Heartwell: Incandescence

Prologue (Incandescence)

"The world can still go back to what it used to be."

She remembered those words from someone who gave up on themselves. Gave up on their purpose. Gave up on God.

And for some reason, she was the only one left. Not a righteous man or woman, not a wizened prophet, but a child.

Just like everything else, it made little sense.

Theres nothing to pull hope from, anymore. Nothing to inspire it. Maybe she could fake it, fabricate hope for once. She pressed her eyes tightly, fighting to forget the constant excruciating pain of her dislocated joints and her infected wounds, clawing to remember.

To remember what life was like in those days.

She was a child back then. Not like now, but an actual child, living as one should - blissfully ignorant, playing with school friends, going fishing, playing hide and seek or competing in a game of marbles. In those days, her biggest worry was school crushes or the dilemma of what to give her siblings for their birthday. There's so many tales to pick from that era her life she remembered so vividly, that amongst her vast collection of pain and trauma, stood out like folklore, mere myths.

But out of all those myths, she could only focus on one. A myth where she felt the lightest, free from any care in the world. A myth where nothing bound her.

She dug around in the deep recesses of her mind until she found it - that moment so many years ago, where she flew on that airship with her parents on that warm summer's morning.

Everything was so bright. The skies were so blue it looked surreal, lush like sapphire and blending in with the golden glow of the rising sun. They could feel the clouds whisk past their fingers as they poked their arms out from the railings. They could see blocks of forest and farm land and distant meadows sprawling underneath, so green and lively. Highland cattle and flocks of sheep frolicked below, shepherd boys along with their dogs carefully watching their animals play in the fields.

On the ship was a frontier-folk band, dressed in matching uniforms of red and white stripes. The fiddle, banjo, drums, mandolin played in perfect unison, weaving together the softest songs to the most joyful odes. On the airship's deck she danced with her parents, locking arms with other children as she pranced and glided across the floor, feeling so light, she felt like she could fly.

Everything was perfect-

"RISE AND SHINE, MAGGOT!" A fist smacked against her cheek, sending her snapping to the side, blood spraying from her mouth stained from old beatings. Her head slouched back down without the slightest sign of deviancy, not even a whimper coming out of her.

It's been 6 months since she spoke.

"Careful with her." A senile, wizened voice echoed from beyond. "The project shouldn't end with you."

"Of course, sir." She heard the brute snort and spit before trudging away.

She didn't need to see in order to sense the ongoings of the contributors of this "project". 6 months of hearing and listening, she found their schedule predictive, almost mundane. Interrogate. Torture. Experiment. Perhaps with the delivery of a meal every blue moon. Having that headgear which draped over her eyes taken off from her would make no difference to improve her situation, rather, she got used to seeing total darkness. It became a normalized part of the days that bled into one.

After a moment of silence, the old man spoke again. "I know you hear me, girl." The voice was a bit clearer. Light footsteps echoed nearer to her until the rhythm stopped right besides her.

She sensed him kneel over besides her seat. "I know you were there. Before the fall. Before everything was ruined. Just like me." He placed his palm on hers, feeling every wrinkle of his hand as he seemed to make the attempt to console her.