Image Mirage: Chapter 1.

Chapter 1: Deep blue abyss. Awaken!

The girl crouched beside the Shard resting on the ground, took it between her thumb and index finger and felt that it was still warm. She looked around while bringing her slender fingers through her ink blue hair and rose. She expected that someone had dropped it. The Shard was like that from a painted window or glass bowl and when the light played in it the reflection was much like that of a view inside a kaleidoscope. Ima looked around for traces of anyone but the evening had firmly settled and the forest was dim around her. She was knew to the village and did not know of anyone else who used to walk the forest paths, believed that the piece had to been dropped recently since it was still warm.
         It was then she felt it. A soft tickle of her mind and a low voice that began to boil shaping random words that were caught by her subconscious. She suddenly felt powerful, not afraid of being alone in this new village and with no friends. Not afraid that her parents had separated and that she had not heard from her mother in weeks. Ima knew that the power was not her own, wondered from where it came and from her subconscious leaked a single word. Chosen. She wondered from where it had been born, found herself looking around as if it was the forest that had spoken to her but found that it was not. Felt the still warm Shard in her hand when another word came from her now flooded  subconscious. Woman. She looked at herself and the slim, spry body honed by the caress of water and forged by her black swimsuit. She was no woman, a girl on the height of puberty, but woman? No. She shook her head as the power grew in her while more words came from inside her own mind. Made her wonder from what source they came, had her own heart began to speak to her or was her mind so tired that her thoughts began to grow twisted.
         She closed her eyes searched herself into the flow of power. Traced it through her body as it flowed from head to toe making her more then she had been before. Adding layer and layer of protection around her heart making the fragile bubble into a strong sphere. Reforging her muscles making them stronger but adding nothing to their seize, felt how her stomach tensed, her posture grow even more firm. She felt the power remove the mild migraine she had suffered from and cleared her mind leaving a few distinct thoughts behind. Her mother, father. Her new life here in Hart, new classmates and homework. It made her smile and she felt that her lips were different then before, touched them with two fingers and felt that they had not changed. It was she who had changed, felt suddenly as if her body was awkward for her and wished that if it was possible to crawl from it as if it was a cocoon holding her.
         Then a voice inside her said that everything was as expected. That she as the Chosen Woman needed to be stronger so that she could accept her destiny. The voice was that of a female serene and gentle and each word made Ima feel secure, lulled her to peace inside this changed body. The voice in her continued: Told her that she had to find the sealed Goddess and release her.
         “Yes.” Ima said her eyes vacant as if looking into a world beyond this. Her stare tracing a being not walking before her as the darkness settled around her. Silence filled the space her word left behind. Her fingers joined harder around the Shard. She inhaled, elevated her chest and posture firmed as if she stood before a royalty.
         Ima's mind saw a prison. Dark bars containing a light garbed by darkness. The light had no face, no contours but still it cried tears that she gathered in her black hands. Ima wondered from whose eyes she looked at this prisoner. Thought for a moment that she herself was there and witnessed it, wanted to reach forward and aid the woman but found that she had no hands. Could feel herself moving but did not see her hands move towards the bars. Moved her head expecting to look to her sides but no movement came to her vision.
         She realised that her body and mind had been separated. That her true body remained in the forest holding to the Shard, she still felt the heat, the power. Her mind was somewhere else regarding the crying prisoner unable to help her, unable to see where she was kept. But who wanted her too see this? Who had tasked her with releasing the Goddess? The view before her mind faded, she returned to her body and dropped the Shard. The power stopped flowing inside her but her body did not revert and all the changes remained but she was afraid again. Afraid because her parents had separated and that she had not heard from her mother in weeks.



Ima turned away from the Shard. Felt that it called her like a infant crying to his mother to give him breast. She did not want to see it. Did not want to experience that again. Wondered with what power the Shard had contaminated her, what vile changes it had brought to her body, what had warped her mind. She began to walk away hearing the Shards cry in her mind, felt tears well up in her mind as she was reminded of the words Chosen Woman.
         Lie. She thought as she began down the hill path and looked out over the small village by the sea hoping to forget the image of the crying Goddess. Looked at the home on the small peninsula on the east of the village. There she and her father lived in the aged lighthouse and she traced the small gravel road from their doorstep then as it wriggled its way to the village. She and her father had moved to Hart a few weeks ago, her dad had wanted to get away from the city and Ima did no longer disagree with his choice. It had been good for him.
         At the centre of the village she found the school with the large soccer field beside it and the two school buildings were the two most modern in the village with air-conditioning and white boards. The rest of the houses in the village were either of red brick or wood and the ones nearest to the school showed the different between the old and new.
         In the harbour fishing boats returned from the sea, a few waited for them at the many wooden piers and in the late hour the village park was occupied by a mother and her child playing with the swings.
         Ima tossed a glance over her shoulder back at the forest hilltop. The cry of the Shard echoed inside her and she looked away wrenching her mind away from the image of the crying Goddess. She began to think about school, knew that she had homework to do and needed to hurry home. Herhomeroom teacher, Ms. Kanega, was very strict and had mentioned that a missed homework would give them a warning while two would mean detention. Ima did not know if the woman had been kidding with them but did not wont to risk anything. Ms. Kanega was kind to her and really wanted her to like the little village.
         She entered the village and walked down the stone laid road past the central square. Here the old man Mr. Endiuk had a movie theatre and in the window was a large poster for the most recent Téuan Angels movie. A ticket was 77 yuan and a small crowd of mixed ages had gathered in this early evening.
         In the shop beside the movie theatre Mrs. Endiuk had a sweet shop that Ima had visited once every week and bought herself a couple of sugar buns and a pack of roasted almonds. Mrs. Endiuk was a kind woman who appeared to greet every customer with a smile and once she had offered Ima a free sweet, but she had declined.
         Down at the harbour Ima stopped and looked out over the ocean. Water had always made her feel calm inside, made her feel free as it surrounded her and both reasons was why she always had enjoyed swimming. At her old school she had been a part of the swimming team but here in Hart they had none. They had a soccer team and Ms. Kanega had wanted her to join that one but Ima had decided to swim in the ocean instead as a attempt to hone her body.



Ima's father sat on a chair on the western side of the lighthouse where he caught the last sunlight of the fading day. He had become a little of age and his hair gradually had began to shift from black to grey but apart from that he looked young and was reading the newspaper while a can of beer stood in the grass beside him. He was done painting for today and always relaxed a little before he began with supper.
         "Evening dad." Ima said and stopped a few meters away from him trying her best to brush the worries from her mind but knew that he probably would not notice them anyway.
         Mane looked at his daughter with his dark eyebrows raised. "Hungry?"
         Ima shook her head. "No, not yet." She inhaled the fresh air. "I have some homework to do. Will you call for me when it's done?" Her father nodded and returned to read the article about the developments on the northern border.

The light house had three floors: On the first floor was the bathroom and kitchen, on the second her fathers bedroom and his studio and on the third floor was her room. Ima had a window with a perfect view over the sea and she could see the fishing boats leave in the morning and return in the evening.
         Ima closed the door behind her, unbuttoned the topmost two buttons in her shirt and revealed her neck as well as her mothers old necklace, a four clover in purple and blue. She walked up the the window, opened it and allowed herself to linger in the draught. The sun was slowly descending towards the horizon and night would soon arrive, she thought about the Shard again.
         Her gaze disappeared into the distance. Recalled the power that had flowed within her and made herself aware of the changes to her muscles but felt that her mind again was clouded. Her thoughts no longer had any clarity, not like they had been when the power had inhabited her. She looked to her school books resting on her desk, knew that she should study but found no calm, no peace inside. The vision of the crying Goddess came to her mind, the image blurred but still she saw the gathering of tears in the black hands. Tried to shook the image from her mind but it did not fade and tears nearly came to her eyes. Ima heard the Shard cry out to her from the height of the hill.
         She covered her ear only to realise that the noise sounded in her head. Erupted in her mind like a geyser and the blast that pierced the vaults of her thoughts caused her to fall to her knees. Cry while a warped voice entered her mind, a angry evil voice calling her to save the Shard before the evil came to claim it.
         Ima's mind paused. For a moment all thoughts in her mind stopped as if halted by a massive wall of power. Around her the world came to a blur and she closed her eyes. Then, when her mind started to move again the cries of the Shard was gone, the wicked voice silent but Ima could feel the essence of a word remain left there as a last guiding entity. Believe. Then sleep seized her.



"Time to eat." Her fathers voice from downstairs stirred her from the sleep. She sat up on the wooden floor and rubbed her eyes feeling a eerie sensation in her head and but felt that the change the Shard had created in her still was present in her body. Her fathers voice sounded again and she struggled to her feet while questioning her own sanity. Began downstairs meeting her father at the foot of the stairs and met his worried smile. “I thought you had fallen asleep. How is the migraine?”
         “Gone.” Ima said trying to sound cheerful only to fail. Took her seat at the table and poured herself some water while her father removed the steaming hamburger pie from the oven and placed it on the table. “I took a nap.”
         He smiled and took his seat while gesturing for her to begin. "There is a art fair in the city next week.” Mane said and regarded her as she cut a piece of a pie and added it to her plate. “They want me to participate." Her father said and began pouring beer into his glass. "Do you want to come along or would you prefer to stay at home?"
         She cut a piece of pie for her father and added it to her plate while crunching his words through her slow mind. He had never asked her anything like that before, had always treated her like a little girl and taken her along. Why the sudden change? “I would rather stay at home.” Ima replied. “Why?”
         Her father smiled and sliced a piece of overcooked hamburger. “Thought it was time, you're sixteen years old.” Brought the piece to his mouth and chewed. “You can come if you want to but it'll be embarrassing.”
         “Embarrassing?” Ima inquired softly then chewed searching his face and eyes for changes. Began to recall the words the voice had said to her. Chosen Woman. Maybe just some part of that was true.
         “Nothing.” Mane said and focused on his food allowing his girl to explore him for traces of this secret of his. "Are you done with your homework?"
         “Yes.” Ima lied and stuffed her mouth with a piece of pie. Chewed it for a long time before she swallowed. "I'll take a shower after dinner. Then I am of to sleep." She reached for her glass and washed the remains of the food down more nervously then she had intended, but her father seemed not to notice.
         "I'll go of into the village for a while, there are some things I need to do." Mane said with his eyes steady on Ima as if he tried to peak past her façade and into the thoughts behind.
         Ima remained sipping her water while he regarded her. He had been working hard since they came here, up early each morning then of into the village before he went to sleep. She didn't really know what he did in the village but her curiosity had never sparked enough for her to ask. Ima cleaned her plate of the last pie, smiled wide as she brought it over to the sink then headed towards the bathroom while her father remained by the table holding his glass while looking deep into the muddled liquid.



The warm water caressed Ima's face, trickled down her chest and back as she tried to relax. She had the image of the Shard in her mind, the kaleidoscope of colour and the power she had sapped from it. Knew not the origin of this scattered artefact but feared as its power as much as she yearned for it. Did not want to be afraid, did not want her mind obscured not that she had seen her thoughts with a divine clarity. Ima turned the valve and the water stopped pouring over her as she reached for the bottle of shampoo and squeezed the cold gel into her hand. “Chosen Woman.” She said to herself as she began to massage the gel to a thick purplish foam in her hair and made sure to give the scalp the grace of her fingertips. The air around her became fragrant with a odour one not her own but that of roses and tulips. Believe had been the word that had lingered in her mind. But believe in what.
         Ima rinsed her hair and washed her body once more before she seized the bar of soap. Even if she could not hear the Shard she knew it called for her, wanted her to return to it but for what reason. Would it possess her with that power again and show her the crying Goddess? Change her body more and make her even more capable as the Chosen Woman?
         A shadow came to her mind as she rinsed the fresh soap from her skin. The shadow grew and faded as if induced by a outside source and that her own fear was only a amplifier of its menace. She closed the valve and remained with the chill as the water on her body vaporised, exited onto the cold bathroom floor and wrapped herself in a large towel then used a smaller one to dry her hair while regarding herself in the mirror. “Chosen Woman.” Her eyes grew in the reflection of herself and could not see what the words meant in the appearance of her face. “Believe.” She added with a silly smile that did not disperse the shadow in her mind. Took her toothbrush and thought about the Shard again.



Ima sat down on the bedside dressed in her light blue nightdress with two winged hearts on the chest. She had opened her window a slightly to allow the cold air into her room. Slowly she slid below the quilt and rested her head against the pillow, felt the fragrance of the washing powder and it made her feel comfortable. Reminded Ima of her mother and she closed her eyes and relaxed every feature of her face.
         It was with a loud bang that the power tore through her mind and made her toss and turn in her bed and at last awake with eyes wide open starring into the darkness above her. Something was wrong, very wrong. She felt this ripple in her heart, a reminder that she was the Chosen Woman and she sat up in her bed. “The Shard.” She said softly recalling the changes it had brought to her and wondered what would happened if that evil the voice had mentioned claimed it. Again the power tore through her mind and a headache shot up her spine and with a ripe force tortured her head. Believe. Believe in the words that had been spoken to her both in anger and calm. Believe in her own ability.
         Quickly her steps brought her downstairs and to the front door, she opened it and feared the first thing she saw. A bright pillar of light stood from the hilltop and disappeared into the thick blanket of clouds above. She began to run. Ran through the village dead as night. Began up the steep hill path with the night a thick darkness around her, a darkness that grew and made her unable to see. Ima tripped, fell forward and raised her hands to cover her face. Her right knee struck a rock and with trembling lips she felt the wound, the blood stuck to her fingers and using her newly given strength she brought herself to stand. Wept as she looked at the fading pillar of light and began to run anew.
         The dark shadow stood beside the pillar and its two red eyes shone like brisk hellfire as he regarded the Shard resting in the draining light. He released a hand from below his cape and a mouth opened in the shadow of his face and with warped yellow teeth and blood red lips he spoke. “It appears that destruction of the Carnar Seal was not enough. The power of the Heavenly Princess is stronger then my Master had told me.” He waited for a reply he unfolded his hand. “But the scattered pieces has unlocked another world for her to conquer.” He brought his hand into the pillar of light and contaminated it with his darkness and the world shook.
         Ima acted on impulse and dived into the dark, decaying pillar. In the darkness she found the Shard of the Carnar Seal and with it in her hand she purified the pillar and the sudden light forced the shadow back and lit his body revealing his dark armour with golden ornaments, the tall shoulders and dark face burned and scarred by aeons of war. His hands were stained by darkness that moved as if leeches lived below the skin and the nails had grown thick and had began to replace his fingertips. “Fiend.” He cursed as he saw the girl enveloped in the light but as he reached his hand towards the light he realised that the power of the Heavenly Princess Amophore protected her, the Shard had chosen her. Was this the terror that the Masquerade Queen had told him about.
         Ima held the Shard feeling its power once again giving clarity to her mind and the gentle voice inside her said what she needed to do. Give the Shard to her body, accept her destiny and rise as the Chosen Woman. She brought the Shard to her forehead, felt the radiant power and when it touched her skin and began to fuse with her she saw the light around her fade. The curtain had fallen, battle had begun.
         Ima rose and held her unfolded hand up against the dark night sky. "Image Burst!" She said and from inside her a bright light was born and enveloped her, made her shine with a radiant beauty while she was robed as a warrior. A blue sleeveless chest piece was wrapped around her torso, a curled azure ribbon with a amethyst centrepiece adorned her chest and a blue short skirt ornamented at the waist and edges with embroidery of seaweed. Her thighs received the caress of a pair of steel blue leggings that reached to the knees where it met the metallic blue boots with heart shapes at the ankles and a heel in a sharp silver. Her hands dressed with clear blue gloves ending below her elbow with a border of glass in shy contrast to her pale skin. The ornament of a trident kept her hair together and the elaborate waistband had a large buckle with the letter U.
         Ima pointed with a strong finger against the shadow Lord. "Evil Lord of mystery power. My torrent will flush you away!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "I am Undine! Guardian of the Sacred and ally to the sea." Using the power that rushed through her she leaped into the air, descended with a kick against the head of the shadow Lord and the impact caused him to stumbled back a single step before he regained posture and grunt.
         "Petty girl." The Lord belched and brought his hands together as his eyes narrowed to a thin flame. "Feel my punishment." A spark of dark power was born between the palms and as he separated them a card hovered between his palms. “Tarot: Rise, Golem.”  The cord screwed itself into the ground and the shadow man vanished into the night while the earth shook with tremendous force while it delivered a creature of clay and stone to the world.
         Ima looked at the hideous being deformed by stones and with skin a liquid clay that kept the Golem together while drawing power from the Tarot, it bashed its two large fists into the ground hoping that it would scare Ima away but she only used it as a opening for her attack.
         She closed her fist and delivered it against the Golem feeling it strike the weave of power that surrounded it, diminish the Tarots power. She avoided the creatures clumsy fist and sent a kick against the large humanoid head and forced her opponent back.
         Leviathan the voice inside her head said and Ima joined her hands above her head, closed her eyes and felt the flow of power within her. "I call thee, protector of Meadow. Summon: Leviathan!" She called and in the emptiness between her head and hands a whirlpool of water was born and from inside it one could hear the sound of waves crashing against a cliffside. She opened her eyes and from the eye of the vortex came the sea serpent with whiskers green as seaweed and a body bright blue as the purest ocean water and eyes emerald green. The Golem braced itself for the impact but the serpent shot right through the foul summon severing the magic of Tarot and the fiend crumbled to pieces leaving in its place a card bearing its image.
         Ima separated her hands and Leviathan vanished, she collapsed to her knees as the power of Image Undine faded from her. “Undine.” Ima said feeling the power still in her, the power to protect her world. She reached for the card and seized it, had expected another rush of power through her body but nothing happened. She regarded the small writing below the image of the creature Golem. “Descendant of Earth.” She rose with her eyes still on the words and decided to keep the card, did not want it to fall into enemy hands.
         With the nightdress billowing around her she began to walk back home appreciating the clarity of her mind. She was the Shard and the Shard was her. If the evil wished desired it they needed to take it from her dead body. And she would not give up without a fight, would not leave this world to the decay of that man.

Chapter 1: End.