🔥 Rheya'a 🔥

  THE VERY BEGINNING.

Rheya'a was born in Gridania - An unfortunate decision by his parents, as xenophobia was a hurdle their son had to face all throughout his childhood due to his race.
His parents hit a rough patch in their marriage around the time Rheya'a was born, and because of it, love was absent from his life. On top of that, because he wasn't even a wanted child, he was essentially left to fight and fend for himself - He had a roof over his head, but because nobody paid attention to his needs, he felt like even that was a blessing.

Outside, he was constantly berated and frequently hit by strangers for what felt like hours at a time. He always had a striking appearance, and he hated every part of it. Those around him who witnessed the assault never really pushed the perpetrators away, instead all they would do was watch and at times pity the young boy, as he was sometimes barely even able to pick himself up just so he could go "home", the house that often felt so cold he'd shiver in his makeshift bed.

At a very young age, he learned that he could not trust anybody, to keep things to himself and to always be on guard, as his trust was constantly used or manipulated against. He was known to cry a lot, but he always punched back, never letting himself be kicked around that easily. He would stand up for himself as much as he could, always hissing, growling, spitting and cursing them as they were beating him up.

His injuries weren't tended to, his meals weren't regulated, and his outbreaks were disciplined coldly and harshly - A painful silence would fill the place, making Rheya'a feel like he was utterly unlovable. "An angry kid who only caused trouble", he thought. His feelings towards his family are complicated. He feels... Something that resembles affection...? He's not really sure what to think of them, and neither did he have words to say to them outside of apologies if he was ever a bother.

Their abuse was silent, not like the kind one would mostly hear about - All of these things made him grow up to have an extremely unhealthy relationship with himself, his body also suffering the consequences of that neglect due to stress and malnourishment. He developed a drinking problem in his late teens - The one thing he had to cope when his thoughts or feelings were trying to eat him alive.

  HIS BLOOD.

Despite his struggles, Rheya'a continued to push towards bettering himself physically so he would be able to fight back, as well as putting in more effort in his classes. His heart was burning passionately for a desire to improve and be better, never wanting to be seen as useless or a waste of somebody's time. The strong will to prove everyone wrong one day was the thing that held him together for many years to come.

Twas a day like any other for him - He got surrounded by a bunch of hooligans once again, readying himself for a fight. However, things played out a little differently, much to his surprise. A dark, tall figure stood in front of him, scaring the ruffians away almost immediately. On his back - A scythe so huge it could slice off multiple heads at once, and Rheya'a was completely enamored by it. Reapers were not exactly a common sight, especially in Eorzea. The tall Hyur looked at the boy to ensure he wasn't wounded, and almost without any hesitation at all, Rheya'a shouted, enthusiastically. He wanted to know everything about this "cool weapon", and wanted to be the reaper's apprentice.
Caught by surprise, the man found it almost endearing; He wasn't sure what to say that, yet he could not deny that he was curious about the young lad. Albeit a bit hesitant, he agreed to his proposal.

Although the early teachings were that of Garlean nature, they were not capable of using aether, but because the man had some level of aetheric capability, it allowed him to wield his weapon in ways considered extraordinary, without the need of a Voidsent. Basic teachings of aether and its usages would go only so far with Rheya'a, as he was not able to replicate the magic shown in books or in the way that his mentor had instructed him. The boy thought himself incapable, yet his mentor felt that a different approach was all that was needed.

Pushing himself further day by day, the stress on Rheya'a's body was visible, yet he continued even without his mentor's blessings - Angry and upset, he threw a tantrum - Leading to an accident that burnt his mentor's yard, causing the boy to pass out from exhaustion.

"...Fire...?"

After only a few weeks of teaching the boy, he could sense that he was clearly capable of using aether too, however... Something felt... Different about this. He would hesitate to think that it felt wrong, but it was certainly something he had not seen before.

First, the discovery of Rheya'a's affinity to fire. Next, realizing that he was never able to summon, or even use for that matter, "normal" fire - Instead, those were colors reminiscent of Voidsent-infused magic - Red and black.
After that came the study of his abilities, landing on a hypothesis - Rheya'a was never actually using the surrounding aether - This magic was locked away in his own body - His own blood.

A bold conclusion, one that the man was afraid to declare confidently. Instead, he devoted himself to studying up on voidsent, because in truth, he was terrified of the implications. Rheya'a is clearly not a voidsent, but where exactly did these abilities come from then...? Were they laying dormant this entire time? The answers were not there, and only more questions started popping up. Weeks, no, perhaps months could be spent in attempt to find any sort of clues.

...

However, Rheya'a was just a child. So, before anything else, the man felt almost obligated to take care of him, at least for the little time he was able to spend with him. He was never given the full picture as to why Rheya'a had the life he did, but he didn't need one. He knew enough, and wanted to give the kid a place to stay at when he didn't want to be home.
Their relationship developed rather quick. Rheya'a's mentor was essentially a father figure to him, someone he looked up to, someone he wanted to be. The man was always kind to him, stern when it was needed, but never punishing him, instead guiding him where needed, and trusting him to make the right decision on his own where ever possible. He'd reveal to him that he was quite the troublemaker in his youth, too - Constantly exploring places he shouldn't, discovering forbidden magicks and tomes that were either discarded or kept secret. The notebooks of his various discoveries, he wanted to give to Rheya'a, as a gift of sorts, which he may very well use to continue the research if he wanted to. He saw the kid's passion for learning so many things, and all of it was able to shine in the little moments they got to spend together. For a brief time, he was able to feel like an actual kid, without having to be constantly on his guard.

  GIFTS AND GOODBYES.

These few moments of happiness could, however, only last for so long. Soon, tragedy, and then grief, would take hold. Rheya'a's mentor has had his health in decline for a long time now, degradation showing on his skin due to "experiments with the dark arts", he was told. He wasn't sure if he wanted to believe it or if something entirely else was the problem, but he had no time or space in his mind to second guess the words spoken to him. Instead, he would come almost every day to help out and spend time with him.

The man had no family to turn to, and the few friends he had, couldn't really do much outside of helping take care of him, as his degradation was not treatable by any normal means through medicine or magic. It was inevitable, he knew this, so he wasted no effort to prepare some things for Rheya'a. His research, his notebooks, lots of little trinkets he felt Rheya'a would find useful or worst case scenario, endearing, all packed in bags that he would be able to pick up. Next to all of it was a letter - In it describing how proud he was of him, and how much he cared for him - That he was indeed like a son to him that he never had. Although the time spent together was all too short, the words inscribed in this letter were truly those of fondness and care for the boy. Alongside that, a gift - His weapon, to take it to a specific blacksmith. A friend of his of many years, and one that would be upgrading that weapon to fit Rheya'a's needs.

All of it was far too sudden. It felt like just as he was able to get a moment of respite, a hurricane would come and have it all be swept away. He locked his own feelings away, grieving in silence and in anger. Once again, he felt lost and without a guide, even worse this time as his heart was burdened with the awareness that no one was going to tell him that it was all going to be okay. This world had always been cruel and unjust, but the silence of it was so maddening that it made him want to scream as hard as he could, just so he could fight it back.

Crying could only get him so far. In the end, all he could do was...

  TOWARDS OUR DESTINATION.

Continuing his work, he was eventually noticed by professors of various fields - Namely, Sharlayan wanted to offer Rheya'a a place to study, but he quickly denied it as he never really liked the method in which Sharlayan had kept their knowledge away from everyone, including their own students, and he knew his curiosity would get the better of him anyway. He was picked out by a different university entirely - One specializing in combat, where he also had the chance to learn more about archery as a secondary skill, while still focusing on perfecting his combatant knowledge and the usage of his scythe as he slowly learned more about the Void. He was at the top of his class, always being the most hardworking student, his research and various essays always being the most elaborate and his professors gave him plenty of letters of recommendation for scholarships and potential future employers.

While all of this was happening however, Rheya'a still had nobody he could call a friend by his side. He still struggled with the same problems that he had as a kid, which only confused and angered him further. No matter how stronger he got and no matter how many people he proved his point to, it never really amounted to anything to him. He became more distant and less approachable as time went on, building walls that were becoming increasingly hard to break by those who genuinely did wanted the chance to get to know him. It made him question a lot of things about himself and second guessing himself, but he eventually came to a conclusion that he should not stay in Gridania any longer.

Graduating as a young prodigy, his name was quickly spread around, many wanting to commission him for the various services he offered. He was new to all of it, and was always extremely harsh on himself when ever things wouldn't go his way. He would beat himself up over any small or seemingly insignificant mistake, always feeling like the things he did were not providing satisfactory results. Perhaps it was due to his upbringing, but regardless of the reason, it only served to mak him become ever so distant and difficult to understand as he grew older.

Shortly after his graduation, he packed his things and set out to Ul'Dah as he heard plenty of stories about the city. He wanted to get more opportunities to make coin and had no hesitation leaving, seeing as he had no connections with anyone of interest in Gridania. He grew sick of all of it, and after a very short goodbye said to his parents, he went and changed his last name so that he would be no longer associated with them - His name now being Rheya'a Azeris. All alone, he finally arrived to the new city.

Surprisingly, or perhaps completely predictably for Rheya'a in hindsight - In the very place that was said to have the worst kinds of scum living there, was where Rheya'a ended up finding the most genuine friendships in. The Warrior of Light of all people ended up being his most unexpected best friend. Truly, life had been quite the adventure since the two formed a close bond with each other. Rheya'a never cared for his status as the WOL and saw him as just a man who sometimes annoyed the hell out of him with his rather chaotic nature. For the first time, Rheya'a felt like he was "earning his right to Be", to be allowed to show his moments of weakness, to be able to guide and to be guided, without the pressure and feeling like he was under performing in every field. He would be allowed to mess up, to not know something, as well as be the teacher every now and then.

Rheya'a would eventually start accompanying the WOL on his adventures in the Source as well as other shards. More importantly, this friendship, alongside all the others he'd find - Including his partner - Became his strength, and his reason to do good, to be better. To use his anger for action, and to be the voice the voice of anger for those who were left unheard. That eventual strength was what set him apart from the rest, what drove them to be what he is today - Savior of the world.