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“I’m not sure, Huixin.”

Ophelia paused.

“…Something doesn’t feel right-“

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"Good. We need to be on guard."

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Something in the air crackled. It felt like the air were crunchy, somehow.

Then… there was a cracking sound, as a rift of sorts opened in the sky, and out popped a… creature. It was a furry little ball thing of sorts? It was about 3 feet tall and shaped like an oval welcome mat, and had red eyes, tiny little stub horns, and very, very sharp teeth.

“Hello? Hello? Ah! Can you humans all hear me?”

---

Huixin was about to reply when that creature fell from the sky

She blinks in mild shock, before responding in a warm voice

“Yes. We can hear you.”

She holds on to Ophelia’s hand for good luck, squeezing her partner’s hand

tw//: allusions to attempted murder, dark thoughts, persephone has some serious issues

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Quote from Persephone's Journal

Rule #1:
Don't be stupid.

~~~

Persephone O'Couna was sixteen years old when her life went to hell. And a decade later, sitting over a cliff with her legs dangling over the edge of a broken world, peering into smoldering streets and ashy-streaken skies, she dreamed of murder.

One more chance.

Let her try one more time, and she would make that person pay.

From atop the hill, she could see into the filthy crevices of this post-apocalyptic world. Somebody shoved a shapeless figure into a wall, strangling them against the rotten brick, struggling to pin them with the wall sliding all around. Both the murderer and the victim were crying.

She wouldn't cry. She'd wrap her hands around that person's throat and squeeze and squeeze until the light went out of their eyes. Deliciously, irrevocably dead, slumping to the ground. No breath. No pulse.

Just the sweetness of one girl's world made a bit better.

If they were dead, it wouldn't change anything, but hell would Persephone love to see them as broken as she was. Just a ragdoll, limp and shattered against the earth.

She knew she'd love it. As much as she loved looking at this horrible broken world, seeing all those perfect lives torn to bits of scrap and tears. People had never looked so beautiful, blooded and streaked in ash, slumped against their little worldly treasures.

Persephone never touched them. Those packs would remain beside their owners, the final homage to a worthless, wasted life.

A work of art.

She blinked, realising that the person was lying pathetically in the alleyway, hugging the other as they cried, unable to keep going, to kill whoever this person was to them.

Once upon a time, she might've felt sorry. Being forced to kill someone, particularly someone worth crying over had to hurt, hm? But, really, stories were only good for as long as they were over. For as long as you could think and remember them and twist meaning out of something so meaningless.

People were only beloved when they were stone cold dead. That was another thing the end of the world had taught her.

That was also good. Great, even. Pulling out her notebook, she scribbled it down.

Rule #52.

Patting the bright pink plastic a final time, she slipped it back into her pack and stood up. Her eyes surveyed the horizon- and then she paused.

The two in the alleyway were gone.

Self-consciously she glanced back over her shoulder, almost expecting to see a murderer behind her. But nothing.

In her own paranoia, she had taken her eyes off of the city before her, where the people, the enemy, really were. Common sense had saved her thus far. She should've trusted it.

Something seized her by the hair and slammed her face first into the earth. She blacked out on impact.

...
...
...

Where am I? Who am I?

Coming to a start, the person sat up. Her whole body seized up and she clutched her head. A throbbing pain resounded throughout her skull, a thick, piercing echo.

Wincing, she looked around for clues. But she was alone- all she had was a pack on her back, the straps too tight.

Is that... mine?

It looked like a kid's backpack. Somehow, the person doubted she was a kid. No, that didn't feel right... and kids didn't wake up on random trains. No, they had parents...

Should have parents...

Probably had parents? Hm.

---

"Okay, what the hell is happening?"

Jackson rose to his feet, glaring at the creature.

He glanced around. Everyone is coming to, it seemed.

"Is this the-"

"Incursion! Yes! It is! Isn't that lovely?"

The creature laughed.

"I am... well, I suppose you could call me any number of things. But I am Enki, your guide for the next... well, the foreseeable future."

Ophelia took Huixin's hand.

"Huixin, what's happening?"

---

“I don’t know, Ophie. But on the bright side, at least the guide is cute”

Huixin looks at Enki. The little creature seemed quite adorable.

“So….what’s next on our list, Enki?”

She squeezes Ophelia’s hand reassuringly, as she waits further instruction

"Oh? Human, You just called me cute? That's... sweet."

The guide just laughed.

"Next? Hm, ah, what was it? Oh yeah! This!"

It snapped.

[Kill 1 Living Being (D-)]

'There we go~!"

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