Chapter Text
Chapter 1: a dive into the heart
“Hey”: a character talking
‘Hey’ :a character thinking
*Hey*: a echo or whisper
After saving her brother Keith from his kidnappers, Katarina Claes returned to her relaxing way of life. Soon, she would graduate from the magic academy and apply to work in the magic ministry with Maria. Her only worry left was what she would do with her field in the academy. She had spent years taking care of it and felt really bad about abandoning it just like that.
Apart from that, her life was great, filled with fun days with her friends and comforting nights, not having to worry about the doom flags that came with being a villainess reincarnated. With a lot of effort, she had been granted the friendship ending. She was finally free of the doom flags haunting her dreams, or so she thought.
Her dreams had always been weird, but falling from who knows where into the depths of an ocean took the prize for sure. She closed her eyes while she slowly fell into the darkness until she could feel her feet touching something again. She couldn't see anything besides the great void she was apparently standing in. Upon taking one step forward, light burst out from the floor, revealing butterflies flying away and unveiling an image in the stained glass floor.
It took her a while to see the full image. On one side, there was Katarina Claes, her current self in her usual dress, looking like she was sleeping in front of what seemed like her field, with portraits of her friends around her. On the other side, she saw herself or at least her old self dressed in her old school uniform, also sleeping in what seemed like her old hometown. In this case, there was only one portrait that belonged to A-chan, while the other spaces were filled by important objects for her like vegetables, a tree, books, and manga. Both her past and present selves supported each other's backs, and her hands held the same sword-like thing.
It had a rectangular blue guard and a black handle that extended into a silver blade. At the top of the blade were three protrusions: one was a silver five-pointed star, another was a single point on the opposite side, and the third one, located at the tip, was a simple silver orb. A small gold ring was seen where the blade began, and it also had a Keychain attached to a gold star.
"What kind of dream is this?" she said as she stepped back a little to get a better view, but soon enough, she felt an edge, nearly losing her balance. Katarina looked to her back only to see a fall so big she couldn't see a bottom if there was any at all.
*Be careful, jumping into the darkness without protection will lead you to lose yourself in it,* a voice echoed.
When she turned around, there was no one standing behind her.
"Who said that?" in a worried tone, Katarina kept looking around, trying to find the origin of the voice, but she found no one.
*Too many questions and so little time. Destiny is set in motion, and we must prepare to set it off rails,* the voice continued.
It felt like someone was speaking to her from far away, yet she could still hear it. She knew the voice, but she just couldn't tell from where.
"Um, excuse me, miss creepy voice, can you tell me where I am?" Unfortunately for her, the voice didn't seem interested in answering her questions at that moment. Well, she was used to having weird dreams, besides the occasional memories of her past life haunting her, so maybe this wouldn't be that bad. At least it wouldn't be another possible doom flag, right?
*Step forward,* a light soon appeared in the middle of the platform. Katarina walked towards it, unsure of what to expect.
*Your power is sleeping deep within. We need to give it form.* Soon, three pedestals raised from the floor, one with a broadsword with a yellow handle and a red gem in the center with a black emblem that looked like the head of a mouse, a wand with a blue mouse head at the tip, and lastly, a red shield that also had the black mouse emblem. All of them were floating on top of the pedestals.
*Choose carefully,* the voice advised.
Unsure of what she would encounter, Katarina advanced towards the weapon she was most familiar with, and soon the sword was in her hands.
*The power of a warrior, the courage to face an adversary head-on, unleashing destruction upon them. Do you wish for this power?* the voice asked.
It sounded a little too drastic for her liking, but how much damage could she really unleash with it? She wasn't a genius like Geordo, so using it for self-defense in a dream wouldn't really matter, right?
“Yes?” Unsure of what to expect, she gave her answer as the weapon disappeared from her hands in a flash of light.
*To earn something is to lose something. Which power do you forsake?* She started walking again, this time towards the wand. It really wouldn't be useful for her; she had already accepted that she couldn't really trust her magic for self-defense, unless she wanted to trip somebody with the earth bump, but that would be petty bullying or a distraction at best. Finally, she grabbed the staff.
*A wand of wonder and ruin, a mysterious force, the wisdom to guide an adversary to their end. Do you give up on this power?* the voice queried.
This was turning a little too dramatic, really. She didn't wish to harm anybody; her only wish was to grow old and watch the sunset with a cat on her lap. That was all, a peaceful life without doom flags. Maybe she should stop reading adventure novels before sleeping. They clearly started to affect her dreams.
“Yeah,” this time she sounded more tired than worried, like with the sword, the wand disappeared in another flash of light.
*As your power grows, the shadows in your path will grow as well. You must remain vigilant.* Unknown to her, from her shadow, a creature started crawling. She quickly turned around only to see her shadow had stopped moving, and from it, a humanoid creature raised. It had sharp claws, a skinny body, and a big head with antennae sprouting out. It stared at her with big yellow eyes, ready to jump at her. Then, in the spawn of a second, she felt the handle of a sword again in her hands and let her instincts do the work, cutting the thing while it was in mid-air, making it disappear in a burst of darkness.
The sword was back, so maybe this was a lucid dream or nightmare, depending on the way you looked at it, since two more of those things came out from the darkness. Before they could try jumping at her, she tried another slash towards them, but they dodged by melting into the ground, becoming actual moving shadows on the ground. Confused, she tried to stomp them, but she only felt the ground while the creatures moved erratically around her. Soon, one got out and managed to land a scratch on her back.
It didn't look like it, but those things had more strength than she thought. With a quick step, Katarina tried to gain some distance, only to see another pop out of the floor, ready to scratch her face. She reacted quickly and blocked with her blade, throwing the creature back to the floor. Not wanting these things to pull the same trick again, she charged against them, and with a horizontal slash, the remaining creatures disappeared back into the darkness.
"That's what you get for messing with me!" she then looked around, trying to make sure there weren't more of those things around. After poking her shadow with the sword a little, she directed her attention towards the sword in her hands.
"Well, I'm glad I learned how to wield one, but I didn't expect to have to use it against shadowy monsters." It was weird, but when she thought of a use for it, the sword appeared, and when she let go of the handle, the blade disappeared in a flash of light. After messing around a little, experimenting on what she could do with it, throwing the sword around and calling it back, soon she got bored.
"And now what?" the voice remained quiet. Looking around, she could see another platform not too far from the one she was standing on; soon enough, a path connecting the two appeared. Without any new instructions or miss creepy voice keeping her there, Katarina advanced towards the other platform. It had the same image as the previous one, just with a different color palette. The image still provoked something in her: sorrow, nostalgia, dread, and many others she still couldn't name. She really couldn't tell how long she stared at the image.
*Be careful not to lose yourself staring into the past. There are bigger things we have to deal with now,* the voice cautioned.
The floor started shaking, barely keeping her balance. Katarina stumbled into the middle of the platform, and as she tried to regain balance, she noticed something that sent a chill down her spine: a giant dark hand grabbing the edge of the platform. Soon, the creature raised towering towards her; the monster was a giant with rather short legs and thin feet, a big hole in the abdomen in the shape of a heart, giant arms ready to crush her, and finally, a head covered in tentacles that only let its yellow eyes uncovered.
Katarina watched in horror as the monster raised its arm, ready to crush her. Thankfully, it was slow enough for her to dodge without too much effort. She then tried to run away from where she came, but the path had vanished, leaving her face to face with the monster.
*Be brave. You can defeat it. Trust yourself and let your power do the rest.*
"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Katarina looked at the monster in front of her. While it was massive, its moves were slow and sloppy. Maybe she really could beat it if she took advantage of it. It was her dream after all, so she didn't have anything to lose.
So she charged against it; the giant threw another punch at her. This time, she jumped to dodge it and, to her surprise, reached higher than she ever did. As for the giant, its fist got stuck in the floor, leaving a pool of darkness around it. Taking the chance, she charged towards it and started slashing its arm with all the strength she had. Then, more of the smaller monsters started coming out of the dark pool surrounding the fist, forcing Katarina to concentrate on them. While they weren't a big deal for her, now that she knew their tricks, the creatures managed to buy enough time for the big one to free itself and charge some dark energy in its fist. Then, it hit the ground with it, creating a shock wave of dark energy that pushed her back. As she got back up, the giant monster threw another punch at her; she managed to get out of its way and again trap it in the floor.
From her new point of view, Katarina got an idea. This time, using the arm of the giant as a platform, she jumped to reach the head of the giant and hit it directly with her sword, making it back off a couple of steps. The giant crossed its arms against its chest and got onto its knees, and soon, a dark magic explosion occurred, leaving a surge of dark energy coming from its chest. From it, dark fireballs were shot at her. While they were slow, the amount of them was enough to overwhelm and impact her. Having no time to breathe, Katarina composed herself as the giant stood up. After exchanging a couple more hits, Katarina was able to land a powerful slash on the head of the giant, who lost its balance and fell on the floor.
"I did it! I REALLY DID IT! IN YOUR FACE, YOU BIG BULLY!" Just as she started to celebrate her victory, the giant body started to dissolve into a dark puddle that Katarina didn't notice until she wasn't able to jump. As she looked towards her feet that were sinking into the void, she entered in panic again. Her erratic moves quickly made her lose her balance, and she fell into the dark pool. She could feel how it dragged her, trying to sink her deeper into what she could only assume was an endless void. As she used all her strength to push whatever was dragging her, the mysterious voice spoke to her again.
*Don't be afraid. Even if you fall into the deepest void, you possess the greatest weapon of all.
You have the key…*
As everything went dark, Katarina started to feel something again, pain especially in her face. Soon, the sound of a door opening and a sigh. Soon, Katarina was able to see again. There was her maid Anne looking at her while she held the bedsheet that was blocking her view.
"Lady Katarina, I believe the duchess told you not to eat sweets before going to bed for this exact reason," she said with a tone that suggested she knew her words were in vain.
"Sorry, Anne, I just had a weird dream. I had to defeat a giant shadow." As Katarina got up, she began her morning routine with the help of Anne.
Her day was relatively free; her friends were busy with the student council responsibilities, especially now that the midterms exams were about to start. So she would work in her field and maybe study if she had some time left. She put on her farmer's suit and went to her not-so-secret field.
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