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She was...not even a she, really. Not anymore. Were jumbled thoughts and emotions, dreams and nightmares possessing of a gender?

Moments of belonging, and eternities of being left behind, a deliberate choice, a consensus of her not being enough...something. They littered the fragmented emotional landscape that she was...it was all that she was.

She could remember faces, both compassionate and kind, and distant and hurtful, of what could have been...and what was not. More importantly, in some almost-forgotten corner, she feared...it was what never could be. Never enough to be truly a part, but more than anything, she yearned to be...

Something other than chaos. She would have been torn apart long ago by the conflicted feelings, and memories with no attachment or context, but she was already just a roiling mass of fragments, each tugging in different directions, and yet managing to stay cohesive enough that one day, when the voice had cut through the wisps of random thoughts and feelings to ask whether she had a wish...she did.

It was almost as if her wish had been lingering, half-formed and just waiting for her to call attention to it before springing into existence. I wish....I could make a difference. A real difference.

To be nothing, and yet able to understand one's lack...was painful enough. But to know that even her memories were of missing something fundamental, of being unimportant, almost hurt more. More than anything, she wanted to be important to someone...

She hadn't even been able to vocalize it, when she'd coalesced, as if the being who had whispered temptingly into her very essence had compacted her, and given a bit extra to be...someone, instead of feeling like a writhing mess of half-formed beings, sliding uneasily along strands of other.

And while there was a certain amount of sorrow, and loss to have had something so precious, the ability to do, and to really impact...and have it taken away, broken into infinite pieces, to be scattered to and fro, as broken as dreams sometimes are...it mingled with a sense of satisfaction--these new memories were clear, crisp...real. A legacy of their own. She'd done something...and while it may not have changed everything, there was a sense of having been important, even if only for a moment.

Darkness, everything was engulfed in an endless blackness. She couldn't see herself anymore but at the same time she knew there was nothing left. She began to remember things slowly, each memory appearing out of the darkness that she floated in.

"You need to chill Sam, nobody likes someone who is always freaking out about their classes." A browned hair girl stood a few feet away, pouting at Sam. She was a few years younger than Sam and often slept over on the weekends. They would read or work on homework together while sitting in the library whispering things so the librarian didn't hear. She was also one of the 2 friends Sam had. But as of late they hadn't hung out much since Sam had been working really hard on her classes, studying for hour on end and making sure she had everything down perfectly. "You need to... like relax sometime ok? You're going to worry yourself to death ya know?"

Sam looked up at her and frowned. "But.. I can't let them down I mean... not after what happened with my brother." She bunched up the hem of her shirt in her hands while she looked back at the girl. This had been the last time she had seen her friend, Tina moved less than a week later due to her parents. Sam sniffled a bit as she thought of how she should have spent more time with Tina before she had left. After a moment the memory faded as well as the girl.

A few figures appeared, it was her family standing around an envelope addressed to her. "What's going on Mom?" Her mother smiled and handed her the letter, beckoning for her to open it and let them all see if she had be accepted or not. Sam opened the letter slowly, part of her wanted to be accepted so she could succeed academically like she had in all her other schools. Another part of her was afraid, she didn't really have any friends or even know how to make friends. She had always been so busy with school that she never really talked to anyone.

"Whether or not you're accepted dearie, we still love you and we all know that you tried your best."

"Thanks Mom, that really means a lot to me." Sam smiled slightly then pulled out the letter, she skimmed over it quickly and turned back to her family. "I got accepted, they want me to start moving into the dorm in a few months." Her mother came up and hugged her tightly, Sam smiled even more as the rest of her family rejoiced and wished her the best of luck with classes.

Her family members faded one by one as the memory ended, the darkness engulfed her again for what seemed like ages. "I.... I think I remember."

The little cat thing walked up to her as she sat quietly in her dorm room, boxes surrounded her as well as piles of books and papers. Sam had been crying, her mother had passed away in the time between her acceptance and move in. Nobody had come with her when she left for her dorm so she had to bring all her stuff by herself. She stared at her phone for a moment, it was still empty since she hadn't made any friends yet. The loneliness had broken her, and for once she didn't mind. Laying around and reading was actually kind of nice but, it never really made her feel better. She spotted the cat thing out of the corner of her eyes. "Eek... how... how did you get in here?" It jumped up and sat on the desk in front of her, she pet it slightly and wondered where it came from. She thought of how nice it would be to have a pet as a friend, to have someone to talk to. Being alone was kind of rough but she was too scared to go out and talk to others. With her books she was safe, her fear hidden behind a wall of text and grades. She had changed though, she had lost that strong drive to succeed.


"Is that your wish?" The cat thing walked under her hand and circled back, looking up at her inquisitively.

"Huh? It talks?!" She almost pulled her hand away in case it might scratch or bite her as she pulled away. "Wish? But... I didn't say anything." She thought for a moment, and then pet the cat again. "I.... I wish that... I wasn't alone anymore."

"Will you promise to fight and protect the humans?"

Sam pondered over the thought of this for a moment. "Will... I fight with others?"The cat nodded, she smiled and returned the gesture. "Then I promise."

That was it, she finally remembered. She smiled as tears poured from her eyes, darkness eating them as soon as they fell. "I wasn't alone anymore... I had all those other girls fighting along beside me." The darkness starting eating away her consciousness, it didn't matter to her anymore because she had nothing to fear. "We'll... we'll all go together. I promise.." Sam closed her eyes, there was nothing to fear anymore. It was finally over, the darkness was just another friend who wrapped their arms around her. She faded into nothingness, leaving a quite whisper as she vanished out of existence.

"Thank you...."

Aria opened her eyes to a scene that held vague familiarity. This was... her home. The streets she used to walk on a regular basis. Reaching out to touch a lamppost, she was shocked to see a transparent hand in place of her own. That's right... she was gone. She'd failed to be strong, to protect herself and everyone else. Before she could get far into her derision, she caught the sound of laughter.

Turning towards the sound's direction, her eyes met with... herself. This was the Aria that was still alive, walking with the short haired girl from her visions. Rebecca, her mind supplied in blinding clarity. Aria stared in awe as her past self continued walking down the street while saying something to Rebecca, causing the girl to laugh. "You're so silly, Aria. Thinking you can fool me, I know better than to believe such wild stories." she giggled, putting her hand up to her mouth.

"But it's true!" the former Aria squealed, "I really did see a talking cat! It was saying something about granting wishes, but it said I had to fight if the wish was granted, so I told it to find someone else." Rebecca continued to giggle as she stepped off the sidewalk and onto the street. A sense of foreboding washed over Aria, and she reached out a hand to Rebecca despite knowing the gesture was futile. She wasn't surprised to see her former self's hand reach out towards Rebecca instead.

"Rebecca, get out of the way!", her other self yelled, shoving the girl roughly, the sound of her voice being drowned out by the screech of tires and the blare of a truck horn. Time seemed flow in slow motion as Aria watched Rebecca fall out of harm's way while her own body was impacted by the oncoming truck. The impact sent her flying through the air before hurtling to the ground in a sickening symphony of crunches and thuds... then silence as her body finally came to rest, a mangled heap of flesh and blood.

The truck for its part swerved violently in an attempt to regain control before running into a lamppost, then a dividing wall. Gas slowly trickled from the tank as the broken lamppost sparked violently, as if in protest to its own demise. One spark was all it took to catch the oil surrounding the truck ablaze. Rebecca seemed to register none of this as she scrambled to her feet, her screams ripping through the air as she ran towards the remains of what had been her friend.

"Aria, stay with me", Rebecca cried, shaking her friend's shoulder to rouse her. Her past self cracked one eye open and gave a tired smile before grimacing in pain. "No, I can't lose you! You can't- AHH!" Rebecc screamed as a flash of light lit up the area. The flames had finally reached the gas tank, causing an explosion. When the explosion's light receded, her past self looked over to see Rebecca lying on the ground, still and quiet. As the other Aria tried to move towards her, a sharp pain halted her progress. Looking down, she saw blood, and the mangled body from which it flowed. Her body. Gritting her teeth, she drug herself over to the girl. Luckily, Rebecca had only fainted, knocked out by the explosion. Her other self grimaced at the streaks that lined her friend's face where tears had fallen. Tears shown on her own face, partially from pain, partially from frustration It couldn't end like this, she had to survive so that Rebecca wouldn't be sad. There had to be some way-



Aria turned alongside her past self to see the creature, the same one that she'd first met, staring down at her past self, silhouetted by the flaming wreckage that had once been a truck. "You again... You said you could grant wishes... right?" her past self grunted. it replied, flicking its tail gently from side to side.

Her other self paused for a moment before returning her gaze to the creature. "I can't leave Rebecca behind... she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she lived and I died." she gasped, her vision wavering from the loss of blood. "I want to live, I want to survive so that I can stay by her side." Aria's heart clenched as her former self made the damning wish.

"I wish to live, to be able to watch over those I care about forever!"

Another flash of light, then darkness. When sight returned to Aria, she realized she was in a hospital room. Rebecca laid in a bed, staring at the ceiling with tears in her eyes and on her cheeks soaking into a gauze that had been applied of one cheek where she'd scraped her face in the explosion.

Aria reached down to touch the girl, to let her know she was still there... only to remember that she no longer had a physical form. As she drew her hand back, she felt the need to laugh at herself. The stupid beast had granted her wish, all right... but not in the way she'd imagined. She now berated herself that she hadn't thought to word her wish differently, only now seeing the flaw in logic for what it was. She was indeed able to watch over them, but was forsaken the right of interaction because she hadn't been strong enough. This wasn't what Aria had wanted at all. She'd wanted to live, to laugh with Rebecca once more. If this was the way things were meant to play out, watching from the sidelines... then she'd rather just disappear entirely.

With that thought in her heart, Aria willed herself to vanish. Without so much as a cry or a whisper, what was left of the being known as Aria slowly faded from existence.

Freedom.

But where she had freedom... was it really freedom? Could Insanity be free?

She had memories. She had longing. She yearned.

Memories swirled around her, just fragments. Bits and pieces -- a tombstone that etched itself in her mind, a dancing ... friend? There was no face to place, nor a name in her mind to recall. Just the fragmented memories that weren't quite complete, that weren't quite all there to begin with.

There was only one thing that was clear throughout the haze of emotions, and one that she couldn't shy away from: the promise.

Orabel had loved her friends. She loved them all very dearly, and tried her best to be there for them.

It hadn't been enough, because one of them... one of them had died. She had been unable to do anything about it, unable to stop the tragedy that had occurred...

And then she had been approached. A promise, for a will strong enough to burden it.

I wish I had power...

That... wasn't quite right. Was power all she had wished for? No, that couldn't be right. She had everything she wanted, hadn't she? She had a large group of friends, but when some disappeared... everything changed. They were students, along with her, but they weren't that powerful. They couldn't fight well.

And then, just like that, the words echoed in her mind, in her core.

I wish that I had the power to protect those who are unable to protect themselves.

There it was. Power to protect. Her sacrifice to protect the rest of her friends, so that the same fate would not befall them.

A noble act, wasn't it?

Breathing out a last sigh, she faded, the scattered memories replaying in her mind as she fought to keep whatever semblance of her was left.

There was really no point. She was Insanity, and all she had left to do... was give in.

"Mother please.. it's too young to be out on its own! Look at how small it is! Please! I'll take care of it on my own!"

"I won't have any of it, Bea! get that filthy thing out of my home!"

The heavy, and solid sound of a slammed door. Even though staccato, the sound still rings longer than it should in the mind. Bright blue eyes stared at that dark, wooden door, the tinkering of rain drops plopping on various surfaces serving as white noise in the background. It was almost droning, even trying to suffocate the pathetic little cries of the tiny kitten cradled in the protective embrace of the young ghoul.

She couldn't remember how long she stood there, ears tipped down, features completely crest-fallen, but the image, the moment was burned into her mind vividly. Even the pungent scent of saturated earth, and black top, the gentle warmth of the petite bundle that she held to her chest. Tears glazed those vibrant blue orbs, nose wrinkling, face scrunching as sobs started to hitch in her throat, body practically crumbling to encase around the precious feline she held so close. Her face nuzzled into its fair fur, little paws weakly placing onto the caramel cheeks that were dampened...

"I can't leave you... I won't leave you!" the voice rose suddenly from Bea, almost in a shout, but it was far too shaky and unstable to keep strong. The strength in her legs was recovered though, and she was able to whip around, and dash into the downpour. Each step gave a loud sound of splishing water, dousing her stockings and boots, while the sky drenched the rest of her. But she made sure the kitten wasn't touched. Tucked away safely inside her coat, she kept him warm and dry. She couldn't leave him.... mother was terrible! she didn't even care! how could she be so cruel...? so heartless...? like the storm that she was caught in, Bea's tears did not let up as she ran with all her might.

She panted, even as her lungs began to heave with the struggle of refilling themselves without a break. But she couldn't stop now... She was almost there... Just down the last sidewalk! On multiple occasions Bea almost tripped, making her squeak, and gasp before stumbling to gain her footing in enough time to keep moving forward. With a quick turn down the end of the walkway, she dashed onto the abandoned park. It was a typical small one, with equipment, and enough space to run around on. She climbed up the treehouse, where it would be the most dry of spots, and a good place to hide. Huddling into a corner, knee's drawn up to her chest, Bea tried to gain her breath. Her head was tipped back against the sturdy wall, eyes closed, mouth wide open to gulp in and exhale out. What was she going to do...? what could she do?!

For a moment, her mind was blank, a numbness taking over from the overload of frustration and emotions. The light stirring of the baby in her possession drew her back though, head tipping forward, sniffling as she blinked away her misty vision. Staring down to the three, bright gold eyes that gazed right back up at her, Bea couldn't help but smile in response. The poor thing... left out to fend on its own.. and being so young? why couldn't mom see that it needed to be taken care of? and that Bea was just the person to do it? one hand swiveled at her wrist so as to let her slender little fingers caress along those pointed gray ears affectionately. Too many times she'd seen abandoned kittens and been unable to do anything about it... and the guilt raked at her conscious constantly... but this one.. now that he was in her arms, there was no way she could leave him be.

The tears started to swell again, and the sniffling grew more intense, as she burrowed against the soft, sweet fur again, body tightening up into a ball, "I can't leave you..!" the darling purr rumbled so softly from the kitten.

"I just wish I could protect you.. all of you.." she stuttered between hiccups and wailing, the memories of past encounters... and lacking the ability, or perhaps courage to save them resurfacing. She would stay there, curled around the kitty, struggling to come up with a plan, until they both dozed off.

She still had so many questions, even as she fell apart and started to return to insanity. What was her wish? Why was she there? Why had it all ended so soon? ...would it hurt? Funny enough, it didn't seem to hurt as she turned into smoke, and certainly not as much as it did when she was hit by that big scary tentacled creature. She stopped fighting, there was no point to it now, an let herself just float along. Maybe it would be nice to return, if that's where she was really from. It felt like falling asleep after a really long day, and she was nearly there when a strong smell of antiseptic snapped her attention back into a sharp focus.

She was standing in a hospital. The gentle beep of monitoring machines, paired with the click of automated medical dispensers for intravenous fluids were the only thing punctuating the silence. A young girl, no more than eight, lay in a bed with all manner of tubes going in and out of her. The machines showed she was stable, but the rest of it made no sense to Alysabette. As she leaned in to peer at the paper slowly feeding out of one of the machines the door behind her opened an then closed with a soft click. A doctor stood there, medical file in hand a grim look on his face. "Your sister is luckier than most."

"Will she wake up?" Alysabette heard her own voice but it sounded far away and scared. The doctor's face fell even more.

"It's...unlikely. She was under the water so long her brain lost a lot of oxygen. Even if she did wake up...." She heard him sigh as he fought with how to say it. "She was lucky you were there. If you hadn't dove in after her she'd have died in that lake."

"Lucky. You tell me she's lucky after you just told me she'll never wake up again?!" She turned on the poor doctor, furious and shaking. "You're a doctor! You need to fix it!"

"I'm sorry...there was nothing we could do..." With that the man hastily made his retreat from the room. It wasn't fair. Her sister wasn't even supposed to be there! She followed Alysabette because she looked up to her, she wanted to be just like her big sister. She should have known better than to go out on that ice! Alysabette turned and punched the wall, thankfully going for one without any important equipment on it.



"Who's there?!" She turned, and sitting on the unused hospital tray was the same creature from before, but it was grinning at her. "W-who are you?"



"Fix...you can save my sister?! But they said..." She stared at her sister's sleeping form, tears stinging her eyes. "They said she'd never wake up..."



"A wish...? Wishes aren't real. Even if they were...there's always a catch. No one would do something like that for nothing."



"You could save her life...basically, in exchange for mine?"



The decision wasn't hard to make. It was her fault her sister was there in the first place, and ever since they were little Alysabette would have died to protect her. Selling her soul into slavery for a battle she knew nothing about to save her sister? It wasn't even a contest. "I wish for my sister to wake up healthy and strong."

As the room faded away she couldn't help but smile inwardly. At least she had some answer, and she could take solace in the fact that her sister lived on, perhaps even made a family of her own. She would gladly have made the promise again if it saved her sister. Plus, a magical teapot was actually a really cool weapon.

There were no regrets.

There was nothing so easy to forget as the way it felt to be alive.

Returning to Insanity felt like a relief, to Bonnie. When she realized what she'd done, what she'd given up to have another chance, none of it felt like it was worth it. Hindsight was 20/20, and even now, losing herself completely and returning to the half-existence she - they had left, it was clear this was for the best.

It hadn't been an easy decision, choosing to try again. Somewhere, deep down, she remembered what living had been like. She remembered the constant struggle, how difficult it was to wake up in the morning, and how impossible it was to fall asleep at night. And all she'd been given is another chance to feel that endless droning existence, but for what?

In wishing, she'd hoped something might have changed. In wishing, Bonnie had dreamed of a life where she did more than just exist.

"I wish to feel something." She remembered the words, the moment she'd decided that was her wish. It was so easy to misinterpret, but it was the only thing she wanted anymore. Her life as a horseman had been nothing but a daily grind of toiling, droning work. They'd locked her away, kept her working non-stop, because she was unfit for the world. She'd been born so deformed, so scared, and unable to speak, that there was no choice but to turn her into a pariah.

Life had been nothing but a long, endless existence for her. When it ended, she was given relief beyond compare - but she knew she'd always longed for something more. Something she could never have.

Something that wish could have given her, if she'd been given a chance.

Bonnie returned to the existence she preferred over her previous life, and wondered if there'd ever really been a chance at all. Perhaps that, too, was just as intangible of a dream as she was, now.

"I hate you! Why are you even here?!"
Her own sister, Melony's own little sister, that she treasured and loved unconditionally, would always hate her.

Melony was heartbroken, there was no one who she had loved more than her little sister, who always had such a dragon-like fire in her. Her sister was so strong, and Melony wasn't. And like how she couldn't save their parents, she couldn't save herself from the drunk driver that had hit her one night and crushed her against a broken lamp post.

I just wish I could be stronger than this, that I didn't have to run away when something hurt me. She thought to herself as she bled out on the car.

Insanity called to her, opening its welcoming embrace once more to Melony, who had been there before. She had been there in the temporary shift back to life she had done when the fox creature took her as a pawn. But now she was back. And it... it felt like her new friends were with her. Yes she could accept being part of this once again.