Fanatic's History
Tens of thousands of children die everyday worldwide; Helena should have been one of them. Like many children in Lima, she was most likely born into a poor family. Her father may have worked at the bottling factory. Statistically, her mother probably sewed pants for a living. And growing up in a large family, it seems likely that no one had time to look after the young girl, Helena. At least, that's the best guess the doctors could offer when she came through their emergency room.
At around age 6, Helena was playing in the streets of her city, as is common of the unattended children there, when she was hit by a city bus. Anyone who had been with her had fled, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. The fact that she survived the ambulance ride to the hospital was miraculous in and of itself. However, when Helena was pronounced dead only to suddenly spring back to life on the operating table exactly three minutes later, the nurses began crossing themselves frantically, claiming that she had been spared from death by the hand of God.
Indeed, once the girl had regained consciousness, she spoke adamantly of visions of Heaven and claimed that God had sent her back for a purpose beyond her understanding. While some remained skeptical, the hospital staff couldn't deny the amazing speed with which she recovered. While she apparently suffered severe nerve damage, which left most of her body entirely numb, she had almost no physical scarring. The only other effect of the accident was total memory loss. She had no idea who she was, and no family ever came to claim her. It was an old nun visiting the hospital who named her Helena.
As the time came near to release the girl from the hospital, she demanded that she be placed under the care of the convent. Over the course of her stay there, she had grown fixated on her vision of the afterlife. The doctors considered her troubled, but they deemed her to be neither a harm to herself nor to others. With few other options, they decided to honor her request, sending her to be raised by the nuns.
Most of her adolescence was spent training to become a nun herself. Helena was a pious girl, heralded as an example to the rest of the convent. When she hit puberty, she was startled to discover that great, angelic wings had begun growing from her back, but was unsurprised - they felt familiar. She kept these hidden from the rest of the world, but their appearance had altered her sense of purpose irrevocably. The wings which had sprouted from her back finally helped to reveal the meaning of the words she had heard in her vision so many years ago. She knew that her role was not meant to be a passive one.
Over the next few years, she began to grow weary of the system of the convent, urging them to be more involved in stopping the evils going on outside their walls. Finally fed up, she decided that she would reveal her secret during the next day's church services. When, after a rousing speech condemning their inaction, she revealed her wings to the congregation and claimed herself to be an angel of the Lord, she was met with only silence and horrified stares. Disgusted, she stormed out of the convent and never returned.
Concerned that she would be pursued once the initial shock wore off, Helena sought refuge in the catacombs under the city. While exploring the tunnels, she stumbled upon an ancient cache of Templar arms and armor. With a determination bordering on fanaticism, she trained herself in the use of it. A year passed in solitude, during which she fasted and claims to have been sustained by faith alone. She awoke one morning morning with her fingertips bloodied and her sword lying nearby. Smelling the acrid scent of smoldering metal, she picked up the sword and found that runes had been carved into its blade. She realized that she could read the angelic runes - they read "Absolution". The sword became a focus for her prayers, manifesting radiant flames along its blade. Taking up "Absolution", she emerged from her tomb. It was time for her to fulfill her purpose: to purge the world of evil.
