Maki Aiko

past

None who know the woman, who today is known as Aiko, could guess the humble circumstances into which she was born. Her true given and family name are lost, but she tells the tale of a babe born to a common prostitute mother, in a tiny elven settlement where there was never any great amount of wealth to begin with. That her first lessons in life were to remain quiet and unseen, to avoid being beaten by her mother, or found by any of her patrons, for as bad as her mother could be the patrons were always worse.

By the age of six, the young girl began to sneak out. Seeking escape from the dark and cramped 'rooms' that made up the shack of her home, Often she would find solace in a nearby temple, dedicated to the Ai, the holy patron of love and beauty. It would seem strange that a child living in fear of a prostitute mother and her patrons would take comfort in such a place. But to her, it was a place of solace, a true home where she was safe and could learn.

Over the years she would flourish in her own education under the deities temple roof. Learning to dance the dances, to sing the songs, to paint the deities image, to write poems of her victories and tragedies. She was a practical scion, seemingly blessed by the goddess herself, both exceedingly beautiful and enviously talented in every art she turned her hand to. She was vain and proud of course, any girl from such humble circumstances becoming what she has would be, but she was young, and while mother beat her for the attitude, others simply let it go. None realized just how much a front it was, that the cost for her beauty and talent was a living nightmare, where she was forced to practice the art of seduction as a mere child, on men old enough to be her father. Oh she was gifted, in so many ways, ways that made her popular not just in the temple, but in the bed, and so her mother used her more and more to 'earn her keep'.

But she only grew in beauty and talent, to the point that she was no longer a secret her mother could keep. Till tale began to spread about the moon elf who 'eclipsed the moon itself with her luminescence'. Seeing her own escape from hardship she eagerly skipped into the spotlight, a vain, young, beautiful, talented little thing for all the men to fight over, and how she let them fight. Fixing herself as both the challenge and the reward for those who wished to have her.

At the age of sixteen she began her life proper and easily found a man willing to marry her and take her away from the nightmare of her mothers care without asking questions, too charmed by her looks and her talents. He was but a poor peasant, a farmer who worked the land for richer people and yet life with him was far richer than the pleasure quarter that Aiko had known growing up and she easily thought she could live happily with her new husband.

But contentment did not erode her beauty or take away her talents. Though the legends of her ceased to mere whispers as she stopped fanning their flames, those who knew her could still see them, and though her husband was a farmer, she served as a ladies companion to the local lords' wife. There she only furthered her education, learning to read and write as well as perfect her artistic skills, and soon she caught the eye of the local lord, her mistresses husband.

Ironically enough, the lord took the strange choice of making his request to Aiko's husband, who then approached Aiko proper with his blessing. There was a formal agreement made, where Aiko's husband was to receive tribute payments for every evening the lord should have need of her as a concubine. These tributes soon elevated her husband to the wealthiest of peasants and he used his newfound wealth smartly to improve his farm until it came to the point the former farmer was more of a manager.

Aiko for her part spent her time as required, whether at home to enjoy her newfound wealth, far beyond any of her dreams as an abused child, or at her lords' side as his concubine. Whether she read, performed, or simply slept with him. She managed the delicate balance rather beautifully, and yet, her lord was a jealous one. The longer the arrangement lasted, the more he tried to demand, and Aiko's numerous charms could not placate him forever until the day came that he demanded Aiko make a choice; husband or lover. Having achieved the wealth and security that her husband could live without the tributes anymore, she chose to return to her husband and savior, spurning her lord, who took her blatant rejection of him none too favorably. Though she granted his request for a final night

Supposedly the fire was an 'accident' but everyone under the lords domain knew the truth.

Standing amidst the burnt remains of her house, knowing the identity of the man who murdered her family, she was consumed with vengeance. She returned to his house,  and for a year played quite and demurely to his desires. Till his guard was down and she could exact her revenge, in bed, starting with a knife. Then she fled, soaked in his blood, and empty, utterly and completely empty. With her revenge spent, there seemed to be nothing left for her, yet to give in to despair, to take her life, seemed like letting those who made her suffer throughout her life live.

So she took to wandering, she adopted the name Aiko Maki, returning to her ways of old, wherein she was a scion of arts and her blessed divine. But she no longer loves as a lover, she loves for love's sake. There are others who suffer like she has, and she aims to see that no one falls to the desperation and despair that she has. In those moments, she feels whole, feels alive, feels worthwhile, and so she travels, chasing the feeling, the only thing left of her broken existence.

They say if you lie to yourself enough, you can even start to believe it right?