My kind, the vermin of the Earth, according to humanity, had faced prejudice since our arrival within the grimy city we had called home. My ears and tail, the very things that shaped me as unique, were considered filthy and wrong. No matter my worth, no matter my strength, their words cut through me like a sharpened blade– Vermin. Dirty. Outcast.I don’t know why society despised my community as much as they did. We lived the same lives as everyone else, derived from food, water, love– We lived everyday, calm lives. Mainly underground, due to humanity’s love for harshness, but similar nonetheless.
Much like many people, we had our secrets. Since the underground was cast into shadows, light was sparse, few and far between. That’s how we found out about my abilities.I was young, mid-teens, perhaps, when I created my first ball of light. It flickered dimly and cast hardly anything upon the walls around me, but it was mine, and it was a promise of a better future. For a time, until I honed it well enough, I kept it hidden, practicing behind closed doors or in my room, where no one could catch a glimpse.
Inevitably, I came forth with a practiced set of abilities that I was confident enough to show. My community sat around me, watching as I pushed shadows to dance along walls and light to form in my palms, circling us, causing eyes to squint and a quiet symphony of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs.’
Soon after that, time passed quickly. My abilities allowed us to live more efficiently, and I became a pillar of the community. They asked me to run errands for them, knowing I could protect myself. They asked for my aid consistently. It was tiring work, and I knew they could survive without it, yet I pushed on anyway. I refused to leave my community in the dark.
Above ground, demi-humans, as they called them, humanoids with abilities, were taken, rushed into facilities, and sent to fight for the state. Each run to the surface I took, I grew more and more worried for my future– until, inevitably, I was asked a relatively large task.
It seemed simple, at first. Gather enough food to last the community for a month or so. I couldn’t do it within town, as it’d raise suspicion, but word had spread from mouth to mouth detailing a temple on the outskirts of the city, harboring a trade center with food that could last my community months on end. I was unsure of where the original recollection of this temple came from, but I trusted my community, as they hadn’t steered me wrong yet.With cash in hand and a hat to cover my ears, I left the underground in search of food.
Getting out of the city was simple enough. I knew it well after traversing it day after day in disguise, and though I couldn’t take any public transport, I was used to the physical labor. I walked for a few hours, entering the outskirts and slipping into the thick woods that showed the shift between urban and countryside.After another hour or so of searching, I was prepped to give up. The trees were far too tall and dense to see through, and I was more lost than I had been within my entire lifespan.As I turned to move back toward where I came, a glimmer caught my attention.A ball of light, adjacent to a star, shimmered before me, not of my creation, but of the forest’s. It shifted in the air, swaying impatiently from side to side, before zipping off between the trees.Unable to curb my curiosity, I followed it, shoes digging into the mud below as I darted between the bushes and piles of leaves, nearly tripping over the sticks that riddled the ground.The light guided me quickly and succinctly to a stone building, its cracks thickly filled with plush moss. Vines spilled over the roof, sprawling down and covering the stone door. I reached through them, turning the handle.The door opened with ease, but there was no sound within. I had expected the voices of many, the sound of cart wheels upon the floor, or maybe even distant humming– Yet, nothing came from the darkness but the occasional plok of water droplets falling into their respective puddles below.The ball of light fell into my hand, fizzling gently as I entered into the vast, empty area that should’ve been the trade center. After a moment of allowing me to explore, it floated its way toward a wall. I begrudgingly followed.The light seeped between the cracks of the stone, disappearing amongst the wall, and leaving me in complete darkness. I raised my fingers to trace along the bricks, feeling the roughness of their exterior. Then, I pushed inward.
With enough force, the stone reeled backward, settling in place and opening the secret door. The ball of light, now shining brighter than ever, cast an ethereal glow along a wooden table, riddled with tea-stained scrolls.At this point, with no trade center in sight and far too long a walk back to my community, I weighed my odds. Deciding my curiosity was too intense to leave unsatiated, I approached the table and observed the scroll sitting front and center.
It was riddled with ancient text scribbled with old ink that had faded with time. The words, too foreign to make out at first, began to shift with further observation. I couldn’t read them, not intently, at least, but something in the back of my mind recited the story– and words began to lift off the page.
Daughter of Amaterasu, Welcome Home.The page lit up in a flash of light, ripping apart and falling to my feet, as a sense of familiarity washed over me. My home, my sudden consciousness, my lack of childhood memories, my abilities. It had all chalked up to this.I was the daughter of a Goddess of Light, and it was my duty to bring the sun to a world of darkness.
