Severa and Khaled:

Destruction Awaits

"GAWDS!" I exclaimed. This was not happening. My city in ruin. Thousands of people, dead because of me. My parents, my friend's parents... gone. I wept, as I knew there was nobody left in this world to care for me.

Life before this had been... not so perfect. You see, my mother, Cordelia, HAD been perfect. In every way. To everyone, she had no faults! And for a time, to me too... until I realized that her greatest fault was not knowing how to parent. It's not that she didn't love me: she really did. The problem was that her obvious lack of any issues created an impossible standard for me. I would always try to reach it, regardless. What a fool I was for it. It got the ones I love killed.

I was home by myself, as usual. Of course, I hated this, but my mom was always fawning over Chrom somewhere while my dad tried his hardest to kill the most Risen he could. Gawds, I loathed my mother for loving Chrom so much and not seeming to pay heed to my father. Still, I wanted to impressive her, to achieve her perfection in front of her eyes. Somehow, reports had reached me of a large beast close to Ylisstol terrorizing the small settlements. My parents had been training me in swordplay for at least 3 years. I was 14 at this time, and figured I could kill it. I was dead wrong.

By myself, like an idiot. I traveled to its last known location. I did not find a beast. I found an emissary of a god. I had reached a clearing in the middle of the forest where the creature was seen. In the middle of it was a mountain of a man. He stood still, unnaturally so, and seemed to sniff the air. I felt uneasy but approached.

"Hey! Are you alright?" I asked. He spun around towards me and opened his mouth wide. I drew my sword nervously as he took a massive breath in. Nothing happened as he hung there with his jaw open.

"My mom told me its rude to leave your mouth open. Close it!" He did not. Instead, he let out a high-pitched sound. It echoed through the forest and beyond. Suddenly, a rushing of feathery wings could be heard. A shadow blotted out the sun. Grima.

I froze. How? How did it find us?! In my hasty flight, I ran back to Ylisstol. This only led Grima to the city. I bolted through the gates, not warning the guards. I was too scared to speak. If I could, I'd find my mother. She could help! She always had the perfect plan! My search was cut short by a black cloud of dragon's breath looming over the city. It descended, killing all who breathed it in. For the second time today, I bolted. I ran back to the forests outside of the city. My mind was not working. I was in a state that would have me preserving my life and not caring for others. Sadly, some might say that this is how I remained for the rest of my life.

That day, I watched my beloved city burn. The dragon crouched over it, apparently keeping some kind of watch. Dammit. I was useless, and now without anyone to help me. I ran further. I ran until my feet bled. Somewhere near the Plegian border, I collapsed.

The next thing I remember was a gentle pair of hands picking me up, and a smiling, warm face accompanying them. I blacked out again, but before I did, I began to feel a massive well of energy around me. Was it my savior, radiating all of this power? It couldn't be. If it was, than he was... inhuman.

I woke up in a soft bed. The sunlight penetrated the large window next to my bed. Foreign plants decorated the gardens I saw through the window. Showcased in the middle of this picture was a statue of some kind of... maned beast, maybe a dog? I only then noticed that there was a large, ochre-brown shape relaxing on a chair next to a clear, blue pond. It seemed safe, because it was not making any threatening movements. I rose from the bed I was in, now taking note of the odd decorations that hung on the room's walls. They were all so... exotic. I walked from the bedchamber, down a hallway with many doors and into an expansive room of iron. This was suspicious. However, even my untrained eye could pick out that some of the apparatuses were meant for cooking. Then, a man clad in a white... tunic...thing walked in through one of the other doors. He greeted me.

"'Sup kiddo. I'll go get the master. He wants to see you. I'm Ivan. while you're here, I'll help you with anything you need, you dig?"

"Why would I be digging, fool?"

"Woah, touchy, aren't we? Be back in 2 minutes, my dude."

"What's a dude? Is that what you call your captives?!" I screamed as he walked away from me. I mean, what else would this place be besides a slaver's hovel? Only that made sense.

He didn't come back, but the thing I had thought was a lump outside was actually a man. He was of a large frame with wide hips. Of course, the sight of someone so... huge was jarring to me. Naturally, I screamed.

"AHHHHHHH! GAWDS, WHAT ARE YOU?!"

"Yo, yo, yo... relax, little one. I won't hurt you." As he said this, he grasped my delicate hands. I recognized the touch.

"Did you save me?"

"Yes, I did little one. If I hadn't been there you'd have died. What's your name?"

I felt I could trust him.

"Severa. What's yours?"

"Khaled, you can call me Khaled." With the mention of this, the fact that my entire world had crumbled around me came back into my young mind.

"My parents... my home... what happened?" Khaled did not answer for a while.

"Gone." He reached out both of his tree trunk-like arms and held me to his stomach. It was warm and soft, and smelled of sweetness.

"It's cocoa butter, little one."

My family was gone. Khaled offered me a room in his home, but only if he could teach me. What an odd request. Anyway, I took it up, but remained slightly suspicious. That's what my mother would've done. My first day of training consisted of lessons all about how great I was, which, to my childlike sensibilities, were appealing. Khaled told me that "We the Best" and that I should love myself and always try to improve to be the best Severa I could be. He said that I was "smart", "loyal", and even "a genius". My mother had never bothered with teaching me these things. Khaled was free in his teachings, but told me to pay heed to the fact that having an ego requires being able to suppress it as well. I didn't care. I was happy as it were and did not desire change.

The next lessons were about summoning and controlling a force Khaled called "The Blessing". With rigorous training, The Blessing could be considered a projection of the soul's truest desires and its means to achieve them. At first, I could not harness this force. However, as Khaled would always encourage me to try "another one", I eventually mastered it. My Blessing was no blessing at all. It was a curse. What manifested was my desire to repent for all the lives I had accidentally taken. I cried that day. Again, my patron held me close and wept with me. I looked up at his eyes and years of pain seemed to be revealed.

Ivan came running down the hall.

"Master Khaled! He's here! He says he won't kill the girl if you go quietly. What should we do?"

"It can't be... it's too soon. Alright, I'll go."

"Where are you going, Khaled?" I asked

"Severa... you may not see me again. I'm sorry!" He yelled as he sprinted out of the room, simultaneously pulling a short sword out of one of the folds of his stomach. It was a calm yellow, made of his Blessing aura. He had once told me that his Blessing was known as the "Lord of The Fupa", and it manifested his desire to protect others.

I wanted to run after my patron, but Ivan held me back.

"No, Severa. We have to protect you. Carry on his legacy." He said. He began to use his Blessing to teleport me somewhere. I was locked in place.

The ring of two auras clashing could be heard from down the hall. A guttural growl issued from one of the combatants. Suddenly, Khaled flew back into view. He was struggling against an attacker twice his size. It was a hairy and unsightly brute, stinking of a volatile-smelling substance. A large, circular wound was in its head and showed no signs of healing. I drew the blade of my aura, in order to protect Khaled, but could not move. Ivan's teleportation screen kept me in one place. Khaled was holding well against the opponent, but his enemy ran at Ivan unexpectedly. I did not know that this was in order to break down the teleport barrier to kill me. However, Khaled was able to move at lightning speed to deflect the attack. He ordered Ivan to fight with him using ranged magic. This had no effect on the beast. It grabbed Khaled and pinned him to the ground, slowly crushing the air from his lungs.

"KHALED! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU DIE ON ME!"
"Severa... my child. Know that... you can't, no matter the circumstance... ever... play yourself!"

Those were his last words as the air was squeezed from his body. The attacker ripped his foe into two, the pieces scattering to the wind, only leaving what seemed like a small key on the floor. I disappeared at this moment.

That was another life I took. I swore, from this day forward, to never take another life. This was my destiny... my fate. Khaled was what drove me to do live once again. I did not know what world I ended up in, but I was certain that I could survive with the wisdom of my mentor.