"Welcome to "The Forsaken Race"! This is an anime-stylized high fantasy story, set in a chaotic original world. We'll explore some fantastical themes, but an equal amount of dark themes. Younger and sensitive readers, beware, some of these profane and violent moments may not be palatable to you...
However, if you have the audacity, you may follow the lone Aubade Sylph, Kita, in the long and hard journey that awaits. I do hope you enjoy..."
~ Raven Akuma
Chapter 1 - A Fast Descent
(Present day...)
Every speck. Every crack. Every chip in the white paint.
Kita Rein had the roof of her bedroom memorized better than her own reflection.
She was stuck; she was paralyzed, and worse yet, completely numb. She could barely feel her own breaths. The air coming in and out was so faint and light that it passed her airways like a ghost.
She strained to find details in her peripheral vision. Against her ruffled midnight-blue sheets, the sylph's sickly skin stood out quite jarringly. Not the ashen-white hue that was common among her people, but rough, yellow-tinted like old ivory, and highlighting every vein. Beads of cold sweat gathered along her brow, and goosebumps covered her limbs. Her dark violet hair, which fell just a bit below her shoulders, was matted and strewn all about. Her humble dark gray nightdress was helplessly wrinkled.
She felt the signals to move, the urge to do something -anything, yet couldn't. Like a washed-up corpse with a spirit trapped inside. No touch, no scent, no taste, no perceivable sensation. She couldn't even shift her eyes. In these moments, she was at the mercy of the world.
Worse yet, at the mercy of her own mind.
It was the point in the night where the longer she studied that hauntingly familiar image, the more it began to change. Glimmers of pure black manifested between the specks. Flickering shadows seeped from the cracks. They grew, they gathered, and they continued to darken.
Without warning, without will, a black cloud had formed and spiraled above her. There was nothing distinct within, only shifting shadows and blurry silhouettes. Dark stars, like punctures in reality itself, would appear only to teleport elsewhere the moment she tried to focus on them. The more she tried to ignore the havoc above her, the more she could see it trying to reach her.
However, Kita didn't care anymore. There were plenty of feelings in the whirlwind of emotions that this cloud brought, and sometimes fear would creep inside, but this was not a recent issue.
For six long months, she had been staring into this void. It mostly happened when she lay down in a futile attempt to rest. After those long nights, she would spend the rest of her day feeling this corporeal, inky sickness leeching off of her. The insomnia was the biggest drain thus far; an unnatural, complete inability to get rest one night, while the next would grant her an hour or two if she was lucky. That in itself kept her energy, emotions, and sanity in a stranglehold.
As Kita struggled to ignore the darkness, she heard it call out to her. The faintest whisper that was so close that she sometimes wondered if she was speaking under her breath.
Tonight she could hear, "'Why do you treat yourself this way?'"
Kita ignored the voice. Breaking through her physical numbness, she managed to bite her tongue.
"'You are in pain, yet you do nothing.'"
Again, Kita struggled to ignore it.
"'Do you just not care anymore?'"
That time, Kita managed to regain control of her voice, just enough to whisper, "I didn't care in the first place."
"'Do you not believe that it could be better? That you could do better?'"
"I tried, and I failed."
"'Not only do you feel displaced, but you blame yourself.'"
"I turned everything about my life around. I committed to everything, yet I'm still failing. It's not the place that's the problem."
"'Who is to say that just because you were in the wrong place before, that this is the right place?'"
Kita paused for a moment. For some odd reason, that line was repeating like an echo, endlessly within the walls of her mind.
"'Something may be wrong with you, but something has to be wrong around you as well. Will you even try to find the reason?'"
Kita sighed, "I tried. Nothing works. It's useless..."
"Foolish thoughts of a foolish mind."
"I said..." Kita inhaled deeply then snapped, "It's useless!"
Suddenly, Kita felt a weight land on her chest.
Snapping entirely from her trance, she lurched up in a panic. As a result, she accidentally threw the small dog that had landed on her forward. He simply shook himself off, clearly unfazed, but still looked annoyed.
Kita looked around with staggered breaths, but everything had faded. All she saw was her wretched bedroom -a sanctuary that somehow felt like a prison at the same time.
The covers were barely hanging over her now, twisted from her rolling and thrashing. The walls had royal blue wallpaper, a shade brighter than her bedsheets. while the dark wood floors were partially covered by a round white rug. A small bathroom was across from her, and a descending staircase in the corner led to the downstairs portion of her small house. A half-open window was by the foot of her bed.
Kita could see the night sky through her lace curtains. The moon was illuminating her small village, Lion's Bridge. It was a quaint town closer to the center of Sybilius. The cobblestone roads were empty at this hour, and a fresh breeze trickled in through the small opening in the window, carrying the scent of rich earth and wildflowers in from the expansive meadowscape.
Yet, despite the peace, Kita felt terribly ill. Choking back a gag, she forced her hand to pick up the silver clock on her nightstand. It was still two o'clock in the morning.
Kita sighed heavily, "One hour. And I don't even think that counted as sleep..."
She noticed her dog's ear twitch. The simple pet was a little smaller than a cat, with dark eyes and very long fur that nearly obscured his legs and face. Kita knew he was lazy and cowardly, but ever faithful.
"Sorry for throwing you, Stud," Kita murmured.
Naturally, the dog didn't respond one way or another. Kita rubbed her eyes, trying desperately to avoid thinking about her situation. It would just wind up being a fit of self-resentment and guilt, like she was doing something wrong.
As she finally stood up, she felt as if a pound of nails suddenly crashed onto her head, and every muscle was begging for her to stop moving. Her stomach twisted into a knot, shooting burning bile into her throat.
"Not again..."
Kita rushed into the bathroom and heaved, throwing up into the toilet. She didn't even bother flicking on the oil lamp in her rush. Still coughing, she stood back up, dazed and disoriented. She leaned over the sink, breathing deeply as she felt her stomach slowly settle down.
She looked down at Stud. Though she knew how insane it would look to the outside eye, she had the urge to speak to her only company.
"I hate when that happens," Kita murmured. "I feel like I should talk to Yuna again. But regardless of who's doing it, I don't want to be treated like I'm unstable. I get enough nonsense without making myself sound crazy. Like a full-blown madwoman..."
A bitter taste flooded her mouth and stung her throat. Passersby, towns she had since left, people that she should've been on good terms with; too many people to count had mocked her for much more trivial matters. Ever the pariah, ever on thin ice. Even to the point of getting wary glances from authorities, or want-to-be sleuths trying to get her into a mental ward.
Kita thought to herself, On the other hand, whatever I say, it's likely that everyone thinks worse already. Maybe they even have a point...
Kita sighed, looking around as it took an extra minute just to remember her morning routine.
However, as she looked up at 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. Kita viciously rubbed her eyes, but it wouldn't go away.
Though hesitant, she slowly reached toward the pane.
The shadow did the same, although its movements were stiff and twitchy.
Just as Kita tapped the glass, the room in the mirror turned into a black and red haze, and crimson fluid began to gush out of the sides.
Kita gasped and lurched back. The shadow's hand snapped back as well. It continued to twitch erratically, looking down as it crossed its arms in a corpse-like position. The mirror was now like a window looking into a hellish dimension.
"Wh-What are you doing here?" Kita stammered.
Suddenly, the shadow sprouted claws, then reached through the glass and grabbed her wrist.
Kita screamed, struggling desperately in its frigid grip.
However, as soon as she sank her nails into the hand, everything stopped.
The shadow vanished, the blood was gone, 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. Not from claws, but from her now-bloody nails.
Still alarmed, Kita turned on the oil lamp; even with its very moderate flame, she had to squint. Nothing else happened though. She was left with her fluttering heart, aching head, and even more upset stomach.
Kita sighed heavily, forced to ask the same question she had been asking for a very long time.
"What is wrong with me?"
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