Chapter 4: An interesting turn of events

Thus, my dear reader, the brief interaction between our protagonist and her very first friend ended.

But, unfortunately, that very significant memory was not long kept by either of them.

More pressing matters soon caused both our pink haired damsel and her new found friend to forget all about this meeting and focus their efforts on other upcoming events.

Which brings us to the second event in Alythi's childhood worth retelling.

It occurred when she was in her 15th year.

One night, she found herself tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep. There was this strange sense of foreboding hanging over her. It was suffocating.

She decided to get up and head down to the kitchen for some water.

As she climbed down the last stair, and passed her father's study, she heard soft muffled cries echoing from within.

"I'm sorry my dear... so sorry... I've failed... I... " the cries broke off into silence.

"No..." it continued. "No, there's still time, I can..."

But again all was hushed.

Alythia stood still, careful to not even breathe too loudly.

The voice continued.

"I have to get rid of it, all of it. Yes, burn it, he can't read ash... he will have to stop... but then, the girl...".

It  trailed off once more.

"He will use her, use her to get to me. He knows, oh he knows, he knows I've memorized it all..."

More mumbles ensued and for a time no distinct words could be discerned.

"THATS IT!!" the voice suddenly yelled, and Alythia felt her heart race from fright.

"That's it...", it softened, "my mind is the problem, that and the books, I'll get rid of both. Then he won't touch her, no need to then... she doesn't know anything I made sure of it. Never spent time with me, he knows that, she never did... pushed to the side and ignored, that's how she was, that's how it needed to be, then he wouldn't think of using her, yes, thinking her useless... that's how it was... how it needed to be..."

Again the voice trailed off.

A deafening silence filled the air.

Alythia stood, frozen in place, for how long she could not recall.

Then suddenly, she could hear her father whimpering.

"Lydia, I tried... my dear, I failed... there is no other way... how can I, without you... she has to live, please... please... live..."

Then the words again broke up into inaudible sobs mingled with noisy breaths.

Alythia tore herself away from the door, her gaze was soft and filled with pity. She quietly tip-toed back to her room and felt her heart heavy.

"Why mention mother's name..." she whispered to herself, after moving out of earshot from the study.

But upon entering her room she felt even less at peace.

The foreboding feeling only grew, and she desperately struggled that night to fall asleep.

The next morning, or well afternoon, Alythia's eyes felt heavy as she pushed them open. She had no idea what time she eventually fell asleep, if one could even call it sleeping.

She stretched and felt her whole body ache. Unhurriedly, she got out of bed, washed, and changed.

As she stepped out into the corridor, the whole mansion was utterly silent.

It deeply troubled her.

She started briskly walking down the hallway towards the stairs. Still no one.

Down the stairs she hurried, and passed her dad's study.

Something felt off, a strange scent lingered in the air.

She slammed open the doors and instantly saw ash particles floating about. His entire library was burned to a crisp, yet the fire had already been put out, only powdered dust remained.

Fear gripped her heart, and she felt as if it were beating up into her throat.

She dashed out the back door and, stepping into the backyard, felt the afternoon sun beating down on her brow.

Another strange scent was in the air.

She looked, and saw, and was horrified.

Her father's body was hanging from a beam positioned in between two pillars.

She let out a gasp as she fell backwards.

Fighting back the nausea she jumped to her feet and dashed off, through the property gates, into the empty streets.

All she could think about while running was how utterly alone she felt.

Eventually she regained her senses and realized that she had wandered off into an unknown part of town.

As her anxiety grew, she noticed that the loneliness had some time ago left her.

She glanced up at the blinding sun and saw a dim red light hovering over her.

It was a pretty yet simplistic light which stirred a faint feeling of hope inside her.

It was as if a soft but firm voice was calling out to her. The voice beckoned her to follow it as the light swiftly swept past her.

So Alythia chased after it.

The light always stayed in front of her, never slacking down enough for her to stop but never moving ahead too fast so that she could not keep up.

Sometimes it even went slower than she would've liked and at other times it seemed to go faster than she would've preferred.

Yet it ensured that she never lost sight of it, not even once.

Eventually it came to a stop and Alythia heard a loud crashing sound from behind.

As she turned around she caught sight of a small doll-like girl, with black hair, sprawled out on the pavement.

There was a man running towards her swinging a bat and yelling some bizarre thing about a crest.

'What a lunatic, this guy's completely off his rocker'

And with that thought Alythia rushed towards the helpless girl.

As the man drew nearer, she put her wrists together – palms pointing towards him – and whispered 'Venus.Impetu.Inspiratione'.

Suddenly a gush of wind burst out from her hands, knocking the man off his feet and flinging him through a window on the other side of the street.

'Woa... that took it out of me'

Alythia wobbled towards the doll-like figure and somehow ended up on her hands and knees right next to the girl.

"Oi, little doll-face, are you alright? Can you stand?"

The girl opened her eyes and gazed up at her savior with a faint smile delicately painted on her childlike face.

Yet before Alythia could say anything more she heard the familiar screams of that crazed Harley Quinn impersonator once again making his way towards them.

'Just one damn thing after another. What is with this world and child abuse!? Did the original author not include a Law enforcement system??'

And with a groan she placed her wrists together yet again, chanting the same spell as before.

But before she finished her chant she saw a type of whirlwind twirling around both her and the girl.

It wasn't the spell Alythia had casted – it was far too strong.

'But then who...?'

As the wind engulfed them Alythia's eyes felt heavy.

The magic she used earlier seemed to have exhausted all her energy.

Moments later she fell unconscious just as someone's hands reached underneath her, lifting her up from the ground.