Information

Hikari
Legacy Name: Hikari

The

Angelic Popoko
Owner:

Gandalf

Age: 11 years, 8 months, 3 weeks

Born: July 26th, 2012

Adopted: 8 years, 2 weeks, 3 days ago

Adopted: April 2nd, 2016

Statistics

Level: 5
Strength: 13
Defense: 13
Speed: 10
Health: 11
HP: 10/11
Intelligence: 0
Books Read: 0
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Unemployed

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Thank you forever, User not found: trevelyan for adopting out Hikari to me!

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Hikari's life is perfect. How could it not be? Every morning she wakes up to the sun streaming through her cottage window and the air smelling of spring flowers. Every morning, she takes a deep breath, stretches prettily, then walks downstairs to her bakery. Her animal friends accompany her, fluttering around and bringing her sweet berries from the glade. She makes sure to serenade them with songs about love and happiness and the joy of living. She pets and snuggles each and every one on their way towards the bakery. Once they are in the kitchen, the real work of the day begins. She and her woodland friends roll out soft dough and sprinkle powdered sugar that was soft as snow. They place slices of apples to bake inside slices of walnuts and honey, and by the afternoon, there are perfect batches of strawberry-cream tarts, lavender-tea cookies, and blueberry honey cake for the citizens of Storybooke, all of who come to enjoy treats and to marvel at Hikari's sweetness, at her bright smile, and above all else, at her pure heart.

If Hikari was honest with herself, it was all rather boring.

She knew better than to complain, of course. After all, every story only ever gets one Protagonist, and if she weren't the Protagonist, she would've been one of the thousands of extras that get crushed under a skyscraper when a superhero fight destroys the city, or the minority character that decides to split off from the rest of the group and dies first, or a wicked step-sister that gets turned into a crow at the end. Worst of all, she could've been the Antagonist.

She had never met the Antagonist, but she knew all about him. The Antagonist was an Evil Creature, born of the shadowy depths and sent upon the Earth to destroy mankind. It would have glowing red eyes, and translucent skin and perhaps clawed hands that dripped with the blood of innocents. It would be a Monster, of that there was no doubt. There were times when Hikari stared out her window at the end of the day, and she wondered about the Antagonist. Hikari knew she was the Protagonist the moment she was aware of her existence. She came alive and saw that she was written to be beautiful, and kind and lovely, and so she could only be the Protagonist. She wondered if the Antagonist awakened one day and knew he was foul and evil and ugly, and so he could only be the Antagonist.

On Hikari's sixteenth birthday, a dark fortress appeared out in the Wastelands, on the highest peak of the highest mountain. She woke up to air tinged with black, oily smoke for the first time, and all her woodland friends rushed to her, coughing and in a panic.

"Miss Hikari! Miss Hikari! The Antagonist has come!"

The customers in the store pleaded over the counter. "He will eat the hearts of women and devour the souls of men. Miss Hikari, you must save us!"

"Worry not, good citizens of Storybooke. I shall travel to the dark fortress and defeat the Antagonist, so that he may never again be a blight on this good land or its people." Inwardly, Hikari rolled her eyes. Which Author was it that decided Protagonists must make dramatic speeches before embarking on adventure? She'd like to deck him with a pie. That night, she prepared to journey out to the Wastelands. She packed her rucksack with health potions and enchantment scrolls. She hung up her frilly, yellow apron, and traded it for a leather tunic, a sheepskin cloak, and boots. On her back she tied a willow bow and a quiver full of dragon-glass arrows. Lastly, she strapped on the ancestral sword, made in the forges of the Sun Goddess Soleil, and passed down for generations from Protagonist to Protagonist. Or so the Authors have said. Despite herself, a sense of thrill course through her body. Finally, an adventure.

Over the next week, Hikari traversed the Wasteland, blasted by snow and wind during the day, and sleeping in rough caves at night. The fortress grew larger day by day. On the fourth day, a blast of purple light illuminated the fortress and the dark clouds that swirled around it. This was followed by more purple lights, at least once a day. Was this some dark magic to rip the souls of men from their bodies? Or was the Monster summoning demons from the world below to haunt them? Hikari shuddered at the thought.

It was dawn when she climbed the last ridge of the mountain and saw the fortress gates before her. They rose high into the clouds, as if they meant to pierce the sky above. Stone gargoyles stared from the top of the doorway, daring anyone to pass. The red tinge of the sun on their backs made them appear as if they were burning. She pushed past the gates, and peered into the windows above her. There. A shadowy figure up against