I am the best in my world. I am Zena Nena, the ultimate user of Water Wars powers. Abandoned by my family, the Angel of Battle took me in as nir apprentice, and I started a new life for myself in Wonder Prairie with a feisty penguin sidekick. That was years ago, of course. A lot has changed since then, but my loyalty to the Angel of Battle and my role as the historian of I*V have not.

            Wonder Prairie was as free and lovely as ever that November day. The sun drenched the short grasses, trying to save it from the frigid air foretelling the coming winter. In the middle of the wheat-tinted grasses stood our humble shack. The home had been crafted from a series of planks, abandoned and worn, that were crudely hammered together by nails and patched between the cracks with duct tape. The structure was spacious enough to accommodate both a bed & a make-shift kitchen while being sturdy enough to keep out the most vicious of rains. It’s somehow kept up even after all these years.

            Beneath the humble shack’s walls lay me in my inflatable bed, my stick-like frame covered with cloud white blankets, and my vibrant, blue hair shimmering in the lost rays of sunlight wandering through the home’s one and only window. My white skin was bronzed from constant exposure to sunlight, and my legs had a few bandages stuck to them from the occasional scrape. Across the room from me was my pet penguin, who happened to march triumphantly to my bed after having succeeded in a search-and-rescue mission for a can of tuna. Guinnie attempted to wake me, the slumbering fool, but I did not budge under her loud chirps. Finally, the little penguin became fed up with my blatant disregard of her starvation, and she tossed her precious can of tuna on my head. The impact immediately smacked the dreams right out of my head.

            Jumping up in bed, I screamed. “Guinnie! What’s the matter with you?!”

            She responded frantically, waving her flippers through the air and chirping enthusiastically.

“Guinnie, how did you climb up to the cupboard, manage to open the door, grab the tuna, and come back down, but not be able to open it?!”

She responded with a series of chirps, both mad and disappointed, as she crossed her little flippers and displayed a defiant look on her cute, little face.

“Isn’t there some sort of USG can-opening power or something?”

Guinnie corrected me with small chirps.

“Whatever it is you power animals do! Not that you do anything.”

Guinnie, quickly becoming impatient, started rapping on the tuna can with her beak as though she was one of those water bird toys.

“All right, I’ll get up. Besides, all your pecking is making me hungry.”

With a jump and a chirp for joy, Guinnie ran to her special seat at the kitchen table and awaited her favorite meal.

Rising like a zombie from a coffin, I lifted myself from the bed and shuffled across the floor at a deadening pace. Everything around me was hazy like the continuation of a dream. Ignoring my mind’s tricks, I opened the can of tuna using the manual can opener. At the first click, the pungent tuna fish smell wafted through the room, replacing the air with a thick aroma only a penguin would love. As Guinnie gobbled her breakfast, I poured myself a bowl of sugary cereal—a simple, virtually worthless snack that sufficed me each morning.

            I’d spent the entirety of yesterday logging locations and info about Imaginationville (I*V for short), keeping up with my duty to preserve all the knowledge. But my work was always far from over, as there’s always something new to discover in I*V. The anomaly that recently concerned me most was the surreal introduction of a shadowy area on the upper cap of the world, like a domed and corroded north pole. I’d only heard rumors, and now it was time for me to check it out myself and to give it a name, since “Shadowville” didn’t quite do it for me. As an alternative, I considered the name “Villainville” for its ominous and corrosive feel, as that’s where villains would likely hang out if there were any in I*V.

            I pampered myself with a long, hot bath and changed into a plain, long-sleeved shirt and black workout pants. After making my bed and stuffing the clutter of clothes under the bedframe, I picked up my notebook and buried it under my arm for safety. Turning toward the door, a two-foot figure blackened the wood. Guinnie crossed her arms defiantly as she stood before the door, acting as though she were a genuine blockade rather than a tiny, pouty-faced stuffed animal. Though I could have passed by without even noticing her, I stood in front of Guinnie, covering her with my shadow, and stared her down.

            “Guinnie. Step out of the doorway.”

            She shook her head furiously.

            “You’re worried about me again, aren’t you? You always are, but there’s no reason to be!”

            Guinnie let out a series of frantic chirps, pointing her little flipper at me.

            “I can take care of myself.” I roll my eyes, thinking of my mastery of Water Wars powers. But then again, those were only available to me if I was in a pool of water. I forced out a sentence before Guinnie could use this information against me. “Besides, the Angel of Battle will be there! Ne wanted to check it out with me!”

            Guinnie deflated her rigid posture in defeat. But those puppy eyes glistening with worry made me feel guilty.

            I sighed and knelt down to pet my over-protective buddy. Her feathers were soft like a down pillow. “I’ll be just fine, OK? I’ll tell you all about it when I get home.”

            Guinnie nodded softly and flopped onto the scratchy rug in the middle of the room. She took one last worried look back at me before distracting her thoughts by preening her ebony feathers.

“Bye, Guinnie; I’ll be back before you know it!” I reassured as the wooden door creaked and reassumed its formation with the other planks, shutting me away.

The lovely shortgrass prairie called me home again; the air slowly dissolved into a chill, the cool wind signaling the eventual coming of snow. The clouds drifted lazily in the cerulean sky, and I inhaled a deep breath, holding on to the crisp air as long as I could. The prairie filled me with life. The short grasses extended forever, making me feel like the ruler of my own world. Guinnie’s kin, the native penguins of Wonder Prairie, crowded the marshes and splashed in the ponds.

Of all the cute birds I could have made as my sidekick, that silly Guinnie had to follow me. All she does is complain, I sighed to myself. But I wouldn’t have dreamed of replacing her. She was as close a companion to me as a child’s first stuffed animal, and when the time called for it, she could really beat people up with her water powers. Not as well as me, though.

A figure loomed in the distance, tinting the grasses black with shadow. The figure was stout with short, brown hair and a round face. I recognized the ordinary-looking man immediately; he always appeared at random moments to guide my journey, so I referred to him internally as the Narrator.

“What is it today?” I called out.

“You’re alone?” He lifted an eyebrow, noticing the lack of my penguin partner.

“I’m going to investigate that creepy area up top. And maybe find a better name for it other than ‘that shadowy dome thingy.’”

He reached an arm towards me, as though relaying an omen. “Zeenith, beware. There are horrible things there that you could never even imagine.”

“Do you know who I am?” I pointed to my chest. “There isn’t anything I can’t handle!”

The Narrator stared intensely into my eyes. “There are villains in I*V now. One waits for you and is watching you even now. You can’t fathom this creature’s power.”

His words hardly fazed me; I knew all the villains were sealed away by the Angels in the past. That was why there were no conflicts anymore.

I put my hands on my hips. “The AOB will be there.”

“The both of you have inherited the curse.”

My skin trembles. “What curse?”

“You’ll see. Just be careful.”

I shook my head and left the Narrator behind me. He’s got to be insane, I told myself. I had never heard of anything like a curse. Besides, there’s no way anything could ever challenge the AOB, the strongest warrior I*V has ever seen.

Reaching the outskirts of the prairie, I retrieved my electric scooter and set off on the paved road. There were few main roads in I*V, but I loved going for long rides and taking in the scenery. I waved to I*V City, with its silvery buildings emerging from the morning fog, and promised I’d stop by later for lunch. I never missed a chance to go to my favorite city. I zipped along the road, which was lined on both sides by plowed cornfields and the occasional farmhouse. The scenery was inundated by cornfields until I reached the northernmost region of I*V, where farmland gave away to icy cliffs jutting hundreds of feet above me. As I rode inbetween the icy cliffs, my reflections raced alongside me. Escaping the caverns, my wheels hit solid ground, and I parked my scooter in the grass to walk the rest of the way. I’d nearly arrived.

The shadowed area was just like I’d heard: the sky was absorbed by darkness, and the whole area was contained to itself, as though shut under a glass dome. The plains surrounding Villainville were fresh as ever, but the grasses bordering the dome were snatched up, severed, and sapped of life until all that remained was crusty, brown particles.

“So, this is Villainville…” I breathed to myself. It was definitely what I was expecting, but seeing it in person brought a chill to my core.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I clutched my notebook, examining the crude picture I had drawn of the area. It was just a page full of erratic, inky scribbles. That was basically accurate. Though the border where the grass tinged with ash was visible, the rest of the ground and the assumed sky were entirely erased by darkness. If I could have gone in there, I wouldn’t have been able to see my own nose.

The only color lying before the dome was the Angel of Battle, with nir towering presence and commanding silver armor beckoning me forward. Nir dark complexion and navy hair, coupled with nir ethereal blueish glow made the AOB look like ne didn’t belong here at all. That and the condor-sized white wings sprawled over nir back. But something was wrong. Ne wasn’t moving, just stuck in one place like a statue. Kneeling.

“What’s wrong?!” I cried, running toward nem.

“Don’t come any closer,” The AOB whispered gently, like just breathing was sapping away all nir strength.

Ne turned nir ocean eyes toward the charcoal curtain, lowering nir head in shame and reflection. “This is the remaining energy from the Legendary Villains of old. I and the other Angels fought them both to the death here, sacrificing our immortality to protect I*V in the Fight of the Century.”

“I remember.”

“The other two did not make it. I alone remained to fight it for all these years. But Zena,” The AOB said, nir voice breaking, “I’m tired.”

I flinched, my name sounding foreign in nir voice. “You domed it!” I shouted, straightening my back and fastening my notebook to my chest. “There’s no way the energy will break out of there!”

The AOB lowered nir head sadly, looking like a stray puppy rather than a deity. “No, my Vessel. The evil energy is growing stronger. It’s only a matter of time until the Legendary Villains break free again.”

“But we’ll beat it up!” I pounded my chest confidently. “We can handle anything!”

“Zena.”

I flinched again, instinctually, a bit embarrassed I couldn’t control it.

The AOB pointed to the dead ground. “Do you see how corrupted the prairie is? Did it look like this when the AOI, AOE, and I sealed the area?”

“N-no…” I hesitated, refusing to admit the reality.

“It will only continue to get worse.” Ne turned from me, and all I could see were wings spreading before me.

“So, why did you call me here, then? Just to look at it?” I asked defensively.

“No. I need you to help me.”

I grinned confidently, always enjoying a good fight. “You can count on me!”

“No, not like that,” Ne growled, a light blue aura surrounding nem. “Just stand there.”

I frowned, my confidence crawling into a corner.

            Pillars of water rushed around the AOB as ne readied an attack. The energy was all contained behind the dome, so there was nothing fighting back. The atmosphere stood eerily calm, like we didn’t have an antagonist. The AOB let out a war cry, piercing the empty space with sharp beams of water. The ground shook from the crash of an oncoming tidal wave, and the darkness swallowed endless gallons of weaponized water. It seemed like nothing was working, but we couldn’t see beyond the wall of darkness, anyway, to know if we were making an impact. The AOB stepped back, readying an even greater attack. As I focused on the spot of impact, I realized the dome had a gray crack forming on it. Would this be our chance?

The AOB suddenly folded under nir own weight, as though clutched by an indescribable pain. I rushed to nir side.

“No!” Ne whimpered. “It’s worse than I thought…”

“AOB!” I yelled out.

“Zena, stay back!”

“You told me to help you!” I yelled, pained.

“I didn’t say anything like that!”

I lunged forward, reaching out for nem. Suddenly, an elongated shadow snapped around my outstretched arm. The shadow was freezing cold and had narrow protrusions that looked like fingers. My scream caught in my throat.

Blades of sharpened water sliced the shadow in half, and I froze in place.

“You can’t help me!” The AOB cried.

As I whipped around to escape, another spidery arm latched to my skin, tearing my notebook from me.

“No! That’s mine!” I screeched, clutching at the scattered pages.

The creepy fingers clutched at the paper, ripping it all to pieces. Each gnarled fragment that fell to the ground burst into flames and blew away on the wind. I kept flailing my arms in front of me, catching nothing; I felt impossibly far away from the creature killing my life’s work and could do nothing to stop it. Before I knew it, I was choking on my tears and huddled to my knees, grass staining my pants.

“Zena!”

The AOB’s call snapped me out of my frazzled state. Ne was still in danger. I wiped my face brashly and charged forward to nir voice.

“I’m here,” I called, straightening my back.

“Why didn’t you listen to me?!” Nir voice rumbled in my skull.

“You said you needed my help! And you were in danger!” I cried out, my words screeching from me like a baby animal crying out for its mother.

“Zena, it’s over.” Sapphira lowered nir head sadly, nir majestic hair darkening to the encroaching shadows as they wrapped around nem like ivy to an abandoned home.

“Why the heck would you say that?!” I yelled, reaching out my arms.

Ne smacked away my hands, leaving red on my skin.

“I’ve tried to fight it, but the curse is inevitable.”

“What the heck? Again with this curse thing! What the heck does that even mean?!” I forced defiantly, stomping my foot.

“And I can’t fight it anymore. I’m tired. I’m not young anymore. I’m unable to do anything. It’s over,” The AOB whimpered, only a fraction of nir fierce woodland face showing through the muck.

My eyes sweat from struggle. I gnashed my teeth and balled up my hands. “You know what! If you’re not going to fight, then I will!”

I plunged my arms into the shadows and grabbed nir hands into my own. The darkness felt dense and goopy, like living quicksand. My grunts sounded stronger than my effort in pulling the AOB out of the quagmire.

“Stop! Do you have any idea how irresponsible that is?!”

“I know you’re worried about me, but I’ll be OK! I can’t just let you give up!” I cried back, gritting through the pins and needles in my arms.

My eyes clouded as I planted my feet on the ground and plunged into the haze for a stronger grip. The darkness crawled closer to me like approaching smoke.

You’ll never be happy. Life is miserable, so you might as well give up. You’re the reason I bust myself to death, you know. I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. Why did you have to be born, just to make me miserable all over again?

Words slithered into my head, but the voice saying them was the AOB’s. I gritted my teeth and pulled harder. “It’s a lie! The AOB would never say that about me!”

“Why are you acting like this? Why can’t you just do as I say?! Why do you have to be such a disappointment?!”

My ears stung from the sharp, ringing voice. My brain wobbled, and I realized the words were actually being spoken out loud.

“Wait, was that actually you?” My grip loosened.

“I told you to give up! You never listen to me!” Sapphira growled at me.

All this I do for you, and do you ever respect me? No. I might as well drop dead. And what have you ever done for me?

“I’m not letting you turn evil!” I cried out, my throat clenching.

“It’s already happened. I’m just accepting it now,” Sapphira stated, nir voice cracking with harsh regret. “Having to deal with it all these years took a toll on me. You can’t defeat it. It will just consume you, like it has to me.” Nir voice softened, becoming more and more distant, consumed by the deafening bubbling of the dark muck boiling over like lava. “So leave,” Ne sneered, a hint of parental longing seeping through the cracks. “Give up.”

“No!” My voice was breaking.

You ruined my life. I wish you were never born.

The shadows scattered furiously, cracking through the dome with thousands of reaching arms. I recoiled, a burst of darkness swallowing my vision. The AOB said nothing more. Suddenly, the weight I’d been latching onto became ridiculously light, forcing me back onto the plains. My butt ached from the fall, and my neck seared from stress. I caught my breath, feeling a tangle of metal pinching my right palm. A gentle blue light called out to me. The angel necklace was glowing. The one the AOB promised to give me when I became nir Vessel all those years ago. The light grew brighter and more vivid until it felt like I was bathed in the color of the ocean. I was so entranced in didn’t realize what was happening. Then my stomach sank.

“No! I didn’t mean to take your powers! Take them back!” My hand moved of its own will, trying desperately to bridge the gap between us. Me, enveloped in blue, and the AOB, clouded in black and red.

Before I could say anything more, the darkness poured out of the dome as though bursting from a dam. The energy was palpable, and it felt like I was drowning in a flood of lava. As I tried to cough out a breath, the AOB said something to me, but nir words were swallowed by the loud whooshing and bubbling around me. Nir face had softened, taking on the appearance of a fragile adult and not the warrior I’d come to admire. Then, suddenly, I was in Wonder Prairie, surrounded by floating blue feathers. The AOB had transported me back home. It was over. There was nothing I could do now.

I was frozen. I stared in disbelief at the necklace as I clutched it in my right hand. It glowed softly and said nothing. Everything was quiet around me as though the whole world had ended. I couldn’t process what had just happened, and everything felt so far away.

Then, it happened. Boiling tears poured from my eyes. I was violently angry. I was sad. I was confused and betrayed. How could those villains do this to me? How could the AOB just give nemself up for me? Why would ne just leave me here thinking I would do nothing?!  I riled myself up to run the whole way back up to the top of I*V just to smack the AOB again once I had erased all the evil energy from existence with the fury of a thousand oceans.

The air slashed my skin as I pounded the earth with my feet. I ran and ran and ran, leaving everything behind me. The world became a blur as I tried to escape everything around me. The air suffocated me as I panted through tears and summoned strength into my drained, wary limbs. The hill was coming up close, signifying the end of Wonder Prairie. My heart was pounding madly, and I wanted to be anywhere else in the world but there, running from my life.

Suddenly, it was like my spirit jumped out of me. The ground was woozy, wobbling around like I was trying to take control of a lucid dream. The necklace shone like a distant star in my fist. I couldn’t breathe. I fell to my knees.

Soft footsteps sounded in the grass. I couldn’t hear anything else over my panting. I turned, trying to discern the muddled shapes and colors through my teary eyes and the cracking world.

I froze again. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be next to me. I cleaned my face with my shirt. I turned, and I saw the weirdest sight. It was the Narrator again, but he was in this ridiculous getup as though he was dressing for a costume party. He looked like a Maleconsai—one of the ninjas from I*V lore that would give news to people expecting a great change or hope. With purple and red fabric twined around a white karate outfit like robes, he stood still before me.

“What’s with the outfit?” I asked him.

“It’s time for you to accept the AOB’s powers.”

I shoved the necklace to my heart and stood up. “No! I’m not taking nir powers!”

“What would you want, then? For the AOB to disappear? You’re the AOB now.”

His voice sounded so lifeless that I wanted to smack him.

“You can’t make me!”

My emotions propelled my body on impulse. I turned away to run again, but the hill was right behind me. Just thinking of climbing made my legs give in and melt like jelly.

I’d lost. For once in my life, I felt so vulnerable and so caged-in. I trembled in place, trying my hardest not to cry. The prairie, the sky, the birds—everything evaporated, and I was left alone with my own pained thoughts that poked me like needles.

“You’ve always wanted this. To surpass your master and to take nir place as the next AOB.”

“Don’t say that like the AOB is gone forever! I’m going to go save nem and all of I*V, too!” Tears flowed from my eyes, and my body stiffened like concrete.

“You can once you accept these powers. That’s why Ne wanted to give them to you. It’ll all be over soon.”

My body trembled. Did the AOB really want me to take them? Immediately after this thought whirled in my skull, my stomach sank. I couldn’t fight back anymore. My head was throbbing like I was half-asleep and trying to remember something locked away from me. my hand instinctually opened, dropping the shimmering pendant to the ground.

The Narrator clutched the necklace tightly, smashing the fitted sapphire gemstone into fragments. The released power coated his hand with a potent blue light. He stepped close to me, his shadow covering my whole body.

“I don’t want it,” I whimpered.

“You’ll pass out after this. It’ll be too much for your body to handle at first. But you’ll wake up fine.”

“I said I don’t want this,” I barely whispered, holding back tears.

He placed the magic-encoated hand on my head, and sparks of color flew everywhere like fireworks. It stung at first, then an errant sense of calm flowed through me, like I was offering myself in prayer. Instantly, a whole lifetime of future scenes played through my head like an endless movie. Projected into visions, I lived my entire life that was yet to come in an instant. I wandered through a maze of experiences I didn’t recognize.

Traces of kind people and faces flashed before me. A defiant, tall girl that looked like me, handing me papers saturated in black. A shorter girl with brown hair, pleading to the stars in the sky. A talking mouse screaming at me in fear, tears rolling down his face as I am engulfed in a vibrant, red light. A boy with shining black hair and icy eyes waiting in a field, his overall aura so familiar and welcoming. Two kids my age running up to me—one with pink hair and a tan, another with brown hair and dark skin. Some forest I don’t recognize that’s shimmering, a city being destroyed… and… three powerful beings engulfed in light… the Angels?

Mentally, the scenes lingered in real time, but the entire exchange realistically happened in less than five seconds. The images escaped me—they as ephemeral as the seconds they consumed.

The magic dissipated along with the colors, and everything blurred. The Narrator disappeared into thin air, and I fell to the ground, plunged into sleep by an extreme exhaustion, like it was the first time I had ever slept in all eleven years of my life.