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W…… Wel…. Welcome, little ones. Tamberlanes eyes shot open, and she jolted upright. “Hu, hu, wuh?” She looked around, surveying her environment. She was definitely not in Treehollow anymore. She was lying on the floor of a magnificent ballroom, like the ones in the bedtime stories her mother read her. There wasn’t a ceiling or walls, however, just a floor floating in an infinite, greenish-black sky. The voice who had woken her had no discernible location, but lying next to her was…. Jonas . The raccoon lay next to her, and was similarly looking around in confusion. The pairs eyes met, and immediately they sprung towards each other
“Jonas! Where are we?” “I have no idea! Last I remember, we ....” He fell silent as his faculties returned, and he remembered.. The river, the cold water, the fear.
He shivered. “I-is this….”
“No, no.” Tamberlane held him tight, trying to comfort the scared kit. “I don’t know where we are, but it’s not.. That place.”
The sound of footsteps startled the pair, as they suddenly became aware of a third arrival in the room. A strange, mysterious figure walked towards them. They couldn’t make out any distinguishing features, as the figure was surrounded by shadow, and a cloud of butterflies swirled around him. “ Hello there, little ones. I’m sorry to bring you here under such… unfortunate circumstances, but… I felt the time was right.” Jonas quickly jumped, shielding Tamberlane behind him “W-ho are you?! I-i’m not scared of you!”
The figure laughed. “I admire your determination, but I mean you no harm.” He held up both his hands. “Please. I just want to talk.” Jonas looked back at Tamberlane, and the two shared a look. He turned back to the figure. “O-ok. What do you want, then?” “I’ve come to warn you.” He raised an arm, and a pair of blue cards appeared in his hand. “Something is coming, and I need those with certain... talents.”
“What do you mean?” Tamberlane spoke up. “We’re just kits! Why not adults?” “You have a potential that few in this world, or any world, possess. Your souls hold the ability to call forth a manifestation of your internal self, known as a Persona.”. He handed both the cards to the pair, one for Jonas, and one for Tamberlane. Jonas looked down at his card. It had a blue outline, with a strange design on it. Written above it, in big black letters, was the word “Strength” written in Growl. He glanced over to Tamberlane, her card was similar, but her card had the letters “Fool” on it.
The pair were both flummoxed, before Jonas finally spoke up. “So… what do we do?” “When the time is right, you will know what to do.” The figure stretched out an arm, and a glowing blue butterfly landed on his finger “Just follow the butterflies.” “Wait!” Tamberlane called out to the figure. “Who are you?! ”
The figure gave a wry smile. “My name?”
He chuckled. “Several hundred Millennia of existence, and I’ve only been asked that question a rare few times. My name is Philemon. I am… what you might call a god.” Bright blue specks of energy
circled around the pair, as they felt themselves being pulled… somewhere. “Well now, children, I will now send you back to your world. You should be cured of your current... predicament. But listen to me now. There are others like you in your village. Find them, and help them awaken to their powers, as you will soon do.” “H-how? Who?” Tamberlane reached out to Philemon, but found her strength fading, as her body literally seemed to fade away, alongside Jonas. As her vision was overtaken with blue light, she heard the mysterious figure known as Philemon speak one final time. “Just use your heart, young one.” Then the light went black, and she drifted off into unconsciousness once more.
Terra sat by Tamberlane’s bedside, illuminated by the setting sun, checking the oxygen mask over her face for seemingly the billionth time. The kit was stable, but she wasn’t getting better, and the nurse was growing more and more worried that she wouldn't be able to shake off the disease. A glitter in the corner of her eye suddenly caught her attention. It was a butterfly, but something was off about it. Instead of any color of butterfly she had seen, it almost seemed to be made of glowing blue light, twinkling as it lazily fluttered around the room, with no apparent destination in mind. “Now, what are you doing here?” She muttered to herself, and stood up to get a better look at this strange phenomenon. It fluttered away from her, before flitting to and alighting on top of Tamberlane’s forehead. “Hey! Now you ca-” She went to shoo it away, before she was blinded by a flash of blue light. As her eyes filled with tears, she swore she could see blue fire dancing around the bed, and a mysterious voice in her ears “Per…so…na.” When the light disappeared, Terra was left fumbling on the floor, rapidly blinking her eyes to restore her vision. When it finally returned, she was astounded by what she saw. Tamberlane was sitting up in her bed, blinking her eyes blearily. Her oxygen mask lay on her bed, the strap charred black. The kit stared up at her in confusion “Terra? You ok?” The gobsmacked nurse quickly dashed out of the room, frantically looking for Nora, in the hope her senior could help her rationalize the situation. She instead saw her explode out of Jonas’s room with a similar panicked expression. The two’s eyes met, and they silently agreed that the pair had seen the same event. “I’ll get everyone.” Nora turned around and sprinted out the front door of the clinic. She sprinted over the snow-covered roads, past the school, towards the Baker residence. “Oh Tamberlane, Jonas.” She thought “You’ve been through so much at such a young age.” “I hope this isn't the start of some more troubles for this town.”
Oh boy, how wrong this night was going to prove her.