Two weeks had passed since the raid on the city of Sea Fallen, with the scars of the fierce battle spread across the entire city.
Leading the rebuilding efforts was Lepaie Quinn himself, who had joined the Alliance of Waves with the other Sea Kings to annihilate the rising threat in the Sea of Chains.
In a small hospital far in the southern region of the city lay a girl who had experienced the traumatic effects of war firsthand.
Ten-year-old Eleanor Lynn, whose mind had completely shattered after witnessing not only the death of her mother figure, Ms. Anne, but also watching her best friend die an agonizing death right in front of her eyes, lay shell-shocked on a bed.
Sitting with her in the room was the local priestess from the Church of the Depths, who had been treating those afflicted with physical wounds.
The priestess gazed at the blank-faced Eleanor with a frown.
Reaching out her hands, she gently placed her right palm against Eleanor's forehead.
Holy magic began to flow through her fingers and into Eleanor's mind, sealing the trauma she experienced with the spell Mind Weaver, which allowed you to seal select memories.
It was unable to be used in combat due to the limitations on its activation conditions; however, in a scenario where someone's mind was fractured, it could place a seal on the memories, allowing them to return when they had the willpower to withstand them.
As the spell was cast on Eleanor, her face gently relaxed as she fell into a state of slumber, in which she would remain for a couple of days until the accumulated fatigue on her body subsided.
The priestess stood up from beside Eleanor, walking towards the door, shaking her head slowly.
…
In the present, as the memory gradually faded, the tears falling from her eyes gradually began to stop.
Eleanor looked at the door of her cell with a newfound sense of hopelessness.
She had been the victim of the cruelty of pirates twice in her life, with them stealing what was most important to her both times.
Her best friend, Mia, and the freedom she had in Sea Fallen.
Resentment for her kidnappers boiled within her mind with a divine glow emanating from her hands, which attempted to calm her mood.
Thud, Thud, Thud
Footsteps were heard coming from the staircase to the right of her cell before suddenly stopping at the door.
With a loud slam, the door was kicked open, revealing an ugly black-bearded pirate with rotting yellow and orange teeth that seemed to radiate filth as he spoke in a rough voice.
"Har har har! Dat ole man didn't lie when he told us about ye."
His almost comedic accent would've made Eleanor laugh if it weren't for her grim situation.
She had believed that pirates only spoke like this in the novels she had read; however, faced with someone who sounded like that, she couldn't believe he was a hardened trafficker.
She made eye contact with the funny-sounding pirate, attempting to show her resentment for the man.
The pirate simply chuckled before looking at her with the cold eyes of a killer.
"Oh? So, ye 'ave some fight in ye?"
He rolled his sleeves up before backfisting Eleanor hard across the face.
She recoiled in shock before blood dripped from her forehead down her face and into her eyes.
Before she could readjust, the man kicked her in the jaw, then grabbed her hair and elbowed the side of her head.
Eleanor's amusement at the strange pirate had dissipated almost as fast as it appeared, with her realizing that she had taken the situation too lightly.
The man spat on her semi-unconscious body as she lay sprawled against the wall, bleeding profusely from her head.
The pirate spoke again, stopping his assault on Eleanor.
"Didn' dat priest friend o' yers teach ye t' respect yer elders?"
How does he know Godrick? D-Don't tell me he hurt him?
The pirate chuckled again with a hearty laugh that reverberated around the small chamber.
"Ye must be wonderin' how I know yer wee priest friend"
Eleanor looked at the floor near the man, carefully avoiding his eyes this time to prevent another beating.
"Hehehe yer shall choose yer friends more wisely wee lady. Dat rogue was the one who told us about ye."
Eleanor's eyes widened in understanding.
The gag around her mouth fell loose, with her being able to speak slightly.
"G-Godrick told you about me?"
Her body began to shake as her mind turned fuzzy with shock.
The man watching this laughed and responded quickly.
"Be dat his name? Well o' course, in exchange fer some doubloons he was happy t' give ye t' us"
Eleanor began to gag as the memories of her loving mentor, who had always supported her, flashed through her mind.
The pirate simply laughed as he walked outside the cell, slamming the door behind him, leaving her to think about what he had said.
…
Three years prior, inside the southern region's cathedral of the Depths sat a man in his early forties, helping a young girl with her research on holy magic.
The man was none other than Godrick Lewis, Eleanor's mentor and father figure, who had taken her in after the incident three years prior at the orphanage.
He looked towards Eleanor, who was absorbed in her attempt to use Divine Light to heal a small cut on her finger.
He spoke in a gentle, fatherly voice that made her look up.
"Ellie, what do you want to do when you grow up?"
The question had shocked Eleanor, who wasn't paying attention.
She thought about it quickly before speaking.
"I wish to become someone who can protect the people around me by any means necessary."
Godrick silently stared at her with a sad look upon his face before asking her one final question.
"Why do you want to do this, Ellie?"
Blinking, she appeared to be deep in thought before responding.
"I… I don't know?"
Her mentor stood up and smiled down at her.
"Whether you wish to become a humble farmer and settle down in the East or decide to become the pontiff of the Church, I will always support you."
Godrick walked away, waving at Eleanor, who was left staring at his reassuring back.
…
Weeks passed as the trafficking vessel sailed throughout the Sea of Chains towards Svall.
Lying inside a cramped chamber was a disheveled girl covered in dried blood and filth.
She faded in and out of consciousness throughout this time, with occasional waking up to beatings from various men on the ship.
Eleanor expected that she would soon arrive in the pirate capital and braced for the hard life ahead of her.
All the hope she had once been filled with had been lost with the discovery that the only person she could consider family had betrayed her and sold her out to these disgusting pigs that called themselves pirates.
She could hardly move her body, with many of her bones feeling broken, with her face was severely deformed from the torture she had endured.
As the moon rose high into the sky, just barely allowing some light to seep through the hatch above her.
Before she could fade into the darkness of slumber again, she heard footsteps running across the deck.
Flashes of brilliant golden light appeared through the grate above her, with muffled screaming slowly fading after each burst.
Eleanor watched the hatch to the deck with apprehension as she awaited whatever was hunting the pirates above to decide to turn its attention to her.
Once all the screams and shouts from the deck ceased, she heard footsteps approaching her cell.
Instinctually, she began to shake as the trauma from the days of beatings stirred within her.
The door began to unlock, and a beautiful woman stepped inside.
Eleanor immediately felt a resonance with the woman as if they were connected by some invisible thread.
The woman had brilliant blonde hair with piercing gold eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness.
She reached towards Eleanor, who flinched away in fear of another beating.
The woman frowned as she emitted a warm light from somewhere behind her.
Looking behind the woman, Eleanor noticed something that she had only heard from the nuns at the orphanage where she grew up.
Behind the woman were a pair of white wings that illuminated the darkness.
A-An Angel?
Eleanor bowed her damaged head towards the woman, only now noticing a strange object wrapped around her wrists.
Observing closer with her head down, she made a realization.
Are those… Chains?