shine for you, 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙨𝙩

━━ PROLOGUE

　CADIE WAS SICK OF GOTHAM.

　She had lived a few years on the streets after her mother had been murdered by some thugs, so she should already be used to the roughness of the city, and she should have known better.

　No one had told her to do it —the kid was just six years old, and she couldn't overpower her physically, but she had been persuaded by the big puppy eyes that Lila had used on her. She was the one who decided to listen to the little girl when she told her that she wanted ice cream and she wanted it at that exact moment.

　It had been an awful idea and Cadie knew it from the start. What escaped her knowledge was, however, why she had gone through with it even when she knew that it wasn't safe for two girls to be alone on the streets of Gotham when the darkness was about to fall at any moment.

　"I want the strawberry one!" said Lila, looking up at Cadie, oblivious to the constant state of uneasiness the older girl was in.

　Cadie paid the man with coins she found in the back pocket of her jeans and assured him that they'd be fine when he told them to be careful out there.

　"C'mon, Lils, let's walk faster so we get home quickly, yes?" she smiled at Lila, cringing when she called the orphanage home.

　The orphanage had been her new "home" for about six months, and the day that little Lila came through the big gates of the building with that big toothy smile of hers, Cadie swore to herself that she'd do anything to maintain her brightness as safe as she could (after all, it was Gotham, and no one stays that way when you have that kind of future laid down in front of you).

　With the blonde-haired kid jumping by her side, she kept on walking through the safest streets that she knew, until they stood before the orphanage. They had been ready to enter when Cadie noticed a look of admiration on Lila's face as her expression grew into amazement.

　"Cadie! Look!" told Lila, tugging down the sleeves of Cadie's coat. "It's so pretty and green!"

　She turned around cautiously, keeping Lila close to her side, and her mouth fell wide open when she laid eyes on what was causing Lila to be so enchanted.

　Her breath caught in her throat.

　A big green sphere was right in front of them, looking bigger the more she stared at it. No, wait, it wasn't an illusion and it wasn't getting bigger, it was just getting closer.

　She took a step further, covering Lila's body with her own. It looked like some alien stuff she had seen in the news, and you never know whether it's friendly or hostile before it's too late, so she didn't want to take any chances.

　A gasp left her lips when the weird sphere of energy, whatever the hell it was, came at full speed towards them. Eyes wide open, she pushed Lila out of harm's way and let out a shriek when she was suddenly engulfed in the big green ball.

　Only in fucking Gotham City.

　Suddenly, her feet weren't touching the floor, and the urge to puke filled her body. She'd never been upside down for so long, and a situation like that wasn't the best first experience you would like.

　Below her, she could see Lila's figure trying to reach out to her, and her screams were still audible when the bundle of energy, with Cadie still inside, started surfing above the buildings of Gotham.

　"Let me out!" she yelled in frustration to whoever was listening, kicking the walls surrounding her with all the strength she had in her.

　You see, at that moment, Cadie had priorities that didn't include making sure that shady people didn't hear her crying out for help, so she kept on yelling while hitting with her legs and hands.

　In the worst second ever, the thing around her dissolved, leaving her to fall into hard concrete. She just hoped she hadn't managed to appear in Crime Alley of all places.

　Cadie groaned, moving her aching limbs in order to get up.

　She was in a cold and dirty alley that reeked of alcohol. The ground was all but comfortable, and when she got up was when she finally noticed the green hue that enveloped her, vastly different from the dark colors of Gotham during the night.

　A noise from behind her startled her.

　She turned around. The night had already fallen, so she wasn't able to see anything. That didn't mean anything, because one never sees the city's vigilantes unless they want you to. And right then, she was standing before the Dark Knight and his partner, which meant they wanted something from her, and she was no criminal.

　"Batman to Green Lantern. We found the ring, " said the Batman to someone who was not there, probably through an earpiece, without addressing her at all.

　Not knowing whether to appreciate that or not, Cadie found herself to be completely quiet and still, cautious with her movements in case she did something that was deemed wrong in their eyes.

　Taking a moment to think about the vigilante's words, she looked once again at the green glow that came from one of the sides of the alley. Green Lantern... That was the cool superhero that could fly and was, well, green.

　Her feet seemed to move on their own towards the source, almost like she were in a trance. She could hear Batman speaking, but it wasn't until his next words that Cadie snapped her head towards him.

　"We have also found the chosen. A young teenager, a Gothamite," he said, and Cadie's feet stopped on their own accord. "We will send her over."

　She furrowed her brow. The chosen, he had said, as if life suddenly was a Harry Potter fanfiction.

　"Uh, Batman, sir?" she hesitantly grabbed his attention, trying to fight the urge to look towards the green glow that was calling her name so clearly.

　Was this what people felt when they found their soulmates? That gravitational pull? If so, she wanted to reach it and grab it, keep it all for herself. It was hers, after all. It was calling her, pulling her towards it.  Addressing the dark knight of Gotham had felt illegal, even when she appeared to be entitled to having her questions answered.

　"What's your name, kid?" he asked, a voice so deep and so dark that made her not want to ask anything of him.

　It was clear the vigilante hadn't remembered her from their previous meeting, which she completely understood. She was sure that saving kids from bank robberies was a normal Tuesday for him, so there was no reason for Batman to remember her. Even if he had made such an imprint in her life — that was, after all, the day her mother had died.

　"Cadence Alder," she answered.

　"Congratulations, Cadence Alder, you've been chosen to be Earth's new Green Lantern."

　What another eventful Tuesday it was for her, and possibly just like any other for the Dark Knight.

author's note:
here's the prologue!
english is not my first language,
so please don't hesitate to correct me
when needed! in fact i encourage
you to correct me <3