"Rank 23, why are you here?"
"I bring a report from Rank 5. She requested I deliver it to Rank 1."
"Rank 1? T-that's not possible."
"She was very clear."
"…If you are sure. She is upstairs in her office. Use this key."
"Thank you, Rank 10."
My name is Abraham.
For three thousand years I served the Esper Adrammelech.
I was defeated and cast out by a man named Elijah.
I travelled for days through the Dalmasca Westersands, naked and alone.
I met a group of Viera, and began travelling with one named Coela. We arrived at Rabanastre and started a hunting clan, one that became the greatest in the world. It was called the Circle of Umbra.
However, when I encountered the Esper Zodiark in hopes of asking where Elijah was, I was punished. Burning my body into a husk, I was bound to the Mask of Hunger, built from the bones, blood, metal, and ash of the Four Guardians of the Pharos at Ridorana. I was swathed within a cloak of darkness and the Mask, and my clan fell with me.
It was then that I was known as Abraham, Seeker of the Abyss.
I bore three children to Coela, but this was a mistake. She became even more corrupted than I could even imagine, and my sons with her.
The leadership had fallen to darkness just as she did, leaving me the only one in control of my own power.
I escaped, casting myself out of this cult of shadow and entropy, and killed my sons. They sought my Mask, and I had to kill them.
For years after, I watched over a young man who sought to create his own clan.
Fiera was his name. First he took on the title Big Bucket, and then Primo.
But that's just one part of my story.
I met a woman. A woman with shining silver eyes.
Her name was Miria. The legendary Phantom Miria.
She was the leader of an organization.
One that was composed of women like her. People who had the same corruption I did, and contained it as I did.
I bore a child to her. A girl, as I expected.
Once she grew to be a fine young woman and joined the organization, I was able to breathe in relief. She had never known who her parents were. Didn't know that her leader was her mother as well, and the greatest hunter in Ivalice was her father.
What organization is this, one asks?
It is the Ascended Blades.
A woman with white-blonde hair and silver eyes calmly walked up the stairs, her armor pieces clanking ever so slightly.
Her claymore lightly scraped the metal piece that strapped the weapon to her back. It seemed to not weigh her down in the slightest.
As she reached the top, her features were fully exposed.
Her hair was short and spiky, and she had a youthful and beautiful face.
Rank 23. "Storm Wind" Noel.
She continued onwards, passing by several doors in the polished white marble hallway until she found it.
Rank 1's office. Nobody, nobody except for the Five visited her.
Noel slightly shivered.
Not because of the cold, of course.
None of her kind were vulnerable to the weather, be it in the frozen north or in the blazing deserts.
She clenched the folder in her gloved hands, and pressed the key into the hole.
Instantly the door opened. Noel stepped inside hesitantly and studied the room as her eyes adjusted to the dark.
"Rank 23. I assume you are here to deliver the report." She heard the familiar cold voice of one of her comrades, but the person was not.
The door softly shut, and the room was suddenly lit.
It was a small office, but a well-furnished one.
Behind a stone desk sat a woman dressed in the same armor as she. One with the symbol of a trident. Phantom Miria.
Her hair was white-blonde, just like hers, but it was long and spiky.
"Y-yes, Rank 1." She answered nervously.
Miria smiled in a friendly manner, and gestured for the folder.
"Please. Call me Miria." She spoke in the cool and calculated tone that all her kind had. It was rare to see one smile like she did, unless it was a sarcastic taunt.
Noel set the folder down, and Miria flipped it open. She spent a few minutes studying the contents.
"Again, this Blackheart group." She muttered.
"Another one? That makes twenty smuggling rings that have ties to this group." Noel thought.
"…I'll discuss this with the others. Meanwhile, I am promoting you. You are now Rank 22. The former Rank 22 fell in battle this week, so wear your new title with pride." Miria broke off and told her.
"Thank you, Ra- I mean Miria." Noel bowed, and quietly left after giving a salute.
As she stepped out, Miria quietly opened one of the drawers in her desk.
Inside was an amulet.
"…Abraham…" She quietly sighed as she held it for a few moments and placed it back inside.
She shook her head and continued reading the report.
