Chapter 2: A Fast Descent
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(PRESENT DAY...)
Kita Rein was breathing heavily, smoke sticking to her tongue and throat. The sylph's ash-white skin was covered in cuts and streaks of dirt. Her dark violet hair was matted and stuck to the beads of sweat that streamed down her face. To any normal person, it would be shocking to have just opened their eyes and found this.
It was a large glade, surrounded by dark woods. Bright flames were slowly burning the trees, weapons, and tools of war. The grass seemed to be sprouting corpses, twisted beyond recognition and filling the air with the smell of roasting, rotting flesh. The iron-like tang of blood, cutting through the smoke in the air, was the final touch to make anyone gag.
This ruin was completely foreign, as well. Kita had no memory of where or what this place was. It didn't help that smoke and rays of red and orange clouded any details that could provide a hint.
Kita backed away. "Another one. I'm here again. Is this even a dream? Wh-Why is there another one? Why is everything on fire?!"
Suddenly, as if things couldn't get more horrid, the environment became tainted with a horrible sound. It would require a double-take to realize that it was a voice, harsh as claws scratching on steel. Furthermore, it was this banshee-like voice which gave Kita an answer.
"All will become clear in due time."
Kita took a sharp breath, angry and afraid at the same time. She had heard this before, and was not happy to hear it again.
"You again?" She muttered. "I thought you were gone! Why can't you leave me alone?!"
"It is not a matter of what I want, it is a matter of what you need."
"I don't even know who you are, or what that means!"
"You will learn in time. You must grow, first. You already know what you must do."
Kita was clearly annoyed. "I'm not listening to ANOTHER voice in my head. Even if I wanted to, why me? In case you haven't noticed, there's nothing like this in Sybilius."
The voice just hissed, "I can see the bits and pieces of your possible future. I do not know what drew me to you, exactly, but it is undoubtedly important. I've felt this strange aura before, but I failed to guide it. You, on the other hand, show promise in your stubborn nature. This is also a good time, I should say."
Kita looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"You have a long road ahead of you, as most do. There will be many mental, spiritual, and physical challenges for you to face. Succeed in every challenge, and you will become stronger, wiser, and more resilient. Fail, and there are indeed consequences -if you can survive them."
"Stop threatening me!" Kita snapped.
Still, the voice was not deterred. "Listen to my instructions. The answers you need are in your surroundings, but they are indeed buried. Find them, and do so quickly. Time is not on our side. What you would think is a fairytale is all too real; the beginning of the end approaches."
As a black flash overcame her vision, Kita retreated a few paces and tried to rub the haze from her eyes. When she saw what was left, though, she shuddered and held in a scream.
An unnaturally tall figure appeared. Black robes, tattered and torn, hid its body. A hood covered its head and face in shadows. All that was revealed were two twisted black horns and two goat's ears that stuck out of the fabric of its hood, and hands that were literally nothing but bones.
"Ew, what are you?" Kita muttered. "Get away from me!"
The same voice replied, coming from the dark figure. "Find the clues. Follow the path. Your misery will never be cured, unless you follow it."
"My..." Kita sighed, dropping to her knees. "No, please. I'm in so much pain, and I feel like I'm going crazy. Every day is just a struggle, only for this mess to happen at night. There has to be someone else you can use. Just leave me alone."
"That cannot happen," the figure spoke. "I believe, at the depths of your psyche, you already know why."
When Kita tried to look at him again, blackness enveloped her vision. All she saw, amid the dark, was a strange pattern piercing through. A symbol with four flame-shaped designs, surrounding a four-tipped star.
With just a blink, everything faded for good.
Instead of a burning glade, Kita was now staring at the roof of her bedroom. The covers, barely hanging over her now, were twisted because of her rolling and thrashing.
Kita slowly looked around, dazed and disoriented. Though the nightmare seemed to last ten minutes at most, it had really been two hours. She looked around, almost expecting to find the mysterious creature or the glade from hell.
However, all she saw was her bedroom. The walls with blue wallpaper a tint brighter than the midnight blue of her bedsheets, and dark wooden floors that were partially covered by a white rug. A small bathroom was across from her, and a descending staircase led to the downstairs portion of her small house. A half-open window was on the wall to her left, by the foot of her bed.
Kita could see the night sky through the lace curtains. The moonlight was illuminating her small village, Lion's Bridge, which was closer to the center of her large homeland, Sybilius.
She thought to herself, 'Is it still night?'
Sure enough, when she checked the silver clock on her nightstand, it was still two o'clock in the morning.
Kita sighed heavily, "I haven't been able to sleep past two-thirty, and I usually don't get to sleep until midnight. That's if I sleep at all, of course. These nightmares, and..." She hesitated. "Everything else is going to drive me crazy, if I keep this up. Although, I think they already have."
As she lay in thought, she was interrupted by a small white dog. It leaped onto her bed, starting to turn in circles as it found a comfortable spot. This simple pet was a little smaller than a cat, with dark eyes and very long fur that nearly obscured his legs and face. For one so old in dog years, he didn't show it. He was certainly lazy, though.
Kita chuckled, petting him. "I'm sorry, Stud, did I wake you up?"
As she sat there in total silence, her mind drifted again. She began contemplating what she had just gone through. However, it was easier said than done.
'The memory's already fading,' she thought. 'I remember heat and smoke. There must've been a fire, and I think there was a person. That's all I can remember.'
This was a common problem with her dreams. By the time the panic had receded enough for her to think, she couldn't remember anything specific. By morning, it was all a blur of fright and confusion.
Instead of lingering on it, Kita shook her head, trying to clear her mind. As she finally sat up, she felt as if a pound of nails suddenly crashed onto her head, and every muscle was begging for her to stop moving. Waking up was miserable for anyone, but this feeling didn't go away. It would persist throughout the day, bringing random migraines and aches with it.
Kita impatiently groaned, "How can it be so haunting when I don't even remember what happened, fully? It doesn't make any sense. Maybe I should talk to Yuna about it, since she's probably used to hearing about these things. Then again, regardless of who's doing it, I don't know if I want to be treated as an asylum inmate."
Kita figured it was a stupid idea. In her experience, she knew dragging others into this would only get the word out, and the whole town would be suspicious of her.
'I guess it still wouldn't make much of a difference. What are they going to do, start another rumor? It's like everyone sees me as a freak. The townsfolk, the nobles, even my own father-'
Kita gasped, cutting her train of thought there. She quickly got up, clearing her head again, then sluggishly approached the bathroom. There was an oil lamp nearby, but she didn't bother retrieving it. She preferred it to be dark, since too much light would hurt her eyes.
However, as she turned to the mirror, she started to notice something strange.
The pane was rippling like water, and her reflection was pitch black. It was almost like she was casting a shadow, but that should've been impossible without any light on her. Kita lurched back, rubbing her eyes viciously, but it wouldn't go away.
"What's wrong with the mirror?" She murmured.
Though hesitant, she had to be sure it was real. She slowly reached toward the pane. The shadow did the same, although its movements were rigid and twitchy.
Just as Kita tapped the glass, the room in the mirror turned into a black and red haze, and the shadow's hand lurched back. Kita gasped, but couldn't find the strength to move. The shadow continued to twitch, looking down as it crossed its arms in a corpse-like position. This was no mirror anymore, but a window into a hellish place.
"Wh-What are you doing in my house?" Kita stammered.
Suddenly, the shadow sprouted horns and massive claws, then reached through the glass and grabbed her wrist.
Kita screamed, struggling viciously in its cold grip.
As soon as she sank her nails into the hand, however, everything stopped. The shadow vanished, the bathroom looked normal, and the mirror was just that; a normal mirror. When Kita looked down, she was grabbing her own wrist, and there were scratches from the struggle. From the looks of it, they came from her own nails, not monstrous claws.
Still alarmed, Kita turned on the oil the oil lamp, practically blinding her. Nothing else happened, though. She was just left with a fluttering heart and her scratched, trembling hands.
Kita sighed heavily, "What's wrong with me?"
-Arf!
Kita flinched and looked down. Her small dog was waiting just outside the bathroom, clearly confused.
'Right. Lingering won't help. Just try to focus.'
With that, she finally proceeded with her usual schedule. She picked a brush off the wooden counter and brushed the frizz out of her straight, dark violet hair, which fell to mid-back. All while she glared at her strange appearance, which brought a deep-seated sense of irritation and unease.
In general, Kita looked like a normal Aubade Sylph. A bit scrawnier, with heavy bags under her eyes, but those were the only remarkable traits. Like all of her race, she had ashen skin and long pointed ears.
Of course, while Kita wanted to believe she looked completely normal, there was one trait that set her apart from the others. Something so strange, it would even set herself on edge. It was her eyes. Instead of brown, hazel, or any normal color, they were a bright, vibrant shade of purple. Others had very frequently mocked her, or even feared her, and that trait was among the many they would use in their attacks.
'It can't just be because of my eyes that they don't like me. I never do anything too out-of-the-ordinary, either. I thought moving to this village would change that, but it didn't. What the hell is wrong with me? How do I fix it? Can I fix it?'
No matter how she looked at herself, she just couldn't point to one thing. Everything was wrong, and she couldn't believe otherwise.
Frustrated, Kita switched off the lamp. "I may as well stay in the nightmares. That's the only place I fit in."
Taking a deep breath, she headed down the wooden stairs. Each step would emit small creaks or cracks. The faint pitter-patter of Stud's paws came from behind her, assuring her that he was following.
At the bottom of the curved stairs, there were only two rooms attached to the main hallway, which had old white walls and dark, weathered wood flooring.
Although now, Kita was frozen at the bottom of the stairs. She felt like she had just snapped out of a trance.
"What am I doing?" The sylph murmured.
The only response was a high-pitched bark from her small dog.
Kita blinked hard. "Sorry, Stud, I wasn't talking to you."
Kita continued on, mindlessly entering the living area and kitchen, which consisted of more white walls and dark wood floors, an old brick fireplace, and two black chairs. The kitchen was tucked away in the back-left corner, with a wooden countertop and matching cabinets. Everything in there seemed untouched, because it usually was. Kita barely ate, and what she did eat was just scraps.
Slowly, Kita sulked toward the fireplace, where she fumbled for a matchbox on the mantle. She lit a match and threw it into the fireplace. While the flames started to grow onto the firewood, Kita seated herself on the floor just in front of it, watching the red-orange haze with a distant look. Stud hopped onto one of the chairs, watching the flames with uncertainty.
Fire was the only thing that could soothe Kita after witnessing the visions. It was ironic that even though she recalled these unstable red-orange hues in her nightmares, the same thing helped her forget them in reality, and soothe her fright. Without the suffocating smoke or imminent danger, it left a soothing warmth and dim light.
Kita wearily spoke again, "My life is out of control. My days are unproductive, and my nights are just hell."
Stud whined, lowering his head.
"What should I do?" Kita murmured. "I've lost so much, already. I'm broke and jobless, and I can barely walk without becoming disoriented. There's always some horrible feeling I have, and I can't make it go away no matter what I do. I always smile and laugh for my friends, but it's so fake..." She sighed, "Needless to say, whatever I'm seeing, I shouldn't be. I know they're hallucinations, but they feel so real. What's next? I'll be in a straight jacket before long."
Kita clenched her fists, taking a deep breath.
"I just have to press on. My friends will help me, as they always have. I'll get better. Somehow..."
That being said, she tried to relax as she watched the flames lick at the firewood and surrounding brick. However, at the back of Kita's mind, a very dark thought persistently loomed over her.
-- Gift
received