Given Starlight

There is nothing here.

The thought occurred to her, along with the realization she hadn't had any clear thoughts up until this very moment.

That voice I hear, it's mine, it's echoing in my head. How odd, she thought. It's almost like she's talking to someone other than herself, even if she hadn't actually opened her mouth to speak.

The girl knew this place wasn't empty, even if there isn't actually anything here.

She was here after all, walking forward.

Which means it wasn't empty, right?

She has been walking for some time now, but she cannot recall for how long. The floor feeling cool under her bare feet, the soft tapping of her footsteps on the smooth surface are the only sound she can hear in this silent void.

How did she get here? The girl couldn't remember anything other than wandering this barren place.

Above her was a cloudy darkness, underneath her feet were shimmering clouds of stars. Even with her lack of thoughts and memories she finds this place to be quite beautiful.

She probably shouldn't be as calm as she was, but there's nothing to cause her distress or worry, the girl thought.

A shining light suddenly zoomed by above her head, like a small shooting star so fast she almost missed it.

However, the girl was in luck. More lights followed.

They weren't far up in the sky, she realized, if she reaches out she could touch them.

Holding her hand up high, she stops one of the traveling lights from flying further. It feels like something was there, but also barely anything at all. There was no weight, only light and a faint warmth.

She noticed that the close source light made her hands appear to have a bit more color. A warm but pale brown being contrasted by the white glow of the star.

Was this even a star?

It's quite small, she has a feeling stars were meant to refer to something colossal.

That wasn't the only odd thing about the starry light however, for something this bright, the light was not blinding at all.

It doesn't hurt her in the slightest, not her eyes nor her hands.

As it turns out, it wasn't as stable as she had expected it to be. Not long after she caught the light it shatters into thousands of even smaller shooting stars.

They swirl upward, taking the girl as their center of rotation.

A soft gasp escapes her mouth, it's such a pretty sight she almost finds herself smiling.

The dusty trails of light they leave behind didn't fade away, instead, they keep floating in the air. Like white ribbons drifting in the sky, steadily moving by.

They almost seem to come alive as they followed their own paths, moving in graceful patterns in this wide open space.

The girl looks closer as the trails appear to grow bigger and slowly start showing faint images.

It kind of reminds her of a picture book, which is a strange thought, had she ever seen a picture book before?

The answer might be right in front of her, as she realized the images shimmering in the trails of light were familiar scenes.

Scenes retelling the story of her own life.

Voices that didn't belong to her made themselves known, softly spoken in the void around her. She couldn't tell if she recognizes the owners, but the words somehow resonated with her.

The pictures of light and voices of the past bring forth a tale.

One of a girl growing up, learning about the world, about magic. The few people in her life influencing her time line with great finality.

Abandonment, betrayal, and revenge having a profound impact on the figure before her.

The trails of light are starting to become overwhelming, crowding around her as if to force her into looking at their tales. Her knees give out, memories she felt some vague connection to were stirring up something deep inside of her.

Feelings start to form within her core as the story came to a conclusion.

A girl plummets from a crumbling land in the sky onto the unwelcoming earth bellow.

The feeling in her gut starts to contort her mind and body, pain courses through her chest as she cries out into nothingness.

The lights dissipate, leaving her to feel even more alone than she had before.

No new shooting stars appear.

She's left on her own.

With nobody to tell her otherwise she gives herself over to the thought that she's no longer alive.

Her body crashes down, curling further into herself on the polished cool surface which doesn't longer feel grounding to her. Screaming till her throat hurts, she feels it burning. Tears furiously forcing their way between tightly closed eyelids.

This quiet place isn't comforting to her anymore, the silence crushing as her own broken gasps of grief are the only audible noise around.

Her screams aren't heard by any men, there's nothing here, nobody at all.

Until a new light formed, underneath her very own reflection.

She startles, staring back at something starkly white at the other side of the surface.

Who– no, what are they?

It's somewhat shaped like herself, but all defying features are blank. It reminds her of the starry lights more than her human self.

She feels a pull.

There's something on the other side, something ethereal.

Something that feels like magic.

It is alive, her mind flickers to a single thought, she needs to get to that side. She needs to break through.

With pain and determination fueling her body, she moves up both her arms, bawling her hands into tight fists before smashing them down onto the ground with everything she has.

A rough scream combines with a low sound. There is an echoing thumb that travels through the barren place.

She feels it reaching out to her.

With another desperate cry she slams down again, hard.

A satisfying crack forms into the now imperfectly smooth surface. Small pinpricks of the shattered pieces tingle her hands.

The pull is getting stronger, the loud thumping in the background now heard once more without her doing anything.

She readies herself, she will go until everything is broken.

The crashes of broken glass, or maybe even crystal, pierce her ears. The rumbling thumps now getting more frequent and erratic.

It's like a heartbeat so loud it shakes this whole plain of existence.

And maybe it is, she cannot tell anymore. Focused on breaking though the thick layers of whatever is keeping her from the celestial body below. She isn't sure she is even screaming, unable to hear anything other than that quick heartbeat now dominating her very being.

With one final crash she falls through the shattered ground. A shining hand reaching for her before numbness takes over all her senses.

The first thing she recalls is the memory of breaking though darkness. She did what she had set out to do, but what she had actually accomplished, she didn't have the slightest idea.

A faint sensation of pain started making itself known next, which didn't worry her more than the sounds she could barely make out.

Footsteps, these time not her own, they didn't sound human nor like they were walking on the smooth surface from before.

This was the sound of soft rustling grass.

After some curious sniffing of whatever got go close, a sudden light glowed in front of her, one she saw even through her closed eyes.

Muttering could be heard on the background as she slowly became more aware of what was happening.

Barely able to open her eyes, the girl could make out two shapes, two people?

One of the figures quickly rushes toward her as her eyes started to close once more.

There was a touch, a gentle feeling of soft fingertips on her cheek.

"You'll live, don't give up on me now," the voice tells her, not unkindly, but there's some commanding firmness to the girls tone.

She does her best to listen to this strong presence, but everything fades away into a new kind of numb darkness.