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Sidestrory 3: Dimitria

Dimitria's life was marked by constant struggle and unending suffering. As an orphan, she learned early on that the world was a harsh place. From the tender age of five, she found herself stealing scraps of food just to survive. The other children at the orphanage called her a liar and a thief, but for Dimitria, lying was a means of survival. Each lie she told, each piece of bread she stole, was a victory against starvation.

As she grew older, her lies became more sophisticated. At thirteen, she no longer stole food; she conned shopkeepers out of it. With a sad story and a pair of pleading eyes, she could extract sympathy and food from even the hardest-hearted merchants. But with each successful con, her heart hardened a little more. Deception became second nature, and she grew adept at spinning intricate webs of lies.

Her adolescence was a blur of scams and small-time cons. Dimitria was clever and quick-witted, and she used these traits to navigate the perilous streets. She never stayed in one place for long, moving from town to town to avoid detection. Each time she left, she took a piece of her victim's trust with her, leaving behind a trail of broken promises and shattered lives.

At sixteen, she pulled off her biggest scam yet, tricking a wealthy merchant into giving her a large sum of money. With the money, she dreamt of buying a small piece of land and starting anew. But reality was far crueler. She was caught by the merchant's guards, beaten, and left for dead in a filthy alleyway. Dimitria barely survived, nursed back to health by a kind old woman who asked nothing in return.

Despite the woman's kindness, Dimitria couldn't shake her old habits. Once she recovered, she stole the woman's savings and fled. The guilt gnawed at her, but she pushed it aside. Survival was all that mattered. She convinced herself that in a world so cruel, one had to be even crueler to survive.

But the turning point came when she was summoned by a fairy. The fairy brought Dimitria and five other notorious antagonists to a mystical space, warning them of a grim future if they didn't change their ways. The fairy's words struck a chord deep within her. For the first time, Dimitria felt the weight of her actions. The fairy told her to stop stealing and live an honest life. It felt like the ground had shifted beneath her feet, leaving her feeling empty and lost.

Desperate to escape her past and the relentless pursuit of Duke Killian Huxley, Dimitria fled far away. She resolved to live honestly, but the world was unkind to those seeking redemption. She wandered from town to town, begging for work. Her reputation as a thief and a liar preceded her, and no one would hire her. Desperation set in as she realized that without skills or references, her chances of finding honest work were slim.

She slept in abandoned buildings, scavenged for food in garbage heaps, and endured the cruel stares and harsh words of townsfolk who saw her as nothing more than a vagrant. Every door was shut in her face, and every attempt to start anew was met with failure. Her days were long and filled with hunger, and her nights were cold and lonely.

In a final act of desperation, she opened a small shop where she sold wishes and prayers for money. Surprisingly, the venture succeeded. People were willing to pay for a glimmer of hope, and Dimitria found herself with a steady stream of customers. For a while, it seemed like things were turning around. She had a roof over her head and food to eat, and she began to believe that maybe, just maybe, she could leave her past behind.

But her newfound stability was short-lived. One fateful day, monsters attacked the town. They razed buildings, destroyed homes, and left a trail of death and destruction in their wake. Dimitria's shop was among the casualties. With nothing left, she was once again forced to flee, carrying nothing but the clothes on her back and the haunting memories of her past.

Her days of poverty returned with a vengeance. She wandered the countryside, begging for scraps and sleeping under the open sky. Her body grew weak from hunger, and her spirit was battered by the relentless hardships. Yet, despite everything, she clung to a fragile hope that one day she would find a place where she could belong.