[Lexia]

It's been nearly three years that I was sent away to this land faraway from my own. As the Third Son of Elyon, I served no purpose in the capital of Valmasia yet to threaten my siblings and their implicit claims on my father's lands. Looking back now, however, I see now that it was not a lack of love that my parents sent me away, but a protection. For my family, and especially for me. For unlike my siblings, I did not grow up a great talent skilled in the ways of masterful magics or great entrepreneurial drive.

I was only me.

Malik Elyon.

The forsaken son. The one unneeded.

And so I was boarded away to Meranthe for the long voyage to never return.

The unflinching tension of my parents as they watched, my brothers and sisters standing at attention as but one waved me off on that solemn day.

-

The Sailor's sorrowful shanty still in my mind as I dream, as the gray faces of my family degrade with each passing year.

♪Oh, I bid farewell to the port and the land

And I paddle away from brave Valmasia's white sands

To search for my long ago forgotten friends

To search for the place I hear all sailors end♪

♪♪

♪As the souls of the dead fill the space of my mind

I'll search without sleeping 'til peace I can find

I fear not the weather, I fear not the sea

I remember the fallen, do they think of me?

When their bones in the ocean forever will be♪

The voyage long and with few casualties, I had finally reached a snowbound land where we safely docked.

The many days and nights I spent looking for purpose until I could travel with a caravan to the wild lands west of the Citadel.

Into lush greenery that reminded me of my own homeland, and those left behind. 

Still quiet and unnoticed, still lost with no path ahead, I did turn to my Faith.

And Behold a White Prophet, and She that was Radiant spoke as it were the noise of thunder, Come and see.

♪Amazing grace, How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I am found,

Was blind, but now I see-♪

And so I followed the Prophet's words and instruction.

I found a city to make my home, to lie in wait until the next time I was blessed for another visit from Azrael's Own.

As I waited, I traveled the expanse further to the West into the Silent Desert where I camped for many nights. 

Meeting many different personalities, One did stick out. An elderly Felinae named Nera found me sand-covered and thirsty, and fed me.

She let me stay in her home and, for the first time, I experienced Compassion in this strange land.

This bond grew over time as Nightview became my new land of comfort, Nera becoming like Family - And yet.

I still held onto the Prophet's whispered words of wisdom. That to Heal this world, drastic things must be done.

So with two hearts, I continued on. One of peace, and one of ardent faith.

♪Should feel happy, should feel glad.

I'm alive and it can't be bad,

But back in Eternia they shatter the illusion,

The world's going 'round in a state of confusion.♪

Uncertainty. Unrest. The longing to find something that would still me between my split heart.

For only my faith and my connection to very precious few kept me sane and content.

One called for action, while the other called for restraint. 

Stuck in this morass, only confusion guided me in my path of learning.

-

But then another soul caught my gaze.

Her innocent ways, laughter, and positivity was unlike anything I had experienced.

Beautiful dual-colored eyes staring back, a new emotion was felt. 

An offer of friendship meaning more to me than she could ever know.

And so I gifted back a flower to this starry princess.

Days passed, her smile remains in my mind, even as I continue to pray by my lonesome.

For something so small granted, I am now never alone - Even when I am.

-

What happens now? Where does this path lead? I am bound to so little, and so much.

I must find my way forward. .