In the middle of nowhere, a beautiful magical forest existed before the planet grew up with time.
Around it, the trees were coated with various colors, such as fiery red and golden. The leaves on them fluttered softly with the wind as they changed their color from green to blue hues, thickening and fainting according to the hour of the day.
Beautiful fireflies that should have only appeared at night were flying around in the air, leaving sparkling trails before them. Along with a few birds that were floating together with feathers that resembled gemstones with how much it shone brightly under the sun.
The soft, velvet grass also varied with its colors, from the soft green to navy, coupled with the glowing purple mushrooms that rested underneath a few trees.
Amidst that all, the creatures that appeared as if they came out from a mythical painting rolled around and played together, which gave everyone the feeling of living in an illusion.
This fantasy forest is a breathtaking realm where vivid colors and brilliant brightness create a mesmerizing tapestry of wonder and awe at every turn, and there, in some part of it, stood a young girl.
Her brown hair was softly swaying with the breeze, her round big eyes were staring unblinkingly ahead of her with her before forcefully closing her eyes and opening them again, feeling how they were becoming dry and uncomfortable.
"Umm, so much staring, me should've just went to sleep."
The little girl rubbed her eyes, a few droplets of tears falling down her cheeks. Her beautiful red irises shone brighter with how her eyes were slightly reddened as well.
Then, she felt something landing on her nose before the sensation quickly disappeared.
The small girl blinked repeatedly as she watched a butterfly passing in front of her.
The butterfly's beautiful wings were mesmerizing, the pattern on them had resembled an enchanting burning flame, and its graceful movements captivated anyone who looked at it.
The girl stared, blinked again, before smiling joyfully and running after the butterfly, trying to catch it somehow.
"So pretty! I wish to have it on my side to cherish it forever!"
The idea of the butterfly staying with her just like the other animals that did and showering her with affection made the young girl even more excited.
Running around through the charming nature, the girl yelped as she stumbled on a rock, faceplanting to the grass hard.
"Owww…!" The small girl whimpered before rubbing her lips with her hands, trying to drive the grass' taste away.
But she did not realize that her hands were also dirty now and even injured slightly, which made the matter worse for her as she tasted blood mixed with dirt.
She coughed before trying to clean her mouth again, "Ahhh me so stupiddd!" she loudly complained, but then ended up laughing, "So dummy! Woah wait, where is my dear Butter??"
The little girl almost laughed once she realized the pet name was a bit weird and funny, but she decided to ignore it to find the butterfly before anything.
She looked around before finding the butterfly again, "Butter!" she chirped as she hopped up and continued to follow the butterfly across the forest.
Her previously pure baby pink dress was now stained with dirt as a result of her nice experience with the grass earlier, but the little girl could not care.
Despite how her short dress was damaged in a way she could not fix, the girl was too mesmerized by the butterfly to even pay an ounce of attention to it.
The butterfly in front of her fluttered its wings gracefully, then twirled in the air a few times, bringing a small breeze with it to caress the small girl's face.
"Hehehe~ aren't you a playful one~?" The small girl blinked in surprise before realizing that the sensation she felt on her face was the butterfly's mischief, which made her amused.
She giggled, feeling more and more attached to this little beautiful creature that she was chasing.
However, along this chase, the girl had realized she was walking deeper into the forest around them. Deeper, toward the place she was always warned to not approach.
Seeing the forest getting darker, the mesmerizing and vibrant colors dulling, the girl realized that this place was one of the Forbidden Areas.
"This isn't good…" The girl hesitated for a second, her heart starting to have some doubts.
'I… Should I really go there?'
Chasing the butterfly was one thing, but to approach the Forbidden Area for it was just a bit…
Whenever she came close to these areas, she could feel her chest tightening, the visual of her lovely forest turning to such a place gave her the urge to escape.
As if sensing her hesitation, the butterfly turned around and waited for a second before diving again into the Forbidden Area, causing the girl to panic and chase after it.
"No! You can't go there! Butter, come here!"
She called out to the butterfly, her heart slowly falling as she saw the butterfly moving faster instead, making her gulp as she just rushed behind it.
"No! Butter!"
Although she felt suffocated and scared, the girl was so worried to leave the small butterfly in this place alone.
'Please don't go.' She prayed in her heart, wanting to push the sour memory that was about to resurface in her head.
She started running faster after the butterfly, desperation and horror engulfing her being.
In her head, she could only wish that nothing bad would happen. That no one is going to be missing again.
But she could feel it, despite her prayers, something was wrong here. Something that pulled her deeper inside despite giving her that unreasonable fear.
The ominous fear crept slowly before becoming like chains that slowly squeezed her heart, making her choke on the silent screams that started to build inside her chest.
She was feeling terrified. However, she decided to put all of her attention on the butterfly, she stared at it and tried to calm herself down.
'Everything is gonna be alright, you are alright, no need for fear.'
The words she convinced herself with had proved to be useless, and without her knowledge, her healthy fair skin was growing paler the deeper she got, and her healthy flowy hair became tamer. Even her pretty red irises were growing duller.
It was as if she was losing her life.
The refreshing aura that had surrounded her since earlier was also dimming along with how the forest showed its corrupted form in front of her.
'Why is it so… Dead?'
The girl looked around, shivering at the sight of the withered planets, the forest that was dyed in black and brown gradients.
The Forbidden Areas, as she calls them, were places like this.
Places where death was the star of the stage, where the shadow of destruction roamed silently.
No one went there and came back.
They were supposed to be missing, but no one knew what had actually happened to them.
For this little girl, this was the first time she had entered this place. She wanted so many times, but fear had stopped her.
Despite that, she was now crossing the line.
It was then that she noticed the dead creatures around, and how each of them had a small handkerchief next to them.
'N, No way… Impossible… That…'
Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes, silent screeches full of torment echoed in her chest as her body trembled.
The dead bodies of her missing friends were scattered around, and yet, she could not even stop to look at them clearly.
She was a coward now, she admits, but she did not want to be certain about their death.
As she desperately closed her eyes and chased the butterfly more, she could feel the bodies of her friends behind her. She felt like they were burning holes into her back, blaming her and calling her out for her mistakes.
'It's my fault.'
Most of them came here instead of her, if she did not ask, no one would have come here.
'They're not missing.'
Her expectations were crushed, the expectations she had built as a stupid mechanism to protect herself.
'I'd prefer being abandoned.'
She would have liked it a lot more, if they abandoned her instead of dying because of her. Whether it was the guilt for them, or the fear of meeting the same ending, she preferred to face the feeling of being abandoned rather than that all.
It was the first time that she could feel herself being selfish and ugly, it was the first time she started to feel the reason behind her fear from these Forbidden Areas.
She feared discovering this side of her.
But eventually, and before she could drown herself so deep into these feelings, she found herself in an almost empty clearing.
The black disgusting trees were arranged in a circle, with an empty space full of black short grass. The wind sat still, and not even a single sound was heard.
It was as if the world stopped when the little girl saw it.
The eyes that were devoid of any emotions, the eyes that looked at her while appearing to be the most serene in the world.
"You…"
The girl started before choking on her words once she met gaze with that thing.
A young boy who appeared to be the same age as her peered at her through half lidded eyes, his black hair casting a faint shadow on his face.
But that was not what the little girl saw.
When their gazes met, she could feel it in her heart, this person was able to make her feel as if acceptance and willingness…
'…To die?'
Before she knew it, she started to sob and took a step back, making the being look in her way boredly.
Those silver eyes that were staring directly at the girl's soul, seemingly uncaring, reminded her of the stories that her old nanny told her about the gods.
Uncaring, serene, and overwhelming.
The god's thin lips parted softly as he was about to speak, before falling silent when the butterfly flew towards him.
The girl gulped thickly, and despite feeling fear paralyzing her, she was able to open her mouth and say something.
"I'm Vita, you, uh, who, who are you?"
Vita, the name that meant life. It was ironically suitable for this little girl.
She stuttered at her own question, but still felt grateful that she at least did not bite her tongue, because she could hear the noise of her teeth hitting each other with how bad she trembled.
Vita was about to try saying something else, but the small god tilted his head and issued a silencing motion that made her stop breathing for a second.
The beautiful butterfly swayed near him, taking two turns before slowly withering.
The fiery pattern on its wings slowly faded, and its body moved more and more erratically, showing how difficult it was difficult for it to even stay floating.
Before landing on the young god's face and crumbling to dust, causing Vita to scream in horror.
"Butter!!!"
Vita tried to run toward the boy who simply heaved a soft sigh before standing up and tilting his head to the other side.
He looked at her up and down before raising his hand, making her forget to breathe due to fear.
'No, stop, don't kill me–!'
She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and beg for her life, but was surprised as she was pushed away by countless poisonous ivies.
The young god shrugged softly before softly murmuring, "You asked me who I am…?
Staring at Vita again with those empty silver irises, he softly announced, "I am Mors."
'Mors… was a name that represented… death…?'
The strange contrast between their names' meanings gave Vita a vague sense of uncertainty, but she was not able to focus on anything with her head filled with terrible thoughts.
Mors and Vita stared at each other, one with empty eyes, and one with an unfathomable sense of fear.
On that day, a cursed connection had been created without anyone's knowledge.