Chapter Text
T_̴̴̹̻̦̰͎̔̄͘h̴̵̴̢̧͓̲͖̖̭͎͕ͨ̃͐̉̽͊̎̃̾ͣ̍͊̓͡i̩̙͕͍̪͑̾̓̓ͨ_̯̩͕̭̟͎͇̯͆̂ͫͧ̆͋̽̇͜͡͡ͅr̸̦͖̹̩̝̱̞̝ͥ̋̈́ͣ̈̚̕͘͠͡͝͠t̷̷̸̵̡̛̛̗̤̹͔͚̹͚̰̝̟́́̍̓̅ͭ̀̔͐̄ͪ́̀ͭ͒̄̐̏͘͘͢͜͜͠͝͠͠ę̷͉̱̞̥̤͙͔̿̈͆͌͆͆ͬ͆ę̴̹͇̝̘̮̲̺̣͖̄ͫ̅̄̂͐̒͋̆ͦͨ̅̀̇́́̽̏̅ͬ̏͡n̵̨̡̨̛̛͇̮̘͍̘̦̞̙̥̤̣̳̺̈̊̉ͦ͌́ͧͬ͑͆̾͂̚͘̕̕͞.̢̛̠͙͙͇̟̬͔ͮ́͋̅ͦ̎͂̑ͫ̂̚
S̶̟͍̹̦̫̫̾̊͗̃̂ͬ́ͩ̉͛͛̉ͩ̔ͥ̇̂̄͒̚͟t̵̸͎̞̬̰̰͍̲̼̂̾̎̍͂̊̎̎ͩ͘͟ͅơ̡̛̦̹͕̻͈̫̦͈͔̩̭͚͍ͮ̽ͣ̑̑̿̂̑͗̈́ͧ̔̉̀̊̊̌͜͡͝͠͠p̷̯̪͕͈̖̲͖̪̮̰̎͊ͮ͋ͯ̈̒́ͭ͋̈̿ͦ͂ͫͣ͆͟͢͠.̷̵̲̥̦̦͖̳̝̆̀͗͒͑ͯ̚ S̨̡̡̢̢̛͖̙͚̰̘̻̠̣̼ͪ͊͌̅̃̑ͫ̉̓ͬͨͦ̉ͫ̕͜͢͟͡͠t̍̄ǫ̴̴̷̮̫̮͉̤̤̥͇̯͓̭̲͉̥̤̦ͯͦ̊ͨ̏̓̐̿ͤ̆͐̇ͭ̆̄͝ṕ̷͉͉̪͕̌͆́ͫ͘.̠̥̹̹͎́̃́̿ͯ͗͟͜ S̵͕̪̏̄̏ẗ̶̸̰̫̗̩̯̼̹̙͚̲̱̦̹̻̺̯̝ͬ̏̅͑ͩ͐ͬ͛ͮ̂͑̓̅̾͐̀͜͢͝o̴̵̢̘̥̥̩̘̜̘͍̼̮̝̤̘̥̘̠̱̩ͭ͐͑̾ͮ̒͑̈̂ͦͯ͋ͩͦ̒̆̄ͩ̉͢͞ͅp̶̴͇͉̭̻̳̘̗̯̤͚̲̥̪̓ͪ̒́̏͐͆̌ͬ͊̌̏̍̂̃̓̉̃̀̑̈͟͝.̵̷̣͕͔̹̱̫̣̙̝̩̱̺ͯ̉̂̈͂̎ͣ͌ͩͩ̉ͬͭ͟͢͜͡͝ S̸̛̱͈̖̼͓̭̱͚̯̝͔̙͉̦̗͋̿̋̈́̓̑̀ͤ̄̉̊ͪͣ̓̚̚͜͢͜͢͡͡͞ͅͅt̶̨̧̺̤̻̰̺̘͎͖͍̻̤͍͚͈̻ͥ͒̉̾͛ͤ̾͞ó̶̧̻̻̳̱͕̘͉̹̒̓̒̽̈̑ͣ̀̀̚͝p̡̫͚͈̻̫͎̞͖ͤͦ̓̿̑ͬ͛́́͂̇̃ͥ̓͢͡͡ͅ.̨͔͇͇̽̏ͪ͑̐_̢̛͍̳̪̻̮̗̪̯̹͒̽̾̋̓̄ͤ͑͛̾̆ͭ̂͗ͦ̋ͣ̂ͬ̕͟͞͞͝͝͝ S̢̩͇̩̈́ͭͩ̈ͬ̆̏̒͌̽ͫ̿͜to̷̶͈͕ͯͣ͊ͤ̇͊͜p̣͕ͪͧ̀͛͜͝ͅ.̸̴̨̧̫̖̙͍̟͚̜̪ͤ͂́́͒̽̐̋ͥ̍͘̚͞ͅ Ş̴̬̹̲̤̆̊̐ͮ͛̃̅͆̿ͯ̀̽̄̚t̸̸̷̢̛͎͉̱͔͙̙̱͖̮͖̠͎͎̋̐̐̿͛̔ͮ̍̂̍ͦ̓̀ͬͩ́̃̏̑̐̂ͯͦ͜ǫ̵̮̭̼͔̟̯̭̰̝̥̙̭͎̰̻̾̃͌ͦ̊ͤͦ̅ͩ̍̂̔ͩ͒̓͋̽͗̍ͯ̔̀͋͝͞ͅp͓̘̪̩ͥͅͅ
I was only thirteen.
Only thirteen.
Thirteen.
Thirteen, and I lost everything. My nation. My family. My eye.
I’m incredibly lucky Master took me in, although I already knew a bit of swordplay beforehand from my father.
✧✧✧
I ran desperately, gasping for air. I had to get to Lilina. To my sister.
The sky looked like it was falling. Those strange…boxes…? I had no idea what they were. I mean, we were underground, but surely the city’s ceiling wasn’t collapsing? It’d held for years!
The sky was crimson red. Bloody, gurgling screams wafted through the air like some sick kind of music.
“Lil!” I shout, clumsily weaving between falling boulders. I didn’t even know if they were from those…creatures…or if part of the city was collapsing in on itself. A piece of glass flies towards me, just barely slicing through my glove and grazing my finger, not deep enough to cut it off, but certainly deep enough to leave a scar. One of many that would probably become a part of my body after this. I hoped that it was all a cruel dream that I would wake up from, and I would be able to go hug Liliana and tell her I loved her, for many more years. The world wasn’t ending, right? This is just a wicked conjuring of my twisted imagination, right? I really need to stop reading those true crime reports from Fontaine…
I’m snapped out of my thoughts by a sudden, piercing pain in my shoulder, and when I glance behind me, a wolf-like beast, with eyes shining deep purple like the cold nothingness they came from, is hot on my heels. Not good. The claw marks on my shoulder are dripping with crimson, blood flowing freely and staining the tan of my skin. My eyes flutter shut at the pain, but I have to keep running. I turn, stabbing my father’s sword forward clumsily. It makes contact with the hound-like entity, but it only slows it a little.
It doesn’t bleed.
Instead, purple nothingness leaks through its fur like water flowing into cracks in the pavement. Not that that was a regular occurrence in Khaenri’ah, as it didn’t rain down here. Finally, I see a flash of the amethyst of Liliana’s dress in the redness around me. The hound is gone now, chasing some other poor soul.
Then, it happens.
The ceiling shakes, and a large boulder plunges to the ground above me. I stand, frozen in shock, unable to move a muscle as the point nears my face at an alarming rate. But then, I feel small hands on my back, surprisingly strong, pushing me out of the way. I hear Liliana shout; “Sis!”, and I realise who saved me.
“LIL NO!” I exclaim, but my words are knocked away by the thud of the boulder as I stumble and hit the floor. I pull myself up, sobbing as I stare at the disgustingly crimson mess of what used to be my sister. I can still hear her gurgling cries of pain, but there was no way I could save her now, so I simply pull two beautifully pale inteyvats out of my pocket and let them float to the ground beside her. I doubt she would have even been able to hear me, but I still murmur a soft farewell as I turn on my heel and run away.