It started in the early days of San d’Oria, somewhere in the beginning of the Crystal Wars. During the time where people walked about town doing their business, not worried about the war; working, buying or selling values at the Auction House, socializing with their peers, or doing things to better a person’s life. The majority of citizens in San d’Oria were quite satisfied of how their lives were going. But, not all people’s lives were grand. Especially a family that was put down in the lower class of Vana’diel…my family. I am Zhael Nitros, a female elvaan. This story that I am about to tell is true and it is about my family who strengthened me to become a mighty soldier of Vana’diel.
Not very many knew of the Nitros Family. We lived in South San d’Oria where we were a poor family, desperately put down in poverty, consisting of a mother who was a widow, named Lilith, and her seven children. There were five boys – Baelfael, Behemos, Ashtarth, Molok, and Regulus. And two girls – Zoniha, and me Zhael. The five boys spent most of the day working around town, collecting gil for the family, while the two girls and the mother cleaned and did housework most of the day. The children rarely had time to play with the other neighborhood children. But when they did, they loved to basically play a young child’s game which they call “Orcs vs. The Soldiers.” It was based on San d’Oria army battling the vicious Orcs, where part of the children role-plays the army’s soldiers, and other role-plays the Orcs. They were very familiar with the story of the city’s army teaming up with Windurst, Bastok, and Jeuno’s army to defend against the assault of the beastmen.
Molok – “Alright, Cretiam, Tidious, Regulus, Ashtarth, and I will be the brave soldiers, and the rest can be the evil Orcs.”
Ashtarth – “I’ll be the leader of the soldiers. I, Ashtarth, will be the greatest swordsman that ever lived. Fighting against all those giant Orcs,” he said as he swung a wooden stick around like a weapon.
Ashtarth – “I can’t wait till I get older. I’m going to be in San d’Oria’s army. My swordsmanship skills will be regconized, naming me the greatest warrior of all of Vana’diel.”
Regulus – “Me too! I’m going to become a Royal Knight. Slaying every beastmen that stands in my way.”
Zoniha – “It would be wonderful; just to leave the town walls, and explore the land.” *SIGH*
As you can see, all of the children were excited to become soldiers for their nation. They dreamed big of becoming warriors, or venturing the land of Vana’diel. From what I heard, Ashtarth wanted to become a great warrior; Regulus and Baelfael planned on teaming together and using their stealth skills to penetrate Ghelsba Outpost and Fort Ghelsba. Of course Regulus also planned on to being a Royal Knight; Behemos wanted to leave his poverty lifestyle and become an important officer in the Chateau d’Oralligue; Molok dreamed of traveling to Mhaura to become a sailor, which is quite odd to me. Molok was a huge male elvaan and great strength dwelled in him. It wouldn’t come to my mind that a strong brother like him would want to be a sailor. But anyway, Zoniha my older sister, she just would like to journey the land. Exploring caves, and mountains, while arriving to different cities and towns; and meeting fellow travelers. All their dreams had something similar, which was going through a wonderful adventure. Yet, it was dangerous, but with all of them having the same personality, which is very outgoing risk takers, they didn’t seem afraid. They were all also interested in fighting; they all were determined to actually live their dreams. But what about me you ask? Well you could say I was different. In fact, I was very different from the rest of them. For example: usually while the children went out to play, I either just look out the window from my tiny home watching them, or I would help mother cook supper and do more extra house work.
Lilith – “Well Zhael, I guess you have done all of your chores for today. You may go out and play with the others”
Zhael looked out the front door, getting a peek at her siblings playing outside with the other neighborhood children and then turned back towards her mother. Lilith was directing her attention to preparing supper and didn’t notice that her youngest daughter was still inside looking at her until she turned her head and looked over her shoulder. She took a glimpse at me while putting vegetables in the clay pot with a confused look on her face.
Lilith – “What’s wrong dearest? Why do you look so disappointed? Don’t you want to play with your brothers and sister?”
Zhael – “Mama, can’t I stay in here and help you instead? I rather help make supper with you than to go outside.”
Lilith – “Zhael, you have helped me make supper ever since you could speak. And if you didn’t do that, I would see you sitting on the house’s footsteps holding your favorite doll, while your siblings played that ridiculous game.”
Zhael – “But, I don’t like playing with them. I’m not like them mama. I want to help you…ever since papa died we had hard times. And I want to do everything possible to make things easier for you mama. Like helping do things and clean the house so you won’t have to do so much.”
Lilith puts down her cooking pot and comes over to comfort me. She picks me up and she sits down in her rocking chair while I lean against her shoulder, resting on her lap. She rocks gently back and forth in the rocking chair, having a moment to ourselves.
Lilith – “Awww baby. That’s very sweet of you. This is one of the many positive aspects that I love about you. You’re a good-hearted child; Kind, caring, thoughtful, loving, and faithful. You’re the greatest gift a mother could ever have.
Just seeing you Zhael, makes everything for me easier. I know you try your best to help out, and I really appreciate that dearest, but lemme tell you something; life is not all about work, even though we went down into poverty. You can always do other thing besides working. And you being my six-year-old daughter, all these responsibility should not be put upon you. You’re just a little girl. You should be doing what other six-year-old girls should be doing.”
Lilith turned her head around looking out the window. For a brief moment, she watched her other six children playing with the other neighborhood children. They were playing and running around swinging the sticks they wield in their hands, pretending it was a sword. Then she turned back to me who was still lying on my mother’s lap staring at my mama to listen to the next thing she had to say. Lilith let out a huge sigh.
Lilith – “Ever since you were a tiny girl, I’ve noticed that you differ from you other siblings. Now it’s quite noticeable by everyone. All of them; they dream of leaving home and serving San d’Oria as adventurers…just like your father. They want to fight for their nation. They seem to share personality because all of them are quite similar, such as them being fearless and aggressive. Each of them determines to leave here and wander into the world, exploring and battling. But when I describe you, you have nothing like that in you. You’re quite the opposite of your brothers and sisters.”
Zhael – “I guess that’s…that’s why I’m picked on and teased by the others…and I guess that’s why I don’t fit in, and I…don’t…have…any friends.”
By that time I had a couple of tears rolling down her cheeks, as I sat there emotionally breaking down. I felt very bad acting this way, but I couldn’t help it. Everyone in my family was socially perfect. Where everyone was accepted because of the same things they thought and did. But since I had no care for fighting and being an adventurer, I was constantly ridiculed making me the so-called “weirdo” in the family. It wasn’t fair at all. That’s what was going through my mind at that exact moment. But I didn’t have the guts to let it out. So I sub it with some other topic.
Zhael – “I guess being different is a bad thing huh mama?”
I swiftly rubbed her eyes using the side of my index fingers and moving it in a circular motion. Lilith then gently wiped the tears off Zhael’s face. She gleam smiled at her daughter and said this:
Lilith – “No Zhael. Don’t think being different is a bad thing. Being different is not a problem at all. Its just, people have a problem with you being different. But you shouldn’t worry about what other people think. Do the things you love to do, instead of the things people expect you to do.”
Zhael – “Yes mama.”
Lilith then playfully tickled me as I squiggled around as ticklish as I am, giggling up a storm, trying to make me feel better. Of course, it did. Because I had a little smirk on my face after she got done, and I felt pretty good. Usually we have these talks when I’m feeling discouraged. But this talk was most important of all the rest because right here is when she did and said something that would carry throughout my life.
Lilith – “Remember Zhael, no matter how alone you feel; no matter how discouraged you are, your family loves you, and will always be there for you no matter how far apart we are, because we are in your heart and you’re in my heart also.”
Then Lilith took off a necklace that was around her neck that had a purplish-black thunderbolt shaped pendant, and carefully put it around my neck. I stared at the pendant with a confused look on my face.
Zhael – “Mama, what is this for?”
Lilith – “This was a necklace that pasted down in our family. Previously owned by our great ancestors from thousands of years ago. Traditionally, your great-great-grandmother past it down to the eldest daughter, down the generations of our family. It is believed that the spirits of our dead ancestors live in the brooch of this pendant. The daughter who wields this pendant that is related in the Nitros Family, the spirit of the Nitros Pendant will protect and watch over her. Your great-great-grandmother past this down to her daughter; who then past it down to grandmother. She then past it down to me when I was your age, and now its time for me to past it down to you.”
I stared at the pendant with total amazement as I turned and rotated it, examining it carefully.
Zhael – “Why are you giving this to me mama? Isn’t Zoniha older than me?”
Lilith – “Yes she is older. But I think you would appreciate more than Zoniha would. Plus I see more maturity and responsibility in you than her. Even though it’s supposed to be past down to oldest daughter and I know I shouldn’t be doing this, buuut…it would mean a lot to me if you kept it.”
Zhael – “Thank you mama. I’ll make sure I cherish it forever.”
Lilith then kissed my forehead and gently shooed me off to tell the others supper was ready. I quickly hopped off Lilith’s lap and skipped outside. That moment was the happiest time of my life. I was given one of the most valuable ancient items in my family’s history, which is supposed to be quite an honor. Even though at that age I didn’t know it did or did not have any knowledge of how lucky I was to receive such a gift. Zoniha was suppose to receive the pendant, and after Lilith told that instead of her pasting the pendant to her, she past it down to me, Zoniha was quite upset for a while. But after that, she didn’t really care. Surprising as it sounds, she never showed that she was mad at me for, in a sense, stealing her gift. She just acted the way she normally acts around me – being the big sister, by telling me things and helping me out that a normal little sister would need help with. But that leads to another story. So basically this is the kind of relationship I had with my mother. She was a hard-working, brave, generous woman…I really miss her a lot.
As for my brothers and sister, well that was a different story. As you see, I was not the best of friends with everyone. In fact, I was basically the little girl who was considered an outsider in a social standard. And to be raised in a family that was in poverty made matters worst for me. Because all the children (including my brothers and sister) that were in her neighborhood of San d’Oria they all dreamed of becoming adventurers and planned on leaving San d’Oria to move to a more prosperous place to live a better life. Except for me. I didn’t want to become an adventurer. I didn’t want to travel to places and fight monsters because of these three facts: first of all, my father was an adventurer and was a great warrior. I was not proud of him doing those kinds of things and I refuse to take part of that. Wearing heavy armor and wielding swords and shields, prancing around like an important officer. Second, I didn’t want to leave my mother all alone living in a terrible area such like this. Third, I was too frightened to venture out into the wilderness, and far too frightened of all the monsters that roam the forest. I am not brave at all, and certainly had little courage. Making me the opposite of my other brothers and my sister. I don’t have an aggressive heart at all. And everyone knew that. That was why I was constantly teased and picked on by others, because of that. It was like a trend with young children; dreaming about becoming adventurers. Baelfael was the most troublesome sibling in my family. Even though we are 6 weeks apart (him being older), he is one of the main people who pick on me. Behemos (the second oldest) would sometimes defend me if one of the neighborhood children would tease me, but would not give a care if on of my brothers would. Ashtarth (fourth oldest) would tease me occasionally, by bragging on how being an adventurer would be the greatest thing that would happen in a kid’s life, and provoking me on how I would be missing out on all the fun.
Molok – “Hey Zhael! We’re playing “Orcs versus Warriors” right now. Do you wanna come play? We’ll let you be one of the warriors.”
I was sitting on the front door steps to my tiny house just fiddling with my doll like always. I looked up at my brothers and sister, who were standing in the street waiting for me to answer the question. I just simply just shook my head without a sound and went back to playing with my doll. The siblings just looked at each other and Zoniha just gave a slight frown. So they were just about to go back to playing without me until Baelfael step out from the group and let out a remark.
Baelfael – “Of course Zhael doesn’t want to play. Because she’s a weak little loser.”
Zoniha turned over to Baelfael and gave him an annoyed look.
Zoniha – “Stop it Baelfael! Leave her alone!”
Ashtarth – “Well it’s the truth. Have you seen her do anything fun? All she does is help mama and fiddle with her stupid dolls.”
I just sat there trying to ignore the insulting comments being said.
Molok – “Well if she doesn’t want to play then she doesn’t have to play. Come on guys, lets……
Baelfael – “The reason why she doesn’t to play because she scared she will get hurt and running to mommy like a little cry baby. Wah! Wah! Wah! [LOL]”
I couldn’t ignore those mean comments about me, so I tried to hold back the tears and tried to stay strong. But I had to admit, that those remarks being said about me, well it was quite hurtful. And it started to make me think that, why am I so weak? Why am I so different from the others? Why did I have to be born that way? While I was searching for some answers to my questions, Baelfael runs over to me and snatches the doll I was holding and he raises it in the air out of my reach. I quickly got up and tried to reach for my doll.
Zhael – “Hey give me back my doll! It’s mine Baelfael!”
Behemos – “Baelfael go be stupid somewhere else and give Zhael back her doll.”
Baelfael – “I’m proving a point here. See how she whines and cries?”
I was standing on my tip-toes trying to my doll back, while Baelfael kept the doll out of reach waving it around in my face and returning it into the air.
Zhael – “Give it back!”
Baelfael – “You have to say please! But since you didn’t…”
That’s when Baefael ran off with my doll, speeding down the street with me pursuing right after him. He found a deep puddle of mud water at left side of a street and started running towards it. Just about 10 feet away from it he raised his hand with the doll in his clutches high above his head, and swung his arm down chucking the doll in the air. I stopped running to catch my breath while watching my doll soar through the air with a frightful look on my face and my mouth wide open. Other nearby children gathered to witness what was happening. As my doll started to drop heavily, it got closer and closer into plunging into the deep filthy muddy water, until it actually did plunge into it with a big splash. I had a sad look on my face seeing this happen to my doll, but the other kids thought it was the funniest thing they had seen all day and they laughed and giggled and gave Baelfael a lot of praise for pulling such a horrible prank. I was devastated. I ran over to the mud water puddle and kneeled down to pick up the doll. It was soaked with drawn water inside and heavily dirty on the outside, mud covered everywhere on it. My eyes were filled with tears as I squeezed and wrung out the water from inside the doll as best as I could. She was still damp. I looked up and observed the children still laughing and then I looked at Baelfael. He had an innocent looking smirk on his face and just shrugged his shoulders at me. He didn’t care at all. I quickly got back on my feet and ran inside the house as fast as I could, crying.
You probably think, hey it’s just a doll. But to me it’s not just any doll. Well, my family made this doll for me. My mother, each of my siblings, even my father contributed into making this doll when I was born. They weaved the threads, put small pebbles for the eyes and for the buttons on her shirt, and weaved different designs into the dress and hair. My father went around different parts of Vana’diel collecting these materials. And I kept it all these years keeping it neat and tidy. It the most valued treasures I possessed. And everyone knew that. Now Baelfael ruined it completely. The bad part of it was none of my other brothers or sister went to stop him, or to see if I was feeling okay. They just went back to doing their own business. But this wasn’t the first time things like these happened to me. Like I said, I was constantly picked on and teased. It happens so many times that little or nothing is done about it. The worst treatment towards me is brought upon me sometimes too, such as me getting badly injured. But being a poor young Elvaan girl, there is nothing that can be done about it. Even though my mother loves me very much, with being poor and so much labor to be done, my mother cannot end to her baby’s problems and needs and she is far too busy to deal with them, and its very rare to see me with her having a discussion unless we are working in the house together. But I totally understand. It’s not easy being a single mother with seven children in a poor community. Without a mother’s attention, no friends, and without a single brother or sister to look up to, emotionally I felt that I’d been left alone in this forsaken world. I felt cold and my heart felt so heavy, and there wasn’t a soul who could warm me or to take out the density of my heavy heart. I loved my family, even though it could turn towards the worst, but still…I completely felt all by myself. And then one frightful day, fate would test me in an even worse condition, where physically I would be left all alone…all by myself……
It was on a dark night during the Crystal War. The citizens of San d’Oria had just heard that the beastmen army was on a raid, heading to town. Of course the San d’Orian army retaliated against the beastmen and brought a strong defense. But as strong as it was, the beastmen were managing to break through the San d’Oria’s defense and were soon to arrive to town. Most citizens were quickly gathering their things to taking refugee before the beastmen arrived. Of course the Nitros Family soon learned about this and was to take refugee as well. They had an idea how long they had before the Orcish Army would crash through the city of San d’Oria so they had to act very quickly. Time was running out.
Lilith –“Ok children quickly gather your things. Only take the important things with you. We must hurry. They will arrive soon.”
The children then scattered around the house, collecting food, cooking utensils, gil, most of their clothing, things from their room, and other valuable and important things. I searched around my room, seeing if I had left out anything I needed. I turned my head one way to the other and spotted my doll lying on the floor in the corner. It was the same doll that Baelfael had thrown in the mud puddle that day. Most of the mud stains on it had completely vanished when I forcefully gave it several scrubbings, and it was dry from the dampness. I quickly ran over to it to pick it up and put it in my small sack I was holding for things to collect when we leave town. Then I hurried out the room to look for other important things needed for traveling. Even though it wasn’t something important for the family, I still thought it was my most valuable possession I had. The sack was not very big in order to be light for traveling long distances. My mother said we would be traveling to a small town south of San d’Oria called Selbina. I had heard about Selbina once before, when my mother told me stories about how father traveled Vana’diel. He’d occasionally stopped by in Selbina. She said it was a small town that had its own port where they had an ocean view with many fishermen there. It was pretty small but sturdy for the time we will reside there.
Just as the Nitros family finished collecting all of their necessary survival items, we heard an enormously loud booming sound echoing, far in the distance outside. A noise so loud that citizens throughout all the areas of San d’Oria could hear it clearly. After that, it was a complete silence. Molok and Ashtarth both ran towards the window to observe what was happening outside. They saw nothing. No one was outside and it was completely deserted. I was scared and I grasped my mother’s leg for protection. Then all the others, beside Molok and Ashtarth who were still looking out the window, gathered close to mother. All of a sudden, Ashtarth and Molok had seen some citizens fleeing towards Port San d’Oria, sprinting as fast as they could. Soon enough, the couple of people turned to a few running in the same direction. Moments later, the few turned into several. Several then turned into many people running in frenzy screaming loudly with fear as the crowd of people sighted grew. Looking through the crowds of citizen my brother’s noticed several troops of Royal and Temple Knights rushing in the opposite direction of where most citizens were running to, with their swords high in the air, charging with a battle cry. Ashtarth and Molok both turned back looking at our mother with a sense of fear in their faces.
Ashtarth –“The Orcs! They have broken through!”
He looked through the window once again and saw a swarm of Orcs raiding through the town. They carried torches in their hands and threw them at random buildings and other structures. They crushed and crumbled everything that was an obstacle in their way, having no care of what it was. Terrorizing every San d’Orian in their sight and ruthlessly shedding their blood. No matter if it was an adult or a child they had no sense of mind towards us. Out there, it was like a bloody massacre, and by the frightened look on my family’s faces, I knew it was very bad.
Lilith – “Oh no…we are too late. We must leave immediately. Come children, let’s go!”
Behemos – “Mama! Where will we go? The only exit to the forest is probably being blocked by the mobs of orcs! We will die trying to move through them!”
Zhael – “We are going to die?”
Lilith – “If we stay here we are surely going to be killed by the orcs. That exit is our only hope. We can take the forest down south, down to the dunes and make it to Selbina. Its will…”
Right then and there, there was a loud banging noise against the back door of the house.
Lilith – “Hurry children. We must get out of here! It’s them breaking through the back door.”
I looked at my mama for a brief moment. When she commanded us to leave, it seemed I could sense a bit of calmness in her, even though our situation was life threatening. Not one speck of fear I observed in her. But I knew deep down, she was afraid just as much as I was. She was afraid of losing her children. We quickly grabbed our stuff and ran out the house before the Orcs broke inside to find the house empty. Outside I remember was horrifying. The blaze of flames burning the entire city heated my surrounding, and the thick black smoke filled the town. We coughed and coughed going through the streets trying to watch out for nearby Orcs. But everywhere we looked Orcs, Orcs, and more Orcs was sighted every time my eyes switch from one spot to another. I had seen houses and buildings crumbling down to rubble often. I had seen warriors battling against some orcs from time to time. I had seen dead bodies everywhere on the ground. Blood still oozing out of their severe wounds. Some had their limbs cut off, and others had an orcish ax pierce deeply in their flesh. It was the most horrible, disgusting thing I had ever seen in my entire life. Just witnessing these terrible things, made me even more scared. I had looked back in the direction of where our house once stood, but by the time I looked the house was already crumbled to the ground with fire dissolving the rest of what was left.
Lilith – “Zhael dearest. Do not look back. We have to get away from here.”
I nodded to Mama. We moved through the screaming crowds and stayed away from the Orcs as often as possible. We came to a tunnel a tunnel that led to the Chocobo’s rental house and we stop there to rest awhile. As we all caught our breaths, Ashtarth noticed a dead Temple Knight laying on the ground about 20 feet away from where we stood. Ashtarth looked around his surroundings, checking for any Orcs nearby. Seeing that they were none in sight he quickly ran over to the fallen Temple Knight and took his sword, just in case his family came face to face with an Orc. I looked around seeing what the rest of San d’Oria was. A peaceful nation now turned into a scary nightmare. Smoke filled the air as San d’Oria burnt like a natural forest fire. People screaming, children who were all alone, were crying and looking for their family, others on the ground injured, and most of them dead. As the Orcs terrorized the nation, the Nitros Family was getting very close to sneaking out without contact by the Orcs. They started to run for the exit as fast as they could, and it was moments away before they would have made it. But as the family sprinted towards the exit tunnel, I tripped over a dead corpse and stumbled to the ground. While I was struggling to get up, my family kept running without noticing that I has fallen behind. That was when an Orc spotted me on the ground and seized the opportunity to attack. I didn’t see the Orc until I heard a loud grunting sound and a thumping sound getting louder as he drew closer to me. When I turned my head to the right, I saw it charging towards me. I quickly got to my feet and started to run away in the direction I had last seen my family. Gasping for air as I ran at full force, I continually looked backwards to see how far away the pursuing Orc was, but it seemed it was slowly gaining on me. Not thinking of where my family might be lurking at, I soon lost the sense of where I was running to, and doing that, I soon ran myself into a trap corner, a dead end. I looked around at what was close to me, trying to find a way out, but I did not find any escape route, and soon I was up against the dead-end wall. The Orc found me trapped and started to snort and grunt loudly. With a loud battle cry, the Orc charged at my defenseless body. I thought this was the end of me, and there was nothing I could do to stop what was happening. I cross my arms around my head for protection and squatted down on the floor with my back against the wall. I turned away from the direction of the Orc with my head pointing towards the ground and my eyes closed tightly. I let out a whining noise filled with great fear and gradually grew louder and I heard the Orc’s war cry getting louder with each moment it got closer to me. The thuds of its stomping feet vibrated the earth more and more. The giant Orc lifted up its axe high in the air and swung it down with full force directing its assault at my tiny body as I crouched helplessly on the ground. CLANG! Right then and there, I felt no impact on me, and I did not feel any sort of pain. I first I thought I had already died, but started to doubt that when I opened my eyes. I also heard the sound of metal clanging together but I couldn’t see what was happening. I moved my arms out of the way to get a clearer view. The first thing I saw was a very close view of someone’s legs. I looked up and I will never forget who I saw. It was Ashtarth! He had used the Temple Knight’s sword to block the Orc’s attack, and he stood in between me and the Orc like my own barrier. He was struggling to match the strength of the Orc, as the two weapons were bound together.
Zhael – “ASHTARTH!”
Ashtarth – “Sister! Run! I can only hold it for so long! Mama is worried about you!”
Zhael – “But what about you brother? I won’t leave you!”
Ashtarth – “Just go! I’ll be fine!”
I stared at my brave brother trying to duel against the Orc. I thought to myself; I never knew my brother would protect me like that. After all these years I have been teased by them. I didn’t think he would care so much to risk his life to protect me. I was so obviously wrong about him.
Ashtarth – “Sister! GO! HURRY!”
Coming to my senses, I quickly got to my feet and ran a far distance away from the battle scene, but I was able to look back to see my brother battling the Orc. But the battle didn’t last long. Ashtarth struggled to match attack by attack; the Temple Knight sword was too heavy and too hard for him to decently use, making it a big disadvantage for him. And it wasn’t too long before he fell into defeat. Trying to parry each assault the Orc threw at him, he became fatigued swinging the sword around, when the Orc finally slash the sword out of Ashtarth’s hands with its axe, it was the most horrible thing I had witness in all of my life, where the Orc…swung its mighty axe, slashing through Ashtarth’s stomach. My eyes open wide and my mouth drop, and I felt weak seeing this sight, as Ashtarth let out a death sound, breathing his last breath, and finally collapsing to the ground with blood sheathing from the middle part of his body.
Zhael – “ASHHHTAAARRRTH! NOOOOOOOOO!”
I let out an enormous cry as tears flowed down my cheeks. The cry alerted the Orc who killed Ashtarth to turn his attention to me, and it immediately started to pursue me as its next target. I felt like my feet were glued to the ground helplessly mourning over my fallen brother. Not knowing the Orc was charging after me, the Orc gave out a loud grunt with its axe pointing towards me. Just before the Orc could reach me, I was lifted off the ground, being carried in my mother’s arms. I saw Regulus running by my mother’s side and it looked like he was okay. We finally escaped into West Ronfaure and we hid out inside a small abandoned building. The Orc army was still marching into San d’Oria, but observing the army from a far away distance and through the night, I couldn’t tell how big the army was. We decided to rest here for a little while to catch up to our breath. But we couldn’t stay here too long, or else the Orc would probably discover this building and search for any citizens. We didn’t see too many people out in the forest; most of them were killed inside San d’Oria.
Lilith – “We should be safe here for a little while.”
Zhael – “…”
Regulus – “…I guess were they only one’s who survived. The others were killed when we went back to look for you.”
Zhael – “…I’m sorry.”
Regulus – “It’s not your fault Z. We didn’t want to leave you behind. You are the one who…”
I noticed mother giving Regulus a look, that seemed like she didn’t want him to continue on what he was about to say.
Regulus – “Uhh…Never mind.”
Zhael – “I miss them a lot.”
Lilith – “I do too. I thought I would never lose any of my children. They will always be with us no matter what happens. Come children, we must make haste.”
So we set off deeper into the forest, watching out for nearby Orcs. Of course it was very hard to see through the night. But we kept our guard up. We walked past many trees and walked through leaves and weeds. Mother knew if we moved past the outpost we were on the right track to Selbina. Eventually we did after many hours of traveling through Ronfaure. We stopped at the outpost to regroup. Mother took out 2 bottles of water and gave me one and gave Regulus the other so we wouldn’t dehydrate. As Regulus and I gulped down the water we had, from a nearby distance we heard the sound of crackling twigs and rustling leaves. We couldn’t see what it was, but our best guess was that it was an Orc, so we quickly decided to pack up and leave. We ran through the rest of the forest making our way into La Theine Plateau. The steppe crevasses staggered us, but we convinced ourselves to keep going. Using our father’s stories as a guide we managed to figure out what direction we must go to reach Selbina. From the stories father told us, mother remembered and warned Regulus and I, that this place is enormous and very dangerous. Of course, this was our first time setting foot in La Theine Plateau, making it a better reason to be even more cautious. But she remembered the stories that had been told by her lost husband during the travels he went through, going to different locations across Vana’diel. How there were more dangerous monsters in La Theine Plateau and the pathway on top of the steppe and through the valleys made it difficult and even more treacherous.
Lilith – “If we stay together, we can get through this. It’s a dangerous landscape here, and the monsters make it even more difficult. We should arrive at Selbina no later than this afternoon. There is no way we can turn back. The army of Orcs is still back that way, occupying Ronfaure. So it should be a little bit safer here.”
Little did we know that we were still being followed. The unidentified thing we heard by the outpost was still watching us. We went along the main road through La Theine, sighting many monsters I had never seen before. I had seen the monsters in Ronfaure a few times, like the rabbits and the worms. I had rarely see the insects and sheep. But here, I saw little walking root bulbs and flying pink birds; and looking down the steep I could just about see the walking mushrooms down in the trenches. We also saw a couple people traveling the same way that the Nitros Family were heading. I’d figure that they’d also passed the Orcs and are refugees to Selbina. The sun was just rising through the horizon, and we had traveled half way through La Theine with no encounter with Orcs or any other dangerous monsters, and I was thinking that passing through here was going pretty smoothly. Of course, I bet Regulus and mother was thinking the same thing. But little did we know there was an ambush set in place for us and we had little time before it would be executed. As we just got to the fourth steppe that was on our left side Regulus made an obvious remark to himself.
Regulus – “Hmmm. Going through here is pretty easy…a bit too easy. Almost like this is like an ARRRRGH!”
I looked at Regulus to see what was wrong, and I saw him on the ground screaming with pain. There was an arrow deeply pierced through his left leg. Mother quickly tended to her son’s pain. While mother tried to search for something to heal Regulus, I looked around my surrounding and saw an Orcish figure on top of a mountain ledge. It was holding up a bow in its hand. I quickly ran to my mother to warn her about the Orc I saw. By the time she looked up we all realized a group of Orc had surrounded us. Luckily Mother had removed the arrow from Regulus’s flesh and he was able to stand, but we had no luck trying to escape group of Orcs. We were in trouble. One Orc started to grab my hand and pull me away from my mother and carry me off back they way we came.
Zhael – “Mama! Help me! MAMA!”
Lilith – “ZHAEL! MY BABY!”
From my point of view, I could not see my mother and Regulus because the group of Orcs surrounded them, but what I did see was the most amazing thing I had ever seen Regulus do. Two things happened: One – Regulus managed to leap over the group of Orcs, flipping through the air over one of the Orcs and before he impact the ground he backed kicked the Orc in the head. The Orc lost his balance and he fell over another Orc knocking that Orc to the ground too. This gave my mother an opportunity to escape the group and both my mother and Regulus immediately got to their feet and pursued the Orc who was carrying me.
Regulus – “No one is taking my sister away! Come back you smelly Orc!”
This was the second of the amazing things I seen. As my brother was running after the Orc with extreme speed, a black aura glowed through Regulus, something none of us had ever seen before. Closer Regulus stride towards the Orc, and when he got close enough, he again leapt through the air with amazing height and kick drop the Orc with great impact. The black aura energy transfusing in Regulus soon gather to Regulus’s foot causing even greater damage onto the Orc. The Orc lost its footing and accidentally dropped me and I fell to the ground. Mother quickly came to me and scooped me up in her arms as Regulus battle face to face with the Orc. The Orc soon grabbed a staff he was wielding and pointed it towards Regulus with a loud grunt. Mother and I both watched Regulus and the evil Orc from the sideline of the steppe. I saw the same black aura spreading through the Orc’s staff as he raised it through the air and then cast it down and pointed it towards Regulus. Confused as he looked, he braced himself in order to be prepare for what the Orc would do. Not too long, a landslide of rocks crumbled down on top of Regulus knocking him down to his knees in severe exhaustion. Mother and I tried to run towards him to aid, but the group of Orcs regrouped and was soon to pursue mother and I. So we try quickly to get Regulus who had collapsed on the ground unconscious. As we try desperately to reach Regulus the Orc ranger on the ledge shot multiple of arrows at us, slowing us down from reaching him. The Orcs got to him first, and instead they carry Regulus off with them, and the rest of the Orc were soon coming after my mother and me.
Zhael – “Regulus!”
Lilith – “Zhael dearest they are coming for us. We must run.”
She carried me in her arms, we were running for our lives, the Orc ambushers after us. Mother tried greatly to lose the Orcs, but carrying me was slowing her down. We gradually went down a slope before another Orc cut us off. This Orc had a sharp sword in its hand. It came towards us while mother backed up onto a ledge leading down a steppe crevasse. The other Orcs soon joined together to create a barrier around our only escape. They had us trapped between them and a steep cliff. At that moment I thought we were doomed. And I felt that mother ran out of ideas. Naïve as I was, she had one more trick up her sleeve. I just didn’t know this could risk our lives, but it was the only choice she had.
Lilith – “Zhael, do not fret my darling. I will protect you at any cost. Just close your eyes and cling tightly to me.”
Zhael – “Mama what are you doing?”
Lilith – “Shhh. Just do as I say.”
With confusion in my mind, I simply obeyed, and closed my eyes. I felt my mother’s arms wrapped tightly around me and keeping me close to her body. She looked down the cliff side, and looked at the deadly Orcs for a brief moment then looked back down the cliff side. Just before the Orc were to grab her, she leapt off the ledge, plummeting down into the crevice. Still with my eyes closed, I felt heavy wind bursting through under me and mother used her legs and knees to cradle under me. It was like she was using her body to enclose me in armor. I felt that my insides were flying to the top of my head, and still did not know what was going on. So disobeying orders I opened my eyes and seen that we were falling down the cliff and was about to hit a ledge. I screamed with great fear as we approach the first ledge. BAM! My body shook as my mother shouldered the impact of the side of the ledge. BAM! We hit another ledge as we tumble further down the steep side. We hit about 6 more ledges before we rolled down a slope covered with jagged rocks. And then slowly we came to a complete stop on some wet grass. Mother had already let go of me as we lay there on the grass. I had a few scratches and cuts on my body, but other than that I was completely fine. I could barely get to my feet with all the fear struck in my body. I had thought I was about to died when my mother plunged down the steppe. I looked around to find my mother. She was still lying on the ground, but she was in terrible shape. Compared to my few scratches, she had deep cuts all around her body, several bruises, many scratches, her clothes was torn everywhere and it was so horrible several sharp stones was struck in her flesh. She was bleeding everywhere. I would have aided to her with some stuff in our sack, but we had to leave it up on the steppe. I dragged her to a nearby tree to where she could sit comfortably, but she was in bad condition. I gave her the last bit of water I had with me, and tried to wash away the blood streaming from her face. Her eyes were half open like she was half asleep and she did not move a muscle. I kneeled in front of her so we could get a clear vision of each other. Tears were dripping down my face as I tried desperately to cure my mother from her serious injuries. I had never seen my mother like this in all of my life. Usually she would be the one tending to me when I was sick or hurt. Now it was just the opposite. My mother was badly hurt and I was the one to tend to her care. Obviously, I was failing to taking care of her, because she was getting weaker and weaker by the minute.
Zhael – “Mama…mama we need to get up. The Orcs…they will find us soon. We got to hurry to Sel…Sel…bun-na.”
Then I actually saw my mother’s mouth move a little. She was about to talk to me, you could barely make out the words she was trying to say. But I kept a close watch on what my mother was telling me. She spoke very slowly with a soft raspy whisper.
Lilith – “Zhael. I am very…weak. I have no strength…left.”
Zhael – “Mama no you can make it. We can still escape. Just try, I can hurry and find more food for ener…”
Lilith – “Zhael…my little girl. Be brave, be safe...remember I’ll always be right here.”
She slowly moved her arm. As I watched her moving hand, seeing what she was pointing to, she gently held on to the Nitros Pendant that was still hanging around my neck. I looked at her hand that was touching the small black pendant and looked back at my mother.
Zhael – “Mama?”
Lilith – “I…love…youu uu uu…”
I would never forget this day. Her scratched-up bruised hand then slipped off the pendant falling towards the ground by her side. Her head tilted over to the side of her shoulder and she slumped down the tree trunk. And the final thing I saw that lasted before she gave up was her eyes, which slowly close shut till I could see her pupils no more. 9:24 AM 10-26-955, the exact minute my mother died. I lowered my head down to the ground kneeling on my knees, with more tears flowing down cheeks, thinking of what just happened. Of things I could have done to save her. Things I could have done to save Regulus. I felt every bad thing that happened today was entirely my fault. I could of just about committed suicide. But I knew better than that. I looked at my dead mother and did something unexpected. I wiped the side of her cheek to remove the blood and kissed it.
Zhael – “I love you too mama. I always will.”
I wanted to stop being sorry for myself. I knew it just made things worse for me. So I decided to take action and follow my mother’s advice. “Be brave. Be safe.” Those words rung through my head as I stood up from the ground. I made a straight, serious face. Before I left, I took one more look at my mother who was still lying against the tree trunk. I took a deep sigh, and nodded to her, and then I was off by myself in La Theine. The bad thing about this was I had no idea where I was and no idea where to go. I was completely lost, but still I wandered through La Theine. Several hours had passed and I still walked. Then a few days had passed without no food or water. I became fatigued and felt like all the energy within me has been zapped away into the sky. But at the same time I was searching for nearby dangerous monster to keep myself safe. Surprisingly, a week had passed and I was still slowly wandering through La Theine not getting anywhere. Illusion started to deceive my eyes as twirling colors circled my sight. I was sweaty and hot when it didn’t rain, through the whole week it had only rained once. I was so exhausted, that I finally collapsed to the ground in the middle of nowhere. I could barely keep my eyes open for a few seconds before my eyes just shut on me and I fell to unconsciousness.
I had no idea how long I lay there. But while I was unconscious I had a dream. A dream that felt very real. It included me and my family. First it started with me, falling down a deep dark abyss. Suddenly the dropping speed started to slow down until I came to a complete stop. I looked around my surroundings, but all I could see was blackness everywhere. I felt something vibrating against my neck, so I looked down and held up the Nitros Pendant. Something amazing was happening, it started to glow with searing light around it. And it started to shine even brighter and vibrate even more. I stared at it with awe looking like someone staring at an interesting T.V show. Suddenly I could see something from the corner of my eye and turned around. It looked like Baelfael holding my mud covered doll. He was smiling at me. The Nitros Pendant then released a blast of energy which hit my doll. It was so bright I couldn’t see what was happening, until the blinding light flash faded. After that I regained sight, looking at Baelfael. He was still standing there with the doll, but the difference was that the doll was now mud free! It was completely clean making it look brand new. I had a surprised look on my face. Baelfael then stuck his hand out with the doll towards me signaling me to take it. So I gently took it and looked back at Baelfael. He looked at me and gave me a smirk and soon turned around and walked away. The last thing I saw him do was that he held out his hand give me a thumbs up sign, and then he faded away into the pitch black darkness. I rubbed my eyes to see if I was seeing things but it turned out my eyes weren’t deceiving me this time. So I looked around to see if anyone else was here. And then I saw three figures walking up to me. It was Molok, Zoniha, and Behemos coming towards me. Without hesitation they each placed a hand on my shoulder. Seconds later, I felt something flowing through my body. Something that wasn’t bad, but something that was very good. I felt recharged, I felt stronger in some kind of way. It was a feeling like no other. Another flash blinked in my face, blinding me for a hot second. I saw that they had took their hands away and were now waving goodbye. I waved back at them as they faded away from sight. I was very confused at what was happening but yet I felt that I was destined to be here right now. As these thoughts surged through my mind, I saw another figure walking towards me from the darkness, which made me focus my attention towards it. It was Ashtarth! He was walking confidently towards me and stopped right in front of my sight. He then held his arms up and then my pendant started to glow brightly like before. Another event was happening and the pendant started to glow brighter and brighter until another blinding flash burst out. As my vision cleared I saw Ashtarth wielding a small sword. Just like Baelfael, he then handed out the sword to me. I wasn’t sure if I should take it, but then he said something that echoed through this fantasy.
Ashtarth – “Carry out my dream. Carry out the legacy.”
I did not know what he meant, but I took the sword anyway. So I carefully took it from him and held it in my other hand. Then Ashtarth turned his head to the side of him. It was another image coming this way. And I don’t think you would have believed it unless you were there. Because that next figure was someone I hadn’t seen in years. It was my father. He looked a little bit older than when I had last seen him all those years ago, but he was surely muscular like I last remembered. He came towards me dressed in full Temple Knight armor, wielding a huge sword and shield. He looked at me with a serious face; a face that kind of intimidated me. Not for long though, his serious staring turned into a smiling face. That where the Nitros Pendant then again started to glow. Brighter it gleamed, but this time it lifted itself upwards as though someone had turned off gravity. I began to start floating, swirling in a slow speed. Ashtarth and my father both watched this amazing event happening. I was completely scared; thinking something terrible was going to happen. Brighter it glowed while faster I twirled off the ground. As it got bright I spun faster until with extreme speed. Until it burst out into another blinding flash. The flash faded away and I was put back on the ground. But this time I was dressed in a little armor suit. It looked like a leather metal suit, dressed from shoulder to my feet. I looked like a small knight. My father and Ashtarth liked what they saw and they smiled at me. My father then used his sword to gently place it on my shoulder like he was dubbing me a new rank or something like the other knights do at a special ceremony. Ashtarth looked from the sideline clapping his hands at me, making me smile at him. Then they both faded away. Leaving me with covered in armor, holding a small sword and a doll. I walked around the dark area searching for a way out. I couldn’t find anything and soon gave up. That’s where the last image walked up to me. And it made me jump for joy. It was my mother. She was in a beautiful white dress walking towards me. I suddenly ran towards her and she held out her arms and soon before you know it, we were hugging each other. She kissed me on my cheek and looked at me closely. I smiled at her and she was smiling at me.
Zhael – “I love you Mama.”
Lilith – “I love you too Z.”
From a distance I saw a door straight ahead of me. We both stopped hugging and looked at the door as it started to open. It showed a white light outside of it shining its brightness inside the dark area. I looked back at my mother.
Lilith – “I guess it’s time for you to go.”
I looked at her with disappointment.
Zhael – “I know Mama. But I don’t want to leave you.”
Lilith – “Remember Zhael, no matter how alone you feel; no matter how discouraged you are, your family loves you, and will always be there for you no matter how far apart we are, because we are in your heart and your in my heart also.”
I kept those words in my mind, and smiled at her even more. She looked at me and smiled, then gently shooed me towards the door.
Lilith – “Be brave, be safe.”
I looked back at her for a brief moment as I walked out the door into the light. She watched me leave standing there, the fingers of her hand laced together. I turned back facing the light. Walking out the door, the bright light blinded me once more, ending the dream and the vision.
I slowly opened my eyes and I got up from the ground. But what I had observed when I regain consciousness was that I was not in La Theine any more. In fact, I was standing right in front of the fallen nation of San d’Oria. I was very confused because I could swear when I collapsed I was still in La Theine. At first I thought maybe I was still there and the crumbled castle in front off me was another landscape of La Theine. But I also saw the national flags of San d’Oria nearby and I saw many people returning to the fallen nation. Then it occured in my mind that maybe the army of Orcs was still around. So I quickly checked my surrounding, but no Orcs were in sight. It didn’t take me long to realize that the attack on San d’Oria was over and all the survivors were returning to their homeland. But I wasn’t sure if I should go back. I, who was still dressed in my torn clothes, decided to not go back, so I took a step back and felt something soft and plushy under my foot. I lifted my foot off the ground to observe the object under my foot. Amazingly, it was my doll which I thought I had left it up on the cliff side of La Theine. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but then I saw that the doll was mud-free clean, just like the vision in my dream. As I picked it up and observed it, I thought twice about leaving San d’Oria. My decision? Well let’s just say with me and my strong hopes, I had plans on building a new house there.
Till this day, it is still a mystery of how I had got back to San d’Oria, but I have a strong feeling it had something to do with the spirits of my family. I still remember what my mother said about being brave, and being safe. But later on it will surely put me to the test. And my feelings of my brothers and sisters, well now think of them more and more. I think of the wonderful things they did for me and think less about the bad times. Of course, I was worried about one of them. For something raced in my mind that something was wrong. I couldn’t unravel this mystery alone though, so eventually I had to wait to seek the truth. And the thing about what Ashtarth said, in my dream I still am skeptical on. But it will be soon that I will find out. Last and not least, about the pendant, well now I keep it as a treasure. My most valued treasure to be exact. It still hangs around my neck, and I plan to keep it there. Keeping the Nitros Pendant close to my heart, means keeping my lost family close to me. With far more protection and guidance from them, it surely made me braver and safer.
~ No matter how alone you feel; no matter how discouraged you are, your family loves you, and will always be there for you no matter how far apart we are, because we are in your heart and your in my heart also~
To Be Continued…
Section 3 – The Master Mithra