Chihiro Khan



Chihiro Kanto-Khan, known by friends and acquaintances as just Chihiro Kahn or Chihiro, was the host of one half of the demon Lord of Space, Astaroth. She was a soldier of the Order of the Shattered Light, half sister to Haruhi Kanto, and illegitimate daughter to chief Tai Khan of Heibai. At age ten, she bonded with one half of the demon Astaroth (although she did not know its identity at the time) and was confused by the rare power of telekinesis it granted her. At age 18, she left her home in Heibai to follow her sister's footsteps and become a bounty hunter. On her path to track the general down, she became a member of the Order of the Shattered Light organization based in Sarapang. Serving under the Order's leader, she found herself at the center of one of the greatest conflicts Skye had ever seen. Chihiro was a friendly, loyal, but somewhat naive young woman who does her best to help people.

The Birth of a Legend
Chihiro was born illegitimately to Tai Khan, one of the head Chieftains of Heibai. Although he was in an arranged marriage, Tai lived separately from his wife whom he hated and the two agreed that there would be no issues with seeing someone else. Tai then began a relationship with the young widow Asuka Kanto and the two conceived a daughter. However, during childbirth, Kanto died and left Tai as a single father. Tai attempted to gain recognition for his daughter as his legitimate heir, but the other conservative chiefs of Heibai refused because of Chihiro's birth out of wedlock. Fearing that Chihiro would be ostracized for being born a bastard, Tai decided to raise Chihiro away from the life of Heibai's nobility and politics. Asuka's mother then offered to take in Chihiro as well as her half-sister, Haruhi.

The age gap between Haruhi and Chihiro was nearly 10 years, but the two ended up as best friends. At the same time, Tai Khan would also come to visit and dote on his daughter but their meetings were extremely limited. Almost as soon as Haruhi turned 18, Haruhi was forced to place their grandmother into a nursing home due to her dementia. Thus, Haruhi raised Chihiro alone.

Bonding with Astaroth (615 AFW)
Sometime around her 10th birthday, Chihiro received a message from her father that he would make arrangements to bond to a demon. Enthralled, Chihiro did exactly as she was instructed in performing the sacred ritual to form a bond between demon and Shaper. However, rather than introducing itself to make a contract with her, the demon that showed up appeared as a silhouette that screamed before binding itself to Chihiro.

While confused by her demon's lack of identity, or even its complete refusal to communicate with her, Chihiro did not let that stop her. Already an accomplished bounty hunter, Haruhi decided to train Chihiro in the art of demon Shaping. During one of these training sessions, the two discovered somehow that Chihiro had the ability of telekinesis, which only added to the mystery of her demon's true identity.

New Friends
Shortly after her 18th birthday in 623 AFW, one of the leaders of the Order of the Shattered Light known as Ezekiel Faust posted a bounty for the Dal Riata general Saichari. As an accomplished bounty hunter in her own right, Chihiro's sister Haruhi received a copy of a paper describing the details, along with other bounties. Thanks to Chihiro's ambitions to replicate her sister, Chihiro asked Haruhi for a relatively easy job that could be accomplished without too much danger. Shortly after receiving one of Haruhi's jobs, Chihiro set off to leave Heibai the very next day.

The train carrying Chihiro was attacked by bandits as it passed through Sarapang. While she fought bravely with the help of the Dal Riata officer Shang Wu, Chihiro was knocked unconscious by a bomb blast and thrown off the train. When she regained consciousness, she found herself in a Temple of Syrinx inhabited by many monks, who nursed her back to health.

In the Temple of Syrinx, Chihiro met an elderly monk named Sei and his apprentice, Feng Bao. Quickly striking up a friendship with both of them, the illiterate Chihiro learned from Feng that her piece of parchment with the bounty on it was actually the job to deliver Saichari's head to Faust. However, Feng was confused, as the bounty's description of Saichari as a criminal did not match her status as a highly powerful General. When he explained this to Chihiro, she decided to track down Ezekiel Faust instead to receive clarification on the note. With her came Feng, as the young man was bored and had little to do.

After leaving the Temple of Syrinx, Chihiro and Feng wandered to the village of Xia Shan. While there, the two encountered a group of soldiers whom Chihiro assumed to be from Dal Riata. Chihiro tried to talk with them, but the soldiers initiated a fight of which Chihiro and Feng almost won. One soldier got away from them, however, but his escape was cut short by the arrival of a young man who called himself Ren. Ren then introduced the two to his friend Iris Rosemary.

Iris revealed that she was an agent of the Order of the Shattered Light, and her job was to assassinate the lord of the village, Shan. As part of her mission, she had recruited help from Shan's son, otherwise known as Ren. Iris asked Chihiro and Feng for help, and the two agreed.

That night, the four of them met in Shan's castle as guests under Ren's graces. While Ren and Feng left the dining hall for a bathroom break, Iris attempted to kill Shan but failed. The group escaped the guards however, and got away in an airship.