Ragnarok Fan Fiction ❯ I'll Be There, I Promise ❯ Chapter 1: Nia ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Ryuuzaki-chan
First chapter to my Ragna fan fic, I'll Be There, I Promise.

Basically this is an introduction to the main character, Nia a knight.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online, it belongs to Gravity and Lee Myoung Jin. ^^

*based on the game, not on the anime or manga ^^
*reuploaded the chapter due to wrong indentions and spacing.

Anime/Manga: Ragnarok Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.19.2007 | Updated On: 05.19.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 303 | Status: Work In Progress

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online. Gravity owns it. And so do Lee Myoung-jin.
ooo
Danniella.
Danniella Archbald.
Who's there? Who's calling me?
Do you remember everything in your life? What have you been doing all these years?
What? How come I don't remember what I have done? What did I do yesterday, or the day before?
Open up your eyes, Danniella, and you will see.
ooo
My eyelids felt so heavy when I forced myself to open them. What a weird dream that I had. I stretched my arms a bit and felt an immediate sore on my muscles. I blinked my eyes to look at my surrounding.
I was on a plain white bed inside a large room, along with several other empty beds.
What is this? An infirmary? What the hell am I doing here?
“Uncle, look, she is awake now!” I heard a voice from outside the room.
Was she talking about me?
Soon after, two men rushed inside the room. One was vaguely familiar, while one looks like my brother, but only older.
“Nia! Are you okay?” The vaguely familiar man asked me. I could only stare back at him.
“Do you remember us?” The one who looks like my brother asked.
Jeez, he also sounded like my brother. Wait a minute, is he my brother?
“Dan?” I asked him
“Oh, good, she remembers me!” Dan exclaimed.
“And, Vermont, is that you?” I suddenly said to the vaguely familiar guy, remembering that he was our neighbor and my brother's best friend.
“Nia, you wouldn't believe how worried we were about you all these years!” Vermont said.
All these years? What in the world was he talking about?
“Wait, Vermont, we should take it easy with Nia. Her condition may not be well yet. Let's take her to Martin first.” Dan suddenly said. “Follow us, Nia.”
My condition? What's happening around me, how come I don't know all about it?
I struggled to follow the two outside the room as I barely walked with my feet feeling heavy.
Where am I?
Oh, I am inside Prontera Castle. At least I know where I am.
“Nia, Martin has been waiting for you to awaken. Please see him inside this room and he'll explain everything to you.” Vermont said when we stopped by a large wooden door.
I had no idea what surprise I was going to get.
ooo
The room was like a mini-church with crucifix and other holy symbols that lined the wall. In the middle stood an old priest who beamed when he saw me.
“Danniella Archbald!” The old priest shouted and started to walk towards me.
“Martin? Is that you? Why did you turn so old?” I suddenly blurted out. As far as I can remember, Martin was not that old when I last saw him.
“Sit down, and I'll explain everything to you, Danniella.” He said when he saw my surprised face. “I'm going to explain it to you calmly. If you don't want to hear it right now, it's fine by me. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”
I couldn't take it any longer. What was this supposed “secret” that everyone was hiding from me?
“Martin, tell me everything that I need to know.”
ooo
“You do remember the war, don't you? When Morocc officially attacked Prontera, and every knight was called on the battlefield?” Martin asked her.
The war, I remembered it as if it was just yesterday. The last thing I remembered was we were winning. What happened in the end? Was I there when it ended?
“The war!” I exclaimed. “I do remember it, but what happened in the end? I don't remember it at all.”
“The war had ended, and Morocc was defeated.”
“I knew that would happen! But where was I when it ended?”
“You were in the infirmary already, Danniella.”
“But, for how long?”
Martin didn't respond, he just looked at me with his feeble eyes. It was as if he didn't like to answer my question. Suddenly he spoke in an inaudible whisper, “Twelve years.”
Upon hearing his answer, my knees suddenly grew weak then I began to tremble. Twelve whole years? It meant that I was sleeping in that bed for twelve whole years. I missed out twelve years of my life. But, that means, I'm already…
“Twenty-eight years old, Danniella. You're already twenty-eight years old. Twelve years is such a long time. Many have changed when you were in coma. What do you want to know?”
“Why? Why was I in a coma?” I could barely speak.
“No one knew. Vermont saw you already lying in the ground, unconscious. He brought you to the infirmary and abandoned his post. He said that there were rubbles of concrete beside you. He arrived at the conclusion that maybe you were hit in the head during an explosion.” Martin answered and he turned his back on me.
An explosion? My memory is still blurry, but I remember it somehow.
“But why did I wake up just now? Why after twelve years?” I suddenly stood up.
“When a person is in a coma, it takes some motivation from that person for him to regain his consciousness. Maybe you experienced something in your body that made you wake up.” He answered.
Huh? But what…Oh, the weird dream that I had! The voice I heard was telling me to wake up. But why?
Before I knew it, I started running out of the room, too scared to know everything that happened.
“Danniella, wait!” Martin cried out, but I didn't turn to face him.
ooo
After some running, I found myself outside Prontera, near the creek where I usually spend some time alone when I was still a child. My mind couldn't possibly accept everything that Martin had said to me. I'm already twenty-eight years old. I've grown-up now, and missed most of my childhood days. My body has changed too, I now looked mature. But, no, this was not what I wanted.
“Hey!” A voice said from my behind which made me jumped back. “It's Aunt Nia!”
What the!? Since when did I suddenly become someone's aunt? Unless…
“Aunt Nia! Do you know me? I'm Melon, your niece!”
I looked behind my back and saw a cute little girl who looked a lot like my brother. Oh no, please don't tell me…
“Daddy, I found her! I found Aunt Nia!” The girl excitedly said, or more like screamed.
Suddenly, Dan came running towards our direction followed by Vermont. Oh my god, this is the end of the world. Dan has a child!? I didn't know that he'll have one, I didn't even know that he'll manage to get a wife.
Dan, seeing my expression, suddenly burst out laughing, “I know you won't believe it, Nia, but it's true. Melon is my daughter.”
“But, who? When? How!?” That was all that I could say.
“It was about eight years ago when I married, and you'll never guess who.”
“My sister.” Vermont suddenly said.
What the!? The last I heard, Dan and Veronica were sworn enemies. And they were the last people on earth who would manage to get married.
“And that makes us siblings-in-law.” Vermont added.
“Aunt Nia is so pretty!” Melon suddenly said as she hugged me.
I just kept quiet and didn't say a word. I felt so left out and everything that was happening kept on surprising me.
“Anything wrong, Nia?” Dan asked me.
“Everything. I couldn't understand everything that has been going on. I just need some time alone.” I quietly said. Dan and Vermont looked at me in concern and we all fell silent.
“Nia, I know that you are overwhelmed with these recent events. We'll leave you here for a while and give you some time to think about it. But come home before it gets dark, okay?” Vermont finally said.
“See you, Aunt Nia!”
When they were gone, I closed my eyes to think. I knew that I was missing something. I felt like I forgot to do something. After a while, I began to drift away in sleep.
ooo
“You're Nia, right?”
“Huh? How do you know about that! Who are you!?”
“I've been watching you ever since you came here.”
“Who are you?”
“I'm Jan, I'm also on vacation here in Lutie.”
“I'm Nia, but you already know that by now. We come here every year.”
“Oh, well we only come here for vacation every four years or so. Hey, how old are you?”
“I'm ten, why?”
“Hey, I'm ten too. I have an idea…”
“What is it?”
“Let's meet again here after eight years. When we are already eighteen, when were old enough.”
“And then?”
“I don't know, let's see, I'll give you a surprise! Just be sure to come here exactly after eight years.”
“I promise, you'll find me here.”
ooo
Where am I? That's right, I'm at the creek. I didn't know that I fell asleep. But that dream, that wasn't just any dream. It's from my own memory.
Jan.
The promise.
Our promise.
I wasn't able to come to Lutie. Did he wait for me? What happened to him? I wanted to go to him, but I know that it was already late. Too late.
Is it possible for me to go back to the past?
“Anything's possible, Nia.” A voice suddenly said.
“Who said that?” I asked. It seemed like the voice answered my question, even if I asked it to myself.
“I did.” The voice answered and a figure suddenly appeared in front of me. “I'm Arma, and I can take you back to the past. Isn't that what you wanted?”
“Who are you? Where did you come from?”
“You ask too many questions, do you know that? But you never seem to find the right answers, right?” He said, not answering my questions.
What in the world is he saying!? But, he's right…Some of my questions were never answered. Maybe some of my questions had no real answers.
“How did you know that I wanted to go back to the past?” I asked him.
“Nia, not all questions have logical answers. I didn't come here to answer all your questions. I come here to take you back to the past. To the past that you had missed. I can take you to Jan.”
Jan!? But, how in the world did he know all about this?
“How?”
“Enough questions, do you want to go back to the past?”
I don't get it. Who is this guy in front of me? Can he really take me to the past?
“You want to know if I can really take you to the past? You're really a curious person, Nia. But the only way to find out if I could is for you to try. It isn't too much.” Arma said.
Can I trust this guy?
“I will do it.” I found myself saying.
“I know how much you wanted it. But do you know what will happen to you when you go back to the past?”
Eh?! A while ago he seemed very persuasive, but when I finally agreed he seemed reluctant. Is this guy nuts?
“People like to travel back to the past when they regret something they have done, or what they haven't done. You feel this regret, do you?” He added.
You could say that again.
“Yes, I do, but it's none of your business.” I said.
“If that's what you say. When you go back to the past, you'll forget everything except for the promise that you had made with Jan.”
“Forget everything? But is that the only way?”
This guy was absolutely nuts.
“Yes, Nia, it is the only way. Or do you want to live your life like this, full of regrets and failed expectations?”
I stared at those blue piercing eyes of this mysterious man who calls himself Arma. I could see nothing in those eyes, only emptiness.
“I'll go.”
I wanted to see Jan very much. I wanted to see the surprise that he made for me.
“You'll be taken back to the time before you had your coma. You will be sixteen years old during that time. I will be manipulating the past, and your coma will be avoided.”
“Can I go back to the present time?” I asked him.
“Yes you could. I will be sending some people to watch over you, in case you do something that isn't right. If you don't want to continue, you could just tell it to that person.”
“How will I know who those people are?”
“They'll tell you who they are.”
“Bring me to the past now, please.”
“Just remember something, if you do something in the past, you'll greatly change the present as well. Be careful.” Arma said and then he disappeared.
What the?! Where did he go? I thought he'll transport me back to the past? Was this some kind of sick joke?
I suddenly felt a throbbing sensation in my head. I began to feel dizzy and then…my vision went blank.
ooo
Author's Note: This is my first Ragna fiction, please tell me some stuffs so I can improve my writing! ^^
-Ryuuzaki-chan