The meetup Alloy was waiting for was to be at sunset. Her and Ivy always admired the sunset view from a balcony above the knights' training grounds that were on the Western side of the palace. She had done nothing but eat and walk around the palace all day. Bored as she usually was, the clouds had already claimed the orange hue of the setting sun.
'She isn't coming today…' She thought. After enjoying a few minutes of the great view she had, she headed to the one place that always allowed her to temporarily live her treasured dream. The Ocean-view terrace that was on the Southern side. The kingdom's geography was quite odd, as the palace floated above a massive hole they called Nowhere. A hole that never brought back anything it took, the entire Southern side of the island was a massive river, directly from the ocean that flowed and dragged things into Nowhere. She sat down, eating a serving of teriyaki balls, dumplings and mitarashi dango. She loved food, mostly because her excessive use of energy tends to wear her out faster than most when she was alone, but she could never stop eating spherical-shaped dishes. She was addicted to them. So a mountain of such foods was next to her. Beside another mountain of sweeter spherical dishes for dessert. She ate as she began fantasizing.
"You are always here when Ivy doesn't show up to view the sunset with you." Zed spoke, walking toward her from behind.
"Yeah, you won't let me go, so I have to imagine what my life was like before I got here."
"Alloy…" she said.
"Alloy…" She repeated. Her voice so low Zedlis could feel the sadness in it, weighing heavier now than every other time she said the same words. "Alloy Vale. My name, the only thing I remember about myself…"
"You forgot to add Ariel. You aremy daughter, you know." He said as he sat down next to her, moving the dessert pile of food to the right since it obstructed his view of the sea.
"I know, Zed. I love you like one." She smiled before she got serious again. "But I hate that I can't leave this kingdom. I wanna find them, I wanna know who they are. I wanna know what I don't know about the first eight years of my life.
Zedlis stood up once more, heading to the rails of the terrace, viewing the dangerous current that led to Nowhere right below them. The wind blew from the height they were on, the sun was still setting from their right, it gave Zed a temporary tan on his cheek. He watched the wave of waters from the river, hitting against the rocks and pieces of land that were on its path to Nowhere. He looked at a certain rock that was being thrown aimlessly in the water as flashes of the day he met Alloy quickly took over his thoughts.
*****
Nine years ago, a beautiful sunset, viewed from the Noble town of Aubir. He walked with his sister, Eliza on the edges of the town, viewing the wonders of Nowhere as well as the current that led to it. At least Eliza did, Zed just joined her that day. As they viewed the river to nowhere, he saw the usual small pieces of rock until he looked closer, and he witnessed another rock-like figure that was slowly being dragged into the abyss, but upon Eliza's view, due to her drift,
精気 Seiki - Essence,
she was able to sense the life force of others as well as their drifts. This is what made her an efficient healer by making herbs that coincide with the patient's own life force, ensuring healing nearly to perfection. Making her one of the most treasured members of the kingdom, aside from the fact that she was a royal.
Eliza sensed a feint life force from the river, confirming it wasn't another rock. She urged Zed to go check it out. With his lightning fast speed, he caught the figure and brought it back in a matter of seconds. He landed right in front of Eliza, took her as well, and went straight to the palace terrace. Her eyes widened as she saw a girl, carefully placed to the ground by Zed. Aside from the care they wanted to give the cute girl in front of them, they both felt a very strange and dark power emitting from her, it was dim, but it was there, and it nearly terrified Eliza. Zed rushed to get some of her herbs which she used quickly to create a small energy remedy to bring the girl back from the edge of death. She gasped for air as she got up. Confused, lost, and very scared, the girl began shaking.
"W…who… are you??" She began, shuddering from the cold.
"She's so cute!! Isn't she??" Zed shouted. Startling the girl who then squealed and ran to a corner of the terrace that was definitely too high up for a child.
"You're scaring her, Zed. Keep your voice down!!" Eliza demanded. She began walking slowly toward her, with her arms wide to show zero hostility. "What's your name dear??" She asked her with the oh so gentle voice she had.
"A… Alloy… Alloy… V… Vale…" The name startled them both.
"Alloy Vale… what a beautiful name!!" Eliza said. "Who gave it to you??"
"I… I… don't know…"
"Oh…" She said, looking at Zed with remorse, as well as an idea as to what was going on. "What do you remember before this??" She asked.
"I… I don't know…" the scared voice of a little lost girl echoed through the royal siblings' hearts a lot more than it did their ears.
After Eliza made her a bracelet to hide the signature of the strange and dark hostility within her, the two decided to ask for Soran's help in deciding what to do, he was already married to Eliza at the time and he was more knowledgeable about the world outside Zephro than anyone else. In their consultation, the three decided to keep her, because the girl, as well as the dark essence Eliza sensed needed to be monitored quite a bit. But all that changed within a year. Alloy had spent it staying in the palace away from others and the public. Zed, however, took a very keen liking to her. She began copying him, his behaviors, his silly personality, she'd even order the guards around her like he did. In no time, Zed realized that he loved her, and he wanted her to know more than just silver architecture.
Exactly a year after he found her, he declared her his daughter and the heir to his throne when she turned 9. The kingdom, of course, didn't have an issue with this since he was trusted by all, they rejoiced heavily, but Eliza and Soran rushed immediately to find out why Zed would make such a decision. He only told them to trust him, and he made Soran her official teacher soon after learning of her drift as well as her dual sword affinity. Alloy trained everywhere, in the palace, in the knight training grounds, and in different places in the kingdom with Soran. When she turned 10, she was a tiny embodiment of Zed's free personality, learning how to fight from Soran, and just enjoying time with Eliza. The same year, she got another friend, Ivy Nequria, a small green-haired girl who was brought from a foreign land and didn't want to go back because of reasons she always refused to say.
Soran and Eliza decided to stay with her due to her clear trauma for the first few months, Alloy used to visit quite a lot to train and try be friends with her whenever she saw her, as two lost girls, they managed to find a way forward within each other, they bonded after months of being at odds. And soon enough, two years later, when they were both 12, Alloy insisted on her staying in the palace, which was no problem for everyone else involved. They both continued to grow, Ivy joining the knights of Zephro and meeting another mentor, Lore Makin. They also bonded as Ivy rose in status till she became an elite knight, next in line to be Noble commander after Lore. Alloy, however, couldn't be a knight even if she was interested. She had a dream and a goal. To find her parents, to find where she came from, to know her true history.
Unfortunately, due to zero information about her parents in her years in Zephro, she knew her only choice was to head out into the world and figure it out for herself. When she asked Zed if she could go, he refused on the basis that she wasn't nearly strong enough to survive the endless dangers of the world. After more arguing, it enraged her so much that her bracelet cracked, and the signature of power that Zed hadn't felt since the day he met her went berserk. It was like she was driven with an intent to kill. However, since she had only confronted Zed, who managed to hold her down, overpowering her without hurting her and within a few hours of him literally keeping her in an immobile position, Eliza had arrived to reinforce it. The silver turned to a darker, more matte color. They thought they had an idea of what the power was after seeing the features it granted her.
She was slightly aware of her hidden power from then on, and she was given a warning by Zed. Should she ever go out of control in front of people who don't know about her ability, she would have to get banished. As a 12 year old girl, she took the warning as seriously as Zed's tone was when he declared it. However, she threw one more tantrum that evolved into anger when she was 15, and again, she was lucky Zed and this time, Ivy were the only ones present. Since Ivy was basically a sister to her, Zed didn't reinforce the rule. But after it was resolved, her bracelet was changed to one that was completely matte black, one of the highest leveled runes Eliza could use was placed on it, however, it was placed with a repair function as well, one that could reattach itself to Alloy or repair its power in case of a simple crack or even if it shatters. It would put itself back as long as Alloy didn't give in to the hostile power within her.
*****
Zed's memory caught up with him, he knew she had gotten stronger since he first said she wasn't strong enough, so he decided to test it, the same way they had since she was 12. He looked back at her, removing his hands from the rails.
"You wanna spar??" He asked.
"Really??!!" The shine in Alloy's eyes sparkled too much, like he was staring into another setting sun with naked eyesight.
"It's been a while. I want to know how far you've come."
"Let's go, old man!!" She said. Finishing both hills of food immediately.
"Old?!" The emotionally injured man stood in his tracks, "I don't look a day over 45 and you know it."
She laughed, her expectations were met perfectly.
"I knew it," he added, "I can't believe out of the few people who treat me like another human being, my own daughter is also the one reminding me how old I am… would you stop laughing??!!"
"I can't help it, I see it every day! Plus it's one of the only times you're serious about a joke."
"Quit it." The king said with a smile. They both talked as they moved to the king's personal training room on the first floor of the western basement, almost directly below the knights training grounds.