Sitting at the table in chairs across from one another, Sonia and her father stared at each other in silence. Sonia's expressions ranged from just a little nervous to mostly confused and scared, and so on and so forth as her father stared at her with a blank-like expression. The whole set-up for this "interrogation" seemed a bit unorthodox for Sonia... especially since dad did have a thing for inspector movies.
"So..." Her father began, "I got a call from the teacher stating that you skipped class today. Did something happen?"
"Oh! No, dad. N-Noooo.... Nope nope nope," Sonia replies in a bit of a stutter.
"I know when you're lying, Sonia. What happened?" he questioned.
"It's nothing dad... Honest. Hehhh..." Sonia lied once again, this time trying to be more concise in her statement.
"Alright hon, well can you explain why you skipped class today?" The father questioned again.
Delving deep into Sonia's subconscious, a couple of miniature beings formed much of her various emotions and decisions. All of whom desperately wonder how to respond next.
"Oh no... Wh-wh-What should we say next?" worried Fear.
"I don't know jelly-knees, I'm not the one shaking the controls and making this girl awkwardly laugh like an idiot here!" Persnickety proclaimed in a snarky tone.
"Sh-sh-shut up! I-I'm not used to this kind of pressure!" Fear screamed, reeling back onto the device and making Sonia look down at the table.
"Hey, hey, hey. Quiet, quiet. He's going to speak," commanded Common Sense.
"Sonia, you don't have to be afraid to talk to me. I know I'm not your mother, but... Trust me..." Sonia's father started, "I am here after all."
"Uh...." Sonia utters in a dumbfounded tone.
"Uh? Seriously, UH?!" Persnickety suddenly slaps the back of Fear's head, causing Sonia's head to shake.
"I'm sorry! I'm SORRY!!" Fear yelled like a baby.
"Guys, stop fighting and hold onto the controls!" Anger shouts then points the others back to the screen view of Sonia's eyes.
"Uhh... The reason I was gone because I was getting a-a tour from a fellow student. She said she would ask to excuse me from the class, but I think she forgot to tell the teacher..." The whole room went silent for a minute. The minute like hours until the hours felt like days.... days until Sonia's father finally caves and gives into the fib, "Alright, honey. Just make sure to next time remind the teacher in case you're going to do anything outside of class, ok?" Sonia slowly nods her head as her dad then began to hug her. Sonia willingly hugs back, though has a small whimper on her lips as she continues to hide the fact that she was publicly embarrassed. Sonia's father then looks at her with a cheerful nature and speaks, "Oh yeah, honey, it's your turn to walk the dog today. Imma go ahead and start up dinner. Ya' like some mashed potatoes and chicken?" Sonia now shudders at the very utter of the word and tries to reply, "Uhh..... How about some Ramen instead?"
"Heh, heh, heh, sure thing, dear," Sonia's father chuckles as he heads to the kitchen, grabbing a few pots and a few bags of ramen. Sonia then calls out for her dog with a gleeful, "Here Matthew! Here boy!" Sonia's dog, who's as springy as a bouncy ball, runs to Sonia and looks up at her with adorable eyes. Sonia happily scratches her dog's ears and tells Matthew that they're going for a walk. Matthew walks to the door and sits waiting as Sonia changes into her aqua blue tank top and jeans, then comes back to her dog and puts her black sneakers on instead of her red ones. Afterward, Sonia locks the leash on Matthew's collar before heading out the door to begin their walk.
Taking a walk has always been relaxing for Sonia, allowing her to truly unwind, and here was no exception. Despite being new to this cul-de-sac, Sonia instantly felt at home with its lush evergreens and homely streets. Scaling the hills of her newfound neighborhood, Sonia spent most of her time watching the stars. The stars are beautiful at this time of the night. No clouds, no full moon, just bright stars overtaking the night sky. If she could, Sonia would reach up and touch the stars.
Reaching a tree atop a high hill, the orange-haired newbie decides to rest and watch the stars for a while. Dinner wouldn't be for another hour, so she had some time. Leading Matthew to the big tree atop the tall hill, Sonia took a moment to lean back, and sprawl her body across the grass, sighing in relief as only her eyes take heed of the nature surrounding her. Matthew on the other hand, walks circles around the tree, occasionally hopping over Sonia's legs. It wasn't until he discovers a stray black cat casually strolling the neighborhood sidewalk, and decides to sneak behind and follow it. Sonia notices and gives him a small chuckle, then looks back at the stars. Her mood slightly depressed as reminders of her first day begins flood her mind.
"What a day..." Sonia sighs as she slowly covers her eyes, "I know what's going in the vault today..." The girl leans onto her side as her fingers twiddle with the grass, contemplating if this new school will be like her last one. Back then, Sonia was more carefree, and acted more tomboyish against all odds. From what she remembers, though, the death of her mother struck her like a spear through her chest and caused most of her happiness to disintegrate. Her father never knew how to explain the cause of her death, only just by telling Sonia that she passed away once she was old enough. And because he overworks himself, he truly never has time to spend time and talk to his daughter as much as he used to. Living middle class isn't a truly bad thing, but Sonia's father takes it a little too hard, especially since is now a single parent. Sonia, lost in thought, lays on her back and closes her eyes. She began to dream, feeling as if she's floating on a smooth cloud, traveling the skies and dancing. One could only dance with the stars and be truly free... Free of everything. Free of trouble. Free of misery. Free of pain...
However, this feeling was abruptly ended as what Sonia felt next were jagged edges and spiky streams. Sonia jolted by the sudden pain and saw that she actually was being forcefully carried away. Sonia called out to Matthew, whom quickly barked, scaring the black cat, then chased after Sonia as she was being carried away. The scruffy black cat, that Matthew had frightened, ran away as soon as she heard the dog bark but slowly came back, curious of what the dog was chasing and quietly scurried after him.
Sonia continued to be violently pulled away by what appeared to be jet-black, dark, jagged tentacles. Screaming for help, Sonia grabbed for anything that would help her escape, but even biting her way out proved to have no avail. Sonia is then thrown down a tough hill, with rocks and sticks poking her in the back, yelling in pain until another tentacle wraps itself around Sonia's mouth. The intense pain causes Sonia to black out, having no vision of what may occur. All she could hear next was what seemed like a slimy, monstrous roar as she is lifted into the air, feeling the scent of this... extreme, voracious being. The mighty scent is acidic to the nose as it is to the skin and face. Your poor body would melt at the small feeling of it without even having to be truly around the beast. But then, a sudden explosion occurred, causing Sonia to writhe in panic, losing her hearing as the powerful explosion overtakes everything. All that was heard were the faint sounds swiping, beastly roars and warrior yells until both an eruption of black goo splashes over her face. Then suddenly... she falls.
Sonia felt as if her life began to flash before her eyes, warranting every memory she has ever had to flood her mind until she is caught by what seemed like a shining light. Sonia's eyes slowly opened but was blinded by the light as it grew ever so closer. Her feet lightly rest on the ground, and her body is suddenly cleared of all the goo with the touch of an angelic finger. Not only that, but Sonia's body feels more enhanced. Her sight and hearing have somehow expanded, allowing to see and hear things she could have never seen through the naked eye. As she opens her eye, she finds that she is standing in front of what she could portray as an angel. The sight of the goddess causes Sonia to stand there, frozen in shock.
"Hello, young child," The goddess began in a gentle tone. Unable to handle the moment, Sonia does what every human being does when they are in the presence of the unknown... she faints. The goddess lets out a small giggle as she examines the young orange-haired girl's consciousness. The amulet she arrived in hovers over the girl, allowing this mystic being to stare into everything, tapping into memories of her past, her potential, and her general personality. As she does this, Matthew finally finds Sonia and runs to her, immediately nudging her and licking her face to attempt to wake her up. He then sees the towering goddess and growls, defensive of his master. On the other hand, the scruffy black cat trudges to Sonia, looking at her, and gently pawing at her nose. The ancient goddess felt like her journey is complete, as if she found what she was looking for. The goddess watched as the animals surrounding the young teen defended her, and hushed them quietly. She softly calls Sonia's name, causing the little ginger to awaken. Sonia takes a gasp of air as she regains her consciousness, then sees the goddess in all of her beauty and stares at her in awe.
"Do not be afraid, Sonia," Feliferi spoke softly, "for I will not harm you.
"Who are you...? H-How do you know my name...? Are... Are you an angel...?" Sonia asked as she crept back, causing Feliferi to giggle and respond, "No, young child. I am a goddess. A goddess that preserves purity in every creature of the universe." Hearing this causes Sonia's eyes to widen in wonder.
"The universe...? As in... life outside of... home...?" Sonia questioned slowly as she looked to the stars, urging a simple nod in reply. Sonia stared from the stars to the goddess, wondering why she has suddenly arrived.
"I am searching for a champion. One who will slay an evil demon king bent upon plaguing the universe into a dark reign that he calls.... Eternal Darkness. My champion must have potential, skill, and the heart of purity to complete this noble task. And I have a strong feeling that my champion may be you, Sonia," Feliferi explained. Sonia gets lost into the divine goddess's words as she explains her motives. She begins to imagine as if her fantasy books were coming to life in front of her. However, those dreams came to a head when she heard that she needed someone pure of heart.
Sonia looked to her feet glumly and asks the goddess, "But... But how can I be your champion..? I've had so many problems in my life that I have begun to distance myself from others slowly so I can never risk hurting myself or my friends. I've keep myself away, and yet... I look around and see everything thing change so rapidly while I'm still trying to comprehend what is going on. There is a lot of good change but... As I look around, I see everything that's supposed to be right is suddenly going wrong, and as it goes on, it makes you ask yourself... 'Why...?" People just don't see the reality of things as if they control and dictate what is true and what is untrue... It's as if I feel like evil is attacking my soul... and I can't take it anymore. Sometimes I just... I just feel like dying... sometimes my heart gets heavy... I just want to leave and fly away... Maybe do something different for a change..."
Feliferi, even after hearing all of that, continued having a calm smile on her face, leaning down to Sonia. She looks into her eyes and responds with a beautiful and loving tone, "But that is why I need you... You can bring good to this world, and many other worlds on top of it." Tears slowly drip from Sonia's face as Feliferi's kind words touch her heart. Despite the lump in throat, Sonia tries to ask, "But. Bu- what can I do..?... I'm just a lonely soul... Trailing through the darkness until I eventually give up and be apart of it... I can't change the world. I can only just have my own belief before it gets thrown around until it never comes true..." Sonia slowly turns her back on the goddess as she cries, "Wha-what's the point in living in a world where you can do anything to fight the darkness when you know that one day, you'll be part of it..."
As Sonia cried, Feliferi stands tall over Sonia. The good goddess slowly picks her up and gives her a motherly hug. Sonia, at a loss of words, buries her face into Feliferi's bosom and cries as the goddess comforts her. Using what is left of her magical staff, she whispers a few unknown magic words into Sonia's ear and puts her down gently. Sonia tilts her head, wondering what she said. But the goddess only closed her eyes and smiled. A small rumble quaked the earth as Sonia, Matthew, and the scruffy cat try to maintain their balance. Suddenly, a magical light lifts the amulet that Feliferi emerged from, and carries it over to Sonia. As the rumble stops, time had stopped. Everything around the goddess, Sonia, and the two animals had stopped moving. The scruffy cat suddenly clings being Matthew's back, whom is already frozen in fear of his surroundings.
"I-I don't like this... What-what's going on...?" Sonia worried fearfully. Feliferi said no words, but only used her magic to point the amulet's shining crystal towards Sonia and her accompanying animals. With the way the amulet aimed at Sonia, it looked as if the goddess was going to kill her! Suddenly, Sonia turns to run away but is stopped by a wall of psychic energy. She beats on the psychic wall in a vain attempt to escape. Sonia quickly turns around in fear and hugs Matthew, while the cat hugs Sonia tightly, and closes her eyes so she does not see the blast.
The amulet then lifts Sonia and the animals in the air. Rings of mystic energy surround her and the animals. Shines of bright light pierce through their inner sanctums as a collective of supernatural magic enter their souls. Sonia receives the most as she lightly shakes from the impact of this energy thrusting into her body. Once the transformation was complete, Sonia suddenly falls to her feet, and the two animals follow along as well.
"Ugghhh... I feel a lil' dizzy...." Sonia queered, "What did you do to me...?"
"What did you do to ME? More like what did you do to us?" A voice exclaimed with a New York-like accent. Sonia slowly turned her head to see who spoke in such a tone.
"If you ask me, I feel like we were watching another segment of The Yellow Submarine while I was out in an alley suckin' up catnip that fell out of a moving van." The voice snarked yet again. Yet, this voice was coming out of... the cat?! Sonia's eyes bulge out in shock as she sees the cat moving her lips and speaking. She then turns her pupils to Matthew and calls to him, "Matthew....?"
"Master, are you alright? You are about as pale as an ox within the blue moonlight," the dog spoke in a British accent. Sonia sits down on the grass with her eyes still bulged out. Staring at the grass, she tried to process all of what's going on. Was this even real? Is she still dreaming?
"I think I need to go home and take a shower..." Sonia thought to herself. Feliferi gently pats Sonia's shoulder and softly speaks, "'Tis nothing, my child. I only gave you special powers that will assist you in your challenge. And I gave your pets the ability to speak to you and give out any important information that you may need." Sonia's eyes narrowed when she heard the word, "pets."
"Wait, pets? But only Matthew is mine. I don't own a-" Sonia's mouth is instantly covered by the scruffy cat's furry paws. The cat speaks up to the goddess, "Ohhh... Yes, yes, yes. Why this goi'l here has two beeyoooooooootiful pets, I say. Why I adore living amongst this lovely child and his fun-loving mongrel mutt." Matthew didn't take kindly to the cat's words and appropriately bites her tail, causing the cat to jump up high, squishing her face onto the top of the energy barrier until fall down onto Sonia's lap. The cat then looks at her with puppy-like eyes, a cute face, and cutely paws her chest.
Sonia was unfazed by the cat's cute looks... That is until the cat began to whine a somber, yet overly dramatic tone, "Oh, pleeease adopt me!" The cat sobbed, "I don't wanna be aloooooone! I lived in an animal shelter for seven years, and I hated every single moment of it... Nobody wanted to adopt a mangy cat like me! Oh please... Please, please, please, pleas,e Ple-Eee Aase take me...!" Sonia looks at Matthew, who shakes his head, but looks at the goddess who looks at her with a smile. Sonia sighs and responds, "Okay, little kitty... I'll take you with me." The cat jumps up and down and kisses Sonia in happiness. Sonia spits on the grass in disgust then replies, "Ohhh, gross! That tasted like salmon, old tuna, and cat hair.."
"Hey, just watch out for my hairballs, okay? They shoot out like a gun with the safety off," the cat commented. Sonia spat the taste out of her mouth as the goddess proceeded to giggle. Sonia then throws the goddess a, "What are you laughing at?" look. The goddess cutely apologizes and walks to Sonia with the amulet in hand. Feliferi holds the amulet to her and explains what it is.
"This amulet is a dangerous artifact. This is the source of all of your power. Some of my scholars dub this amulet as Mystica: The Amulet of Unlimited Power. It is very dangerous, and contains beauty so alluring that anyone will succumb to greed in order to retrieve it," Feliferi explained, however, her happiness slowly died as she is about to bring up a certain dark, devilish overlord, "My... enemy... will do anything to retrieve it..."
"Your enemy...? Who is that..?" Sonia slowly wondered, causing Feliferi to look down as she waves her magic amulet to show her a vision of her true enemy. Feliferi continued to explain, "He is one of many names... but I knew him as... Solaria. Solaria is a colossus, brooding, terrifying beast. A true essence of Hell and all things devilish. He spends centuries punishing souls for all their misdeeds through both life and death, causing trouble in his path when he feels is too pure... He was also my..." A silence overtook the moment... Until Sonia asked, "Your what...?" Feliferi, holding back any tears she was going to release, and responded with a soft smile, "Do not worry about it, young one... For now, allow me to fit the amulet on you." Feliferi then used to her magic to allow the amulet to descend onto Sonia's collarbone. A black band forms around her neck while the amulet shrinks in size so that it could fit onto Sonia like a necklace. The amulet gleams in beauty, shining upon Sonia and the others. Sonia eyes widened, gratified of this amazing gift, thus urging a smile from the humble goddess.
"You may remove the necklace anytime you wish, but be warned. Your powers will not activate once the necklace is removed. Protect it with your life," Feliferi explained, "This amulet is dangerous that even without an owner can create unknown circumstances. Do you understand?" Sonia, Matthew, and the scruffy cat look up at the goddess and nods slowly, agreeing to the goddess's terms and conditions.
"Say, uh.... is there anything else you want to give us, oh, almighty goddess?" The cat asked, making Feliferi laugh, "No, kitten. But you do deserve a name though." Sonia happily agrees and gives out test names such as "Rita," "Mary-Ann," "Buttons," and "Waffles." Each of these names made the cat respond with snide sounds, and disgusted responses. Sonia attempted many names... until she took notice of her scruffy fur.
"Hmm... How about Scruffles?" The ginger girl asked. The cat thought it over for a bit. She always did enjoy how scruffy her fur can be, then responds, "Scruffles... I like it!" Sonia giggles as she welcomes Scruffles as a part of her family. Sonia is then about to thank Feliferi, but suddenly, she was gone. In fact, she's gone, the crater is gone, and time is suddenly moving again.
"Where in the bloody world did she go?" Matthew queried. Sonia scratched her head, then takes off her necklace. As she took off the necklace, her powers slowly die down and enter the amulet as she reverts back to normal.
"Wait, hold on!" Scruffles spouts, "I saw something in your hair when you had that necklace on!" Scruffles wraps the chain back around Sonia's neck, bringing her powers back. What they hadn't noticed were the three little crown-like antennae were sprouting out of the back Sonia's hair. Sonia finally notices as they wave within the wind, and asks, "What are those strange things coming out of my head?"
"Heh. Maybe they get the good radio stations or something," Scruffles commented. Sonia just rolled her eyes and took her pets home. Sonia was able to reach at home just in time for dinner, as well as introducing her new cat to her father. Somehow, he didn't seem to mind Sonia bringing home a mangy, old pussycat. It could be how adorable and attachable it is.
After a hearty meal of dinner and watching TV, Sonia slogged up to her bedroom and sat on her bed. There she began to read some more of her fantasy comics while her pets get comfy sleeping with one another, even after a few fights. As she read them, the situation that the hero encounters a powerful being, yet is also blessed with a macguffin of extraordinary powers, somehow alluding to the situation Sonia just had a few hours ago. Sonia slowly put down her book, attempting to piece it together, but decided it was just better to go to sleep.
In the dead of night, Sonia twisted and turned in her slumber. With every passing minute, she pulled out the amulet and continually observed it. Was she really the one? Is Sonia truly the 'champion' that would wield the power to victory? However, the real question is... What is the consequence for wielding such a magical artifact?
In the midst of her questioning, a dark force from the skies above spies on the young girl, and her coveted jewel.
"It seems that the goddess has found her supposed 'champion,' my lord..." a crotchety, vile voice spoke, "A rather young one, I might add..."
"Excellent..." Solaria replied in his wicked tone, "So this is the champion who will one day slay me? Bahhh... sometimes I feel that fool goddess struck herself in the head. This girl will not stand a chance against the power of Eternal Darkness." Solaria, from his evil kingdom in the depths of space, erupted a vicious laugh... A wicked laughter... A laughter so vile, disgusting, wicked... so evil that it could echo across the galaxies. Solaria's laugh was one so wicked that even the faintest of souls shivered from its mirthless tone. A cold wisp flutters through the earth, causing even Sonia to shiver. Sonia covered herself deep in her bed sheets, thrusting herself into a world of dreams. At least a dream world, there is no fear of corruption. But sometimes, even dreams can become nightmares....