Lucent || Story Expansion

» The Shadow

| SPITTING IMAGE |

| THE SHADOW |

n. a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light.

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The first time Nicolette saw the shadow was when her Quirk manifested when she was four years old.

When her eyelids fluttered open on a snowy day in January, the first thing her young mind registered was that everything around her had a clearer, sharper edge. Her reddish-orange eyes picked up the minuscule particles of dust that floated freely in her room. The sunlight peeking through the thin lavender curtains hurt her eyes from the amount of light seeping into her bedroom. She could even see the tiny pieces of lint clinging to her sleeves.

Her ears- wait, no... She no longer had human ears but two triangles with fluffy white and red fur that protruded from the top of her head. Breathing in deeply, her small hands rushed to her nose from the massive amount of different scents that overloaded her nostrils.

Confused by the new things that were happening in her body, Nicolette sat up in an instant. The soft and fuzzy blanket that was draped over her body fell onto the wooden floor with a soft thud. Flaring around her body, nine fox tails painted white with crimson streaks that faded from the tips sprouted from her behind. She blinked in bewilderment for a second, her child brain trying to figure out what was going on.

"You've gotten your Quirk." The voice that entered her ears sounded very strange. It was laced over with echoes as if two people were talking at the same time.

Nicolette picked up her head in fright because she was supposed to be the only one in her room. Her heart rate sped up in an instant. Standing near her dresser was a shadow that had taken on an appearance that looked almost like herself. Instead of an olive complexion, the shadow had a dark greyish skin tone. Almost like she was smothered with ash and it was coating the entirety of the shadow's body. She did not have any eyes, nose, or mouth. Nicolette wondered if the shadow had any senses at all.

Midnight ringlets with vibrant blue tips cascaded down the shadow's back in a similar fashion to her own. The animal features adorned the shadow but the white was charcoal and the red tips were a bright cerulean. A white nightgown was draped over her small figure.

The young girl instantly scrambled against the wall in fear. Who was this girl and how did she get into her room? "Papa! Mama!"

She cried out for her parents a few times before her heightened hearing picked up the sound of hurried footsteps slamming harshly against the staircase. The rapid pounding sound was hurting her eardrums. Not a second later did her bedroom door swing open to reveal her parents.

Her Papa and Mama stared at her in blatant shock for a moment before her Mama stepped forward first. She reached toward her daughter, spring-like black curls bouncing from the movement. An excited smile had slipped on her lips as her hand delicately brushed against one of her ears. "Nico, you got your Quirk! She's a kitsune like you, Ren! Look, look!"

If Nicolette looked like a mini Ren before, she now looked like a carbon copy with her newly acquired Quirk. They shared the same chestnut with red-tipped hair, the same reddish-orange eyes, and now even the same Quirk! Ren blinked twice before he moved to ruffle Nicolette's hair. Her ears twitched in response.

"Yes, she's a kitsune as well! But, she already has nine tails...?" Ren's words slipped off in a questionable tone as his brows furrowed. "With a kitsune Quirk, you receive all nine in due time. It's strange, Alice."