( ⚘݄⿴݃*₊ ┊ PROLOGUE )

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𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘.

❝ There is a rhythm to her magic, lay beholder ; there is a method to this witch's brew. Beware! Her power is an agent of creation. She ignites the fuse stowed deep within the innate curiosity of a man who has yet to discover fire. She is the harbinger of ruination - just as she is the genesis. ❞

𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗛𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 00.
sᴛᴀʀʟᴇᴛᴄʜɪɪ

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THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THE WILDERNESS OF THE FERMENTING NIGHT THAT MADE PEOPLE RESTLESS AND ALIVE. Within the man-made paradise, it was awfully easy to get drunk in the high of the witching hour - a privilege that was specific only to the children of uptown Sina whose birthright was a life of wealth and prestige. While the rest of the world remained asleep beneath blankets of stars against velvet black, the stretching darkness was a time of opportunity where many believed that there was no higher being whose up to make tallies of good and bad. The only source of light was the moon that stands witness to the appetitive deeds of mortal men and lone angels. At this grandiose hour, temples were no longer a place for gods, but of worship - and every part of this lively encounter grows thick with the desire to witness what paradise truly meant in flesh.

Deep in the embrace of the interior, mortality was a course, beautiful thing that many people often shed at night then picked up right after in the morning.

After living for so long beneath the towering reminder of an impenetrable heaven, so many people had longed for a taste of this unparalleled omnipotence. And because the night grants opportunities for the wildest dreams that cannot be uttered in broad daylight to come alive, humanity within these walls whispers its secretive plead of knowing the unknown and traversing what was beyond. They longed to have a bite of this domineering power - a delectable dream oh so forbidden and so out of reach. Freedom was taboo, after all. But within this tavern of pleasure, it wasn't a sin to have a dose of this euphoric beverage. It was their form of ambrosia, and the sweetest of them all is the taste of playing god - even if it's just for one night.

Typical nights for the higher echelon was one filled with parties after parties and on the normal days, a life spent in fleeting luxury. Yet here in this wide dome, these god-aspirants could only wish to have a taste of this addictive power that thunders beneath your feet. All they could do was gawk and stare at this fatal beauty behold. You were the god and this place was your temple. They were the willing worshipers who grovelled beneath your feet and you were the reason why synagogues were built.

They plead for paradise; they scream the name that immortalizes you beyond your living days and dying nights.

"Paradise! Paradise!" Voices rose higher and higher as if willing their mortal shouts to reach you from your man-made heaven. "Paradise, dance for us! Sing for us!"

Their odes were prayers for judgement. And paradise it was that was bestowed onto them.

Descending from the dark in a glimmering sparkle of crystalline lights and velvetine curtains, their eyes land on your body while the aerial hoop suspended from above nestles your form. There was only a brush of bare shoulders and a view of a smooth back turned from the audience. Whatever performance it was that was happening below, it all came to a full stop for the grandest of all shows. Every breath from these greedy onlookers were stolen from their lungs as they take in the silhouette of your form from the topmost center stage. Being god meant that you were able to stop time as well. Nobody budged an inch as they await your next course of action. They waited as if your movement was the genesis that could rebuild the world and every living matter that exists in that plane of reality.

If in darkness, they were already this swayed by simply the sliver of shadows your guilded corset provides, what more if you paraded in your full glory, sun-porcelain and proud?

As if hearing their desperate wishes, the lights roared with the sudden burst of glimmer that swallowed the entirety of the dome. Light was still a feeble thing of invention exclusive only within the walls of Sina, but floodlights and stage reflectors had long changed the game for cabarets like Riviera House (all thanks to the natural mineral which absorbed and released light that was natural within the walls). The artificial glow did wonders to your seraphic body -  bathed you in colors that created an illusion of divinity.

Just as you had given everyone a breath of life, you had stolen it from them once more as you faced the audience and began to descend from your hoop. The smooth crescendo of your voice was slowly filling all gaps and space, every ear, and every sentient being that was present to witness the act. Your melody was the trickle of honey. The soprano of your syllables was a gospel that was far too overpowering and zealously beguiling.

As the band began to play, you began to do your little dance, every movement emphasized by the calescent sparkle of your form-fitting clothes. You were draped in diamonds and feathers. Your hair was styled perfectly in pin curls that trailed voluminously behind you. The sight of you left an aftertaste of heaven upon the liquor-coated lips of men and women.

They were starting to get drunk in the sight of you.

And soon, one man would be the luckiest bastard alive to get drunk in the taste of you.

The magic you hold was as potent as any blessing and every curse. A witch's brew. A poison and a remedy.

But who would've known that one day this brew you create would also bid your destruction?

Just as every existence had its genesis.

It had its end time as well.

A paradise ruined. A paradise lost.

𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘

Bruh, it took my entire willpower for this prologue to not exceed beyond 1200 words 'cause if you're a common visitor of my works, you'll see I have a bad habit of writing too long and way too descriptively. 😔 (I wanted to lessen my word count because I kind of wanted this fanfic to be a bit different from my other works.)

Before we dive in, I'll give you a heads up and tell you all that this fanfic would be rather anti-climactic and might not even be that long of a read. It's one of the shorter stories I'm currently writing.

Thank you for reading! ✨ Another reminder that reader in this fanfic has a distinct personality - a much needed plot device to move any story forward. So please manage your expectations! ♡´･ᴗ･'♡ That's all.

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗡𝗗.
ᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛs ʀᴇsᴇʀᴠᴇᴅ.
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