[Mortis' POV]

There were fires gleaming and the the air was filled with smoke. It was harder to breath than to talk. I had to get out. Get out as soon as possible. Someone had told me to run to my safety. i don't know who, but someone did.

I marched my way coughing. With one arm on my chest and the other down towards my knee. I felt my breath dying slowly.

But, suddenly. I saw a figure. It stretched out its arm and a voice came, "Do you need help?"

It was a voice of a girl. I blinked twice and then thrice to clear my vision and it was definitely a girl.

After she lent me some help to stand up, I saw two grown men making their way towards me and then I dozed off.

*******

{Present Day}

[Mortis' POV]

"Oh! You are awake!" I heard a cheerful and rather a pleased voice. I opened my eyes and in front of me stood a girl with a brownish hair tied up. She had a fair skin, which blistered and a cute smile. "I thought you never would....What am I saying!"

"Where am I?" I asked her.

"Oh! You are in my house right now."

I tried to get up from the bed I was laid on. She walked towards me and helped me up. The bed was on the side of a wall and in the corner of the room. So, I rested my back on the wall behind me. She grabbed a pillow and placed it between me and the wall.

"There," she said as she handed me a bowl of rice and some curry, "I am not that good at cooking. So, forgive me if it doesn't taste good."

I picked up the spoon inside the bowl and had a quick bite. It tasted good....No, I guess it was great.

"It's great," I said.

"Is it? I'm glad that you like it," she said as she prepared something on the table in the other side of the room. "By the way, Krial will be here soon."

Krial? Oh right! I became unconscious after that.

"You are a healer?"

"Yeah. More or less." she answered, "It was a tense situation. When Krial brought you here, you were in such a bad shape."

"I'm sorry. I must have been a trouble then."

"Oh no! Did it sound like I was complaining. I wasn't. All the more its my job to help people."

I finished the rice in the bowl and got up from the bed. It was hard walking, but I managed somehow. I watched her playing with some herbs and then suddenly remembered, "I am Mortis,"

"Huh?" she wore a surprised look on her face.

"Oh! Y-Yeah! I am Maria," she said as she scratched the back of her head.

After we had our introductions done, I walked towards the door of the house. She followed me.

"You better not forget this," she said as she pointed towards my spear.

I picked it up and started walking outside.

As I opened the door, I realized I was in a different village altogether. "Where am I?"

"Enjo"

"Is this a part of Vivet?"

"Nope," she answered, "We are a free province which comes under the direct rule of 'War Council'."

"Oh! I see."

I had feeling that this village was never a part of the kingdom as I had never heard of it.

'Vivet' was one of the kingdoms which existed under the God graced 'Pentacross'. What do I mean by God-graced? It consisted of Five Kingdoms: Terra, Ignis, Locus, Ventus, Aqua. It was said that those five kingdoms were the pinnacle at which humanity was built. It was those kingdoms which made the civilizations possible and also were said to be helped by 'Gods' when they needed it.

Each of the five kingdoms prayed their souls to one of the elements which made the nature itself.

There were only two of the kingdoms which were created to be separate from these five Kingdoms. One of them was Vivet. It was a small kingdom with handful of villages at its rule. It worked under the direct order of the Pentacross' Courtroom.

Other than this there were some villages which were regarded as special province and placed under the rule of the War Council which helped maintain the peace between the kingdoms.

As I was walking down the area we saw a woman weeping alone on the corner of the road. With her legs clenched towards her chest, she buried her face in her thighs. Maria quickly noticed her and started walking towards her.

"What's the matter?" she asked her.

"Maria?" the woman said as she raised her head and then hugged Maria immediately.

"Nemu?" said Maria with a worried face she tried to calm her down.

"My husband, he.....he was submitted,"

"Oh!" Maria responded with a grieving face, "I see he reached the age,"

That was sad and rather depressing to see a woman cry in the middle of the street, but that was the date of this world. We couldn't do anything after we reached the age of 25 years. After we reached it, we died.