Eleanor awakened within a cold, dark chamber alone and afraid.
She knew traffickers had kidnapped her; however, other than the fact that they were taking her to be sold in Svall, she had nothing to piece the situation to go off.
Her mouth was gagged with a suffocating white cloth that smelled of blood, while her hands were tied behind her back with a thick rope, not allowing any movement.
Eleanor's eyes began to adjust to the scene, noticing that she was imprisoned within what seemed to be the brig of a small transport vessel.
Above her head was a tiny grate that allowed a minuscule amount of moonlight to seep into the room.
Wait, moonlight? How long was I knocked out for…?
Looking around at the other cells, she noticed that there wasn't a single other person, with the only sign of human life being the occasional footstep she heard from the deck above.
Eleanor slowly realized that she had no hope of rescue, having long passed the coast of Sea Fallen, with the ship soon to approach the Sea of Chains, where Svall was located.
Once she arrived at Svall, the true hell would begin.
She would be subjected to torture and other atrocities, with her only chance at life being sold to a filthy pirate who would do indescribable things to her until she was killed and thrown into the gutter to be eaten by vultures.
How did my life end up this terrible?
She felt a tingle at the back of her head, which rapidly intensified until it reached the level of absolute agony.
With her head pounding, memories began to surface in her mind, showing Eleanor visions of the past that she had been forced to forget.
As she recalled her life, tears began to fall from her eyes.
She cried and cried until her eyes felt like they were burning.
…
Six years ago, on a cool summer morning in the South of Sea Fallen, a young girl sat on a bench watching the birds fly around the orphanage.
Eleanor, having just turned ten, had received small gifts from all the other kids in the orphanage.
She cherished every one of them with such ferocity that one might question whether it might be unhealthy.
Many of the kids in the orphanage thought of her as an older sister who always looked out for them.
She tended to help them with problems they couldn't solve on their own or teach them things that they couldn't understand.
She was happy to play the role and thought of them as younger siblings, with this bond bringing them together as a family even without being related by blood.
Her best friend, Mia, is twelve years old, being the only person in the orphanage older than Ellie.
Eleanor relaxed on the bench, studying her textbook that she borrowed from the Church's library, which allowed her to learn about the whole world outside of the orphanage.
Turning the page in her book, she glanced up only to see a flash of blinding white light envelop her vision.
Closing her eyes on instinct, she felt a massive shockwave that shook the orphanage, shattering the windows around the campus.
Eleanor's eardrums nearly ruptured from the noise, leaving a numb ringing that deafened her slightly.
Terrified, she stood up, looking towards the western side of the orphanage where the flash had occurred.
In the distance, she saw a figure approaching her, screaming one word.
"Run."
Eleanor identified the person as the head teacher at the orphanage, Ms. Anne.
She had been learning from her ever since she was able to speak and thought of her as a mother.
As she approached, Eleanor noticed countless cuts and bruises scattered across the front of her teacher's body.
"Ms. Anne! What happened? Are you okay?"
She was deeply concerned for her teacher's health, running over to try to help her.
However, to her surprise, Ms. Anne raised her voice and yelled at Ellie for the first time in her life.
"Eleanor, you must run to the dorms and help the children get to the bomb shelter in the basement of the eastern building NOW!"
After yelling, she collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
"Ms. Anne…?"
Eleanor ran toward her teacher in fright.
Arriving at the place where she collapsed, she looked at Ms. Anne and gasped.
Her back was riddled with bullet holes, with dark crimson blood pooling around her.
She was frozen in shock, unable to move.
Remembering the lessons the nuns had taught her, she tried to restart her teacher's heart; however, subconsciously, she knew it was of no use.
Giving up on trying to save her teacher, she began to weep, her sorrow emanating throughout the courtyard.
Despite her tears, she knew what she must do.
She had to rescue her younger siblings from this place before they met the same fate as Ms. Anne.
Having to take care of so many of the younger kids throughout her short life, Eleanor had needed to mature faster than someone her age.
This led her to be able to separate her emotions and completely focus on one goal, even if it meant that she would be harmed in the process.
She began with a brisk walk before breaking into a full sprint towards the dorms where the other children were sleeping.
Mia had decided to watch over them today so Eleanor could try out some of the gifts they had worked so hard to buy her.
She knew that Mia must've heard the explosion earlier, so she hoped she had already started getting the kids ready to leave.
As she arrived in front of the dorm, she noticed her older sister and best friend standing in the hallway, attempting to look out the shattered window towards whatever had caused the damage.
"Mia! We need to get out of here now! Get the other kids and help me move them to the shelter in the eastern building."
Eleanor described what she had seen with tears forming in her eyes as she recalled what had happened to Ms. Anne.
Mia looked at Eleanor, despair appearing on her face.
She quickly hardened her expression before speaking.
"That's not important right now. We need to get the others out of here before something bad happens to them."
Eleanor nodded and walked into the dorm with Mia following close behind.
The children had gathered around after hearing the windows shatter with confused expressions, with hints of fear mixed in.
"We need to go to the shelter now. Get everything you can carry fast."
Eleanor spoke with a calm voice, helping the children relax before they ran off to get their personal belongings.
One child walked towards her and whispered in a voice barely audible to Eleanor, whose ears were still ringing from the shockwave.
The young boy was shaking profusely, stuttering through the words.
"B-Big sis, where is Ms. Anne?"
Eleanor looked at the boy with sadness in her eyes.
Just as she was about to speak, Mia chimed in on the conversation, saving Eleanor from having to explain the harsh reality to him.
"She's waiting for us in the shelter, so we need to get there fast to greet her."
He visibly perked up and rushed to grab his belongings, not wanting to leave his teacher waiting.
After a few minutes of getting ready, all the children began to hobble throughout the halls, stopping whenever the building rumbled in fear of the ceiling collapsing.
As they approached the shelter, some of the children began to run toward it, forming a line in front of the door.
Eleanor stood at the front, helping every kid down the small flight of stairs while Mia stood at the back, making sure nobody wandered off.
One by one, the children made their way into the shelter without any problems.
Eleanor gestured to Mia to get into the shelter; however, she refused, replying softly
"No, you have helped us all today, so I should make sure you get in safely before me."
Eleanor looked at Mia, trying to refuse, but saw a fierce determination spread across her face.
She accepted her request and began to crawl through the door, careful to avoid the ledge that she almost hit with her head.
As she reached back to help Mia inside, a flash illuminated the entrance as if it were directly on top of the door.
Eleanor was pushed back by the shockwave, screaming in pain.
She crawled up the stairs towards the burning entrance, and she saw something horrifying.
Her best friend was screaming in pure agony with her body ablaze, burning through flesh and hair, leaving her to face unimaginable suffering in her final moments.
Mia's screams slowly stopped as her body was reduced to nothing but a charred pile of bones.
Eleanor watched the scene, paralyzed with terror.
She staggered backwards in shock, not knowing how to react.
The pain, despair, and grief all hit her at once as she pounded the hard concrete floor of the shelter.
Her hands were severely burned, only worsened by the repeated scratching and hitting on the floor as she grieved.
That young girl, only ten years old, screamed and screamed until her lungs couldn't scream anymore.