Another morning and another day of boring school. Or at least, that is how it should have been. Fate, destiny, or however you want to call it has a strange way of doing things. For one, I never thought I was different or important, that just goes to show how my self-esteem is. After all, I never asked for anything like that. Just living calmly with my family and friends, growing up learning and being happy; that is how it should have been. Going to school then university, getting a job, and with enough luck, perhaps a lovely husband, having kids, grandkids, and finally laying to rest without regrets. That's how it was supposed to be. But then again it wasn't meant to be that way, after all, I ended up dying.

I should explain what happened, shouldn't I? Otherwise, I won't make much sense. It was just another morning and another day of boring school. I woke up, or rather I forced myself to do so. I have always been lazy and I am not going to hide it. The alarm was the worst of all. No matter which one I chose, after one or two weeks I would have to change the tone or it would drive me crazy. Having my sleep interrupted was like picking a fight with me, and that damned alarm did it on a daily basis. I sighed deeply. Here I was fighting with an inanimate object which I had set to wake me up, so if anything, I am the one at fault here. But that does not mean I have to be content with it. After all, I am lazy and hate waking up early.

I dragged myself out of bed through sheer will power (this was my daily routine, after all), my body always felt sluggish, and it was worse during the morning. It felt almost as if my mind and body weren't meant for each other, but that is a stupid thought in itself. Ignoring my thoughts my body moved towards the bathroom almost by itself; after all, this routine had been ingrained into my muscle memory throughout my 16 years of life. I take off my pyjamas and open the water tap and wait. I hate cold water. When it comes to taking a shower or bath, I would rather spend a whole month without one than going at it with cold water. Perhaps that's the reason I never truly wake up after cleaning myself; after all, it's said that taking a cool shower helps you clear your mind, but then again I refuse.

After a few minutes I am done; turning off the water and grabbing my towel, I look at myself in the mirror. I wouldn't call myself pretty or ugly, just plain. Short black hair at around shoulder length, with the tips dyed in a copper colour due to the previous deep red decolorating.

With plain chocolate brown eyes, perhaps my only redeeming features are my lips, as they are full and a little pouty. Then comes the really disappointing part, undeveloped breasts. I have always wondered if mother nature decided to play a prank on me as they are barely there at all: A cups. The more I think about it the angrier I get, as my mother's were completely out of this world; even though she always told me that it's better this way since she is always complaining about back pains, I still wished I had bigger ones. I just shook my head to get rid of those useless thoughts. After all, some guys like them small, right? Either way, after that just came the definition of plain. Normal hips and butt, however perhaps my height wasn't so bad at 1.68 meters (5´5 feet).

I walked out of my room after getting dressed, after all, I never used makeup or any cosmetics for that matter, as for my hair I just let it do whatever it wants, I gave up on combing it a long time ago. Breakfast was ready as I walk towards the table, eggs, and toast with chocolate like any other day was served. To tell the truth, it was plain but I would rather have it stay like that, after all, I suffered from nausea during a few hours after waking up, if I were to eat anything else for sure I would end up throwing up. Finishing my breakfast what was left to finish my daily routine was to brush my teeth and head out to school. As always I walked with a blank mind or rather thought of anything else than the movement of my feet and the path ahead of me. I have always wondered about the possible existence of other worlds, it was an entertaining idea after all, but who would have thought that it would end up being the truth.

I kept on walking until I heard a scream that broke my thoughts, I never felt panic, I was proud of that fact and as I looked out I found the source of the previous sound. Almost as if time had stopped to allow my thoughts I understood the situation. A mother with a desperate expression, I kid with a clueless one and a driver trying his best to stop the vehicle. That's right, that clueless kid was just about to be run over after running into the road following his escaped ball. I moved before my thoughts manage to fully comprehend what I was doing, almost as if all that sluggishness from before had turned into sheer strength I ran faster than ever before. I felt calm as always even after knowing what would happen to me, a simple smile escaped from me towards the kid I had just pushed out of the way. I wonder what drove me to do something like that, I wasn't the self-sacrificing type, I was very selfish now that I think about it.

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It was but a moment, I felt pain like I had never felt before as my bones broke and my flesh got torn apart by the wheels of the truck that had ran me over. I could hear screams and the screeching of tires as they skid to a stop, I felt cold yet wrapped in warmth. It was that, the warm blood that escaped me causing my body to feel this awful way. I tried to move but my body didn't mind my commands, talking was impossible too, as my mouth was filled with the taste of iron. I felt sleepy, rather I felt sleepier than usual, taking a quick nap didn't sound so bad, but then again I would get scolded by the teachers for sleeping in class. That reminds me, I am late for class, this is the third time this week, it's such a bother to stay quiet and act as if I am listening while they go on and on about how important it is to be on time. I could hear sirens from afar, did something happen? Ah! that's right I got ran over silly me for forgetting. Perhaps with this, I will be able to sleep calmly for a few days without a worry in a hospital bed, now that would be nice. I closed my eyes as I thought about these things, if I am going to a hospital then no one will scold me for taking a quick nap now. And so I fell into a deep slip, or rather I died.

I opened my eyes once more but there was nothing, perhaps it's night time now. I tried to speak but no words would come out, and then I heard a voice. It was that of a girl a little squeaky but beautiful nonetheless.

"Your soul is strong, perhaps you would like a second chance"

Those words came into my mind clearer than what it was physically possible for my ears to pick up, was this some kind of telepathy? I shook my head or rather I thought of doing so as I could not move.

"Perhaps you are not aware but you died you know?"

Once again I heard her from within my own mind, but it didn't matter to me where it was come anymore, what mattered was their meaning.

"Somehow your soul refuses to disperse, you are quite strong, that's why I am asking you, do you want a second chance?"

I could understand what was this about, I died and my soul doesn't disappear? My soul is strong? What is this all about? Well, it doesn't really matter, if I am dead and I can come back to life then what is there to think about, of course, I don't want to die, heck who does?

I lost consciousness again, who knows for how long but when I opened my eyes I was surprised. I was welcomed by the sight of leaves far above, letting some rays of sunlight shine all around. It felt comfortable the air was cool and the warmth from the sun made it extremely pleasurable to just lay there. I entertained the idea of just falling asleep again in this comfort but that idea left me as soon as I realized I didn't know where the hell I was. My surroundings looked nothing like a park or something of the sort, I was definitely inside a forest. I looked around some more but there was no path no nothing, either way, staying here was no good, after all, I had no idea how I ended up here after being run over and died? I took a step forward but felt as if I stepped on something that wasn't meant to be in a forest, looking down I found a letter on top of what looked like a sword perhaps?

My head was spinning while I tried to make north or south of what was going on, either way, I took the letter, who knows I might get something useful from reading it. I carefully opened the envelope that was sealed with a beautiful crest on some red wax. I tried to open it without ruining the crest but I failed, miserably at that, either way, it's not important I should stop getting distracted by useless things. I took out the content and started reading:

"Hello Lia I hope this letter reaches you, I am Gaia the goddess of earth and humans. As I told you before you died, but on an unexpected turn of events, your soul didn't disperse. This would be a rare occurrence already but what makes it more amazing is the fact that you somehow managed to travel through the wall of reality and reached the ninth world. You must be confused and that is understandable so I will try to explain things to the best of my abilities. As of now, you are no longer on earth, instead, you are in the Ninth World, a world created by the eight gods as a battleground for our own entertainment, sorry about that. Either way no living being should be able to travel through the wall of reality as the sheer pressure is enough to completely obliterate both the physical and non-physical, in other words, the body the soul and the mind.

However somehow your soul managed to not only keep itself together without a physical container but it also kept your mind and withstood the journey, that's why I have decided to grant you a second chance at living. I have recreated your body, and implanted your soul in it, regrettably, I am not allowed to help you any more than I already have since that would go against the rules of the game with the other gods, sorry again. As of now, you are on your own, but before that, I have left some items that will prove useful for the time being. Also, this world is one of magic so be careful out there as there are monsters and other things here, and now with all things said and done I wish you good luck.

ps: if you want to talk you can go to the church and offer a prayer, I might be willing to give some advice.

-With a sincere wish for your success, Gaia."