Anaka Kauffman was born into a bloodline blessed with the ability to take other people's memories. They took great measures to make sure these powers were only used for good, taking on the suffering of others memories to help them, even if it meant they haunted you afterwards. Anaka moved out at a young age, tired of the haunting nightmares and intense training. She later met Aerith and they fell in love hard and fast. Once they married, they soon had a child. A little girl they named Galena.
Galena had inherited both Anaka's memory powers and Aerith's blood curse. She could take a certain amount of memories before she would start to vomit black blood. Anaka was sure to be more gentle with Galena and not force her to take other's bad memories unless she wanted to. She would not allow Galena to gbe haunted like she was.
The Cult
When Galena was fairly young, no older than 7 or 8, her and Anaka were kidnapped and taken to the cult of Caedes. They claimed that they were corrupt due to their powers and they were sentenced to death by shadow demon. Both her and her daughter were branded on their chests with Caedes' god symbol before being throw into cells, awaiting their fates. Anaka couldn't let it end like this. She managed to escape her cell and grab Galena before booking it out of there. She ran until her legs gave out and she was 100% certain they had lost track of her. She sat for a long time, holding her daughter close and assuring her everything would be okay.
After returning home, Aerith was a total wreck. The sudden disappearance of his wife and daughter left him distraught and alone. He was thrilled when Anaka and Galena came back, but was horrified when Anaka told him what happened. She handed Galena over and told him to take care of her wounds while she went to tell the guards about what happened. Aerith was worried, but Anaka reassured him she'd be fine.
Once she had found the royal guard, she started to tell them what happened. What she didn't expect is that the guards she had run into were planted by Zalveth. Anka realized in horror how big this cult really was, and wondered how many more people Zalveth had in the city, lurking under everyone's noses. She was dragged off to a secluded location and beaten as they threatened her repeatedly to tell them where Galena was. Zalveth couldn't have loose ends running around. In a desperate attempt to protect her daughter, she tried to erase her own memory. She screamed as she felt her memories shift and crack, scrambling themselves as Anaka fell to the ground, unmoving. The guards assumed she was dead and left, but Anaka couldn't move. She was trapped in her own mind, unable to move or talk. She laid on the cold ground and waited for someone to find her.
Aerith was too anxious after Anaka had been gone for over 6 hours. He told Galena to hide in a safe place and headed out to find her. It took a long time, the guards were useless, saying they never saw anyone that matched Aerith's description. Once he had found her, he cried, believing she was dead. He held her close but realized she was still breathing. He took her home and vowed to keep her safe. Galena didn't understand why her mom wasn't paying attention to her. After knocking over a vase on accident, she went to take the memory of it away from her mother. However, she was met with a memory of Anaka's childhood. Something that should not be found in the new memories area. Galena finally realized what had happened and told her father.
Watching Galena grow up was bittersweet for Anaka. She was heartbroken she couldn't be involved in her life, and tried so hard to do something, anything, even twitch a finger, but it was no use. Despite her failure, Galena spent a lot of time with her. She would sit and talk about her day, wondering of she could even hear her. When Galena moved out, Anaka was nervous, knowing that Zalveth's people still lurked, but she couldn't tell them. She could only wish for the best, praying to Statera to keep her daughter safe.
Being Freed
One day, Aerith got the news that Galena was kidnapped by Zalveth, the leader of the cult of Caedes. She was now safe, but heavily traumatized. Aerith went to visit her, and when he came back home he was quiet. Anaka realized how bad Galena must be right now. A month passed and Galena was in much better shape. She came to visit, asking to see her. She sat down and held Anaka's hand, telling her that when she killed Zalveth, she gained his power to give memories. That's when she felt the force invading her mind, things being taken and put back. It was all so overwhelming, things in her mind flying around without her control. Her daughter started to cough, little dribbles of black blood coming out her mouth. Anaka sobbed, she wanted to hold her so bad. That's when she realized that her hands twitched. Galena looked shocked too, but it turned to happiness. She encouraged her to keep trying, and soon enough Anaka was able to slump forward into her daughters arms. They both cried with happiness as Anaka was able to move more and more. After over 100 years she was finally able to hug her daughter back.
Anaka knew she had a long way to go with recovery, her brain was still a little out of order but she could manage it alone now. A loud rumble from outside caught both their attention, and Galena helped her mom up and gave her to Aerith as her and her best friend Maxi went outside to investigate. Anaka watched from the doorway as Caedes, the God of Death himself burst from the ground, spouting words of hatred and blame for Galena taking down his cult. He grabbed her and before anyone could move, he sliced her clean in half, dropping her body as he was dragged back down to hell by Statera and Natus. All Anaka could do was scream out in agony, her voice raw from lack of use. She had just gained herself back, she wanted to make up for lost time, but she was gone. Galena was dead, and there was nothing she could do to save her.
