Natalie Madison / Gloomdust

A teenage girl who felt deeply unfulfilled by her everyday life. When not at school or fulfilling familial obligations she retreated into fantasy by drawing and roleplaying with her online friends. Her favorite character and the one she represents herself online with is Gloomdust, a scene sparkledog with cool magic powers. Gloomdust was everything she wished she could be, so when a mysterious creature appeared and offered to grant her that wish, she accepted. 

When she made this wish she thought that she would wind up in the fantasy world that she roleplayed in as Gloomdust. Instead, her body transformed, but she stayed exactly where she was. She was a dog now, and incapable of talking to anyone. She couldn’t communicate what happened to her family because all they saw was a strange and aggressive dog, and she was soon declared a missing person. 

Natalie wound up a stray dog on the streets, and though she was incredibly alone and afraid, she still wanted to live. She quickly learned that in order to survive she had to keep her Soul Gem cleansed, and to do that she would need to defeat Witches. Using Gloomdust’s abilities, she fought against Witches on a near-daily basis, but no matter how many Grief Seeds she collected her Soul Gem’s color always remained dark. 

Then one day, nearly a month after she made her wish, she encountered another magical girl within a Witch’s labyrinth. As they fought the Witch together she called out to this girl to warn her of an attack, forgetting in the moment that she could no longer talk—only to be shocked when the girl actually reacted and dodged the attack. She asked the girl if she could understand her, and was overjoyed to learn that the answer was yes. This revelation energized her, and together the two girls were able to defeat the Witch handily.

The girl introduced herself and explained that she has been a magical girl for close to a year, and that her wish was to be able to speak to animals. She had long since become disillusioned with this wish, as animals did not have the rich inner lives that she had hoped for, but meeting Natalie made her realize that her ability had important value after all, and she offered to give her a place to stay. Though the pain of losing her human life still weighed heavily in her heart, for the first time since she made the wish Natalie allowed herself to feel hopeful.

Witch
Hecate, the witch of liminality. Her nature is dissociation. Simultaneously a human and a canine, her form constantly twists and changes, unable to reconcile the truth of her identity. Humans who enter her barrier lose their sense of self.