Chapter 1: The soul's Rebirth.
The bedroom was dangerously quiet.Seven-year-old Lian sat on the cold floorboards, wrapping her small arms tightly around an old photograph. It was a picture of her dead mother. A soft cry escaped her lips as she pressed the paper against her chest, wishing for a warmth that was gone forever.Suddenly, the door crashed open. Her stepsister ran inside, holding a toy car. Seeing her sister, Lian’s heart jumped with fear. She tried to hide the photograph under her knees quickly."Lian! Look what you made me do!" the stepsister screamed loudly. With an evil smile, the younger girl slammed her own toy car onto the floor, breaking it into pieces. Then, she started crying falsely.Heavy, angry footsteps echoed from the hallway. Their stepmother walked into the room, her eyes burning with anger. "What is going on in here?!""Lian broke my favorite toy!" the stepsister lied, pointing a shaking finger.Before Lian could even say a word to defend herself, a sharp slap rang through the room. The stepmother’s hand hit Lian’s cheek with brutal force. The power of the blow sent Lian flying sideways. Her head slammed hard against the wooden edge of the bed. A warm line of red blood started to flow down her face, but she forced herself to stay silent, biting her teeth to hide the pain.The stepmother noticed the old photograph. She snatched it from the floor with cold eyes. With a cruel laugh, she tore the picture in half and threw the pieces into the dirt. "This trash is what makes you stupid. You should have died and joined your worthless mother a long time ago!"Without showing any mercy, the woman grabbed Lian by her long hair, dragging her small body down the dark hallway. She threw her into the pitch-black storage room, slammed the heavy wooden door, and locked it from the outside.Lian tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. Absolute terror locked her throat. Her whole body started shaking violently, and tears soaked her bruised face. But as she curled into a ball in the dark, the strange, old bracelet on her wrist suddenly became burning hot. Lian gasped as a bright, magic light shot out from the metal, spinning in circles through the darkness and pulling her mind into a deep, swirling black hole.Thousands of miles away, in a completely different world.Inside the grand Imperial Palace, a young princess lay dying on a silk bed. Royal doctors stood around her, shaking their heads in sadness. "Her Highness's soul is fading away. There is no medicine in the world that can save her," the chief doctor whispered.Suddenly, the heavy palace doors were kicked open. A guard covered in fresh blood ran into the room. "The palace has fallen! The King is dead! The rebels are breaking into the inner rooms!"Before anyone could move, a noble royal woman stumbled into the room. A rebel sword and a poisoned arrow were stuck deep inside her chest. Red blood stained her beautiful royal clothes. Ignoring her painful wounds, she grabbed the dying princess from the bed and pushed her into the arms of a trusted maid."Protect her with your life," the dying woman gasped, spitting up blood. "She is the last of our bloodline. She must live to get revenge for our kingdom." From her robes, she pulled out an old, glowing martial arts book. "Keep this hidden. The enemy must never touch it!"The woman ordered a loyal soldier to carry the princess on his back. Together with the maid, they broke through the back window and ran out into the shadows of a hidden cave behind the palace.They ran as fast as they could, but the heavy sounds of rebel boots echoed right behind them. "They are catching up!" the soldier whispered. He quickly handed the weak princess to the maid. "Keep moving through the forest. I will stop them here!" With a loud battle cry, the soldier turned around to face the big army alone.As the maid ran through the thick, dark woods, the princess slipped from her shaking arms. The child fell hard against a sharp rock, knocking her completely unconscious. Panicking, the maid picked her back up, running until her lungs burned from the cold air. The shouting of the enemy guards grew louder. They wanted the royal child and the magic book.Realizing she could not outrun them, the maid made a desperate choice. She hid the unconscious princess behind a giant, hollow tree, stuffing the old martial arts book safely into the child’s robes. "Forgive me, Your Highness," she whispered, before running in the opposite direction to lead the guards away.A moment later, the princess’s eyes snapped open.But these were not the eyes of a dying royal child. They were sharp, cold, and full of the terrible pain of a girl who had just been locked in a dark room on Earth. Lian looked at her small hands, confused by the strange ancient clothes. She felt the back of her head, touching the fresh blood from the sharp rock.She stood up on shaking legs and walked toward the maid’s path. When the maid saw the child following her, she panicked, screaming, "Run away! Do not come near here!"Before the princess could take another step, a flying arrow pierced the maid’s chest. She fell to her knees, gasping for air.Looking at the dying maid, and seeing the armed rebel soldiers surrounding them in a circle, something snapped inside Lian’s mind. The memories of her abusive stepmother and the terror of the dark room mixed with a giant, sleeping monster inside this new body.A wave of pure, absolute fury took over her soul. Lian turned to face the soldiers. Her eyes started glowing with a scary, dangerous light. She opened her mouth wide to scream, but what came out was not a child’s voice.It was an explosive blast of forbidden, ancient energy.A giant shockwave of dark, terrifying power ripped through the forest like an invisible ocean wave. The earth shattered beneath their feet, and the air crackled with a deadly pressure. The rebel soldiers did not even have time to scream. The massive force blasted them backward for miles through the air. Their heavy iron armor broke like cheap glass, and they vomited black blood, dying before their bodies crashed into the crushed trees.The entire forest became dead silent, completely destroyed by an impossible magic.The maid, who was miraculously saved from the giant blast, dragged herself to her feet in total shock and fear. She walked up to the breathing princess, noticing a strange, godly light coming from her skin. And there, shining softly on the young girl’s wrist, was the exact same ancient bracelet from Earth, pulsing with dark energy."Are you... alright, Your Highness?" the maid whispered, shaking from head to toe.The princess slowly nodded her head. Her look was distant, old, and freezing cold.Supporting each other, they crossed the borders of the fallen kingdom under the dark cover of night. By the banks of a fast river, they finally found safety, ready to hide in a remote, quiet village where no one would ever suspect the monstrous bear sleeping inside the little princess.
