Chapter 2

My name is Severa Kakusei.

Hmph. And just so you know, I'm not your ordinary damsel-in-distress. A war has torn many lives, and I plan to cease the bloodshed.

I'm fighting so that every single girl in the entire planet can keep their hair and clothing clean and beautiful.

I'm fighting to bring back peace for everyone in this world.

And I'm fighting to avenge my family.

I was born... with the blood of Grima. My father... a master assassin and an amazing tactician. However, he could never keep his dark secret that lurked inside him, the evil haunting him for life. I didn't know my father very well; he "died" not long after my little sister Morgan came into the world.

My perfect mother, my idol, and my rival. Cordelia Kakusei. Dad decided to give me Mom's last name, but I hate it personally. It was like I was born to follow my mother's footsteps, a fate I couldn't change. I detested that. Because I was nothing like her. She was superior than me in every single aspect. I couldn't do anything right...

That included protecting my mother... I lost her in front of my own two eyes...

And Morgan? She was a great sister. A carefree lady that I could always depend on. However, you can't depend on a sister... that no longer exists. She disappeared... so sudden.. so mysteriously, that one day. I never saw her again.

I was alone.

Trapped in a dark vortex. Fated to never escape. I walk boundlessly forward, but there was no end to attain, no happiness to strive for, no person to open my arms for. I reach out my hand, hoping that someone could lead me out of this terrible nightmare.

Then I found him.

The person who lit my candle. The person who coloured my black and white. The person who pierced the darkness with his burning light.

Owain.

He's the biggest dork I've ever met. I mean, I totally don't understand half of what that idiot says. Blabbering about heroes here, slaying evil being there... I would be excessively cold about them, and scold him left and right. But I never really meant it... I-It's just.. that idiot needed some lessons from me... t-that's all!

But no matter how scornful I am to him, he'd never weep or get angry. He is always that dork that eagerly awaits the next challenge. His radiant smile makes my icy self melt away. Owain, that moron, he stole something precious from me... my heart.

I approached him, one day, as he was looking at his sword.

"Owain, what'cha doing?"

"Why, how persistent of you to ask, Severa!" he would say in that iconic but sometimes irritating voice. "I am just carving a name on my sword. See? RADIANT DAWN! How heroic is that?"

"Idiot! What a childish thing to do!" I lashed at him. But he wasn't fazed.

"Well, I was actually planning to write something else on my sword." He paused, and started writing the words "Lissa"and "Lon'qu" on his sword.

"Your mother and father?"

"They were my heroes. After losing them to the war, I was lonely. They were the most painful days of my life. But heroes don't sit around and weep."

He stood up, and declared intensely, "I want to live on my parents' legacy. They fought to bring peace into this world. So that nobody else can suffer the same fate they did. I'm hungry for this goal, and I'll do what it takes to achieve it."

He then looks down to the ground. "And... I don't want to lose anyone important to me again."

Silence invaded the room. He looked into my eyes. "That is my reason. And to me, that isn't childish. I fight under the name of my parents. Because they were important to me. So... Severa. Let's make a promise."

I was at a lost for words. Owain grabbed his trustworthy knife and handed it to me.

"Here. Write someone precious to you on your sword. Then you can vow to protect them for eternity."

I glared at him for a second. He laughed, "Okay, if it's too embarrassing, I'll turn around. Now go ahead."

I took a deep breath, and carved in the name of who I wanted to protect most.

'Owain.'

I shall fight for the women. Fight for peace. And fight for my deceased family. But the hurricane has already caused too much trauma. Owain, my last tree branch to my perishing self. I cannot afford to lose him. I'll do anything... so that I can be by his side.

Forever.