To A Thief - Prologue

The Crystal War, and how tragedy gave birth to origin.

It all began with a stone, Or so the legend says. In ages past, a sentient jewel, enormous and beautiful banished the darkness. Its many-colored light filled the world with life and brought forth mighty Gods. Bathed in that light, the world entered an age of bliss. Until, after a time, the Gods fell into slumber. That world was called Vana'diel.

In the 863rd year of the Crystal Era, Vana'diel was in the midst of a great war. Faced with invasion of the Shadow Lord and his hordes of beastmen, the leaders of the enlightened peoples united their forces in desperate alliance. They were the Kingdom of San d'Oria, the Republic of Bastok, the Federation of Windurst, the Grand Duchy of Jeuno. Together, they struggled for survival in battle after battle as chaos engulfed the land.

The war against the beastmen hordes left scars and dread across the land. Many lives were lost. Countless children were left with no one to love them; orphanized and left alone in this world as a reminder of the tragedy that had befallen Vana'diel during the Crystal Era. 

The Shadow Lord had been resurrected, and spread nothing but darkness and terror to the five races of Altana and the land. It was with sheer will and determination that all the banded races fought back together and eventually overcame this catastrophic war, though in the end were unable to purge the monsters and beastmen that made Vana'diel their home. They were the children of Promathia, the god of twilight. He bestowed life unto them in this world just as Altana had blessed her enlightened children with theirs. 

However, the question still remained... had this evil reign of shadow truly ended? Or had the Shadow Lord's plans simply been set back? No one knew for sure, but the hanging glory of Vana'diel was passed on to a new generation and to time itself. 

The start of a new generation.

A young, brown-haired woman who had lost everything but the memento left in her womb by the brave husband of hers- whom had fallen in the battle against the Shadow Lord, laid suffering through labor at an outpost somewhere in an unknown region. The outpost was dimly lit by few torches, the smell of warm blood and sweat lingering in the air accompanied by the groans coming from victims of the war who lay in countless makeshift beds lined along the walls.

The young, dark-haired woman screamed out in pain and tossed about with every contraction of her lower muscles. Pulling her arms out from under the sheets saturated with her body's sweat, she clutched the hand of a hume nurse who was standing beside her providing as much support as she could. Handling labor in a shoddy outpost like this used mainly for refuge was quite stressful.

"That's it, Serena, breathe in and breathe out... one, two. One, two," the head nurse soothed the young woman as she prepared to deliver the baby. It was hard not to let her eyes wander to the bruises and wounds covering the poor laboring woman's delicate body, even for a nurse. 

The nurse clutching Serena's hand leaned to one side and asked in a low tone, "Is she going to make it, head nurse? She's become so weak due to all of that trauma and blood loss. I don't think she could sustain such labor much longer..."

The head nurse would not answer. She was obviously unsure herself of the woman's fate. Instead, she focused on getting the baby delivered, looking into the young woman's eyes.

"Push, Serena, PUSH! You're almost there!"

With one last round of agonizing pain, using every of ounce of power left in her body, Serena's baby was finally delivered. The baby cried out in its arrival to this troubled world, holding his tiny little arms to himself in a tense manner.

After the umbilical cord was cut, the head nurse smiled warmly to the fragile Serena and presented her beautiful baby boy to her. "Congratulations, Serena.. it's a healthy hume boy," She said softly, gently placing the wrapped-up baby in his mother's arms which were barely strong enough to hold him.

Serena looked down breathlessly at her son who had stopped crying and now laid against his mother with stiffened shoulders. She smiled weakly and brought a delicate hand to his cheek.

"But he's so stiff... my stiff little boy. I... I-" She whispered, stopping abruptly as her vision began to blur. Now that she had delivered her boy, it seemed her body was ready to let go. 

The woman; Serena, died there with the tense little newborn in her arms.

The head nurse was overwhelmed with dread, ripping off her surgical mask and letting it fall to the floor. Placing a hand over her forehead and another to her hip, she asked her aid in a faint tone, "Did she name him..?"

The nurse aid gently brushed her hand down Serena's eyes, closing them and taking the sleeping newborn with a sigh. "All I heard her say was 'Stiff'... may the Goddess Altana guide her path."

"It seems this world has just received another orphan."

 It is here that the story of Vana'diel is passed forward, to a single Thief.

Author's Note

While I'm already working on getting Book II of this story started, I am also going back and re-proofreading it entirely, as you will find quite a number of mistakes or half-assedly-written sections that just suck.

I'm no great writer, that's for sure. I'm just an average person who likes to write, expand, and better myself :)

Reviews

[Gretchen Clarke]

I love this! While I was reading this, I thought to myself, 'Wow, this is amazing! Is this an official novel? If not, it totally should be!!!' I am adding this to my library!!!!'

[John F Carver]

Nice little world you have here. It seems well written but honestly? This is not my cup of tea.