Chapter Text
The first things she saw when she woke up were the two people looking at her.
“Look, they’ve opened their eyes. Hopefully it means this one was a success.”
The second things she saw were the countless shards of glass that littered the ground. Glass shards everywhere, but not shards of the same glass. They had different colors. Some of them had only one, some of them had more.
“I hope so! It would be such a shame to have yet another failure…”
Some of the glass was clear, but some of it was full of impurities. They were all painted on only one side.
“Well, they might have opened their eyes, but they seem to be unresponsive.”
They were full of magic. But said magic was dull, lifeless, as if it was killed long ago, with only the body remaining. The shattered, broken body. Multiple bodies.
“Hey! Can you hear us?”
She nodded.
“Perfect! Glad to see you’re with us!”
Something itchy was stuck to her body. Like a thin, second unwanted skin. She could’ve scratched at it, but she knew it wouldn’t be enough to get it away, sticky, seeping in.
So, she accepted it. As weird and unnatural as it was, she accepted it.
“Well then, come with us. We have much to do.”
The shards were full of feelings and magic. Knowing this, she took them in and tried to bury them deep in her soul, so she wouldn’t get cut.
They didn’t notice they already did.
“Well?”
They nodded and followed their creators.
They went to another room, once that didn’t have glass all over the ground. That was good. The glass made them uncomfortable.
They looked at the people who created them. Two tall figures, way taller than them, who brimmed with magic, but not exactly of the same kind.
She waited for them to say something. A question, a request, an order. It didn’t really matter.
“Well? Is everything functional? Can you talk?”
“…Yes.”
“Perfect! This one didn’t fail at all!”
“I wouldn’t say that so soon. We still have a lot of tests to run. But I suppose this won’t be utter failure, at least.”
The purple figure ignored what the other said and turned back to look at them.
“Well, since we succeeded, we have to introduce ourselves! My name is ________ and their name is ________!”
They didn’t remember their names anymore. They didn’t even try to. They didn’t want to.
Why would they?
“Mm. And we’ll be calling you Cristallo.”
“Ok.”
Names didn’t really matter to them, back then. They saw names as a way to identify someone and call for them, nothing more. They didn’t need it to be anything more.
“Perfect! Now that that’s settled… It’s time for your first test!”
“Can you use magic?”
She waited for more instructions. Directions, what to do… Nothing. They both just stared and waited. And waited. And the more they waited, the heavier the air felt. The pressure rose, and they wondered what it meant.
Cristallo held out their hand.
They knew magic. It was the same thing that permeated the glass shards. It was the same thing that flowed through their body. That gave them life. Life?
Come to think of it, they weren’t so sure they could call this life anymore. Could they ever? Maybe not.
Magic was the same thing that emanated from the two people who looked at them, unmoving. Coldly.
But it wasn’t the same magic everywhere. It all differed, in strength, in energy, in nature. She wondered what it meant.
The air was heavier now. She tried to focus and release the magic. Something came, eventually. Yet another shard of glass. But it wasn’t the same as the other ones. It was theirs.
Well, that assignment wasn’t too hard after all. That’s good.
Just like that, as soon as they managed to use magic, the pressure in the air suddenly lifted, and it was like they had imagined it all.
And yet, it was real. It was all too real.
“Congratulations!! You passed the first test!” The purple cloaked figure looked happy. The black cloaked figure said nothing. Instead, they took out a notebook and started to take notes, completely ignoring everything else.
Then, once they were done, They finally spoke.
“That was horribly slow for such a simple spell.”
Slow? What did that mean? They didn’t know what to do. They just had to figure it out alone.
Figuring things out took time.
Too much time, apparently.
“I’m sorry. I will be faster next time.”
“Well, nevermind that. You’re dismissed for now.”
And then their creators left, and they were all alone.
The room they were in was pretty empty. And not very well lit. There was a hint of darkness that seemed to cover the whole place. And of despair.
They stood there, under the yellow light, among the dust particles. They thought again about the glass shards in the other room. They wondered what it meant. They didn’t know.
So, they stopped thinking about it.
Usually, people would do things to pass the time. Or sit with their thoughts. They just waited.
Cristallo just closed their eyes and waited.
Little did they know, they were about to do a lot more waiting. Too much waiting. Too much waiting. Too much waiting.
The silence and bad lighting were oppressing. The darkness was oppressing.
But they couldn’t do anything, so they just waited.
And waited.
And waited.