Heart of Animosity

Chapter 2: Opening Act

"The crown of heaven, that's what mother calls it. She was willing to use every-single flower from her roots to make it. She also said that.. You're destined to save that one that you spoke of, about the boy with hatred, so much hatred... HE is after the boy, and HE will stop at nothing, until he attains his heart of animosity."

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Etana begins picking up her pace as she walks through the forest, finally decided to find a shelter for herself and her tired state due to three long sleepless days of walking. Throughout her entire time of walking, she takes note of how lively the forest is, how it's blossoming and full of life. To the girl, it was enchanting; almost to good to all be real. Almost as if, the very forest she's in was just a dream that she would wake up from, to be disappointed with her reality.

Her wandering mind is pulled back into the present when she notices a mountain with cave in it, past some vegetation. She somehow manages to pick up her pace, even more than she had already been, pushing past more of the plant life. Entering the cave, she looks around, seeing more plants and vines, hanging from spaces between the rock of the ceiling and along the walls of the rocky shelter.

'Hmm.. What if I tried making a campfire..?' The girl thinks to herself.

She begins to walk out of the cave and to the nearest set of trees, which isn't very far. Picking up branches and twigs that fallen onto the ground, rocks that she found close to the entrance of the cave, as well as some leaves. After gathering what she believed should be enough to make her campfire, she walks back into her shelter. Setting the material down, she leans over to grab the two rocks and begins to try to ignite a spark.

Multiple minutes of trying to start a spark go by, and Etana begins to get frustrated. Out of anger, she throws one of the rocks, "This is stupid...", she mumbles to herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices a light shining from the direction she threw the rock. She slowly begins to stand up, curiously walking towards what she thought was just a wall-filled with rocks and plants, realizing that she must have hit some of the leafy vines down, causing a slight reveal to the opening of an underground passageway.

She begins to move the rest of the vegetation from the opening and begins to walk through the tunnel. The passageway slightly headed downwards, in a slight curve with stairs that looked like it was made naturally. There was vines along the walls and hanging from the ceiling of rocks. Her eyes widen as she gets closer to the source of light, staring in awe as she realizes that the light source belongs to a glowing yellow flower hanging from a vine, almost like a lantern.

A tingly sensation goes throughout her body as she studies the flower. Out of the corner of her vision, she begins to notice that there is other light sources. Her curiosity peaks and she decides to continue further into the the tunnel. More flowers, many shades of yellows and oranges, hanging from more vines light up the tunnel. That same tingling sensation flowing throughout her body, slowly getting stronger as she walks.

She then pauses, staring in both shock and awe at the sight in front of her. A massive root that seemed to continue a lot further down than she planned on walking; from what she could see, the root was about the size of a tree itself. The root had more of the glowing flowers growing on it. She slowly reaches toward the root and raises her hand, brushing her fingertips along the petals of the flower. After staring a bit longer at the beauty of the glowing flowers, she picks one of the flowers up. 'This could be a good light source..' the girl thinks to herself, putting the flower in her dark, dirty blonde hair.

She turns around, deciding after resting she would see were the root goes, and makes her way back up the rocky staircase tunnel. As she heads up, she sees the rock that she threw originally, next to the campfire. Walking outside the cave, she sees the sun is setting so she turns around and heads back to the campfire. 'Okay... Let's try this again-'

After about an hour of trying, she finally lights her campfire. Sighing of relief and being satisfied, she lays down. She listens to the sound of the fire and the nature while being alone with her thoughts. Thinking of her family and how she left while her mom wasn't feeling well. Thinking about her father's heartwarming smile and his comforting hugs. She starts to tear up and begins to cry.

A soft voices, similar to her mother's, echoes throughout her head, "It's okay, my child... You wanted to help your parents and you did what you had to do. Just know that and sleep well, my child." Etana smiles while hearing this and begins to slowly fall asleep, tears still slowly going down her face.

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Etana slowly opens her eyes, seeing nothing but pitch black darkness. She tries to get up and walk, be she realizes she can't move. She looks around, the best she can while not being able to move. Suddenly, her eyes grow big. Shock and confusion was what she experienced as she noticed two figures slowly becoming visible. One of the figures, being the boy she saw during the experiment from the facility. The other figure, was just a shadowy blur, that stood tall behind the boy.

The boy was crying again, asking for help. Shadowy hands began to form around him, and as they did so, the boy slowly looked up at her in tears before being enclosed by the hands. And all of a sudden, everything fades to black...

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