This is a memory of Robin's childhood. Robin lived in a Roman Catholic nun's convent in Tuscany, Italy. From an early age, she is aware that she was orphaned very young, that she is of mixed race, that she was born in Japan, and that her biological father was most likely Japanese. Robin's biological mother was once a nun at the same convent, and she died in childbirth. The only remnants of her parents that Robin has are her name: Sena (瀬名) from her father, and Robin from her mother.
Her legal guardian is Father Juliano Colegli, a priest at the church who knew Robin's mother. He's a stern but kind man, who is secretly a high-ranking member of SOLOMON, a centuries-old organization of witch hunters. Robin's aware of SOLOMON but doesn't pay it much mind because she's just a kid. Robin spends her early years being taken care of by Father Juliano and by the nuns, and while they are kind to her, it is an insulated life. She doesn't spend much time with other children her age, especially since she lives by the same structure and discipline as others in the convent: waking up at 5am for morning vigils and prayer, mass, cleaning and dusting the buildings, reading scripture, preparing meals, holding services for attendees from the local villages, and so on. She's educated within the church, and with a few exceptions (field trips to Florence, Rome and Vatican City one summer when she was 8) it is a quiet and simple life for a little girl. Some days she doesn't even see Father Juliano, but she's always pleased when he comes to visit.
He tells her that one day, she will awaken to something important, and when she does, she must tell him. Robin isn't sure what he means until after she turns 10. On a particularly cold autumn day nearing winter, Robin is sitting in the chapel by herself in meditative prayer, when the doors blow open, sending a gust of chilled air throughout the room. It blows out half the candles on the altar. Robin jumps in surprise, and reflexively turns to the candles to relight them--but before she can lift a finger, they relight spontaneously. Robin feels some kind of crackling energy under her skin, and weirdly, behind her eyes. She blinks a few times before realizing what happened: she relit the candles by creating the fire herself. She quickly runs out of the chapel and finds Father Juliano in his office, and tells him what happened. His expression is unreadable for a moment... Robin thinks she sees something like fear and sorrow, but then it's gone, and he's smiling at her, thanking her for telling him. He says that she will have to undergo some very strict training and studying from now on, but by doing so, she will ensure control over her "Craft" (what he calls her pyrokinesis) and become a hunter for SOLOMON. Robin has a feeling she doesn't have a choice in the matter.
From then on, Robin spends a lot more time with Father Juliano, along with other members of SOLOMON, and even meets other hunters. Most of them frighten her, but she starts to understand what the life of a hunter, of an officially-sanctioned "craft user" is like. Unlike witches, craft users are members of the church who vow to use their powers in order to hunt and subdue those whose crafts (powers) have gone awry. Many hunters kill their targets, but there is talk of using non-lethal methods to hunt witches instead. It's a hot debate amongst the higher-ups, but most everyone agrees that if the witch is killing people, then all bets are off. Robin accompanies her senior hunters on hunts a few times in order to observe, but she isn't expected to hunt just yet. Her control over her fire power gets better, although her aim is off sometimes. In addition, her studies now incorporate the history of witches, witch hunting, and the occult.
When Robin turns 15, she receives an order from Father Juliano that she is to be officially transferred to the SOLOMON branch in Japan (the STN-J) as a replacement hunter.
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maleficafe) wrote2018-12-09 11:59 pm
5. Childhood and early training
Her legal guardian is Father Juliano Colegli, a priest at the church who knew Robin's mother. He's a stern but kind man, who is secretly a high-ranking member of SOLOMON, a centuries-old organization of witch hunters. Robin's aware of SOLOMON but doesn't pay it much mind because she's just a kid. Robin spends her early years being taken care of by Father Juliano and by the nuns, and while they are kind to her, it is an insulated life. She doesn't spend much time with other children her age, especially since she lives by the same structure and discipline as others in the convent: waking up at 5am for morning vigils and prayer, mass, cleaning and dusting the buildings, reading scripture, preparing meals, holding services for attendees from the local villages, and so on. She's educated within the church, and with a few exceptions (field trips to Florence, Rome and Vatican City one summer when she was 8) it is a quiet and simple life for a little girl. Some days she doesn't even see Father Juliano, but she's always pleased when he comes to visit.
He tells her that one day, she will awaken to something important, and when she does, she must tell him. Robin isn't sure what he means until after she turns 10. On a particularly cold autumn day nearing winter, Robin is sitting in the chapel by herself in meditative prayer, when the doors blow open, sending a gust of chilled air throughout the room. It blows out half the candles on the altar. Robin jumps in surprise, and reflexively turns to the candles to relight them--but before she can lift a finger, they relight spontaneously. Robin feels some kind of crackling energy under her skin, and weirdly, behind her eyes. She blinks a few times before realizing what happened: she relit the candles by creating the fire herself. She quickly runs out of the chapel and finds Father Juliano in his office, and tells him what happened. His expression is unreadable for a moment... Robin thinks she sees something like fear and sorrow, but then it's gone, and he's smiling at her, thanking her for telling him. He says that she will have to undergo some very strict training and studying from now on, but by doing so, she will ensure control over her "Craft" (what he calls her pyrokinesis) and become a hunter for SOLOMON. Robin has a feeling she doesn't have a choice in the matter.
From then on, Robin spends a lot more time with Father Juliano, along with other members of SOLOMON, and even meets other hunters. Most of them frighten her, but she starts to understand what the life of a hunter, of an officially-sanctioned "craft user" is like. Unlike witches, craft users are members of the church who vow to use their powers in order to hunt and subdue those whose crafts (powers) have gone awry. Many hunters kill their targets, but there is talk of using non-lethal methods to hunt witches instead. It's a hot debate amongst the higher-ups, but most everyone agrees that if the witch is killing people, then all bets are off. Robin accompanies her senior hunters on hunts a few times in order to observe, but she isn't expected to hunt just yet. Her control over her fire power gets better, although her aim is off sometimes. In addition, her studies now incorporate the history of witches, witch hunting, and the occult.
When Robin turns 15, she receives an order from Father Juliano that she is to be officially transferred to the SOLOMON branch in Japan (the STN-J) as a replacement hunter.