alyaandmarigolds

[alyaandmarigolds]

[AAM] CHAPTER 2 - PART 1

The warming feeling of being under a safe roof was unbeatable. After the pouring rain and the switch to a colder temperature.

“How are you feeling?” The person -  to whom helped Lily - asked as they gave her a cup of hot tea. 

Lily was currently wearing warm covers around her body, slowly but surely feeling the cold and the trembling of her body go away. 

She was wearing old pajamas that were given by this kind stranger about an hour ago.

The sofa was pretty cozy and warm and the old esque vintage aesthetic of the entire house created somehow a more relaxing ambience, something Lily desperately needed after such emotionally encounters with the entity. 

It has been an exhausting day, to say the least.

“A bit better…” She answers with a smile, holding the cup of tea closer to her chest. The stranger didn’t seem too bothered by the sudden new guest, giving her all the things she needed to not feel like a mess. It was extremely strange… and also kind. Lily looks up to them. “I still haven’t asked… What’s your name?”

The dark unnatural eyes of the stranger in front of her looked at her with those exact same questions. 

“Charlie.” They answered in an act of politeness, sitting down on a poultron next to the sofa, facing it. They cross their legs and arms casually, looking fully at Lily up and down. “What 's yours?”

“Lily.”

“Lily.” They repeat, looking away and towards the ceiling in thought. 

She couldn’t lie, the time was overdue to begin asking more questions regarding this whole situation she was suddenly in. Although in a strange sense of calmness, there was still this eerie feeling crawling deep beneath her upo the last encounter with the so-called entity.

But Charlie seemed to have other plans. They looked back at Lily with a hint of curiosity stuck on their eyes as they tilt their head slightly. “Lily, are you maybe a Demigod?”

Lily was flabbergasted. Her whole face lost color and her mouth forgot to shut with a question that was way too straightforward. One question did cross her mind, though. What the hell are they saying, Demigods were rare to begin with with only ten chosen to be alive at this current time on Earth. And this… this rudeness to even be seen as one! 

“Why would I be a Demigod?” Disdain was shown on her face although her voice was courteous enough to keep itself composed. Although she wasn’t one to begin with, she still felt like a huge personal attack on herself. She never deserved to be called that ever.

“Well.. for many reasons. None against you though, so don’t get so highly alerted. I’m not here to hurt you. None of us mortals are.” Charlie chuckles slightly, casually resting their back on the poultron and crossing their legs, ignoring the staring that Lily kept doing despite their chill demeanor. 

This behavior was odd to the girl. They never seemed to get bothered by how Lily reacted, nor did they react much to watching Lily teleport right in front of them while coughing violently.  They were a bit of an enigma to get a reaction out of. An enigma over what their true intentions were.

Lily hated to admit they were way harder to read than the woman from before.

“What do you mean by mortals?”

“You will get your answers once Katherine comes here.”

“Who?” A knock can be heard right as she asked it.

The glint of her eyes glowed slightly more as she saw the same woman as before entering this unknown cozy house. 

“Hi Katherine.” Charlie said, casually dropping her name.

Katherine. What a lovely name she had. Katherine. Lily couldn’t take her eyes off the woman she met before, gazing at her while Charlie was catching her up on what’s been happening.

There was a moment of two where they met each other's eyes, watching as Katherine’s shoulder’s seemed to relax upon knowing Lily was okay. Lily just kept looking at her though, totally unaware of anything besides her. Unaware of the fact Charlie noticed the way she looked at their friend. Unaware of how her love at first sight showed up in such a weird out of nowhere way.

“You know her already?” Charlie asked.

“... You could say that.”

Lily wasn't sure about what to say as they both seemed to know each other as they both spoke briefly about how they found her. She just took the time to briefly look around the house. She knew the door of this living room led to the hallway with four more doors that were closed. She had to guess two of those must be a bathroom and a kitchen. 

Around the living room though, she saw a few trophies on top of a small shelf as well with some very dusty books by their side. She couldn't really read what was on them, but curiosity grew ever so slightly towards that.

On the other side, where huge windows lighted the room with the cold but sunny weather from outside, scattered around the ground were some already open letters still with the letter inside as if they were carefully read and put again inside the enclosure of the envelope. 

Strange behavior, but nothing Lily could judge much of. She wouldn't start questioning Charlie's choices on decorating the house with dusty books, trophies and even dusty old looking envelopes wide in the open for everyone to see.

“I see…” Katherine speaks a bit louder as she looks at Lily again to gain her attention. Lily's little game of observing her surroundings comes to a stop as she looks back at the woman approaching her with the gentleness that Lily wouldn’t have thought she had with how she looked and reacted before. “How are you feeling?”

“I'm fine now…” Lily chuckles awkwardly, one of her hands behind her neck. She was having a hard time conveying her thoughts to words even after Katherine asked her directly. She stumbles on her own nervousness, not being exactly sure how to tell them that she almost died by strangulation, of all things.

Eventually she manages to explain everything. Patience and kindness was all she could see in Katherine’s body language, making her relax more while Charlie decided to put more wood in the lit fireplace to make sure the newbie was comfortable enough to not get sick as easily.

“I see…” Katherine says, slight concern hidden behind her serious expression. “I can’t lie, when the entity caught you and you disappeared, I fully thought you were killed. Many died minutes after the entity managed to get a hold on them.”

“... Why do they do that…?”

“It hears  everything when the town is still in the void.” She sighs, moving her hand to get some of her white aqua hair out of her face. “Luckily it's not the same as when we reach a destination, but we aren't really sure why this is how it acts. For now you shouldn’t anger it.”

As she looks at the window, Lily follows her gaze. 

“We are trying to find something… anything, to understand it and to probably… well.” Katherine takes a step back, looking back at Lily, not managing to see the slight fear Lily showed with the way she hesitated to look back, keeping herself in total silence. “As you can probably tell now, everytime the destination is in a very different place. If you don't mind never seeing your family nor the ones you care about ever again… this can be your stop to leave this place. It’s honestly more safe for you to do so.”

“Wait…” Lily gets up to look at Katherine closer, wanting to touch her hand but managing to stop herself, hesitation shown unlike before. “Does this mean you two are stuck here until the entity brings you back to where you're from?”

Katherine and Charlie exchange looks between each other, as if silently discussing what to say exactly.

“It's not as easy as you might think.” Charlie spoke up, crossing their arms as they walked closer to the two of them. “Each person here has a purpose now. Even if we did go back…” They look at the ground, thinking. “You don't know much about us. Everytime the entity brings us back to our world, we are in a different place. And with that, they always lure someone in…”

“Charlie.”

“It’s not exactly a secret we need to keep , Katherine. It’s the only way for her to really choose to either keep living in this weird hell or to leave while we’re still on Earth.” They point at the window, able to see the far away snowy mountains.

A strange underlying pressure stays still between the two in silence until Katherine sighs. She massages her temples, nodding to Charlie who in turn turns back to Lily.

“New girl. You need to decide, because almost every time the entity lures someone in… they get killed by it. You’ve been one of the lucky ones to survive.”

Lily listens with hesitation shown in her face.

“We don’t even know if we will save the next person.. It all depends on the entity. As much as we try to stop them from doing it, we still aren't able to.” Kate answers honestly. Lily could see and hear the exhaustion in both Katherine’s body and voice.

Although they said there was a reason to, Lily simply couldn’t understand why they were all still here.

“... What’s the reason why you’re still here and simply don’t leave? Why do you keep suffering here?”

Katherine and Charlie, once again, exchange looks. The silence grows between all of them as the awkwardness settles in.

“The entity doesn’t…” Katherine sighs. “It doesn’t really matter now. It’s not important.” She turns around and starts walking towards the main door. ““We should just gather resources while we can. Charlie, come with me.”

“Yeah. Newbie, think really hard of what you want to do. We will accept any decision you make.” Charlie winks at her and starts leaving with Katherine as well.

Lily just stares at them leaving extremely dumbfounded by this. Why would nobody ever explain anything to her?

…

[alyaandmarigolds]

[AAM] CHAPTER ONE - PART 4

YOU CHOOSE: “We should probably start with what is that thing…?!”

…

…

Ah, Lily. Oh young and naive Lily. How does it feel to have the wonders of the world upon your hands? Do you believe yourself to be worthy of such choices?

How does it feel to guess upon the emotions of others and disregard anything else but your own gain?

How does it feel to walk over the ground of death and sorrow, to gain the knowledge in any way you want?

Lily, don't tell me that you believe yourself to be a god due to what you are. A spokesperson of those less fortunate, preharps?

Oh the poor souls of those who know the bare minimum of their choices. Such choices of whom they are forced to find the truth in the hardest way when,  once before, it was possible not to.

We for once wished to be heard to listen to you.

Wondering if a small minded being such as yourself finds the ways of the entity too hard to understand. If you believe such beings have limited capability to understand the sound of its town.

You amuse us, Lily. The way you noticed right away how their instinctual beliefs were created in such a way that makes your skin crawl and your thoughts pondering the death of a stare. The way you hide so much about yourself and how much you hate what you were born has.

But most importantly… the way we hate you for who you are…

Just remember this, young one. We can't do anything from here, so don't worry about us.

The same can’t be said to those we call to hunt you.

Lily…

Thoughts go wild, but words spoken go wilder. 

Your choices are to be pondered more before you choose such foolish questions. Otherwise our job will be done so easily without us even having to lift a finger. 

Tick Tock…!

—

There was no reason to feel what Lily suddenly felt.

As these words leave Lily's mouth, the world felt like slowing down as she feels her heart drop.

She noticed the way the aqua haired woman's body - who is right in front of her - tense strongly.

Did… did Lily say something wrong? Was this not an honest question that made the most sense to be asked?

Her thoughts are interrupted by the woman's voice speaking. But…

"No, wait, you-" Is all Lily managed to hear. The woman starts to say, raising her hand towards the ginger haired woman with such a hidden worried expression that raises even more doubts over Lily's mind.

Although questions lingered around the mind of this young being, those questions were not answered. Lily watches with a split second of confusion as her vision distorts and changes the scenario right in front of her. Her body feels the pressure change. 

From one moment she is fine, she sees the woman - yet to be told her name - right in front of her. With questions to whom were finally starting to be asked and answered.

Tick.

Tock.

In the next moment  there is nothing to be seen other than the empty darkness of the void while she feels the torturous squeeze of her neck suffocating her by the hot molden hands of the being right in front of her. A squeeze that held the fierceness and anger of something Lily couldn't understand.

Those hands shifted aroundLily's neck to be held like shackles that had no key to be opened. Molten hands that, despite that it didn't burn to the touch, were still capable of hurting her as she failed to free herself from it.

In the heat of the moment, Lily could barely think, much less rationalize over what to do. It was even possible to say that this was indeed the first time she was able to see this entity without any interference of her health, or her vision. Without the contradictory deep feeling of dread coming from her instincts that screamed louder, she finally could see this… this being?

Looking at the one who was suffocating her, even without a face to show any signs of emotions, the being seemed pissed at her just by its body language.

"W̷͍̘̫̅̃͗̓̐͑͑̅̅́̽́́̐͊̕͘͠h̵̘̦͍̘̑̌́̈͛̏̆̆͋́͐̄́̈̂̆̋̆̎̓̽́̔̕̚y̶͔̝̳̺̞̆̽͑̈́̇̋̃͌ͅg̵̨̠͈̤̭̖̘̘̣̝͎̺̹̞͍̹̰͚̗̦̬̔̓̃̅̇̅͜͠f̵̧̡̛̥̲̮̖̙͉̲͎̣̺̓̽͗͂̚͝d̶̡̧̨̬̭̭̮̳̞̹͇̹͉͓̖͇͍̪̩͇̜̯̃̀̍̍̔͂͜j̵̢̛̱͇͔̣̯͊̌̀̂̅̒̀̅̐͛͑̚͘͠j̸̩̦͓̲̺͉̞͉̚7̶̧̢͈̻̤͙̼͍̲̘͙̼̺͍̎͋̆̂͒͗͐̈́̇̀̔͊̽̐́͌̚͜͝ÿ̷̢̠̝̼̩̝̞͍͇̗̫̯̮̫̣̖̺̘̣͚̜͈̳͚̦͚́̉̎̾̾́͑̐͋̓̀̌͆̇̓̓̆̈́̕͝y̶͖̗̦̣̻̭̹̪̮̋͗̓͐́̍̏̋̃͆̓͂̂̈̑̇̽̀̍̄͛̚͘͝͝͝7̴̨̨̧̡̳͙̘͙̤̟̞̠̻̺̟͕̪̲̩̫̻͑͜5̵̨͈͔̝̥̙͆́͐̃̏͗̊͋̊̈͐̽͋7̶̡̳͎͚̳̪͙͎̲̋̄́̈́̿̾̽̇̆͌͑͆̽͘͜ǰ̷̡̡̺̺͍̲̜͓̘͎̩͍͇̼̞̜͎͓̘͚̫̲̥͈̖̓̂ỳ̷̛̛̺̺̦͙̥͔͙͎̟̀͋͊̒́͑̏̀͗͋͗͑̑̑͘̚͘͝͝͝ͅͅͅḧ̴̢̝̺̣̥̣̩̯͔́̏̅̎̈́̌̂̊̀̍͊̿͊̕̚y̷̢̛͚̞̬͇̻̙̹̻̣̭̐̆̔̒̂̃̿̅̌̏͘͘͜y̷͉̺̩̤͖̅̄͆ỳ̸̛̪̙̜̦̆̄̾̀̾͂́͌͂͌̃̉͋̈́̾̀̈̀̇̕͘̚͠͝y̷̛̤̼̦̼̪͕̤͐́͑͋̑̿̀̔̄̃̒̌̽̀̄̀̃̔̓͆̕͘̚͠͝ ̵̳̻̘̙̄̾͑͜a̴̡͍̳̠͓̥̰͍͑̎͑̈̈́̔̈̽̐̽̈́̓͒͗̌̾͜r̵̥̝͐̽͑e̵̺͙̲̜̘̲̫̘̞͉̫͇̙̜̩̖̞̝̼͉̔̏̇̂̄́͛̋̀́͊͛̄͋̆ỵ̶̡̨̢̜̝̘̪̟̮̫͔̦̺͙̥̙͇͙̰͂͋͒̑̾͑̉͌͒́̐͑̑̓͋̇͗̋̂ò̷̧̢̳͓͉̮̹̼͎̭͎͙͌͛͊̀̍́͛͌̌̽̐̍̓̍̕͝ő̷̤̘͌̅ơ̸͓̱̱̞̪̰̙̜̾̽̋̊̇͗̌͂͗̆͗̍̔̾̆͛̓̀̒͠ͅo̶̧̨̥̯̝̜̥̻͙̭̞͇̼͎͙͙̽͛̈́͂-̸̢̨̡̙̗͉̠̤͎̲̱̖͉̮̥͈̣̭̗̤̽ͅ-̸̢̲͚̭͍͔͛͌͂̓̈̈̓̀́̀́̈̋̀͒͘ǘ̷̧̡̨͉̪̲̪̹̯͚̘̠̝̯̖̌͆̍͂̓́͝͝ ̵̢̧̛͓̺͍̹̜̰͉͉̙̝̳̩͎̟͙̘͆̀̈́̏̏̅͌̒͆͆͠ͅh̴̛̖́̄͌͛̍͑̿̈́̽̋̓̓̉̚͠͝͠h̸̨̨̩͚̺̪̲̜̦̻̠͎͈̣̟͔͕̟̩̞͎̍̋́͗͊́̉́͌̒̍̓̃͌̚̕̕͜͝͝e̴͉̦͎͚̞̹̦͖͙̹̟̼͍͈̩͉͕̳̰̫̎͒̃̽̀͛̍͆̋̒̿͘h̸̙̳̹̰͓̥͖̼͔͐̽̆̆͆͑͊͆͌̍͑̚̚͜͠f̵͇̰͈̩̤̗͇̺̤͉̍́̃̔̐̊̐̽̎̈̓̂͌̓͘͘̕͝͝ͅď̵͎̦̦̤͖͍̗̤͎͎̟͖̥͖͚̗̞͛̾̔́̐͋͜͜͝͝͝h̸̼͚̆̎̆̓̓͛͛̇͊̒̉͂͗͘h̴̢̛̰̥̦̘̳͍͚̑̌͌̾͐̑͘̕͠e̴̯̠͙̒̈̈́̇r̴̡̟̰̥̗̠̪̤̥̭̣̼̓̏͜ę̴̰͚̰͈̗͈͎̯͙̻̦́͗̆͒̂͐̏̽̉̌̓̽̅͘ͅ?̷̡̨̝̮̞̼͍̗͍͎̗͍͇̰͙͖̔̂͐͒ͅͅ!̶̞͚̯̹͉̫̟̥͔̞̠̪̫̟̀̆̈?̸̫̹̳̲̟̬͎̯̘͈͙̙͔̻̰̫̞͙͖̟͎͇͆́̏̆̔͛́̊͆̾̿̔̚͘ͅ!̸̛̜̭̞͔̩̝̫̹͔̞͍͖̞͖̱̍͂̌͌̐̌̐̽̂͒͂́͗͑͑͘̚͜͜͜͠͠?̷̟̄͆́͌̈́̈́́́͑̅͛̄̄̿͑͝!̵̛͈̝̟̹͔̺̝̫̙͚̲͎͂͑͑̉͋̀̑̑̂̌͋͑̏̋̒̏̅͘͠͝͝

Tick.

Tock.

Lily didn't understand anything it tried to say. The words were corrupted beyond comprehension and the struggle of breathing, as well as trying to be free, were not helping in decoding whatever it tried to speak to her.

But… this made Lily realize something she probably should've thought about since the beginning. 

Lily tries to grab it's arms despite not being so strong herself. The dizziness, just like before, was starting to crept and overtake her own body.

L̵̨̢̡̧̛̪͕͔͙̜̳̥̖̪̦̳̫̘̯̘̱̰̦̩͈̗͂͐̾̐̉̆͛̿̏͆̾͑̍ͅè̷̛̥̣̖̪̰͍̤̾̄̒̈́̓̀̂̊̈́̓́̓̈͘͝͝ȩ̶̡͔̬̤̤̥̺̩̹̘͍̬̪̩̱̜̺̣̻̈́͆̂͛̔͊͆͜͠͝e̴̻͕̰͕͍̞̳̩͕̗͚̫̱̼̟͉̎͐̾̈̐̇̃͗͊̽̒̈́̂̒̉̄̒̑͗͗̇h̷̯̻͓͂̈́́̎͑͝d̷̨̨͉̠̙͖͈͎̪̻̺̩͇̝͈͓̥̙͗́͐͊̂̋̋̋̑̊́̀͛́̎̉̍̕͠͝͠5̵̢̡̜̭͕̪̭̻̻̌̈̋̊͒̀͛̌̀͠͠6̵̨̢̛̱̭̺̣̯̝̮͎̪̪͍͉͎̗̘̠̔̑̾͘ͅ7̵̢̛̻̪̪͈̗̹̭̟̳̫̰̤̺̖̹̜̹̠͔̖͓͓̈͛̌͋̉̓̂̀͑̃͌͊̄̉́͗̽̋͗̔͘͠͝ͅ8̵̨̤̖̻̅͑͋̋̚h̷̡̧̛̩̰͓̞̰͓̜̱͎̞̼̝͖̰̪͕̃́̃̍̋̃̈́͗̒̆̿̓̾̾͋̃͌̋͘̚͝͝͠h̶̛̞͉̝̙̗͓́̾͆͂̄̃͂͗͑̐͆̀̋̄̿̈́̑̀́̊̕͝ͅͅe̸̢͕̳̝̖̰̳̩͇̔͌͋̂͌͌͐̇̚̕͜͝ë̷̢̱̣̮͙̦̙̣̜͔̩̣͕̳̗̻̻͍͓̩͉̟͍́̓̑͗̿̈́̐̾̈́͋̾̋̐̔̒͜͝͠ͅe̵̢̡̮̖͎̖̥̮̞̗̥̭̓̍ͅë̶̛̜̪̖̞̩̮́̎͛͌́͋́͒͜͝ą̷̛̭̺̳͙̣̯̟͎̥͖̼̲̣͔̤̫̾̋͐̏̋͑́͊̇͊̍͛̀͛̈́̅̆̏̂̈́̕̚͠͠ͅå̵̢̡̨̪͈̺̰̙̰̦̳͙̞͚͈͖͎̾̈̓̋̈́̚v̴̡̘̫̣̬̮͕̦̙̯̠̐̌̓̀̈̑̌̔̊͌̓̄̀͗̐̒͗͆̑̒́̒͜͝ͅẽ̸͍̒̃͆̂̅̐̿ ̶̛̞̈́̄͋͑͌́̌̎̋̀̄̒̊͒̈́̈́͛̋̚̚͘͝͝m̵̗̹͙̟̩̞̞̗̱͚͉͊͐̊͐͊̄̆̄̋̌̈́̋͐ȩ̴̡̛̜̖̥̠̻͈͙̹̮̖̱̜̘͇̻̬͉͐͛̽͜͜ͅͅͅe̸͚͉͕͚̪̲̱̒͐́̓̈́̍̈́́̃͝e̸̝̲͚͔̰̮̮͈͓̩̱͒e̷̡̡̡̡͎̺̳̖̗̖̞̪̗̖̻̭͚̺̘͇͉̔̏̈͋̅͜ͅ ̷̢̨̢̨̛̼͙̙̩͔̹̲̙͕̜̟̲̹͕͖͚̹̥͈̳̗̼̽̊͛́̔͐̄̓͊̾͒̄͘͘͘̕͝a̷̧͉͕͑͑̑̾̏̋̒̈́͑̈́͑̋̕l̷̯̳̮̂̔̈͌͂̍̌̓̍̑́̅̚̕͠͝ő̷͉̘͚̗̱̣̲̱͓͚͚͖͖͍̫͔̦̺̪̫͇̀̒̀͆̐͛̆ò̸̢̠̱̱̘̝̟̪̪͔̖̪̪̿ ̴͔̭̣͇̘͚̗͈̹͇̳̉͗̆̕͜͝ơ̷̧̢͉̭͚̺̮̯͈͙͓̯̫̰̼̣̠̗̤̥̮̰͚̰̞̊̆̊̑͛̆͆̈́̉̆̈́̓̑̈́̃̀̂͐̌̒͠͠ơ̶̢̢̧̘̝̣̩͈̣̖̳̬̱̪̦̗̆̂͛̏ǫ̴̨̣̜͉̜̬̺̘̜͖̭̹͉̻͍̻̭͎̮̫̞̞͗̀͛̅̈́̾͛̆̂̀̀̅͘͜͝͝͝ͅͅ ̷̟̼̯̎̀͂õ̴̧͈̗͈͙̜̯͍̞̺̼̻͇̰̰̟̪͌͊́̏̇̀̈́̿̄̊̽͆̎̒̎̚͜͜͠ͅo̴̙̟̥̘̟̟̤̘͎̭̮̼̦̯̰͓̪̼̱͗̈́̂̍́̄̈́ơ̵̡̯͕̠͙̱̘͓͊̌͋͆̀̐̑͗̅̐o̸̺̊̔̂̀̌̃̈̅n̵̨̡̡̼͍̼̳̱̰͍̬̜̩̦̄͗̐͌̿ē̸̢̨͔̣̪̫͉̩̥̲͍̼̈́̑͊͒͆̊̀̓̋̆!̷͇̙̘̳̫̟͉̭̜̺̯̺͇̠̜̝̻̺̤͉͙͍̥̐̽̋̀͑̏̒͋͋̾̈́̅̍̕͝͠ͅͅ ̷̨̛̣̗̰̗̦͇͚̯̫͉͙͇̙̭̍̍̓̍̍͊͆̂̀͂̍̃̾̀̾͆̀͋͊̕͘Y̷̢̢̢͉̭͎̫̼̹̮̺͕̳͇͉͖͈̩͚̞͒̑͑͊̓́͂̂̄̏͛̎́ȏ̶̡̙̼̥̖̩̲̫̺̼̮̗̹͔͈̦̝̹͎̲̮̦̎̾̌͐̒̈́̅͗͆̿͑͌̈̿̂̾́̌̈́̚̚̕͜͠͝u̴̫͙̾̈̓͛́̈̔̃̆͐̆̆̇̉̋̓̒̉̏̌͊͝ ̴̨̛͚̤̝̥̖̻̹̹͈̩͚̙̲̻͚͓͈̳̞͈̥̱͖́͘ͅẁ̴͕͈̦̩͉į̴͚̮͙̩̂̎͗̽͂l̶̡̢̛̩̿̇̑͗͂̈́͒̎̈͊́̈͆̇͛̃̽̂̚l̶̢̗̼̬̱̲̖̥̪̬̦̩̯̗̣͇͆͛ͅ-̵͔̦̳͉͋͂̎̽͑̈́͗̉̂͆̾͒͠-̶̪̰̬̟̙̦̦̘̣͓̠̝̳̭̺̆͒̍̈́͗ͅ-̴̧̧̢̩̬̟̜̫̞͕̝̝͎͔͍̼̳̫͈̱͛͑̈́̉̄̈́̓̏͊͒̍̉̏͂̊͐̓̑̽̔̕͝ ̶̨̨̡̧̟̣̜̮̭̯͍̰̝̠͕̻̠̠͇̺̼̓̒̉̆͋̇͗̚̚̕ẏ̷̧̡̧̡̛̤̹͔̱͎̼͔̜̼̖̲̞͎͙͍̟̖͔͌̃͒͂̌̓̇̽́̾̓͋̑͜͜͠͠͝ͅͅő̸̪͉͕́͆̌͛̅̄̅͊̂͒̐̔̐̏͂̈̾͊̑͆̉̕̕͘̚ŭ̶͉ ̷̛̛̩̻̫͕̮̞̙͖̈̉́͗̂̆̌̓̅̀̈́͊͂̓͊̓̉̇͘͘͝͝͝ͅͅẇ̷̨̟̤̲̫̺͇͈̹̼̥̟̠̟͈͉͕͔̾̓̈́̄͐͒̉̀̽͑͂͝͝͝i̵̜̋̎̊̈̆̒̆̾̏̅͒́̋l̵̡̻̠̯̼̳͕̋̽̐͊̂͂̔̏̀̽l̵̡̡̢̨̺̹̬͙̯͇̲̺̩̖͍̭̥̰̦̙̰̦̥̥̈́̌̐̃͒͜͠ ̸̧͉͓͎̭͉͉̃̾̒͑̈́͆̀̃̓̆͒́́̄́̄k̶̢̧̛̻͖̪̟͂͗̈́̍͋̀́̾̿̏͛̅̊͊̚̕͠͠͝i̴̛͓̱͚͉̘͐͗̓͆̒́̐̀́̽̇̅̏͑͗̎̑̉̋̈́͝͠ì̴̧̲͔͖͖̣̜̻̟̙̼̘̻̓̋̈́͗̿̚ì̴̡̡̛̝̯̻̼͎̝̬͕͎̫̘̳͉̝̯̟̾͂͑̃̄̕͝͝͝ḩ̴̛̼̳̝̙̜̜̬͕̼̲̼̠̥͔̤̤͉͉͈̥̙̥͇͊̌̄̇̈́̑̓̃͐̈́͌͌͊̀͆̓͝v̴̡̨̧̨̛̫̪̹͔̖̼̞̫͓͕͔̲̞̲͓͔̬̐̈̀̐̀͂͛̊̊̀͌̀̀̐̅͋͘͝m̸̧̟̳̱̻͊ͅ ̴̢̩̝͖̪̱͍̙͈͚̥͍̮̼̱̺̤͚̮̘̻̭̜̬̀̍̑̅́̋͌̇̽̓͑̋̆̏̈́͑̏͗̕͜͜͝i̸̫̥̥̱̥̹̎̑̊̑̀̏̀̀̔͑́̍í̷̡̮͍̞̥̻̱͙̉̔̿̈́̓̔͆̏̅̓͌̓͋̌͐̆̓̚̕̚̕͠͠͝͝į̷̛͖̪̞͓̬̋̉̅͊̒̿͗i̷̢̡͙̹̼͕̺͓̔͆͜i̴̛̛̩̭̹̳̣̪̳̓̊̒̔̏͂͌̓̓͐̄̂͘̚͝i̶̛͙̘̗͉̐̈́̎̈́͌̎͆̓͐̓͐͗̚̕͜͠l̷͕̫͕͈̯̘̼͎͚̹̺̗̦̦̞̮̰̬̊͠ͅͅļ̵̛͗͐̆͝ ̸̧̫̙̘͓̣̻̠͗̄̈̓̀̇͊ͅm̴̡͍̟̈́̏e̶̛̗͉̲̰̝͍̩͎͍̦͎͕͗̇̋͑͆̌́̅͒̒͐̂̈͛͋̉̚̕͝͝͠ẹ̷̤̙̹͓͉̣̖̖̞̩͈̓̄̐̀͗͂̂̇̽͆͌̓̿̊͋̚̕͝͝ͅȅ̷̩̪̼̑̿̚͜ẽ̷̢̛̛̞̮̮̮͓̠͍̱̩̞̝͎̺͔̺̟̎̓̈̈͐̔̉̉͛͛͆̎̌͝͝ͅͅę̴̨̺͉̞̘͙̬̭̙̮̮͖͙̩͎͍͇͂̔̂̎̀̔͒̃͑̽̌̀̃́̀͘̚͘͝

Tick.

Tock.

The ticking sound of malicious laughter, ticking at the back of Lily's head and pounding through her heart was distracting to say the least. Something was… not right.

The entity resembled a person. The molten body changed and twisted by the movements and anger of its being, but eventually formed again to its original form. The one that resembled a human body…

"I-" She wanted to ask, but the struggle bound her to have no voice nor air that managed to pass through the hands that felt more humanly behaved than the first time they met. "I… can’t understand… you…!" 

Her own body started to panic. She tried to kick her legs towards the entity, she felt the urge to breathe rapidly increase with the imaginary giggling she still didn't understand where she was feeling it coming from.

"You- …. I'm sorry if-... I said…. Something bad." She eventually managed to say, panic felt under her struggling voice rising by each second. "But- you’re-.... hurting me too— STOP IT!!!"

The raw scream echoed through the void. The silence felt strong after that, not even her mind dared to say anything in retaliation to what might have just happened.

Right in front of her eyes Lily watched as her hands had just glitched slightly after they were freed from the entity's hands, coughing violently to regain the oxygen she was deprived of.

She managed to look up while still in that struggle, only to be met with a now totally silent and unmoving entity that just stared at her with such surprised body language… startled even, by the way it just managed to float slightly back, away from Lily herself.

As it continued to look at her, its form calmed down, floating in place and not even moving to attack her again. Lily could say that she was surprised that it even heard her in the first place.

"Í̸̱̚̕t̴̹̙͗̐̐.̵̡̩̇̈.̸̫͚̾.̵̫̋̎͒.̶̬̬̍ ̵̘̍͗́h̵̖̄̈̚u̶̜͓̎r̷̪̗̿͜t̶̩͐̉̚ṣ̶͉͓̎̾.̸͈͂̑̚͜.̴̣̦̐̓.̵̛̠̄.̶̯̇̍̈́.̸̟͉̐.̷͇͔͑̈ ̴͈̈̅͝ý̸̨̱̮̎ơ̵͈͓u̶̻̪̻̅͘.̴̢̫̯̂̚.̸̗̹̈́̕.̸̭͑.̴̮̽̅͠ ̷̗̔̾w̶͎̒͜͠i̷̺̥̓ĺ̸̮̓̇l̵͍̮̈l̵̺̑̄̐l̵̹̫̉̂l̸͇͛̌͠l̸̰̭̐.̷͙̦̝̈͑͗.̶̖̖͑̂.̸͚̳̜̓̓̇ ̷̘́̄h̸̗̉̓u̷̧̗͚̎̑̚r̶͉̈t̷̡̪́̂ţ̶̓̾t̴̬͔̅t̷͈̱̤͆̑t̸̖̝̒̿̿h̵̤̾͐͝ǘ̵̢̮̽͠r̵̦͎̰͆̒͠ṫ̶͈̓̚ ̵̢̹̬̊̎͐t̵̀ͅŏ̵̘̣̫ŏ̶̤̈́͒.̵̧̝͍͗̅͆.̸͖͕̯̐.̶̡̦̒̓̊.̵̩̲̍̆͂.̴̞̪͘ͅ.̷̧̛̛̌.̸̲̟͆͊.̷͔͔͆ͅ.̵̳̭́͠.̶͓̍͠.̶̥͚͕͠"

Due to the slower and sadder tone, Lily managed to understand this one.  Standing silent as confusion crept beneath her until it was visibly stuck on her face, Lily continued to cough strongly when she watched the entity vanish right in front of her.

The scenario, or lack of, in front of her changes again. In a blink of an eye she watched the void turn back into the familiar town once again. The town's floor was still muddy and wet beneath her feet.

Breathing felt hard to do. The entity hurt her neck so badly that it hurt to cough and breathe. Lily falls on her knees as she coughs and wheezes, gasping for the air as it slowly enters her lungs.

“...”

Due to these conditions, she failed to notice a silent figure behind her who stared at her and kept the silence prolonging through her coughs.

That is, until the figure decided that it was enough and walked closer, slowly raising their hands and tapping on her shoulders gently.

Lily looked behind as her lungs still forced her to gasp and wheeze.

Lily was slightly trembling, her head still felt dizzy. She looked at this person while her mind had a hard time processing and refused to focus.

Her mind just kept piling up all these questions she wished that the aqua white haired woman could have answered before.

"Are you okay?" The new person finally asked, casual neutral wonder as the dark sky suddenly shines in white and gray clouds and the temperature changes into icy cold.

Lily finally notices. Mountains. 

Far away snowy mountains that certainly weren't there before when she entered the town.

As tiredness creeps into her now cold body, she realizes this entire place got teleported to a very, very different place.

END OF CHAPTER 1

…

…?

Oh young Livyin one, the wonders of life kept you alive for one more day, isn't that right?

Your luck is amazing at best, and annoying at worst.

—

Click here: [Chapter 2]

[alyaandmarigolds]

[AAM] CHAPTER ONE - PART 3

YOU CHOSE: Awkward! Refuse to move or do any sound.

…

…

…

…

"... Hum…"

The moment to whom Lily decided to paralyze in her tracks felt like an eternity. The woman right in front of her stayed silent with a questioning gaze that was hidden behind the cloth on her eyes. A questioning that took a while to leave her mouth as she realized that Lily had no intentions to move from this embrace.

Lily's face still burned red. This was so embarrassing, she couldn't stop asking herself why she was like this, feeling embarrassed to any pretty woman that came to embrace her, even if it was in a dire situation. Freezing in such a state only meant to make the whole thing even more awkward.

…

It wasn't her fault though! Or so she wanted to believe... She couldn't help to notice that beautiful aqua hair that beautifully turned white from a gradient wonder, asking herself just what type of eyes were behind that cloth. Was that woman even capable of seeing anything with such a thing?

"... Who are you?" The aqua haired woman asked, not letting go totally of Lily. "What are you doing here?"

"I.. I don’t know." Lily was honest, her face still hot. She was slowly calming down from the hopeless romantic mindset she usually liked to be in. " I was lost, and suddenly I was…. Dying…?"

That description felt like it made Lily sound completely out of her mind, yet the woman just nodded to that, understanding yet casual body language.

"Hm. That does sound like the entity's powers. Can you stand up?"

"I… think so…?" Lily feels her body move slightly to a more comfortable position by the help of the woman who stands up before her to help her out.

Lily tries not to think of anything of it this time as she gets up.

Her legs still tremble. After a moment of not feeling them and almost falling back down – even with the help of this strong woman – Lily thought to herself: Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to freeze and not move at all, she would have made a fool of herself with that one.

The woman steadies her for a few seconds after Lily feels okay to stand by her own.

The rain still pours, the wind is strong and Lily feels slightly cold. Her clothes are so drenched now and it feels so heavy and annoying. After that incident with the 'Entity', she just wanted a cozy warm place.

Aqua haired woman seemed to have noticed that, holding her hand up to Lily, waiting for her to take it.

…

Lily coughs awkwardly, giving her hand, holding the other in a shy manner. How strange it was to feel shy while the other's hand felt so calm and strong.

In her wonder of thinking about imaginary scenarios, though, a sigh from the woman by her side can be heard. "Hold still for a second."

Lily suddenly felt the lack of warmth in this woman’s voice to be alarming, an indirect way to tell her to please stop this. She cleans her throat, shielding herself from more awkward situations. "... Okay… I should maybe leave.."

"You can’t. Not right now at least." As the woman spoke, Lily felt, for just a split second, her body lose any matter as her entire view changed from a cold rainy town in a dark night, to a rather cozy small room. The only light source in that place was a candle in the table nearby.

Lily felt confused for a single second, until she realized what this woman's powers were.

The wonder of teleportation. What a nice power to have, Lily always felt the need to use those types of powers in any capacity if she would be able to. It was such a nice one to have. But, truth be told, as long as it stayed exactly like the current situation, Lily was okay over her current situation regarding her powers… at least that's what she hoped in the best way possible…

As these thoughts go through Lily’s mind in a flick of a second, the scenery surrounding her quickly makes her body relax as the warmth of the nearby fireplace decides to give the fire a comfortable and warm lighting to the whole room.

Lily took a while to continue to speak, to the moment where this woman took her spear off her back and put it near the couch.

“... What do you mean by not right now? I can’t leave?”

The silence the woman stood after that was a bit scary in Lily’s mind. She stood her ground as she took a step closer to this woman, feeling her wet clothes making her feel so much heavier than she was.. “Is there any reason for me to be unable to?”

“No. Well…” Silence again. When Lily felt like this person would never answer her clearly, the woman turned her head towards her, passing by her side and walking towards the window behind Lily. “It’s not easy to explain, and not safe white it stills around.”

“It…?” Lily turns around to look at the window. The woman opens the heavy curtain to reveal… a dark sky.

Lily’s eyes go wide. She hadn’t noticed it before. The sky was not a night sky. Where the stars should be, there was nothing but darkness. A lack of everything.

It wasn’t the night sky Lily was looking at, but something devoid of anything but void itself.

“There it is.” The woman spoke, pointing at the sky. Lily had to squint her eyes to try and see anything. Probably took her a while, but eventually she saw in the sky a glitch type of effect going through the sky. There was any lack of orange to be able to see it clearly, making it all impossible to see unless it was the slight colors of its shape quickly fading. “That entity keeps us here for days, or even months sometimes when it decides to not kill us.”

Lily felt fear slowly rising under her skin, stepping away quickly from the window and closing the curtain without asking the other first.

Luckily the woman didn’t even react to any of that, just looking silently at Lily as she tried to come to terms with this situation.

“... You… You will have to explain everything to me right now, otherwise I will scream…”

The woman stays silent for a few seconds, pondering over the statement. “What do you want to know?”

NEXT PART -> [CLICK HERE]

[alyaandmarigolds]

[AAM] CHAPTER ONE - PART 2

YOU CHOSE: The outside sure does sound more relaxing than here. Turn around.

...

Leave.

Lily had a hard time processing all of this. Her body, which felt relatively fine just moments before, felt suddenly weak. Her ears muffled the sound of the rain, turning it into complete static and refusing to convey the other outside wordly sounds.

Heartbeat pounding through her ears made it clear just how much worse she suddenly felt.

Her decision relieved her. A little voice inside her told her that yeah… yeah. The outside sounds more fun doesn’t it? This town wasn’t exactly friendly looking and she was feeling like she would faint any second.

The sound doesn't get better, she hears all of her internal sounds so her shaky breath gets a bigger focus as she lets it come out.

The cold sweat dripped down her face and dizziness started to overtake her. She was confused as to why she was suddenly feeling this weak, so she decided to turn around to leave…

…

Big mistake.

Her sudden frightened scream echoes through the empty town. Her own feet betray her as it stumbles over the slippery mud of the floor beneath her, falling to the ground and suddenly being forced to look at this disfigured mortification of a human being that she couldn’t quite distinguish what they were. Who they were.

She stood silent, not daring to move nor make any sound that could anger this strange entity glitching through reality itself.

The more time went by in this silent terrifying standby,the more her dizziness and feeling of dread increased tenfold upon looking at it. That strange and terrifying feeling deep on her chest - a feeling that felt more deep than fear itself - screaming at her that she was going to die.

The floating figure of blacks and oranges with goo like texture liquid floating as this body just kept staring. It just kept staring. Staring, staring, staring.

It felt so, so wrong.

Yet she was unable to move, to get away. Although her body screamed that she would die if she stayed there, her mind simply refused. Black spots started to form around the corners of her vision… ah, so this is when she would die, huh…

It felt unfair. It felt so unfair how she just wanted to visit the town where the brave Alya lived.

It felt unfair how unlucky she was. All her life running away just to be left here dying by a being that she couldn't quite comprehend.

How unfair it was. To want to be brave and adventurous, but cowering at this same moment.

The black spots kept creeping in and she knew it was almost time when she barely could see anymore.

…

…

A slight breeze of wind felt on her own skin brought her back to reality and out of the doomed darkness of unconsciousness. A gentle embrace that brought comfort and warmth, shielding her from the stare of the entity that made her own body cold.

Lily had no idea what was happening, all she heard after that was a murderous shriek echoing through the town that quickly turned silent.

Silent.

Just silent for what felt so comfortably long.

After the mess of what her body went through, this was a nice change of pace…

"Are you okay?" A woman's voice spoke softly, slowly grounding Lily back to reality. This person's voice spoke in a mumbling way that sounded as loud as her heartbeat, slowly losing intensity and finally calming down.

"I…" She breathes through her mouth, feeling the cold of the breathing through her throat.

Lily manages to open her eyes, blinking a few times, watching her vision turning back to normal. Although her breathing was still semi irregular, she was no longer feeling as if she was going to die.

Her mind scrambled to get itself back together, feeling still this slight haze hovering as she finally noticed that the entity was now gone, now only the woman kneeling in front of her still embracing her.

Lily's face goes red.

NEXT PART: [CLICK HERE]

[alyaandmarigolds]

[AAM] CHAPTER ONE - PART 1

It was a quiet day, the crickets still sang in this morning light. The had just barely crept from behind the clouds that threatened to pour any second into the earthly ground. High grass and trees made this a perfect relaxing location. No sight of any civilization nearby.

A young woman - ginger, short hair and in her early twenties - walked in this land with nothing more than a bag with her, the morning dew and the cold weather by her side.

"... Okay. Lets see now..." She grabs a folded piece of paper. A map that quickly become bigger as she opens it. Her head and shoulders were now hidden behind that piece of paper as she looked at it with a compass by her side.

The map was showcasing the whole territory of a kingdom, the place where she lived. And although the map was already a bit old and dusty and full of written stuff, she still adored it.

Slowly, he starts to draw a line in black ink through forests and towns she had already passed, circling the towns in question. This map in specific was almost fully drawn with those lines, even if she tried as hard as to try to draw thin lines. She explored a lot of this place she calls home, and she was happy over that little amazing achievement.

She loved exploring despite that it was a very hard task to do so without having a useful power. The kind of power that let you travel faster like flying or teleporting. Some people had them.

Lily always had a certain type of jealousy to those who could.

The little twigs of this unkept forest crunched beneath each of her steps, making it impossible for her to listen to the wind hitting the leaves of these huge trees surrounding her. She just kept looking at her map and her compass, frowning slightly as she looked at her surroundings.

“Weird… I should’ve reached that town by now…” She mumbled to herself as she continued to look at the map to make sure she didn’t take a wrong turn somewhere.

It was rather weird, due to the fact that she indeed took the correct paths to reach a very popular town by now. Or at least she thought. She was now maybe slightly lost. One thing she usually didn’t feel like admitting since traveling always had these little inconveniences like the situation she was in right now.

With a sigh and a determined look still on her face, she folded the map and continued to walk. The town must be there somewhere. And even if it wasn’t, there was no reason to stay in the same place. The earth wouldn’t transport her to the exact place she needed to be as much as she prayed for it.

One...

Two....

Three hours passed since then.

She wasn’t too worried still. Lily was used to this, she got lost one time for a full week and almost died starved by refusing to kill any animal to feed herself. It was fine. She was fine.

Lily couldn't deny that it could be worrying though, to be put in a situation of being lost. But as she kept walking and the minutes kept passing, she started to see something in the distance... some... building...! A town!!! Oh my goodness the relief she felt upon seeing any sign of a structure. Did she finally find the town she was looking for???

A sight of relief let be shown on her face as she started to walk towards the walls that protected the place. It was still very far away, she could barely see anything with the trees blocking more than half of her view, but the more she got closer to it, the more she had doubts.

The wall was very mossy and old like… Not very much something a famous town would usually forget about and neglect.

The silence was the second suspicious aspect. This town was very famous due to a demigod who used to live there and protect the town with her powers. A noble sight to see for yourself, with houses of pink and gold and markets of culture. As well as the resemblance over the now long gone demigod. It was a very touristic place! Not like… this town that she was seeing in front of her. It was too quiet and too old to be that same town.

Carefully, she walked walked closer and closer. The trees finally started to open to give her the view of the place. It was then that she confirmed it. It wasn't the town she was searching for, but a new fully abandoned looking town. Silent and old. Overgrowing with weirdly dying plants and crumbling on itself over the fact that there was not a single person to take care of it. The only more fancy place in this whole town, from what she could see from behind those walls, was a small golden castle. One who also looked abandoned.

Her eyes glowed as the sun hit them just right, a fascination of a place she could fully explore without having to worry over trespassing or robbing someone’s things. If this place was actually abandoned, nobody would get mad over her doing any of those things! It was an opportunity she couldn’t say no to!

She walked around the walls, looking for an entrance to this place as her smile was now stuck on her face. A bit of an excitement to enter this place even if she had to climb the wall in case there was no entrance for some reason. Not noticing the clouds getting darker and darker around this place, like a warning her eyes refused to see.

Surely enough though, she found the entrance. Big and glorious, half broken and old. Humid and also kinda slightly gross.

“Well..” She mumbled, an expression that showed the grossness and hesitance of going through the cobwebs and the overgrowing plants, ones that surely contained little crawling insects in there. She needed to go through that to enter though. An adventurer such as herself should not be grossed out by these little things nature liked to throw at you!

She took a deep breath.

Closed her eyes.

And walked right in.

The wind was chilly, the atmosphere colder, it made her own bones flinch.

As she passed past the gates, she quickly opened her eyes to watch rowas and rows of houses right as the town started, leading to the small castle from the other side of town. She squinted her eyes slightly, this was... very quiet and abandoned, giving this weird feeling of ominousness to a place that was actually rather beautiful by it’s looks. But why was she feeling like she wasn't alone...?

Lily couldn’t stop having this werid feeling deep down her stomach, she was feeling something wasn’t right when rain started to finally pour down. Her body was screaming at her to turn around and leave and she had no idea as to why, unconsciously raising her arms and gently hugging herself as she looked around, not moving further in, in case she did want to turn around and run away.

There was now a decision on her part on what to do. She could turn around and walk away, not getting involved in what the hell kind of paranormal stuff was happening around here, even if it was just her own mind over reacting..... or she could just... enter, find stuff, and relax in a place for a while.

What should she do she wonders. Should she listen to her gut feeling, or ignore it?

NEXT PART -> [CLICK HERE]

[alyaandmarigolds]

Welcome, Player: [BEGINNING]

❤️‍🔥Alya And Marigolds❤️‍🔥 An interactive story that will feature drama, angst, mystery and romance. This will be a secondary side project since Farel (a current Comic written by me and my other friends) is the main one, so please expect this to be irregular and slow in therms of uploads. Also, Important! English is NOT my first language and I will not have a proof reader. Please be considerate and if you want, tell me any errors or misspellings and I will try to correct them! Thank you <3

Lily is a free spirit. Always travelling around the world, exploring bits of towns and wilderness in everywhere she goes. One day though, she reaches this town nobody ever heard of. That sounds like a dream type of exploration for her of course, to explore something that seems abandoned and forgotten. She saw it from afar and figured out pretty quickly that it would be an adventure to go there. An old village, overgrown and mossy, small and quiet. The only big fancy builiding seemed to be a small golden castle in the back of it all. But… once she enters the village, she is instantly met with a feeling of dread upon witnessing something otherworldly. Now surelly knowing that the town is NOT in fact abandoned. Before she has the time to process everything, something happens…

Everything goes black around her. Literally.

This little game will have:

.Choices that actually affect the story .Multiple possible endings, you only get one :) .Shapeshift the main character's personality .Many chances to screw up .A choice to romance a character... or not .LGBTQ+ friendly story .Become a saviour or not .Mysteries you only find with certain choices Warning: There will be a lot of of possible gore, manipulation and unhealthy relationships

Click on their names to see their appearances!

Lily Biavin: Our beloved main character. She is full of energy and loves to explore! You will all collectively shape her personality more :)

Selly: A sweet and kind teenager! The first person to find Lily and help everyone calm down and make everyone understand the basics of what is happening.

Katherine Sealy: The leader of the lost town. Serious and hard to change her views. She takes care of both the people from the land and the people from the lakes.

James Faren: The tired cheap scientist. He's smart and grumpy. Constantly annoyed by the fact that he can't do anything in the place they are due to lack of recourses and not being omnipotent. Entity: !t s33m!s t0000101 t4!k3 f0rm !n 4 str4 444!!4$/) R$g3 w4y. D3st!n3d to fff!F! FFF!4%&$" %444!!!!LLLL L4L$L$!! 4nd d!!!!!!D& &%DD!D! D33##&/33 !!343!3

[UPDATES EVERYTIME A NEW CHARACTER APPEARS]

---------------------------------------------------- FIRST CHAPTER ----> [HERE]