BACKSTORY

SHORT VERSION

Aurora grew up as the younger daughter of the king and queen of the world she used to live in. She spent her whole life being overshadowed by her older sister Amelia, who was the rightful heir to the throne. During one of the family‘s travels, their carriage was attacked by bandits. In the fight, Aurora fell down a ravine and into a deep cave system. There she found an ancient magical force, the blue fire*. It is said that the blue fire enhances one‘s powers, but also corrupts one‘s mind, reinforcing negative feelings. It consumed Aurora, granting her the ability to conjure extremely hot blue fire, as well as transform into a full fire form. Filled with rage and hatred, Aurora returned to her kingdom to confront her parents. An argument broke out and unable to control her new powers, Aurora unleashed a huge fire storm, killing everyone in the room, but herself. With her parents and sister dead, no one could stop her from taking over the throne. And so she ruled over her kingdom with an iron fist for years, until her people betrayed her. Driven by fear they wanted to kill her right then and there, but her old teacher, who still loved her for the kind girl she used to be, begged them to spare her life. The people agreed and instead of killing her, they banished her to another world. Aurora‘s been in this new world for quite some time now. After exploring and traveling around, she settled down in an abandoned laboratory near a volcano. There she researches portals and world travel. Even after all this time she still wants her revenge. She swears she is gonna return one day and reclaim the crown, no matter the cost!
... But the longer she is away from home and the better she gets at controlling the fire within her, the clearer her head becomes. Very slowly she is starting to question her actions and regret her past. And maybe, just maybe, it‘s not too late to redeem herself.

*The Blue Fire:

The Blue Fire is an ancient evil force, conjured by a group of wizards. The initial idea was to craft a great weapon, but it soon turned against its creators. People who come in contact with the fire don't burn to death. Instead, the fire grants them incredible power and new abilities, but also corrupts their minds, turning them into ruthless creatures. The more willing you are to accept the fire's gift, the greater your powers and the greater the corruption becomes, to the point where the fire can even alter looks. Aurora did not willingly submit to the fire, so her powers have their limits and whilst the fire certainly had a negative effect on her mental state, she is slowly able to snap out of it.

LONG VERSION

Aurora grew up as the younger daughter of the king and queen of the world she used to live in. Throughout her life she was overshadowed by her older sister Amelia, who was going to be the rightful heir to the throne. Amelia was beloved and always the center of attention, whereas Aurora was more reclusive and preferred to spend her time learning about science and mechanics. She had a wise mentor, who enabled her to learn those things, all the while her parents frowned upon her, since it wasn‘t what was expected of a princess. "Why can't you be more like your sister?" they'd often say. "You're always in your room, occupied with your studies. You never go out and when you actually do, you always disappear into the woods. You never interact with the people. You hardly ever make a good impression! Why, just why can't you be more like Amelia?"
Aurora asked herself the same. Why couldn't she be more like her big sister and just do whatever her parents wanted her to do and be the perfect little princess everyone wanted her to be? Maybe there was something wrong with her? Thoughts like these nagged at her and over the years Aurora grew more and more jealous of her sister. She felt as if she was way smarter and fit to be queen, with all the knowledge she had gained, but no one cared. No one saw her potential. And as her parents‘ eyes continuously rested on her older sister, Aurora only grew angrier and angrier.

Until one day everything changed. On said day the royal family was returning from a visit to another kingdom. On their way back home, however, right as they passed by a huge ravine, their carriage was attacked by a group of bandits. As the first half of the bandits fought the guards, the others forcefully opened the carriage and dragged out the royal family. A guard attacked the bandit, who was holding Aurora. The bandit briefly softened his grip on her and she saw her chance. She managed to squirm out of his grasp and immediately started running. Quickly, another bandit sprinted after her and grabbed the end of her robe. Aurora kept pulling away and as the robe tore, she tripped and fell right down into the ravine.
Luckily for her, she landed on a small, narrow cliff, but without anything to grasp, Aurora slid down into a cave that lead deep into the mountain. Bruising herself left and right, she travelled downwards until the path was suddenly interrupted by a hole. The fall wasn‘t long, but the impact on the hard ground was enough to knock her out.

It was dark and cold when Aurora woke up. Her head was spinning and she had no idea where she was. She slowly got up and helplessly tried to orientate herself. She knew there was no way she could climb back up the hole, from which she fell. So she did the only thing she could do: she began to walk. She didn‘t know where exactly she was going, but she knew she had to keep moving, if she ever wanted to get back out. Maybe the fall had seemed longer than it actually was and maybe she was close to the surface. Maybe an exit was near. She had to try. But the longer she walked, the longer the tunnels seemed. The eternal darkness in those caves was timeless and gnawed at Aurora's sanity. Every time she took a break to rest, her panic only grew bigger. She knew she wouldn’t last long without food or water. All she could hope was that her family had survived the attack and was ordering a search for her. Yes, someone was surely looking for her. She was the princess after all, they had to be on the lookout ... right?

After what felt like days of walking, Aurora caught a glimpse of something bright ahead. Daylight perhaps? Her heart skipped a beat, but as she crept closer, she realized that it wasn't bright yellow sunlight that illuminated her path. It was a flickering blue glow and it was coming from around the next corner. Confused, she followed the tunnel into a big open cavern and found herself on a cliff above the source of the light. It was a blue fire burning at the bottom of the cave. "What is this? How is this possible?" She thought as she watched the flames dance beneath her. "A fire down here? Am I hallucinating?". Question after question ran through Aurora's head. She took a step forward to get a closer look. Then another. And another. She was so focused, so mesmerized by the fire that she didn‘t even realize it. Her gaze was fixated on the flames and as she took one last step, she suddenly lost her footing. Before Aurora could even react, she was falling right into the fire.

But she didn‘t hit ground. Instead, she could feel herself floating as the fire consumed her and tore at her flesh. Her screams echoed through the cave, as she was being burned alive. Her skin sizzled from the heat and her tears evaporated before they could even leave her eyes. The aggressive hissing of the flames mixed with her cries was the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness.

Aurora woke up in a soft bed. Her body shot up as her eyes darted around the room. It was small and cozy, with a fireplace, a closet, a big chair and a mirror, but none of it seemed familiar. Before she could even begin to investigate, memories of the blue fire flashed before her eyes. She looked down at her body, expecting to see charred skin and red blisters, but there was nothing. Her arms and legs looked perfectly fine. Had she imagined the whole thing? Maybe there was some toxic gas she had inhaled in the tunnels. This was bizarre. She carefully got up and walked over to the mirror to inspect her seemingly healthy body further. But when she turned to look at her reflection, she was greeted by an unfamiliar sight. It was her, yes, but her once rosy skin had turned pale. The pink on her horns seemed to glow brighter than before and her blond hair was no longer flowing down her body. Instead it was blue and stood up. It almost looked like ... a flame? Maybe she hadn't hallucinated the whole thing after all. Very peculiar. As Aurora was examining herself, the door to her room slowly opened and in came a kind looking woman and a big round man. They greeted her and explained that they found her at the entrance of a cave, a few days ago. Her clothes were torn and burned, which explained the white gown she was wearing now, but otherwise she seemed fine besides her unconsciousness. When they asked her who she was, and if she knew what happened to her, Aurora was taken aback. Did these people really not recognize her? The princess? She looked into the mirror again. The unfamiliar reflection stared back at her. Right, she didn't look like the princess everyone knew her as anymore. She almost didn't recognize herself, so she really couldn't blame these people for not recognizing her either. She decided not to tell the couple about what happened, nor that she was the princess for now. But she was happy to accept their offer of letting her stay for a little longer. She could definitely use some rest and time to figure out what was going on with her.

At one point during her stay the man, in an attempt to strike up a conversation, let Aurora in on the news that the royal family had been attack by bandits. Apparently the family got away, but they had lost the young princess, who was presumed dead. Aurora's eyes narrowed at this information. She wasn't dead! How could anyone just assume she had died? Had they even looked for her? Did they even bother? They probably hadn't even bothered to organize a search party for her! Angry thoughts rushed through her head. How could they leave her behind? Her hands began to tingle. Did her family even care about her? The tingle turned into warmth. Did anyone even care about her? The warmth turned into heat and with a loud WHOOOOOSH her hands caught on fire. Aurora jumped back and let out a scream. Her hands were on fire! Real fire! They were actually burning and- ... wait ... it didn't hurt? Before she could finish the thought, she was hit with a gush of water. The man had spilled his drink over her hands, in order to put out the sudden fire. Concerned he looked up at her. "What was that?" Aurora didn't know the answer, but she was determined to get to the bottom of this. Over the course of the next days, Aurora tried to reactivate the fire. At first her newfound powers only activated whenever she got angry, but she soon learned that not only her hands could catch on fire, her hair could too! And her legs! Her whole body eventually! And none of it hurt! This would be truly amazing, if the thought of her family leaving her for dead didn't loom over her head constantly. She still couldn't believe it. She would lay in bed at night crying, until the sadness inevitably turned into anger, and anger turned into rage. Vengeful feelings started bubbling inside of her until it was settled: she would return to the kingdom and confront her parents. She wanted to see their stupid confused faces and she wanted her revenge.

When Aurora returned to her kingdom, she she walked right up to the castle without any hesitation. There were no black flags, no black roses, nothing to indicate that the king and queen had lost their youngest daughter. Aurora clenched her fists in frustration, her nails digging into her skin. Her heart was completely broken at this point. She was convinced her family hated her. She was convinced she had never been more than a nuisance to her parents, and that they were glad she was gone. They were better off without her. At least that’s what the burning feeling deep inside of her kept screaming. "They hate you!" "They are afraid of your power!" "You disappointed them!" "Get rid of them before they get rid of you!"

The guards didn‘t recognize her at first, but as soon as she spoke and demanded that they let her, the princess, pass, their eyes widened and they stepped back. That voice and tone were unmistakeably the princess. Aurora immediately stormed up to the throne room. She threw open the doors and was greeted by the shocked faces of her father, mother and older sister. Before they could say anything, Aurora started yelling at them, calling them cowards and traitors. Telling them she knew they had always secretly hated her and that she wouldn‘t live in her sister‘s shadow any longer. Before her parents had a chance to explain themselves, an argument between the four broke out, and as things were getting more and more intense, Aurora could feel her body getting hotter and hotter. Her family's voices began to sound like babbling nonesense. An overwhelming feeling spread through her as her entire body began to heat up. She didn't know what it was, nor how to stop it. This was new. This was unexpected. She fell to her knees, tears rolling down her face, the power getting too great to restrain. Aurora looked up at her confused family one last time, before everything turned white. With a loud hiss, a massive amount of energy released from her body.

Then silence.

Then the soft crackling of flames.

Aurora carefully opened her eyes, blinking the blurriness away. As she looked up, she was greeted by a horrific sight. The once imposing thrones were now melted and the colourful paintings on the walls were black. Her family was nothing more than the charred remains of their bodies, an expression of shock written on what was left of their faces. Tiny flames were hungrily eating away at their bones and burned flesh. Aurora couldn‘t pull her gaze away from her parents faces. She was trying to process what had just happened. She had killed both her parents and sister. She had murdered her family.
After what felt like an eternity, Aurora finally snapped out of her trance. She didn't have time to mourn. Power-hungry thoughts soon drowned out any sad feelings. Had she unwillingly unleashed a fire storm that eradicated her entire family within seconds? Yes. But what if she could control it the next time? My, the potential this could have! Without her parents or her sister to rule the land, Aurora took it upon herself to claim the throne. No longer was anyone standing in her way. The king and queen were gone and the people had learned to respect her powers. „Queen Aurora“. It sounded good, she thought.

However, Queen Aurora was ruthless and cruel, and the little faith people had in her soon diminished. Yes, she extended the kingdom with the help of her fire powers. And yes, she brought her subjects new inventions on the regular, but very few people actually celebrated her for it. Most folks were living in constant fear, as it was well known that the new queen would punish anyone who had done her wrong in the past. And who knows what that could mean. Maybe you gave her a weird look a couple of years ago. Anything could be enough to set her off, if she was feeling like it. Her gruesome ways gained her many names over the years. Some called her a demon, some the blue devil. Some even referred to her as the beast of flames, which Aurora thought was a bit over the top, but she chuckled at the idea nonetheless. Her favourite name however was the Fire Queen, simply because it was accurate.

So Aurora ruled with an iron fist for years, until her old mentor, the only person she still trusted, betrayed her with the help of her subjects. They managed to overthrow her in a moment of vulnerability, by dousing her in cold water and tying her up. They wanted Aurora dead. They wanted her gone for good and they would've killed her right then and there, if it weren't for her mentor. He remembered the sweet girl she used to be and still had hope for her, so he pleaded for her to be banished instead. The mob eventually agreed, and they carried Aurora to the eldest woman in the kingdom, who was known for her magic and wisdom. She forged a portal to another world, so they could banish the demon and make sure she would never return.
The portal took Aurora to a world filled with magic and fantastic creatures. Unable to return the same way, she began exploring and searching for a new portal back home, determined to reclaim the throne. She encountered many wizards and witches on her journey, and scientists of many kinds. But since no one could or wanted to help her, she eventually decided to settle down to do her own studies. She discovered an abandoned underground research facility near a volcano and began renovating it, turning it into a high tech laboratory for her experiments. She filled her new home with books and scripts about world travel and portals. She was downright obsessed. She'd open portal after portal, research world after world, but none of them would lead her back home.

PRESENT

Even years after years of researching, Aurora still isn‘t ready to give up. She is still set on returning to her people, but the longer she is away from home and the better she gets at controlling the fire within her, the clearer her head becomes. The burning feeling that tormented her for so long is growing weaker each day. Very slowly she is starting to question her actions and regret her past. And maybe, just maybe, it‘s not too late to redeem herself.

This new world is her home as of now, and it's where she met Angelique and Olivia, both of which are useful to her in one way or another. It sounds harsh, but it's what Aurora is looking for in people. If you aren't useful, you're not worth her while. Despite that mindset, Olivia and Angelique have slowly made their way into Aurora's heart. Whether she likes to admit it or not, she is starting to genuinly care about them. Even the fire queen has a soft spot some, after all.