Night fell quietly over the forest town of Asterfall, but for Lulu, it felt like the world was holding its breath.
She stood at the edge of the old stone bridge, wind pushing her silver-blue hair across her face. Aria and Seris had gone ahead to scout the upper trail, leaving Lulu behind with a simple task: guard the supplies and watch for any unusual activity.
A simple job.
But even simple things could go wrong.
Lulu paced in small circles, humming nervously. I can handle this. I can handle this… Her power—small manipulations of starlight—wasn't as strong as Aria's reality-shift magic or Seris's destructive force, but she always tried her best.
The forest was quiet… until it wasn't.
A shimmering ripple appeared in the air, like heat waves bending the world. Lulu gasped. She recognized that distortion—weak, unstable, but still dangerous. A fragment of the same void-creatures that had attacked them days ago.
"Oh no… no no no… not now!"
The distortion twitched, then split open like a cracked mirror. A creature crawled out—thin, skeletal, its body made of glitch-like static. Its eyes flickered like dying stars.
Lulu stepped back, clutching her staff.
"I-I don't want to fight you! Just stay back!"
The creature hissed and lunged toward the bags of supplies.
The supplies!
They'll be ruined!
Lulu raised her staff, summoning a burst of starlight. The light shot forward—beautiful, bright… and far too weak.
It fizzled before it even touched the monster.
Her heart sank.
"Wait! Come on—work, please!"
She tried again, pouring everything she had into the attack. This time the blast connected, but it barely slowed the creature down. It kept walking, uncaring, as if she were nothing but wind blowing against stone.
Panic tightened her throat.
"Stop! Please stop!"
She ran forward, trying to shove the creature, but its glitch-body sent a sharp jolt through her arm. Lulu cried out and fell, scraping her knee on the stone bridge.
The creature opened its jaw and swallowed half the food supplies in a grotesque blink—absorbing them into its shimmering void-body.
Lulu froze.
She had failed.
By the time she scrambled up again, the distortion creature retreated back into the broken ripple, slipping away into the crack of unreality. The mirror-tear sealed behind it with a faint click, leaving nothing but silence.
And ruined supplies.
The bags lay torn, half of their food vanished. A sinking cold filled Lulu's chest. She stared at the empty space where the creature had disappeared and whispered:
"I… I messed up… I really messed up…"
Her legs wobbled until she sank to her knees again. Tears blurred her vision. She wiped them away quickly, ashamed of crying.
Seris told me to watch carefully… Aria trusted me…
And I still couldn't do it.
Footsteps approached from the trail—fast, urgent.
Aria was the first to arrive.
"Lulu? We sensed a fluctuation and—"
Her voice stopped when she saw the torn bags.
Seris arrived seconds later, sharp eyes scanning the bridge.
"What happened?"
Lulu's voice came out tiny, trembling.
"I… I tried to stop it. But I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't protect anything… I'm sorry…"
Aria kneeled beside her, her expression softening. She brushed Lulu's cheek.
"Hey… look at me. You're safe. That's what matters."
"But the supplies—"
"We can replace supplies," Aria said. "We can't replace you."
Seris crossed her arms, but her tone wasn't cold.
"You faced a distortion alone. Most people wouldn't have stood their ground."
"But I still failed…"
Seris crouched down to her level.
"Failure is normal. What matters is whether you learn from it."
Lulu's eyes filled again.
"So… you're not angry?"
"I'd be angrier if you lied," Seris said. "You fought. You did what you could. Next time, we'll make sure you're stronger."
Lulu took a shaky breath. "Next time… I want to be ready."
Aria smiled.
"And we'll help you get there."
Lulu looked at her scraped knee, the torn bags, her trembling hands—then back at her companions.
Her first failure hurt.
But it wasn't the end.
It was the beginning.