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Chara was raised to believe that the only happiness she could have was a good marriage. Her engagement to Phillip had been decided as soon as she could open her eyes. Her mother, Lady Kentucy, took Chara to every tea party, every social event, taught her how to run a household, how to maintain appearances, how to forge connections, all for the sake of her future husband. For his love.
Had Chara been who she was supposed to be, she would have grown to be calm and collected, devoted to Philllip, even in his 'death'. But Chara wasn't, memories that came from a time of equal opportunities and expectations resided in her mind. She was a spitfire, a rebel that caused trouble wherever she went. A girl that wanted more from her life than to sit all day waiting on Phillip.
He was a good friend in her eyes. Chara knew that, to him, she was more than just his childhood friend and future wife (the memories of one night that would never disappear), but it didn't matter. It hadn't mattered when he left to save the world, an endeavour that would prove pointless.
Would he have stayed if she told him the truth? Sometimes, she liked to fool herself and think that he would, but he had been more Rufus than Phillip at that point. He would have chosen to save the world no matter the cost.
Chara's father had already passed away, and her mother was old and ailing, suffering from some sort of disease that would probably be the counterpart to Alzheimer's. Phillip left her nothing - his house had to be maintained for the person who found the secret of the Relics to find him, his money would be drained to keep the priests quiet. Chara had to live off of the small sum of money she inherited from her father and the kindness of her brother, Alec, who allowed her to stay in the mansion.
The whispers of polite society weren't stopped by the great walls of her childhood home. Even if Chara didn't attend any of the social events, the people of her estate, the maids, even her sister-in-law spoke cruelly of the woman who would have a child outside of wedlock. Chara wasn't naive enough to believe that the stigma wouldn't follow her child and herself for the rest of their lives. So she decided to become someone so great that any comment would have to be shushed.
Chara was twenty and pregnant and trying to find a small snowy village in a not very reliable map. Donald Rutledge wasn't famous yet - maybe he hadn't even be born yet - and his 'Ancient Histories' that would lead the way to the Azran Legacy was nonexistent. Luckily, Chara had foresight. She didn't know enough to find the Ruins of Akbadain or the Isle of Ambrosia, but she remembered something else - Froenburg. Why search for the pieces of the map when she already knew the destination?
Alya was a good baby. She took mostly after Chara, blonde hair, thin eyebrows, pale complexion. But her green eyes were Phillip's and Chara hated them. He had been her friend, and he left her. Why should her child remind her so much of him?
Alya was a good baby, though, all smiles and coos, and Chara couldn't help but melt at the sight of her daughter. If there was one good thing that this life had given her was the sweet child on her breast.
Alec gifted the most wonderful nursery to his little niece, pale yellows and greens and a lot of sunlight, soft teddy bears and warm blankets. His own son watched Alya sleep with a content smile on her face and asked if he could hold her. Chara gave the bundle that was her daughter to the little boy and he smiled.
She imagined Phillip standing next to young Theodore, holding his arms out to take Alya.
Chara scolded herself. It was no time to dwell on the what-ifs.
Arranging a trip to Froenburg took longer than what she expected. Then again, they didn't have airships or the power of skipping a large period of time with a black screen. She needed transportation, provisions, a place to stay, escorts - it would be foolish for a woman to travel alone, no matter how much it angered her.
In the end, her brother agreed to acompany her instead of the horde of cousins that Chara refused. He knew that if she didn't get her way she would simply leave alone with no regards to her personal safety. Alya would be left with his wife - after Chara threatening her into submission, that woman was vicious if uncontrolled - and little Theodore, who loved his baby cousin to the heavens and back.
And so Chara left to Southampton in order to catch a boat to the continent. She heard the news of the great reconstruction of the local Church and remembered that Phillip was close by, asleep.
He could rot for all she cared. She didn't need him anymore.
Aurora was beautiful. One thing was to see a person through a screen, another was to see her with your own two eyes.
Alec laid the girl down, Chara rushed for more blankets. Aurora opened her eyes, clenched and unclenched her fist, and shot a confused look at them. Chara smiled reassuringly, and told her brother that perhaps they should go back to the villagers who so kindly offered them a bed.
The next morning, Aurora led them through the windy dirt roads. Then again the morning after, and so on, until they reached a forest and a lake and the girl chanted. Ruins were raised, stone glowed, and Aurora presented herself as the Messenger of the Azran.
That night, Chara told her the truth.
Chara's daughter was extremely happy at her mother's return. A few months had passed since Chara left. Alya was now two and chatted away, telling her stories of her adventures with Theo and asking who the girl she brought was. Chara said that she was Aurora and that she would stay with them for a while.
Aurora translated the coordinates and Chara asked her if she wanted to go after the Stones, now that she knew. The girl - golem, does it really matter what she is? - looked straight into Chara's eyes and asked:
"Are you doing this for your daughter or for yourself?"
Chara smiled, and Aurora knew her answer.
Chara and Aurora stood in front of the Azran Sanctuary, Alec a few steps behind. Key in hand, Chara glanced at her companion, garbed in the same clothes they had found her in. Aurora raised her head and nodded slowly. Chara released a breath she didn't know that she was holding and took a step forward, raising the key above her head. A surge of energy came from it, and the doors opened with the noise of stone sliding on stone.
The halls of the Azran invited them, tempting them to make a mistake and fall to their deaths or be burned into crisps or drown.
Alec insisted in coming with them, but Chara threw him a look and he stayed behind, keeping his guard to shoo away any curious local. The girls entered the Sanctuary.
They solved puzzle after puzzle, walked in the labyrinth of hallways and corridors, avoided some lasers and paddled the boat with their hands.
They reached the Inner Sanctuary and Aurora translated the final message. It was only a formality and they knew it. Chara had once known its every word by heart, back when she hadn't been Chara.
The woman walked up to the dagger. She took it from its holding place and examined the strange reflexes on the blade. Some sort of crystal, perhaps? Aurora took a few steps forward, slowly turning her body until she was standing right in front of Chara, staring at her.
She let the dagger fall to the ground, refusing to take a life.
The Azran were cruel, that much was clear. They treated the golems like tools, and when it had been proved that they weren't tools they did the same thing with Aurora. The girl glowed, her body dissipating, while Chara held her close. The Azran Legacy - all of the texts and bits of technology that they left behind - had been secured by Alec. And now they were standing on the place where Chara had first seen Aurora as the girl died.
"I'm sorry I couldn't find a way to save you" a tear fell but Chara would never admit it. "Had I the chance, I would have done anything."
"Just as you would do anything for your daughter?" Aurora's voice was so weak that it wasn't louder than a whisper.
"Yes" Chara chocked on a sob.
Alec had to force his sister to leave, dragging her by the arm. The ruins of the Azran Sanctuary crumbled underground, taking the Azran Emissary with them.
Ah, Chara heard a voice echoing inside her head, if only... If only I could be a human being in my next life... A wonderful human being... Just like you!...
Alya ran up to Chara, ignoring her tutor's complaints, and tackled her mother in a hug. Drops of water fell on her head and the child looked up, confused, to find her mother crying. Her mother never cried.
"What is wrong, Mother?"
Chara held Alya closer and said:
"It's nothing, baby girl. Just remember that I love you."