Degenerate

~A Play Wild story~

The small fox padded across the bridge from Jamaa Township to the Lost Temple of Zios. She was normally lonely, because every day at school nobody cared about her. Whenever there were group assignments, all the other animals rushed to their best friends. She was always left wandering around the middle of the room, until the teacher grouped her with a couple other animals. They talked the whole time, and barely did any work, dragging her grades down with them. And this angered her mother. She blamed it on Melody, her daughter. Because surely she deserved only the best in daughters. And during lunch time, the same thing happened. She was left to eat by herself. But she felt a spike of hope, like a breath of fresh morning air.

Melody had found a slip of paper on the ground behind her school where she fed the feral cats. It held instructions. And Melody knew what they meant in an instant. The mysterious portal hadn't been opened yet, and she was sure this was how to get in. Melody had bought the Phantom Flight set with the allowance she had been saving for years, as she wanted a bike. Without telling anyone. Wearing the armor, she padded over to the portal. Surprisingly, no one was there. Melody hadn't gotten the hang of flying with the armor yet, it was a pity. The phantom-shaped mechanisms weighed down on her.

Melody prepared herself, then followed the instructions. She made a sad expression, and one of the green gems lit up. She then sat down, and the second gem lit up. A stone sculpture of a phantom at the top of the portal came to life. Melody jumped, but stayed mostly still as it scanned her. It had approved. Then, she awkwardly crouched into a hunting position. Not that in this age it is needed to be known. Finally, she shouted clearly and cleanly,

"Open Sesame!"

The portal's locks slid off, and the pieces all slid apart to reveal a wavering, purple surface. She slowly stepped forward, touching the shimmering surface. Her paw phased through with a strange tingly and wet sensation, but when she pulled it out her paw was dry. She braced herself, and stepped in.

Melody saw a strange, glowing, nonsensical land for a split second, then it felt she had woken up from a long dream when she arrived at the other side of the portal. The air smelled awful, and the only plants were tainted with phantom poison. Melody coughed, but soon got used to the smell. She padded around, looking at everything. But that was where she made her mistake.

The phantoms noticed her paws. They noticed she wasn't floating. Even with their absence of hearts and brains, they knew something was off. The surface of their eyes shimmered with malice. Phantoms of all kind, spiky, regular and even protophantoms floated menacingly forth. Melody panicked and ran away. Away from the phantoms. From the portal. But they chased her into more. She stood at the bank of the river, cornered. Melody cried out, but her voice was muffled. She tried to run, but she felt electricity pulse through her body, searing her fur and her strength. She tried to breathe, but her throat was burning away. Her Phantom Flight set fell onto the ground, lost and forgotten. Right before she was plunged into darkness and her living form was burnt to ashes, one word flashed in front of her eyes.

Nobody cared.