The Horizon

The next morning, Anastasia woke her crew early, just as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, gently shaking each person, before descending down the stairs to enter the dinning room, where she found Kriztauna sitting with her parents.
Her father was a peculiar looking man, with a long nose and beady, dull eyes. However, no one could mistake the look of grief on his face for anything other than what it was.

Awkwardly, Anastasia knocked on the doorframe, alerting those in the room to her presence. “We’re going to be setting sail soon…” She said, holding back a frown as she saw the sadness increase over the family’s features. “I’ll give you a minute.” She said, turning and leaving the room.
“Is Kriztauna coming?” Aida asked, a hint of hope in her voice. She had felt lonely since joining the crew, being the only member under eighteen.
“Yes, but we’re waiting for her to say her goodbyes to her family…I know that not many of us were lucky enough to have families to say goodbye to, so the least we can do is allow her what we never had.” Anastasia said, watching the inn with half-interested eyes.
“Yes, Captain, of course.” Aida replied meekly.

Some time later, Kriztauna emerged from the inn, smiling despite the pain that was so obvious in her eyes. She was leaving the place she was raised, where she had been shown love, even if only by two people. A home is a home, and to leave is heartbreaking. Kriztauna was learning this all at once, as life suddenly appeared before her and exploded before her very eyes.
“I’m ready, Captain.” Her voice came as a small whisper, almost muted by the oceans restless torrents. Her lip quivered ever so slightly as she spoke, but she remained strong. She had to be, otherwise she knew she’d never be able to leave and set her parents minds at ease.
Anastasia regarded Kriztauna with calculating eyes for a moment before nodding, her black hair bouncing with the action. “Everyone on board! We’re setting sail!” She called out, promptly turning away from the young siren. The absence of Anastasia was almost immediately filled by Aida, who smiled encouragingly at the other teen.
“Don’t worry, Kriztauna…It seems hard now, but these people, as crazy as they are, come to be family in no time at all. Mage is more of a father-figure than mine ever was, of course, that’s not saying much. A rock had about the same parenting skills as my father. The only difference is, the rock knew how to stay in one place.” She sighed softly, for a moment allowing herself to look back on her home life before The Horizon. Not liking what she saw, she shut the lid on those memories, and smiled once more at Kriztauna.
The siren returned the kind gesture, a smile alighting on her features for a moment before she was jostled forward by large, clumsy hands. A glance to her side revealed Aida was being moved by the same force, and a glance behind her revealed it was Mage pushing them forward. “Aida, you know how Captain hates stragglers. And you, Kriztauna, will learn soon enough.”

Kriztauna glanced back at her home, which was rickety and decrepit, yet still held her fondest memories, and worst nightmares. It was a place of such important, that the mere thought that she was leaving brought a rush of tears to her eyes, tears which threatened to spill over. “Mom…” she whispered, “Dad…” Her voice was strained, as she turned her head away from her home, her heart. “Forever, I’ll remember you.” She whispered, before squaring her shoulders, and lifting her head, marching forward proudly even as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Raised to turn against sadness and scorn, Kriztauna found herself implying those old teachings now, as she left her past behind. The waves of the oceans rolled onto the shore, distorting, then erasing, the foot prints that she had recently imprinted into the sand. All memories of her were eliminated by the very ocean that brought her into the human village, where she was hated by all, and loved by only two. As young and inexperienced as she was, Kriztauna could find no reason to smile, or think of this adventure as a new beginning, a new life. All that dwelled beneath her sad, yet brave, exterior was a flurry of anguish. The skies above mirrored the young woman’s agony, as the clouds began to pour rain over the village she had once loved. The laundry she had hung up to try was immediately soaked, her final footprints in the mud farther along the coast were erased, and her memory was cleansed from the village. The demon they had seen her as had finally been executed. Kriztauna who lived in hatred’s shadow had finally died, giving rise to Kriztauna who was strong, and wise. She never once claimed to be a phoenix, but that day, as she left her home, Kriztauna died, and rose once more from the shadow of herself.

As The Horizon set sail, Anastasia witnessed with awed eyes the transformation from girl, to woman, in the form of one very intriguing Kriztauna. After this occurrence, Anastasia would often muse if such a change had taken place within herself, all those years, and memories, ago, when she was thrust from her life of ease into a world were death was the only truth in life. The answer always returned the same. A resounding, and firm yes.
She knew that there was truth behind the answer she supplied herself, that it was more than her lonely mind trying to prove her loss hadn’t been for naught. She knew that in those hours that she had witnessed massacre, she had changed within herself. No longer a weak, spoilt brat, she came to learn the meaning of hard work with little results. In the same way that a snake sheds its skin, Anastasia had stepped out of her old shell, and into a new, more assured, mould. She knew that beyond all else, she had learned to see the world clearly for what it was. A place teeming with hate, where nothing was absolute…nothing, except for death. That was the world that Anastasia stepped into on the night she stopped believing in harmony among the inhabitants of the world. She saw those ideas now for what they were…And what they were was fanciful, ill-conceived lies to fool the weak hearted into fighting for a useless cause. Anastasia had, in one night’s time, upgraded from pawn, to master, and she intended to fully assert her role, and carry out her goals, even if it meant deceit.