Chapter 1: "Divine Comedy" - Ana

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On that night, like most, Ana has a nightmare. The sky is on fire. The dying sun burns its brightest before falling dark. A blood moon casts a crimson glow upon the streets.

Buildings collapse and lifeless mortal bodies congest every end of every road. A symphony of screams, clashing metal and tearing flesh roars out.

Ana sees this torn up world from a bird's eye view. She hears the beating of wings behind her, but she can't turn her head to look at them. Her gaze is a slave to the dream. It's like she's on a rail, forced to look in whatever direction the dream dictates. Every now and then she sees something so cruel her stomach twists. She wants to close her eyes, but can't.

This recurring dream offers only slight variations. Brief flashes of new horrors, a shift in trajectory -- but this wasteland of a world never truly changes. And in the end, Ana always finds herself face to face with the same person.

 And in the end, Ana always finds herself face to face with the same person

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A winged queen stands amidst the war-torn streets. She's beautiful, with hair like fresh blood and crude jagged horns sprouting from the sides of her head like a crown. Dark Plumage tousles around her neck and the world goes a little crazier. People -what's left of them- fill the streets just to fight; hatred without discrimination. Siblings murder siblings. Parents drown their children. Friends, family, lovers; no bond can overcome the rage she induces.

The worst part of all is how proud the woman looks. Hands park on her waist, and her crimson eyes survey the area as though admiring her handiwork.

Unable to take it any longer, Ana cries out, but she doesn't hear herself. Instead, she hears another voice. One brimming with confidence and warmth.

"I can't let you hurt anyone else," the voice calls out. The red-haired woman scowls up towards Ana's point of view.

"Still trying to resist? Fine. I'll just dig deeper and draw out the worst parts of you."

"You don't have to do this. You don't have to be this."

Ana flies at the queen. Prepared, the queen throws up her arm, sending a barrage of sharpened feathers firing at Ana. By no choice of her own, Ana avoids the attacks and comes face to face with the harpy queen. There's no hesitation between either of them. The queen attacks and Ana retaliates with an embrace.

As their chests collide they're consumed by a flash of red, white and pink. A whirlwind of black and white feathers build between the two, overtaking Ana's vision.

At last, she feels at peace again.

---

Ana's eyes flutter open and she finds herself back in her room. No streetlights or cars just unfinished drywall and cobwebbed corners. As she gets out of bed she knocks over some of her plushies. Ana yawns and reaches for her favorite, a frog with cat ears sewn onto it.

"C'mere Rachel," Ana whispers.

She stops at Rachel's ear when she notices that instead of hands she has wings. It wasn't just her arms either, one look down and she finds her legs were like talons, and her tail was much larger than before.

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