Ramla Ranae

In a continent located in a 'dimension' far different and advanced from that of Abraxas, where magic was just a figment of imagination or a word that would best describe the complicated procedures behind the myriad of wires and microchips embedded in various items and even sentient beings, where carriages flew as specks of rainbow-colored dust illuminate its wheels, and people were able to see each other despite the distance through handheld devices made of various circuits, a child was born through unconventional means. To a couple whose physiologies rendered them incapable of producing offspring the 'typical' way, the child taken out of a fragile glass cocoon was a blessing, despite the fact that to have her they had to shell out a fortune. Thus, they named her Aldara.

Aldara was showered with love and affection by her parents, which played a major factor for her to have a pleasant childhood. Despite being born using unconventional means, never did she feel that she was different from all the other children in their place; then again no one, even Aldara, knew of the said truth. She was given every single thing she needed and wanted. The couple sent her to one of the most prestigious schools in the city and got her a tutor for the subjects she was weakest. They allowed her to play with other children, and join them in various activities. Despite belonging to the middle-class, money was never an issue whenever Aldara wanted something. She was supported by her parents in every endeavor she wanted to pursue, even made sure that whenever she would face a hurdle they would be there to guide and help her, and with this she was ever grateful.

Everything was going pretty much ordinary yet swell, that was until she reached twelve years old.

The once peaceful life in the city soon became chaotic as one summer morning, every resident was shook off their beds by explosions and staccato of gunfire. Not a single wall was spared from the bullet holes that soon crumbled the once seemingly strong edifices, burrowing alive families and leading them to their slow cruel demise. Others who were quick and diligent enough to recognize the situation were either caught in a crossfire, burned to death, or captured by the forces that invaded their land. The very few who were lucky enough to escape were succumbed to confusion as they fled to nearby towns and cities only to witness the same unfortunate event. The latter was the fate of Aldara's family. For days they ran and dodged bullets and bombs, going from one place to another in hopes of being saved from this inexplicable nightmare only to find the same terror. Days were exhausting as nights became more terrifying than before; salvation could not be seen anywhere no matter how much each member of the family prayed to the gods.

On the fourth night of their aimless wandering, none of them would have thought that it would be their final glimpse of one another. In an empty highway by the desert that was supposed to lead to another city, Aldara and her parents, along with the a number of other citizens, were trapped and cornered by legion of armed forces. Their mudbrown masks and the darkness of that night hindered thorough identification of the men who cocked and aimed their glistening artilleries at every helpless soul before them. They spoke of in an incomprehensible language, but the tone set was as if demanding them to surrender something. It was in the middle of the confusion and their lack of action attributable to the fact that they could not understand what was said and that their tongues were as if cut due to fear that these invaders grabbed hold of everyone, dragging women away from men. As one hand landed on Aldara's shoulder, the unthinkable happened right before everyone's eyes: the masked man convulsed. The suppleness of his skin and flesh which could be seen on his exposed areas such as the hands and neck turned as white as now, before it became wrinkly, and thereafter, the man fell lifeless on the dusty ground. For those who were in power, it was alarming, yet it also bore the idea that they have found a diamond in the sea of trash.

To test once again if what they have seen was indeed real, half of the masked men aimed their weaponries at Aldara, who was already shivering in fear. They forced her father to hold the child on her shoulder. Aldara protested, knowing and feeling that something was not right within her, but they dragged the old man and forcibly have his hand laid upon her. He hollered in pain, eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets as his once ivory complexion turned pale. The warmth of his hand vanished until Aldara could feel it was already icy, prompting a tear to roll down her cheek. Once their captors released their hold of Aldara's father, he slid down to the ground lifeless. It was a validation that this girl was special.

But it had a different implication onto Aldara: if her observation would be correct, it appeared that she unintentionally killed her father.

The young girl's cries filled the air. She was angry at her daughter, despite the fact that she herself was not aware of what was happening or why it was happening. She was angry at the captors, who forced them to be separated not only by space but also by life. She was angry at herself... at the gods who never heard their prayers... at everyone who just stared and watched the horrific event happen.

And there was nothing the shocked Aldara could do to ease her mother's feelings. Cold metal was poked against her, and it pushed her away from everyone else.

Then, a surge of pain was felt on her nape, and it rendered her unconscious...

Darkness.

Electricity ran through the child's veins, prompting Aldara to scream as she was roused from her slumber. Her eyes caught glimpse of the scenery that gave a little comfort to the rather disturbing situation she was in: a vast valley of greens and light browns surrounded her, as it was canopied by the picturesque empyrean that housed the golden sun. Aldara found herself in a wagon, shackled by glowing iron chains. Ensorcelled it was, one could say, but at that time the child was oblivious of the existence of magic. In fact, she was oblivious of why she was there, where she came from... and who she was. With her in the wagon were many other young boys and girls, chained like her, scared witless. None of the few adults with them, all clad in black suits, bothered to comfort them.  

Not long after that, they were in front of the huge iron gates of a manor, which opened to allow the whole wagon to enter. The manor appeared to have been stood the test of time that its walls seemed to have been built and existed years before any of the souls that gathered there have been born. One by one, the children were pushed down the cart and dragged into the mansion, where there awaited an aged sage with a pale complexion and glowing crimson eyes hiding on a pair of dark-colored bifocals. One of the children's chaperons approached the man to whisper something, and that was when his visuals appeared to have been fixated on the blonde.

Slowly he walked towards the child, and his hand which was coated with cold iron caressed Aldara's cheek. "So a couple of people died by just touching you?" the man asked her in rhetoric, but the child could not remember such an event happening. It was evident on the expression on her visage that she knew nothing of what he talked of. "What is your name?" he asked once again, and to this Aldara panicked ---- she could not remember. When she failed to give a prompt answer, cold steel smacked the side of her face.

"What is your name?!" the man asked once again.

"I am sorry, I do not know!" answered the blond child.

This made the him chuckle, and right then and there he bestowed upon her a new monicker which was a contrast of what was reportedly she could do: Ramla Ranae.

The man was interested of this report he got about Ramla Ranae that he wasted no time deciphering what she could do, the first of which was to have the other children tap or touch her, but none of them died or even aged. This has disappointed the man, but he did not allow this to stop him from further trying. He subjected her to different kinds of pain, torture, and experiments until she was able to exhibit even the littlest hint of her magecraft. She spend days that turned into weeks, and then months and years in captivity, enduring wounds and mental anguish. Whenever she was getting comfortable and chummy with the other children, teenagers and adults within the manor, the mad man would not think twice into capturing these people and subjecting them to danger in hopes that Ramla Ranae would be forced to show more of her capabilities. What was more, whenever she showed signs that somehow her mind was already recovering from the amnesia as she was recalling bits and pieces of her past life, the aged sage and his men would beat her black and blue so the physical shock would make her forget it once again. All the suffering made Ramla realized that there was no hope for her, and that all she needed to do were first, to give more than what she could to satisfy the man, and second, to just heed the mad scientist's orders. She was able to adjust to this life, until the time the sage died.