Chapter 1 Solitude

"Let's go!" Said a young woman wearing a black trench coat with a green and purple striped shirt. She had black spiky hair and she was long and thin just like her friend. She was that of black and Hispanic heritage with ebony skin. When she spoke it was full of energy. Her eyes were an olive green.

"This girl is my friend, Tenna Green. She's the only friend that managed to stay beside me the longest. She and I have been friends, not long since I graduated high school. We live a few rooms from each other in an apartment complex. Her best qualities are cooking, bugging people to hang out with her or to go out and at the very most, be a great friend. She's loyal through and through."

"No!" Her friend, a girl with pink hair in pig tails replied.

"Come on, Devi!" Tenna said "We haven't went out in about weeks! I'm serious, you're starting to give off this creepy Howard Hughes vibe..."

"Really?" Devi sarcastically replied "I thought it was longer. It couldn't be long enough!"

"And this this is me. My name is Debra Dynast but I hate my name so I changed it to "Devi" since I was a kid. I'm what you would call one of those "struggling artists". I work for a company as a designer. I design anything from posters to covers, whatever and in both digital and traditional means. I prefer traditional but there was a demand for using digital, so I learned digital just to keep up with the job. When I'm not working for work, I'm painting for myself and myself alone. 

Why I'm struggling to be alone? Well, you'll find out soon enough. I can't just tell you everything, you know?"

"Oh, come on Devi." Tenna replied to her friend. "You need to live a little!"

"I stopped wanting to live years ago..." Devi replied but then broke down after a while of Tenna just staring at her and said "Fine, I'll go! But in return I'll kill you afterwards."

"YAY!" Tenna said in her overly cheerful way.

"Spooky!" Replied her small familiar, a toy plush skeleton doll who squeaked to let him out of her trench pocket.

"See, Mr. Spooky is glad you're coming too!" Tenna replied. "Say, what about your little friend?"

"Tenna, we've been through this..." Devi said "She's not my friend. She's just proof that I'm going insane and I told you no magic!"

"But how come you can hear voices?" Tenna said.

"Cause I'm going insane as I said!..." Devi said. "Now drop it and lets go! You wanted to go, now lets get this done and over with..."

"Okay..." Tenna replied. "Crabby..."

"Okay, I gotta tell you at least this bit...Lately, there has been this little voice in my head...At first I thought I was going insane, especially when this little voice takes the form of this little doll that looks almost like me...It's like one of those plush chibi rag dolls, but with screws for eyes. I would hear this voice in my head, since this one incident that ended tragic with my last boyfriend. At first I thought I was going crazy, until my dear friend Tenna, showed me Mr. Spooky. 

Apparently, anyone who can use magic, gain a doll like familiar born from their hearts. Tenna has magic in her blood, being on her mother's side, she came from a long line of witch doctors and shamans and such. So apparently, this thing was a part of my heart in the form of a familiar. I dunno if it's magic in my blood or just something I gained, but whatever reason, I didn't want to be apart of it. Least around that time."

They went into a brown car and drove off into the city. They stopped by at a Chinese Restaurant  called "Eat or Die". It was a hole in the wall type place. Kinda small but decent and clean, least a bit cleaner than some restaurants near by.

After getting out of the car, Devi sighed "Oh god...The world...."

"Oh shut up, hermit!" Tenna said "You'll like it here. It is so your thing...."


“And why is that?" Devi asked.

“No one works here.” Tenna answered. Devi looked at her curiously “Yeah, everything is automatic. I know how much you like that stuff."

"Well I like the name..." Devi replied with a small smile.

"Yeah, it use to be eat or don't, but they weren't making money."

As soon as they entered, they were greeted by an automatic voice that said "Welcome, please be seated...OR DIE!" The last bit startled Devi a bit. Tenna was just more enthused as she said

"Mmmmm....Death..."

They sat down near the window in the restaurant and Tenna asked "Okay, now that I used my super ninja skills to take you and get you into a comfortable state of mind, mind telling me what's wrong?"

"You know what's wrong..." Devi said.

"You're afraid of your powers..." Tenna replied "There's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Yes there is!" Devi told her friend. "I mean, don't you find it weird that we even have these powers and these weird creatures?"

"Well, to me it just means we have magic in our blood." Tenna said "And so we got powers and now we get to use em. Instead of being afraid of them, why not just accept it and practice it, so you can have control over it?"

"You don't understand, Tenna..." She replied

"That's not just the reason why you're afraid of yourself, is it?" Tenna asked.

Devi looked at her oddly and sighed.

"Oh come on, Devi!" Tenna said "I'm your best friend! You can tell me anything!"

"Yeah, you're my only friend." Devi replied with a cool smile.

"More the so reason for me to help you." Tenna replied with a smile. "I mean, why are you so afraid of accepting this?"

"Well..." Devi replied
*flashback*

Devi~ "Long ago while I worked at a book store, I met a somewhat strange young man. Well strange was putting it mildly, as I would have found out, but we somehow clicked. We were both painters with a passion, but at the same time something told me that there was something strongly off about him. His name was Johnny C. Kestral and instead of going by "John" or his full name, he went by the nickname "Nny". Yes, like "knee" the joint. I told you, he was eccentric. 

 He had jet black hair, pale skin, wore a lot of black and leather, was tall and long with green eyes. There was something mysterious about him, but not the cool, calm, collect kinda guy. He was snarky, yet laid back and did what he want just casually, but something just came off of him as odd. Not just because he wore the same kinda dark outlook as I and the whole "Nny" thing, but just over all. 

He was like the wind, something I could feel and be around, but slips out of my grasp when I tried to hold on. And just like the moon, he would disappear sometimes. When I tried to grasp just what he's all about, he disappears as quick as a gale and yet, he was like the moon. 

Johnny would go off on his own for a while, sometimes for weeks and just come back without explanation.  I just wanted to know more about him. It was like he was a child that was hiding, wanting to be found yet at the same time didn’t want to be found.

If I knew what I know now about him...I wonder if I would still have welcomed him in my life.... to try to save him...?

One night, we watched the city from the mountain hill. I sat on the roof of his car, while he sat at the end of the front end of the car. 

“So, you haven’t been able to draw or paint anything in a while?”

“Outside stick figures, nothing....” Johnny replied in a bit of a sad tone. “Whenever I do seem to paint something nowadays, it’s nothing I can really relate to...It’s like I’m not myself anymore inside...”

“That’s...” Devi couldn’t put her finger on it. “I can’t even explain...”

“It’s weird...” Johnny replied. “I know...”

“It’s like you’re not experiencing a block but artist re-routing...” Devi finally said after putting in some thought.

“Oooh, I like that...” Johnny replied as he looked up at her.

“So where is it rerouting too?” Devi asked.

Johnny turned away and looked down. Finally he said “I dunno yet...”

A little scared to figure that one out... He thought with a sigh.

After a bit of silence he asked “What if you couldn’t paint anymore?”

"Hmm..." Devi said and laughed “Not possible! For me, to not paint, is to not live! I'd cease to exist!"

"Or maybe you just feel like you're dropping into insanity, trying to keep it back with your abilities, maybe even do horrible acts that you may regret but can't be redeemed."

"Nope!" Devi replied, thinking he was just joking about it.

“I guess that’s just me...” He whispered as he looked guilty.

“What?”

“Oh, no nothing!” He said with a smile and then leaned back. "The fix is probably obvious. Maybe, I just need to stand back, look at the situation from a different perspective..."

"Maybe not." she said. “I mean, look at the city. It looks so pretty from a far but look closer and you see the ugliness of the human kind.”

He took a deep breath and smirked “You honestly think that?”

“Hmm?”  Devi looked confuse.

“I dunno, you have this energy that makes me feel something I haven’t felt in a long time. I guess it’s this positive energy. When I’m around you, I feel happy so I guess it’s just odd hearing those words from someone that makes me feel that way.”

“Johnny...” Devi said in surprise.

“But I guess that’s what makes us more real than the fake ass people that call themselves normal!” He replied with a snarky tone.

Devi let out a giggle and said “Yup!”

His hand became shaky and he felt nervous for some reason. He looked at his hand in slight worry.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked

"Oh, nothing!" He said and looked up at the stars. "Please...let me have this night to feel good." He thought to himself. "Where I’m not a warrior. Just a civil human being."

Devi ~"We were having a nice time. I thought maybe there could be a chance for me to be with someone."

"But I thought wrong..."

After a moment long moment of quietly looking at the sky, something became wrong with Johnny.

"Kill her..." Said a strange voice in his head.

"What?" He asked it.

"Kill her! " It said again.

"But why?" He asked it.

"She has the power hidden within her that can possibly destroy you!" The voice said in his mind.

"What!? No way!?" He shouted

"No way what?" Devi asked

"Uh..." He said "Nothing..." He jumped off the car and felt his head pounding.

"Johnny, are you sure you're okay?" She asked

"Yeah..." He replied.

"If you don't kill her, she will destroy you!" Said the voice in his mind.

"She's just an innocent girl..." He said quietly as he put his palms to his head in agony. "Leave her be..."

"Do not question us, Johnny!" Said his thoughts. His hand began glowing a purplish glow, as he held his hand tightly as if he was losing control of it.

"I will not kill her!" He screamed

"Johnny, what's wrong?!" She said as she jumped down from the car and walked toward him. A look of worry on her face as she came close to him.

"It's nothing!" He yelled at her.

"This is certainly not nothing!" She told him. As she touched him, he pushed her away.

"Don't you DARE touch me!" He said with madness in his eyes. Dark form of energy fired all around him.

"What's going on?!" She yelled "What's happening to you?!"

"I'm sorry..." The fading voice of Johnny said as he stretched his hand out and what looked to be a sword made out of purple dark aura and matter, shot out of his hand. He raised it over his head as if to hit Devi with it. "But now I have to kill you!"

Devi looked at him frighteningly and raised both hands "No!" She could feel a strange energy pulsing from her body, as he took the energy sword and slammed on her. However, the strange energy pulsing from Devi was protecting her from the attack. Suddenly the energy from Devi pushed forward and blasted Johnny away!

She looked at her hands afraid of what she just did. She took off and never looked back. She eventually got home and locked herself away.

*Flashback ends*

Devi ~ "Not long after that, was when I started hearing that tiny voice in my head and started seeing her..."

As they walked out after getting done eating, Tenna began trying to talk to Devi again.

"Well okay, that does explain a lot why you confined for solitude for so long." Tenna replied "But you can't just stay in solitude for the rest of your life. I mean, you got powers, instead of keeping that all inside, you should learn to use them."

"But I don't wanna use them!" Devi said "I mean don't you ever wanted to be normal again?"

"Who said we were ever normal to begin with?" Tenna asked smugly.

This made Devi's just drop and put her palm to her face and said "Okay...good point..."

"Besides, maybe if you practice them and who knows, maybe that voice that you keep hearing is your familiar, trying to speak to you. If the voice is a familiar, maybe it just wants to be your friend." Tenna said

"She's not my friend..." Devi said "You never heard Spooky talked to you before he appeared, did you?"

"No, but that's because I didn't push him back or anything. He just was born from my heart, least from what my family said. He appeared one day and we've been friends ever since!"

"It's almost sickening how you accepted it so easily...." Devi replied annoyed and then got serious again. "That little voice.. won't shut up about this strange 'darkness' that's supposedly coming."

"Darkness?" Tenna replied

Mr. Spooky popped from her shoulder pocket and went "Spooky?"

"Yeah..." Devi replied "She keeps ranting on about this darkness. She won't tell me what she means. I'm not too sure even she knows. If she's going insane then I feel that I might be too. She keeps saying I'm the only one to stop it."

"I see..." Tenna replied, not really sure what to make of it.

As they kept walking, Tenna began to ask with a grin "You know what you need?"

"Don't say it...." Devi sighed.

"You need to get out more!" Tenna replied

"ACKKKKKKKK!" Devi replied.

"I'm serious!" Tenna replied "You spend way too much time being cooped up! You wonder why you're going insane! I know I would be going insane if I didn't get out much."

"Yeah, I don't think so..." Devi replied sarcastically "Tenna, you say that all the time and I am not kidding! You once told someone with tonsillitis they simply needed to get out more so the fresh air would clean their throat and worse, was when you told someone with agoraphobia they needed to get out more. You know what agoraphobia is right?  "

"That's because it's true..." Tenna replied "Fresh air is good for you and maybe they need to be around people to help relieve their stress to show it’s okay! If you're not going to practice your magic, well, get out more and see if that helps. Socialize, get some fresh air! Keep your mind off of stuff and maybe that little voice will shut up or at least calm down....Maybe she's a part of you that's frantic because you don't socialize much or get out often."

"I don't need to socialize with more people, especially since that thing keeps popping up. It might pester me during a conversation and besides...People are sick beings." Devi said this coldly. "Why would I need to socialize with the likes of them? They're nothing but breathing organisms that take up air."

"Oh come on!" Tenna replied as she pat Mr. Spooky on the head. "Quit being a Debbie Downer!"

She looked at them uncertain with herself. She and her friend walked out in town.

"Maybe, try mingling might help.." Tenna replied in a cheeky way.

"You mean go on a date with someone..." Devi replied in a revolted fashion "And that is not gonna happen either! I'm bad at dates and most people I dated were jerks...OR psycho killers! I gave up on that along time ago!"

"Come on... Okay, so your date with that Eddie dude wasn't so great, considering he kept thinking about sex and not clearly on the road. Least you lived....And your last date was a psychotic spooky dude, that wanted to kill you for some reason....You lived! It doesn't mean all guys are all bad!"

"Oh, I know that for sure..." Devi replied as she remembered a tender memory..."Believe me, I know not all guys are bad..."