Chapter Text
A thrum echoed throughout the city of Ebott, humming a seemingly supernatural melody to the people that reside in it. The city itself was lackluster, now, without the passing population to bless its streets with the colors of the rainbow; instead, the only color to the city was the drowned mix of blacks, greys and greyed earthy tones, all bleeding together like an overly-wet watercolor painting. Not even the mountain next to the city dared to shine in brilliant glory; the normal emerald green glow of the forest was replaced with the muddled colors that one could only compare to the sad creek, with the mud and the moss mixing together and creating an ugly mix of earth and nature. The city seemed to weep, but for what, the people did not know.
Huddled, her back to the sky and her face to what she held delicately in her small hands, the girl crouched in the rainy alleyway. Her long blonde tendrils of hair hung in sopping clumps around her neck and back, and wisps of newly-growing hair clung to her face from the overwhelming moisture. Her jacket stuck to her in the most uncomfortable areas, the cotton pouring a neverending current of water onto the greyed asphalt of the alley below, creating small streams leading to a main stream of running water that pulsated and flowed roughly to a large city drain not far from where the young girl was hunched over in a protective stance. The water roared at her, threatening to swallow her where she stood if she did not move.
But the girl refused.
In her hands, so delicate and small, laid a single blue lily that glowed a soft blue light. It had long since been cut off by the stem, but the lily continued to flourish, its comforting glow never dimming. It held hope, it held dreams, and it held promises that the girl could hear it whispering to her, the soft sound of a small bell gracing lightly into the girl’s ears, settling in her mind where she transferred them to her heart to be stored for longer than eternity. The girl held onto the lily as her anchor in the ever-dangerous world she was left in, with its bleeding colors running down the drain like washing off a canvas. The girl knew what would happen if she was spotted with something as valuable as the glowing lily, but she didn’t care. She would keep it hidden and safe, away from the greedy, dripping hands of the business owners and mafia families that littered and controlled the areas in the city of colors. She would protect its glow, even if that meant giving her life for it.
The girl didn’t know how she ended up with the flower. It had been floating down the current river of a drainage system when she was so lucky as to spot it while she was huddled in the alley, waiting for the sky to finish its masterpiece. But as she had first picked up the glowing, warm flower, she knew that it was no coincidence that this flower ended up here with her. But from whom could it be?
Maybe she would’ve been able to think about who could’ve possibly blessed her if a can didn’t clink down the alley asphalt, a shockingly metallic sound in the silencing beat of the rain. Head shooting up, eyes wide with a wide array of emotions unplaced, the girl snapped to see what she would be running away from. There, at the end of the long alley, was the dark figure of a tall person, its lanky silhouette seemingly just as frozen as the girl remained. The person was still a ways from the girl, but she would take no risks, and rose to her feet slowly, mind and heart ready to race down the opposite path if the silhouette so much as took a single step towards her; towards the flower.
Minutes raced by, matching the speed of her heart. The rain dripped down in a steady beat, filling the air with music as the two stared. Nausea rose the girl’s throat with the nervous, frantic breaths that entered and exited her fragile lungs. But then— the silhouette started towards her, walking at a pace that only a tall person could keep up.
Anxiety pulsed in her veins and she spun around quickly, the flower tucked lightly to her chest right above her heart, and she ran with all her might towards the end of the alley. Water splashes and the sound of pounding shoes joined the chorus of the rain as the girl ran and the silhouette gave chase, erratic bouts of breath shuddering past the girl’s lips as she dashed across the asphalt. The muted sounds of someone calling for the girl murmured in a shout that was only slightly louder than the rain’s song, but it brushed past the girl anyways. She was not willing to listen to the stranger.
She was not willing to risk losing her flower.
The end of the alleyway opened up to an empty stretch of road the led into the heart of the city, and the girl ran with the speed of a fox over it, not watching for any cars because of the heavy rains. More shouting sounded behind her, but this time louder, closer. The girl inhaled sharp and quick, fear stabbing her in the gut before lending wings of eagles to her feet as she covered ground quicker and quicker. She only needed to make it to the next alley, then she would be able to easily lose her pursuer.
Or so she thought.
And maybe it would’ve worked, if the pavement of the road had not been as slick as ice and if she had not been going to fast with how clumsy she was. Her foot slid, and time seemed to slow to a halt. Her second foot, trying to catch her, slipped as well and she could feel her body being pulled down, lower and lower, towards the earth and away from the sky, the hope she had in her heart slipping with it as she landed on her side, her head striking the hard, wet pavement with a sickening thud, and the world going dark.
So, so very dark.