The Dark Forest.

No.

THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!!!

"DAD! DAD! DAD!" I yelled, running through the halls.

This was seriously bad.

REALLY bad.

I ran into my father's office with high hopes.

...

THERE'S NO ONE IN THE OFFICE!!!

Why is my father not in his office?!

I summoned Ace with the mark on my ankle. Without delay, Ace appeared in front of me.

"...Is my father home?" I asked with the slight hope that he was nearby.

"No, your father left earlier to do another inspection in the town. Most likely, he won't be back for a few hours," Ace answered concisely.

WHAT!?

WHY NOW??!

WITHOUT HIS POWER, IT WOULD TAKE HOURS TO CALL THE GUARDS!!

Should I call the servants?

...No, wait. That's a bad idea!

What if they found out that I made Ash so mad that he ran away?!

I would be in HUGE trouble!!!!! They would take away my desserts!!!!!

SHOOT!

Why do bad things always happen to me?

My maids and servants never have to do this! So, why me?!

Is this the bad luck of the villainess?!

...

Alright. I guess I need to go save Ash myself!

Unless...

"Hey, Ace! Can you save Ash?" I asked seriously. I have a feeling that things won't be as easy as I hope, though.

"No, I can't. To use my magic, you must be close by since I consume your mana," Ace said calmly.

Ok! Let's go save that stupid brother of mine!

I grabbed a kitchen knife and a bag before leaving.

Ace and I ran out to the forest, but halfway there, I realized a big problem.

MY TINY LEGS ARE SUPER SLOW!

I looked at Ace and he understood immediately.

"We can go quicker if I carry you. But my current body isn't big enough to carry you even if it is strong. Please allow me to turn human, Cordelia," Ace said seriously.

"Alright," I said while nodding my head.

I gingerly moved my hand in front of Ace and braced myself.

In a swift motion, Ace bit down on my hand hard.

Pain.

I teared up from the pain, but Ace quickly healed it to the point where I debated whether I was actually hurt in the first place.

I want to be able to use magic like this too!

I looked up to see Ace in his human form. He looks...as old as me?!

He was definitely much older looking the last time he transformed!

"W-What?!" I yelped.

"Due to the contract, I will now age at the same rate as you. Perhaps that is why my appearance is younger," Ace replied.

That's right...when I die, Ace dies too. So the moment I die of old age, Ace will follow me to death...

But while I was thinking, Ace picked me up. Princess style.

"W-wait. A-ace?! Pu-put me down now!" I stuttered.

"Hmm? We need to get to him quickly, so please bear with it," Ace said oblivious to what he was doing.

Gah! Ace is an idiot!

I'll just stare daggers at him along the way.

To be honest though, Ace is super strong. His body is only four-year-old now! So, how can he carry me so easily and run so fast?!

As Ace was running at an inhuman speed, I was thinking about why I was even saving Ash.

If you think about it, it would be better if Ash dies here. If he does, then I won't have to worry about him in the future.

But...

Part of me didn't want him to die. After all, he recently became the older brother I've always wanted.

That's a good enough reason to keep him alive.

...But we were still not running fast enough.

"Ace, run quicker," I said seriously.

Even though Ace was running as fast as a cheetah, he could probably run as fast as a plane if he wanted to.

"But...I believe that your body won't be able to withstand th-" Ace said before he was cut off by me.

"No. We won't make it there in time if we don't sprint. Ash isn't a slow runner and he has magic, so he's probably deep in the forest," I told him logically.

"...Okay...but tell me if you want to slow down."

Ace sped up and I could physically feel the air resistance push my body onto Ace. It was awkward, but I knew Ace didn't think anything about it.

Also, I think Ace was using protection magic to ensure my small body wouldn't break from the pressure.

I can't breathe.

No matter how much I gasped for air, my body physically couldn't breathe under the air resistance.

It was scary.

Luckily, it ended after about five seconds.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked worriedly while looking down.

I nodded my head and froze when I heard nearby yelling.

Then I saw him.

His clothes were scratched up and he had scratches and bruises on his body.

Surrounding him, there was a pack of wolf-like beasts about the size of Ash, a five-year-old kid.

I felt my heart drop.

Immediately, I nodded to Ace.

"Please close your eyes and ears, Cordelia. It will be over quick..." Ace told me in his serious voice.

"No. I need to help Ash. Besides, I'll be fine! My mental health was already bad from the start!" I said jokingly...maybe...

Ace paused before accepting and running to the pack of wolves.

On the other hand, I ran to Ash and covered his eyes and ears.

He struggled for a bit, but I was not going to let him see what was about to happen.

Ash gave up his futile struggle while Ace did his...work.

Behind me, I heard an endless amount of whimpers, growls, death cries, and etc.

Note to self: Never get on Ace's bad side.

When I couldn't hear any more noises, I removed my hands from Ash's eyes and ears.

I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

He froze as he looked at my face.

"...Y-yeah...Who?" Ash replied while pointing at Ace's human form.

"That's uh...one of my good friends!" I lied. No one else knows that Ace has a human form except for me. So, I'll keep it a secret for as long as I can.

I looked over to Ace and froze.

He was covered in blood and his shining emerald green eyes were unusually dark.

Is this...Ace?

"Hey...Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"..."

Ace seemed to be lost in his thoughts and he didn't move. It was as if he became a statue.

"Huh? Are you okay?" I asked again.

Something's wrong...

Wait.

I looked over to Ash.

"Ash? Ash?!"

"..."

Ash wasn't moving either.

It was if time had stopped in the forest.

If that is the case, why am I still moving?

Then, I heard a voice.

"So this is the one that the gods' sent to stop me..."

Huh?

I looked around, but I swear that there was no one here.

"Hmm? She looks stupid..."

Wait...what.

Excuse me?!

"Pardon me, random person. But can you please explain why you are talking to me in the first place?!" I asked.

I already hate this guy.

"Yep. She's stupid. Do the gods really think this puny thing can stop me? If I slap her, she would go flying about a hundred meters before her brain explodes on contact with the floor..."

"How about I slap YOU, sir?" I said with complete seriousness.

"Hey, kid. Do you trust the people around you?" the unknown man said while completely ignoring my previous remark.

The answer to his question is easy.

"Yes. In fact, I place my complete trust into everyone around me!" I said with honestly.

"So you are an idiot..."

"I trust everyone but you! That's because I have good friends! Although, I doubt that you have any..."

"Hmm...I'll ignore that."

"Heh. You can't handle the burn since its true!"

There was an awkward silence for a while.

"I was going to let you go for today and see how you would grow up...but I change my mind. I'll test your luck instead..."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see soon."

Suddenly, time moved again.

You could tell that time was unfrozen since the trees were swaying in the breeze.

But, I wonder who that guy was...

Hmm?

Why are Ace and Ash still frozen?

Then, I heard some rustling in the bushes.

As I looked closer, I froze.

There was another wolf-like creature.

But instead of the wolf being as big as Ash, it was nearly three times bigger than me.

"Ace?! Ash?! Any help here?!" I yelled with panic.

Is this what that random guy meant by testing my luck?

Ace and Ash were still frozen in time, so I might have to deal with this monster on my own...

YOU TWO, SNAP OUT OF IT AND HELP ME!!!!!!!

I grabbed the kitchen knife that I brought and held it threateningly in front of me.

I was not going down without a fight.

Like a bull, it charged straight at me without warning.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

I jumped to the side at the last second(?)

Just to check, I looked down at my leg to make sure it was okay.

...

*blargh*

I think I threw up a little.

My leg is...dislocated...

It hurts!

It hurt, but it still wasn't as bad as yesterday's headache. So, I can deal with it I guess...

But...my leg is dislocated...

How the heck do I run now?!?!

I threw my knife on the ground.

I kind of gave up all hope on trying to stab that thing.

Yeah...there's no way a couch potato like me can stab that raging beast with that tiny knife.

I would have a better chance of using magic that I don't know how to use!

Wait...

MAGIC!

What if...I can use magic?!

Okay...that would be impossible, but it's worth a shot.

How do you use magic again?

Imagine it?

Say an embarrassing chant?

???

Oh well...

I'll wing it!

In my head, I imagined frost.

I imagined that the beast before was slowly freezing to death.

"Freeze," I whispered.

Then I looked at the beast and hoped for the best.

Welp.

That didn't work at all.

I am soooo dead.

My leg is dislocated and I literally have no way to kill that thing.

Unless...

I have some luck.

I picked up my knife again and held it like a ninja star.

3...

2...

1...

The beast charged toward me and I threw the knife.

I only need the knife to stab through the face of this animal.

Anywhere on the face is fine as long as it causes damage.

I watched in slow motion as the knife flew straight into the beast's eye.

Woohoo!

I AM SO LUCKY!!!

As I was celebrating, the beast stood up again.

Oh no. I thought it would be down longer than that! It's eye literally died!! HOW IS IT STILL MOVING AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED?!?!?!

"Ace! Ace! Please help! Ash! Wake up! Please!" I yelled. I was in a lot of trouble now. I can't move from my spot, I can't fight, and I can't use magic.

Great.

Then, I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye.

"Cordelia! Are you okay?!" Ash yelled.

Huh.

That's the first time he ever said my name...

ANYWAY.

IDIOT! DON'T YELL AT IT!!!!

The beast changed its target from me to Ash and got ready to charge.

Oh no.

I CAME ALL THE WAY HERE, LISTENED TO ACE BRUTALLY MURDER WOLVES, GOT INSULTED BY A RANDOM GUY, DISLOCATED MY LEG, AND NEARLY DIED TO SAVE ASH.

The is no way that I'm letting Ash die now!

Completely ignoring the fact that my leg was dislocated, I ran/staggered/hopped in front of Ash to block the beast.

Hahaha...

I see the monster coming.

"CORDELIA!" Ace screamed.

I think Ace finally woke up.

Huh. This is the first time I've ever seen Ace freak out so much...

Maybe I'm in extreme mortal danger right now.

I think I see Ace running towards me, but its too late now.

"CORDELIA, NO!!" both Ace and Ash yelled.

Heh.

Don't worry guys.

There's no way I'll die a third time.

Then, I heard the sound of my arm being chomped to pieces.

The last thing I saw before blacking out was seeing Ace's emerald green eyes turn ruby red.

----------------------------------------------------

A/N: Let's hope Cordelia doesn't die again!

By the way, the last time I updated (one week ago), I had reached 10,000 views. One week later (today), I have FIFTEEN THOUSAND views.

That means that this story got 5,000 views in a week!! In the beginning, I could barely get four or five views every week.

So...

Thank you to all of the old and new readers!

Also, thank-you every voter and commenter!

It makes me happy knowing that you guys like reading my story!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2174