In Somnium Fortuna, The Story.
Dahlia laughs, waving her friends goodbye as she leaves the school grounds. Today had been a good day! The first of many. The teachers held a party for the leavers, of which she was, and her friends loved her new hairstyle. A good day indeed, Dahlia thought to herself.
Bag over her shoulder and her head held high, Dahlia stepped down the street of her usual route, passing by her favourite bookshop, “Wisdoms and Wonders”. Pausing briefly just moments after, she turns her head, considering entering the bookshop for the first time that week.
She stands there, in the middle of the street, staring at the storefront.
Still staring.
And someone walks into her, startling her out of her daze. Blinking once, she looks at the man that walked into her. She laughs nervously as he nods his capped head once, muttering a quiet ‘Sorry,’ as he rushes off once more. She nods in turn, waving absentmindedly as her gaze lingers on his departing form, before she shakes her head and turns to enter the shop.
The bell rings, signaling her entry as Dahlia breathes in the smell of old, well worn books. A smile graces her features, her eyes closing ever so briefly as she spreads her arms outwards, finding comfort in the solace of the bookshop.
A solid thud on the floor draws Dahlia back to her senses, noticing that her bag is no longer hanging over her shoulder, but is instead now lying on the floor.
Rolling her eyes, she kneels down to pick up the satchel and the contents that spilled out, fumbling awkwardly to lug the bag back over her shoulder. She huffs a lock of hair out her eyes, separating her hair from her fringe delicately. She’ll get used to this.. at some point.
Growing tired of reorganising her own hair, she pushes it backwards, the fringe parting awkwardly soon after. Huffing once more, she moves throughout the store to look at their grand collection of books.
Dahlia smiles briefly once more. She feels at home. ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ “Come now, Dahlia. You’ve been in here for a solid three hours,” calls the sweetest little man in the world, Sir Travis, “I’m sure your parents are mighty worried; you really must go home, Dear.”
Only then does Dahlia look up from her book, having almost finished the... fourth of the series. A whine escapes her, her brows furrowing and bottom lip pursing into a pout as she looks up at Travis from her seat.
The man laughs, shaking his head as he lifts his hand from his hip to take Dahlia’s from the book. “If you’d like to buy the book, and the other two in the series, I’ll let y’have it for the price o’ this one. That sound good?” Travis whispers, smiling at Dahlia with that sweet, motherly smile.
Dahlia returns the smile with just the same sweetness, placing her bookmark into the book and handing it over to Travis. “Thank you, Travis. This really means a lot.” She says, standing slowly before pushing her chair back beneath the table. Travis merely smiles, walking over to the counter to scan in the books.
As Travis logs in the books, Dahlia decides to explore the corners of the bookstore a little further. Finding herself having seen most of them already, she huffs, frowning slightly despite knowing she probably wouldn’t have discovered much else.
Turning to head back to the main floor, Dahlia startles at the sound of a thud coming from behind what she thought was a wall.
Peering over at the bookshelf, her eyes widen upon the discovery of an entirely new corridor. Dahlia leans backwards, craning her neck to make sure that Travis is still occupied before deciding to venture down the corridor. Squinting through the darkness, Dahlia lifts her fringe once more in a futile attempt to be able to see more.
All of a sudden, her foot collides with a rather dense, heavy object, causing her to fall face first onto the floor. ‘Ow...’ she mutters to herself. Pushing herself up, Dahlia looks behind herself to see what it was that she tripped over.
A book.
A rather dusty one at that, with a purple and blue gem set into the cover.
Dahlia frowns, crawling over to the book to take a closer look at it. The brown, tattered leather cover reveals that it’s been very well used.. not quite loved, but it certainly had a purpose. Opening the book, Dahlia sneezes at the amount of dust that had been trapped inside of the pages, and upon closer inspection, so had a moth.
A small moth, trapped between the first page and the front cover, immortalised in the book through the pressure over the years. Frowning once more, Dahlia then shuts the book and lifts it to put it back onto it’s designated shelf, when the dull clunk of metal hitting wood resounds.
Looking down from the book, Dahlia sees a pendant, almost glowing in the darkness with it’s striking beauty. After replacing the book in it’s original place, Dahlia takes a moment to admire the glimmer inside the crystals within the pendant. She smiles, pocketing the pendant and quickly exiting the corridor.
“Dahlia? Are y’reading again? Your books are ready my dear.” Travis calls, his footsteps resounding through the shop softly.
“Coming!” Dahlia shouts, jogging back to the main floor of the shop with a huff, wiping her hands on the back of her jeans. She smiles at Travis, “Sorry Sir, just got distracted by your bookmarks.”
Travis laughs, nodding in understanding as he waves a hand dismissively. “Not t’worry dear. Your books are all logged in, do you want a bag?”
Dahlia smiles, relieved. “Yes please, Travis. That would be wonderful.”
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
“Goodnight!” Dahlia yells out from her bedroom door, stretching as she turns, kicking the door shut with her foot. A muffled response can be heard coming through the floorboards, and Dahlia smiles. She picks up a hairband from her dresser, tying up her hair in preparation for her good nights rest.
A glimmer comes from the bottom of her bed, catching her eye. The pendant, sat beside her book of crystals and gems. Across the pages are the names of two crystals; Amethyst and Ametrine, the crystals held within the pendant.
Shrugging to herself, Dahlia picks up the book and takes it over to her bookshelf, placing it back for the time being. She then walks back over to her bed, picking up the pendant and, enchanted by its beauty, decides to put it on. Glancing over to the mirror on her wall, she smiles, enamoured by the way that it looks against her neck.
As she turns off the light, Dahlia lifts the covers and clambers into bed. Her ebony locks resting softly against the silk pillowcase. She smiles, and slowly she drifts deeper and deeper into an enchanted slumber.
Moonlight gleams through the windows, catching the crystals with a gentle breath of light.
The Ametrine glitters, a soft mist dispersing from the pendant, only to be inhaled by Dahlia.
Darkness looms, consuming the girl, the bed, the room.
All that is left in sight is the pendant.
...
Crack... ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
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