Dante

Dante shivered, he tried helplessly to pull his jacket over his freezing body but the jacket didn't do much for him. Rain fell on him like iced daggers soaking his clothes and making him shiver even more. The cold made him weary, he didn't bother walking anymore so he laid on the wet ground, alone in the dark.

Then suddenly, through the blurriness in his vision caused by the raindrops he saw light. A glowing hand reached out towards him and his body reacted, desperate to grab the hand that beckoned him. The moment their hands touched Dante felt warmth spread all across his body. He no longer felt the rain cold and wet against his skin, instead he felt dry like he was sitting beside a fire indoors. The owner of the hand hoisted him to his feet with great ease, not that the boy weighed too much but still it made his ears go a bit hot with embarrassment.

The woman who stood before him couldn't be human. And it wasn't just because she was glowing a soft golden, or because the rain seemed to rolled off of her like she had an invisible shield stopping it from wetting her. It was mostly because of her unmistakable beauty, the way her eyes shone a shimmering gold, behind those gentle eyes that looked at Dante like he was the most precious thing to him was a soft sorrow. The woman- Goddess, placed a gentle hand on Dante's cheek and he couldn't help the instinctual need to nuzzle his face against her hand. This caused the Goddess to giggle softly and Dante felt his heart tug, how he wanted to hear that giggle one more time. He'd kill a man, a hundred men to hear it.

She ran a hand through his hair, fixing the inky black mop it had become. Dante looked down at her hand, frowning harshly as he saw that dirt now stained that perfect skin. He went to apologize but the Goddess giggled yet again, causing the boy's words to get stuck in his throat.

"There's no need to apologize, little raven."

"O-Ok... May I ask who you are?"

Dante stuttered out as he removed his hand from hers, despite the protest from his body.

"You mean you don't recognize me? Certainly they taught you of the Gods in school, yes?"

"I don't know, never been to school. My mother taught me."

"So then guess which one I am."

Dante took this time to examine the Goddess closer. Her long auburn hair was curled to perfection, little flowers decorating it in between braids. She was tall, over seven foot and Dante had to crane his neck uncomfortably to look her in the eyes. Her skin was a dark tan, like she was the sun itself and she wore what Dante figured all the Gods wore, silk white robes. On her forehead was a golden sun, right in-between her thin eyebrows.

"You-You're Sylvian, the Goddess of life and light. The Sun Goddess."

A grin spread across Sylvian's face as she nodded.

"Yes, very good. Now I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here."

"I'm certainly curious."

"I'm here to point you in the right direction, there is an island northeast of here it is called the Island of Heroes. I want you to go there, with some help of course."

"Help? What kind of help?

"There is a boy that lives in a village a few towns away from here, in the village named Camelle I want you to go to him, convince him to go with you to the Island of Heroes."

"What am I going to the island for?"

"My soldier, my knight of light, my pride and joy Cordelia."

"But why? Why am I going for this Cordelia? And why me?"

"Because you're the most likely choice, obviously. And the reason for why you're fetching Cordelia, well she'll explain it all to you once you've awaken her."

"Awaken her? I don't understand. I hardly think I'm the best choice for something like this, being who I am and all."

The Goddess placed a finger against the boy's lips, effectively silencing him.

"Go to Blaise Valravn, tell him about Cordelia and the island. Persuade him to go with you, the world as we know it is at stake Dante. And you two along with Cordelia..."

The goddess mumbled something under her breath before continuing.

"Are our only chance at saving this world. You don't want to let me down, do you?"

Dante raised a brow, he didn't believe she was lying per say he just found this situation rather unconventional. Why was she choosing him? And what was so important that he had to drop everything and do as she asked. Even so he figured pissing her off by refusing wasn't his best bet so he nodded slowly.

"Good, I knew you wouldn't let me down. Now hurry along, as I said the world is at stake. You must be quick and decisive. I trust in you, my little raven."

She then turned him around and pushed him gently causing him to stumble forward. When Dante turned back around the Goddess was gone along with all of her light and warmth and suddenly Dante was once again surrounded by a moonless night and the cold rain. He pulled up his hood, trying to block out the rain as much as possible as he started his trek to whoever the hell Blaise Valravn was. After days of traveling Dante finally arrived in Camelle. People eyed him and whispered, he rolled his eyes and approached a random shop owner.

"Do you happen to know where Blaise Valravn lives?"

The man's face distorted with disgust.

"I wouldn't go snooping around him if I were you, you're likely to lose a limb or two. And that's assuming you're lucky."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that boy's bad news, stay away from him."

"Thanks for the warning, but could you please tell me where he lives?"

The man shook his head in disbelief as he pointed towards the edge of the village.

"He lives in the east side of the village. Good luck."

Dante made a face and walked through the village. The closer he got to the east side the less people and houses there were until eventually he was just standing on the ruins of houses. Gashes carved into the earth covered the land, scarring it, all the plant life appeared to be burned to a crisp, black and lifeless. This part of the village was eerily quiet and were Dante anyone else he would certainly find this disconcerting. Then he saw it, he usually saw one or two floating around aimlessly but this part of the village had an entire group of ghosts hanging around, groaning in agony. They looked a him with their pale eyes, pleading for his help but no matter how much he wanted to he couldn't bring them to the afterlife. It just wasn't up to him. A lone house sat in the ruins, being the only part of the east side with actual vegetation, so much so that the plants were over running the wooden house. The stark contrast between no life and an abundance of life made Dante's brows furrow as he knocked on the door.

An older man with salt and pepper hair answered the door, his eyes had a hint of that same golden that Sylvian had. Yet his skin was much paler, more sickly, and he had large bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days. He had none of the life the Goddess possessed.

"Can I help you?"

"Um, I'm here to talk to Blaise Valravn."

"And what do you want with my Godson?"

"Well, you're not really going to believe me but-"

Dante was interrupted by someone inside yelling.

"Who is that?"

The voice asked and the man repsonded.

"Someone looking for you."

"What does he want from me?"

The man turned back, those golden eyes looked at him skeptically.

"Well Sylvian, the Goddess of-"

"That's enough. Leave, now."

"What? But-"

"No buts, anything to do with Sylvian my Godson will have no part of."

"What about the Goddess? Who is that?"

The voice asked and in the darkness of the house, thanks to Dante's ability to see through the darkness, was a boy peeking from behind a corner.

"I'm Dante, and the Goddess sent me here to talk with you about someone named Cordelia."

The mention of Cordelia must of peeked the boy's interest because he immediately moved out from behind his corner.

"Let him in."

"But Blaise-"

"Let him in, I wanna hear what he has to say."

The man scowled but opened the door for Dante to step through. Blaise looked to him and asked.

"Make some tea for us, please?"

"I suppose so."

The man muttered angrily as he shuffled off. Blaise sat down awkwardly and gestured towards the seat across from him.

"Now what's this about someone named Cordelia?"