“Yeah, thanks, but I have to say, that was the kind of win that leaves a sour aftertaste.”
“Hey, Sain.” Alicia gave him a concerned look. “Is it true that Melia lost her family to Chaos a long time ago?”
The question took him by surprise, and for a while, he stared wordlessly at her in astonishment. Eventually, he figured that the only way Alicia could have known was for Melia to divulge her past herself. Slowly, he nodded.
“Yeah... it’s true. It’s probably hard for the two of you to imagine... but she wasn’t always the unflappable maid she is now. She used to be... wilder. Almost feral. And she had very little regard for her own life.”
Even now, she could still remember the day in vivid detail — when Chaos had shown up and robbed a little girl of her family.
Her home had been in a small village, and she’d led a modest life with her friends and family. Times were tough and luxuries were few, but despite the hardship, the village folk were a tight-knit bunch, weathering adversity through mutual aid and support. Life wasn’t easy, but they were happy to live it.
Then, one day, Chaos appeared out of the blue. Calamity followed. They swept through the village in a storm of death and destruction. People fell left and right, mauled and eaten before they could even comprehend their fate, much less curse it. Before she could process what was even happening, the village was gone. Everyone she’d ever known was dead.
Eight-year-old Melia was the sole survivor of her village. She’d hidden herself in the family trunk at her mother’s instruction. Then, too scared to even breathe loudly, she waited and waited for what felt like an eternity until the blood-curdling howls of Chaos finally ceased. Slowly, she crawled out of the trunk and, stumbling forward on numb, unsteady legs, bore witness to the carnage that had taken place. There was no village left; only death and debris. As her eyes took in the mutilated bodies of everyone she cared about, her mind pushed away all its thoughts and feelings save for one — revenge.
She knew her enemy was Chaos, and she knew they had to be exterminated. She swore in her heart to do so. However, despite their tendency to appear when they were least welcome, the creatures were confoundingly difficult to find when she tried to go looking for them. After a lengthy period of wandering, she was picked up by a passing merchant who’d seen the ruins of her village. After arriving at a nearby town, she began working at a local tavern. When she wasn’t on duty, she spent every waking moment trying to track down Chaos, but to no avail. As more and more time passed, with few clues as to their whereabouts, her disposition grew steadily grimmer. Despair began to infect her still-bleeding heart, festering insidiously in its wounds.
Still, vengeance continued to drive her, and during her fruitless search for her enemy, she never stopped seeking strength. Killing the creatures would require a weapon, and she had no qualms about turning herself into one. Fortunately — or, perhaps, tragically — she was naturally clever and a quick learner. While working to keep herself fed, she also found the time to teach herself how to fight. She went on solo expeditions into the wilderness, learning to trap and hunt through trial and error. Eventually, she turned her attention from wildlife to monsters and, without the knowledge of the adults around her, began fighting them for practice. The monsters she killed were not left out to rot. Instead, she dissected their carcasses to learn more about their anatomy and makeup. Eschewing neither knowledge nor skill, she hungrily sought to improve her capabilities in every way possible and honed her very person into the lethal weapon with which she would exact her revenge.
For half a year, she continued to bide her time, getting ever stronger in the process. Then, one day, word of blood-red monsters being sighted nearby entered her ears, eliciting a visceral rush of excitement. They had to be Chaos. The time had finally come. Every nerve in her body buzzed with violent energy, urging her to move, to act, to kill.
She got there too late. By the time she arrived at the reported location, she found only another ruined village. It was as if the scene from her memory had been transplanted into reality. There she was, again, standing alone amidst the devastation of her hometown.
A few months later, the experience repeated itself. Once again, Chaos had passed through. Once again, a village had been decimated. Her resolve hardened, and her eyes grew grimmer still. Chaos, she decided, was something that needed to be eradicated by whatever means necessary.
Months passed again until finally, the day came when she came face to face with a living creature of Chaos.
Kill it... Kill it! It needs to die!
Reason faded from her mind, replaced by a singular desire to see the thing dead. She picked up a pointed branch on the ground and rushed at it without another thought.
“Don’t.”
Three steps into her reckless charge, she was stopped by a young boy in a pure white mantle.
“You can’t kill Chaos with a stick like that.”
The boy had fine features, with a pair of deep blue eyes and a crop of golden hair. He looked to be about the same age as her, but he carried himself with an air of maturity. Startled by his sudden appearance, she nevertheless managed to reply to him.
“...Says who? I won’t know unless I try.”
“You might not, but unfortunately, I do. You’re fivekind, aren’t you? Chaos can only be harmed by light or dark magic. Therefore, you cannot defeat it.”