Mysticon Origins

Runaway Elf, Part One

Night had befallen the magical realm of Gemina. In the horizon, the beautiful night sky could be seen, with twinkling stars as far as the eye can see. Wouldn't it be so nice to see them? At least, that's what a young elf would have liked. Alas, she did not always have that kind of luxury.

Alar, one of the most unforgiving towns in the entire realm. Almost every corner, there seemed to be a breeding ground for criminal activity, such as petty theft, mugging, the whole nine yards. Among the population was a small family of elves, known as the Elvanestri's. Not necessarily the richest elves in town. In fact, they were quite the opposite, hardly able to afford the essentials in life. But at least they had each other, as well as a roof over their heads.

One was Oron Elvenestri, a male elf with brown skin, black hair and a small beard, as well as green eyes. In addition, he wore a brown jacket over a red turtleneck shirt.

Then there was his wife, Cera Elvanestri. She had similar traits to Oron, except she had reddish purple hair that reached her shoulders, and wore a long sleeved shirt and a skirt that reached down to her knees.

And then there was their daughter, Pyperia Ashryn Elvenestri, who had her father's eyes and her mother's hair.

***

In a rather decrepit looking, one story house, Pyperia laid in her sleeping bag on the hard floor of her room, trying to sleep. She had pretty much gotten use to the hard floor, she had ten years of hardship to thank for that. She tried so hard to fall asleep, but she couldn't. This particular night, she began to reflect on her life, staring at the ceiling, wondering where it all went wrong.

That was when Pyperia heard her parents talking in the living room. Both had a tone of worry in their voice. Ever so curious, the young elf left her sleeping bag to eavesdrop on the conversation. Once she reached the hall, she stopped at the corner, hearing her parents converse.

"Well, I was afraid of that... Yet another bill." Sighed Oron. He then placed it into a bag full of a few other bills. No sugar coating it, they were behind on debt.

"It will be a miracle if we can pay them all off." Added Cera. Oron then rubbed his forehead a little, rather stressed of the situation.

"Cera, what exactly have I done wrong in my life? I had an honest paying job as a financial manager. Then... those cursed orcs came and burnt down the whole bank!" Oron banged his fist on the table at that last sentence. "And now look at us. We're constantly in between jobs and hardly earn one gold piece. What kind of father am I?"

"Oron, don't think like that! Things could certainly be better, that's for sure, but you know you're doing the best you can. That's all we can do these days, the best we can."

"But confound it all I should do better! I wish I could..."

Oron cut his own sentence short after seeing a worried look on Cera's face. She was facing the direction of the doorway, where Pyperia was standing. Feeling guilty, Oron turned to face his daughter, who was holding her stuffed griffin tightly.

"Dad... are we going to make it? Are we going to starve?" Small tears began forming in her eyes. "Are we going to lose our home."

Oron, at first, did not know how to answer. Pyperia was always an optimistic young elf, looking to the bright side of things no matter what. To see her this worried, this upset, made him feel even more guilty than he already felt.

"Sweetie, we are facing a very difficult challenge right now." Oron place his hands on her shoulders, trying to comfort her. "But no matter what happens, we are in this together."

"As a family." Cera said with a smile. Just like that, both got together in a group hug, which lasted a good while. Pyperia smiled big during the hug. Perhaps things would get better... they didn't.