Baby blue-eyed Ella Ricardo, raised in the heart of South Dakota by her American mother -- who was far too concerned about finding a lover than the needs of her children -- and her alleged father,  an infamous Cuban Jazz musician -- who was either abusing her mother, or simply gone -- had a difficult time growing up.

Ella spend years captive in misfortune and was prone to seek out any refuge. That refuge, the one place of solace and safety was found in her late teens to early twenties and led her straight into the arms of a man who traveled with a ragtag troupe -- A zideshow that blended traditional circus acts with modern sideshow entertainment. Easily, her mundane day-to-day life turned into nights filled with ridiculous costumes, bug-eating, centuries-old parlor tricks ,and glass munching, all to captivate her audience with odd curiosity. She romanticized the nomadic lifestyle and camaraderie, but it wasn't meant to last.

Her tumultuous relationship with the troupe-leader  gradually became more abusive, exacerbated by his love for substances and a bad temper. While she unwittingly encouraged his narcissistic and borderline-ish behavior.  The odd camaraderie couldn't thrive as the couple fell into a destructive pattern of heroin abuse, leaving them in a ditch reminiscent of an old dust bowl. They were out of luck, all of the time, and desperate times called for desperate measures, leading the duo to rob a store at gunpoint, attempting to live out a modern sideshow version of Bonnie & Clyde.

As in the original story, the law awaited them at the end of the line. A fight between the passionate couple led to his disappearance. Only weeks later, she found out he had been shot in the back, failing to rob a bank solo.  She never envisioned herself as a bank-robber, but desperation fuelled by addiction could drive the mind to unthinkable places.
It took her weeks of cold turkey, months of confinement, to shake of the dragon she had chased -- or vice versa. Ella promised herself not to make the same mistakes twice. With false ID, Glock strapped, and her hair was dyed, she baptised herself into Zyan De La Fosse, using her second name her parents gifted her, and the translation 'In a ditch' to remember her past, and where she came from. Zyan hopped onto a train to New Orleans, answering the city's call to the things that are different and slightly odd. Her first night there was celebratory, but the second never came.

Zyan woke up with a hell of a hangover, nearly freezing to death in the streets of Hathian, without her fake ID, glock or a dime to her name. Without memory, or how the night had lead her to end here.