Pop a Trigger! — BloodOfPhantoms

Chapter One

Exhale.

In the busy major city of Imagia, it was a gloomy day just like any other. The sky was black, darkened by the forthcoming rain that sent slight drizzles for an impending shower, and the rest of the day would carry out just like this. There was a great stillness in the air, as everyone breathed. In and out— breathe, exhale; humid breaths onto cold air. Emari would be this story's star— an *Emari Watts*. As she stood there along the sidewalk, ready to move and cross the road with the oncoming passage of cars, all hell would easily break loose. Because hell was a concept— wrapped to the very thing she looked at along her left foreleg. *Time*. *Time*, was *hell*. But she would never realize this at the time. Rather, cast down from her pale grey eyes was an emotionless look that mimicked and mocked the gloom of the very bleak sky itself. Here, she was rough. If she wasn't a feral creature like the rest of Imagia (and furred for her species specifically), you would think that she would appear like a jagged black shape, poking out from all edges as if saying "don't touch me" in every direction. ...Her collar showed that, black leather with silver, shiny reflective spikes of eight (8) in each segment all around. It was the best literal simulation yet. A mutt, a "Vermin" of dark and grey colors, made evident by her tone itself; reality showing its sometimes blatant, ironic "humor". Fluffed tail of her shades, and barely medium size and figure. And there she was. Rain falling lightly, ready to go off to work at that bar she slaved at, and... always susceptible to time, and its "GODLIKE" influence. So, everyone was time's bitch, and the bitch was everyone's time. And this created the "stern" existence of what we call life, and death. Touched by time, Emari glanced around at her feet, and near everyone else crowding her after peering at her watch. 4:44 P.M. *Strange*. And then, the signal changed, giving the clear sign for all pedestrians to walk. The only thing that weighed Emari down (past her own individual being) was a grey bag along her side. It was sort of big and bulky, and clumsy for her size, but she was only borrowing it from her father. So, instead of going just as the signal came like everyone else, she waited for those that hustled to cross the street instead... and then soon after took her steps before the signal broke— *Wait*. There's a cat there. A brown, elderly plump-ish tabby she-cat with an orange cane was about to go forward and reach onto the other side— but the signal was bugged! Switching between the option to walk or not over and over again, and with a car swiftly approaching... what— *what was this*?! Emari thought. She wasn't one of many words, either. But by then, she knew what she had to do, and ran towards the elder with a grimace and widened eyes. And almost as if instinctually... she did it. The car came up to the old lady, *and then she was saved by an unexpected event*! (...But wait, what?! That's not how the story was supposed to go!) The old lady flinched at the impending crash, her fores raised to "protect" her body in a desperate attempt... but as she looked around, blinking rapidly with anxiously shaking body, she could only observe what was the nearest sidewalk, and a blue butterfly flying upwards towards and into the rain-drenched sky. Puzzled, she wondered... had she walked all along? Emari, surrounded by those bittersweet insects of azure wings, simply kept on her way... and did not look back. But someone *peered* at her— *because someone is always watching*.

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Chapter Two

Fate turned life into pain

Emari stepped inside the interior of the bar, almost immediately shifting into the back to change without looking at anyone. Proelium Bar was full of people that day (surprisingly, alongside rainy weather). It was downcast with darker colors amidst the walls; shiny and stylish... all the while with a modern flair along bar stools, chairs and tables. She went inside to change, a simple yet monotonous thing over time. She didn't think that anyone noticed her even enter inside. No one greeted her, but entering inside one of the workers' stalls (with the entire room being of similar, black glossy design). It was quiet, but quick, a standard thing. Mainly black with brown overalls reaching along her forelegs but not the hindlegs. There, she exits outside the stall looking downwards. Emari did not feel. Her body was practically puppeted by the daily life of society's own making, which she inhabited in this job. So here she was barely able to show her real self. In fact, she rarely even knew her *own* self, and it became something quite full of arcane mystique to even bring up such a thought. It just wasn't viable; puppets were better, or she would risk dying. "Speaking of dying..." Emari froze, and her body perked upwards with a startled shriek. She looked upwards to her confronter, a fox. A black and red fox, rather... in exactly the same outfit as her. *This* was *Silica Barnes*. "You're thinking—" Silica smiled, "You're thinking of a way to get out of this, aren't you?" Her eyes, brown, stared into Emari's pale greys with an attitude which sought out aggression. Like playing cards, wanting to strategize on what move the girl would pick next. "Please..." Emari said, trying to get past the smirking menace over her, but blocked upon the action. A slight growl came from the Vermin's mouth, "Please let me go. I need to get to things; I don't have time for this." Silica bent her head down from her taller stature, "You're not even going to ask me what I want?" Chuckling, the fox's smirk extended wider. A push. A genuine shove against Emari pushed her back into the stall's door, while Silica moved in closer. The two stared at each other; electricity rooted in their interaction. Their auras vibrated against each other like something fierce... and from there, Emari's eyes could only widen in some realization. "Oh?" Silica laughed, "...Why are you blushing? Do you... like this?" She asked, with a murr, drawing closer. Emari could not speak. She was only startled, face full of fear... before a butterfly would fly around the two; appearing. Silica watched it flitter around her head, "A blue butterfly... this is yours!" "No it isn't—" "Don't give me that shit!" She snapped, "This, this is your power, isn't it?" She growled, and then brought her paw up to swat the thing... crushing it underneath her paw with a sick grin along her face, and rubbing it into the ground. Emari could only watch in horror. "There... another bug squashed under my grips." A glare followed Emari, even as she began to walk away. "You're next... silly *girl*." Emari watched... until she exited, but could only see something right after. A faint hope, glimmering before her. Emari walked out with a butterfly still flying around her... to Silica's quick surprise. But no one else seemed to see such a thing. Grim-faced, she went over to the counter and began to polish glasses as her standard routine... while everyone else were already at their respective positions. At the sink, she could feel eyes over her... but chose to ignore it for the time. The butterfly then flittered over to Silica, and spun around. While she tended to the other side of the counter... she could only try to ignore it, sound of fluttering wings and all. "...So, will that be all?" Silica asked a wolf she served some whiskey to, smiling all the while. A smirk filled Emari's maw... along with a light chuckle, until the notice simply dawned on her once more. The realization... only came so late to the younger Emari. The two were opposites.

Chapter Three

Despair's Song of Desperation

As night breathed air into the damp climate, and Emari shifting from cleaner to tender and soon ready finish her shift to leave... the bar became much less active. She could tell that she was constantly being watched... but her peculiar, butterfly manifestation had long since disappeared. During the entire time of working, the older female could quite literally not leave her mind. Had they met earlier... this would have been not so awkward. But they both knew each other for quite some time, having worked together. One shy, and the other overly bold. It was such boldness Emari became fearful of, and she knew she had to leave. But how? How could she leave undetected, rather? An escape plan was rare, something that didn't come easy to such a scenario. "Aah!" Emari screamed, gathering almost everyone's attention. "...What are you screaming for, miss Watts?" Silica asked her close-by, "Oh, did I startle you?" A grimace and half-squinted eyes followed Emari's vision as she looked away. "No... I just—" "...Look." Silica smiled, whispering over to her once the public's attention had diverted back to normal. "I won't kill you, if you'd just show me your power." Emari's eyes widened, while Silica's grin *only* widened. "That's all I want, my dear." Barnes explained, "I saw you... clear as day, during your little savior run for that *precious, old lady*." Silica's laugh breathed malice, while Emari's frown became more noticeable. "You changed something..." Silica chuckled, "You messed with reality, didn't you?" "I don't know what you're talking about," Emari said, immediately moving away from her. Heading to the staff bathroom again, Emari instantly went in and shut the stall. Hyperventilating, she realized that she left her heavy bag along where Silica was. She would usually hang it up along the staff room, but she was extra paranoid today. Today had just felt not in her favor, despite saving someone. Then, her vision widened. Emari checked her watch, waiting for her shift to officially end. Bag along her body, she leaves quickly, and in a hurry with brown eyes beaming right against her back. Then, it disappears. That pressure... a weight lifted off her back, and replaced with another real, physical one. Emari stops and goes into her bag, ready to call. ...But her phone was not there. Azure butterflies swarming around her, she did not know where her phone was, but she could give a proper guess. "Looking for something?" Silica asked, her work-clothes already off and smiling at her under a single, bright yellow streetlight, among others stretched across the dark city of Imagia. She held out the clutched phone in her paw, before pressing it face-down and sliding it towards Emari. Emari looked down, ready to pick it up until she saw Silica approaching her. A tinge of hesitation. "Go ahead," Silica chuckled, getting closer with extended, shimmering white fangs. "I won't bite, I won't." A stammer... and then a lunge to grab at the smartphone followed a Silica dashing forward into a swarm of the fluttering insects. "Ack!" The cross-breed fox snarled, lights flickering in front of her sporadically as she reached over to grab... and pounce against her. But as soon as it came, it would disappear just as quickly... leaving Silica alone with... nothing, but a fierce, strong growl. Then, the black and red fur along her body blended into the very shadows she came from... turning into nothing but it in itself. And nothing remained but a yellow, warm street light, still flickering back and forth.