Children of Etro

The Children of Etro are a group of religious zealots in the city of Luxerion. Worshipers of the Goddess Etro, the group is determined to kill Lightning because of a prophecy stating she will destroy the world.

History
The Children of Etro wear identical garb: a white/red habit tailing off into a halved skirt and covered by intricate silver/yellow markings, boots, large hoods and masks covering the top halves of their faces. While male cultists have coverings on their arms and legs, female members have bare arms and legs. The cultists bear a rusty gold-colored axe similar to the axes wielded by Anubys monsters.

The Children of Etro are divided into two groups: those who live in Luxerion and those who live in the Wildlands. The members of Luxerion are fanatical, considered terrorists by the Order of Salvation and feared by the Luxerion population due to their recent spree of murdering several pink-haired women who fit the description of the savior, as a result of their belief that the savior is a harbinger of disaster. They perform sacrificial rituals in the Forsaken Graveyard and have elaborate mechanisms to identify intruders, including a secret number code and a specific phrase.

Those who live in the Wildlands have a more passive belief towards the goddess and reside in peace, having had to seclude themselves away from Luxerion due to the actions of the fanatical members that ended in their persecution. They view and receive the savior with dignity and have no problem relating with Lightning.

When Lightning arrives in Luxerion, the authorities are investigating the murders of several pink-haired women. The murders are linked to the Children of Etro, whose cult centers around a prophecy contained within an Oracle Drive that states the savior seeks to destroy the world, but will be killed by a Shadow Hunter. While the savior's identity is a mystery, it is known by the members of the Children of Etro that the title belongs to a pink-haired woman.

Lightning is asked to aid the Luxerion authorities in their investigation, and as a part of her mission, she must find the code which permits access to the cult's secret gathering place on the Forsaken Graveyard. As the cultists are about to kill another captured woman, Lightning storms their gathering and Noel appears, dispersing the cultists with a wind spell. The cultists venerate Noel, the Shadow Hunter, believing he has appeared to fulfill the prophecy and kill Lightning. Noel rebuffs them, saying he wants nothing to do with a cult that kills innocent people, although the leader tries to appeal to him by saying the Children of Etro did everything to help him, to summon the true savior from hiding for the Shadow Hunter to confront. Noel and Lightning join forces in fighting them, and soon soldiers from the Order appear to arrest the cultists.