「A」stronomical amounts of Fun

The White Witch

An image of a city in the skies. It was something Charlotte was quite familiar with. She would see the very same city whenever something bad would happen when she was out on a job with someone. First on Divide Island. Then the Cursed village and even Hargeon town. In reality, this city seemed to descend from the skies, upside down to the rest of the world, whenever Charlotte would die. Naturally, the girl did not remember her deaths due to how her soul data were recorded and recovered by the puppeteer. As far as she was aware, she lived a long and uninterrupted life.

It was a cruel life, wasn’t it? In mere fifteen years of life, she had died so many times already. The girl was drawn to death, to misfortune. Perhaps that was the true curse of the White Witch lineage, a punishment that Margery received for using dark arts and one that continued down onto her children and further down. Or perhaps it was just something forced to be by the puppeteer who so enjoyed seeing this puppet suffer. Her entire existence for nothing more than the entertainment of others. That idea… already existed. But it was from a story of the past, one that shan’t be brought up just yet.

The girl didn’t even know if this was a dream or something else in the first place. She wasn’t able to move a single muscle of her body, her gaze forced in a single direction without the ability to look elsewhere. It was torturous. And all she could see was this city, skyscrapers that were turned upside down, streets littered with moving shadows above her and adorning the skies. Concrete streets and mess all over them replaced the beautiful blue that would surely normally be up above. And below? Dark, gray clouds swirled and swallowed all in the vortex of misfortune and non-existence.

The city was not dead, however. It was moving, breathing as if it was aware of its own existence. Pieces of stone and concrete were floating in the air, uncaring of the gravity trying to affect them. They all had a mind and will of their own, forming a cluster of debris. And among it all, there was a figure sitting atop one of the stones. She was familiar, more than any other stranger the girl has ever seen. Her hair was long and tied into a single long pigtail that was over her shoulder and falling alongside her body. It was snow white with few grayish spots. Her skin almost sickly pale and her eyes shining golden.

But not just two. There seemed to be a third eye on her forehead, dancing and looking around as if it was painted on with magic itself. That golden color was so familiar, comforting and horrified at the same time. The clothes this girl was wearing were black in color, a dress-like outfit with buttons keeping it tight on her body, yet quite loose in certain parts to enhance the style and mobility. The strangeness did not end there, as the girl seemed to have two extra pairs of arms, all resting in her lap. All in all, she looked extremely similar to Charlotte herself, didn’t she? Who exactly was she?

Suddenly, her gaze shifted around. Now, she was looking up again, to where the skies should be. But instead, all she could see were bare streets with junk food and other mess adorning the different paths. Despite that, there were plenty of signs of life. However, that life was long since forgotten. People from this world turned into faceless shadows, black and slightly transparent figures that roamed those very streets without any goal. With nothing more than a simple blink, the young witch stood among them, her feet firmly planted on the cold and dead concrete. She, too, was drowning among the shadows.

In this dream, she appeared to have no voice. She was unable to talk to the shadows, so she would do the only thing she could. Walk. She moved her small and tender body carefully, mindful of the beings around her. She did not want to bump into any of them or cause other inconveniences. Was it strange? These creatures were long since turned worthless and meaningless, nothing more than shadows of their once beautiful selves. And yet, this girl had cared enough to try and not do them any bad. Was it her naivité? Or something else entirely? There was more to this dream than first appeared.

She felt free. As if there was no puppeteer to control her. No Seth to put her into a story she did not belong to. But of course, that was just a wishful thinking. A bit of rebellion inside of her soul. Or perhaps it was even the will of the puppeteer who was making her feel this way. There was no way to know for sure, as she was nothing more than a mere puppet always. Suddenly, the girl felt a presence behind her. Before she could even attempt to turn away, her eyes were covered with a silken skin, pale as the snow itself. Was it that female from before that she observed?

Wait, the girl just realized something. This dream, she suddenly had a physical presence in it, didn’t she? She must have if there was another being interacting with her. When she first appeared here, she was nothing. She could only look at what was shown to her. But now she walked among the shadows as if she was one of them. And behind her stood the end of her journey. She felt it in her body. Pain. So much pain, as her skin gradually started turning black and separating from the rest of her body. She was withering away, turning into dust. Was it that girl’s power? Phreta… the end of everything. She died now.

Her eyes opened slowly, staring down at her being the usual white ceiling of her room. What exactly happened? Her body felt heavy and her eyes tired. She just barely managed to roll over before her eyes would shut firmly again, her body remaining motionless. The sheets covering her body felt so pleasant at this time of the day. So warm, so fluffy. Or was it her unbelievably long hair that was covering her whole body? Whatever it was, she didn’t want this feeling to end. But knew that if she were to have a productive day, she would have to get up sooner rather than later.

Charlotte

1,095 / 2,000 WC

The White Witch

Wasn’t this how she felt so many days prior in her life? That inability to even get out of her bed in the morning, it would eat away at her. But now, it was just a healthy unwillingness that just about anyone had in the morning hours of the day. She was different. And it felt good. Finally, she would be able to get up and sit on the edge of her bed, yawn and stretch her limbs a bit before hopping up and walking toward the bathroom where she would brush her teeth, make her hair look less messy and generally prepare for the day. Looking out of the window, she just smiled.

What exactly would she do today? She had several options, as she could either go to the guild and do some more mage work, or she could try to use her powers to transfer between worlds and start working on her newest task. It almost felt strange to her, having more than just one singular option. For now, she figured that the guild library could have some information about what was going on. It was one of the biggest libraries she had ever seen, so perhaps she would find a mention or two about Phreta. A smile appeared on her face as she made her way to the main hall and then to the door.

But something very quickly stopped her. There was someone standing right there, in front of the main entrance. Normally, the young girl would have freaked out pretty bad, seeing someone had entered her home without announcing themselves. But there was actually no reaction at all, for she knew this individual. A very tall man with sleek and short black hair, his face covered with a mask made out of goat’s skull. He wore a suit of equally dark color as his hair, a fancy visage accompanied by a black umbrella in his hand that served in the stead of a walking cane. He was the Observer.

But what was he doing here? “Oh dear, is that any way to greet an old friend, Miss Charlotte? Instead of a greeting, you ask where I came from!” The words took the girl back for a moment before she chuckled and smiled apologetically. “Ah, I’m sorry. I forgot you can read the thoughts of others. Good morning, Mister Observer!” In response, the man would take a hold of the mask and slowly remove it, revealing his golden eyes along with the iconic eerily wide smile. But despite this appearance of his, Charlotte did not even flinch. After all, she had known this man for many years now.

In fact, he was the one who took care of her when she was abandoned by her parents soon after she came to be. Left to rot alone. But the Universe was not done with young Charlotte, as the Observer appeared and took care of her, made sure she survived. No matter how many times she would ask, he always evaded the question or completely ignored it. Perhaps he was working for the puppeteer all along? Seth was introduced to the girl at the age of 10. But the Observer never went away and continued to appear near the girl, a being that no one else could normally see. Was there even a point to questioning him?

Coughing into his gloved hand, he would snap the girl out of her mind and get her attention again. “As for your question from earlier, I’ve come here to give you something. It will without a doubt make your search for Phreta much more simple when the time comes.” It really seemed that the Observer worked for or with Seth. After all, how else would he know about all that otherwise? “What is it?” Approaching him curiously, he extended his closed hand and opened up his palm, painfully slowly revealing whatever was hidden inside until now.

A small silver key. Quite similar to the ones she had read about, celestial keys. But it didn’t feel all too magical, even when she touched it and grabbed it with her own hand. Just a simple piece of metal that would likely open a door of some kind. The only problem was that the young white witch did not know of any closed doors that would need to be opened up by her. At least not yet. She would give the tall man a questioning look, but he would only smile wider and wider while his hand return to rest alongside his fancy suit.

“It is something that will serve you well in the future, believe me. And you will know exactly when to use it. But I will give you a little hint regardless. The key fits a silver plate, one that controls a moving box. Up or down, it will take you. And beyond the box, there will be many worlds. There, even Miss Charlotte should be able to figure this one out when the time comes~.” The girl looked down at the key in her hand one more time, unsure of the future that was awaiting her. A new chapter of life has opened up for the White Witch.

Finally, pieces were falling into place. The puppeteer’s game had begun a long time ago and there were moments where it stagnated or completely fell apart only to be repaired later on. But now? Everything seemed to be so much more clear. And while Charlotte herself was none the wiser, Seth laughed. With every new story came a new world and all those worlds would bring about a climax worthy of a big audience. In the end, entertainment seemed to be the only thing that really mattered at all. But was that really all? Was there really nothing else to it? Well… all of that was about to be discovered. For Charlotte moved past the Observer and stepped back into the world she was now forced to live in, only to continue her story.

Charlotte

2,098 / 2,000 WC