Chapter Text
"Mama! Look!"
A childish voice called out, tugging at the sleeve of her mother's clothes. Bianca Marino looked at her joyous daughter, purple eyes alight with delight as she pointed at the back of her hand.
"Mama, look! It's a crown of thorns!" The child yelled out, she excitedly shoved the back of her right hand at her mother's face. "It means I have a soulmate!"
"Mhm I see it Phoebe." Bianca closely inspected the crown on her daughter's hand. The thorns fade from light blue into a calm purple. "Your soulmate is likely an acolyte devoted to the Imperator."
"How did you know?" Phoebe tilted her head.
"It's the symbol of those who devoted themselves to the Imperator." Bianca replied, patting her young daughter's head.
"Wow! You're really smart." Phoebe praised her eyes, shining with admiration.
"You'll be smarter like me when you're older, I just know it." Bianca patted the chair beside her. "Now, how about I tell you a story?"
Phoebe climbed up at the chair eagerly sitting on it, she listened to her mother's voice with rapt attention. This was one of the few rare moments that her mother wasn't busy after all.
"Once there was a young maiden, her laugh was the wind, her hands were brushes of inspiration and everyone loved her - from the poor peasants to the highest nobles." Her mother started.
"And that young maiden was the blessed maiden!" Phoebe happily interrupted.
Her mother giggled at her child's antics. Phoebe was such a joyous child and she couldn't be any happier. "My what a smart child I have."
Phoebe puffed up her cheek looking proud of herself. Her mother's praise cloaked her like a warm blanket.
"Before the young maiden became the blessed maiden, she snuck past the guards and drank the sacred wine. And the guards took notice. They chased her relentlessly but the maiden was swift as a wingray dodging them left and right. Yet, that wasn't enough as the Order's efforts were rewarded. " Bianca continued. "She was imprisoned and there she turned her prison walls into a canvas. She painted the grassy plains of Whisperwind Haven, the towering buildings of Rinascita, the joy and devotion of the people."
"And even the acolytes of the Order were moved from seeing the painted walls as they freed the maiden from her three day confinement."
The mother continued to weave the story of the blessed maiden and her daughter listened with keen eyes enchanted by it.
The sun sets into a beautiful hue of blue and purple. The street lamps flickered to life as night came into the city of Ragunna.
Moonlight illuminated the child dozing in the chair, her breath deep. Soft, gentle hands grabbed the now sleeping child to her room and tucked her into snug blankets.
"Good night, Phoebe. May the Imperator guard you in your dreams." Bianca whispered as she closed the door leaving the child to peacefully sleep.
Phoebe didn't know that would be the last time she ever saw her mother.
Her body fell on the wooden floor, the ship rocking side to side. Out in the tiny hole, waves were endlessly crashing at the ship. It was raining so hard she could barely see the view beyond.
Phoebe's eyes began to water. Her arm throbbed from the fall, her body ached from being thrown like a ragdoll.
She just wanted to see her parents again. They have been gone for weeks despite the promise of coming home at the first week of the month.
But, Phoebe was a patient child.
And so she waited, the sun and moon came and went, yet there were no knocks at her doorstep, no familiar voice calling her.
There was none.
So, she took matters into her own hands and snuck inside a cargo.
If they can't find her, then she will find them.
Or that's what she thought, before the sea raged. Dark blue waters towered over the merchant ship as if it were a mere pebble against its waters. Cries of the crew's ship came from up above muffled by the hard rain.
There was no time for regret as another wave slammed into the ship. It groaned, the wood bending yet still holding on.
Then, it suddenly broke.
Saltwater sprayed at her face, tiny arms flailed against the impossible, and only the roar of the rain was her answer.
The sky became the blue waters.
Phoebe choked at the barrage of water entering her lungs. She tried to breathe, to swim to the surface. But every time she did, another wave would knock her back.
She tried and tried until her eyes were heavy and her body was lightless.
Maybe it's time to give up?
Phoebe stared at the light at the surface of the ocean. The light was getting smaller and smaller, her body falling into the abyssal waters.
It was beautiful.
"---------"
Phoebe squinted hard as it may being underwater. She can briefly make out a woman reaching her hand.
"--------"
What was the woman saying?
Phoebe doesn't know but she wants to reach out to that hand. To touch it and hold it tightly and never let go.
It was not a need.
No, it was much more than that.
It was a calling.
She mustered every strength she had for one last swim. One last try. Water rippled as she swam like her father taught her.
"Phoebe make your hands like this. Yes that's right my dear!" A jolly voice echoed into her ear.
A hand roughed with blisters patted her hair.
She shook that memory out of head, now was not the right time.
Her body was tired, still she kept going.
Just one more and she could just reach it!
She held out her hand to the woman, and breached the surface. She gasped, air rushed in her lungs renewing it.
The world was basked in blue and white. The rain pounded against her body, Phoebe paid it no mind.
Her arms glided through the water finding for shore.
One, two, three
She counted, like her father taught her, focusing on moving her arms and kicking back her feet.
The wind suddenly picked up, howling against her ear.
The waves were back fiercer than ever. Her body helplessly rolled around as a lone wave crashed into her tugging her back into the sea.
May the Imperator guide me into their light.
She closed her eyes and accepted her fate.
Unbeknownst to Phoebe, her hand glowed - dark and purple.
There's something rough rubbing against her face as she tries to move. She blearily opened her eyes. Dark shadows, blurred figures, and a mix of sand soil as far as she could see.
She pushed herself up, arms trembling with the weight. Her nose and eyes burned from the torrent of seawater, she tried blinking it away and it seemed to make it better.
Her dress was torn, her body covered with bruises, her arms were heavy, and her head was pounding. Rough sand grinded against her feet as she walked towards any light that she could find.
She trudged in the darkness, fumbling like a lost soul. The night became darker. There was nothing but the bare of her feet. Shadows snaked around her curling towards her as if dragging her into the abyss.
Phoebe wasn't sure how much time had passed until she saw something on the horizon.
A light shined brighter than the sun. It burned away the darkness grabbing her, invigorating her tired body. The surroundings blurred as she ran, her hair fluttering in the wind.
The light became brighter and brighter.
There!
She saw silhouettes of multiple people. Phoebe rushed, her tiny legs flying under her. She can barely make out the person's face as she collided with someone into the sandy shore.
"W-what?!" A person shouted. "What's a child doing here?!"
Her hands clutched into a white uniform, lifting her head and saw the familiar hat of an acolyte of the Order. Tears began to gather at the corner of her eyes.
Finally - finally - she's safe!
"I-I don't know! I just want to see my parents and - and -" Phoebe cried out, dampening the acolyte's shirt.
"It's fine child, just let it all out okay?" Sweet and soft was the voice that Phoebe couldn't help but turn. Black hair peeked under the hat, crow's feet lined the corners of her eyes.
She looked a lot like her mother but older, kinder, and gentle like her. Grief surged in like the sea - sudden and powerful.
And she wailed.
Crying out for the pain in her bones, the ache in her heart, and the knowledge that maybe - maybe her parents weren't coming back anymore.
Exhaustion and grief mixed dizzyingly like the poisoned potions of the Fisalia - bitter and sweet on her tongue. Her heart lurched in her chest, her breath staggered, her hands grasped into the shirt like a lifeline.
Awkward hands patted her back trying to comfort her. Another pair of hands, more experienced than the one before, soothed her back.
"The Sentinel sends Divine Envoys to protect brave and kind children like you. That's why you don't need to fear the storm, for the Sentinel is by your side."
Bianca Marino tucked her daughter in, looking at the innocent purple eyes of her beloved child.
Phoebe wished that she wasn't a brave and kind child.
So that the Sentinel could send Divine Envoys to her parents instead.