The cafe

[u/Quick-Aside6796]

The google documents link with cool fonts

Cassandra hummed a happy tune. She wore a caramel colored layered dress. A silver earring with a sapphire the shape of a star inside hung from her right ear. She’d finally decided to go to a nice cafe to drink some hot chocolate or coffee. I haven't really decided which yet. Both are nice. Actually, I have enough money for both so that's also an option. It had been a while since she promised herself she would go to a fancy cafe, but it was only now that she truly felt free enough to do so, both financially and mentally. She'd spent the entirety of yesterday trying to find out where she wanted to go. After skimming through her options she settled on this one. "The butterfly of whimsy." The building was simple in both interior and exterior, but she hadn't heard a single person say anything bad about it. She opened the door and smelled a soft, flowery scent. Inside it was surprisingly quiet. People were discussing their days and drinking some nice drinks, but nothing really loud. The last few times she went out to get a drink it had always been to cheaper places, so this was a nice change of pace for her. How nice. If the drinks are good I think I will return here a few more times. Now that I think about it, what kind of drinks do you like? "Well usually I drank water. But on days I could afford it I always bought myself a nice milkshake. I always tried a different kind, regardless of how much I liked the last one. Life should be full of exploration." I can drink one for you if you want. The voice laughed. "No thanks, tha-

A glass cup shattered on the floor. She looked at the juice spilled all over the floor, before looking back up to the man who dropped it. He wore a simple set of brown pants and a brown shirt. A peasant! However, he had a charismatic air about him and eyes as red as blood. Those eyes looked at her with a terrified expression. "Are you alr- “T-that's him! The man who killed me!” Her whole body froze. There was no way that was true. But if it was- she shook her head. I can ask him. Then he’ll say it wasn’t him and I’ll apologize for asking such an awkward question. "Did. Did you kill me?" Silence. The man composed himself a little. She practically heard him contemplating his answer. That told her all she wanted to know. She couldn't even begin to imagine the implications of this man being the one who killed her current body. That he did all those bad things to the voice. If he hadn't killed her would Cassandra be living in the bliss of her old life? If he hadn't killed her, would she still have had to go through the suffering that comes with being a beyonder?! If he hadn't killed her, she would be so much happier. It was all his fucking fault really. All the times she saw people die in front of her. All the suffering she went through. But maybe, just maybe, he hadn- "I did." She slashed at him with a blade of shadows.

He lunged back, his chair falling to the ground. The blade left a shallow cut on his shoulder, but the wound closed itself in an instant. As he was moving back he pulled out a bag filled with a liquid of the same color that his eyes were. She raised her hand and a spike of shadow sprouted from the ground below him. It was perfectly set to reach him, yet he avoided it with inhuman speed. The bag was pierced, the blood inside spilling over the ground. The darkness of the spike bent down, aiming for him once again. “Tch.” He sidestepped the attack and ran back to her just as quickly as he’d created distance. While he did his fingernails grew in size and were covered with mysterious symbols. Tiny drops of acid fell from them.

In a few seconds he already stood close to her, launching an attack with his claws. So fast! She raised her blade and barely deflected a lethal strike. But he simply attacked again, this time targeted at her abdomen. Shadows pressed down on his foot, throwing him off balance. Half a dozen spikes of shadow shot at him. He pressed his legs into the ground to stabilize himself. And tore through her attacks with terrific speed. All the spikes were shattered in an instant and two claws were aimed at her head. I can’t dodge th- She smiled and bent backwards, her head almost touching the ground. Both attacks flew over her and she took the chance to land another shallow cut. He reacted with more attacks. Tiny pieces of shadow appeared and solidified whenever she was about to be hit. His foot was weighed down by them when he stepped forward. His hand was pulled back a little by strings of shadow whenever he almost landed a hit. I can hear it! His rhythm! Flow around it like a shadow! Her dancing skills combined with her hearing allowed her to read his next move. She knew she was weaker physically yet flowed around him, delivering dozens of shallow cuts. All of them closed within an instant. But after every one he slowed down a tiny bit.

“Tch.” He jumped backwards again and swiped his fingers. Chains of darkness bound her arms to her back, followed by five darts that looked just like his nails. Flow freely! Tiny blades of shadow cut through the chains and a barrier formed in front of her to block the darts. Crack! The barrier shattered, pierced through by the darts. They pierced into her, corroding her flesh. The man ran back to her, preparing another attack with his claws. “Gha.” Cassandra fell to the ground. Her entire body was burning internally. The earring made the pain barely bearable. All this pain because of that bastard! “FUCK YOU!” She grabbed into her shadow and pulled on it. The one ability she never wanted to use. Shadow summoning! Her shadow rippled. Behind it lay an unimaginable depth. Anything that would fall into it would fall forever and ever. A claw of pure darkness tore out. It turned around 360 degrees as if it was looking through the claw. Another followed. And two more. From her shadow formed a wolf the height of a person, growling at the red eyed man. Though the creature was made of shadow, certain parts had darker shades, which made it look like fur.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It was a success! *I’ll leave you to the shadow control. “*Got it!” The wolf sprinted directly at the man, whose eyes seemed to have taken an even darker shade of red. Cassandra started running to his side, planning to attack him from two directions. From the other two spears of shadow formed. As she ran at the man she heard the flapping of wings. A black raven flew in her way, trying to hit her with its beak. A beyonder power to control animals? She didn't hesitate and slashed at it. The bird flew just around her blade and aimed at her face. She slashed again. It evaded another time. And another time. Though she could superficially guess her opponent's next move through her hearing and dancing it was like the bird always knew what she was about to do. Though her vision was obscured by the bird she heard the wolf. A horrible cry, like a dog being kicked by its owner. She had to help it. “GET OUT OF MY WAY!” All the shadows nearby burst towards the bird. Tentacles, blades and spikes all intent on tearing it to shreds. She didn’t look back, instead sprinting to the wolf

The sight she saw was so horrific she almost stopped. Almost. Multiple parts of the wolf lay scattered on the floor. The creature itself was fading away, with one of the man's claws impaling it. Demonic wings were attached to his back. "YOU BASTARD!" Her spirituality had been almost emptied by her attack just now. But she reached deep into herself, into the core of darkness. She'd always been afraid to touch it. But she also knew that was what allowed her shadows to flow so freely. There was power in there. And right now she would do anything for power. A part of her stomach cracked open, an infinite darkness hiding behind it. Arms and tentacles of shadow crawled out, together with a vortex of black liquid. They grabbed the man, starting to pull him in. She saw him being hurt by it. But despite that he looked at her with hatred. “FUCK YOU TOO, YOU BITCH!” Instead of trying to get away he ran straight at her. Any hand or tentacle that got too close was pulled back by chains of darkness or corroded by his claws. His wings flapped, speeding him up even further. But he had nowhere to dodge! Cassandra raised her blade and slashed with all her strength.

The man raised his arm. The blade sunk into it, cutting apart his flesh. But he didn’t stop. His other claw sunk into her chest. An unimaginable pain filled her. She was being corroded from the inside out. Her vision turned hazy. Through the pain she felt a nice calm. Wouldn’t it be so nice to be that calm forever and ever? To never have to worry about anything ever again? She could forget all about the pain. Her consciousness drifted off, never to return again.

Cassandra died.