Prologue: At the Foot of an Altar...
A woman was in front of an alter, her hands clasped together in prayer as she whispered a language not native to Ylisse or Plegia or even Ragna Ferox. She was waiting, waiting for a certain sorcerer to appear. Fear shook her body, and in front of her, a baby wrapped in linen cooed softly, unaware of its mother's fear.
Then the doors of the sanctuary were blown off their hinges as dark energy crackled were the doors once stood. In walked a loathsome man, a sorcerer with a tome that channelled the power of his fell god. With scathing eyes that burned with fury, he scanned the room until his eyes fell upon the woman at the altar.
"Did you really think you could escape my wrath, woman?" the sorcerer said.
"Validar, we both know I could not escape you." the woman said, still kneeling prayer. "So I asked for help."
Validar put on a fiendish grin. "Astrape, he is not listening, he never has, nor will he ever be. Your lord abandoned you to your fate at my hands. It was declared your fate a long time ago. You can't rewrite what has already been written."
Astrape rose from the altar, and turned to face her husband, a growl rising from her throat.
"Look at you! Are you ready to strike down your wife and daughter so eagerly? Your own flesh and blood? All in the name of some damned prophecy?!"
Validar waved his hand like he was shooing a fly away, "You, for your betrayal, shall die. Our daughter on the other hand… well, she will serve a greater purpose. She will be the vessel that Lord Grima will inhabit, and walk the lands in her body, spreading glorious destruction in her wake! You have done your duty, but mine is just beginning. You will die at the foot of this altar, forsaken by the very gods you hold dear to your heart!"
"To think that I married such a waste of human life…" Astrape shook her head. She turned back to the altar, the baby, her daughter, grew silent, looking at her with innocent eyes.
She placed her hands on the bundle that gave her joy since her banishment, and concentrated on her power, causing her hair to stand on end as a shining beam of light broke through the ceiling, hitting the baby and causing the altar to shatter upon the beam's impact, kicking up dust and debris.
When the dust settled, the baby was gone.
Validar, realising what just happened, lobbed a ball of dark magic at Astrape, who managed to deflect the ball into the nearby wall.
"Where did you send her?!" Validar said as he screamed with rage.
"Doesn't matter. Your slimy claws will never touch my beloved Asteria!" Astrape roared as lightning crackled around her
Validar opened his tome, Grima's Truth, and began to chant Grima's own venomous words as dark energy gathered around him
Along the coast of what once was Talys, 18 years later...
"Asteria, dinner is ready!"
A young woman, about eighteen years of age, began to make her way out of the surf. As soon as she was one the beach, she squeezed the salt water out of her white pigtails and began to run towards her house, passing by her village's fishermen and the youth that were camping on the shores. The sand gave way to grass as she reached her home, and the sky was turning a dark shade of orange. A middle aged man was waiting patiently at the doorway.
"You know Asteria, if you keep splashing around the waters like that, you might attract some sharks." The man said, a stern, almost forceful tone coated his words
Asteria chuckled. "Come now theios, everyone knows that since grandfather took control of the waves, no shark has dared to attack us."
Her uncle shook his head. She glanced at the colors of the sunset, then back at Asteria, who was wearing a goofy grin. He smiled back.
"You know, you're the most lovable dork I had ever had to raise. Even your cousin wasn't this goofy after a day at the beach."
Asteria shrugged. "Pylos was always a stick in the mud. The only day I had ever seen him truly happy was the day when he got his spear."
"Well, our people have always been warriors and seafarers," The man said. "You know how he was, as soon as he heard his first story of Heracles, he wanted to leave this place.
Asteria shrugged her shoulders again, and went through the doorway, smelling the freshly cooked mussels in a tomato and feta cheese sauce. Her mouth watering, she made herself a plate before walking back outside to sit in the sand, her uncle still watching the final rays of the sunset, stroking his dark brown beard.
After a long silence, her uncle spoke.
"How is the temple training going? Did the priests say anything new?"
Asteria swallowed the food in her mouth and wiped her lips. "Nothing knew. Just the same old praying. Gets boring after a while."
"Asteria, we've been over this. You know that praying at the temple is for your own good."
"But you still haven't told me why I need to pray three times more than any other person in the village. Even the priests pray less than I."
He uncle shot her a stern look, a look that she had come to recognize as the "end-of-discussion" stare. He already knew where this conversation was going. She was going to ask about her mark on her right hand, a topic that he had never given her any details about, nor seemed to want to. With a sigh, Asteria returned to her mussels.
Her uncle took a deep breath. "You know that prayer right now is more important than anything else, especially since that trip of yours is just two days away now. You need to take this seriously. There will be people that will come after you with everything they have if they ever find out your true name… speaking of which, have you picked one?"
"From what I could gather from the few foreign traders that come to our shores, I was able to get one that stood out to me." Asteria said as she set aside her food. "I think I'll choose the name Robin."
Her uncle shrugged. "I suppose it's not a bad fake name. Did you also do the things you were supposed to do before enjoying the surf?"
Yes theios. I managed to get some foreign clothes for the trip with the drachma you lent to me. I even got a sword and a tome to defend myself."
Her uncle nodded in approval. "Good. Oh, and try not to steal any pegasi young this time. Our neighbors won't let me hear the end of it."
Asteria chuckled. She ate the last of her food, got up and gave her uncle a peck on the cheek.
"Good night, theios."
"Good night, Asteria. Get some rest."
She nodded, and headed inside, empty plate in tow.
Her uncle looked up to the now star studded sky.
"Gods above, give me strength."