Chapter Text
Burning , she felt burning throughout her lungs, her chest, her entire body. Run! Move faster! Her legs threatened to betray her, but fear was a better motivator. Something was coming. A dark figure was in pursuit, and it moved unnaturally quick. It wasn't human, though she refused to look back and take time to figure out what exactly it was. The dark shadow was on her heels and there was suddenly chanting. It was a different language than her own, yet somehow it felt familiar. A loud shriek came from the monster behind her as it vanished in a blinding flash of light. She turned to see the creature...dissolve? Ashes floated in the wind where it once stood.
The voice continued speaking in its ancient tongue. "I don't understand! What do you want?!" The petite girl called out; the woods around her carried her cry in an echo that bounced off every space. She walked for what felt like a half an hour until she finally saw the first landmark since she arrived. Before her stood a tall, dark, stone tower. A sharp twinge of pain behind her eyes and temple caused her to cradle her head. Fireworks. The pain felt like fireworks all exploding inside her head and worsened as she approached the tower then stopped suddenly as she reached the door. Carrissa. Her name? It said her name. Turn back. You do not belong here. It's not yet time.
A hole opened beneath her feet and she began to fall. She tried to scream but no sound escaped her lips. There was nothing for her to grab to stop the fall. She closed her eyes and anticipated the painful yet swift death that awaited her...but it never came.
Or...Maybe death had come, but in the slow and agonizing form of a Joja Cubicle. Her mother was definitely right, life was no fairytale. Dreams of magic, ancient tongues, monsters and spells were not something a twenty three year old should be having at all. As a child, sure, but not as an adult. You were expected to grow up, get a job, work the nine to five, go home, eat, sleep, and repeat. There were no princes on white horses coming to save her from her boring world. If magic did exist, it sure wasn't in her life. There was not an ounce of anything magical about Joja Company, except maybe how she had dealt with the company's bullshit for so long. A sigh escaped Carrissa’s lips as she began working through her piles of paperwork. Checking, double checking and triple checking everyone's budget allowances, reports and anything else sent her way made her head swim.
Her headache from this morning lingered into her work day. She massaged her temple in a circular motion as she tried to cease the drums playing in her head, pounding away at her skull. As if her day wasn't bad enough, her boss had come to her cubicle doing his daily progress checks with all the employees. Slave Driver Darrell is what a few of the workers had nicknamed him, and accurately so. Darrell believed strongly in, wait for it.... "No breaks on company time, Miss Moongrove. Do you want to have a job at the end of the day?"
"Y-yes sir, it's just... My migraine is back, so I needed just a minute-"
A large hand slammed on her desk before her and knocked some of her personal items from the surface to the floor. "No. Breaks!" The man raised his voice with each word, and Carri's head throbbed worse every moment.
Standing, she glared daggers at her boss. If looks could kill, he would no longer be standing. "No breaks. Coming from the man who does nothing but harp on everyone else all damn day long! Coming from the man who goes on the clock for his lunch, twice a damn day! I needed a fucking minute to take a pill, and that is too much to ask!?" She pushed the paperwork off her desk. "If you can't appreciate us any more than this, then by Yoba, do this yourself!" Flames erupted from her computer at that moment and she stepped back quickly. Darrell ran to grab the fire extinguisher from a nearby wall and smothered the flames.
"Pack what’s left of your things, Miss Moongrove. We do not need arsonists in this company."
Carri trembled as she packed the rest of her belongings from her desk. He thinks...I did that? That isn't even possible... Bad timing, sure, but... When she arrived home, she set the box of her things down on her bed. An envelope from her grandfather caught her eye. Opening it carefully and reading the contents a small smile crossed her features. I could definitely use that escape now, Papa. Thank you.
From the bus, Carrissa watched as the scenery rolled by her. The city faded into green hills as a cold breath left her lips. It was like watching a fairy tale unfold before her. Cement sidewalks and asphalt roads soon turned to dirt roads or small stone walkways. Trees and flowers bloomed beautifully along the sides of the road, and the suffocating, polluted air of the city was replaced by a fresh nature-filled inhalation. The young adult gripped her grandfather's envelope tightly. Maybe this was just the escape she needed. Leaving her past behind was no small task, but maybe her Papa's farm could do just the unwinding trick.
After what seemed like hours, the bus she had chosen finally came to a halt. Standing, with her straight, raven black hair falling halfway down her back, the pale girl adjusted her sunglasses to rest atop her head and her bag strap more comfortably on her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she stepped off the bus. A woman with a fiery, messy, orange bun approached her, looking over the newcomer with a smile. "Ah, you must be Carrissa! I'm Robin, the town carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me to fetch you and show you the way back to your home. He is there tidying some things up as we speak." Carrissa nodded as she followed the carpenter, taking a right out of the bus stop and walking a short distance to her soon to be new home.
Walking into the farm was a lot more overwhelming than the young new farmer had hoped. Weeds were overgrown, stone was all over, and fallen branches littered her yard. Taking a deep breath, she walked forward to meet the mayor her grandfather spoke of so highly. Surely they just didn't have time to maintain Breezy Hills. It had been over ten years since her papa's passing.
"Oh! Hello, Miss Moongrove!"
Lewis fidgeted with his mustache a lot as he spoke. She began to wonder if he was as nervous showing her the farm as she was moving in. Pushing that thought aside, she moved forward to shake the man's hand that was now extended towards her. Her wandering mind had once again gotten the best of her as she examined her surroundings as the Mayor and Robin spoke. Her attention was pulled back towards the end of the conversation when Robin spoke up.
"I believe she may be a bit tired from all her traveling, Lewis. I’ll see you another time. If ya’ need anything, I live in the mountains just northeast of here. There’s a path leading from the north of your farm. I hope to help with some upgrades and farm buildings soon!"
Offering a nod of both thank you and agreement, Carrissa brought her attention back to Lewis. "Inside you will find some old tools your grandfather had lying around. They may need to be upgraded to clear out the larger debris, but for the smaller things and getting started this should do. Make sure to get some rest, and afterwards introduce yourself to the townsfolk! They are all pretty excited to meet you."
"Thank you again, Lewis. I will try my best to do that after getting started." The emerald-orbed girl smiled once more before waving as the mayor departed back towards what she assumed was town.
Just how long had passed since she had been here? Carri couldn't recall the date she last saw her papa. In fact, it had been more of him visiting her in the city than her coming to the farm. Maybe if she had visited more, she would at least know how to make things look better, or at least where to start. For now, she decided on unpacking, getting settled in, and maybe finding those tools Lewis had mentioned.
Hours later, the girl found herself in blue jean overall shorts with a soft red shirt underneath and a pair of workboots. Her belongings had been unpacked, the tools had been found, and she had started clearing out her way to the mountain path. Sweat beaded across her forehead and she wiped it away with her arm. Her desk job had been nothing like the physical labor she was doomed to endure as she cleaned up the farm. Promising herself she would take it slow and stop when it began to get dark was an issue in itself. Carri never cared for giving in early, but with each hill she came across the more she thought she could do. It was close to eight when her energy was spent, maybe a bit too much. The pale girl was surely sunburnt and her muscles ached with every movement. However, she had yet to plant the parsnips given to her by Lewis. She made planting the seeds her last task for the night before heading in.
The next morning came too swiftly. Carri rolled over in bed and smacked her buzzing alarm off the table. A groan escaped her lips before she could muster the strength to crawl out of bed. Slinking her legs over the edge of her mattress, she tied her hair back and pulled on another set of overalls.
"Time to get this over with," She mumbled while rubbing the last bit of sleep from her eyes. Stepping into the bright sunlight was worse than having a light turned on while you are just waking up, in her opinion. Worse than that, though, was her eyes adjusting to the outside brightness just to see crows pecking at her newly planted parsnips!
"NO! NO! NO!" She bolted off her porch and towards the crops, she waved her arms, shooing the pesky birds away. As the birds took flight, a burning smell filled her with a sense of dread. Turning around to look at her crops, she witnessed all the small sprouts wilting as flames engulfed the patch. "Oh, shit, oh, shit...."
Before thinking, Carri tried to stomp out the burning plants, leaving a small burn on her leg, but successfully putting the fire out. What was going on? First the fire at her terminal, now the fire here. There had to be a logical explanation . Magic doesn’t exist. This is real life, not some fairy tale. Her mother had drilled that into her enough. But why did all these odd occurrences have to keep happening around her?