Work Text:
Elysian’s eyes opened slowly, but it only took seconds for her to bolt out of bed. She ran downstairs, shocked to see that neither of her parents were there. Did they have work today? Ely thought they would have asked off for today…
Whatever! She could wait. Her dad would be home any minute to make pancakes, and her mom would come back soon with a smile on her face, and…
An hour passed. Elysian’s stomach began to grumble. Where were they? She shook her head, standing up and walking to the kitchen. She could just make something else to eat for now. Her dad wouldn’t mind, right?
She opened a cabinet to grab a… Where were the plates? Where were the bowls? She checked another cabinet, but the cups were gone as well. She checked a drawer. Nothing. No silverware, no cooking utensils, nothing. She opened the pantry. She could just grab a bag of… Where was the food? The chips were gone. The crackers were gone. The cereal was gone. All of it. She checked the fridge, but it was empty as well. What was going on?
Her stomach grumbled again, she ran upstairs to grab some of the cash she knew was in her dresser. She could go to the corner store down the street and get something to eat. This was okay, she could manage. Something must have happened, and her parents were just out buying new dishes and food. Right?
Elysian opened the top drawer of her dresser, but it was empty. She checked the others, and they were all empty. Her clothes were gone, her allowance money from the past few months was gone, everything. When she looked by her bed, even her shoes were gone. She turned to the shelves in the other corner of the room. All the books were still there, but her figurines were gone. The superhero action figures, the signed posters… Nothing that was important to her was still there.
She didn’t notice the rose by her bedside. Not yet.
Slowly, she walked downstairs again, sitting on the couch. There had to be some explanation. She grabbed the remote for the TV, turning it on to a cartoon. She would be just fine. Her parents would be home soon. No, she would wake up soon. This was all just a dream, obviously!
She held a hand over her stomach, ignoring the pain as she watched cartoons. Until, eventually, it got dark outside, and there was still no sign of her parents. There was also no sign of her waking up.
Maybe the neighbors knew something?
Wait, no, it was late. She shouldn’t go outside on her own. She walked toward the home phone, but it was gone. The living room end table was empty. No coasters, tissue box, or phone.
How had she not noticed the clutter before? The house was always a nice amount of messy. Just enough to feel lived in, but not enough to feel crowded.
Ely looked around the entire house, noticing how clean every room was. All the toiletries were gone from the bathroom, all wall decorations were gone from the hallway.
All that she could find was a small picture frame in the basement, a crack down the middle. It had been like that for years, though. The frame held a picture of her, standing proudly in front of a science project. It was 1st grade, and the project wasn’t much. According to her teachers, though, it was incredible for a 7 year old.
She had a rose in her hair, a pink to match her mom's dress. Her dad was on his knees next to her, grinning. They were all happy that day. Almost two years ago.
Elysian took the picture out of the frame, and a drop of water hit is. She didn’t realize she had been crying.
She went back to the main floor, looking at the clock on the microwave. It was 9 o’clock.
That’s when panic set in.
Her parents should have been here. They should have been here a long time ago. She pinched her arm. She bit her thumb. She pulled her hair. Anything to try and wake herself up.
Each action hurt. She didn’t wake up.
Suddenly, it all fell. Whatever had stopped her from realizing it. It all came tumbling down, and tears flowed from her eyes.
Her parents weren’t home. They probably weren’t coming home. The house was empty for a reason. She wasn’t sleeping.
She was alone. This was happening. Something had happened. Something must have happened. What could have happened, though?
She ran upstairs, going to her room. She ran into her closet, closing the door and curling up into a ball. Elysian sat there crying for a while, rocking back and forth. At some point, she started digging her nails into her legs, holding them too tightly against her chest as broken sobs just barely managed to escape from her.
Eventually, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, she looked around. She was still in the closet, but maybe she had walked in her sleep. She stood up, slowly opening the door.
She didn’t look around. Scared that everything would still be empty, she closed her eyes when walking through.
“Mom? Dad?” She made her way to the stairs, gripping the railing as she walked to the first floor. She didn’t get a response.
Her voice began to shake. “Mom? Dad? Please, this isn’t funny!”
Once she got down the stairs, she fell to her knees. Her eyes were still closed. Slowly, she opened them and looked around. It was just as empty as before.
“No…”
Elysian used the railing to pull herself up, gripping it tightly. She began walking back upstairs, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out the picture, unfolding it to look at her parents’ smiling faces. They looked so proud. She looked so proud. Happy. She had won something that day.
She went to the closet, opening the door. A single hoodie was on a hanger. One she hadn’t noticed the night before, probably because it was too dark. It wasn’t her favorite hoodie, but she grabbed it and pulled it over her head. She put the hood up, trying her best to smile at the cat ears on the top. It didn’t work. She just cried again, remembering when her parents had bought it for her birthday the year before.
She walked out of the closet, turning to her bed. That’s when she finally noticed it.
Next to her bed, sitting on the ground, was a white rose with green and black tips.
Those didn’t grow naturally. It was her quirk. She walked over, picking it up.
White. Loss. Green. Chance. Black. Bad luck.
When did she summon it? Why would she summon such a negative rose?
She dropped it, gasping as the realization dawned on her.
It was her fault. All of this was her fault. She knew she didn’t have full control of her quirk yet. She shook her head, gripping the photograph as she stared at the rose and walked backwards.
In her sleep. She must have summoned it in her sleep.
Her parents were gone. All her stuff was gone. She had lost everything, and it was all her own fault.
Again, she let out a loud sob, turning and running out of her room. She ran down the stairs, out the front door, and down the street. She didn’t stop running until she couldn’t breathe.
It’s not like there was anything left for her in that house anyway.