Anthem: Hope

Chapter 1

A girl with long brown hair woke up gasping for air. Sweat dripped from her face as she tried to recall where she was. Looking around the place, the girl noticed she was in a room... Her room.

'Shhh, It was just a dream.' The girl tried to calm herself.

When she did, she grabbed her head and laid back down.

'It was just a dream.' The girl looked towards the ceiling as she tried to relax her body.

Even though, she tried to relax she still felt her body shake in fear.

It's been like this ever since she was found outside of Fort Tarsis. The girl would have constant nightmares and no one including the girl knew why. The girl didn't remember anything. Not even her own name. The Arcanist that had found her took her in and gave her a name. Lily.

It was suppose to represent beauty and strength in the midst of chaos. But people saw it as something different. Something tainted and cursed.

The people called her the cursed child of Anthem. This was due to the fact that every time someone cared for the child... They would die.

After hearing this, Lily ran away from the people she cared about to keep them safe. However, that backfired when they ended up finding out. They found her and dragged her back home. Even though she had some people who cared about her, the rest of the community were harsh to her. As a result, she became withdrawn and cold towards people.

As Lily sat there staring at the blank space before her, she heard a bang on her door as a harsh male voice filled the room.

"Get up." A harsh voice was heard breaking the girl from her thoughts.

Hearing that, Lily took that as her que and got up. Starting her daily routine Lily couldn't help but think of her latest dream.

Compared to the others, this one was different. It was about a girl, but... She ended up dying. Lily grabbed her head as she felt tears fall down her face. Lily did not know why but her heart ached.

'I could have saved her.' That thought made her heart clenched even more.

Wiping her tears and putting a hard face on Lily walked to her bathroom. Heading straight for the sink Lily washed her face and brushed her teeth.

Once she was done, she looked at the mirror less wall and walked out. Now,  normally people had mirrors to see how they looked after a horrifying dream. However, Lily refused to have one just to see herself. She was scared of what she might see.

'A monster? A freak maybe?' Lily frowned at that thought and shook her head.

She then sighed.

Despite Lily's opinion of herself, she was quite beautiful. She was slim and had a curvy waist. She also had beautiful big brown eyes making her look innocent... And fair skin. Most women would have shown their appearance off but Lily kept it hidden.

Once she was done freshening up, she started to wrap herself from head to toe. She wore long sleeves, a hoodie, pants, and a mask that she had created herself. When she was done, she grabbed her things and went out. Locking her door, she turned around. Confusion flickered through her face as she saw a man standing outside her door waiting for her.

The man was tall and lean. He was 6'2, while Lily was only 4'11. The man analyzed her before scoffing at her appearance.

"I don't understand why we need you. You're nothing but a child who knows nothing of what we Arcanist do." The man said as he stood up from the wall, he walked away from her.