Chapter 35: A Grim Welcome

Heather was walking through a forest.

Ahead of her was Circi. Her mother.

Swaddled in Circi's arms was Heather as an infant.

Heather, again, invisible to her mother, walked behind them, listening to everything that happened.

It was snowing. The Sun was slowly rising, and the Dawn was cold.

Baby Heather gurgled a little bit and made a few noises of irritation, but never cried.

Heather had rarely cried at that age. She seemed far more mature and strong that what was expected.

Circi looked like she hadn't had a peaceful sleep in days. Which was true. Her sleep was haunted by nightmares of guilt and regret, visions of what might have been, if Wilfre hadn't drawn in the Book.

She didn't blame him for the Darkness. She didn't know what happened. All she knew was that her old life was over.

She had to go somewhere.

Whatever the case, she couldn't raise a child like this.

She finally reached the end of the Forest.

Winterland, a town of endless snow.

Circi walke - no, limped - to a nearby Orphanage.

She knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, a Raposa woman, a nun, opened the door

"Hello?" She asked.

"I can't raise this baby." Circi said. "I can't go home. I have no money. I need you to take care of Heather. Please."

Circi held the baby Heather up. Baby Heather smiled at the nun.

Circi burst into tears.

"Hey, it'll be alright." The nun said. "You shouldn't be ashamed of giving a child to an orphanage. It's what's best for her."

Circi wiped some of the tears off of her face, and looked at Heather.

"I'm sorry, Heather." Circi said.

Baby Heather reached out to Circi with a tiny paw.

Circi took something off of her neck and put it around Heather's neck.

It was a necklace.

The red Pendant.

"Take this." Circi said. "It's a symbol that I'll be with you. I love you, Heather. Never forget that. I'll come back. I promise."

She then, reluctantly, gave Heather over to the Nun.

"Mama." Baby Heather mumbled, reaching out to Circi.

Circi sniffed, wiped her eyes, and smiled sadly, waving goodbye.

She then turned away and walked into the darkness.

"Mom." Heather - present day Heather - whispered.

And then, as Circi walked away, and as the dream faded, Heather heard a familiar sound.

A baby crying.

It was the very first time Heather had wept in her life...

"Why were you speaking to that... thing?" He asked.

Michael was kneeling before his master. His father, the lord of the Templar.

"Heather isn't a thing." Michael said. "She's a person."

His father replied by smacking him across the face with a gauntlet. It hurt, but Michael didn't flinch.

"When this meeting is over," His father said, "You will go to the Chapel of Redemption and atone for that sin."

"Forgive me, oh mighty 'Creator-in-Flesh'." Michael said angrily.

"I am the One True Prophet of the Creator's will!" His father said. "Don't forget that. If I tell you someone is an abomination, they are an abomination! Your mother forgot my authority, don't forget what happens to heretics like her!"

That was going to far. Michael stood up and looked his Father in the eye. "Don't you DARE talk about Mom that way!" Michael yelled. "She was a better prophet than you could ever be! You're a filthy damn tyrant, delusional in grandeur and so full of himself you're completely blind to the world! Blind because your head is so damn far up yous a-"

His father struck him again, harder than before. It knocked Michael over and sent him sprawling to the ground. He coughed up a handful of blood.

"Get out." His father said. "And the next time you meet this "Heather"... she will be your enemy. Understood?"

Michael slowly stood. "Understood, Father."

Michael then stormed out.

He the ran. Away from home, into the surrounding forest.

Sitting alone by a stream, he thought to himself.

How could he betray Heather? He couldn't turn on her.

Even if his dad commanded the Faith, he couldn't turn on Heather.

She was his friend.

And to be honest, he found Heather pretty.

Her blond hair, her innocent, kind eyes, the fact that she looked so happy and young despite the darkness looming over her.

She reminded him of what he strives to be: Brave and pure of cause.

In a way, she embodied what the Creator represented - or at least, SHOULD represent - more than his own Father did.

He needed time to think.

"Creator" he said to the wilderness. "If you can hear me, give me a sign. What should I do?"

Their was no reply at first.

But then, the wind blew, and he heard a whisper in the wind.

Heather must Live.

It was a sing.

Michael was certain that, weather she was his enemy or not, Heather must live.

They made it.

Turtle Rock slowly made it's way into the Raposa Village harbor.

The Village was very different than before.

Heather walked out of her room, just waking up, her sword in it's scabbard, and stood with her friends.

The Village really WAS different.

Everything was greyscaled, all the color removed and replaced by many different shades of dark, menacing grey.

The Raposa there were very sad looking. Their eyes had no pupils and they cried black goo. It was as if a Shadow Spirit of Misery cursed the village a LONG time ago.

"By the Creator..." Samuel said.

"Why is everything so Sad-looking?" Heather asked.

They stepped unto the land.

The cursed Raposa were looking at they didn't attack.

Instead, they were groaning in sadness.

A Shadow Corrupted Mari appeared before them.

"So." She said in a melancholy, disturbingly gentle voice. "Here we are."

Jowee walked forward.

"Mari, it's me!" Jowee said. "Jowee! You have to snap out of it!"

"Yes." Mari said, her voice sounding distant and sad. "Jowee. My old friend."

Mari then turned her soulless, empty eyes to Heaher. "You. All of you. You really think you can fight the Darkness?"

"We've been doing it this whole time!" Samuel said. "You were there fighting with us!"

"Yes." Mari replied. "I was. But that was before Circi showed me the truth."

A single, shadowy tear dropped from Mari's left eye and fell on the ground. The grass where the tear his withered and died.

"We all have our inner demons." Mari said. "Their is no use fighting them. No matter what we do, or where we go, failure is the only result."

"That's crazy!" Jowee yelled back. "We beat Wilfre twice, Mari! Of course Failure isn't the only choice!"

"But it is." Mari said sadly. "No matter how many times Wilfre died, the Darkness came back. Our world is already dead, Jowee, can't you see that? The Creator only brought us back after Mike's departure because he enjoys our suffering. He relishes in our Misery. Misery. The only constant in this world."

"For Creator's sake, snap out of it!" Jowee yelled. "We have to save our village! We can't let Circi win!"

"No one wins." Mari said. "She will fail. You will fail. I will fail. Everyone and everything fails. I guess this is how it ends. Old friends, family, forced to kill one another in the name of a cause. Their is no cause. Their is no friendship, no family. I have no choice but to destroy you all. None of us ever had a choice. There never were choices to begin with."

Mari then vanished, and in her place, 10 Shadow Ghouls materialized.