It was dark, to say the least. Mars always thought that being body-snatched would feel excruciating forever, but after a few hours the pain fades and you're just left wandering the mind of whoever stole your body. That's what Mars was doing right now, trying to find something, anything that they could categorize as Arkon’s weakness but whatever they were in was barely a mind. It was, again, dark. The area felt endless on all sides and there were little to no true memories or things. There was a sword, which was nice but it wasn't theirs. It was made of a dark metal, and engraved in what seemed to be the same symbols in the town. Evlen symbols. Mars carefully lifted the sword, inspecting it and running their finger along the blade. they pricked their finger on the end of the sword, dropping it.

“Ah!- ow” Mars instinctively stuck their finger in her mouth to stop the bleeding, reaching for the sword again. It seemed to be getting farther and farther away as their vision blackened and Mars was sucked into a memory.

A sword was placed on a stone table. Elven chemists circled around it. They each took out a small vile, each tinted a different color. One was orange, another was gray, the third was blue, and the last was green. They were elemental essence, and the chemists poured them onto the sword. 

“The humans created a weapon to kill us all, so we will create our own.” an old elven lady descended down the stairs. “They have killed our people, destroyed our trees of life, so we will wipe them out. Humans don't deserve our elements. You, Arkon will be the first wielder of this sword. You will be our savior.” The old lady looked over to a boy, no older than 15. His hair was long, shaggy and black. His skin was tanned and his eyes were emerald. He was wearing black robes and boots.

“High priestess” Arkon started, “are you sure this is okay? The elements were meant to be used for vengeance. They will rebel-”

“They will Obey!” the old woman shouted. This sent her into a coughing fit. Others helped her stand as she gasped for air. She pointed a thin finger at the boy.

“You Will Obey. This is the will of our gods, boy. Now get ready.” Arkon was ushered over to the sword. The sword was shaking on the table, unstable with so much raw energy. Arkon’s eyes widened in fear. His hand was moved towards the sword. When he touched it, his body exploded in pain. As the magic consumed him, his scream grew louder.

Mars woke up, back in the mind of Arkon. The sword lay next to them, the sword from the memory. The unstable energy and the intent behind its creation must have been what made the sword so unstable. It must be what destroyed Arkon’s mind. That must mean he is as trapped in here as I am, and these items connect me to his memories. Mars put the sword in their own holster, walking around looking for another object. They found an old scroll, with a message on it. As soon as Mars started to read, they were transported.

“Arkon Of Mordalie Village, you have been chosen to serve your people. Please travel to the Capital at once. Signed, Lady Tenai, the high priestess.” After reading, Arkon turned to the girl in the treehouse. She had blonde hair, cropped so it fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were Orange, and she wore a white modest dress with long sleeves. The skirt fell to her ankles, and she was barefoot. She was sitting on an orange pillow, her eyes filled with excitement. 

“Arkon, congrats! You've always wanted to go to the capital, right? Now you get to go and get taken care of.”

“Emiliana, this is not a joke.” Arkon tossed the scroll to the ground. Emiliana, emi for short, looked at him confused.

“But this is what you've talked about for years, going to the capital and working for the priests, becoming an alchemist. This is what you want, right?” 

“That is what I wanted but there are more important things-” Arkon argued.

“Like what?”
“Like you Emi. And with this war going on, I want to spend as much time with you as possible. Then when this blows over, we can go together.”

“You know I would never ask you to stay here with me.”

“You know you didn't have to ask.” Arkon sat next to Emi, cupping her face. “I wouldn't leave you if the stars fell from the sky.'' They shared a soft kiss before leaving the treehouse.

Mars gasped, finally being released from the memory. their headache, but mars needed to see more. They kneeled over, vomiting. That's when they realized that seeing the memories came with a price. But if there was a chase to find a clue, they had to take it. Mars stuffed the scroll into their pouch, looking for another item. Their eyes settled on a dagger. Its blade was silver and its handle was gold-encrusted. Mars touched the dagger.

Arkon was dancing with Emi in the treehouse when the ground shook. He held her close before she could fall over.

“What was that?” She asked.

“I don't know, I'll go check it out.” Arkon responded. He left down the ladder, and Emi followed. From the sky, fireballs rained. The humans were attacking. They ran towards the town, and saw it in ruins. Elves were being killed and humans were looting the houses. Bodies were being dragged and people were running in the midst of battle.As more and more bodies dropped to the ground, Arkon felt his anger grow. He was handed a dagger by his girlfriend. 

“I don't care about the war,” she started, “But I don't like when someone hurts my people. Take this.” Emi ran forward, disappearing into the crowd. Arkon took a deep breath and allowed her in. He wasn't the one for fighting, so he crept around, helping the injured escape. He hid them in an underground bunker.  As the battle died down, the thought of Emi slipped his mind. When he went to return to the tree, it had fallen down. He looked around, seeing bodies of Humans and Elves alike. Amongst them, he found Emi, clutching her dagger. Arkon wept.

Mars left the memory, immediately coughing blood. They could feel their grasp of control slipping. Despite not being in the memory anymore, their vision stayed blurred; they stumbled away, dropping the dagger. A wave of pain passed through their body before they could breathe. Mars carefully put the dagger in their bag. They've seen enough. If Mars was going to escape, they had to find Arkon. Mars walked around Arkon’s mind, looking for his true self. Slowly, the landscape started to change. The dark floors turned into grass and blue spread across the sky. Mars couldn't believe something so beautiful could exist in the mind of someone so cruel. They continued walking, when they spotted it. Arkon’s treehouse stood tall. Past the tree, the ground was cracking off into nothingness. For Arkon, there must truly have been nowhere to go but forward. That's when Mars noticed the tree. It had a dark wood, and seemed to be centuries old. It looked like the tree they saw rotted, the tree that caused all of this. Maybe the past affects Arkon more than he realized. Mars walked towards the tree, climbing up the ladder. Inside was a mirror image of the memories. The walls were brown and wooden, and the floor was round. There were dozens of cushions, blankets, and pillows stuffed onto one side. Shelves filled with books were all over and a fuzzy carpet covered the ground. Over in the corner, flipping through a book was Arkon. He quickly looked over to Mars.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Mars, and you're Arkon right? The true one-"

"What other Arkon would there be?" He questioned, putting his book on the shelf. His hair was shorter, tied up In a small ponytail. He wore a white shirt and tan vest, with matching slacks.

"Please leave, I'm waiting for someone. "

"Emiliana?" Mars guessed. Arkon froze. He quickly took out a blade, pointing it at Mars.

"Who exactly are you, and how do you know Emi?"

"Look, this may sound crazy but this-'' Mars gestured around, "this isn't real. Both me and you are trapped in your mind. You because the darkness and me because, well this is my body-" Arkon dropped the blade. He backed up quickly. 

"Look, I don't know who you are and I don't want to leave."

"I can't, but I would love to. Just, help me get my body back and i'll be gone-"

"Leave me, now. I was- I'm Happy here. So leave." Mars raised her brow."Are you really trapped here? Or do you truly remember. Are you really just letting the Darkness do all of this?-"

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" Arkon shouted. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I lost control a few years ago. But the hero won, and now I get to live in my favorite memory. I get to see her face light up and kiss her before I lose her."

"What do you mean the hero won?" Mars questioned. "How long has it been exactly for you?"

"About 3 years?" Arkon answered, looking unsure. 

"It's been way longer than that. The first hero was alive about 6 centuries ago. The darkness kept coming back, that's why I'm here." With every word, Arkon’s eyes grew. His body started to shake as tears sprung in his eyes.

"No.. no, no you're lying. It hasn't been that long. Oh Emi, what did I do…" 

"Now that you understand the severity of the problem, can you help me? This is your mind, you know the most about it then anyone. If you can defeat the darkness here-"

"No, I can't. I've already failed, plus the darkness isn't here. The darkness doesn't have a mind- it trapped me forever on my own. But I may know a way you can stop him." Arkon rummaged through the shelves, until he found what he was looking for. He took an old weathered book off the shelf, offering it to Mars. They sighed, taking it with shaking hands.

"Look what i stole '' Emi smirked, tossing Arkon a book. It was ragged and old, older than what he thought possible. "Everything is written down here, it's like the future of the world was already predetermined before us, by the gods."

"What?" Arkon exclaimed, flipping through the book. There were events that happened already and things not recorded. Somewhere near the end, the book spoke of a final stand.

"The darkness will finally wither at the hands of someone pure of heart and kind of soul." Arkon read. "Could they be talking about humans?"

"Possibly, but we have to keep this in between us. It's better if no one finds out the future anyways, makes life more fun!" Emi smiled brightly, causing Arkon's cheeks to brighten. 

Mars woke up on the ground of the treehouse, groaning. Despite staying still, the word spun. A voice helped keep her in focus, even if for a little while. 

 "Hello, please stay awake. St-wake. Stay-" the world faded to black as Mars let out a final word. A name.

 "Anita."