The dark storm was raging over the ocean like a frenzied leviathan made of black clouds. It whipped the water below into waves of enormous size, and powerful blows of wind roared their wrath between these rolling liquid mountains.
Against this terrible might, a lonely ship fought a desperate battle to stay afloat. The aging, ramshackle hull rose and fell with the whims of the elements, and the single sail had already been twisted beyond use. On the deck, a dozen weary men were running up and down, trying to save the ship. The cold rain cut into their tattered clothes and worn faces, but in face of this calamity, it was the least of their problems.
Inside the ship, a woman and a little girl sat on their bed, seemingly undisturbed by the storm or the occasional panicked screams from the outside. Maybe it was the warm light of the candles in the cabin that made them forget the sailors' deadly struggle, or maybe it was the bright decoration.
This was a special occasion for them, and no storm could ruin it.
"Happy birthday!" laughed the woman as she drew out a large piece of cloth from under the bed. "Look at how big my little daughter has become! Six years old already!"
She wrapped the cloth around the girl. It was a cloak, made from colorful patches. A bit poorly sawn and obviously made from remnants, but it still made the little girl squeak with joy.
"And this isn't the only thi…" continued the woman, but her sentence was cut by a sudden force that pressed her and the girl into the bed. The ship had entered a steep rise, and for a moment, it froze the woman's smile. Then, just as quickly as it had come, the rise turned into a slide as the ship broke through the wave.
The girl looked up from between the sheets, with fear in her eyes. Her mother forced out a reassuring smile, and it calmed her down a little.
"Come on, I have another present for you!" The woman now held a small pack in her hand. She only had to open it up to make the girl forget that inconvenient wave.
"Chocolate!" she screamed and threw herself at the pack. Her little hands soon turned brown and greasy as she gobbled up the sweetie. The woman sighed. It had cost her a lot to get the chocolate, but now as she watched her daughter being so happy even in this dire situation, she could say that it had been well worth it.
After finishing her meal, the girl snuggled up to the woman, wrapping her arms around her neck. The woman returned the gesture, closing her eyes and trying to leave behind all the hardship they had been through so far, if only for this moment.
"Thank you, mom," whispered the girl.
"Anything for you," came the gentle answer.
They remained like this for a long time. The ship rose and plunged, but each wave seemed smaller than the one before. The storm was probably passing.
The woman was just about to take a look outside, when she could feel another rise, but nothing like before. It was no wave. It started softly, like it was barely a bump, but then became steeper and steeper with each passing second. And it was tall… unnaturally so.
"Mom…" The girl's voice was faint, like it was coming from somewhere very far away. From a place her mother wished her to be.
The woman instinctively tightened her hug around her daughter as the ship released a terrifying creak. She could see the walls of the cabin bend and crackle, and the candles fell onto the floor, turning the world dark.
"Mom?"
A tear ran down on the woman's face as she realized that this was the end for them.
"Mom?"
She buried her face into the girl's black hair.
"I…" she began faintly, her voice shaking from fear and grief. "I just want you to know that me, your dad… your big brother... we are all very proud of you."
"Mom?"
She tightened her hug even more.
"You just have to hold me as strong as you can, alright?"
The girl finally tightened her hug too. Just in time when the ship stalled, and the world fell silent.
The men outside screamed up as one.
"I love you, Kei."
These were the woman's final words to her daughter before something hit the ship and tore it apart with a single strike.
There was only darkness. Darkness… and the voices.
"Is she the one you promised me? This is certainly not what we have agreed on." The growl was deep and loud, yet somehow still felt soft and serene.
"Don't be fooled by the looks, Ancient One! She is stroooong. Much stronger than you would think!" The crackling voice was filled with malice, but sounded respectful.
"She is the one you need!" A woman's voice.
Not her mother's though.
The girl opened her eyes, and through the haze she could see a spot of clear sky bordered by dark storm clouds. There was… something next to her too, something massive.
"So be it, then."
A paw the size of a house obscured her sight. The end of one huge claw touched her forehead, and another her chest. She tried to scream, but she could only retch up some saltwater.
Blinding light dissolved the darkness, and with that came a soul-stripping pain. It ripped through her physical form, reaching into her very spirit with an unbearable surge of raw power. Now she could scream, but it was to no use; her soul was dissected, picked clean, and then remolded to fit a higher purpose. Mercy only came when her torturer finished with whatever he was doing, and Kei was reclaimed by the darkness.