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Like any other night in Tarot Hills, uncertainty and mysterious shadows wander the city streets. However, the sky is clear and the stars are shining, making a view capable of easing any fear.
In this beautiful world, under the silverly moonlight, at the center of a park, a flower starts to grow, its bright colors defying the natural darkness of the night. It blooms and shows its innocent face to the world.
The first thing it does is look at its stem, which has a few yellow thorns, not as many as it would want, but enough for it to feel safe for whatever it might find. Then it looks around, understanding the world's basic nature, a world of humans and monsters that come from the darkness. One of its thorns starts to glow, and the whole flower transforms. Now she's a cute, little, red-haired girl. She starts walking around.
At first, she believes nothing is to be seen in this late hour of the night, but then she sees something unusual on the roof of a nearby building. Focusing her gaze, the girl notices two people fighting.
The first one looks like a mummy, with bandages that look more like cobwebs than normal. The second one looks like a superheroine, or so was what the little girl could infer based on her costume, the most appealing features being a four-pointed star on her chest and a witch hat.
During the fight, the mummy and the superheroine are barely exchanging any hits, instead he is trying to trap her between webs and spiders, while she is blocking everything, throwing at him what looks like a black glass shield, and manipulating gravity to keep herself safe. It's really intense to watch, even from the distance.
Not much time happens until the shield says something in a robotic voice that the girl couldn't understand. The superheroine clenches her fist, and a black ball of energy appears behind the mummy, who wouldn't be able to move. She attacks her foe with the shield, which unleashes a blast of energy. When the blast ends, the mummy is nowhere to be seen. The superheroine sighs, exhausted, as she cleans the spiders off her clothes. Then she just vanishes and leaves.
— Awesome… — The little girl mutters, while walking away to find somewhere to spend the night.
And so the day comes to and end.
The flower in a girl's disguise is used to sleep early, but she soon realized the beauty of this world shines the brightest at night, and she always comes to see that beauty. Days passed and she learned a lot about the city.
She often heard people talking about those monsters known as "dusks", that attack the city almost every day, and how that superheroine, known as Void, is the only one fighting them, whatever her reason could be.
Every night, the little girl would stay awake and look for Void, watching her encounter with multiple foes that wouldn't stop surprising her. They are dangerous, they are terrifying, but Void would always find a way to win, and keep the city safe one more night. Even from the distance she kept from her and the dusks, the girl started admiring that lonely hero's will.
A week passed, then another. Some streets in Tarot Hills are in constant fear of the monsters, while others prefer to trust that cute reporter in the TV and be skeptical about their only hero. "What a world", thinks the little girl, "what a world to be the only one who could protect it".
One night, after a not-so-good encounter with a dusk with really long limbs, Void is tired, hurt, and stressed. But most of all, starving. She's just about to leave the battlefield when she hears a voice calling her. It's not a frightened voice calling for help, or a crying voice who couldn't find the way home. It's an innocent, kind voice. She answers the call, and finds the little girl in the roof of the building nearby.
— Miss Void! Are you okay, miss? — The little girl asks, in a worried voice.
— Yeah… just tired… — She lies, with a defeated posture and a weak voice. — What are you doing here? It's dangerous for you to wander alone
— I've seen you, miss, and I wanted to say thank you.
She takes a small box out of her pocket and offers it to her.
— For protecting us, thank you.
Even if it isn't the first time someone gifts her something, it's not as common for Void, she can't help but smile and tear up a little under her mask. She takes the box and holds it close to her chest.
— That's so sweet, thank you. Now go home and stay safe, alright?
— Of course! Take care you too, miss!
They take separated ways. Back home, the teenager under that hero's mask would open that little box and find cookies inside, and they were really sweet. She wouldn't have to turn the kitchen into a crime scene, and she could sleep better that night.
From exploring the streets and forests in the city to watching Void fighting dusks and sometimes bringing cookies for her, the little girl would always have something to do every day, and endless ways to explore the world and admire its beauty and be amazed by the shine of this story.
Another week passed, then one more. Always busy, day and night, she couldn't leave her early bird side but would also live as a night owl. Sooner than later something would go wrong this way. And so it did.
"I'll just sit here and rest my eyes a few minutes", the little girl says while getting too comfortable in a park bench. Unsafe. She closes her eyes, almost instantly falling asleep.
And even when she's not used to see anything in her dreams, someone is already there, waiting for her to arrive. In an infinite wheat field.
— Greetings, my child, how's the day going?
— I'm not your child, woman. Now what in the world are you doing in my mind?
— Oh, just passing by, wouldn't mind if I mess a little here, would you? I'm not waiting for and answer
She's a tall creature, with a pair of big wings, a witch hat over her head and what seems like a mask over her face. But the mask is moving, too. There are fractions of seconds where she would shift her form to something less comprehensible and then go back to normal.
In her mind, the girl is a flower again, its bare nature revealed to the nightmare.
— What an interesting place is this, you are like nothing I've ever seen, little flower! Kind of… out of this world, aren't you?
— You are correct, CROW.
— Eh, should've expected you'd be able to know what I'm called, I see you have many hidden powers, but oh my! This place won't let you show all that
— I can't hide any of my secrets from you, can I? — The flower is upset
— Well you know my game just as I know yours, it seems
— And what do you plan to do about that? First of all let me tell you I'm NOT helping you with anything and you won't change my mind
— I'm not even going to bother with it, I have more important business than fighting a herb that doesn't even belong here — There is something about that choice of words that makes the flower even angrier — But in the short time you'll stay here, don't you want to play a little with me?
— Well, why not I guess — Another experience from this world, right?
With a snap of her fingers, Crow transforms the entire wheat field. The sky starts to crack as everything catches on fire, many sickles start flying around. The flower loses contact with the ground to avoid any danger.
— Sugar honey iced tea, my guesses of you being a nightmare fuel weren't wrong at all!
The flower puts its leaves in a praying position, bringing clouds and rain to put off the fire while it keeps dodging the sickles in the air.
— I'm not sure if I want to see how far you can go with it
— Sure you want to!
Crow throws herself at the flower, and they both fall inside a deep, dark hole.
The flower opens its eyes and finds itself in a flowerpot, inside a living room. A gramophone is playing orchestral music from the 20s.
— Let's see if I can get a sweet reaction from you! — Crow is nowhere to be seen, but her voice is loud and clear.
Turning into a human again, she gets out from the flowerpot and starts walking. The walls look fragile, so the first thing she tries it to punch it, but in response she feels something like a sting on her fist. It starts aching really fast.
— Bee venom? Come on!!!
It was worse the fact it was from a bee than the pain itself. She lets her hand fall of her wrist before continuing to explore the room. It was hidden, but she finally finds a door. She opens it and goes trough. Now there's a long hallway covered wall to wall with framed photos. She would have just ignored everything and keep forward, but something forces her to look at each picture.
— Those are…
Many tales she had explored, but lost the chance to go back forever. There's a frown on her face, but she remains calm. At least, until she sees the pictures changing.
— What do you think might have happened after you left? Did you truly saved the world? Or did you simply leave them vulnerable to something worse?
Some photos get ruined, some of them burn, she can see the faces of those she lost contact with, in terror, and hear the cries from every tale, louder and louder for every second passing. The music is also getting louder, giving the girl a huge headache and a growing tightness in her chest.
"You didn't save them", she hears, "you never could", it's barely understandable between all the noise and the oppressive air. It's like the worst catastrophes in each picture are trying to reach her and make her feel the pain, successfully. Losing all of its petals and having its thorns forcibly removed would be less painful than being here for just one more minute.
The last few steps on her way to the next door were painfully hard to take, but she finally gets the chance to take the doorknob and turn it. As she pushes the door, darkness surrounds her. The music turns off slowly.
A faint silhouette approaches her, blade in hand, and starts attacking the defenseless girl while a female voice talks to her with a judgmental voice. "Didn't I tell you before, error?", she says, "you can't do anything right", it keeps going, "you shouldn't have ever existed". The girl is unsure if the voice is fading or if her ears have gone numb, but after a while she can't understand a single word.
Then there's only darkness and silence. Back as a flower, its face shows no emotion, just emptiness.
— That hurt, Crow, and it hurt a lot. Well played.
Crow shows herself, she doesn't have a visible mouth, but her eyes are smiling.
— Well done you too, Karvel, you gave me just what I wanted. Now it's time to wake up, out there a sweet surprise awaits for you, good luck with HIM!
— Who's "him"? — She doesn't even process the fact that its name was said out loud.
Instead of answering, Crow just waves her hand, as a storm made of chains comes out from nowhere.
Far from there, a certain teenager is looking at her laptop, when a strange eye symbol appears on her screen.
"There's something you might want to see", it's written on the screen, "at the broken bridge" it says.
"Hurry up"
She has to go now.
…
Karvel opens her eyes really slowly, still stunned by the nightmare. She needs a whole minute to go back on her senses, first she notices she's not touching the ground, then the fact that something is carrying her, then something icy is around her neck. It's a chain. Just after the realization she feels completely awake, and now terrified.
She is not alone, surrounded by giant guard dogs and other prisoners who are dusks, and she knows that there's someone else just out of her sight, guiding the chains somewhere. Chains, dogs, the signs are clear, the one who captured her is a prison guard who wants to trap all dusks, and he must have mistaken her nature with a dusk one. She can't think of what to do, knowing she doesn't have the right thorns to get out of this one easily.
She's unable to do anything as she sees the city being further and further away, until they arrive at a broken bridge, with a giant, dark portal in the middle of it, held open by more chains. She closes her eyes, clasps her hands in prayer, and puts her faith in being saved. And so it happens.
Just as the prisoners started crossing the portal, Void arrives, she's invisible but Karvel can feel her presence. She opens her eyes and sees the prison guard, Ward, staring at her, she's the only one left to cross the portal. Then she looks at the point where Void is.
— HELP!!! — Karvel yells. — I'M NOT ONE OF THESE MONSTERS, HELP ME GET OUT OF HERE!!!
Void looks at her, shocked. She already knows her, nothing more than an ordinary girl, chained up for no reason. Then she looks at her foe, defiantly. She couldn't stand this.
Fast as the wind, Void jumps towards the girl and hugs her with her left arm, turning her invisible too, but that doesn't stop Ward from noticing her. He quickly throws his hand at her, but she can barely block it with the shield she activates from her Looking Glass. The hit was so strong that the shield broke and he sent them flying far form there, but Void used her gravity powers to stop before they hit anything.
They land safely and Void quickly checks on Karvel, both being visible again. She's not hurt, but the chain is still on her neck. They don't have time to think about how to get rid of it before they hear the grunts of the guard dogs.
— Damn it — Void mutters — You… try to avoid them, I'll find a way to get us out from this
She doesn't give Karvel time to answer before she goes to fight them. She stays there, witnessing the combat closer than she has ever did before. Still with the chain on her neck.
Void restores her shield and protects herself from the dogs, while using gravity wells to lift rocks on the ground to throw at them, but those dogs would just not give up. She also tries to think of a way to break the girl's chain, and at the same time, she's praying internally that Ward doesn't arrive before she can solve this mess.
Karvel is panicking. Looks at her arm, where thorns start to sprout. They all shine with a different powers, but none of them could offer a direct solution.
— You know what, screw it, they'll grow back anyway — She moves all the thorns to her fist, and punches herself in the neck in an attempt to break the chain.
She smiles when a crack forms on the metallic trap, and keeps forcing it open, again, and again, until the chain falls off. Then she looks at her hand, and just as she expected, the thorns are almost destroyed.
— Just one more hit and I'll be damned
She looks back at the fight and knows where exactly she has to use this final punch.
By this time Void already defeated some of the guard dogs, too hurt by rocks to approach her again. And Ward has already arrived. He looks around and notices the defeated eyes of his dogs. This makes him mad, and Void can already see more chains ready to ensnare her. She covers herself the best she can with her shield.
— LEAVE US ALONE
Void looks up and there's Karvel, throwing herself at Ward with strong hit on his face, not hard enough to do any damage, but at least they could buy a few seconds. She didn't have time to look at her fist but she was sure that something was glowing and shattering there. Then the girl jumps at Void's arms.
— WE HAVE TO GO NOW
With no time to process anything, they both become invisible and Void flies away, taking them as far as possible, deep in the forest, until she's sure Ward won't find them.
They finally land and sigh, relieved. Then they look at each other, the moment feels suddenly awkward.
— I'm so sorry you had to get in such trouble to save me, Miss Void
She takes a few seconds to think about her answer.
— Miss Void? Are you okay?
— I… actually have to ask you something, kid. He only traps dusks who venture out in this realm, and he does try to capture me sometimes because of my powers, but why was he trying to capture you too? Were you a dusk this whole time?
— N-no! I promise I'm not one of those! If you have a way to test it I will prove it to you! I am… — But she can't lie anymore. — … neither a dusk or a human, actually. I am not from this world.
This definitely was not on her plans, but she didn't have a choice now. She abandons her human form, revealing her true shape. Nothing more than a large, brightly colored flower.
— I know this is strange but I can explain it! Ask me anything, there are just a few questions I can't answer but I promise it's not anything bad!
Through what felt like an interrogation, it cleared everything up to Void. Its magic nature shown through its thorns, the fact that it's from another world, but only it could travel like that to this place. It's only a visitor, who wanted to take a close glance to the story she's writing with her invisible pen.
— I see… May I ask your name?
— That's… something I can't tell you. I don't like saying it knowing I can't stay here much longer.
— Do you have to leave now? Why?
— I lost almost all my thorns to break that chain. Without them, I'm vulnerable to everything here. Staying would only cause more problems. I'm so sorry…
— Well, we're safe now, so I think it's okay, you don't have to worry… Time to say goodbye isn't it?
— Wait! I've seen how much you struggle with this whole superheroing by yourself, and as an apology there's something I can give to help at least a little.
There's only one thorn left on its stem. It brings its two leaves to it and tears it off.
— Take this thorn, it'll became a lucky charm. It's okay, they will all grow back when I get back home! This… is the only thing I can do for you now.
Void takes the thorn on her hand. It's a little smaller than a golf ball, and not sharp enough to accidentally prick her. After looking at it a few seconds, she puts the thorn in her pocket.
— Thanks, I guess…
— I wish you the best, Miss Void. Goodbye!
— Take care, little flower
Void waves her hand and walks away.
Karvel looks around her, and then at the night sky. It's as beautiful as the first time it looked at it. There is actually another thorn on its stem, the one who will let it leave the world. But before it does so, it realizes something.
— I COULDN'T TAKE A MEMENTO FROM HERE, DAMN IT!
It hears a bird cawing above it. It seems like a regular crow, an its caws sound like laughing. The flower, annoyed, traps the bird in its leaves and plucks some feathers, before letting it fly away. Karvel looks at these feathers and tries to give them a four-pointed star shape.
— Better than nothing, I guess.
Karvel then closes its eyes. It closes its petals, its leaves, its only thorn. It closes its presence, its existence in this world.
That was a fun adventure.
Back home, while the teenager under Void's mask is recovering from her fight and eating snacks faster than a normal person would do, she's holding the thorn on her hand and staring at it, thoughtful.
— From another world, huh? Should I be worried that more people like it can arrive here too, and not be as good as that flower?
The only light in the kitchen comes from the fridge, until it starts to flicker. She quickly closes the door, hoping that "she" won't break it. Then she sighs, tired, now in complete darkness.
— I guess I have enough problems to worry about right here.
But the thorn on her hand shines warmly, somehow assuring her something.
"Everything is going to be okay"