2 Life

Palamicia, a world of 'hope' unbound. On it exists four continents that once harbored many different magical lifeforms, different societies and kingdoms, with desires that are either pure or impure.

Now, almost a thousand years later, these kingdoms and societies fell into ruin, magical beings were long dead and forgotten, magic mostly if not dissipated until it was a mere speck.

As a result, modern life comes, with the invention of nuclear energy and electricity.

The modern life we know of today.

Off the coast of the eastern continent, on an island nation, exists a lush forest, growing on the countryside. The forest is quite close to a suburban town, which is not that much closer to an urban city.

There were buildings in commercial, living, and market districts, their sizes neither too large nor too small. In this average town, playful laughter arose from children running around, children and teens coming home from school, and the adults nearby were either working or watching with either smiles or tired looks. Farmers miles away were working hard on their plot, planting crops that grow well at the end of the cold winter, early spring.

*𝘝𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮𝘮*

The sounds of a car echoed across the fields, and many heads turned to look. It is not often that visitors come from afar during this time of year. Only one specific festival was popular that tourists often come to such a rural area.

That festival was many weeks later.

A car was driving alongside the green fields of the countryside, serene and peaceful. When a person, whose life is filled with excitement, becomes exhausted, he or she would think such a place would be rather nice to live to the end of their days.

The asphalt road was empty, save for a few farmers who were walking alongside the road. They waved as the car passed by, and the driver of the car waved back.

It looked like the standard family trip for the spring break.

Inside the car, a girl of about twelve was laying against the window of the car on the back seat, taking a nap.

She had a rather normal appearance, neither fat nor skinny, with pale white skin. Her black hair, her right side pinned by a butterfly pin, only reached to the bottom of her neck.

All of a sudden, the car gave a slight bump, jolting her awake. A shade of dark brown irises appeared, and her dazed eyes stared outside tiredly.

After confirming that it was just a car bump, the girl sighed softly.

Why does she have to go through all of this?

As the girl was about to close her eyes and rest against the door of the car once more, she heard her father speaking to her.

"Hey, Anna, are you alright?" a voice came from the driver's seat.

The girl named Anna looked up, seeing her dad still looking at the road in front of him. He was rather normal, with the same black hair and eyes she had, but had a much more tanner skin. The man was wearing a business suit, which is really not appropriate for a spring break vacation.

Her mom stayed behind at their new home her parents just bought, so she had to take care of other matters. In the end, her dad was the only one who took her here.

Anna sighed silently, and muttered a small "yes," just loud enough to let him know she was fine.

It was a rather unsavory response, and the father could only smile slightly as he focused on the road again.

Slightly regretting her reaction, the girl looked back out the window, seeing the landscape slowly passing by.

These days, her heart was in turmoil at the thought of meeting new people at a new school in a new city.

'Do my parents not understand how I feel?' she thought to herself depressingly.

In her heart, the girl knew they cared for her. Still, it doesn't change how she feels. Did they know what she truly wanted?

Anna clutched the backpack in her hands, slightly shaking.

For the majority of her life, she never truly felt wanted and loved, except for the times when she was staying with her grandfather.

Once again, although in her mind she knew that wasn't really true, her heart spoke differently.

She can only watch as life in her eyes became dim and gray, after her beloved grandfather broke his promise and left her.

...

After many minutes, Anna felt the car begin to slow down, and she looked up in a daze from her short nap. A tinge of excitement appeared in her chest, like a small spark of fire.

A surprisingly not-broken down old house slowly appeared into view as the car slowly approached it.

Anna felt sad and nostalgic at the familiar view.

Every spring break, she and her parents visit here as a vacation home of sorts...along with the natural duty to pay respects to her deceased grandfather. It has been eight years long years, and now she barely recalled any memories him at all.

'Even the passing of time erodes even the largest of mountains,' Anna commented silently as she observed the old nostalgic house.

They pulled to the front of the gate, and Anna got out, looking at the house with a sense of melancholy.

Everytime they come here, she always had this one tiny hope in her heart, that her grandpa would keep his promise and come back to her.

Even if that tiny hope has already been shriveled, she still, even in her heart, childishly wish that it comes true.

Her dad got out of the car, and began to carry her baggages to the front porch after unlocking the gate with a key.

She tightened her grip on her backpack, and began to walk inside the nostalgic house.

When her dad got on the front porch of the house, he was just about to open the door when a phone rang. He dropped the baggages and grabbed the phone from his pocket, and answered it.

"Hello?"

The longer he listened to the call, the more he looked serious, until his entire face turned grave with worry.

Anna felt her heart dropped, and she knew what was going to happen.

After the call finished, he gave a key to Anna, and talked to her in a serious, yet sad voice.

"Anna, I have to go. I don't know when I'll come back, but it should be within three weeks. There's enough food in the baggages for now, and I'll leave some money for you just in case, alright? You know where the closest store is, so you can buy what you need there, alright?"

What else can the girl do but only nod numbly as he nodded and hurriedly left back to the car, driving away at the highest speed limit.

Anna watched the car her father was in leave from the front porch. She did not stop, kept watching until the car left from her sight.

She knew in her heart this would happen, and yet why would she still hope? Why did she climb on a ladder she knows will break, causing her to fall into the void below her?

After many minutes did she finally moved, the slightest bit of embers dashing away, as if it never existed.

Carrying the rest of the baggages inside, she sighed.

Unbenownst to her, something was watching her from afar.

...

Anna laid down on the sofa with a small sigh of relief after cleaning the necessary places around the old house, opening the baggages, dusting the furniture, replacing the bedding...

She did it all in a neat and orderly style.

This wasn't the first time her parent's left her alone at home, and so she inevitably learned how to take care of herself with the right supplies and needs.

Anna sometimes guessed that doing so made her parents feel like she herself was a responsible girl who didn't an adult watching over her. As a result, her parents stayed away more and more as she grew older and older.

At the thought, Anna tried to comfort herself.

She did like a quiet house rather than a loud one, she preferred it that way!

It's just...she just didn't like how her parent's left her like that sometimes. It made her feel as if she's just baggage to be left alone for a long amount of time...

After blankly staring at the wodden ceiling for a few minutes, she then got up and went to get her sketchbook from her backpack.

Ever since she was little, she always did find sketching and drawing to be a fun and enjoyable hobby, especially by herself.

Unfortunately this sketchbook was bought recently. Her old one was lost right after her grandpa past away.

Anna shook her head, trying to distract herself.

'I should try to find something to sketch instead of feeling sad all the time,' Anna thought as she headed towards the backyard, barefoot.

Reaching a strange door, she slid the shoji without a problem. Seems like it was still usable after many months of it being untouched.

A shoji is a sliding outer partition doors, with the windows made of a latticework wooden frame that is covered with a tough, translucent white paper. When closed, they softly diffuse light throughout the house.

Stepping outside, Anna slightly winced at the light.

The sun was slowly setting under the horizon, allowing the sky to produce a beautiful orange purple shade. With the trees in the distance from her backyard, Anna felt relaxed as she sat down on the porch. Making herself comfortable, the girl began to sketch.

She alway did enjoy sketching. It made her feel calm, relaxed. It made her feel at ease. It made her phase out of reality, and into a world that she drew.

A world she herself can imagine and make.

Time flew by without notice as Anna was absortbed into her own world. Her pencil twirled across the blank paper, dancing and weaving. Finally, just as she was just about to finish her sketch, she realized that it was almost dark.

The trees blocked out most of the light it seemed, and a shadow was cast over her.

Yawning, Anna got up, stretching. Just as she was about to turn around to go inside, she noticed a blue light flickering within the endless confounds of the darkening forest.

"?"

Her heat thumped, and she slowly peered into the darkness. Seconds passed, and she could barely make out a fluttering...butterfly.

"A butterfly? Why would a-" Anna stopped as a memory came up.

Then all of a sudden, as if the path before her was laid bare, enlightenment washed over her. It was like the feeling of understanding a hard puzzle after staring at it for many minnutes.

"No way..."

'Could it be grandpa's butterflies? But didn't they die right after he died? Did they somehow survived and lived in the forest this whole time!?'

Anna's mind fell into disarray at each thought, and before she could even decide on anything, she noticed the butterfly flying back into forest, devoured by the darkness.

"No, wait!"

She ran back inside, and ripped one of the baggages open, grabbed a flashlight, and ran back out. After nearly tripping on putting on her shoes, she ran towards the flickering light within the forest, consumed by the towering dark trees.

...

Huffing and gasping, Anna kept running, determinedly racing after the butterfly.

It had already been at least a minute, and she can barely even close the distance with it. Was she ever this weak?

Anna never really ran before, only doing so in her PE classes. Even so, her body was always weak, and straining her body makes her cough a lot.

Which was what she did. She began coughing and gasping for air, but still she ran on, stumbling through the shrubs and leaves.

Even when she was tired, Anna felt a sense of excitement. Each step, she felt more and more free, and the cold wind blew past her air. It was as if she was flying-

Until she tripped and fell alongside a steep grassy hill. Tumbling here and there, the girl rolled to a stop after a few seconds. Still, it didn't deter her from still chasing after the butterfly.

Gritting her teeth at the stinging pain from her knee, Anna got back up, intending to keep running, but stopped at what she saw.

She unconciously turned off her flashlight, which she somehow kept in her hand when she fell, at the sight of...