Everything was dark, darker than dark—there was nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing at all. Lyvina found herself buried under the rubble of the inn. Her body had phased through all the wreckage, leaving what little remained of her stuck against the basement floor amidst the debris. Two stories of bite-sized lumber and masonry lay above her, and not only her arms, but now most of her lower body had been shattered to pieces, leaving her little more than a torso with a few stumps. In short…

She was trapped.

What… happened? Why did all this happen? Why? Why? Why? WHY!? The questions echoed relentlessly in Lyvina’s mind, each repetition intensifying the overwhelming sense of confusion and despair.

She thought back to just a few minutes ago. Vine was poisoned by that mechanical eye, when that man, Aksel, came rushing in through the crowd of goblins. It was almost moving to see someone care so much about her saviour. Yet, she could only watch helplessly as Aksel and Theo tried to save her, while the other ungrateful drights in the Inn refused to help. She remembered screaming at them, begging them to help alongside Aksel, but her voice carried no weight—they just looked on.

The anger still burned in her chest, a roaring inferno fuelled by the people who abandoned her for all those years stood by and did nothing to save Vine. There was no time for her impotent rage at that moment, however. She was the only one who could help save Vine, or so she thought. The poison couldn’t affect her, and Aksel was not strong enough to restrain Vine for the medicine to be delivered. So, she forced Vine’s arm down, stepping on her to prevent her from flailing.

But then, there was the glow, and the cracks, which took a hold of her entire lower body. She recalled watching everyone around her leave, but she refused, staying with Vine right until the very end.

And now, here she was. Armless, legless, alone.

“It’s not fair…” She spoke in a trembling voice. “I was happy. I was finally happy, and it was taken away from me again. Why does it always happen to me? Can’t the world just let me be happy for once? FOR ONCE?!” The anguish in her words echoed in the emptiness surrounding her, a desperate plea to an indifferent universe.

“No… No, I can’t be happy, can I? Because I’m just a horrible little girl who was hanged for her horrible crimes. Just a horrible person, living in a horrible world, filled with horrible people, ruled by a horrible god…” She spoke to herself, weeping. “Y-you’ve taken everything from me now…” There was no escaping to fantasy to avoid reality, there was no more wandering the village in pursuit of meaning, there was only the darkness, the bitter, lonely, darkness that enveloped her in its unforgiving embrace.

“I’m sorry.” Vine must have been a test. “I’m sorry.” A test she clearly failed. “I’m sorry.” She should have just ignored her. “I’m sorry.” She should have remained a content little plaything in her prison. Once more, the dark thoughts in the corner of her mind started to advance.

She’d be alone, alone forever, alone in her own mind, in her own world, never meant to interact with another person again. Maybe if she was a good girl, a truly good girl, the cruel overlord of this nightmare might have the rubble removed, perhaps even have the inn rebuilt once more, and she can crawl around the basement all she liked, like a fucking bug. Oh wait, she remembered now—she wouldn’t even come close to their status in this world, because she was worthless.

“I’m…” She began again, but this time, her apologies paused. She had begged for forgiveness so many times now, for whatever crime she committed so very long ago, but it never worked. Nobody cared how sorry she was, nobody cared how much suffering she went through. So then, what was the point?

“No… No. No more apologies. I’m sick of being sorry for whatever I did! I’ve suffered enough, damn it! When will anyone else suffer like I have?! When will someone else feel the pain I’ve had to?!” Lyvina shouted into the void, raising her stumps as high into the air as she could manage.

“WHY, FIRST!? WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO FUCKING MUCH?! JUST FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO TORTURE ALREADY AND LET ME GO!!! I WANT TO LIVE! I JUST WANT TO LIVE! I JUST WANT TO HAVE MY LIFE BACK! STOP TAKING IT ALL AWAY FROM MEEEEEEEE!!!!!” Lyvina screamed to the very heavens. Though she wasn’t aware of it at the time, something greater—a presence that transcended this world—finally took notice.

“I’LL MAKE YOU PAY! I’LL MAKE THIS WORLD PAY! THIS WORLD WILL EXPERIENCE EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING I’VE HAD TO ENDURE! EVERY GOD! EVERY ANGEL! EVERY MONSTER AND PERSON THERE IS! I’LL DO IT! I PROMISE! I’LL FIND A WAY! I’LL MAKE THIS WORLD PAY FOR EVERYTHING IT’S DONE IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Sparks of blue filled her vision as a connection was made. Everything in sight was consumed by a massive brilliant blue light, like a star was shining directly in front of her. The entire world trembled, and her mind went numb.

Her consciousness faded to nothing.

---

Lyvina’s eyes slowly drifted open, emerging from her slumber. It was strange, she felt like she just experienced the most vivid dream of her life, yet she couldn’t for the life of her remember what it was about. Her drowsy mind began to awaken, but something else caught her attention, something even more peculiar than her forgotten dream. She wasn’t in her bed; in fact, she wasn’t sleeping in a bed at all. Instead, she found herself resting on the floor somewhere. When her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness in the room, she realised where she had ended up. She was apparently in the basement of the Heroes Tale Inn, just dozing off on the ground.

Her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. How long had she been down here like this? What time was it? Was mother looking for her? Working herself up into a panic, Lyvina scrambled to her feet, hastily dusted herself off the best she could, and tried to escape the basement as quickly as possible. With any luck, she might get away with this without getting caught.

Just as she was about to head towards the stairs, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. There was a girl with white and black hair lying on the ground, asleep only a few feet from her. Taking a closer look, a wave of relief washed over her as she saw it was Vine, Vine, Vine, Vine, Vine, Vine Vine Vine Vine Vine V̸i̴n̶e̵ V̸̲̋i̸̧̒n̶̯̓e̴͙̾ V̸̛̫̤i̷̯̹͛̚n̸̢̒ě̶̡̢͘ V̵̨̙͓̇̍̆i̵̛̛̜̾n̶̢̤̘̂̅e̷͕̭̅ V̶̠̩̅͘į̸̯̿n̴̰̽͘e̷͇̓ V̸̠̙̤͝i̵̞̙̪̒͑̑͜n̸̲̘͚̰̈́ë̸͍̳͜-

Lyvina was d̸e̵a̷d̷, and her arms and legs were b̴r̸o̴k̸e̸n, crushed under the weight of the inn, yet her arms and legs were back, and the inn was… No, no no no no no. It was wrong, it was all wrong. She felt so thin, like her insides had been scooped out and spread across her body like butter, the missing parts filled out with something that wasn’t meant to be there, that couldn’t handle being there. Her brain was pounding against her skull, her chest felt like she was having a heart attack as it tried to cope with the strain. She was burning up, her mind couldn’t bear it. Something was missing, s̸͚̓õ̶̗m̴̥͆e̴͔̿t̵͕͛h̶͓͑i̷̯͗n̸̢͂g̶̫͋ ̴̩̎w̸̙̑a̶̲̎ș̶̈́ ̶͕͛m̵̡̀i̵̞̽s̷̥̒s̵̻̾ȋ̴͔ň̶̹g̸̪̈ ̷̦̋ s̴̼̜͑̋ỏ̶̢̹̗̣̇m̸̮̟͑̔͝e̵̬̞̪̅̀̉͝t̶͎̃́̌ḫ̷̋́́i̷̭͎̯̯̊̀́̔ņ̶̠͕́́ͅg̶͓͚̃̌͝ ̸͉̻̀͝w̵̱͔̒̔͜ą̸̪̤̫͐͑̀s̵̡͆͛̂ ̷̘̏́m̶͙̲͍̱̎ȉ̶̼͙s̷͕̞͛͒̽̎s̵̢̙͕͎̃̏́̕i̴̱͔͆͐̐n̸͇̿̂̆g̴̹͈͂̎͝.̶̝̠͇̒

…

A mysterious girl with black and white hair, someone Lyvina had never seen before, was also asleep down here in the basement. She must be a traveller of some kind, new to town. After all, there was no way someone with such a distinctive appearance wouldn’t be the talk of the village otherwise. Question was, what was she doing down here? Was she trying to sneak a free meal and fell asleep? It was warm down here, so it wasn’t impossible that she stopped for a nap.

Lyvina glanced around but didn’t find anything else out of place, just the unfamiliar girl.

How did we both fall asleep down here anyway? Lyvina wondered to herself, did David make a strange meal that put everyone to sleep or something? It wouldn’t be the first time the inn served food with weird ingredients bought from passing merchants, like that time he bought some spices from somewhere or other that almost had patrons shooting fireballs out of their mouths, it was so spicy. Feeling a sense of camaraderie, she decided to wake the sleepy person. David was a nice man, but he wouldn’t take kindly to a stranger sleeping in his inn without paying, let alone a thief doing it. She’d be stuck working as a waitress for weeks otherwise.

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No matter how much she shook her, however, the girl would not wake up from her slumber, even though her beautiful emerald green and scarlet red eyes remained half-open. With a defeated pout, Lyvina surrendered to the unawakenable monster and tried to figure out another way to extricate her slothful compatriot. Seeing no other way around it, and because she was such a nice person, Lyvina decided to carry her to safety.

Kneeling down, she grabbed the girl’s arm and placed it over her shoulder. For an adult, she was surprisingly light—so much so that even someone like Lyvina could move her with ease. With her new companion firmly secured, it was onward to the stairs.

As they ascended out of the basement, they arrived in the kitchen. Cautiously, Lyvina looked around, making as little noise as possible while moving her, a task that certainly wasn’t made easier when her feet kept getting stuck in the gaps between the stairs. Fortunately, the kitchen was clear—no doubt a bit of luck granted to her by The First for this most righteous of causes. Unfortunately, that luck didn’t extend to unlocking doors, as her preferred escape route out the back was barred from her.

That was a problem. Without a key, that left only the front door—not exactly the preferred option when trying to sneak out a potential dine-and-dasher, but what choice did she have? It wasn’t like she could just leave her in the basement now after coming so far. She wasn’t a monster, after all.

Committing herself to the cause, they snuck over to the door that separated the kitchen from the tavern area and cautiously peeked through. The place, however, was empty, and not in an exaggerated sense. There were no odd drinkers, no waitstaff, and not even David was present manning the bar, the place was completely deserted.

Where did everyone go? Lyvina wondered, slowly opening the door further. From the windows, she could see it was dark outside, only a thin light from the moons and torches lighting the way. Oh no, how long was I asleep? Mother’s going to kill me.

Odd sounds drew her attention away from her thoughts, coming from outside the inn. There was stamping, bashing and clashing, far too loud and too constant to be a group of merry men enjoying their night.

Is there a festival outside? Lyvina pondered. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time there was a festival in the village, as small and out of the way as it was—Only one way to find out. With the tavern area abandoned, they move to the exit, and with trepidation, she opened the door and peered outside.

Children and adults alike were standing around, seemingly joyous and happy. Each of them carried toy weapons made from wood and wore strange masks of green, with comedically long noses that protruded from the front, reminiscent of a goblin’s face. All except for one man, who had two tusks sticking up from the mouth and an eye patch drawn over the left eye in place of the large nose.

She was in awe at all the new people in the village attending this festival, so much so that she let the girl slip to the ground. After all, there weren’t nearly this many children in the village. She didn’t understand what they were celebrating, but it seemed to involve a lot of monsters.

Oh! Maybe this is a new festival for Kale! That’s why there are many goblins here. She concluded, managing to figure out the meaning. After all, she was pretty sharp, and she couldn’t wait to get involved and play with all her new friends. It was around this time that she noticed that all of them were staring at her. Was it because she was escaping with the dine-and-dasher? Or was it because she wasn’t wearing a mask? The more she thought about it, it was probably the mask. Maybe there was a stall somewhere she could pick one up? She felt a bead of sweat roll down her brow but wiped it away with her sleeve. That was odd, when did she get so warm? It was so cold outside, yet she was really feeling the heat. Oh First, did she have a fever again? She really hoped she wasn’t sick, she always used to get sick when she was younger, and she used to miss out on so much because she was always stuck in bed.

While she was distracted, one of the cheery masked adults approached her. He was tall, and quite pudgy, though that would be a mean thing to say to him, so she kept that to herself. She was a nice person, after all. The man, however, turned out not to be so nice when he took the wooden sword in his hand and whacked her straight on her left shoulder.

“Ow!” Lyvina exclaimed, rubbing the bruise. The blow must have struck a nerve or something, as her arm was now completely numb. It was so uncalled for that she could feel her face turning red in annoyance. How was she supposed to move the dine-and-dasher now?

Pouting harder than she ever had before, Lyvina kicked the guy in the shin as hard as she could. The man grabbed his leg in an overly comedic fashion and started hopping around, spinning, before finally falling to the ground, playing dead. With a nod that screamed “serves you right”, Lyvina tried to pick up the girl again, when another cheery man came at her with a wooden toy mace.

Not wishing to risk a repeat, Lyvina grabbed the weapon as it swung towards her, catching it with her good hand as it came down. It hurt a little when she grabbed the head with her palm, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as getting hit with the sword, which she still hadn’t recovered from. Her annoyed pout returned. As she swung her hand left, the man followed, his movements like a parody of a person, exaggerated to the nth degree. When she threw her hand to the right, the toy flew straight out of his hands, bouncing harmlessly against the inn’s solid wall. Clearly going for gold, the man put one hand to his face in a “Oh woe is me” motion and fell to the ground.

Lyvina scratched her head. Somehow, she now had two adults just lying on the ground, with the other masked festivalgoers keeping their distance for the moment. Looking around herself once more, she counted yet another man lying on the ground. Curious, she moved over to take a look at him.

He was a young man, with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. She didn’t recognise him from the village, so he must have come to Carnifex for the festivities. Strangely though, he wore no mask, yet he was still playing his part. She knelt down to poke and prod at the man a few times, yet she got no response at all. Looking up, she saw even more unmasked people lying on the ground throughout the streets, most of whom she recognised from the village.

They’re really committed to these roles, she thought, before noticing the bag laying before the man’s grasping hand. Concluding that he must have been trying to reach for it before he started playing dead, Lyvina decided to be helpful and pushed the bag into his hands, closing his fist around it. With a short nod, she was satisfied at the good work she had done when someone stabbed her in the back, the wooden tip of the blade pressing into her spine, making it turn as numb as her arm.

“OWWW!” She jumped to her feet, rubbing her back vigorously, trying to get some feeling back into it. When she turned to see who would do such a thing, one of the masked children was standing there, his head cocked to the side with the toy in his hand. “Hey, you brat! I’m trying to help someone here. That really hurts, you know!”

The boy didn’t speak, but seemed almost surprised by her words, slowly backing away. Though he at least knew he was in the wrong, she couldn’t bring herself to just let it slide. After all, her back and arm felt really weird now, and she didn’t like it one bit. So, she punched the kid so hard in the face that the nose of the mask he was wearing snapped off. The boy poked his now missing nose once, and threw his hands up into the sky, letting the toy dagger spin in the air before it clunked on the ground. Without a single word, the kid ran over to a nearby house and lay down, joining the two adults who were still committed to the role of a corpse.

Huh, she thought, this is… kinda fun. Is this all part of the festival? She looked back towards her sleepy partner, whom she realised might actually be playing dead too, then to the “dead” man. A heartfelt smile unconsciously crossed her face at the sight. She felt happy seeing the two for some reason, almost like she harboured an unspoken bond with the pair. With feeling beginning to return to her arm and back, she returned her sights to the crowd and started to consider. She still didn’t have a mask, but that didn’t seem to matter, so maybe she’d just play along. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea, she could play with everyone and then explain to her mother that she was just enjoying the festival and was totally not asleep in the inn’s basement. I wonder if Ethan is out here too?

Committing to her role, Lyvina picked up the toy beside her and ran over to another one of the children, poking it into their chest. The boy clutched at his heart, holding out his hand ahead of him towards the sky, and fell forward. There was so much ham in their acting that he’d put the butchers out of business, but Lyvina giggled all the same. She didn’t have the first idea what was going on, but with everyone acting so goofy, she couldn’t help but have fun. She looked towards the next group of masked children, who seemed to have taken a few steps away from her.

Maybe everyone without masks plays the role of a hero, she gave a playful laugh. If she was playing a hero, like the Kale of old, she should try some hammy acting too.

“Foul beasts of the dark, I shall slay thee in the name of the one true god!” She delivered her lines in the most over-the-top fashion, as the rest of the group scattered. Looks like she had sussed it out after all, a proud smile forming, when a foot crashed into her face—a foot of all things! Though it didn’t hurt nearly as much as being struck by the toys, it was still a foot! Were there no rules to this thing? Worse still, she had mud on her face from where the man had been walking.

Looking to see who the owner of said foot was, she found the tusked man, standing tall next to her. He carried the longest wooden sword she’d ever seen, clearly a masterfully crafted piece, as he positioned himself like a swordsman, so serious in contrast to the others who seemed so goofy by comparison. She’d be lying if she said he didn’t spoil the mood somewhat, but she’d play along. She was a hero after all, and there was a monster to slay. With her dagger in hand, she charged.