Y/N panted, breath breaking in her throat. Desperate, hot tears streamed down her cheeks. She was running—her sneakers slammed onto the asphalt turning to dirt turning to field with each step, her hair bounced and flowed behind her, and beads of sweat trickled from her brow from the pure, intense heat of summer.

Oh, by the way, she wasn't running from anything. No. She was running to somewhere.

In her hands, she cupped a single wilted and crushed buttercup. It wasn't quite dead yet—she could feel its life in hers, pulsing within her own heartbeat—but that was so easy to change. It had already been crushed underneath too many pairs of feet after being torn out of the ground and cast out to the sidewalk to die.

The flicker of hope was still strong in her, but maybe the place was just too far for her to...

No! She couldn't think that. She needed hope. Everyone needed hope.

A sigh breathed out from Y/N's lips, and her shoulders slumped as the valley came into view. It was a beautiful sight: waves of grass danced in the wind—each little green blade flickering in the blaze of sunlight—along the gentle slope. Colorful flowers spotted the grassy sea. Far in the distance, on the other side of the basin, a lush forest spread its roots, a dark stroke against the brightness of the landscape. Down in the valley, there was nothing but light.

Well, except for the one massive black dot, ringed with yellow, in the middle of it all.

She stumbled down the steep decline in her excitement, a bubbling sensation rising in her. Determination. Her shoelaces came undone, nearly tripping her and sending her tumbling, but she righted herself just in time, though not quick enough to save her yellowed laces and aglets from browning again in the dirt.

Y/N finally staggered her way to the bottom, hastily getting her footing and pushing into a dead sprint for the expanse of buttercups that stretched across the center of the valley. Her breath continued to catch, only a natural consequence of uncommon overexertion. Still, she ran, ignoring her body's unhappy reaction to her choices.

She skidded to a halt and planted herself at the edge of the patch. She hunched over to claw at the soil with one hand, scooping up handfuls of it at a time. Soon enough, she had a decently sized hole, and in went the dying buttercup. Then it was buried.

Y/N drew in a shuddering sigh. Already, she was tired. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, she had forgotten to eat both breakfast and lunch, and stress from her work shift was leeching her life and seeping into her bones, not to mention the energy it took just to run here. She didn't think she had the strength to help today.

But the flicker inside her told her that she did.

She laid her hands on top of the flower's grave, closing her eyes. Pure force of will pulled the last semblance of power she had left out of her, and a ball of warmth dissipated from her heart, flowing through her bloodstream, draining out her fingertips into the ground.

She hissed through her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut as a few Joules shot through her. Usually the pain wasn't that bad. At least it was quick to dull into a light throb in her brain, this time. Sometimes it lasted for hours.

A moment or two passed. She opened one eye, then the other, and despite everything that weighed on her, she managed to smile for the first time that day.

The buttercup stood tall and proud, more alive than ever.

For that split second, she allowed the smallest swelling of pride in her chest. Her smile grew a little bigger as she looked down at the fruits of her labor.

Then she winced as another jolt of pain stabbed into her cranium.

Using her abilities wore her out and caused her pain, but at least she had control. Control was good. Control was safe. She wanted to give, but to give always? That was a disaster waiting to happen.

And it almost did happen, several years ago, when she hadn't discovered yet that she had power beyond her thoughts...

(•)

Six years old, see a young Y/N. She clings to her mother's hand, the fate of the universe itself depending on the tightness of her grasp. Her mother beams down at her daughter, kindness in her smile and brilliance in her eyes. Though the world would not end, their love is more than enough to make them both perfectly happy. And it would stay that way forever...so they believed.

They are walking, side by side, down a busy sidewalk. People bustle around them, but the two are in their own little world.

Then a woman catches Y/N's eye. There is nothing striking about her, physically—she is plain in her features, dressed in comfortable attire, and overall completely forgettable. It is not her appearance that draws her attention: it is her soul, the dwindling hope she can see in her darkened irises. Her expression is purely blank, and her eyes are dead. She is as if a corpse walked the earth, void of all but a lingering sadness.

They stroll past, her mother hardly casting a glance, but—

Y/N turns her head to follow the woman, and in a moment of sudden clarity, her gaze moves down to meet the child's. They see each other. The woman sees Y/N, a fixed point in their shared universe.

She reaches out to the woman, just as they move by, and her small fingers brush her arm.

It is a small gesture, but it is enough. The smallest act of reassurance and kindness can be everything.

The love in Y/N's eyes is no longer just for her mother. It is for this woman, too, someone in need of her love, no matter how small she could give. It is peace of mind.

And the woman heals from the touch.

Not much, of course. Not all can be fixed with one act of good. But it is a new beginning for the woman. It is the desire to try where she had given up. It is the sifting of the broken pieces, ready to be put back together again. It is the start of a new story for her to tell her future children, how a little girl saved her from the edge of oblivion.

It is a little bit of hope.

The fog and darkness in her eyes clears slightly. A gentle smile, if just the hint of one, is growing. Her soul flutters in the new glow in her irises, and Y/N grins, knowing that she had done something to help—though she knows not just how so.

She turns away from the woman, something burning in her heart. It is a surge of blood, of confidence, of love, of necessity and want. It is determination.

Some distance later, she collapses, on the brink of unconsciousness. Her mother is panicked, she is rushed to the hospital, and the world becomes a blur of sound and color. But she is grateful. She is happy that she managed to save one person, because one is enough.

She knows not her power, but she will learn. She will learn control.

(•)

Y/N blinked out of the memory, furrowing her brow. She hadn't thought about that day in such a long time. Though it had hurt, so much, it was worth it to help that woman. She couldn't remember anything about her except her eyes—her cold, drained, sad eyes, finally being able to hope again.

Oh, the good old days of her golden childhood, when she had so much hope to give.

But as she escaped her subconscious, Y/N glanced down and squeaked loudly, quick to throw herself back and crab away. Her gasp broke over the hush of the valley.

Without meaning to, she had come to the edge of the hole, located directly in the center of the valley.

It had been there since she had found it. The shaft stretched endlessly downward, and no matter what she threw down or yelled, there was no echo back up. She didn't know what was down there, but it scared her—no pit could possibly go that deep, right?

Still, curiosity ate at Y/N. Constantly, even now. Was there a cave down there? Was it just a chasm? Was it a well? Or was there a whole system under there, just waiting to be explored...?

She shook her head, chuckling. No, it couldn't possibly be. Her mother had told her stories, but even so, they were only stories. There was no underground.

But if there was...she wondered. What was it like down there? Was there anything living? Would it be completely dark, or was there some sort of light source?

The thought flashed her back to her childhood and laying on her back in the darkness, staring up—hypnotized—at the night sky she had made in her room.

Y/N laughed to herself, covering her mouth. Were there glow-in-the-dark star stickers on the ceiling?

As her laughter subsided, her mind continued to imagine, despite herself. If, considering she entertained the honestly silly notion, there were creatures of some sort existing below the surface, what were their lives like? What did they look like? Did they have personalities? Who were they? Did they even exist at all?

Do I want to find out?

For some reason, she didn't immediately stop that thought right in its tracks. Instead, she let it run, if just for a moment.

To just...fall in. To feel the rush of wind as she careened downward, plunging into the depths. To taste the sweetness of adrenaline in her mouth.  To be swallowed by the darkness and enter a new world, unlike anything the surface could ever provide.

The notion was too intriguing to not toy with.

It was the beat of her heart that reminded Y/N, suddenly, of the consequences of her actions. Taking dives into bottomless holes usually ended in death. If she went in, she would never come back up.

And she had so much more hope left to give.

As calmly as the tension in her muscles, the shakiness of her breath, and the hammering pain in her skull would allow, Y/N got to her knees, then her feet. Her body swayed like a sail in the bellowing winds.

When she was able, she took slow steps away from the hole, one at a time. Its power over her waned with each, and she found herself able to breathe once more the farther she went.

One step. Two step.

One step. Two step.

Breathe.

She would not let her obsession with the hole take her today.