For as long as Tia could remember, she dreamt of the world dying. According to Nana 'Len, she was the exact opposite as a baby.
"You were so good growing up," she used to say. "Almost never cried, and when I said 'no more of that' you'd do what I told you to do. I remember when it was time for you t'be off the bottle; I only had to tell you once and you never asked for it again."
That was a relief. She didn't like the idea of giving Nana trouble. But eventually dreams of smoke and death, locusts eating human flesh, wars between countries that didn't exist, people starving, betrayals, and hopelessness. When she first had the dreams, everything terrified her: sleep, shadows, friends, fire. Great Gods above and below, the fire was what terrified her most of all.
"Must be a fey child," she overheard Eunice tell Beatrice one day. "Took the real baby after the missus brought her in."
"Bug-eyed little freak came in the other day, wanted to ask me about Voices in fires."
"In the fires? That's new." she said.
"Holy hell, don't remind me."
"That's nothin'," Kandice's voice said. "A few days ago I came in, y'know how I help open up the shop."
"Of course."
"Well, not two steps in the door and here comes the missus' kid, crying up a storm because someone said that wind spirits would eat his soul if he whistled at night."
"Someone needs to get that brat out of this shop," Beatrice said.
"Menace of the shop district," Eunice agreed.
Tia didn't talk about her dreams after that. Didn't sleep as much either. That led to many 'hilarious' moments where she'd fall asleep randomly throughout the day, and wake up in the strangest of places: a meat cellar, a greenhouse, behind the bomber's house, even in a pond surrounded by frogs. It was because of that last one Rex was with her today to explore the ruins.
The two had left early in the morning, sneaking behind old boxes and underneath the Troll Bridge to avoid anyone (Duran) who might be looking for them. With some dog meat, some day old bread, and two jugs of water, they waved goodbye to the patrolmen (well Tia did) and headed off into the Grana Plains for an adventure.
"Come on, Tia! The sun's gonna set before we even get to the hills!"
"You can see the sun?" she asked looking up at the overcast sky. "Where is it?"
Rex pinched her nose. "Don't get smart with me. Come on, I think I see the old tower."
Tia pouted, but didn't say anything. They held hands as they climbed over half-buried walls and poked around in holes of towers. Tia kept trying to break off every time she saw something that caught her eye, especially flowers. She finally managed to drag Rex to look at some as they neared the base of the hill. They only had a few petals each, but they twisted upward in a fashion that too closely resembled fire for her liking.
"Maybe we'll find some other flowers to bring back."
Rex laughed. "Fana?"
"For Fana, yeah," she nodded. "And maybe for Duran too."
He rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease, he don't deserve nothin' nice you got."
"He's nice."
"When he's not dragging us t'Hell."
"Hey now," she said. "Don't call it that. You know Mr. Gustav cares about us."
"Then he should leave us alone."
She threw her hands up in the air and gave up. Sometimes Rex just liked to be grouchy. Despite what he said though, he still knelt down and unsheathed his pocketknife to cut the stems. He dumped a handful over her head as she laughed.
"For you 'n for Fana."
She smiled at him before removing her jacket to wrap around the flowers to make a kinda bouquet. She looked at the flowers in her head and shuddered at the sight. If only she could wrap up her dreams the same way. A far off rumbled of thunder brought her back to reality and, not wanting to waste anymore time if it started to rain, ran the rest of the way up the steep hill, careful of the numerous pitfalls and jutting debris from the ruins. By the time she reached the top, she was panting and sweating, but grinning from ear to ear. This right here was her hill, from the skinny tree with the twisty roots, to the monolith standing tall and proud, to even the view. It was special to her; the air was cleaner, the colors brighter...and kinder dreams.
After catching her breath she began walking over to the monolith, lightly tracing the symbols and pictures on its cool surface.
"Geez Tia," Rex huffed. "Couldn't wait, could ya?"
She giggled. "Nope! Gotta work for that nap."
Rex made a face like he was smelling week old fish before looking passed her at the monolith. "Sure is butt ugly."
"It's got character."
"See, that's how I know you're spending too much time with the old folks. Who says that unironically?"
Tia raised her hand.
"My point exactly," he said nodding.
She rolled her eyes, but was in too good a mood. She was at her favorite spot with one of her favorite people, they were gonna have a picnic, and this would be a good day. She could feel it in her bones.
While Tia laid down in the grass and closed her eyes, she heard Rex fidget and move around her. He finally sat down and she heard him unwrap the bread they brought.
"If you're gonna nap, imma go an' eat" he said next to her.
Rex's voice and the distant rumbling of thunder mixed with the thick and heavy air. An unseasonably warm breeze weaved through the ruins surrounding them, and lulled her to sleep.
The end of life as we know it is here
Her vision flickered. Bright, flashing lights while fast-paced images raced passed her: towers crumbling, stars setting trees ablaze, things crawling out of fire. Fire everywhere. She felt as if someone was smothering her, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't see, and the smell of something or someone burning was too close.
Mankind has strayed from the path.
I shall incinerate them with their own sins
She clawed at her throat, Great Gods, she was burning and no one cared
From their ashes–
"–a new world shall be born." she gasped. She'd never managed to speak before. It felt like the weight of the world was lifted with those few words. She was weightless, floating far away from the fire and the screams and the broken world around her.
But the Voice continued on, as if it were nothing new or different.
Let us bind a deal between us
you shall attain my heart's true desire.
That was new.
"Desire? I-I don't even know who you are. I couldn't."
You can and you will, Tia. Do not fear, for you will not be alone in this quest.
"No! No, I...I'm just a kid. Please, I can't, I don't even know what you wa–"
Who here has created countless worlds?! A blinding flash of light caused her to scream and stumble back. She was at the edge of the world, and now she was falling.
Who here has seen the rise and fall of man?
Who witnessed their civilizations rot beneath their own greed?
Was it not I who kept my promise? Who had not given up on the forgotten?
Tia curled into a ball,shutting her eyes tight against the light and putting her hands over her ears to keep the earth-shattering voice at bay. She kept falling, faster and faster with the wind screaming and whipping her hair against her face. A whimpering and pathetic noise escaped her, and began to cry when she finally looked up. Like someone flipping a switch, the light was gone and the world was devoid of sound. She was floating in nothingness and alone. Even when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she flinched away.
You must receive me, Tia. Please. The Voice was softer, almost apologetic.
Please…
Tia...please…
Please, Tia.
Tia…?
"Tia!"
She jolted awake, gasping for air and blinking back tears. She looked up to see Rex gripping her shoulders.
"What the hell?"
She couldn't answer him. She was still shaking from whatever it was that'd happened. She jumped into Rex's arms and started to cry.
"Uh, um, there there?" Rex patted her head with the gentleness of a wooden spoon and spoke as soothingly as a rusty wheel trying to turn. But he was there and he was trying, and that's all she needed.
"Rex, it-it was awful! I saw- I saw-!"
"I know. But hey, it was just a dream, right?" he gave her head another pat and pulled away from her. He gave her a self-assured smile. "Dreams won't hurt you. Not when I'm here."
She looked at him with tears in her eyes, but then they widened and looked just off his shoulder. He turned around and saw a soldier standing on top of a crumbling wall. Without looking away she fumbled for Rex's hand and gripped it tightly.
The...thing looked like a soldier, but unlike the patrolmen or guards in Rhoan, this soldier had pitch black armor and was covered in spikes. It kept cocking and turning its head like a mechanical toy owl, kneeling down and bending it's arms and legs like a giant spider.
"What is that?" Rex whispered.
"It's...it looks like a spider."
She pulled closer to him and whimpered. "Rex, let's get out of here before it sees us."
Rex bit his lip but nodded. Ignoring their lunch, they began to crawl backwards, not daring to turn their back to the thing. The thing was climbing over the ruins, putting its head closer to the ground and jerking back up too quickly for them to see or comprehend what caused its strange movements. It was climbing slowly up the hill while they were carefully going back down it.
The monolith was probably the largest and the biggest ruin on the hill, but near it were cracked and broken pieces of possibly others. Right now the monster was circling around one of these. It climbed on top of it and pulled out a strange rod that began to *clik* and *whir* until it was twice as long as the monster. The monster began to wave it about, tapping against objects and seemingly measuring how tall they were.
"This thing is blind" Tia jumped at the sound of a voice in her ear.
Rex grabbed her hand in a vice grip and glared.
"You can take this thing in a fight."
*shhhhnk*
Rex and Tia both looked up to see a scythe had unfolded from the monster's rod, as pitch black as its armor save for its rusted edges, and it swung it at one of the ruins and cut it cleanly in half.
Tia squeaked.
It cocked its head, grabbed one half of the ruins, and threw it at her.
Rex cursed and pulled her away. The stone ruin crashed just inches away from them, the force making them trip and roll down Sunny Hill. Tia coughed and sputtered and barely knew what to do before she heard a whistling noise.
"Kid you gotta get up and MOVE!"
She rolled away just as another rock crashed down. She looked up to see the monster jump down from the top of the hill in one leap. It began smelling the ground and blinking in and out of her vision, moving too fast to see and she couldn't move.
"Kid I know it's scary but you gotta fight it! You gotta kill it before it kills you."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rex was just starting to get up. He groaned and rolled over. The monster heard him. Tia groped around her, found a rock, and threw it at its head.
"Not what I had in mind but, hey, whatever works for ya I guess."
The monster huffed and twisted its head in her direction. From its hip it pulls out another weapon, a handaxe (but the blade alone was easily half Tia's size) and threw it at her. Tia yelped and dropped to the ground, and immediately rolled to the side when the monster charged. The monster crashed into the remains of a half-buried wall and gave a whinny of frustration.
Tia looked back at Rex, now standing up but frozen in place.
"Fight back!"
Tia had an idea. She stood up, grabbing another rock and began to run.
"I need a knife! I need a knife!" she shouted and threw the rock at the monster. "It's blind, it's blind!"
The monster made a sound that sounded like a mixture of a bark and bull's cry, and charged again, but this time she was ready. It was blind and she was clever. She jumped over the last remains of the wall. It crashed through and smashed headfirst into the side of a tower. Rex was there waiting with his knife in hand. Tia held out her hand and he handed it to her.
"See you soon?" she whispered.
He nodded before turning around and bolting off. The monster heard them, but she'll be damned if she was going to let that thing hurt Rex. She gave a sharp, low whistle and charged.
"Hope you know what you're doing."
The monster swung its scythe and she reared back, seeing her reflection in the blade before twisting away and jumping back. Underneath her she felt the ground give a little bit. They were close, but she had to make sure it'd work before luring the thing towards it. She glanced at its scythe. Or she could make it do the work for her
It swung its scythe downwards, and she jumped back, hissing in pain when it grazed against her leg. The scythe cut into the ground and got stuck between the grate underneath.
Long ago there had been a sewage system in Frannelle, but went out of use after merging with Rhoan. The sewers went all the way out into the Grana Plains, where its contents would be disposed of. Most were blocked off now, but grates like this one were still around.
And their hinges let the grates swivel.
The monster couldn't pull its scythe out, so with a *clik*-ing noise the blade was sheathed. Tia drop kicked it out of the monster's hands and threw another rock at it. It moved towards her. She stepped just as it stepped onto the grate and its weight made it fall into the sewer below.
Tia jumped back on and stabbed Rex's knife into one of the hinges to keep it in place. She twisted the knife and pushed, but the monster below roared and shook the bars of the grate, almost shaking her off.
"Don't worry kiddo, I've got your back."
A burst of fire erupted from the knife, transforming it into a flaming sword. It melted the grate in place, sending Tia and the monster cowering away from its light. Tia felt the heat against her face, her eyes drying up but she still couldn't move away.
"Kid!"
The voice brought her back and she moved just before a clawed hand shot between the bars below her and tried to grab her leg. She scrambled off of the grate and stared in horror. The blood pounded in her ears, the knife was still on fire, and the monster was shaking the grate and screaming.
She got up and ran back home. Back to Rex, back to Rhoan, back to safety and away from monsters and the hill. She could still hear a voice in her ear though, laughing with glee.
"Oh man, I sure am glad to be back!"