Superstition/Embrace the Shadows

EMBRACE THE SHADOWS is the "story mode" of Superstition, which follows the main plot of the game. The story is written in an OVA "transcript" format, so as to lend itself to the flow of the story.

The story follows Lucky Veridian, an anxious feline with a curse giving him uncontrollable dark magic abilities, being recruited by dark sorceress Myortia Zavarell, who’s former cult of magicians, the Omnis Clan, is invading Lucky's home island with hopes of colonizing it.

Progress on the story began on November 5, 2019, but development on the story beats go back to as early as 2017.

Prologue: A Stygian Tail

Somewhere in the middle of a quiet redwood forest, autumn leaves flutter aimlessly towards the forest ground. The warm glow of the setting sun shines above, turning the sky a color to rival the leaves.
At first, all is quiet. But, in the distance, the sound of rapidly crunching leaves grows near, the sound of someone blitzing across the woodlands.
Suddenly, out of the depths of the woods, a petite figure emerges; a small green cat, sprinting like its life depends on it. In pursuit of the kitten are three tall, humanoid figures, wearing dark cloaks; their faces are obscured by hoods. The green kitten skitters across the grass frantically, hardly able to outrun the three mysterious figures.
As they run, one of the figures casts a spell, firing a grey blast of dark energy from its hand. The spell whizzes past the kitten’s ear; it gasps and picks up the pace. Several other spells fly past it, all narrowly missing.
The tallest of the three figures, wearing a silver armor-piece under a purple robe, grunts in aggravation as the missing spells fizzle out. They reel back their arm, charging another spell with more vigor, and swing, propelling the projectile forward like a rocket.
The burst of energy flies directly towards the feline, who sees, but isn’t fast enough to dodge—it only has time to let out a panicked yelp before its struck by the blast, engulfed in a small eruption of dark energy. The three sorcerers skid to a halt, almost thrown by the impact of the blast.
As the small burst of darkness evaporates, fading into black smoke, the young creature is seen in its wake, knocked unconscious by the force of the spell. Purple lightning crackles around its body in short bursts. Despite being out cold, it looks to be in great pain.
The cloaked sorcerers look at each-other and the kitten wordlessly, unsure of how to act. One’s hand begins to spark with energy, but the tallest of the three puts a hand on their shoulder, beckoning them to wait. They stop, and the leader advances towards the creature, and kneels down. The other two simply watch silently.
The tall sorcerer reaches to touch the kitten, but the dark electricity cracks around its body once more before they can. Their hand withdraws sharply, and the other seems to cover their obscured mouth.
They sigh and stand back up, shaking their head in shock. They nod towards the other expectant figures, who return the nod and start to march in the opposite direction.
The leader begins to follow them, but stops in their tracks to look back at the kitten, who’s still lying limp on the ground. They’re almost tempted to turn back and do something to it, but... they just keep walking, leaving the kitten to its troubles.

---

Seventeen years later...

A modest marble cottage sits amidst a verdant plateau, surrounded by fields of golden wheatgrass. It is early morning—the sun shimmers high in the sky, and its light filters through the windows of the small cottage.
The house sits against the crystal blue sea, which shines against the sun’s rays. A stone pathway leads to an evergreen forest in the distance. This kind of greenery is customary for Vera, one of the Quadrasera Isle’s four counties—an island split into quarters as a result of its curious weather patterns.
On the top floor of this marble cottage is a small bedroom, with unpainted walls and a single window to its name. A nightstand carrying a lamp, a digital alarm clock, and an empty bottle of water is to the right of the bed. Opposite of it are two wooden bookshelves, a floor mirror, and a handful of posters. Sitting on top of the bookshelves are several novels and texts with bookmarks sticking out of them, a red collar with a golden bell attached to the front, and a plastic bowl full of unwrapped fortune cookies. Hanging above the bed is a silk dreamcatcher. The room is relatively unorganized—several scarves, bandannas, and sheets lie on the ground, and the bookshelves are dusty and unkempt.
Lying on the bed is a familiar green cat-like creature, wide awake in spite of himself. He lies on his back, staring up at the ceiling silently.
The silence is soon broken, however, by a loud “beep! beep! beep!” The clock’s digital interface reads 8:00am, and its alarm goes off. No sooner than a few seconds after it’s triggered, the cat, without sitting up, swipes a paw at it to shut it off. He misses the button, however, and knocks the clock onto the ground—despite this, the alarm continues to go off.
Lucky: Hmghhh...
Slowly, Lucky straightens himself out, and climbs out of bed—he picks up the clock and presses a button... which only makes the alarm louder. Lucky winces.
Lucky: God.
He presses a few more buttons in a panic, before it finally shuts off. He sighs, sets it back on his nightstand, stretches, and walks over to his mirror.
He stares at himself for a moment thoughtfully. He straightens his back out, fusses with his hair briefly, and crosses his arms—he feels the bandage on his left arm. He begins to talk to himself quietly.
Lucky: So here’s how today’s gonna go, okay? You’re going to go out there, and be around other people, and live your life in spite of that. Because you, y’know, because you... you deserve it. And if anything bad happens, then, well, that’s okay. I mean, nothing that hasn’t happened before, and, uh, nothing that won’t happen again, right? And if you go out there and remember you’re bad at making eye contact, or if you forget someone’s name, or your palms get, like, uncomfortably sweaty because you fear public confrontation? That’s okay, too.
He nods to himself in the mirror, as if he’s having a good pep talk with whoever’s on the other side.
Lucky: You know why? It’s because... it’s because you can tell yourself, "Hey, you know what, you tried and that’s what mattered! Trying and failing miserably are two sides of the same..." Wait, no, that’s not right. Not failures. Learning experiences, right. Learning experiences. Life is just... one big learning experience.
Lucky dives a hand into the bowl of fortune cookies, grabs one, and unwraps it. He cracks it open and takes out the fortune.
Lucky: "A clear mind is the gateway to a life of prosperity." Well, consider that gate... uh, locked. Heh.
Lucky finger-guns himself in the mirror in an attempt at self-deprecation. A small burst of dark energy goes off at his fingertips, triggering a soft “bang!” Lucky yelps and jumps back immediately.
Lucky: Gah-!
As he steps back, he trips on one of the scarves on the floor, slipping and landing on his back on the floor. He sits there for a fleeting moment, before sighing.
Lucky: Of course.
A beat. He stands back up, shaking his head. He readjusts himself and straightens out again, rubbing his shoulder where he landed on it.
Lucky: It’s... it’s fine. It’s not a problem, okay? Look, if... if today’s gonna a bad day, it’s because you’ve decided it’s going to be. Your life is what you make of it, that’s what Sytha always says. And Sytha is, like, way smarter than you, anyways.
Another beat. Lucky slows down and breathes.
Lucky: Okay, okay, forget her. This is about you. You can do this.
He looks at himself with determination.
Lucky: Just get out there, clear your head, and be a badass.
He reaches for his collar, and clicks it onto his neck with a soft jingle. He takes one last look at himself, takes a breath, and pops the fortune cookie in his mouth, before leaving his room.