Prologue: A Dream

Where was she?

It was dark, pitch black dark. Last Carol remembered was… No, she can't even remember that part anymore, the part of how she got here. She felt like she was floating, like in a void, like in space, where you don't feel the ground and don't feel the touch of the air, like her body was only a weightless shell.

Was this a dream? No, it can't be, she knew somehow that it wasn't, but a part of her refuses to accept that this is real.

She tries to open her eyes, but she can't, like a certain kind of fear stopped her from doing so. It constrained her with invisible chains and locks.

How did she even get here? Even that she couldn't remember. It was frustrating not to know the answer, even more frustrating to be stuck in a place that she didn't even know of.

She reaches out for any thought, any vivid memory at all, but the more she reached out, the more she forgot, the more she lost even the ability to reach out. Was this how it felt like to be stuck, to be out of her mind?

Carol remembered only her name and what she was, but then things began to fleet like a sailing ship that ever so slowly left into the unending horizon. It was getting impossible to even try to recall.

Buer… Skull… Girl… Parasite… La b Zero… Valentine… Brain… Drain… Abandonment… Rage… Fury… Loneliness… Filia… Help…

What were these words, these vague pieces? Carol thought. She held on to them, fearing for these fragments of memory will be the only things she'll ever remember as she floated endlessly in this mysterious abyss that drained her mind. Though the words stayed for a minute, she cannot make them stay forever. Something stops her, some words slowly fall down and disappear, and some began to just disappear all together.

Her mind was emptying, and the frustration sinks down. And now, she felt lonely, because there was no one to think of, not even herself. Her feelings stayed, but thinking seemed impossible.

Everything grew helpless… She felt helpless… And now, she was afraid, lost, and lonely. How did she end up in this cruel void? This… darkness that she had descended into without even knowing how she got there? She wanted to scream, but she could not. A paralysis was taking her, immobilizing every nerve and muscle, every reflex and movement that might remind her that she was in control. Breathing was growing so difficult, and soon, it would be impossible…

For maybe an hour, she was stuck in this madness, suffering under the suffocation that could not kill her. She couldn't even struggle, letting the darkness take her… She was innocent, but this seemed inevitable.

She would've been very happy to die, but even that she couldn't do. The suffocation was strangling, the suffering growing, and she could not struggle, not even give up. Freedom… It's what she needed, but she could not even fight for such a hopeful feeling…

As the words fell, she heard the last one escape. A dying thought to take the place of her final breath. Help…

And as it seeped down from the depths of her mind and into the depths of this abyss, a great flash overtook the darkness. Her eyes were opening yet they were closed… She could see now, not words, but a picture.

Her friend, her only friend, the sweet tender smile that granted solace, and eyes with a red-hot core that resonated warmth, young and full of endless energy. She was the only person Carol knew that would never abandon her.

It was all returning to her now.

Control… Freedom… She can open her eyes now. The invisible chains released and broke, the locks unlocked, and the suffocation lifted with a lungful of air. Everything seemed to flow back… And then,

She woke up.

Author's Note: Been a long time, eh? Sorry about being inactive for some time. I've been busy lately, school and all. Well, thanks for reading this chapter and please leave a review if you want to.

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership over the video game Skullgirls.