The First Star of Twilight

by Arcanum -Phantasy

Ch.8 Clarity and Phantoms

Petal smiled as she stared at her window to the outside world, the dark room beyond and near silence a perfect contrast to the wild excitement running through her. The chief source being her friend's peacefully sleeping face, a rare sight even when Petal was more active in helping her maintain her sanity. The girl had finally started to form a genuine connection with Indigo and when she heard her agree to do the same with the rest of the girls, it took everything she had not to fully reestablish their link just to congratulate her friend.

Only two things put a dent into her good mood.

The first was the brief brush Twilight had with two Gifted at the café. Those were the kind of people that always put Wraiths on edge. While Archwraiths could handle them with minimal effort, small fries like herself were a different story. A Gifted's abilities were always hard to predict, especially the ones that could enter a Wraith's nest. Granted, those ones were fairly rare, but that didn't mean they were any less feared. That went double for the legendary Phoenix Queen, a Gifted that was said to be as old as some of The Queen's most ancient children and was responsible for putting several of them down as well.

The second was her more recent dream.

As a rule, Wraiths didn't sleep all that often. They didn't need it as much as humans did, usually only doing so for a couple hours at a time at random intervals or after eating a particularly large meal. Dreaming was an even rarer occurrence, the Wraith in question's mind seemingly turning off for a short time before abruptly reactivating later. As such, dreams were always a vivid affair for them, all details sticking with the Wraith in the waking world with perfect clarity. She wished that hadn't been the case this time, her smile melting off of her face.

Feeling antsy, she paced the length of her prison, eyes unfocused as she let her thoughts wonder.

The things the voice said made her sick to her stomach. It had been so sadistically casual about what Petal knew was likely to happen down the rode. Almost like it was looking forward to seeing her friend fall apart from the inside out. Not helping was that she knew it was right. If nothing was done, Petal would end up eating Twilight like some sick parasitic tapeworm.

She knew that, she hated herself because of that, but that wasn't the only thing that made her feel like a knife was stuck in her gut. It was the fact that the voice her dream, the voice that spoke so casually about killing her best and only friend, was her own voice. Granted, the one in her dream was more dignified and held a more cultured lilt to it, but she couldn't deny that it was hers.

She stopped her pacing in the middle of her prison, a bitter sigh sliding past her lips as she stared up at the ceiling.

"Lily Bouquet, eh?" she huffed. "Where the hell did a name like that come from?"

"My parents had a hand in that," a voice eerily similar to her own said.

Quickly assuming a fighting stance, she summoned a spear and with wide eyes gave her surroundings a quick once-over. A light titter from the voice brought a growling scowl to her face, every cell in her body ready to put an end to whoever invaded her reluctant domain. A bit of movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, bringing a savage snarl out of her as she turned towards it ready to throw her weapon at its source. What she saw froze her dead in her tracks, her dark eyes wide with shock at the sight that stood before her.

Standing next to her reflexion on one of the crystal walls was a near perfect copy of her. Instead of wearing a black sleeveless dress with flowers on it, the other reflection wore an elegant black ball-gown with a frilled train that moved down past her feet and matching gloves that came up to her shoulders. Her hair was longer too, a wavy ebony curtain that came down to the small of her back. The impostor carried herself with careful poise, her small smile bearing the elegance of a noble straight out of a period film.

The Wraith quickly regained her footing and with a sharp glare, pointed her spear at the reflection and demanded, "Who the hell are you?!"

"Whatever do you mean?" the reflection asked, her smile taking on a slightly venomous tint as she added, "You summoned me, didn't you?"

Petal blinked, then tightened her grip as she sharpened her glare at the thing before her.

So it wasn't just a dream after all.

"Now, about my offer," Lily smiled.

"Fuck you!" Petal growled, thrusting her spear in Lily's direction. "If you think I'm gonna let some...whatever the fuck you are near Twilight, you're dead wrong!"

"How rude," Lily frowned. "And who said I want her dead?"

"Huh?" Petal blinked, confusion lowering he spear a fraction of an inch.

"If I wanted your little pet dead, all I would need to do is keep my mouth shut and let things play out as they have," Lily explained, a deep frown marring her face. "No, my foolish child. When I said that I wanted to help, meant it."

A long silence settled between them, both locked in a stare down that neither was willing to back down from. Slowly, Petal let herself step out of her fighting stance and stood her spear at her side with a loud thud.

"Let's say you're telling the truth," she sighed. "Why?"

"A joining of interests I suppose," Lily shrugged with a return of her smile. "My pride won't allow me to look so pathetic and you want to keep your pet alive."

"Twilight's not a pet, bitch," Petal growled.

"She is a step above food," Lily smirked. "Thus, she is your pet."

"Fuck you," she seethed between clenched teeth.

"Fine, fine," Lily sighed. "I will refrain from calling her what she is if that will satisfy you. Will that suffice?"

"It's a start," Petal frowned.

"Good," Lily nodded. "While we are still on the topic, do you know what your favorite emotions are from the girl?"

"Yeah," she sighed, sitting crisscrossed on the ground and setting her spear at her side. "Rage and stress."

"That would explain your foul temper," Lily nodded, the reflection conjuring up a black lunge chair and settling into it. "I would assume that the girl has quite a lot of it since hunger hasn't driven you into going rogue."

"Don't remind me," she shuddered, her mind split on which was a more unfortunate fate.

"Do you have enough food stored away to sustain yourself?" she asked.

"Plenty," Petal spat.

"How much exactly?" Lily pressed, leaning forward in her seat.

"About two years worth, why?" she asked, raising a brow.

Lily blinked, then fell back in her seat with laughter. Petal let out an irate growl at that, not sure which she wanted more; to know what was so funny or to ram her spear down Lily's throat. Eventually, the false Wraith regained control of herself enough to give her double a motherly smile.

"Silly child, you have been holding the keys to your own freedom this whole time and you didn't even know it."

"Huh?" Petal blinked.

"Tell me child," Lily chuckled. "Where are you right now?"

"Stuck in a room made of crystal?" she stated as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

A knowing tint filled Lily's smile as she said, "And so you forever will be, so long as you see your nest as a prison."

"My...nest?" Petal blinked, casting another look at her surroundings.

"Yes my dear child," Lily giggled. "Your nest."

"But I thought...I mean....Then why am I trapped here?" she demanded.

"You lost your memory and had not fed in a long time," Lily frowned. "You needed a place to be safe from the outside world and your instincts crafted a nest with what little power you had left for that purpose."

"Bullshit," Petal spat.

"Is it?" Lily pressed. "Tell me, why is it that you can see Twilight's soul or even formed a link with her in the first place."

"Because I...wanted to...know her better," Petal muttered, certain things slowly clicking into place.

"Exactly," Lily smiled. "And the feeding vines? How could they leave this place if you were truly trapped here?"

Petal's eyes widened at that, realization hitting her like a freight train.

"B-But then...why am I still trapped here?"

A stern frown formed on Lily's face and like a mother telling her child to clean their room said, "Because you still see your nest as a prison. You need to see it as a home in order to leave."

"Okay? How do I do that?" Petal asked, raising a brow.

"Craft some comforts," Lily smiled, waving dramatically over her head and to the space around her. "A comfortable bed to sleep in, a chair and table to watch your friend do human things from, anything to make this place more than just a hole in the ground."

"Won't that burn through most of my Miasma?" Petal asked, frowning.

"Only if you are not careful," Lily cautioned, then smiled as she added, "Though I doubt you could burn through two years worth of rage and stress just decorating your home. Now come child, show me what you can do."

***

Six Pillar park was a hub of activity, the clear skies and the sense of freedom only a saturday could bring dragging countless families and groups of friends out to take advantage of its serenity. One such group in particular had opted to have a picnic in one of the park's open fields, the four girls laughing over a video clip Lemon showed them on their phone from a show she'd seen.

"Ouch! Bet he's gonna feel that one tomorrow!" Indigo laughed, wiping a tear out of her eye.

"No kidding!" Lemon chuckled, shaking her head.

"He's lucky," Sugar smiled. "If he had waited just a second longer, he probably wouldn't have been able to have kids later."

"Yeah," Twilight snorted. "But I guess that's what happens when you work on roofs in the middle of a rain storm."

"Yeah, not the smartest move dude," Lemon chuckled, searching for another video on her phone.

"Speaking of," Sugar said aiming a faint smirk at Indigo. "What did you think of that book I lent you?"

"If it wasn't a library book, I would've fed it to my fireplace," the athlete said flatly, leveling a glare just as two-dimensional.

"NO!" Twilight cried, looking as if someone had just burned an orphanage down.

"Huh?" Indigo blinked.

"You don't destroy books!" Twilight pressed, leaning towards the girl. "Books are sacred treasures that should be protected! No matter how poorly written or unpopular the subject, A BOOK MUST NEVER BE DESTROYED!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy Slugger! I was just kidding," Indigo chuckled, hands up in a placating manner.

"Oh, right," Twilight awkwardly chuckled as she leaned back from the girl. "Sorry."

"It's cool," Indigo shrugged, waving off Twilight's apology.

"What kind of book did you lend her?" Lemon asked.

"Fifty Shades of Gray," Sugar stated, casually taking a swig of bottled lemonade.

Twilight and Lemon both sported small blushes while Indigo let out an annoyed groan. When they gave the two girls odd looks, Indigo crossed her arms and sullenly gave them the closest thing to an explanation her pride would allow.

"I lost a bet."

"What kind of bet?" Lemon smirked.

"None of your business," she snapped, then angrily pointed at Sugar and barked, "And if you say anything about it, I'll sick Slugger on you!"

"And that is?" Sugar asked, raising a brow.

Sporting a cocky smirk, Indigo pointed a thumb a Twilight. Said girl blushed and curled in on herself as she, once again, became the group's main focus.

"She doesn't look like it, but this girl can pack a real wallop!" Indigo grinned, putting a comforting hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"i'm not that great," Twilight blushed, suddenly very interested in the red and white blanket beneath them.

"You're not off to a bad start," Indigo winked. "With a little training, I bet you could be the next Flash Fist!"

"And if that doesn't work, you could totally join my rock band!" Lemon beamed. "We could use a girl with lungs like yours."

"B-But I can't sing," Twilight gaped.

"We can work on that," Lemon chuckled, taking a big bit out of a sandwich.

Twilight was about to protest, only for Sugar to come to her rescue at the last second.

"She's not the type to go for those kind of things," she said flatly, handing Twilight a bottle of lemonade. "Twilight likes quiet places where she can think or read in peace. Don't try to force her into that kind of stuff."

"Yes mom," Lemon and Indigo monotoned.

That earned a small smile and giggle from Sugar and Twilight respectively.

"Thanks for the offers," Twilight smiled. "I'll have to think about them and get back to you all later."

"Hey, no prob," Lemon smiled, waving off Twilight's formal tone. "Just putting it out there is all."

"Right," Indigo smirked. "Just give me a shout out if you ever feel like hitting something, Slugger."

"I'm just a message away if you want to talk," Sugar said with a ghost of a smile.

"Thanks," she said meekly. "I really appreciate it."

Sugar just nodded and went back to reading something on her phone. All the while, Twilight let the strangeness of her situation wash over her. A week ago, she was sure that these very same girls wanted to hurt her dog in this exact spot. Now, she was sitting with them having fun and enjoying a beautiful day for the first time what felt like forever. It was so surreal, but an experience she wished could last forever.

As she let that set in, a small pang of regret settled in her gut.

Will I have to give this up...when I leave?

***

Petal let out a content sigh, flopping bonelessly into a jet-black recliner. It had taken a few hours, but she had finally managed to furnish her unintended prison. While not extravagant by any means, it had the creature comforts need for the Wraith to see her nest in a more favorable light. At one corner was a massive king-sized canopy bed, the bed frame and canopy covered with spider carvings that glowed violet in the ebony material. A similarly styled table and chair stood in front of her "window", both seemingly made from intricately woven bones that seemed to eat all of the light around them. Even the recliner she sat in held a gothic punk kind of aesthetic, it's color doing a marvelous job at hiding the multitude of aggressive lines of print that covered it in dark gray ink. To complete the scene, thick set of chains covered the ceiling in a spiderweb pattern with a black widow-shaped chandelier at its center.

"You have a very...interesting sense of style," Lily stated, frowning from her wall.

"Aw shut up," Petal chuckled, fully reclining and putting her hands behind her head. "The place looks bitch'n and a you know it!"

"Indeed," she drawled, disagreement thick in her tone. "I suppose a difference in taste is to be expected."

"Well, what did your nest look like?" Petal snarked.

A peaceful smile graced Lily's lips, her eyes gazing off into a nonexistent far distance.

"It was a vast open field of flowers under a clear night sky. A full moon shined brightly over it at all times, bringing a gentle beauty to all who could appreciate it."

"Sounds pretty boring to me," Petal huffed.

"Perhaps," Lily shrugged. "The scene held a lot of meaning to me and perfectly reflected my preferred meal."

"Boredom?"

"Dispare," Lily sighed.

Petal balked at that.

"Seriously?"

Lily nodded.

"Who did you....what happened?" she asked, tone a strangled mix of concern and curiosity.

Lily took a long, shuddering breath and said, "I would rather not say. It is a memory best avoided and not one you need to move forward."

"Right," Petal sighed, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes. "But...um...if you change your mind, I'm willing to listen."

"I will keep that in mind," Lily smiled. "Now, tell me, what is it about this girl that made you want to be her friend in the first place?"

"Hell if I know," Petal snorted.

"Pardon?" Lily blinked.

Petal sighed, then stared up at her ceiling.

"She's a total doormat, a klutz, and the biggest goody two-shoes on the planet. When she found me, I nearly tore my hair out over how much of a wimp she was. Then I took a minute to see what this girl could do and it just made my blood boil even more. She was bloody brilliant! Leagues smarter than the slags that gave her shit every day. I could tell that if she could just find her spine she could put them in their place. Eventually, I got a look at her soul and it was all down hill for me from there. Twilight went from the girl I was feeding off of to the one person in this world that I gave a shit about to my first friend. Hell, she even gave me a name! Can you believe that?"

"I see," Lily giggled. "She certainly sounds like an interesting human."

"Yeah," she sighed. "And that's why I have to figure out a way to make this work."

"The feeding problem, correct?" Lily asked.

she nodded.

"Well, I would assume that direct feeding is off of the table," the reflection mused.

"No shit," Petal snorted bitterly.

"Have you considered passive feeding?" she asked, a teasing lilt coloring her tone.

"Passive feeding?" Petal asked scrunching her face in confusion. "The hell is that?"

"The method I mentioned in your dream," she beamed.

She sat up sharply at that, her full attention locking onto the phantom in the mirror.

"If you're fucking with me, I swear I'll find a way to choke you out."

A raised brow joined Lily's smile at that, raising Petal's hackles even more.

"Well?"

"You have awful manners, you do know that, right?" Lily sniffed.

"Don't care. Now out with it already!"

"Very well," she sighed. "As you know, emotions pour out of humans on a constant basis. When we preform direct feeding, we try to force a human to experience one particular emotion exclusively so we can harvest all of it from them in one go. This more often than not leads to the human in question dying, be it from suicide or general poor health, but that is of little concern."

Seething rage radiated off of Petal, the black and gold eyes trying to sear holes through the phantom.

"Of course," she continued, unperturbed. "this is not the case with this human. As such, you will need to pull in the stray emotions that those around you produce naturally. That, is passive feeding."

"That's it?" Petal blinked.

Lily nodded.

"It is not a perfect way to hunt and you will need to direct hunt at some point to keep from going feral, but for now, it should keep you fed for a while."

A relieved smile spread across Petal's face, the sudden lack of tension letting her fall fully back onto her recliner like string-cut puppet. All of these good things were happening so fast that it was hard for her to keep up. She now had both a possible way to escape her prison and a way to keep herself fed that didn't run the risk of destroying Twilight in the process. The fact that Twilight was starting to make some friends only made her head spin even more at how many sudden turns her life was taking.

"I'll find a way to make it work," Petal chuckled. "Queen, I feel like I just dropped a boulder."

"I am glad I could help," Lily smiled.

"That just leaves one thing to do," she chuckled.

"Such as?" Lily asked, tilting her head.

"Twilight lost our bet," she said with a venomous smirk. "Time to collect."

"I see," Lily giggled, a near perfect replica of Petal's smirk decorating her face. "I take it you have an idea of what you want?"

"I've got a few," she shrugged playfully. "Wanna help me pick."

"Oh absolutely," she beamed.

They cackled wickedly as they planned, their target completely unaware of the horrors that awaited her in the near future.

***

Twilight wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel at the moment. Nervous? Excited? Afraid? Embarrassed was fairly likely given what happened not too long ago with her mom. When Twilight came home with her three new friends, the woman let out a happy cry before she trapped the teen in a bone-crushing hug. She still had no idea how Sugar Coat had managed to talk her into letting their motley crew spend time at her home, but it was very quickly turning into an experience she wouldn't forget anytime soon.

"Whoa! She's got a complete first edition collection of Daring Do!" Indigo gaped, staring at one of Twilight's bookshelves. "I thought those ran out of circulation twenty years ago!"

"The were my brother's," Twilight demurred, taping her index fingers together. "He, um, gave them to me for my birthday before he went to collage."

"They do look well loved," Sugar noted, studying the books in question.

A flurry of laughs and barks dragged everyone's attention down to the center of the room where Lemon and Spike were caught in a great battle of the ages. A battle that Spike was very quickly and thoroughly winning. With the power and energy only a puppy could wield, he had her laying on the ground suffering a barrage of licks and playful bites.

"I give I give!" Lemon laughed, covering her face with her arms in a futile attempt to halt the coming assault."Mercy!"

Twilight was about to call off the "attack", but a sharp whistle from Sugar made her freeze. It had a similar effect on Spike, the puppy's exited nature changing into mellow curiosity as he turned towards the girl.

"Here," she said flatly pointing to a spot on the ground a foot away from her in front of herself.

To Twilight's shock, he quickly complied.

"Sit," she ordered.

Again Spike obeyed.

With a small smile, she knelt down and scratched the puppy behind his ears.

"Good boy," she said, a faint coo entering her normally flat tone.

"How did you do that?" Twilight gaped.

"Sugar's always been good with animals," Lemon laughed, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "I bet she could make a bear do a tap dance if she wanted."

"I would never test that," Sugar, said flatly, scratching Spike's belly. "I like having all of my limbs too much."

Indigo snickered at that, then raised a brow when another book on Twilight's shelf caught her eye.

"Slumber 101?" she blinked, plucking the book off the shelf.

"Oh, yeah, that," Twilight chuckled nervously. "I got that a few years back. You know. Incase I ever have a..um...slumber party."

An awkward silence filled the room as the four girls let that little tidbit settle in between them all. The three girls shared a worried look while Twilight waited for them to ask the question she knew was coming. At first, looked like Sugar was going to be the one to do so, only for Lemon to beat her to the punch.

"Have you ever had a chance to, um, use it?"

Sighing, Twilight took a seat on her bed and stared at the floor as she shook her head.

"Until recently, I never had a friend to do those kinds of things with before."

The three girls balked at that, then traded determined frowns and nods.

"Looks like we know what we're doing next weekend," Indigo smirked.

"Totally!" Lemon cheered. "I'll bring karaoke machine and everything!"

"Just don't ask me to sing," Sugar frowned. "I mean it."

"But you're awesome!" Lemon whined,

"No I'm not," Sugar insisted, a small glare showing on her face.

"Whatever you say," Lemon shrugged, then aimed a nervous smile at Twilight as she followed up with a, "Do you think your....um....friend will be able to make it."

Twilight flinched at that, not out of pain, but uncertainty over Petal's situation. While she was sure that the Wraith was still watching over her, the fact she hadn't fully reestablished their link ate at her. Not helping was the fact that she still had no idea how to free her or what would happen when she did. At the moment, she had far more questions than answers at her disposal and until Petal decided otherwise, that was how it was going to stay.

"Probably not," Twilight sighed. "She's still not talking to me."

"Harsh," Indigo cringed.

"Yeah," Twilight chuckled. "Petal's like that sometimes."

"What's she like?" Sugar asked.

"Well," Twilight hummed, looking at the ceiling in thought. "She's a little rough around the edges, curses like a sailor, and ruthlessly honest. If she thinks you're doing something dumb, she won't hesitate to tell you. It's thanks to her I met you all at the park last weekend."

"I take it she helped you after the "Mall Incident" too," Sugar intoned, crossing her arms.

Twilight nodded, her hand drifting towards her pendant without her knowing.

"Really, it's thanks to her that I can think straight these days."

"Sounds like a cool person to me,"Lemon smiled.

"Ditto," Indigo nodded. "I hope the two of you patch things up soon.

"Thanks," Twilight smiled, staring down at her pendant. "I hope so too."

***

Petal laid in her new bed, the Miasmic comforter, sheets, and mattress feeling like silk against her tired body. Late evening darkness filled her nest, Twilights sleeping face on full display on her window. The sight brought a chuckle out of the Wraith as she tried to get more comfortable.

This is way better than sleeping on the floor, she mused, letting her eyes droop. Maybe I'll make a habit out of this.

As sleep sat on the edge of her mind, a few stray thoughts kept her from fully committing to the act. With her freedom so close at hand, what did she plan to do with it? Of course, she still intended to keep her friendship with Twilight, but could she do the same with her new friends? Would they be as open to the idea of being friends with a creature of her nature as Twilight was? Would they abandon Twilight if they found out?

Sighing, she rolled away from her window only to be met by Lily's concerned frown.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

Petal let out another sigh as she rolled onto her back.

"Just realized what kind of hole I've dug myself into."

"Pardon?" she blinked

Petal groaned, then said, "I've been so focused on Twilight making friends and pulling her head out of her ass that I don't know where I fit in her life. I'm her friend, sure, but what the hell are her other friends going to think when they find out about me? It's not like, "Hey! Guess what? I'm a monster that eats people!" is going to go over very well."

"You could keep it between you two," Lily offered. "It isn't as if the others need to know."

"But what if they find out later? All it would take is some asshole Wraith or Hunter showing up and my whole cover is blown! Twilight loses her friends and I get a bullseye painted on my back. Game fucking over."

Lily frowns down at her, then huffs as she says, "Make them see past that."

"Huh?" she blinked, turning her head towards her.

"You managed to make one human see past what you are. Do it again! If this human is so important to you, make it work between the two of you."

"Do you think it'll be that easy?" she muttered, stating up at her canopy.

"Of course not," Lily huffed. "Life never is.

"Thanks," Petal flatly stated.

Lily let out a small giggle, then gently stated, "And that is what makes what your doing so worth protecting."

Petal's mind froze at that, unable to deny her reflection's simple wisdom. Letting that settle into her mind, she felt her rare desire for sleep start to creep up on her again. With her mind no longer racing, a small smile graced her lips as she gave into the urge. At the same time, the lingering ghost of a thought crossed her mind.

Fuck it all. Let's just deal with the shit when it comes. It's worked so far, right?

***

The room was mostly dark, what few streams of light that entered did so through barred windows in the highest parts of its tall ceiling. It was cylindrical and crafted from aged gray bricks that glistened with aged slime and dead moss. The only way in or out of the room was an aged wooden door fastened to one side of the room by thick rusted bolts. Twilight struggled to make any kind of sense of where she was, but it was quickly turning into a losing battle. She couldn't move, nor could she speak or feel anything past the damp air that stank of blood and mold. It was as if she was trapped watching a movie, but was doing so from inside the film itself.

A fact that made what hung from the center of the room all the more tragic.

Hanging by her arms from a thick metal chain was a young woman. She looked to be in her mid twenties and may have been beautiful at some point, but now was just a ghost of her former self. Her light yellow skin was covered in scars and fresh wounds that covered her tattered pink dress with streaks of copper and red. Her two-toned dark green hair sat ragged and tangled on her downward-drooping head, hiding her face as it trailed down to the middle of her back. Her bones were showing in the parts of her body her "dress" failed to cover along with more trails of dried blood. Soft, ragged breathing were the only signs that the woman was still alive.

Twilight wanted to help her, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't make herself do more than watch. She couldn't even cry over what she was seeing. Before the sight became too much for her to handle, the door slammed open and she was forced to stare at the figure that walked in. It was a man dressed in heavy plate armor, a tattered brown sack held tight in his grip. Twilight's view shifted, as if she had been moved back to better watch the two figures interact. A second later, the woman raised her head to reveal a withered bony face and dead teal eyes aimed blankly at the figure.

"The time for your judgment is at hand witch," the guard grunted. "Do you still refuse to reveal your plan?"

The women's lip trembled and in a desperate whisper pleaded, "Please. let us go. My family and I only wanted to help. We are healers, not witches of the devil's coven."

"The typical deceit of the Devil's minions," the guard huffed. "May God have pity on you as he casts you into the fire."

The woman went slack, hanging like a puppet that had its strings cut. A trail of tears slid down her cheeks as the futility of her situation was reminded to her. In a frail shaking voice, she asked on last thing that broke Twilight's heart in a way she had never experienced before.

"Then please, at least spare my family. They are innocent of my crimes and do not deserve the gallows."

The guard scoffed and said, "The man you hexed has been made to see his maker while your vile spawn have been returned to your master. All that is left is for you to do the same."

As he said that, he opened the back and dumped its contents onto the floor. One was a golden wring while the others were a hand-stitched doll and a wooden deer carving. All three of them were covered in dried blood. The woman and Twilight stared down at the objects in numb shock, the implications as clear as day to the both of them as the guard made his exit. The door slammed shut with the finality of a judge's gavel , the room's sole occupants locked in a sea of shock and pain. Soon the woman found her voice and a gut wrenching wail tore through the dungeon's cruel silence.

Twilight wanted to join her, but her voice was still taken from her. All she could do was watch and silently send her condolences to the grieving mother before her.

It was then, as all hope bled from the woman that a presence began to make itself know.

Twilight shivered as she felt a strange force enter the dungeon, the air itself feeling as if it had taken on a life of its own. Before her very eyes, the shadows that surrounded the woman started to twist and slither like demonic ivy or snakes. Portions of the walls started to distort as if they were being viewed through carnival mirrors as the presence grew stronger. When it felt as if it had reached its peak, a ten foot wide hole formed in one of the walls and a new figure entered the room.

She was woman of hourglass figure dressed in a regal black and gray dress worthy of the highest of mid-evil royalty. Her skin was a light monochrome gray and seemed to give a faint glow that was quickly devoured the pure darkness of her clothes and straight black hair that came down to her shoulders. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, seemingly carved from porcelain by the greatest of artisans with the only flaw being the black strip of fabric that covered her eyes.

She approached the hanging woman, her stride carrying an elegance only tireless practice could make natural. Standing before her, she gently brought a hand up to the woman's chin and guided her tearstained face toward hers.

"So full of despair and heartache," the woman sighed, true pain coloring her soft tone. "Tell me, what do they call you my child?"

The woman stared blankly at her, then forced out two words past her dry lips.

"Lily....Bouquet..."

The figure smiled gently at her and said, "Such a pretty name. One not worthy of a life filled with such pain and hardship."

To Lily's shock, the woman wrapped her in a tight embrace, tears sliding past her cloth and down her cheeks.

"You have suffered more than most in ways far too cruel to mention. I so wish I could take that pain away, to make your life the way it was meant to be, but all I can do is this."

Twilight watched Lily accept the hug, but even she could see that it did little to heal her heart. The figure seemed aware of this as well, a look of deep sorrow crossing her face as she pulled away.

"The pain you hold will kill you long before you reach the gallows, but it will also let rise into something new."

As she said that, she held out a hand to Lily and a black light gathered in her palm. When it parted, a small crystal flower took its place, the object seemingly eating what few streams of light had entered the prison.

"The life you once held is over. Will you accept the one I offer you now?"

Twilight and Lily stared down at the crystal, one with trepidation and the other with faint interest. The teen could see the woman mulling over the other's words, a faint light of life entering her near-dead eyes. Then, with a resolved frown, she looked up at the woman and nodded.

The regal woman nodded in understanding and with power in her words said, "Very well, then I, Queen Rabia, welcome you into my family. Eat well and grow strong, my new daughter."

With that, she gently pressed the flower into Lily's chest, earning a shocked gasp from the woman as it fazed into her. Twilight watched in shock as the color faded from her body, her skin and hair taking on the same monochrome tint as Rabia herself. What truly shook her was her eyes, the whites turning as black as night while her teal pupils turned a burning gold. When it was over, Lily stood up by her own power and casually ripped her arms free from her bindings, the chains snapping as if they had been made of wet toilet paper. Rabia stepped back from her newest daughter, a gentle smile gracing her lips as the former human met her gaze.

"How do you feel my dear?" Rabia asked, sweetly.

"Hungry," Lily sighed, a sinister smile spreading across her face.

"Then come," she smiled, gently pulling the woman do her side. "Let us hunt."

Before Twilight could process what she had just witnessed, the dream came to an abrupt end. The beeping of her alarm instantly brought her back her room and the feel of her bed. Letting out a defeated sigh, she reached up and turned off her phones alarm. Fumbling around further, she searched for her glasses as she tried to make sense of her dream. It felt too real to be something her mind could've come up with. It was almost like she was watching someone's memory. Shoving that unnerving thought aside, she slid her glasses into place then froze when she saw that she was not as alone as she thought she was.

Lying half a foot away from her, covered in the early Sunday sunlight peeking past her window was a young girl around her age. Her skin and hair held the same shade as the two women from her dream, only this girl's hair was short and wavy. She held a lithe, but toned build that her black mini dress emphasized fully, giving her an almost faery-like look. Gray and lavender flowers decorated her dress while the frayed edges of the skirt and shoulder straps gave her a more rough look.

Twilight let out a started "Eep!" and scrambled out of bed, her head going straight into panic mode over what she was seeing. An action that brought an irate growl out of the girl as she started to stir.

"For fucks sake," she grumbled as she sat up. "Can't a girl get any sleep around here?"

The shock of the girl's black sclera and golden pupils was quickly kicked aside by how familiar her voice sounded as the girl rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Numb with shock and confusion, Twilight stared at the girl with wide eyes as she asked a question that made the other girl freeze.

"Petal? Is that really you?"

"Twilight?" she grunted, hands still over her eyes.

Slowly, the Wraith took her hands away from her face and looked to where she heard her friend's voice. For a moment, they stayed perfectly still, wide-eyed at what was happening. Then, Petal made a tight fist, and slugged herself across the face.

"P-Petal?!" Twilight gaped, rushing to the Wraith's side. "Are you okay? Why did you do that?"

"Holy fuck that hurt," she hissed, rubbing her cheek.

Catching Twilight completely by surprise, she pulled the girl into a tight embrace and fell back into the bed with her laughing.

"It really is you," she smiled, returning the hug.

"Yep," Petal chuckled. "And I hope you're ready Sparkles. Cuz now that I'm out, its all down hill from here."

Author's Note:

Hope you're all ready, cuz things are about to get interesting.

Comments

[prism heart]

I like Petal here quite a lot.

[Stet709]

"Dispare," Lily sighed.

Should be Despair
And I think we know who Lily's primary source of despair was, especially coupled with what she says here:

"Very well," she sighed. "As you know, emotions pour out of humans on a constant basis. When we preform direct feeding, we try to force a human to experience one particular emotion exclusively so we can harvest all of it from them in one go. This more often than not leads to the human in question dying, be it from suicide or general poor health, but that is of little concern."

[Teraunce]

Woo! Petal has gained Corporeality. I still hope she manages to find a way to feed on positive emotions. It seems like you are going down that path and it's one that I would like see trod. I'm a sucker for redemption stories. It's why my alternate main OC in MLP terms would be a reformed "Nightmare". Nightdrake? So go Petal Go! Figure out how to teach the rest of your kind how to me symbiotes rather than parasites. I also note you aren't causing a localized area of despair, you just appear rather monochrome.

[DavisSentoV5]

Welp, things are about to get interesting