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—-
Harken was a strong girl.
She knew this to be true, for her parents had told her so every night before she went to sleep.
They had whispered it in her ear as they softly and gently caressed her flaky, fragile body - “Harken, you will grow up to be something far greater than any of us could ever imagine… but for now, as you are, you are brave enough to fend for yourself. And that is all we can hope for.”
Her parents had taught her everything she knew - her Pop had taught her how to fish and use her javelin, her Mom had taught her how to navigate and escape dangerous situations..
They were very smart. So, they had to know what they were talking about.
Harken may have been small, and young, and physically not very tough, but she had something no other Construct - even the most toughest, scariest ones - had:
She had her wits, and her quick mind. She may not have been able to fight Constructs in head to head combat - but she could best them in other ways.
And that was a strength in and of its own.
Besides, she was still quite new to the world - she had been born only but a couple moons ago. Surely, she would blossom into something beautiful and powerful, like the flowers she liked to care for in her tiny little garden.
—
Harken knew her parents had told her to stick by them and to not, under any circumstances, stray away from the two of them, but..
She had been wanting to explore for the longest time now. Plus, surely they wouldn’t notice if she snuck off for only a few moments..?
She was intelligent - she was confident she would be able to get herself out of any possible trouble she could encounter. She just needed to be careful, and it would be like she had never left at all-
…
Harken froze at the sound of a tree branch snapping.
There was someone else here.
She stayed still for a couple moments, forgetting to breathe as her eye scanned the perimeter for any signs that the other Construct had spotted her.
Oh, she should have never gone through with this dumb, foolish idea of hers..!
She was supposed to be smart. She should’ve known nothing good would come from this.
And now she would die. Die alone and afraid, far from home, far from her family, before she even got to fully grow up.
Perhaps Harken was doomed from the start. Perhaps there was nothing she could have done. Perhaps-
She heard the sound of… cooing. That was odd; Constructs communicated using clicks, and only ever made any other sounds when they were in deep pain.
Maybe.. this other Construct wasn’t a threat to her? Maybe they were just lost and confused, like her, and possibly injured?
Gathering up her courage, Harken approached the sound.
‘ Hello? ‘ She tentatively asked, taking extra caution to make sure the clicks her body made were as quiet as possible - wouldn’t want to attract any larger Constructs, after all - ‘ Is anyone there? Are you okay? ‘
Looking around, she couldn’t see anything - probably due to how dark it was. Maybe she had just.. imagined the whole thing? Maybe it was simply no more than a delusion created by her tired mind to convince her to go home?
‘ Huh.. ‘ She said to herself, ‘ Maybe there was nothing to be scared of the entire time. ‘
‘ I should probably get going now- ‘
But just as she let her guard down, the wind picked up, and-
She felt a searing, burning pain on her side, and the sensation of a claw scratching into her skin, as well as hot golden ichor splaying out stained her mind.
The Construct had finally decided to show themselves, in all their glory.
They were huge, and hulking - more colossal than any other Construct Harken had ever laid witness to. They were a dull grayish color, and their skin was polished with their own mauve ichor, which pooled out of a wound on their arm.
Harken didn’t hesitate. She summoned one of her javelins, and threw it directly at her enemy.
‘ T - Take that!! ‘
The larger Construct shuddered once the javelin made contact with their body, but it didn’t seem to affect them all that much, as they snarled only a few moments after and began to clench their first, visibly angry at Harken for what she had done to them, especially when they were in such a weak state as is.
Realizing that she was perhaps sorely outmatched, Harken took what was most likely the most logical source of action and dashed on the opposite direction as fast as she could, her aggressor hot on her heels.
‘ Please don’t kill me…’ She sobbed to no one, pleading to a god that didn’t exist as she clung on to dear life, narrowly avoiding slipping on branches and falling through gaps in ravines.
She had intentionally chosen the most convoluted, long path, hoping to be able to shake off her tormentor along the way, but they still weren’t letting up.
She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t defend herself against someone so much stronger than her without dying in an instant, and her attempts at outmaneuvering them were failing.
If only her parents were here to guide her, as they always were.
Wait a second… her parents!
She remembered something they had told her all about one day, when they were discussing what to do if she encountered a larger Construct and they weren’t around to save her.
“If worse comes to worse…” Her Pop trailed off.
“We… really don’t recommend you do this, honey, but-“ Her Mom looked to her side, “If you ever need to, for whatever reason, you can always absorb some of the power from your javelin to get stronger for a little bit. Probably not enough to win you the fight, but enough to turn the tides in your favor.”
“That sounds cool, though..” Harken lamented, “Can you tell me how to do it?”
“Well, you see-“ Pop began.
“Don’t you think she shouldn’t be learning about things like this so young?” Mom interjected, clearly having had quite enough of this conversation, “She should be allowed to enjoy her life while she’s still innocent-“
“Do you want our daughter to die?” Pop argued, “She can’t stay ignorant forever. Innocence will get you nowhere in this world. Everyday, Constructs are out there dying, and you expect me to just sit back and not teach my own child the things she needs to avoid that fate-?”
“I didn’t mean it like that, and you know I didn’t!” Mom stood up, “Fine. Teach her everything you want her to know yourself. I couldn’t care less.”
“Just don’t come crying to me when she gets herself killed in a fight.”
Mom stormed off, leaving Harken and her Pop alone.
“Pop..?” Harken asked, her voice nervous, “What’s going on..? Why did Mom get so mad of all a sudden? Was it because of what I asked?”
Tears began to spring from her eye, “I’m sorry … I didn’t mean to mess everything up, I swear-“
“No, Harken, you didn’t ruin anything. Don’t you worry.” Her Pop helped her wipe her remaining tears away, “Your Mom just wants what’s best for you, that’s all. I do too, but.. we can disagree on it sometimes.”
“So… about the javelin…”
Summoning yet another javelin, this time pouring forth a majority of her energy into it, she stabbed herself in the chest.
Just barely managing to muffle the holy screech that threatened to erupt from her lungs, she leapt upon the other Construct, kicking it square in the chest, and knocking it back a solid few feet.
Using the rest of her newly gained strength and speed, she ran off, looking behind her every so often to make sure she wasn’t being followed.
When she finally reached home, her parents were there. Waiting for her with a look of relief and fear on their faces.
They rushed her back inside, fussing over her and scolding her as they tended to the wounds she had sustained from her nightly escapade.
It was not a good night for the struggling family.
(If only she knew this was far from the last time she’d see the larger Construct.)
—-
Harken liked to entertain herself with thoughts of parallel worlds.
Fantastical worlds that could only originate from the mind of a child; a world where everyone loved one another and held hands in peaceful harmony - a world where nobody wished to attack eachother and instead banded together to plant the whole world in flowers and where everything was colorful and bright; a world in where no sorrows could exist at all.
It was one of the only ways she could keep herself occupied, besides fishing or training or gardening.
But it was only imaginary. Other worlds couldn’t possibly exist.
…Or so Harken thought.
Walking into that portal was the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life, Harken thought as she took a look around her.
Weird creatures that all looked identical to one another stood before her, gawking at her and taking notes as if she were some never before seen oddity.
She clutched her bloodied javelin to her chest for comfort, trembling a bit.
She trilled, the fear from the events that had transpired just a few hours ago still fresh in her mind.
Her friend… the large, marble-like Construct she had against all odds befriended and grown to cherish, had died saving her.
And now she was in a world that was entirely hostile and foreign to her.
Eventually, one of the odd creatures made a move and forcefully grabbed her by the hand. She could only make out a few words amongst all the incomprehensible gibberish she heard them speak: “Experiment… Success… Younger…”
Standing her ground, Harken refused to be drag along, ‘ Where am I? What are you? I want to go home, please let me go home- ‘
The creature seemed freaked out by her panicked clicking, if their expressions were anything to go by, and began to chatter. Loudly.
“What could it…”
“I wonder…”
“Small…”
Harken twitched as she heard all of the noise. It seeped into her senses, overwhelming her even moreso than everything else already was. She hated it. Hated it hated it hated it-
Under the weight of her emotions - her misery, her terror, her rage - her body began to shatter. White-hot anger filled every inch of her body, and before she knew it-
An angelic scream belted out of her, and she suddenly felt as if she were a passenger in her own body, as something more.. primal took control of her.
She heard screams. Terrible, deafening, ringing screams that caused her to quiver in fear and feel a small sense of respite once they were all cut short.
Once she came back to herself, she was covered in a strange crimson ichor-like substance from head to toe, her eye wide open.
The bodies of her captors lay splayed around her, mutilated and torn apart roughly.
Harken knew, instinctively, that she had done something bad.
But it was quiet. And that was mattered.
….Didn’t it?
—
Artful never considered himself a father.
He had never been interested in having any children of his own, no matter how much his mother or father tried to convince him otherwise. Romance just wasn’t his forte.
But something in him changed once he met her.
He was looking to hide in an abandoned subway station for the night, and was very startled when he saw a small, otherworldly being sleeping on the staircase, curled up into a little ball and clutching a glowing javelin to her chest like a child would a teddy bear.
He took note of the blood that stained her skin and attempted to step to the side to avoid waking her-
Only to be stopped once she switched to clinging onto his leg tightly.
Artful tried to shake her off as gently as possible, whispering: “Oh non non non, little one, you mustn’t..”
But she simply wouldn’t let go, sleeping peacefully as she cuddled up to his warmth.
…And that was how Artful ended up sitting on the floor of an old and empty subway, a little girl from another dimension slumbering on his leg, relaxed by the sound of his music box.
‘ Pop… you came back… ‘
Artful didn’t know what the clicks coming from her body meant, and he certainly didn’t want to find out.
Stroking her head softly and patting it every now and then to keep her pacified, he nearly melted when the girl leaned into his touch, much like a cat.
“You are so very precious, Mon Cher.” Artful whispered, “I wonder what your name is..”
“It is…unfortunate we had to meet like this.” He mused, “I would hope your family is alive and well and looking for you, but I know that is most likely not the case.”
He chuckled humorlessly, “Would you like me to be your new family, then? How about it, Ma Fille?”
The child scooted herself up into his lap.
“…I’ll take that as a yes.”
—