Petunia had a normal childhood.
There was nothing abnormal about it. She grew up in a regular house, went to a regular school, and had two parents who loved her more than anything else in the world.
If anything, the only strange thing was how much her parents loved her, but that wasn't a bad thing, not at all.
And yet, that whole lifestyle had been evaporated the moment the Tutorial began.
She had been happy that she was with her mother, but she was blissfully unaware of what her mother had to do when they left the White Room.
Sure there was some strange noises from the room her mother went with those men, but that was all she thought if it. She hadn't expected anything that was going to happen.
But that whole lifestyle, the loving environment she grew up in, all of that changed when her mother didn't come back one night after the noises had stopped.
Curious as to what had happened, Petunia ventured into the room they had always brought her mother and saw her lying there, unmoving, a group of men surrounding her.
One of the men had turned to her and grinned before beginning to walk over to her, but...
That was the last thing she remembered after that.
Her memory of the incident was hazy, she remembered what had happened up until the man approached her, then it was all blank.
When she came to, she was standing in the centre of a pile of corpses. The bloody bodies of all the men that had killed her mother surrounded her, the only difference in the room before and after she blacked out was that her mother's body had mysteriously vanished.
Well, that, and the fact she had become level 22 and was holding a tattered teddy bear that she definitely didn't have before.
But when looking at that teddy bear, Petunia almost felt that it was... familiar, in some strange sort of way. Like it had always been a part of her. It was comforting.
It reminded her of her mother.
A few moments after she came to, a gray haired man with a neatly trimmed beard entered the room. His eyes scanned over the massacre before finally settling on the child that was coveted in blood in the centre of it all.
Strangely, he embraced her in a hug, claiming that he was a friend of his father's. While he hugged her, Petunia heard him mumble something under his breath, but she couldn't make out what she had said.
After that, the Tutorial was slightly more peaceful, but it wasn't the same without her mother.
At least, that was until she realised where her mother had gone.
Her mother wasn't dead, not at all.
No, her mother was simply inhabiting the teddy bear she had been holding when she came too in the centre of all those corpses.
In fact, she could still communicate with her mother. Albeit, her mother's vocabulary had become very limited, so she spoke through a few select choice of words and emotions.
At that point, Petunia had believed her regular, loving lifestyle was over. She had met her dad again, only to be sent away from him once more.
She had been locked in a cell, a man who kept calling himself her father trying to train him through the worst means possible, it was horrible.
Petunia had thought her regular life was over.
At least, until she escaped the city with Kai and Cecilia.
The situation was anything but normal, a group of three humans traversing a horrible blizzard along with a large wolf, a rat and a sentient sword, but it was the two humans that made her feel safe.
Kai and Cecilia reminded her of her parents. Her father was a somewhat simple man with a lot of strength and a big heart, meanwhile her mother was a smart, caring woman who could become a tad bit too emotional but would do whatever it takes to protect her family.
Traveling with those two... made Petunia feel at peace.
Her mother had been wary of them at first, and had constantly made sure Petunia was too. Whenever they conversed, her mother always made sure to tell her daughter to remain vigilant, that you could never know what was truly going on in someone's mind.
That was why Petunia had been so silent at the beginning of their journey, why she hadn't revealed anything about herself bar her level.
But over time, that level of wariness decreased. So much so that at one point, when Petunia had been cuddling her teddy bear under her blanket-
To point out, that was another thing her mother had told her. Petunia was to only take out the teddy bear when she was under a blanket, that way no one else would be able to see it, just to be safe-
But as time passed, the higher up the mountain they got, the more time Petunia spent with the two of them, her mother's emotions slowly began to change.
In the beginning, Petunia could sense she was judgemental, wary, hesitant. Her mother did not want her to be around those two, she didn't trust them.
Then, the emotions shifted. Her mother became less judgy. Petunia could tell that she was thinking maybe they weren't so bad, but it was best to stay on guard.
But that night, when Petunia had been cuddling with the teddy, peeking through her eyelids and watching as Cecilia done Kai's hair, the way both of them were blushing at the end of it, how Kai had called Cecilia beautiful and began panicking right after, it was cute.
And her mother thought so too. Petunia could sense her emotions. Love, adoration, giddiness from watching such a adorable interaction. There was even a hint of jealousy from the fact her mother hadn't seen her husband for a long time.
Her mother had grown to love Kai and Cecilia like they were her own children. They were still young, she could tell, they couldn't have been over twenty.
... Both Petunia and her mother were completely unaware of the situation regarding Cecilia's past, so they had no idea that she was much, much older than both of them combined.
Petunia's mother had grown to love the two of them. Seeing them blush, get flustered and panic around each other was something that reminded her of her own past. It seemed like such a long time ago she had met John, but what a journey it had been.
If only Cecilia and Kai got to experience a journey like they had, not having to scale a titanic frozen mountain filled with unimaginable horrors.
But for Petunia, her somewhat regular lifestyle came crashing down once again when they entered the Third Trial.
Seeing Kai's body get battered and pummeled by the ginormous Yeti, seeing the bloody boy roll along the ground to their feet.
Something shattered, in both Petunia and her mother.
And seeing Cecilia break down, sobbing wildy as she cradled Kai's head in her lap was enough for Petunia to start moving.
Only unlike the first time, this time she was going to be completely sentient while she took the Yeti's life.
Each step she took towards the beast filled her mother with rage. Petunia could sense it as she took the teddy out, summoning it from her soul. It had been the only item she had possessed up until Kai gifted her the things she was wearing.
The description of the item was quite weird though.
Vessel of Wrath (Unique)
An Archdemon heard the plea of a dying mother and answered it. As long as she continues to subject her wrath on her enemies, she shall eternally protect what she loves.
That was another reason Petunia's mother was angry at the Yeti. What right did it have to injure the person who was protecting her child, what right did it have to touch what was hers?
Finally, Petunia stopped her steps. She could hear Cecilia behind her, screaming for her to come back, but she wasn't going to listen.
Glaring up at the Yeti, she lifted her teddy, pointing it right at the beast before speaking.
"Mommy... Kill it."
Petunia wasn't sure what she had done, but she knew she had done something as the entire arena began to tremble. Her body started to glow a fierce shade of red, her entire being engulfed by it as the ground in front of her feet began to burst open, like something was trying to crawl out of the deepest pits of hell.
Which seemed to be happening, considering a large, fleshy hand gripped the edge of the crack before pulling itself out.
What followed was a thick, muscular arm. Its skin was a dark shade of red, like it had been forged entirely of blood.
An ear piercing shriek escaped the hole to hell, slightly disorienting the Yeti, but Petunia did not flinch at the uncomfortable noise, instead she grinned happily.
She was finally seeing her mother again.
Only what emerged from the pit did not resemble her mother at all, not in the slightest.
The dark red creature rose to nearly the same height as the Yeti, a little shorter, perhaps eighteen feet tall.
It has two muscular arms, with both of its hands ending in a sharp set of claws. It also had two incredibly strong looking legs, the bloody muscles almost popping out.
The creature had a slightly feminine figure, the swell of breasts on the front of its broad chest, but other than that it was nearly completely androgynous.
Its face had no eyes, nose or ears. It only had a mouth with menacing, razor sharp fangs inside it.
It had long, silky black hair flowing down its back, reaching mid way to its waist before it abruptly cut off.
This was what Petunia's mother had become.
A Demon of Wrath, and a powerful one at that.
The blood red demon turned around from the Yeti and looked down at Petunia.
Her menacing demeanor instantly disappeared the moment it looked at her daughter.
Despite the massive size difference, the Demon leaned down and softly petted her large palm against Petunia's hair, careful to hold back all of her strength as she softly caressed her daughters hair.
Petunia smiled and closed her eyes, leaning into her mother's touch.
After pulling away her large hand, the Demon's demeanor shifted back into the terrifying and fear inducing one it had been before she had glanced at her daughter.
She turned back to the Yeti and took a few calculated steps towards it. Now, she stood within arms reach of the beast.
Squaring up to the Yeti, she craned her neck slightly to look up at it and grinned, showing off her fangs.
Then, her fist came flying around from the side as she punched the Yeti in the face, sending a shockwave throughout the arena.