Alilyu’s Backstory

Title: Alilyu's Backstory

Word Count: 3,000 words

Commissioned by: MirrorKhaos

Written by: @Evangeline40003

Alilyu Lignilart Backstory

The flashing streetlights and activity of Orititlan City in Virginia, USA is a scene Alilyu Lignilart still feels very unfamiliar with. It’s been three-months since he arrived in this realm and is still adjusting to the features of the 21st century with the guidance of Ava Schulte, the Vermillion Widow, who has given him a place to stay. It feels like a lifetime ago when Alilyu first saw the city lights, the industrial complex of the chemical and railroad companies, the boulevards, and busy shopping plazas. It was all so different from his own home and world.

Alilyu is walking down 7th avenue with a retinue of newfound friends and allies. They are some of the local superheroines of Orititlan City. Ava sports a tight leather jacket bodysuit, fishnet stockings, and chunky boots. As a famous superheroine, she looks ready to break out into a fight at any moment with the confidence and power she exudes.

Lily Fitzroy, dressed in a low-cut space-age uniform, swings her arms as she walks and keeps up a chatty conversation with the others. She remarks at the cracks in the sidewalk and askew manholes in the street as they pass by. From her experience, this realm is far behind the technology of her own.

As they round a corner, the towers of Chenyne-Nyoko Solutions come into view at a distance.

“Alright, here we are—ladies first,” Ava says. She stops in front of The Tilted Kettle—a favorite café of theirs—and opens the door for Lily. Lily and Ava head inside, followed by Alilyu into the warm air, a grateful difference from the chilly street. The café is an old-fashioned building with exposed beams and wooden floors. Round tables crowd the room where customers are reading, chatting, or hovering over aromatic cups of tea.

Ava takes picks out a table in the back.

“It’s been a while since we’ve all been out like this,” Lily says. “So Alilyu, what did you want to talk to us about today? You’ve been a little tight-lipped these past couple days—so Ava says.”

“I have this idea I’ve been brewing, but I wanted to make sure it was a good one before I brought it up,” Alilyu says. “I have a favor to ask and something you might want to learn about. I came to Orititlan City three-months ago to find my family. There is a reason I was led to this city on my journey, so I think it’s important that I am here. What I need or the next clue might by nearby and I need your help.”

“Helping is one thing we are good at,” Ava says. “When you first arrived, you told me your family, the Lignilart line, were all captured by Arzula, the self-proclaimed Empress of France. Correct?”

“Good memory,” Lily says.

“Yes. I came here to find them, and this might be a bigger problem than I can solve myself. But before I pitch my idea, may I tell you my story? This will all make sense when you know a little more about me,” Alilyu says. He fidgets, fingering and spinning a coaster between his hands as he waits for their response. Ava and Lily share a glance. They both shrug and offer supportive smiles.

“Of course, Alilyu, if you are comfortable telling us, we are here to listen.”

Alilyu nods his thanks and leans back in his seat. The noise of the café seems to float away and becomes quiet as he focuses on how to share his story.

“I come from Elpeuui Dosi, which literally translates into “The City of the Elves,” the capital city of my home country. My family resided in and took care of the Forsythia Shrine, a beautiful complex where the outer walls and inner gardens glowed yellow with the spring blooms. My father is a well-respected figure who went out of his way to help others. On one such journey, he was visiting different kingdoms and reached a desert kingdom our people only knew of in myth. The Pharaoh was a powerful man with many wives, riches, and pyramids built in his honor.

The Pharoah had a lover, Princess Liagelta. She traveled far and wide, roving from adventure to adventure and was very popular among the common desert elves the Pharoah ruled. During her travels, she was set upon by a monster in the desert, but my father, who had been traveling by, saw her struggle and defeated the creature. Father was knocked unconscious from a blow to the head in the final struggle and was nursed back to health by Liagelta. He suffered from amnesia due to his injury and fell into infatuation with Liagelta. As the story goes, that’s how my half-sister Arzula, who I didn’t know about until she appeared three-years ago at my Coming-of-Age Ceremony, was conceived.”

“Did your father ever tell you this story?” Ava asks. She takes a long sip from her gin and tonic.

“I’ve pieced it together from what Arzula said when she attacked my family and from those who knew my father—the only elves I could speak to after the attack. My eldest sister, Siraye, found my father, reminded him of his life, and convinced him to come back home. He put his affair behind him and forgot about Liagelta until their daughter appeared before us. Apparently, the Pharoah was angry about the affair and used that as an excuse to exile her from their land. In reality, he was a jealous man who couldn’t stand the thought of the popularity Liagelta enjoyed for being more adventurous and worldly than him.”

Alilyu stops to ponder how to go into the thick of his personal story. A waitress comes to take their orders and picks up the menus. Everything about Liagelta had been unknown to him and pieced together over the years. He doesn’t even know if he has the details right and this worries him about his chances of finding Arzula and his captured family.

“My life was pretty normal in our old realm. I was not the brightest, fastest, or most talented in the family when it came to my studies, aptitude for Chi related martial arts, and more. I guess I preferred roaming the temple’s gardens and listening to old stories instead of the skills I should have been focusing on. The Forsythia Shrine was a beautiful place, fantastical for it’s magic and traditional architecture. This is where my story was disrupted, and everything changed for me.”

***

It was the day of Alilyu’s Coming-of-Age ceremony. He was dressed in a long silk coat, his hair twisted into a pinned top knot and a manggeon band rested above his forehead where his gat—a transparent and black wide-rimmed traditional hat rested.

He fiddled with the white beads hanging from his gat as he tried to prepare himself for the ceremony. It was the opportunity to showcase one’s martial-arts and chi skills, as well as show gratitude and thanks to all adults in his family and community for watching over and guiding him to this moment.

The Coming-of-Age ceremony was meant to be a success, but he felt only knots in his stomach about the possibility of lacking in the martial arts and chi performance. Alilyu knew he was the least skilled of all his family members and the Lignilarts were supposed to be the best.

Alilyu walked behind the outer walls of his family’s temple. Above him, pointed green beams sloped from the hall’s roof with orange flowers painted on the face of each timber. They stretched overhead to cast shadows at his feet and at the corner of each building where the roofline extended outwards, a line of small statues representing the mountain god, water god, and lesser spirits sat to protect the temple.

Alilyu was seeking peace and quiet to calm down despite the sounds of the festival out in the temple’s courtyard floating to him on the wind. Chatter, drums, cheers for the acrobats, and more led him to imagine the waiting people gathering to line up along the name stones and open courtyard spaces.

Fishing a powdery rice cake out of his pocket that his mother had snuck him earlier, Alilyu had it halfway to his mouth when he noticed a strange woman standing on the steps to the temple garden.

The woman wore fish-net stockings under a ruffled skirt and a plunging leather corset came up to a collar around her neck. She had straight orange hair and a large hat with feathers pinned above the brim. The feathers were of a sort Alilyu had never seen and an odd device was strapped to her arm.

The strangest thing was that he couldn’t see her ears through her thin hair and nothing about her stature would say she was an elf. Alilyu had never seen one before, but what would a human being be doing in their realm?

The woman put her hands on her hips as a knowing smile stretched across her lips. Something about this stopped Alilyu cold. This was not a courteous greeting or a curious wondering—she knows something, and he thinks he really wasn’t supposed to see her here either.

Alilyu’s worries about performing disappeared. He stuffed his rice cake back into his pocket and turned to run back to the festival. He rounded back to the courtyard where revelers dressed in bright colors waved fans and lined up for the ceremony to begin. A line of boys that were Alilyu’s age stood in their long over-coats near the temple’s marble steps. Behind them, the red temple rose to three stories high with sloping roofs and large pillars at its center, creating a massive hall to the shrine inside. Alilyu ran into the courtyard, kicking gravel at the hanbok the onlookers wore as he rushed past and hurried straight into his cousin Hye Reum.

“Alilyu Lignilart! Where have you been? The ceremony is about to start!” Hye Reum exclaimed in a loud voice. Other woman, with their hair pinned into buns, started to look at the commotion. Alilyu’s face warmed up and became flustered.

“Eonni, have you seen my father? There is something I must tell him.”

“Your father? He’s in the shrine saying his final blessings before we begin.” She tut-tuts to herself. “Aish—straighten your hat boy!”

Alilyu ducked and hurried past the other youths to enter the cool halls of the temple. Lanterns in earthen containers sit at the base of each pillar and paintings of mountains and the moon traced the back walls in the dim light. Before a grand statue of gold, Alilyu’s father is stood up after completing a prayer.

“Alilyu! My son, where have you been?”

“Father, I think something is wrong—”

“It’s natural to be nervous at one’s Coming-of-Age ceremony. I was when I was your age too,” Father Lignilart says. He folds his hands and mimics the austere position he holds while overseeing every ritual at Forsythia Temple and the surrounding communities. The tips of his ears curl downward with age, but a spark remains in his ever-youthful mind. He could see another millennia and not be fazed by the time of it. Alilyu took a breath and steadied himself, sure his father would know what to do. Who knows, the strange woman could be an invited guest.

“Father—I saw a human by the temple garden gate.”

Father Lignilart’s eyebrows rose to pile of age-earned wrinkles. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen anyone dress the way she was. She’s not from around her but how can that be?”

“Maybe it was a wanderer passing through.” Father Lignilart reached for and held onto an artifact in his sleeve. “Nothing to worry about, I’m sure. The Coming-of-Age ceremony must continue. It’s a special day for you.”

“She didn’t seem friendly or welcoming. Are you sure—” before Alilyu could finish his sentence, a loud blast sounded from out beyond the shrine and courtyards. Screams and the squeal of twisting timber cut a thunderous interruption into the day. Alilyu hurried to the entrance of the temple just as a haughty woman wearing an European guard uniform appear out of the dust and into the quickly clearing courtyard. About two-dozen women, the feared Battle Sisters of the Scorned Tigress, fanned out along her flank and rear.

“I am Empress Arzula, the Empress of France, Wife of Napoleon II and the rightful heir to all Elven territories,” the woman yelled. “I hereby demand that the Forsythia Temple be handed to me and the mighty Lignilart family be brought out in chains.” Upon her invasive words, the Battle Nuns attacked without hesitation.

The monks at the temple and in Alilyu’s family are well versed in the martial arts of chi. Channeling their power, they can direct their essence and energy into a response to an attacker. A few monks took a stand, their stances wide as they raised their arms before them to ground themselves. This technique left a window of vulnerability that the nuns took full advantage of to strike them down one after the other. Thuds, cracks, and cries sounded from the men as they were knocked aside or disabled. Empress Arzula and her nuns approached the Temple steps with little resistance.

One of the five youths I was to perform the Coming-of-Age ceremony with hurtled forward toward one of the women warriors. She side-stepped and countered, throwing him to the ground. She stepped on his chest as Arzula walked past. Father came forward out of the temple’s shadowy entrance and into the sunlight, the light and shadows mixed upon his haggard face—realization and confusion clashing at ends.

“Leave these boys alone Arzula—I believe I am the one you are looking for.” Empress Arzula held up a hand—halting her warriors. At that proximity, her olive skin and pointed ears revealed her to be a mixed-race elf. Her and a human had arrived all in one day?

“Why have you come to my temple and desecrated these hallow grounds?” Father Lignilart asked.

“Nice to meet you too, Dad. I just wanted to have my Coming-of-Age ceremony, but it seems like you forgot all about me.”

“Arzula—your mother is not one to let you act with no shame. What are you doing here? What brought you to this?”

“You’re one to talk about shame,” Arzula said. “Since you never gave me a proper place in the famous Lignilart family, I came to take it myself.”

Suddenly, Arzula was up the steps with a single bound. Alilyu’s father barely raised his arms to knock Alilyu backwards, knocking the wind from his chest with the force as he blocked her starting blow. Father took up a wide stance and raised his arms. As the master of Forsythia Temple, he crooked a hand and beckoned forth her challenge.

Arzula leapt into the air and assailed him with a barrage of kicks. Father bobbed and weaved, his arms parrying her shots and his feet constantly moving. He kept up a defense as the air around them crackled with their crashing energies. The hair on Alilyu’s arm stood up as Arzula’s offensive grew more aggressive.

Father Lignilart managed to parry an attack and throw Arzula off balance but instead of falling, she leapt into the air and landed a kick on his chest. He stumbled backwards to meet the nimble Arzula and the fight that was even began to decline as Arzula’s speed and talent soon overwhelms him. Father Lignilart began to lose ground and back into the temple when the air behind him began to shimmer and the human woman from earlier stepped out of thin air. Before Alilyu could react, she struck Father Lignilart on the back of his neck with a thin rod. His eyes snap open wide and his entire body went rigid as his skin paled, and a sickly gray overcame him, until he was completely turned to stone.

“Father!” Alilyu screamed. He lunged forward to reach him in any way but Arzula, his half-sister, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him until he was inches from her face. He could feel the energy of her chi just raging through her body—never had he met anyone more powerful than the monks and martial artists in his family. All around him, family members and fellow monks who stood up to defend the sacred temple fell.

“So, you are one of the favored children. How could he love someone as weak as you?” Arzula asked with a hiss. She drew back her elbow and smashed Alilyu in the face. He fell and was attacked by the sisters, not even worth Empress Arzula’s attention. Family members were locked up in chains or turned to stone by the strange smiling human if they put up too much of a fight. The temple was ransacked. Everything went dark.

***

Lily and Ava’s tea sits cold in front of them as they listen to Alilyu’s story.

“They just left you there?” Lily asks.

“They left me for dead—I wasn’t seen as a threat to be taken away like the rest of my family. All I remember is I had a vision of sorts in that strange unconscious realm. I imagined strong fighters from all different realms surviving and fighting against the thinnest odds to help others. It made me realize I had to get stronger, but sometimes, we don’t have to do everything on our own. What if multiple heroes joined their strengths to form a team? That’s what I wanted to bring you here to ask you about tonight,” Alilyu says to close his tale. He sits back and swirls his cup of tea.

“Oh, come on, you have to finish the story though! How did you get to Oritilan City?” Lily asks.

“It took many months but after I healed, I traveled to a far away temple to find a sacred amulet to cross the realms. I had only heard whispers of it—but I was desperate to try to save my family. During a blue moon the next year, the forces were strong enough to open a path to this world.”

“Amazing,” Ava muses.

“It is a lot to ask, but will you consider my idea?”

This piece was really fun to write. MirrorKhaos has such vibrant characters, steeped in unique histories and cultures.