theatre-of-the-mind

[theatre-of-the-mind]

Beginnings: 1-7

>> PLAY

This is not how it was supposed to go. This can't be where it ends.

Please... listen to me... I know you can hear this. I know you can hear me—!

They were right. All of them. His new friends, his father; they all tried to warn him, but he still didn't listen. And look where we are now - hundreds of feet below the cliff edge.

A terrible thought.

And no one knows we're here.

He can't bear to look down at Theo, he can't imagine what he must be thinking. The same as him? No, impossible.

He tries to speak, at least a "sorry" or something, anything, but it's just too much.

It's getting difficult to breathe with the wind as they speed up. What can he do? How does he get out of this? There's no option left except—

No. I can't. Only Lumi understands, what would Theo think of me? Will he treat me like she does?

It's either magic, or the inevitable undeniable fate of whatever's at the bottom. You have to make a choice.

I don't want to.

You have to. If you don't want to save yourself, at least save Theo.

But, what if—

Do. It.

He closes his eyes. And begins to concentrate. Focus on slowing down. Ignore all other racing thoughts and calm down.

But I've never done this before, it comes from my hands, and I'm holding Theo with one, will it even work?

You have to try.

...Okay.

Slowly, by fixating on one thought, slow, he feels the warm glow of magic begin to surge through him. It builds up, charging, and when he can't contain it any longer, it explodes.

Instantly he feels them both slowing down immensely, the wind slows to a breeze. Gravity abandons them both, as they float suspended in the air.

He opens his eyes and notices that the clouds have vanished, and far below them he can see solid ground.

Slowly, trying hard not to break concentration, he lowers the both of them down.

"...You can open your eyes now, Theo." Midnight said, voice low with apprehension, after breaking the silence of his own fault.

<<what_just_happened.jpg.jpg>>

They land on soft grass. He can't read Theo's expression. Is that.. concern? Confusion? He doesn't appear angry, at least.

"Where... are we?" Theo begins, slowly.

"I don't know."

They appear to be in a long, long, narrow field, lined with forest on either side. To their left Midnight can just make out a huge, grey metal wall through the bushes and foliage - it stretches up infinitely into the sky. On the right is another wall, rising equally as high, painted bright sky blue.

"This is so weird... look behind us, it goes on for miles!" Theo notes.

It does. The field isn't straight - it curves to the right, the ending obscured by the forest.

And in front of them is... is... a... ?

She's dressed completely in silky, flowing white robes, and appears almost ghost-like. Her face is obscured by a veil, and she wears a wide hat. She seems to be 2-dimensional entirely, or perhaps... multidimensional?

Midnight briefly glances at Theo, who mirrors his expression. He isn't scared anymore. In fact, he doesn't feel anything he did moments ago. Now, it's been replaced by serene calm, with a tinge of curiosity. But still, something doesn't feel quite right.

"Hello, I've been expecting you, Midnight."

Her voice is soft and charming, one that puts you at ease.

She turns to face him. Although he can't see her face, he feels her gaze. Strongly. Like she's not just seeing him, but everything and anything to know about him, reading him like a book.

"It took you a while. And that fall was far from graceful," she laughs to herself, "but that's to be expected. It was your first time, after all."

"Sorry, but, have you... do you— know each other?" Theo questions.

"No, this is our first time meeting. And who might you be?"

"I'm... uh... Theo. Midnight's friend."

Friend? Even after all that? How can he—

"I know. I just asked to be polite. Midnight, do you know why you're here? Have you been told?"

Midnight, apprehensively, "What do you mean? Told by who? …And what do you know about me?"

He feels her smile to herself. "I know everything. I have access to all information, at least, what I need to know for my purpose."

"And... what is your purpose?" Theo asks.

"To guide Midnight with his abilities. And also, it seems, tell him why he has them."

What?! No no no she can't— how can she know? And not in front of Theo! No one can know, its a terrible, evil part of him, not an 'ability', it's a curse—!

...

The sense of someone lightly touching his shoulder brings him out of his spiral.

"Hey. Its okay. If this is something you don't want me to know, that's fine. We all have secrets. You don't have to explain yourself."

Midnight looks at him. Sincerely, he asks "you really mean that? I just caused us both to fall out of the sky and you don't need an explanation?" His voice breaking, "how can you be okay with that?"

"If it's something that makes you uncomfortable then you don't have to tell me. I can wait over in the trees while you discuss it with Mx No-face here."

Midnight drops his gaze to the ground.

Are you sure? Are you really, really sure about this?

I am.

Midnight makes up his mind.

"No... I... I want you to know. You deserve to. After what I just put you through its only fair."

"But that wasn't your fault. It was an accident, you didn't meant for it to—"

"But it IS!" He exclaimed. "It is. I was the one who encouraged you to come with me. I didn't listen to Moonlight, or Ebony, or my parent, or... or you. And now we're stuck down here, it's getting late, and no one knows where we are or that this place even exists! For all they know, we've vanished off the face of the planet and might as well be—"

"Midnight. Listen to me. Things can just...  happen, with no reason or explanation. Just... accept it as it is, and next time, maybe trust what others say first before going ahead, okay?"

I hope there's not a 'next time'.

A few long seconds of silence pass.

"Okay." In defeat, acceptance.

The ghost approaches, after observing from afar.

"Your friend is right. Today was the start of your many lessons you're about to learn. And," she adds reassuringly, "they won't all be as intense as this day has been. I may not be allowed to tell you what awaits, but trust that the hardest part is over."

Midnight stares at her for a few moments, at where her eyes should be.

Midnight, coldly, "Can I... have a moment alone with Theo? Before you start with... whatever you've brought me here to do."

Don't trust. It's all talk and no show just yet. They said the edge is dangerous. And she may be why.

"Of course."

She turns and heads in the opposite direction. After she's a good enough distance away, Midnight beckons for Theo to follow him into the forest.

[@]: OHHH!! He's gonna tell him, isn't he! [*]: Remember I said before that it may have more serious moments? [@]: Yeah. And hopefully after this he'll learn that it is a good thing. Say, [REDACTED], do you have a favourite part of this chapter? [*]: I do. [@]: ... Aaaany hint as to when it'll happen? [*]: I don't want to spoil anything for you, but we've still got a while to go before we reach it. >> END OF SCENE VII.

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[theatre-of-the-mind]

Beginnings: 1-6

>> PLAY

It's late afternoon. School ended long ago, but Midnight was held up again in his last class after being caught talking to his new friends. Seems like you can't do anything in this place without being told off.

He didn't anticipate that, and now there's even less time for the last part of the plan. He can't stay for too long, or the people at home might start getting suspicious.

She doesn't want me there anyway...

Truthfully, only Lumine would be concerned. But he can explain it all later. For now, to focus on the task at hand - the gap.

It's good that the playground's empty, there's no one to explain himself to, no one to judge, no one to—

...He waited for me?

Over in the corner is Theo, with a peculiar expression, as if he's battling with himself whether he should be there or not. Upon seeing Midnight approaching it's washed away with relief.

"What took you so long?! I was starting to think you wouldn't come at all! But really, its getting late and maybe it's a bad idea and you shouldn't—"

Midnight, sincerely, "I'm glad you waited for me."

"Oh— uhm, sure, of course—"

Now for the moment he's been waiting for all day

>> PAUSE

[@]: Oh no, here we go... >> PLAY

It's a bit tight, but the both of them get through to the other side without much hassle. Now to be very careful, as mere feet away is a sheer cliff edge.

Theo, "Woah..."

Is it... infinite? Does it have an end? What's down there...?

"Look Midnight, there's a path over here!"

Theo points to a path going along the wall that slopes down a hill, following the cliff face.

They make their way down it, slowly as the ground gets narrower and narrower. Theo offers to hold hands just in case and Midnight, reluctantly, takes it.

The air down here is cold and fresh, and there's a gentle breeze blowing. Midnight can't stop looking down into the abyss. Maybe this path leads down there...

Up ahead he can see the ground getting wider. It's too dark to see anything else—

A sound behind him and before he can reach, Theo slips.

Midnight holds him as tightly as he can, never letting go not ever. His other hand barely holding on to the cliff and oh no he's losing grip—

"MIDNIGHT, DON'T LET GO, WE CAN GET OUT OF THIS—"

It's too late.

The wind surrounds them both and is deafeningly loud.

He should never have found the gap, should never have gone through, shouldn't have invited Theo to come, should never have even met him—

...

Why should he even exist if others are always hurt by his actions?

Well...

I guess that won't be a problem anymore.

...

I'm so, so sorry, Theo.

He closes his eyes and waits for... whatever is to happen.

[@]: Nooo... Midnight... I thought this was a children's story, but I'm not so sure anymore. Will it always be this sad?

[*]:

It can be rather philosophical at times, from what I remember. But I don't think it will always be like this.

[@]: ...

[*]: It's not a simple read, if that's what you meant.

[@]: Oh...

>> END OF SCENE VI.

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[theatre-of-the-mind]

Beginnings: 1-5

>> LOADING SCENE...

School is super boring. All the excitement and energy Midnight felt towards it has been drained. Now, he looks outside the window, staring at the clouds.

It appears you've joined a little later than expected. Let's zoom out a bit and get you familiar with the environment, as Midnight couldn't care less.

It's a fairly small class, of around 20— there're 16—  okay. Sixteen other pupils. He was so bored that he counted, apparently. Everyone has their own separate desk, and Midnight chose the front left corner, near the window. Behind him sits Theo, who appears to have the complete opposite take to Midnight and looks to be enjoying this. He hasn't taken his eyes off the front screen once during the whole lesson. Midnight couldn't last 5 minutes.

At first it was a little interesting. The teacher introduced themself and explained what their morning class will be - a loose equivalent of what we're familiar with as a literacy class. Soon after the screen at the front came to life and started explaining different symbols and their sounds. As you can imagine, it became quite repetitive very quickly.

Midnight already knows how to read, ...more or less. Lumine was more than keen to share what he'd learned in class and gave Midnight schoolbooks to study from. So, according to Midnight, this class is entirely useless to him. Soon the letters are done with appearing on the screen, and now progress into sentences and punctuation. Just how long will this take?

He takes another glance at Theo behind, who's written all the letters down already and still pays close attention. Now there's something to do.

Midnight starts using his paper too - not for writing, but for drawing the clouds outside, and all the wonderful things they're shaped like.

>> PAUSE

[@]:

*Gasp* The paper's in another language! But... didn't you say everything's supposed to be translated?

[*]:

It is. Our viewing experience very much depends on Midnight's perception and what he focuses on, and we know all too well he couldn't care less about what's written on that paper.

[@]:

So... that's how it actually looks, for real?

[*]:

Indeed.

>> PLAY

Finally, the class is over. And just as everyone is leaving for the interval—

"Midnight, could you come here for a second?"

Eventually Midnight leaves the class, much later than everyone else. Apparently you're not allowed to daydream at school, and there are consequences for doing so.

And what? They're not even that bad—

He tried to explain himself saying the presentation didn't teach him anything new, but the teacher wasn't convinced.

Outside, the playground is full of commotion and almost every spot already taken up. It's a bit overwhelming.

How am I meant to find escape routes now?

He spots Theo at the far end, and he's with 2 new people. Time for the next part of the plan: friendship-making.

"Oh hey Midnight! I looked everywhere for you! Also, I met these two."

The white-furred one speaks up first. "Hello, I'm Moonlight, nice to meet you!" She seems nice...

The darker one follows, more quietly, "Hi.. I'm Ebony." They're soft-spoken, a little apprehensive perhaps?

"I'm Midnight, nice to meet you both."

The white one, Moonlight, begins, "So, how did you find our first class? It went on forever..."

Theo replies, "I know, right? It was interesting though, I think I still remember most of it..."

Midnight quickly loses interest and takes the opportunity to look around again. He can't stop glancing over at the gap in the corner from earlier, and is too eager to see what's on the other side.

"—no but that's the best part, and—"

"Have you seen there's a gap in the fence?" Midnight interrupts.

"...What?" Moonlight says.

Midnight continues, "look, I'll show you."

Ebony, quietly, "We were kind of in the middle of something though..."

Midnight leads them over to the corner of the playground.

Theo, hesitantly, "You're not thinking of climbing over again, are you?"

Moonlight exclaims, "You climbed the fence?! Isn't that against the rules?"

Midnight considers trying to squeeze through the gap again, but on second thought... there're too many people. I'll come here later once it's clear.

Theo explains, "Yeah, this morning we found this gap, and Midnight really wants to see what's on the other side. I tried telling him not to, but... I couldn't stop him." he admits.

Ebony, "That's crazy, what if something happened to you? There must be a reason we're told to stay away from it."

Midnight says, eagerly, "That's exactly why I want to go - what could be so secret that all the adults are hiding from us? And they're all in on it too."

"I think we should stay away from it," Moonlight suggested. "Come on, lets find something else to do."

His last chance. The plan is falling apart—

"Well— if— if anyone wants to explore with me, I'll be here after school!" M stammered, almost desperately.

Surely, one of them will come. Will be brave enough.

Or stupid, says a voice in his head.

If anything happens, he'll just use his magic to fix it. But only if absolutely necessary. If he has no other choice.

[@]:

I can't wait for the next episode! Let's watch it right now!

[*]:

Alright, give me a minute, it'll take a while to load.

[@]:

I kind of have a bad feeling about it though - it sounds dangerous, and if there's no one around if anything goes wrong...

>> END OF SCENE V.

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#Still not quite confident with how to layout/style dialogue #Of course any advice or suggestions are always welcome #artists on tumblr #digital art #writers on tumblr #art #original art #writing #creative writing #webnovel #fiction #short story #novel

[theatre-of-the-mind]

Beginnings: 1-4

>> LOADING SCENE...

Now on the school grounds, Midnight decides to scope it out. There's a tall tree in the corner that looks climbable - a potential escape route. The perimeter walls are too tall to climb over, but the fence looks promising. They must really trust these kids that they'll keep away from it, it almost looks too easy to climb over. It's barely taller than him.

The school building itself isn't too big - Midnight was expecting something a lot bigger, from the impression Lumine gave him. This can't be all of it, surely.

He's forcefully dragged out of his thoughts when someone catches his attention. Someone new has joined the scene. Enter Theodore.

He's the same height as Midnight - well, maybe a bit taller - and is bright yellow-orange in colour. They briefly make eye contact, and— oh no he's coming closer—

"Hi! is it your first day here?"

"Uh... yeah. Yours too?"

"Mhm! How come you're so early? Too excited to wait?"

"I... just... wanted to take a look around first..."

"Oh, that's smart. I'd want to know all the best hiding spots too. I've heard some people can be mean to the new kids, so it'd be useful to have somewhere to run away to!"

"That's not why I..."

Does he think this is a game? Does he not know just how serious this is? If someone finds out about Midnight's magic he'll need to find a way out quickly. But, then again, this kid doesn't have his problem.

"I'm Theo by the way! Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise. I'm Midnight."

And with that, Midnight ends the conversation and continues his survey of the grounds. Just how tall is that tree? Is it climbable? How long would it take to—

"So uhh... have you found any cool places yet?"

Why won't he leave him alone? Didn't Midnight make it clear he doesn't want to talk right now? This is way more important. Friendship-making comes later in the plan.

"No, not yet."

Although...

"What do you know about the edge of the island? What's down there?"

"Beyond the fence? Uhh.. I don't know, I've been told by my parents not to go near it, it might be something scary..."

Midnight makes a bee-line straight to the far end of the playground.

"Hey!—"

It's the same as before, just a sheer drop a few feet after the fence. He climbs up just high enough to peek over the top—

"What are you doing?! We were told not to go near it! It could be dangerous!"

"But doesn't that just make you want to explore even more?"

"... No? Midnight! You should really get down, what if you fall?! There're no adults around!"

And that’s a good thing.

By now Midnight has climbed to the top and is balancing his way to the end of the fence, towards the corner. He briefly glances at Theo who follows on the ground beside him - he looks worried. But Midnight is glad Theo didn't try to pull him back down, or try to forcefully stop him from what he's doing. He may not be so bad after all.

Unfortunately, Midnight finds that even once on top of the fence, the perimeter walls are still too tall to climb over. Looks like the tree is the only option for now.

He jumps back down, much to the relief of Theo, and takes one last look around this corner of the grounds. Before heading back to the tree, something catches his attention.

There's a tiny gap between the wall and the end of the fence, and he might just be able to squeeze through. But just as he's midway—

(/safe)

What perfect timing. (/s)

The playground is now much fuller than Midnight had realised, and Theo is nowhere to be seen.

[@]:

Wow! I didn't know this thing had sound! How does that even work?

[*]:

Well... think of it like this. After hearing a sound, you can replicate it in your mind using your imagination, right? Given that we have access to Midnight's thoughts, it would make sense we can perceive his auditory imagination also.

[@]:

Okay... so how come we heard the school bells and not any dialogue?

[*]:

I did mention before the beginning that this medium isn't exactly perfect. I told you it needs more time, yet you insisted—

[@]:

Yeah yeah, whatever.

>> END OF SCENE IV.

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#woah! multimedia! might use more sound in the future #trying a different format this time #artists on tumblr #digital art #writers on tumblr #art #original art #writing #creative writing #original story #story #oc #oc art

[theatre-of-the-mind]

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Transcript below:

"Can we go now? Come on come on come on!!!"

"Shhhh! You'll wake everyone up! Just give me a few more minutes."

It's the following morning. Midnight and his father are the only two awake, and it is taking Midnight all his willpower not to scream and vibrate with excitement. Or is it fear? Anxiety? They're all so similar it's hard to tell.

Despite being more than happy to have his father walk him to school, he'll still have another hour before it starts. His plan is as follows: get there, say goodbye, find somewhere to hide, and... that's as far as he got.

"Alright, let's head out!"

Lumine has told him that school is really fun and that he should look forward to it. There'll be lots of new faces, some mean, some nice, just 'don't do anything stupid and you'll be alright.'

As for his magic, although Lumine said he should 'share it with the world' and 'be himself', Midnight couldn't agree less. He just wants to be seen as normal, ordinary, and to fit in with the rest. And he won't show a smidge of anything unnatural about him, no matter what.

>> PAUSE

[@] How come his house looks so... idk, like the ones we have on Earth?

[*] Well... the cosmos is almost infinitely big, and has near infinite possibilities. We have come to expect anything in the Great Beyond to be completely different to our planet, but the contrary is also possible.

[@] So... you mean that other planets aren't completely different to ours, and might actually be very similar?

[*] Its possible. Certainly with this one.

>> PLAY

The neighbourhood Midnight lives in is quiet, small, and made up of mostly identical houses. It's circular in design, with trees lining each street and a fence going all the way around the edges, and beyond that fence is—

"—Absolutely nothing. Just don't even think about it. It can be very dangerous if you get too close, so don't go near it."

"But what's there though, on the other side?"

"Nothing interesting. Don't worry about it."

Midnight isn't convinced.

"Look, come this way."

His father takes him aside down an alley, towards a white picket fence.

It's as he said, nothing but endless sky. A beautiful blue backdrop with huge, perfect clouds. As always.

"Look down."

Woah...

The sky, in fact, keeps going. The land just... stops. Lumine did mention they live on an island, but not one surrounded by sea, apparently.

"What's down there?"

"Just sky, clouds... more sky..." he seemed to be hiding something from him.

Well, clearly Midnight won't be getting answers from this guy. He makes a mental note to ask Lumine about it later.

They're almost at the school now. It's much smaller than he expected, and the playground is fenced off with high walls and a metal gate, except for the far end. Well. Midnight knows what he'll be doing this next hour.

"Well, Midnight, here we are. I'm sorry I can't stay for much longer. Now, can you promise me one thing?"

"Yeah?"

He kneels down to be on his level.

"Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Don't take things too seriously - school's not worth worrying about."

"But will they like me?"

"Of course! I'm sure you'll make some new friends right away!" He adds quickly after, "but- being on your own is okay too."

"Okay..." Sure. He'll make friends. Maybe. Eventually.

He'll just stick to his plan.

They say goodbye, and then Midnight is left to his own devices.

[@] Now I'm really curious what's over the edge. And his father kept avoiding talking about it - I wonder if its something bad? What could it—

[*] Have patience. All will be revealed. Perhaps he'll remember to ask his brother about it.

>> End of scene III

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[theatre-of-the-mind]

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Transcript below:

>> PLAY

Ah! There you are. I'm glad you could join us again. Now, let's get back to the story.

It's been a few days since the last scene, but here we are again in Midnight's bedroom. The room is cold, moonlight filters in through the window, and Midnight is trying to fall asleep.

It's not working.

He never quite understood the point of sleeping anyway since it never did much for him. And I mean that literally - ever since figuring out how to keep tiredness at bay with magic, he's never quite been able to sleep properly since. Besides, it's much easier to just wait out the night, when you're completely alone and no one can bother you.

Its peaceful. Quiet.

Except--

A shuffling noise downstairs. The muffled sound of a door shutting and being locked. Could it be?

Midnight bolts out of bed and, as silently as he can, rushes into the hall and stops in his tracks at the top of the stairs.

"Father?"

He practically flies downstairs straight into a loving embrace.

"Midnight! I've missed you so much! Sorry for being so late. How are you? How's Lumine? What are you doing awake at this hour?"

There are too many big emotions for Midnight to get any words out, but his father seems to understand nonetheless.

Finally, despite being home, now it feels like it. The house just feels empty and uninviting without him. Now, he knows he's safe.

"What've you been up to lately? Anything exciting?"

"Not really.."

Midnight hasn't yet told his father about his magic. After learning his mother's hatred of it, he can't risk losing this. This feeling of care and attention. He misses it so much.

It's an easy secret to keep, as his father works such hours that they rarely get to see each other. Home late at night, gone by early morning. Not that Midnight has ever considered telling him, but he has wondered what would happen if he did. Would he hate him too if he showed what he really was? A part of him really hopes not, but the other wants the contrary, just to prove that he really is such a terrible, terrifying--

"Midnight? Is everything alright? You look worried..."

Not now. Those are thoughts for later. Let's enjoy the moment while his father is still here. He won't be around for long.

Now you may be wondering, how could his father still not know by now? Surely his wife would tell him something so important. The truth is, she is of the mind that the fewer people that know, the better. And if word gets out, who knows what others will think of her. Especially her husband.

"Look, I know neither of us want to, but I have to be up early tomorrow, and so do you!"

Midnight, confused, "What? Why me?"

"You're starting school tomorrow, right?"

"Oh... yeah, and so what?"

"Well, I think I may have just enough time to walk you there before work tomorrow. Its a big day after all, and it'll only happen once! I don't want to miss it."

Midnight lights up (not literally, all though he absolutely could). "Really??!!"

"Hey, don't be too loud now, you'll wake the others up."

This may be the best news, there ever was, ever. Midnight already had trouble falling asleep, but now for sure he'll stay awake all night.

These past few weeks he was dreading starting school. His brother has told him all about it and it sounded super boring. But, if it means he'll see his father more often, perhaps it won't be so bad.

With every possible scene playing through his mind, Midnight waits for the sun to rise.

[@] Awww! This scene was so cute! When it said last time that all his family hated magic, that wasn't true, was it?

[*] Well, its unclear what his father thinks of magic, or even if he believes in such a thing.

[@] I hope Midnight tells him someday. I feel like he's the kinda guy to still love him no matter what.

[*] We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

>> End of scene II.

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[theatre-of-the-mind]

Welcome! I hope you enjoy your stay.

Beginnings:

[1-1]

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// A sci-fi / fantasy webnovel scattered with drawings and field recordings

#posts will be inconsistent #you may have to wait awhile between chapters #its worth it though #trust me

[theatre-of-the-mind]

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Transcript below:

>> The world will begin shortly, please wait.

>> ...

Many dream for the ability to create miracles, to have your thoughts materialised at your fingertips, to produce divine acts at no effort at all but the creation of the thought. None such gifted people exist on earth, if not the entire universe, ...right?

On the edge of a distant galaxy orbits a planet, and on that planet are oceans, continents and countries, like our own. High above a city floats an artificial island, and on that island is a small town. In one of the houses, in an upstairs bedroom, we find our main character. An aforementioned 'gifted' individual, who believes stronger than anything else that this is not the case.

Curled up on the bed against the wall is a young Midnight Shadow, of species feline, resident of continent E, of planet feline, and breathing very very fast. Just before we arrived, he had unfortunately mistimed the trek downstairs, and had to deal with the blaring consequence of such a fateful mistake. On his way down he encountered only the one living thing in the entire world that he fears the most - his mother.

What followed after was an angry shout and a bare miss of a clawed attack, Midnight fleeing back up the stairs so quickly it was as if he was never there at all. Now the footsteps are gone and all is quiet but the crickets outside, but Midnight is still on high alert - his past couple years of being alive have taught him not to trust his over-sensitive hearing and wait at least half an hour or more before safety can be assumed. Now he desperately tries to calm down, to slow down his racing thoughts, but nothing is working.

Just wait, it'll all be over soon...

He pulls the bedcovers tighter around himself and closes his eyes.

...Just have to distract myself...

Tonight is as any other night. This moment is a normal occurrence. And as far as Midnight knows, it won't change any time soon.

Surely, he must be the one at fault here, done something in the past to deserve such treatment, made a mistake he's yet to realise and desperately fix - to be seen as a pest his mother cant get rid of. The truth may be hard to hear, but its nothing we aren't familiar with here on earth. This is a simple case of hatred of differences, misunderstanding, and ignorance of learning of other perspectives. His parents, as far as Midnight is aware, happen to have arguably the strongest critical and discriminatory beliefs on anything magical or unnatural or unexplainable by science or cursed or any other things he's been called. Ironically, its a miracle in itself the universe has condemned him to live here.

Of course, its not Midnight's fault at all for having such abilities - it came with him into this world, and is as natural and a part of him as the end of his tail. Let's go back to the scene and watch what's to happen - he's about to use them now.

One thing that calms you down, Midnight has found, is to imagine you're anywhere but here. Slowly, an image comes to mind. Green, blue, and a spray of every colour of the rainbow. He's in a meadow of soft grass, and it's a beautiful summer day. The air is fresh and sweet with the scent of the wildflowers, and there's a gentle breeze blowing. Up above, huge puffy clouds drift slowly across the sky.

Much better.

He lies down and stretches out in the grass.

I think I'll stay here for a while...

The moment stretches on for what feels like hours, and, upon feeling more at peace with the world, Midnight returns to his room, and the vision fades away.

>> PAUSE

[@] But that wasn't magic - anyone with an imagination can do that!

[*] It didn't say he imagined it, it only said where he was in that next moment. It is entirely up to you how you interpret that though.

[@] But he can't have just teleported, right?

[*] ...

[@] ... Right?

>> PLAY

*knock* *knock*

For a moment Midnight freezes, before realising who it is. There's only one person in this house who would knock. The door creaks open and a concerned but friendly face peers in. Enter Lumine.

"Everything alright? I heard shouting..."

"Fine"

"It wasn't magic, was it?"

Midnight shakes his head.

"I see.. just bad timing, then?"

He closes the door and sits next to Midnight on the bed. Midnight slightly loosens the bed covers around himself. All is quiet now. It's not as cold in the room anymore with the two of them there. It's a fairly small room after all.

"I know it's quite late, but.. could you show me that new trick you told me about?"

Midnight hesitates, listens for absolute silence, then once satisfied, agrees.

Due to being scolded for using magic, he's quite afraid to use it. But in private moments like this, he feels safe enough to experiment.

He cups his hands together and concentrates. Lumine watches carefully with eager anticipation, as if he's about to be shown a secret of the universe. Slowly, Midnight opens his hands to reveal a tiny glowing star. Concentrating a bit more, he makes it grow brighter, until it lights up the whole room.

"So cool.."

And he smiles.

Midnight does too.

Showing minor miracles like this to his brother make his abilities seem less frightening than he's told they're to be. And he trusts Lumine will never tell. Despite him being on this planet only 2 years longer than Midnight, Lumine notices the difference in treatment they receive, and tries as best he can to be there for him. He may not be able to help much, but moments like this are Midnight's everything.

"Lumi..."

"Yeah?"

"Is it bad that.. that I wish I didn't have magic? How do I get rid of it?"

Lumine pauses for a few seconds. "There's nothing wrong or bad about your ability. I'm sure that if you use it in the right way, you could change so much about the world."

"But won't they hate me though?"

"Of course not. There are plenty of people out there, like me, that would love to see your magic, and if they take the time to understand it, they'll realise just how special you are."

"Then why does she..."

He sighs. "I don't know... You know, one of my teachers told me that everything happens for a reason. What that reason is, why she— uhm, isn't fond of magic, we've yet to find out."

Lumine takes the star from his hand. It feels warm and light, perhaps even alive.

"Let's just hope that one day she'll see all the amazing things you can do, but until then, I'll be here."

He looks at Midnight with a smile one last time before placing the star gently on the bedside table.

The door closes.

Midnight is alone once more.

>> End of scene I.

[@] It's so cool we can actually see the characters with this thing! But how do we know what they sound like? I can see what they look like, but what kind of voices do they have?

[*] That is entirely up to you. In reality, you wouldn't understand what this character is saying because they don't speak any Earth language. Accent, tone, slang - it is all lost in translation.

[@] Oh, I forgot about that...

[*] In this story, a character can have millions of voices simultaneously, because everyone subconsciously gives the character their own voice. In a way, it's part of the theatre of the mind. Adds to the experience and all.

#comic #comics #artists on tumblr #webcomic #digital art #this is my first time posting and omg its so hard to format things