A scorching heat encompassed the orchard behind Anne’s house, and a plethora of insects, including bees, buzzed around from flower to flower, pollinating the area. An extremely concentrated smell of summer fruits pervaded Anne’s nostrils as she walked through the orchard. She plucked all manner of fruits as she strolled along: something that looked like a blueberry but was many times larger, blackberries and strawberries too. She had placed all of the fruits into a brown basket filled halfway with water. Anne hummed to herself as she bounced back to her house.

“Okay, let’s see,” Anne mumbled as she looked at the barrel containing the Black Water given to her by Vice. She had seated herself by the sofa in her living room and was inspecting the liquid very carefully. The mana that flowed into her eyes caused them to sparkle like crazy and allowed her to see the arcana particles in the substance.

Water dripped onto her bright red floral sundress as she removed some of the fruits from the basket. She took the fruits and submerged them into the Black Water. As she waited for her preparations to complete, she tied her long black hair into a neat bun and used an assortment of flowers she’d previously plucked to decorate it.

“I’m going to hate this, but anything for you, Vice,” she said under her breath. Anne then took out the fruits from the Black Water. The thick black liquid dripped off of the items. She waited for all of the excess liquid to fall back into the barrel, upon which she took the fully coated berries and threw them into her mouth, swallowing them whole.

Anne’s face contorted in disgust, her lips twitching momentarily as she felt the urge to throw up. She lost her footing and a loud thud resounded through the room when she impacted the floor.

A bright yellow aura in the shape of a dove hovered above Anne’s body as she convulsed on the ground, the thick black liquid drooling out of her lips. The image of the dove sniffed at the air with a curiosity in its eyes. Its nostrils soon became vacuums, and the minimal amounts of arcana within Anne were pulled into the yellow bird. After a short amount of time, the barrel was sucked dry of all of the arcana within it, and the bird chirped loudly before jumping into Anne’s still convulsing body.

Anne jumped up off the ground the moment the dove came back into her. She slowly walked to her sofa, her steps a struggle, and let herself fall onto it. ‘Ahh as soft as a cloud,’ she thought. Anne rubbed her muscles slowly, the motion helping to ease some of the pain within them. She stifled a moan as she reached a bump in her calf, but soon massaged it with utmost care as she weaved in some yellowish mana into it. Her calf stung as the arcana flowed into it, but Anne enjoyed the sensation. She smiled weakly as the painful sensation faded away from her muscles.

“Ahh this is the worst part,” she mumbled and held her head tightly. The girl slumped back into the couch and closed her eyes. The mana from within her arcane core gushed out, its color that of a sweet nectar, and surrounded her body in its yellow light.

“AHHH!” she screamed and clutched onto her chest. Her chest burned and then froze continuously, alternating between the two extreme temperatures, until finally all of the air was pushed out of her lungs. Not long after she began to convulse again, but this time she completely passed out.

….

Anne rubbed her head as she slowly opened her eyes. A lethargic feeling had filled her from head to toe, and she struggled to get onto her feet as her legs buckled against her command. After a couple of attempts, she was finally able to stand up, however with much difficulty as she nearly fell flat on her face.

‘Ugh, where am I this time then?’ she thought as she looked around her surroundings. ‘Oh right, I’m at Vice’s house. Of course, where else would my spell take me when the Black Water was found there,’ she thought before knocking herself on her head.

The girl leisurely walked toward the kitchen of Vice’s old home, the flames having yet to ensue. A tall person was stood in the middle of the kitchen, wearing nothing but black shorts and a shirt. Anne was unable to see most of the figure’s facial features because it was more of a blur to her eyes and shrouded in shadows. Two horns protruded from the figure’s head in the same manner that Vice’s did, and its eyes were also pitch-black.

“Vice? Is that you?” Anne called out. She stood frozen to the spot with her mouth agape, unable to process the image in front of her. ‘No, that can’t be right. There’s no way that’s Vice,’ she thought. ‘The horns are differently shaped than Vice’s… If only this image wasn’t such a blur.’

The figure knelt down and a huge surge of arcana flashed into existence around its hand. A bright red flame burst forth, which the figure thrust into the barrel of Black Water. The figure leisurely stood up and walked forward to where Anne was stood. It stared straight into her eyes, its nose only centimeters away from hers, before it maneuvered around the girl, and left the house. As the figure left, Anne was able to spot another distinct feature. There seemed to be a feminine sway in the figure’s hips as it walked away from the scene.

‘Wha-’ Anne thought, her heartbeat racing so fast that she believed it’d explode any moment. ‘She can’t have seen me through my spell. I’m just an observer looking at the past through the lens of this arcana…’

The area quickly blurred as the flames in the Black Water barrel exploded, creating the raging inferno that would leave a Vice’s house destroyed beyond recognition. Anne was instantly transported out of this vision when her body was flung into the ground.

….

Anne’s body lurched forward off the floor, causing her to hit her head on the coffee table. “Ouch,” she said as she held onto her forehead which was glowing bright red. She rubbed the spot in circular motions and allowed her mana to flow into the area until the pain subsided.

‘Who was that?’ she thought. Anne breathed in heavily because her heart wouldn’t stop shaking. Her face had lost its usual color, and the spark in her yellow eyes was all but dulled. “I need to talk to Vice as soon as possible,” she said to herself as beads of sweat dripped down from her forehead.

She stared out of her window for a moment, it having long turned to night. “Vice, pick up already, this is important,” Anne shouted into a large golden card she picked out of her pocket. After not receiving any response she threw her card across the room. Anne glared at where she’d thrown the card before slowly getting up and walking to pick it up.

Anne looked out of her living room window to the bright sun above, and then to her orchard which was alive with movement from the multiple animals in the area. ‘Such a weird feeling the sun gives me. I love how it lets me grow my fruits and takes care of my orchard, but my skin tingles weirdly under it,’ Anne thought before picking up the card and once again calling Vice.