Mercedes ~The Queen of Elf~
She opened her eyes as she regained consciousness. “Ugh……” She whimpered, gasping weakly as she stood up. “It seemed that Black Mage’s dirty trick has failed to get me.” She muttered, feeling glad that she survived Black Mage’s final attack probably because of her noble and pure elf lineage. “But, why…….Why must he treat the forest like this?” She looked around and sobbed upon seeing the surrounding forest which had pitifully become cinders after being seared by the hellfire summoned by the Black Mage.

“The end of war, wasn’t it?” She doubted as she beamed at the remains of the Black Mage’s minions. Elin Forest, the once-beautiful place where the mossy snails, tree lords and stone bugs inhabited, had been destroyed. Nevertheless, Maple World was saved from being fully engulfed by Black Mage’s evilness, at least. She felt a little joyful but the joy didn’t last long. Out of the blue, a shroud of severe coldness hung over the place and a heavy snowfall followed. Her long and pointed elf ears shivered a little as the snow fell. She heard nothing else other than the wails made by the biting wind. The forest which was coated by ashes at first was now covered by snow. How ironic! “Cold…..” She mumbled as she picked up her pair of bowguns which was lying near her feet.

The special Magic Arrow installed on her bowguns was created by her ancestors and was blessed by the great spirits to be used to gain infinite ammo so that she could last very long during a war. It was now no longer needed as the war had already ended. Putting her arrows back into her rucksack, she started to head home. As she touched the mistletoe hairpin on her hair, she let out a sigh of relief. The hairpin was a special gift from her fiancé, Freud, who had accompanied her in joining the expedition formed by people who wished to crusade against the Black Mage for the peace of Maple World. “Wait! Freud? Where’s Freud?” She shouted as she recalled her beloved.

Five heroes had been called by Athena Pierce to form a team to fight the Black Mage in order to stop his evil plan of overtaking the sovereignty of the Maple World. The five were Mercedes, the Elven Queen; Aran, the Hero of Glaze; Phantom, the Great Thief; Luminous, the sacred spell-caster and Freud, the Dragon Master. These titles were gloriously bestowed by Empress Aria, who previously ruled Maple World and was killed by the Black Mage not too long ago. In the end, all the five crusaders succeeded in destroying the wicked Black Mage. However, Black Mage had managed to cast his final attack on them as well. The effects of his spell, however, still remained unknown.

The blizzard stormed all over the place. It was so cold that her every breath became frosty. She finally saw her fiancé lying beside his Onyx Dragon after looking around for him in the dark woods. She had no time for the other heroes because all she wanted to see was just Freud, her love. She desperately hopped towards Freud as it was a faster way for elves to move. “Freud!” Quickly throwing her bowguns away, she hugged Freud tightly and cried. No matter how hard she tried, she could not rouse Freud who seemed to be in a state of deep unconsciousness.

“Mercedes…… you have finally come.” Interrupted Alfrien, Freud’s Onyx Dragon which remained partially frozen via telepathy. As Mercedes wanted to know Freud’s condition, faint replies came from Alfrein, “I am sorry to say this but master is already dead.” The word ‘dead’ kept echoing inside her head, she couldn’t believe it. What kind of a terrible word had she heard from Alfrien? She could not accept the truth and she knelt down helplessly. This is the cruelty of war – everybody would be dead around you yet nothing could be done to prevent it from happening. Mercedes sobbed while Alfrien carried on talking, “Master’s last wish is to keep you alive...... He wished that you could still stay in this world as he couldn’t bear to see you die.” Having said what he had to say, Alfrien went completely frozen. It died too.

“Freud……” She took off her mistletoe hairpin along with her engagement ring and put them in Freud’s cold hand. She stood up and took back her bowguns. She wiped the snow on it as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Farewell.” Speaking softly to Freud, she walked away. A myriad of glowing butterflies swarmed around her as she triggered the warping spell back to her hometown – Elluel. Upon arriving, she was shocked to find all the villagers frozen, leaving her elders and her friend standing under the enchanted Cherry Blossom tree which bloomed with eternity. “You’ve finally come back!” Danika, Mercedes’s best childhood friend, also known as the Elder of War, welcomed the return of the Elven Queen with open arms. “Sorry to keep you waiting for this long, Danika.” Mercedes was happy to see her friend.

“Your Highness, you have been affected by a horrible curse cast by the Black Mage!” Astilda, the Elder of Life, exclaimed. “Dark ice spells.” Philius, the Elder of Magic, added. Astilda also told her Highness that since she was the ruler of all elves, the spell would infect all the elves too. Mercedes apologized for her carelessness during the elimination of Black Mage and of course the elders forgave her. Maple World would have been destroyed if not for her heroic sacrifice. “Our protective spell won’t last us long, your Highness, I beg you to seal the entrance and hide the town.” Pleaded Philius as her legs were already frozen. Danika, with her head remained unfroze, smiled and said, “Good bye Mercedes, see you.” Shortly after she had uttered her last syllable, she was fully frozen.

Mercedes quickly sealed up the opening of the cave behind the waterfall by drawing pentagrams on it with her magic powders to keep intruders away as it was the entrance to the world outside. She approached the magic phonograph and let it played a soothing song. The song was composed by her forebears and could veil the whole town with invisibility. She was then suddenly seized by a great feeling of drowsiness. She went into her room and then she was frozen too, the moment she closed her expressive eyes. Her strength and consciousness slowly ebbed away. Being an elf, she could not get rid of the deadly curse. The town of elves soon disappeared as the curse unleashed its evil power.

One day after a century had passed, a young rookie magician was killing slimes as instructed by Grendel the Really Old. As he was making his last strike, the branch of the tall giant tree on which he was standing broke. He fell down for a few kilometres but he was fortunately cushioned by the soft bushes at the bottom. A sealed cave caught his attention and he went to have a closer look. Out of curiosity, he touched the seal and it broke. He walked into the cave and his wand accidentally hit the big crystal block nearby. A small portion of his magic power infused into the crystal block and it started shining, lighting up the entire cave.

He went deeper into the cave, not aware of what his curiosity would get him into……