, well, if it isn't the tomboy and the geek." Came a new voice, which made both Allisa and Lucy cringe. The new voice came from Francesca, the school's most popular girl. She filled the role of popular girl almost perfectly looked down on most of the girls and anyone who wasn't popular but had a particular dislike for Allisa. Alongside her was the other popular girl, Julie, a girl who never really said much and kept mostly to herself.

"I really don't have the energy to deal with those two today," Allisa whispered to Lucy.

"I never do any day." Replied Lucy. Both turned to face them. The approached their lockers, which unfortunately next to Allisa's and Lucy's.

"Only two more days and I won't have to deal with you for the next two months." Said Francesca.

"That goes both ways." Replied Allisa quietly.

"So do you actually have any plans for summer vacation?" asked Francesca. "I bet you're just gonna lounge about with those comic books again. Unless you actually managed to get into summer school."

Allisa was silent on the question since she hadn't a clue.

"Well, what will you be doing?" Lucy asked, defending Allisa. "It's not like you have plans."

"Actually I'm going to Italy with my boyfriend" Francesca boasted. "But you'll understand 'if' you get a boyfriend."

"I'm single by choice!"

"What are you going to do?" Allisa asked Julie. Despite being one of the popular girls she was quite quiet and kept to herself more than most people.

"I don't believe its any of your business." She replied coldly. She then walked off.

"Hey wait!" Francesca called out as she departed.

"Geez. Hard to see those two as friends." Lucy commented.

"Yeah, given that their polar opposites, of each other," Allisa added as she resumed getting her textbooks from her locker. "And even they have something planned to do over the summer."

"Can't you let that go?" Lucy sighed.

"I'd love to, but you know my dad," Allisa responded as she closed and locked her locker. "Come on, let's get to class. Last thing I need is more reason for him to chew my head out."

Lucy let out a sigh as she and Allisa walked to there homeroom. "Guess you're not letting this go, huh?"

"With my dad, you bet I'm not." Allisa sighed. "Oh well, hopefully, something will turn up by the end of the day."

****

Allisa's stomach grumbled as she walked through the woods.

"Aw man," she said to herself rubbing her belly. "Why does stuff like that always happen to me?" On top of that, I have detention after school, just my luck. She thought to herself.

Allisa's school days weren't good in general. This one, however, was a particularly bad day. In class, she was caught not paying attention, messed up a pop quiz, got detention after school for both, tripped in at lunch hall and ruined her lunch.

During the break, she left the school grounds to go into the woods. In the wood was a little pond in a forest clearing. Allisa came her during her breaks. As far as she knew, she was the only one who knew about it, so it was her sanctuary from her less than perfect life.

She arrived at her spot and got out a chocolate bar she bought from a vending machine. "And this is the only food for lunch. Can this day get any worse?" She opened it and was about to eat it when she noticed something strange. "Hm? Is that a sword?"

Embedded in a rock near the pond was a sword. It shined in the sunlight. She went over to study the blade. It seemed old, but looked like it had just been made, featuring a golden cross guard that reflected the sun. "Wh-Whoa, it is!"

As Allisa got closer it gave off some kind of aura. Who would leave a sword out like this? And why is it in this rock?

She stared at where the blade was implanted in the rock. By the looks of it, it seemed pretty loose.

Allisa thought that it was best that she left it alone, but curiosity got the better of her. She got up on the rock and grabbed the hilt.

She tugged it to see if it would budge. The sword came out a little. She then heaved on the sword. It came straight out of the rock, causing her to fall over. She got up with the sword in hand. What amazed her was how light the blade was. The blade wasn't particularly long, however, despite how it looked it weighed almost nothing.

"Whoa... This is awesome!"

She gave it a few swings getting a feel for it. In the process, she accidentally hit the rock it was planted in, and sliced through it like it was butter. This took her by surprise. She felt as if she should leave it here and forget about it. However, she felt something unusual about it, like a strange warmth radiating down her left arm.

Just what is this thing?

****

Allisa managed to smuggle it back into school, and when no one was looking, put it in her locker before going off to find Lucy.

"You seem to be in a good mood for someone who had no lunch and detention after school," Lucy said as she was lead by Allisa to her locker.

"You're not going to believe this." She said as they reached her locker, "I just found this by that pond in the woods." She then opened it without looking in beforehand, glancing around to make sure no one else was watching. "Look!"

Lucy's reaction wasn't what she was expecting. "...... And what am I Looking at?" she asked.

Confused Allisa looked into her locker. The sword was gone. "Wha- Huh?!" Allisa exclaimed as she plunged her head into her locker. "But... But it was right here. Did someone break in or-" Allisa rumbled on in confusion as the object she found had vanished without a trace.

"Are you having some kind of breakdown?" Lucy asked with a hint of concern.

"Hey Allisa." came a charming male voice.

"Oh, hey Aston." Said Lucy.

Upon hearing the name, Allisa banged her head in her locker in surprise, she then removed her locker to face the boy, "Aston, hi" she said quickly. Aston was in the same grade as Allisa and Lucy and a member of the school's baseball team, and the boy Allisa had a crush on.

"Well, I have to be somewhere so I'll leave you alone," Lucy said cheekily.

"Wa- huh?" Allisa quickly turned round to stop her. "Wait! Y-You can't leave me alone with him." She whispered

"Why not, he might be here to ask you out." She whispered back as she walked off. "Good luck."

"Are you ok?" Aston asked.

"Y-Yes! I'm f-fine." Allisa replied nervously. "S-s-so were you going to ask me something."

"No, just passing by saw you looking for something in your locker. Thought you lost something."

"Oh right. No, I haven't lost anything."

"Ok, see you in class then." Aston then walked off.

As he left Allisa gave out a large sigh. "I sure screwed that up," she said to herself. "Still," she looked back at her locker, "That was definitely weird. Did I imagine it?"

****

The rest of Allisa's day was just as bad as the first half of the day. on top of which, she had detention after school which overran. It was 8:45 when she could finally go home. It was already dark by the time she started walking. "I swear they overran deliberately," Allisa said to herself. "Well, this is been a horrible day. And there's still tomorrow. Just my luck."

"It's a little late for a young beauty like yourself to be wandering around alone." Allisa heard a voice behind her. She turned and found leaning against the nearby streetlight a strange man. He was dressed very unusually, a vest with what seemed like a leather carapace and had a sword around his waist.

"Who are you?" Allisa asked feeling a little scared.

"Hey bro, is she the one?" A new and deeper voice came from behind Allisa. This new stranger was a massive brute of a man carrying an enormous axe, shooting her a large-toothed grin, with two missing teeth. Unlike the other man, he was half-naked, with one leather strap covering his massive torso, wearing black shorts that just barely covered his knees.

Allisa, starting to feel terrified started to back away slowly. Upon remembering the stranger behind her, she broke into a run across the street. Unfortunately, a third stranger was there. This man was far shorter than the others, bald with a long nose, dressed in a cloak and carried a large sickle in one hand, and an orange glowing crystal in the other.

"Yeah, that mana is coming from her." He said as he licked his lips.

"Really? Well, that is unfortunate. Hate to kill such a fine young lady." said the first man said as he pushed himself up. "Let's get this over with."

Allisa stood terrified as the three men were circling her. Her feet were trembling uncontrollably, and no matter what, they just wouldn't budge. "Wh-Who are you people? What do you want?" She finally said.

"Well, we're assassins sent to kill you." Answered the first man.

"K-k-k-kill me," Allisa was now so petrified with fear. She was now unable to move, let alone speak. "I-Is this a joke?"

"Frade not." The third man said shaking his head. "This is very real."

"Wha-What? What did I do?" she asked, although it came out in a quiet whisper.

"It's more what you're going to do which scares our employers or something like that." The first Assassin answered casually.

"What does that mean?! What's going on?!"

"Allow me bro." The big one then approached Allisa preparing to bring down a downward swing that would cleave right through her.

Allisa started in mortal horror as she saw her death fast approaching, feeling utterly helpless, too scared to even speak and move. The feeling in her feet suddenly went and collapsed to the ground, still unable to look away. The axe then swung down right towards her. All Allisa could do was close her eyes and wait.

The Assassin

Is this is it? I'm going to die like this? Allisa thought to her self over and over as waited for her death. She then opened her eyes slightly, seeing that she was still alive.

She then looked up. In front of her was a mysterious woman standing between the big assassin and her. The axe aimed at her had stopped, held back by a blade the woman carried in her left hand. Her manner of dress was as unusual as the three assassins, sporting short shorts, wearing a tunic, and in her right hand, she carried a dagger. The most striking feature though was her short, scarlet hair. Even to Allisa, she was undeniably beautiful.

"Who's she?" The short assassin asked with great surprise.

"Damn! Don't tell me someone else was sent as well?" The first said, sounding just as surprised by the appearance of this newcomer.

The big Assassin withdrew he's axe and took a step back. "Who the hell are you?"

Allisa stared at her supposed savior; unsure whether or not she was really saving her. The woman took a quick look at Allisa before turning her attention to the assassins.

"It takes the three of you to take out a defenseless little girl. Do you have any pride?" The woman said, with a slight mocking tone to her voice.

The big one then charged at the woman. "DON'T SCREW WITH US!" He yelled as he brought his axe to bear with an incredible amount of force.

"Don't you idiot!!" As the first tried to warn his colleague, the axe was parried by the woman's blade, crashing on the pavement hard enough to smash it.

Then, in a flash following the impact, the woman had made it behind him. And along his right side was a large cut, leaking blood rapidly. The man collapsed to his knees, grasping his open wound.

"Damn that idiot." Said the short assassin. "This chicks no amateur."

The woman then took a quick look at the terrified Allisa. "Start running." She said to her.

"Wha-?"

"I'll fend them off. Just get as far away as you can."

"Like hell you will!" The short assassin then charged as well. With tremendous speed brought his sickle down on the woman. She blocked it with her dagger then swung at him with her blade. Unlike the big assassin, the short one dodged the strike, backstepping away from her.

"Go!"

Allisa got feeling back into her feat. She then shot and ran as fast as she could into the forest. When she was gone, the woman faced her foe. Behind her, the big assassin got back up, ready for another attack.

"You're quite resilient." She said looking at the large gash she left on him, a large amount of blood pouring from the wound. "Most people wouldn't be able to move with a wound like that." As she looked at him, she came to a Shocking realization, "Wait," She said quickly looking around. "There were three of you...." Surrounding her was only two of the three assassins. One of them had disappeared.

The short Assassin gave out a short giggle. "I'm afraid that girl is going to die after all."

"Oh no." The woman quickly ran towards where Allisa had run off. The big assassin, however, blocked her way.

"You ain't going anywhere," He said raising his Axe to his shoulders, ignoring the bleeding wound. "I'll teach you to make a fool outta me!!"

****

Oh my god, oh my god, I'm dead, I'm dead. Allisa ran through the darkness of the forest, charging at full speed away from where the assassins were. Why's this happening? So many thoughts circled around in her head, so many questions about what was going on; two of the biggest being who were those four people, and what did she do deserve this. In fact, none of this seemed possible, like it was some horrible nightmare. But she was used to nightmares, ones she experienced night after night, and something was telling her this wasn't a dream, this was really happening. What the hells going on?!!

Too lost in thought to see where she was going, Allisa then tripped on a root and fell to the ground. As she got her self up, she fumbled in her pocket for her phone. "Come on, come on!" She said to herself. Not looking where she was going, she tripped on a root sticking out from the ground, crashing onto the ground hard. She groaned as she got up, searching for her phone that had flown from her hand. When she found it, it had broken into two. "Oh come on!"

Allisa stood back up, putting her back to the tree, taking in a deep breath. "Calm down, calm down," She said to herself, letting out a small chuckle. "It's just a dream..... you'll wake up and everything will be-"

Meditation was interrupted when she felt all the hairs standing on the back of her neck. Out of instinct, she leaped to the right, just as a sword swung.

Allisa rolled on the ground, staring up, seeing the first assassin pulling his sword free from the tree. "Damn, I missed," He groaned. "Not bad. Can't believe a greenhorn like you saw me coming."

Paralyzed with fear, Allisa shuffled away. It was then she felt pain coming from her left side. When she felt the spot, it was disturbingly warm. Looking at her palm, she froze. It was covered in blood. The sword had nicked her, leaving a small cut in her clothes. That was enough to tell her this wasn't a dream. This was reality.

"Things sure got complicated fast. Wasn't expecting someone else to be here," The assassin continued, walking towards Allisa who was stumbling back to her feet. "Oh well, those two should be able to handle her long enough for me to finish you off."

"S-Stay back!!" Allisa yelled, pulling out a branch she found on the ground in front of her as a way to defend herself. "M-My dad's a cop! I-If you do anything-"

Grinning, the assassin swung his sword, cutting the branch in two. "Does it look like I care?"

Now defenseless, Allisa threw the branch at the man, who dodged by sidestepping and continued to run as fast as she could away. I-I gotta find someone... She told herself. I gotta get-

She then tripped again, falling face-first on the ground with a loud thud.

"Geez, can't you put up a bit more of a fight, this is kinda pathetic."

Allisa turned around, and to her horror was the assassin, who had seemed to catch up with her. Actually, he had somehow overtaken her and tripped her.

"Wh-Wa-"

Allisa tried to mumble something when the assassin cut her off by resting his sword's tip, just below her chin, with the tip pointing at her throat. She wanted to say something, to scream. But not even a whimper escaped her lips

"I can't believe we're actually getting paid to kill you," the assassin scoffed as he withdrew her blade. "I've killed my fair share of losers in the past, and they sometimes put up a fight." He raised his sword over his head, shooting a wicked grin, "You have got to be the most pathetic target I've ever come across,"

Allisa stared up with terror. She wanted to run, to move, to defend herself, but her body refused to move. No... Her breathing became ragged. I don't wanna die.... She felt her fists clench. Not like this..... Her eyes widened as the blade began to fall towards her, tears forming by the side, and then shut them as tightly as she could.

I DON'T WANNA DIE LIKE THIS!!!!

Suddenly, a bright light burst from her left hand, blinding both Allisa and the assassin who stopped his swing and leaped backward. When the light died down, he looked with shock. "Wh-What the?!"

Allisa slowly opened her eyes, realizing she was still alive. Glancing down to her right hand, she looked with surprise. In her hand was a sword, the very same one from before.

"Hey! Where did you get that?" The assassin snapped, standing with his sword raised.

Allisa got back to her feet, holding the sword out, taking deep breaths. A warm feeling began to radiate throughout her body, which seemed to bring her shaking under control.

"Not answering, huh," The assassin spat, pulling back his sword. "Fine by me. Just cause you have a weapon now doesn't save you." He then lunged forwards.

Allisa still wanted to run, still terrified. But all of a sudden, something came over her. Impulses fired from her brain, overriding the instinct to run. Her arms seemed to move on their own, grasping the sword with both hands. And against every instinct telling her to run, Allisa charged forwards towards the Assassin, which caught him off guard, raising his blade in defense. Allisa swung her blade, purely on instinct, in a horizontal strike, cutting through the metal of the sword, sending the piece flying off. Then, in the same motion, raised her blade and struck downwards, slicing off the assassins' entire right arm.

"AHHHHHH!!!!" The assassin squalled in pain, leaping back, clutching his now missing arm.

Allisa stood there motionless. The sword suddenly disappeared, and she collapses to the ground.

"D-Damn that bitch!" The assassin cried out in pain, clenching his stub with his one remaining hand. He then looked at Allisa passed out on the floor. "Damn you!" He then reached down and drew out a dagger and approached Allisa. "I'll make sure this hurts as much as possible. I'll make you suffer for this!" He then got to her body and raised his dagger.

Suddenly, a blade then shot from his chest. In shock and disbelief, the assassin dropped the dagger. He stared at the blade sticking out from his chest.

"Don't worry. You won't die yet." The assassin slowly cracked his neck to look behind him. The scarlet haired woman was standing behind him holding the blade that had pierced his chest. "I made sure not to hit your heart to give you a little more time to answer my questions." She then held the dagger to his neck. "Who sent you?"

The assassin then laughed, blood flowing from his mouth. "Y-You're an assassin too..... D-Did the Arch sage send you?"

"Answer the question!" She demanded, "And I'll end your suffering."

"You're definitely in another league if you took out those two on your own."

The woman then pushed the blade in deeper. The assassin squirmed in pain. "Answer me!" She demanded.

"I-I.... don't know. We were hired in Deverlod..... by some lady with red eyes ..... to go to Terra and kill the next wielder of Excalibur!" The assassin looked at Allisa, "D-Didn't really believe it.... It's a fairy tale.... but turns out it was true..... S-Still, who thought it be some little girl.... The goddess must be outta her mind..... Choosing such a greenhorn." He then looked at the woman, "You think she's going to be some hero, you going to be disappointed...... She's not going to last long with those who want her dead."

The woman then stabbed the dagger into his throat, killing him. She retracted her blade and let the body slump to the ground.

She then went over to Allisa and got out a crystal, which gave a yellow glow. She then looked at the sword gripped in her hand. The sword then suddenly vanished in a quick glow of light. "It's definitely her." She said to herself. "Seems we've got a lot of work to do."