A/N: Greetings readers. This is the first fanfic I have written in about 8 years, so I will appreciate any review/crit I can get to make this story as good as I want it to be! I hope you enjoy reading!
The young girl eagerly waited in silence as she watched her mother at the counter by the window, her waist length platinum blonde hair almost sparkling in the sunlight. She was making Dios' favourite breakfast.
It was Pancake Day.
The bowls of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and Galbadian famous Deling Honey scattered around the breakfast table, waiting for works of art to be created with them. Dios pondered, curling her platinum blonde hair around her finger, what shapes she would make today – a smiley face, maybe a heart, or even a fish that daddy catches at work. With all these exciting thoughts she failed to notice that her stack had been placed right in front of her until she caught the scent of her mother's 'super secret' ingredient, cinnamon.
Her mother removed her chocolate brown apron and placed it on the hook by the door behind Dios, her beaming blue-grey eyes watching her mother's every move as she moved around the table, straightened her white sundress, who coincidentally, mirrored her daughter's outfit of choice completely, and sat across from her. She smiled a warm smile to her eager daughter and motioned to Dios' pancake stacks and her own,
"Well dear, what shall we create today?"
Dios had decided on smiley faces with crushed strawberry hair, blackberry eyes and a blueberry nose and mouth. Her mother on the other hand, doused her stack on honey, calling it a beehive. They then swapped plates to admire each other's work, almost acting as though they were art critics,
"Hmm." Her mother placed a hand to her chin, stroking it in mock deep thought, "And what do we call this masterpiece dear Dios?"
"Daddy in Berries!"
"Oh! Daddy in Berries! Marvelous, I can see a perfect resemblance of his hair. His mouth is looking a bit blue though. Is he cold, did he get into mummy's lipstick?" Dios giggled at her mother's attempts of being funny, poking her tongue out before responding,
"At least I didn't be a lazy butt and pour honey all over to call it a beehive!" They both laughed together, swapping back their plates and gleefully continuing their most loved Pancake Day.
The village was plagued by screams.
Earlier Dios' father had returned from work at the Dollet docks, his bright red hair almost mirroring the red in the sunset, now the same colour of the fire that was tearing through the small village of Roshfall. He came rushing through the front door; green eyes plastered in shock, denim overalls in tatters.
"It's the Witch Hunt Lorraine! Oh Hyne, it's the witch hunt!" His lip was quivering, knees shaking as his wife ran up to him, concerned, equally as terrified, "We need to fight them, protect our home."
They turned to the frightened Dios in unison. They need to protect their only child; smart, beautiful and splitting image of her mother from head to toe. They turned back to each other and nodded before approaching and kneeling down to their daughter. Her father spoke, "We need you to hide Dios, take Sylvia," He gestured to her mother's prized Adamantine gilded rapier, "And go to the kitchen, hide in the cupboard, don't make a noise and do NOT come out! Do you understand?" He placed his shaking hands on her shoulders, his green eyes staring into her blue-greys. She nodded, more tears threatening to fall as she pulled away, grabbing Sylvia on her way through to the kitchen, throwing open the cupboard door and crawling in, closing the door tightly behind her.
She could hear the gunfire and screams, and smelt the smoke that was enveloping the village. She held Sylvia tighter, determined not to let go all the while feeling the fear crawling up from the pit of her stomach to the bottom of her throat.
Screaming, crying, the sound of the outer buildings burning to the ground, she couldn't stand it, she wanted to run but all she could do was silently sob in the cupboard, hiding, making sure the bad people would not find her.
She heard a door slam open and her mother's scream.
Two sets of footsteps coming closer.
A gunshot and a ricochet.
"SORCERESS!" A man's voice boomed.
Someone fell to the floor; she heard labored breaths close to the cupboard she was hiding in. She held her free hand to her mouth, biting down on her fingers so she wouldn't scream.
"Your Sorceress Supporters are dead! Now it's your turn."
Another gunshot and a scream, Dios could taste copper on her tongue as she broke skin. She braved opening the door just a crack to see a man standing over her fallen mother, gun in hand. A rugged unshaven face, shaved head, black eyepatch on his left eye, the other eye a deep green, smirking down to her mother lying face down, lifeless on the floor. The hot tears clouded her vision as he turned and walked away with a limp, a brace on his left knee,
"Burn the whole goddamn village down! Spare none of them Sorceress Supporters!"
He was gone as quick as he came, Dios cried, her mother killed right in front of her and her father nowhere to be found, likely killed whilst protecting the house.
"Dios don't cry." She heard the labored breaths as her mother miraculously was still alive. Dios slammed open the cupboard door, rushing to her mother's side, not one letting go of Sylvia.
"Mummy!" She wailed, the sounds of the gunfire in the distance drowned out her cries,
"Listen to me my child," She heaved, the blood pooling beneath her staining her once pure white sundress, the crimson now seeping into Dios' at her knees, unable to get her daughter to control her sobbing, "You will live. You will live your life, become a strong, beautiful woman."
"Mummy no!" Her mother coughed, struggling to turn to her back and lifted her left arm into the air, a bright light enveloping the room. The last thing Dios heard before succumbing to darkness were her mother's final words:
"I'm sorry."
The three SeeD operatives could not believe what they were seeing. Amongst the destruction of the burnt down buildings and the charred bodies, there was one small house in immaculate condition, untouched by the flames that had taken away the rest of the village of Roshfall. Weapons at the ready, two swords and a gun, they slowly made their way to the suspicious house, checking for any sign of life along the way. They got within a few meters of the house and were stopped by a barrier.
"This is extremely bizarre. It's too strong to be para-magic." The only woman of the three observed, brushing aside her curly black hair, her grey eyes shone with inquisitiveness, "A Sorceress? A Guardian Force?" The three looked at each other all nervously adjusting their black SeeD uniforms, silently thinking of a plan of attack, just in case they were attacked once they disabled the barrier. The two identical looking men with crew cut brown hair and blue eyes remained silent, it seemed as though the woman was in charge of this operation as she eventually made the decision.
"I'm going to disable it, keep your weapons at the ready; we don't know what will happen when we approach the house."
A blue hue enveloped her being and she uttered 'dispel' to bring down the barrier. As it disappeared they made their way to the front door which creeped open with the slight breeze. The woman stepped in first, seeing the living room in almost perfect condition though the smell of smoke lingered. She deduced that the barrier had gone up after the fires had started. They didn't get far into the house when they heard a small commotion in the kitchen. Weapons drawn, they quickly moved to the kitchen to see a shocking sight, a woman, dead, dried blood surrounded her what used to be crimson, now a deep brown, her once white dress sharing the same gruesome colour. If they weren't stunned silent in shock they would have missed the muffled crashing of utensils that put them on high alert, the woman motioning for the men to find the source of that sound. They quietly made their way around the kitchen, opening every door on the way, being careful not to step on the body on the floor. The closer they got to the final door the more nerve-wracking it became, they did not know if it were friend or foe awaiting them, exercising extreme care to make sure no openings were given if the offender was to attack.
As they got to the final cupboard door, the one just by the body, the woman shooed the men away, keeping her gun aimed directly at the door. As she opened the door an ear piercing scream filled the room, the small girl caked in dry blood, hiding in there and struggling to draw the rapier she had in her hands; she was panicking at the fact that she was found. The woman instantly dropped her gun, reaching in to grab the protesting child. "Child, shh, it's okay. We are here to help you." The girl wriggled in her grasp, trying to break free, sobbing loudly for her mother, "Calm down sweetheart, we are not hear to hurt you."
"I want my mummy! Get away from me, mummy help me! Daddy! DADDY! Where are you?!" She would not stop yelling, the tears would not stop. The woman felt a large lump in her throat as she put two and two together, the deceased on the floor was this girl's mother and she was refusing to acknowledge that she was no longer alive.
"Child, please calm down. Your mummy and daddy are not here anymore. I'm sorry." She stopped struggling, allowing the woman to pull her out of the cupboard, taking special care to shield her eyes from the sight on the floor. She held the little girl tight as she sobbed; the two men shifted uneasily at the fact the girl had yet to loosen her grip on the rapier's hilt. "Child, what is your name?" She asked,
"D-Dios." The girl choked out, burying her head into the woman's chest, she was finally starting to calm down.
"We are SeeD little Dios, here to help you. Would you like to come with us?" Dios nodded, which prompted the woman to begin leaving the kitchen, slowing calming down child in her arms. "You'll need to tell me where your room is so we can get your things. Can't go with you looking like that!" She turned to the men who were glancing down to the body of Dios' mother, silently motioning for them to take care of her, they both nodded, taking special care to organize a proper burial for the deceased.
Dios got changed into a blue sundress, but not before the SeeD woman took a few wet wipes to clean her away of the dried blood and brushed her knotted platinum blonde hair. They collected a few extra things, including a family photo and Dios' birth records that were kept in a draw beside her parent's bed. When they had finished packing the two men had come back, hands and knees covered in dirt. It was time to go.
Dios had fallen asleep in the woman's arms the moment they got to the car that would lead them to her new home. Garden.