"The Curse of Xeunoeflaunz the Wicked" (Prologue)

It had been sometime since that damnable detective escaped from Xenia's realm. Not only did she make it out alive, but she had one of her most prized possessions passed down from her late sisters before they were burned alive. She may have memorized and mastered almost every spell in the book, but that didn't make it any less valuable. In a fit of rage and dwelling on past events, the cryptic woman decided to go seek out the book herself. Because she didn't have any modern-day clothing, she decided to use a different strategy as soon as she exited her realm. Eyeing a pair of young mortal ladies camping in the area, she decided to give them a rude wake-up call in the middle of the night.

With those trespassers out of the way, she gleefully robbed their bodies and left the corpses to rot away for the flies to feed on. Now scoring dark violet slacks, a gray loden coat, and a pair of black ankle boots, she was almost ready to scour the modern world. She had lived most of her life wearing potato bag dresses, so being able to wear modern-day clothing was quite a treat for her. She couldn't help but fancy the new boots. Using the blood of the dead women, she had cast a spell to grant herself a temporary, youthful looking figure to blend in more. Something she rarely used, if ever. She observed her own body for a moment and appreciated her beauty. looking at her own reflection through a nearby lake, she grinned evilly as she recognized this familiar face. It was the same youthful face she wore hundreds of years ago when she slaughtered and dragged that village to her hellish domanin. Her majestic face was the last thing those peasants saw before their souls were hers, forever.

Now, with an attire fit for blending in, she had exited from her home territory and began to explore the outside world and into the city, learning about just how much had changed over the past 500 years. Xenia had little knowledge about technology and had very little exposure to it, but she wasn't blindly stupid to notice how mortals had evolved over the years. While she wasn't super impressed, she was very much fascinated. While scouring the city, the Germanic witch passed by a toy store. She was VERY familiar with the concept of toys. Using them to bait nosy little insects away from their village. Gullible, young, and vulnerable. Just like how she liked her victims.

Looking through the window, she noticed an area that was selling a bunch of weird covers with labels on them. She didn't expect mortal entertainment to evolve this much. These were no normal toys for children. They were virtual entertainment. Digital games. These "video games" came in quite a variety. Some of them had faces she recognized for some reason. A number of children who died at her hand and had their souls trapped had carried figurines that looked identical to some of these characters. A plumber with a red hat and blue overalls. An orange human-like animal she didn't recognize wearing shorts. A colorful medieval warrior with a sword and cape that, for some reason, irritated her. The one that caught her attention the most was "the blue one." She watched as a small group of children were fighting to get their hands on a specific "game" that they had desired for some time. Something called "Sonic Mania". After the brats grabbed what they came for, Xenia approached the section and took a close look at the cases. Some of them featured other characters. One of them had a smaller version of him on the cover.

Sitting on top of a nearby shelf was a plush that was identical to the one that damn detective had found in her woods. One that belonged to a recently deceased young soul that had fallen by Xenia's hand. This character must've been immensely popular with this new generation's youth. A cartoon hedgehog with red shoes. She got a look at the label on the plush and read it out loud in a soft, curious tone.

"...Sonic.. The.. Hedgehog..?

She couldn't understand how or why, but this particular blue character had her bright purple eyes locked on him for longer than she anticipated. Of all the various animals she had seen throughout her years, the hedgehog was one she was most familiar with, as well as being the most fond of. She remembered raising one as a little girl with her older sisters and being amused at how this adorable rodent would feast on snake flesh, as well as dozens of maggots they had picked from infested animal carcasses. While she was in the middle of dwelling on her childhood, she felt a hand tap her shoulder accompanied by a male voice.

"Excuse me, ma'am? Are you looking to buy something for your kid here? A birthday present, maybe? You've been staring at this shelf for a long time."

She quickly turned her head to face him. It was a young man with brown hair that looked to be in his early 20s. There was a label on his clothes that said, "Jacob." He seemed to be wearing a piece of clothing on his head that had the blue hedgehog on it. She cracked a smile and spoke to the young man as if she tried to sound like a mother.

"Perhaps I am, boy. I noticed that those children were deeply invested in this blue rodent. I'd like to learn more about him and why the youngins adore him."

The young man chuckled, amused by the middle-aged woman's curiosity. He spoke again and explained.

"I guess you've been living under a rock, or you don't pay much attention to what your kid plays. That right there is Sonic the hedgehog. Fastest thing alive. Former Rival to Mario. Video game mascot to Sega. He's been a big star ever since the 90s. Kids adore his cocky personality and heroism. You could say they look up to him as an Idol. He had his ups and downs, but that never took away from his popularity. My little brother and I still play Sonic the Fighters from time to time back at home."

The young man's words intensified her fascination for this character and how he naturally attracts children to him. At that moment, something sparked in her. She realized that she didn't just have a new generation of brats to terrorize, she could also potentially discover an entirely new way to spread terror and mishap by capitalizing on it. The idea of a new form of magic being materialized by experimenting with these games excited her. This blue one. This hedgehog. He was her one way ticket to her new goal. Spreading her magic to the new generation's youth. She smiled and thanked the man, before placing the plushie back on the shelf. Before she departed, she looked back at Jacob and said something that partly weirded him out.

"I'll be back for the blue one later. I must go retrieve something first. Auf Wiedersen.."