Life in Skyloft was a simple one, Maritime would wake up, visit the temple with her parents, listen to a boring lecture about "The Way of The Clouds", go back home and beg her father to tell her about his findings. Today was a day like any other, her father was telling her about a new form of magic that was recently discovered, part of the "Nature" affinity.
"Umbrakinesis, or the control of shadows, is often looked down upon by mages. It is believed that if the shadows are bound to one's will too long they will cloud his very soul." Her father shut the book loudly, pushing up his large framed glasses. Maritime's father was not a big man, he was only a little bit taller than her mother and not much bulkier. His light blue hair was neatly trimmed, and he wore the traditional Windborne clothing. Black robes with small belts that wrapped around, unlike traditional robes from other races, Windborne clothing had no sleeves, leaving as much skin available to the sky as possible. He leaned in closer to her, "Don't tell your mother I said this, but I think it's bullshit."
"Bullshit!" Maritime repeated cheerfully, drawing a laugh from her father.
"Aelith." A voice said sternly from the doorway, "What are you teaching our daughter?" Maritime's mother was beautiful, the wavy black hair that she passed down to her daughter was tied up into a bun, and her clear blue eyes were squinting, judging her husband.
"Oh, Skya!" Her father exclaimed, ignoring her previous question, "They called us to the temple, the elders said they have something to talk with us about."
Her mom sighed, "They're always calling you to the temple, Honey." She walked over and picked up Maritime, "Do you want to go to the temple with us?"
She nodded enthusiastically, "Can we stop by the shops after?"
"We'll see." Her mother replied, placing a kiss on her cheek. She held out a hand for her husband to hold, which he obliged and they walked towards the temple together.
Skyloft was a beautiful city located above the Southwestern Quadrant, in school Maritime was taught that the island was lifted into the sky over a hundred years ago by their ancestors to escape the scrutiny of the other races. She wasn't sure if that could've been the full story, it had always seemed to lack something, but she could never quite place what it was. No matter how many times she visited the city it would always leave her in awe. Towering buildings made out of glass seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky, each structure was grander than the last the further in they went, especially The Temple. The Temple was the most gorgeous building she had ever seen, stained glass made up the windows depicting stories that had been told over and over again within the Windborne community, childhood classics that could be read over and over again and never get old. Pillars of black rock suspended the magnificent pointed roof that stretched so high it seemed to reach the gods themselves.
"I wonder what they could want us for?" Her father muttered, "Surely it couldn't be because.." He trailed off, leaving whatever he was going to say up to her imagination.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Her mother added, "It's probably a congratulation to Mari, she did get into the academy."
This was news to her, they never told her this! The Windswept Academy is the most prestigious school in all of Skyloft, it was every parent and child's dream to get into the academy. Both her father and mother had gone there in their youth, and now it was her turn. "I got into Windswept?" She shouted, leading to some envious stares from the surrounding citizens.
"We got the letter earlier today, I was going to tell you before your father reminded us of our meeting at the Temple." She glared playfully at her husband who shrugged sheepishly.
"We're very proud of you, Mari." Her father said, "I know that you will do great things at Windswept."
She smiled at the praise, "Thank you, Dad." They reached the end of the line into the Temple, and were quickly ushered in by one of the guards standing outside. The Elders were a bunch of grumpy, old men who hated change more than anything, the mood in the main chamber was grim, and it made her uneasy.
"Aelith, Skya, and Maritime." They spoke in unison, sitting in the front of the room behind a giant U-shaped desk, "We have deemed the studies of Aelith to be a danger to the safety of Skyloft, and to keep the peace and to ensure the security of our beautiful city we have come to a decision."
"Wha-" Her father started, his eyes wide.
He was interrupted quickly by The Elders speaking once more, "You are hereby exiled from Skyloft, you have six hours to leave on your own accord before you are forced out."
Maritime was stunned, exiled? What exactly had her father been studying, it couldn't have been anything too dangerous, she knew her father! He was the sweetest man ever, he would never endanger Skyloft! She looked to her parents, her mother was glaring at The Elders, her father had gone pale sputtering in a failing attempt to save his family at least.
"Come, Aelith." Her mother said gravely, grabbing his hand, "We had been talking about leaving anyway."
It was hectic back at their little home, her father was trying to fit as many of his books into a dimension bag as he possibly could, her mother was calmly packing up their rooms and kitchen, carefully setting each item into a different dimension bag.
Five hours of putting their entire life, the only life that Maritime had ever known in small bags was the worst time of her life. They walked through the streets one last time, this time the beautiful buildings of Skyloft felt more taunting than anything. It had been dark for a while now, and Maritime, despite trying as hard as she could to keep her eyes open, felt sleep call out to her. Her mother noticed, as she always did and picked her up, she quickly fell asleep in her mother's arms.
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When she woke, they were on the outskirts of a small town. Her mother must have noticed her stirring in her arms and looked down, "Morning." She said softly, poking Maritime's nose with her finger.
"Are we going to live here?" She asked, still dreary from exhaustion.
"We'll see, Mari." She pursed her lips, "I'm not the biggest fan of this town but it'll have to do.
"I got something figured out, Family!" Her father's voice from inside the gate called, "Come with me, I'll explain everything."
As they walked on the dirt road of Caldwell, as she now knew, her father explained that he would be given a home on the account that he pledge his loyalty to the town of Caldwell and further their scientific and magical knowledge. Luckily enough they had been looking for a scholar of her father's intellect and skill.
The town was small, it had one long main dirt road with a couple of businesses and small shops along either side, later down the road there were identical medium sized houses made out of dark wood that took up the rest of the main road. At the very end there was a nice building, at least compared to all of the others ones in the town that seemed to act as a city hall or community center.
Her father led them into the last house before the community center, when he pushed the door open it creaked painfully and shot dust from the floor into the air.
"Well!" Her father said, clapping his hands together, "It's not much but it's home."
"That's an understatement, Aelith." Her mother said dryly, "Thank you for getting this for us, I was so worried about our future."
"I know, Hun." He said, pulling her into a hug and by addition, Maritime.
"Hey!" She screeched playfully, "Let me go!" She squirmed in her family's arms and they squeezed her even tighter.
"We'll make it through this." Her father said quietly, a somber smile on his face, "I swear it."
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It had been eight months since they were exiled from Skyloft and their small family had fallen into a comfortable routine. Every couple days Mari would accompany her mother to the market, they would receive strange looks from the other occupants of the town and it made Maritime want to crawl out of her skin.
"Why do they look at us so weird, Mom?" She had asked one day.
"They've never seen someone as beautiful as you, Mari." Her mother affirmed, "They can't help but look."
Maritime loved her mother, sometimes it seemed like she read her mind. That day after the market was an important one, at her young age of eight years old, Maritime awakened her magic.
A burst of shadows spilled from her hands and feet, covering their home in darkness. Both of her parents rushed into the room, and saw their daughter sitting calmly in the middle of the room with a beaming smile on her face.
"Umbrakinesis…" Her father muttered, "Incredible."
"She's only eight!" Her mother exclaimed, "Come, Maritime, I think today is the day I start to teach you the Way of Shadow."
The Way of Shadow was a fighting style passed down through her entire family, if a child showed proficiency in Umbrakinesis they would be taught the Way. Maritime had always excelled at the things she tried, and learning the legendary fighting style was no different. The feeling of control she had just beyond her fingertips was incredible. It was incredible enough to disobey her father's wishes.
Ever since they had arrived in Caldwell her father had locked himself away in his study reading one specific book, it was the only book that Maritime was absolutely forbidden to read. Naturally that only made her curious, using her masterful deception skills, (begging her mother to let her stay home from the market), she was left at home alone. Her father was at a meeting, and her mother was at the market. She figured she had about an hour or two before they came back. Being the prodigy she was, she had no trouble getting into her father's study, and opening the book. It was a bunch of runes and letters that she couldn't read, with graphic depictions of rituals and sacrifice splattered onto each page. However, despite the disgust it brought her, she couldn't seem to put it down.
The longer she read the book, the more she could understand words and phrases, the more she could make sense of the pictures generously decorating each page, the more she understood that this book was bad news, but yet it drew her in. It took a hold of her curiosity and fed off it, it used her willpower, her intelligence to further wrap it's influence around her mind. She had no idea how long she had been reading at this point, words like Miru, Vessel, Awakening, and Hell drew themselves around her mind, exiting through her mind until she was chanting. At first it was a whisper, hushed words that grew louder and more desperate. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw the door burst open, her father and mother bursting through the door, their mouths moving ferociously, but no noise was made.
The climax of the chanting had finally been reached, both Maritime and her parents could sense it. With one final world the chanting ceased, an eerie silence held over the room.
"Mari?" Her father started, taking a hesitant step forward, "What did you d-" He was cut off by an explosion of pure energy that felt not quite divine. The force coming from the explosion felt less like it was trying to rip her apart, and more like it was trying to send her somewhere.
"No!" A voice shouted, it was her mother. With what seemed to be the last bit of her magical energy, a shield of shadow surrounded Maritime and blocked her from the explosion. She watched from inside the last gift her mother would ever give her, as her parents were eviscerated right in front of her eyes.
—-----------------------------------------------------------
She was dazed after the explosion despite being inside of her mother's shield of shadow. Her eyes opened, slowly taking in her surroundings. Their house had been completely destroyed, along with the house directly next to and across from her house. She glanced up, taking in a giant shirtless man standing above her. He was probably over 13 feet tall, he had wings made out of what seemed to be raven feathers that were dotted with flecks of gold and folded neatly on his back. He wore golden earrings that contrasted against his dark skin. He wore golden pants as well, they stopped just above his ankles, where he wore no shoes at all. His pitch black hair was long and stopped at just about his shoulders, he wore a giant smile on his face, and his arms were stretched above his head as if just waking up from an incredibly long nap.
"Ah, my savior." He drawled, "Pleasure to be meeting you, Young Maritime" he drew into an exaggerated bow, "I am Miru, or as most people call me, the God of Fear and Pain." She said nothing, only nodded with wide eyes. "Now I'm sure you're curious as to why I'm here, and what happened to your parents."
"Did you do something to them?" She asked shakily, "Are they okay?"
Miru paused, placing a hand on his chin, "Truthfully, I can only answer one of those questions." He looked at her apologetically before continuing, "I did nothing to them, with my own power that is. Most mortals cannot stand a God's presence, especially one that has been locked away for centuries. All of my divine power burst out as soon as the seal was removed, effectively banishing your parents to my realm." He mimicked an explosion with his hands, "As to whether they are okay or not, even I do not know."
Tears welled up in Maritime's eyes, "Why?" She put her hands over her eyes and sunk to the floor, sobs wracking her entire body.
"Now, there is a way to get them back," Miru soothed, "But first you have to do something for me."
"I'll do anything," She pleaded, "Just bring them back."
"Excellent," He drawled, "I'm sorry for this, but it's for the greater good, my greater good." He reached out his hand and touched her forehead, her eyes closed and her consciousness sunk deep into the back of her mind.
—-----------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to Cascade Point, Maritime. The familiar voice made her stir, her eyes opened and she was immediately disoriented. She was not where she was when her eyes closed back in Caldwell.
She was too focused on attempting to make sense of the voice in her head that she didn't see the tall, lanky man in a gray suit approach her, she only noticed him and his neatly kept blonde hair when he spoke. Flashing white teeth while he spoke, "How would you like to come work for me, Little Girl?"