Author's Note: I consider this "draft mode" writing. I'd like to take my time on each chapter before posting elsewhere. Rewriting and re-edits will be common until I'm done. In the meantime, suggestions and plot criticism will be heavily appreciated. I'll also be sure to write down any new edits at the end of the chapter.
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A mother's love never dies...
"The path to paradise begins in hell"
- Dante Alighieri
Prologue
Fire. The world was on fire. The smog covered across the sky, blinding the victims by an unnatural darkness. Ciara suffocated when she breathed. Next to her, her mother's lifeless arms wrapped around Ciara body.
Ciara wait until she'd stop breathing, unwilling to leave her mother's side. She waited, hoping her mother could save her from the fires. Of course she couldn't. But Ciara didn't know how to accept that. Ciara kept whimpering her mother's name over the sounds of explosions heard from the distance.
The world was falling apart. Everyone she once knew was dying for reasons she didn't understand. And before she could allow herself to go quiet from the smoke entering her lungs, a monster appeared in front of her.
It came out from the fires, poised as though it were a demon risen from hell. Ciara only knew of creatures such as it through fairy tales her mother had told her. It was a demon in the flesh, ready to pull her into an abyss of agony fit only for nighttime stories.
One more time, she called for her mother's name. "Mommy," as she knew it.
And then, a light rose.
An image of every human in an instance. Spirits converging, ghosts moving, people evolving. The world was just grand scheme for a much larger play. Small vessels for the comfort of sprites. Fairies, as her mother had once told her.
Her mother stood as a goddess. She stood tall and proud as any mother could to protect their child. In an instant, the demon fell back afraid of the spirit. And Ciara's mother sliced the demon into pieces.
Once the demon fell, destroyed, a second spirit rose up. It was the demon again, only it looked more human. Like it had been purged from its deformities.
Ciara still couldn't breathe. She was about to fall over and succumb to her mother's fate, but then she could hear a slow hum from her mum.
It was a lullaby.
And just as her mother had done a few hours before, her mum held her in her arms, and sang as she carried Ciara home.
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She was alone. Trying to understand why the world was so big to her eyes. She begged and she pleaded as she could, hoping to gain whatever more the orphanage didn't have to offer. Her happiest moments were in the library, where she couldn't be judged for sitting down and reading fairy tales all day.
Some days she would see a demon, or a ghost, pass by. She was never sure how to respond to it. Should she have spoken with them? Try and kindle a companionship out of spiritual camaraderie?
Ciara was only 10 years old when she decided to keep her world of fairies a secret. They were beautiful to her, and she worried that sharing the secret could cause her spirits to go away.
Her autumn hair and emerald eyes should've made her very desirable in Ireland, but no one had decided to adopt. Few people wanted the responsibilities of children during those troubled times. Her only method for coping in the world was through reading, where she could get lost fantasies to escape the nation she didn't understand.
But as days went by, and weeks become months, she desired for her fantasies to become more than just dreams. She became cynical. Something cold was growing inside her. Ciara no longer saw people as something alive, but instead, only as vessels for faeries. Husks meant to carry the beauties that she saw. The faeries were more alive than people ever were.
And so, she picked and plucked. Picked and plucked as faeries passed by. She gave them names, gleeful that they could be added into her family. There was no distinction between purposes and morals for her, all the faeries were equal, all the faeries could join her.
So many vessels dead, very few understood why.
It made her happy. Her family was growing, her love expanding, her fantasies were coming to life. No one suspected the 12 year old girl to be responsible for the deaths of so many.
Just as she was about to pluck another fairy from another vessel, the vessel turned around, and gave Ciara the warmest hug she'd ever had in her life.
"Angel collector," the women in the the black suit said. "You needn't travel this path alone."
She spoke like a character from folklore, cryptic and alluring. "Who else could walk this path, but I?" Ciara asked her.
"Phantom," she answered.
Without requesting it, the women in black picked Ciara up like her mother once did. She felt warm, warmer than her fairies had ever provided for her.
A portal opened.
The Sprite princess wasn't sure where the women was taking her, perhaps to paradise? Perhaps her story was to end in the arms of this stranger. Either way, Ciara felt calm for the first time in years, and having her story end in peace was something that seemed pleasing at the moment.
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A/N: Read and Review. This story draws heavy influences from the fanfic 'Titan's Phantom', which I highly recommend reading if you're a Teen Titans/Danny Phantom fan.
