I found her in the middle of some woods—a little girl, back to me, shoulders shaking. She sat in a ring of purple leaves like a dropped doll.
"Hey," I said gently, stopping a few paces behind. "What's wrong, little one? What are you doing out here alone?"
"The bad lady took me from home," she sniffed. "I don't know the way back."
"I can help you get home," I said. "First we need to get out of this place, okay?"
She stopped crying.
"Really?" Her voice went small. "You can?"
"Yeah. Stick close and—"
She laughed. Not small. Not sweet.
"Silly rabbit," she sang, "how can you help me when you can't even help yourself?"
"Huh?"
Something tugged. My foreleg lifted. Not my choice. Then the other. My hind paws jerked up and down, a grotesque little dance.
Strings. Thin, dark threads ran from my limbs into the canopy.
I followed them up.
A wooden crossbar—like a puppet's—hung in the red boughs. A hand gripped it. Not a hand. A claw. Long, jointed, wrong.
I looked back at the girl.
What I'd thought was hair unfurled behind her—wings, velvet-dark, drinking the light. Butterfly wings, but black as a night.
She turned her head just enough for me to see her cheek, then raised one hand. A tiny horned-rabbit marionette dangled from her fingers, legs twitching in time with mine. She giggled.
"Little rabbit," she said, her voice peeling down into a rasp, "will you play with me… or will you break like all the other toys?"
Hu—hu—hu—hu—
Laughter rippled around me. The forest bled into violet and ink, every trunk and blade of grass stained black-purple like spilled dye. One by one, eyes opened in the dark, irises spiraling with madness, too many, all of them looking. The strings pulled tight, and I couldn't move.
I snapped my head back to the girl—
Gone.
The laughter slid under me.
I looked down.
The forest floor split into a vast fox's maw, teeth like curved glass. It yawned wider, wider, until the world was nothing but throat.
"Mine," the voice crooned from everywhere.
The jaws closed.
I fell—
—and woke with a yelp.
I jolted out of the burrow, heart slamming, ears high.
No laughing fox. No voices. Just trees. Just breath.
Phew, I squeaked—then looked left.
A girl knelt beside me, pale as moonlight and very, very awake.
—GYAH! I sprang back, hit a root, and windmilled my paws like a very dignified warrior.
We stared. She was all white braid and red eyes and the kind of face that made your brain stop working. Haunted beauty, the kind paintings try for and miss by a mile.
"Uh—don't be scared," I blurted. "Yes, technically I am a monster, but behind this fluffy, rat-eating exterior there's a grown—wow that sounded wrong—listen, I'm actually a man inside of a—nope, worse—what I mean is I'm a normal guy who has temporarily adopted a rabbit-forward lifestyle. Totally harmless. Mostly. And thank you for not screaming, that's very emotionally supportive of—"
She just tilted her head.
I doubled down. "Look, I rescued you, which means I'm one of the good guys and if you'll just ignore the horn, and the claws, and the teeth, and the—where was I again?—anyway, I can expla—"
…And then it hit me.
You don't understand me, do you, or rather—
…I can't talk.
I cleared my throat and tried again. "Hello?"
Squeak.
"Testing?"
Squeak squeak.
Oh dear god, I've spent so long communicating with the voices in my head it didn't even occur to me that I couldn't even speak.
I slowly rose onto my hind legs, lifted my paws toward the heavens, and cursed Dumbledore.
May he stub his toes a thousand times.
Her head dipped. Then dipped more. Then she prostrated herself.
…Why are you— I glanced around for a king. Or a god. Or anyone I'd just accidentally offended. Nothing. Just us.
Did she somehow understand me? No—that was all squeaks.
Okay. Weird. But I need to focus. If I can't speak, I need another way to… talk.
Wait!
Didn't I pick up a new skill after she went knocking around in my head? Something… mental?
I flicked open the menu in my head.
[Mindlink Lv.1] — Form a basic telepathic link with one target in range.
Bingo.
Alright… [Mindlink]!
I closed my eyes and reached. A thin blue thread unspooled from somewhere behind my eyes, floated, and gently touched her brow. The world gave a soft chime, like glass rung by a fingertip.
The link settled.
Ahem—testing, testing—one, two, three?
Her shoulders stiffened. She lifted her face, eyes wide—not afraid. Something else. Reverent? Curious? Like she was seeing the shape behind a shadow.
"Hello? Anybody theeeere? Ground control to Major—"
"My name is Nyx," she said aloud, voice low and clear. "First Princess of Valiant and Duchess of Thornmere, oh divine one."
I forgot how to rabbit.
Come again? Did you just say Princess… and Duchess? And who is 'divine one'?
"Yes." She bowed again, smaller this time. "And you are."
Right. Right. Okay. One second.
I turned away slightly and whispered to the System.
Quick sidebar: we're just going to pretend the Bloom didn't fry her brain? She thinks she's royalty and she keeps calling me—
[Clarification: Nyx speaks truth.]
I stared at nothing. So she's actually a—
[Princess.]
And a—
[Duchess.]
And you knew—
[Since you made contact.]
…
I turned back to find the Princess-Duchess staring patiently at my fluffy panic.
I turned away again. What is the princess of the whole kingdom doing in the monster-filled murder forest? I'm dead. They're going to send a search party. She's going to tell them about me and I'm going to be entrée. Roast bunny for—
[Correction: roast Lesser Horned Rabbit.]
…I'm cooked.
Wait, what's this about 'divine one,' by the way?—she can't mean me.
[It appears she does.]
So we did fry her brain?
[Unlikely. More likely: shock at a communicating monster caused initial confusion.]
Right. A talking monster would be weird, wouldn't it… so that's all?
[…]
I squinted. Heeey, System. What aren't you telling me?
[The [Guardian] Title, it gives you the passive [Unique Presence]. You emit an aura some may interpret as… sacred.]
Uni—? I yanked the menu open, skimmed the line, and felt my ears go hot. Are you telling me I'm giving off a holy aura?
[There is no such skill.]
"Oh thank—"
[You are giving off an aura that may be interpreted as holy.]
Oh for fu— So I am giving it off.
Well, how long have I been walking around as a holy bunny? Is that why Fox-Lady got so invested in me? When were you going to—
Wait. Wait, wait.
…I think I see a way out of this.
Damage control now; existential crisis later.
I turned back to Nyx, rose onto my hind legs, and lifted my paws.
She prostrated instantly.
Okay, showtime. Please work.
"Yes, my child," I said in my best 'important figure' voice. "It is I—the… divine one." (Nailed it.) "Though I do not often go by that title. I am called… the Guardian. 'Twas I who saved you."
Still bowed, she tilted her head up, eyes shining. "So you are a divine being. I knew it. Your presence does not lie. Merely being near you I feel…" She faltered, flushed. "Like the air itself is clearer. As though you are a light, cleansing my very soul."
I'm doing what to her? I hissed sideways to the System. What the heck is this passive??
Ahem. "Of course, my child. That is but a fraction of my true and almighty pow—" I coughed. "Powers."
"Oh," she breathed, clasping her hands. The full conversion-to-bunnyism sparkle hit her eyes.
Danger. This was working too well.
"But why, Guardian," she asked, earnest, "have you taken the form of this monster?"
Sweat.
"Silence, child—" (wow) "—do not question the cosmic will far beyond your ken. This… is the vessel through which I must act."
Her forehead touched the dirt again. "Of course, Guardian."
"Nyx, Princess of Valiant—" I tried to sound like I'd known that all along. "I saved you for a reason."
She looked up, searching my face.
"You have a great—uh—role to play. In events written long before your birth. Everything that has happened to you has led to this moment. You are chosen, Nyx. You are needed. Together—" (wow, I am on a roll here) "—we shall save this world."
I lifted my paws. Trumpets played in my head. A single ray of sunlight broke through the leaves and hit me like a spotlight.
"Ahh," I whispered. "Nailed i—"
She was crying.
"Needed," she mouthed. "He said I was needed. That everything—every horrible thing—had meaning. Even—" Her voice shook. "Even your death, Mother."
Mother? I winced. System, did I say 'Mother'?
[You said "everything." She inferred.]
"Oh no," I breathed. "I think I did too much."
She wiped her cheeks, breath steadying into steel. "Together we will wrest the kingdom from the Serpent Circle and guide Valiant—no, all of Highreach—toward a dawn worthy of your light."
Yep. Landmine.
"Hey, Nyx—maybe we roll that back a tad and start again. Hi, I'm Oliver, your friendly neighborhood bun—"
"Guardian," she said, coming to one knee. "You have given me purpose. I am reborn in your light. I will enact your will and together we will save the realm."
Oof. I… did say something like that.
"I must return to Briar Keep at once," she continued. "If word of my disappearance spreads, what is left of Thornmere will fall to my stepmothers as they intended. But they will learn, I am not dead yet."
"Riiight, well good luck with— actually." I waved a paw. "Tiny favor? Maybe don't tell anyone about the whole 'divine bunny' thing? Last thing I need is your father sending knights to—"
"Be assured," she said, rising, "I will tell no one of our meeting, Guardian, who knows how our enemies will react. Also, there is none left alive who would grieve my passing."
That look again—loneliness, raw and honest.
W-wait, did she say something about enemies?
"Thank you," she said. "I know this region of the Green. I can make my way home."
"You sure?"
She raised her hands; light crackled at her fingertips. "My magic tutor said I showed promise. It will suffice."
"Magic," I whispered, eyes wide.
She bowed one last time. "I will return when I can."
She turned and went, pale braid vanishing into the leaves.
I could feel the link between us snap as she left its effective range.
[Mindlink Lv.1 → Lv.2]
I watched the empty path.
Phew. Glad that's over. System, I will forgive you for hiding the aura thing if you never bring up me accidentally brainwashing Snow White—
[+1 Follower acquired: Nyx of Thornmere]
[+100 Guardian Points gained]
[Guardian Points System — Unlocked]
I stared at the air.
System, I thought softly, you're dead to me.
[Noted]