past
love is a battlefield
Fifteen years before
the series "year zero", the ongoing war between two worlds
(Akuma-kai and Tenshi-kai) erupted into a full-scale battle. The devils,
fearing they would be eliminated by the angels and their love waves,
invaded the Tenshi-kai. Having no other choice, the angels fought to
defend themselves against the violent invaders. Four of the most powerful
angels on the battlefield at the time were Lily, Daisy, Salvia and Celeste.
It was the unified love waves of all four angels that helped destroy
many of the devil invaders - until they met their match in the devil
Uragano, that is.
After a particularly strong attack from Uragano killed Lily and Daisy (with a second attack knocking Salvia unconscious), Celeste was forced to fight alone to protect her homeland. Uragano was blown out of the heavens by Celeste's power and Celeste by Uragano's. Both devil and angel lost their memories due to the fall and, over the next two years, found love in the arms of humans - with each eventually producing a child.
Uragano came to remember his time as a devil but, as he didn't wish to return to a life of hate, he was killed by his devil companions (which left his son, Fuuma Yousuke, without a father). Celeste lived as Hanasaki Sakura until her memories returned and she felt compelled to return to the Tenshi-kai to help take over its protection (in place of her ailing sister, Aphrodite). When Celeste returned to the heavens, she left her daughter (Hanasaki Momoko) without a mother.
Some twelve years later, the devils resume their attacks against the power of love waves, this time concentrating on the human world in the hope that they can capture the holy Saint Something Four. Momoko awakens her angel blood by becoming Wedding Peach and so, a new battle begins.
During the battle of fifteen years ago (the "Wedding Wars"), Salvia was noted to be a brave warrior. In episode forty-five Celeste states that "The love wave the four of us put forth was powerful, and it was able to repel most of the devils" which would lead one to believe that Salvia, like her companions, was strong and possessing of pure love waves. Although her family aren't mentioned in the series, according to Tomita and Yazawa, Salvia came from a clan of warriors. Both her father and brother served as soldiers, while her mother worked as a fortune teller. Oddly enough, Salvia was not passionate about fighting during this time period - instead, she appears to have been interested in preserving the purity of the angels, with battle serving as a last resort.
The longest sequence that focuses on Salvia's past is in episode
thirty-seven, as Salvia reflects on why she fights devils and remains
alone. During the Wedding Wars her best friend, Freesia, came close
to killing a devil out of revenge for the life of her younger sister.
Salvia disarmed Freesia by exclaiming"... An angel like you,
with such a pure love wave, must not kill this cowardly devil who killed
your younger sister" but just as Freesia came to smile at
her friend, the devil she'd spared ran her through. Salvia then stabbed
the devil and clutched Freesia as she died. Salvia notes afterward, "Since that moment, I decided as soon as I saw a devil, I
would kill them". Freesia's death probably took
place before the battle in which Celeste fell to Earth, although
there is no canon sequence to these events.
After losing everyone she cared about in battle, Salvia was left alone - this we know. Unfortunately there is a sizable gap in canon so it isn't understood what Salvia did during the fifteen year period between the Wedding Wars and the appearance of Wedding Peach. She does hint at time spent hunting devils, so we can assume that she has spent a considerable portion of these years fighting. This is contrasted by Limone's comment in episode thirty-seven however, about Salvia's apparent "revival". We don't know anything about when or why she came to Earth or how she came into possession of the Saint Something New (which fell to Earth fifteen years ago). We also can't be sure of whether or not Salvia was set in slumber like Celeste or if she was awake the entire fifteen years. Smaller details like how she supports herself financially as Ohara Scarlet too, remain a mystery.
In
the manga there is less of a gap - Salvia died during the Wedding Wars
alongside Lily and Daisy. She, like the others, was reincarnated as
a human girl (Ohara Scarlet). Yuri and Hinagiku awakened their angelic
powers as teenagers but Scarlet was different. As a child she not only
awakened her powers by mistake - she also restored all of her past memories after coming into contact with the Saint Something New (in the form of a tiara
she borrowed from her mother for use in a school play). manga!Scarlet
quickly developed the same loner personality we see her anime counterpart
display, likely owing to the brutality of her revived memories and the
difficulty of her mission (to unite with the other love angels). As
Limone explains to her peers, "Having memories of her
past life from before her spirit was awoken, she (Salvia) was raised
to feel nothing but hate for devils".
In both anime and manga, fifteen years after the Wedding Wars we see Salvia re-appear beside her angelic companions. No longer a noble angel interested in preservation, she has transformed herself into an instrument of vengeance.