“My story? I suppose there's no harm in telling.”
My brother and I were born to well-off parents in Sharlayan- a Vieran mother and an Auri father. As soon as we were old enough to be educated, we both knew we wanted to be trained healers, like our scholar mother. My brother took to the profession extraordinarily well, but I always had far too much trouble with it. Before long, word would begin to get around that Cyrus was the star pupil of the Valetia family, leaving poor Eliza to stand in his shadow. I wasn't content to let him surpass me without an effort, so I asked my dad how I could improve. What he said sounded odd enough to work- if you want to protect people from being wounded, why not be the one taking the hits yourself? From there, my dad began to teach me how to fight, owing to his earlier days as a trained fighter and strategist. It wasn't perfect, but he at least helped me get the hang of not flailing about like a child and expecting to win. There was one thing that spurred me most of all to proceed down this path, and it was my mother reading me stories at bedtime of grand heroes and saviors that come to help the people that cry out for them. Fighters and warriors that show up just in the nick of time, save the day, and expect nothing in return- in short, heroes. I wanted to be just like them one day.
Eventually, my brother and I began to hear word of our neighbors across the water- Eorzea. We had found out they were in desperate need of adventurers and fighters, and like any naive pair of children, we thought we could be of assistance. When I wished to go with my brother to Eorzea to chase my dreams and assist our neighbors as an adventurer, however, my parents strictly denied it. They admired my determination and bravery, but they had no intent on sending us off on our own, and they didn't have anyone that could go with us to keep us safe. So, emboldened by my own hubris, I left a note for my parents, snuck onto a trade ship, and departed Sharlayan for Eorzea, thinking I had prepared myself enough to be of assistance.
I wasn't quite ready.
When I got off the ship, I was like a kid on Starlight, amazed by every little sight. I randomly approached locals to ask them about their lives, I questioned trained adventurers about their life experiences- I must've had a storm of inquiries for every person that piqued my interest. But the honeymoon period wore off the moment I realized I was being tailed by someone- two people, in fact. And given the knives barely hidden from within their cloaks, they weren't exactly subtle about hiding their intentions. It was a long chase, but eventually they had me cornered- and there isn't exactly much a child could do against fully grown adults, especially if that child barely knew how to fight. I got my first scar that day- a pretty deep one, too. I would've gotten far worse, but thankfully, I had a savior.
A man charged at my assailants, wielding nothing but a greatsword and a proud grin on his face. When my would-be attackers believed him to be of no threat, they charged at him as well- only for him to send them running with freshly opened wounds for their trouble. In short, I was entirely starstruck. He had charged in just at the nick of time, defended me, and did it all with a grin on his face. To me, he was everything my mother used to read to me about- a true, genuine hero. I couldn't let this chance slip by- I begged and pleaded with him to let me mentor under him, to be a hero for others like he was for me. It took days of pleading and begging, but at least, he recognized my resolve and let me become his student.
From that point forward, he might as well have been a second father to me. I went wherever he went, and learned many things from him. He instilled in me a code of honor he believed to be paramount for anyone calling themselves a knight- ‘never harm or kill the innocent, never fail to save a life if you can, and never expect a reward’. I hung onto and followed his every word, wanting to be just like him. Our travels were long and varied, going anywhere we could if it meant a new lesson or a chance to help someone. Sometimes I would even overdo it and try a little too hard just to earn his approving gaze. Those truly were some of the best days of my life.. but like any good time, it had to end eventually.
One day, I woke up t̶̡̖̱̮̜̘͒̈́̃̄̑̈́̚ͅô̷̦̇̾̽̇̊͠ ̶͉̳͉̻̋̈̅̍̈́̾̂̚ͅf̷̛̗̣̻̃͂̅̇͗͝ì̷̡̡͓̹̀̈́̓͐̓̃̚ņ̶͈̹̺̭̰͍̏͂͘ͅḑ̷̮͚̖͐̉̆ ̴̙̪̾͊̽̔̍͌̊͠m̷̮̱̌̇̈́y̷̟̱͚̔́̋̚͝ ̶̬͆̔͊̒̆̍̐̋m̵̡͉͖̲̤͍̪̙͊̏͊̕͝ȩ̷͓͎̼̙͉̥̿̍͋ñ̷̪͇͙͖̞̹͕́͘t̸͈̊͆̑͝͠o̵̧̡̞̝̣̖̦̅̄͌̇̕r̴̡̼̪̳͗͜ ̴̪̟̚h̸̰̰͕̜͉̓͛͌̚͝ą̵̩̦̪̥͖̠̾͐́̽̌͝d̵̨̫͔̗́́͆̕͠ͅ-
One day, I woke up and my mentor had disappeared without a trace. The only things he had left behind were his greatsword and a crystal on a necklace he had made me swear to never touch. Since he was no longer around to carry them, I decided to take them both and carry them with me until I could return them both to him.