Arcaea: The World of Glass

[Short] Dark Ambition

Shadow creeps through all that exists here.

Stains it, sticky and foul.

Light wanders in for but a moment, and is then swallowed whole.

This is the expanse that tells of a shattered heart.

And in that quiet place, she opens her eyes to the dark.

Deepest red shines through the black.

Ilith awakens there, in the Void.

Embedded in a strange layer of "nothing", the girl lifts up her body—stretches herself from it all.
Like tar, the nothing catches her. Nonetheless she pulls forth and snaps away from the clinging mass. Her hair, her body, her clothes are freed, and she puts her feet to the ground—the ground which, now, exists. A platform of light appears beneath her, and she kneels upon it.

The coat over her shoulders settles.

She does not know who she is. She does not know where this is.
As Ilith stands, she frowns into the emptiness around her.

A name rings inside her head—a place: "Arcaea"...
And yet she also knows... this is not there.
"Arcaea" is a paradise... and one she was not born into.

She sets forth into the chaos.

A pathway forms underneath her.

As the world turns over onto itself and the path she walks bends with (and often against) her whims, no caution, no anxiety burdens her heart.

If this is her place...

...then it is hers, and nothing to fear.

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There is a way to paradise out of the dark. It is in no way illuminated, but it is surely there.
However, there should be no misunderstanding this one fact: she has no urge to go.

"Arcaea" is there, so she reaches for it—not out of desire, but out of fact. As she goes, she even learns more of that place, and, perhaps, of its history.

"Arcaea" is a world of fool young girls. One is dumb with a head full of light, another is impressive, though her bravery guides her down a thorned path. Of course, that is only two. There are so many others: wandering about listlessly and watching dancing glass with vacant smiles.

If you're to wear a smile, wear it strongly—wear it wickedly.

"Knowing" them through scattered windows to a world of white, Ilith feels a sense of pity for the lot. They can't even make sense of a sensible world; they'd never fare well here.

She spends very long in the Void, and in it she feels connected, both to that "Arcaea" and to the Void itself.

She knows herself to be unique. She knows herself to be different.
All others have light to greet them upon awakening.

"Like this one..." she mutters as she trudges past a glowing window. In it is the sight of a girl who sports a monocle: a girl that she's seen before. "What are you up to today? Talking to yourself again?"

The window follows Ilith as she walks. Bored, she continues to watch. The girl with a monocle has been awake for about as long as Ilith, and most of that time has been spent prattling

"..."

But now, the girl does something different.

"...?"

She lifts her hand and makes a little being out of glass.

Silent and stopped for several moments, Ilith remains even after the window fades away.

"...Oh, well, that's..." she breathes after a while. "I can't believe I hadn't thought of that."

She will not make a companion; she doesn't need such a thing.

When Ilith lifts her hand, a small part of the Void breaks.

"Of course..." she whispers. She chuckles, then. Another cool whisper: "This is all mine."

In this world, should you embrace what it gives, then it will give all of itself to you.

She has seen this so many times. She chastises herself for thinking it might be any different out in the Void. Did not paths appear at her feet? Did not a way forward manifest by her will?

Like when one sees a horizon, and seeks to reach it;

Like when one sees a mountain, and sets out to climb it;

Like finding that you can set a fire, and having fire flare up within your heart subsequently...

At once, a profane wish manifests in her heart for no other reason than to see what can be done with "power", and she soon vows this:

She, a being of the dark, will bring nightfall to the land of endless Sun.