Alex's maniacal laughter reverberated through the desolation, a cacophony of madness in a world reduced to ruins. Broken and scarred, she lay amidst the remnants of a once-thriving existence. The landscape, now a canvas of devastation, bore witness to the merciless invasion of spiders, demons, and incomprehensible invaders who left nothing untouched.

The very sky had been torn away, revealing the maddening infinite, any who looked at it was bound to madness, any flesh exposed would burn, plants owned the surface now, growing beyond natural limits, reaching ever higher. If only she had one of those abominable things about her now, their shade at least granted a semblance of protection. No, her captives were not so kind. So she lay in desolate clearing awaiting her death. "REEEKEKEKEKE" She did not need to wait long. Curiously her executioner circled her. She laughed and laughed, and looked to the sky- rather, she looked to what was once a sky. At long last she didn't succumb to madness, she sought it out, hoping it would be kinder than the fate she saw for herself. She was a Potesta, one of this world's heroes, a defender against otherworlder invasion, and they had failed. As her mind left her, and her eyes cloud over, A vision came. A vision of the future, of herself being torn to pieces. Alex screamed in laughter, she'd experienced this vision a hundred times. The visions seemed to come faster and faster the nearer her death loomed. No sane person could endure that terror. Not again. And again. And again.

She went back. Her mind leaving her body to happier days. Before it all. Back when she worried about too many creases in a dress. Dressing to make a boy look at her with admiration but not desire. Maybe a little bit of desire, but not too much. To play the game of mating, which was the prerogative of the young, but not too young. And she was too young, so she was told by the old, but not too old. They told her to love, but not lust. To have not hold. The rules made her head spin, but not as much as the emotions. She loved a boy- she would never forget good ol what's-his-name. Before the springtime when she learned to loved another, and they would never part, until winter. Heromi was his name. A bit strange, but kind. Kinder than anyone she'd ever met. They met in city gardens, she'd snuck past the paths, into a secluded corner, a secret garden she'd claimed as her own, one where the cherryblossoms grew over a forgotten bridge, and he was there. They caught frogs together, and the sheer joy he held on his face as he showed her his prize, the largest bullfrog. Such a simple action brought more joy to his face than any mortal had the right to have. And he shared that joy with her. She was quickly with child, and they were wed.

She heard the cheers as pain crushed her leg, but her mind was far, far away. She could no longer tell vision from reality, the visions seemed so real, the pain unbearable, and reality seemed so far away. She watched her body in morbid fascination as her mouth screamed, her arms and remaining leg scrambled feebly. She laughed, and returned to the past, waking from reality.

She looked down at the Frog. What a stupid looking thing, it looked just like him. Round face with unnaturally large grin.

"Alex!" he'd said "it's so big!" said it with the biggest grin.

Alex screamed and laughed and laughed and cried and laughed and laughed

"Alllex!" Why are you laughing like that? Alex? You're scaring me"