Milla Miralis Backstory

Milla Miralis

	Her eyes opened. The sounds of footsteps stifled the air.
	"Where am I?"
	"What am I doing here?"
	"Who--who am I?"
	Her head throbbed. Vision distorted, thoughts failed to coalesce. Everything was spinning. But the wind, oh how the wind felt good. The breeze brushed her face, and she came to the realization, she had no recollection of anything. No name, no past. Nothing.
	The young Sylph stands up, looking around about her new environ; one that she would come to know as Kinaellan, only to feel absorbed in the chaos. No one saw her, or rather, no one cared enough to. No name. No money. No one cares for another misplaced, untrained, waste of skin.
	Tired, hungry, and head still pounding, the girl walked along the streets, trying to find anyone who would take her in. The wind could only keep her invigorated for so long, so she had to find help. But it never came. She fell down at a doorstep and the world faded to black.
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	“Hey, kid, wake up!”
	She snapped awake at the sound of the harsh voice. The girl was laying down on a pile of blankets and pillows. She sat up, nearly keeling over due to the sheer pain in her head. Looking to the side, she saw an older Human sitting at a chair, facing her.
	The man was Nicholas Christian. He picked the girl up off of the streets and gave her a roof over her head for the night. He didn’t ask questions, but he didn’t really care either way. Nick was an investigator. He looked for lost children. Sometimes, he even found them.
	“Why did you save me?” The girl stared inquisitively, until she broke eye contact wincing in pain. The old man simply stared back, and sighed softly.
	“You got a name, girl?”
	“Ye-… no, I don’t know.”
	“Well this complicates things…” The man turned towards the far wall of the room. Finally taking in her surroundings, the girl found herself in a small office room. There was a desk, there was a board behind it with several things pinned to it, and there was sparse seating for guests or clients. Towards the back, behind a curtain, she could see a small bed area with an even smaller kitchenette hidden in the corner.
	Nick looks at the board. On the board are several papers, but also seven pictures. He picks up the first one and looks back towards the girl.
	“Milla.”
	“What?”
	“I’m calling you Milla. You need a name, right?”
	In her short time of mental awareness, the girl had known nothing but disdain from everyone. Except for Nick. He took her in when she had nothing. This man had shown her nothing but true kindness. And now she had a name.
	“Me-lah?” She stumbled about the simple pronunciation, as though trying it on like clothing. “Why this name, if I might ask?”
	“I find children. Every single one I’ve managed to find, I’ve gotten a picture of, sort of a commemorative bit.”
	“How long have you been doing this?”
	“20 years.”
	“There are only seven pictures though…”
	“Yeah. Milla was the first I found. Her parents used the fact that she was missing as an excuse to get some publicity. I ended up getting jail time because I was set up as a kidnapper.”
	Nick told his story, but Milla was only even more confused. The room was silent.
	Nicholas broke the silence. “I assume you ain’t got a home to go back to, if I give you a place to stay, you’re going to be working for me, you hear?”
	Milla looked up at him. ‘Why?’ He asked no questions of her origin, he didn’t care that she had nothing to her name, and no equipment to do any work. ‘Why?’ Tears welled up, she looked down ashamed. ‘WHY?’ A surge of pain wracked her skull. Milla looked towards him again, tears streaming.
	“Why --- why would you do this for me? I don’t deserve this. I don’t know you.  There’s no reason for you to help me. WHY!?”
	“You really are just a kid.”
	“Huh?”
	“All the children I’ve managed to truly find have had one thing in common. They were lost. I don’t mean like lost in the city. I mean that they never know what to believe in. I help them find what they’re looking for. You’re obviously lost, so I’ll help you find something to believe in.”
	The girl got up and shakily made her way over to Nick’s feet. Once there, she took a deep bow.
	“Raise your head kid, you’re not staying here for free. We’re starting training tomorrow”
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*Five years later*
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	‘Gah, focus Milla. Ignore the pain and carry on. Find her pendent, find the pendent, find the pendent. FOCUS MILLA!’
	Milla ran faster. She couldn’t afford to lose focus here. Not on her first solo job. Nick gave her something simple. She couldn’t afford to lose focus here. Rushing down the streets she so carefully memorized, tracking the thief so carefully, even communing with wind spirits to help guide her way. She musn’t lose focus here. But the pain, wouldn’t it be nice to just sit down and nurse the pain away?
	‘Hah, there he is.’ The thief stopped in one of the many small back alleys of Kinaellan. Milla had spent the last 5 years learning every crevice of the city, to the point that she could follow someone without fail, assuming she kept focus (which, up to this point was rare in and of itself). With her new knowledge, the act of tracking the thief was a simple matter. It was what she did next that was an issue.
	A knife lands with an audible *thud* in the ground in front of the thief.
	“HAH! Found you! Unhand that pendant!” There’s only one reaction that would elicit in any sane man who realizes that he has found a person with more skill than he. Run. And run he did. Milla had expected your average thief to run somewhere secluded, where he could fall back onto his natural territory. She didn’t expect him to run to a crowd. ‘Do I just make the throw anyways? Do I just follow him? Gods my head is splitting…’ The sharp pain in her head broke all concentration. ‘Dammit! I’ll make the throw!
	A knife lands with an audible *thud* in the chest of a woman standing between her and the thief.
	Time slows down. Milla sees the shock on the woman’s face as the world suddenly falls out from under her. Her hand releases its grip on a smaller one. Her body crumples, an empty vessel on the road. A look of horror comes over the little one’s face as they realize what’s happening. The thief turns their back and continues running, dropping something at their feet. Time returns to its pace. Shrieks and cries of the crowd erupt as everyone tries to figure out what happened.
	“Why me…” The first tear drops. “Why can’t I do anything right…” More tears follow. The child falls to the ground, unable to move, appearing to be in a sympathetic shock. Milla pulls out a small amulet given to her by Nick, permanently enchanted with the ability to send a Message.
	“Nick, I need you down here. I’ve made a mistake.” It was impossible to hide the sorrow in her voice. She sent the message and no sooner had she put away the amulet, Nick walked out from an alley himself. He kneeled down and picked up the mother and began walking towards shrine of Milani. Not even turning back towards Milla, he bluntly stated, “We’re going to talk later. Grab the kid and follow.”
	‘Even in sorrow, why can’t I have peace from this gods forsaken ache in my head.’
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*Several hours later, at shrine of Milani*
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	‘Focus Milla, gods damn it focus for once in your life.’ The pain was intolerable. ‘Why, just why does it hurt so much…’
	“Milla, you there?” A voice cutting through the pain, making it bearable, if only for a moment. She looked over to her side and saw Nick walk out of the building. He sat down next to her, but didn’t look at her even once.
	“She’s going to live, if only just.” Silence filled the air. Tension stifled the light of any hope Milla had. Tears fell to the ground once more.
	“The kid though… the clerics said that he might not make it. His heart stopped when his mother died. They’re having issues revitalizing him.” Time stood still for a moment, as Milla realized what she had done. In the midst of her weakness, she had allowed herself to make the worst possible decision. Now there was potentially the blood of one that Nick was sworn to protect on her hands.
	“Let’s stop for a minute and think, kid. I was watching your entire chase of that thief. I saw that you tracked him down in less than 2 minutes flat. But after you found him and failed to capture him immediately, you lost focus and just did what you thought was faster. You’ve been more than just an apprentice to me these past years Milla. I know all about how you wound up here in Kinaellan those few years ago; I know all about how you have no recollection of your life up until this point. I know that until a few months ago, you couldn’t tell the difference between a Sylph like yourself and a vanilla Human like me. I know that you wouldn’t kill an innocent woman just because you’re fed up with chasing a thief for a few moments. Is there something that you haven’t told me?”
	A painful moment passed with no words being spoken.
	“It hurts…” she whimpered. “Oh gods it hurts so much…”
	She fell down with a loud crash.
	The world turned to black…
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*Ten Years Later*
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	‘The wind… The wind feels wonderful…’
	Milla sat kneeling at a gravestone. She had her head bowed, though she knew not of who she would pray to, so she simply wished to the winds that the spirit of her mentor would find peace beyond. The man she had come to know as her father was at rest now, and it was her job to ensure that his job remained completed.
	“Thank you for everything, Nick…” A solemn look back towards the graveyard as she walks back to the office that she had lived in for the past 15 years. “Thank you, for helping me find my way.”
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	‘There’s a good spot’
	A grapple hook gets thrown, latching on to the roof of a nearby building. A lithe form swings its way up the rope, landing on the tiles smoothly. A ring of metal jumps to her hand. Target in sight, the ring is thrown. Not to kill, but to entangle. The chakram hits the man’s leg, and a small burst of light explodes, sending the weapon back to the hand that threw it. Three more followed.
	A quick jump down from the building, and Milla walked to the man that was now bound by restraints of pure wind, holding him in place as she came up to greet him. One minute had passed since she started the chase. The pain hadn’t started to set in yet. Keep calm, and we’ll have the girl back in her parent’s custody again soon.
	“Well, let’s cut to the chase shall we…"