Memories may come in different forms into a sentient being's mind. Liquid flowing through cracks, solid bricks that form a structure, gas that floats around in the brain aimlessly, the possibilities go on to infinity. For Emil, they flow like his favourite hot water found at the springs.

He suddenly awoke in a slightly panicked manner, taking in his surroundings as he calms down. Darkness consumes his vision, for it remains as one of the few sole occupants in the oxygen-lacking space. He then began scavenging with his eyes for what he can perceive. A pile of stuffed animals laid in a small anthill-size mountain, flowers from his home, a few other items that seemed strange to place in a casket, and a medium-sized book that emits a variation of coloured lights. 'Wait, casket?!' He thought to himself as the memories flow back into his head.

Emil finally needed to end this magical nonsense. For years, the plethora of creatures thought to be fiction in the twenty-first century have been staying around with him and his brother. At first, as a child, he welcomed them and often considered them his playmates due to often being lonely. He and his older brother, Lukas, were always strong with magic, for the amount of magical occurrences increased as they grew up. Lukas continued to welcome them and active practice of magic became a part of his daily routine. However, Emil only desired a more "normal" life, which meant separation from his magical roots.

At first, he simply asked for separation from the creatures who often surrounded him. As expected, the ones close to him offered to stay around to protect him but promised to leave him be for when he wanted them to. Emil accepted that offer happily, for they were still his friends. On the other hand, there were others who only preferred to cause mischief and disaster, which he often considered annoying. No matter what he did, they continued to pester him and cause humiliation. Often throwing taunting remarks at him for wanting separation from magic and ruining any important opportunities for him. To add onto that, there were also random encounters with unknown creatures that were attracted to him. To say the least, he couldn't take it any longer.

A few hours before death at seventeen years of age, he borrowed one of Lukas' spell books for performing a sort of "banishing spell", which he planned to use to repel the irritating magical beings and encounters with any mystical strangers. Firmly grasping the glowing book, he stood amongst powerful runes surrounding him at one hour before meeting his supposed end. Internally, he was shaking for something didn't feel right about this. As he shrugged it off, he began chanting and felt it all course through him. He felt... powerful, but refused to let it deter him from his main goal. Screeches and screams filled the air with smells experienced by few polluting the atmosphere. Whispers clawed at his ears and then he realised he made a minor mistake.

He turned around swiftly, noticing that the pestilence were still there. But something seemed very wrong... "Wait, oh shit," Emil cursed to himself. They began expanding in size, power started flowing from them. In that moment, Emil knew he fucked up pretty bad. Okay, perhaps "pretty bad" was an understatement, but he couldn't think properly as fatigue clogged up his head. He winced as he felt a sharp pain appear out of nowhere, perhaps whiplash from performing the spell (which was known for its difficulty).

"Pah, what a pathetic attempt! You thought you actually had a chance, but based off of your hilariously pained face, you failed. Now, you will pay the price with your life because you forgot the one thing that would've saved you from losing all of your energy," a mare sneered at Emil's weakened form in Icelandic. "Well, you'd be spared from a hellish afterlife, but we want to torment you for a bit longer. Begone, pathetic human."

"Dammit, what are you doing?!" Emil asked weakly. Black and red started creeping from the corners from his eyes as he felt himself weaker. He only received dark smiles in response as he passed out, dead. For the first time, he could see his entire body from a third person point of view. Suddenly, he felt a jerk and his essence was slammed harshly into one of his childhood toys. A puffin plush, which resembled a normal puffin but now the eyes sparkled with violet as his spirit went into a trance.

Emil now glanced at his corpse that had an expression of serenity. Sighing, he then shifts his position and starts a pointless staring contest at the roof of the casket. Well, at least he has a book that he can't trust as one of his companions. "How long is this 'torment' meant to last?" He asked to practically nobody. His thoughts drifted off to Lukas', his family's, and his pet, Mr. Puffin's, wellbeing as he wishes to fall asleep.

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So finally I'm done with the first chapter! Well, prologue, but you know what I mean. This'll all be edited later on since I kind of rushed and I want to be more accurate with Norse folklore, but at least I finished it before the end of the day before 11 PM. Anyway, I'll attempt to get the first (second) chapter out by the end of this weekend. Until later, have a great day/night!

P.S. Please critique this. Thank you!

P.S.S. Credit goes to -noctilucent for the idea of this prologue. Love you, Marsh!