Carrying a maiden in his arms, the young man ran faster than anyone Elena’d ever seen in her world, slipping by people fast enough to be invisible.

Elena gripped his shoulder tightly, her whole body solid as a boulder, as any bad movement could result in her flying off. She paid little attention to her surroundings, instead focusing on the man’s chest, his white shirt leaving enough space open to observers.

Eventually, he stopped by a dark alleyway, hidden away from the eyes of any onlooker.

“This should be good. I’m sure we must’ve lost them by now.”

He let Elena down, the two of them standing face-to-face. A closer look at the man’s features let her admire his bright golden eyes and light-brown skin. His nose, meanwhile, was long and in a bit of a funny shape, serving as contrast to his roguish look.

The time she spent inspecting his looks was time spent breathing an awkward air, as the two remained in silence, both expecting the other to say something. The man immediately blocked his nose with his hand, noticing Elena’s focused stare and feeling perhaps a bit insecure, his cheeks growing red.

In fairness, so would anyone, were they to be stared at with the intensity of a camera from a documentary.

“Oh, hmm, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare like that. Well, I mean, I did mean to, because you’re handsome, but not like, so intensely, you know?“

The man scratched his head, in disbelief at her ability to dig her own hole.

“Nononono, I didn’t mean to say you’re handsome, I meant that—” she bit her tongue— ” But that also doesn’t mean that you’re not handsome, because you are. But I was looking at you weirdly, so what I meant was… you know.”

“I’m not sure if I know what you’re talking about, but let’s end this discussion right here.”

“Agreed.”

The hole had morphed into a full-blown ravine, so Elena was eager to accept any lifeline thrown her way.

The man began looking into the street, before saying, “Anyway, before one of these assholes comes for us”—he turned around to face Elena— ”why don’t you give me your name?”

“My name? So, you don’t know me?”

Both their faces turned blank at the absurdity of the question. Inside Elena’s Earthling head, it was a perfectly sound assumption to make that whoever her savior was probably had some prior history with the person she was now replacing. Maybe a previous lover or a long-lost sibling… the former being the preferred possibility. Otherwise, why risk your life for some random girl, especially when it seemed social etiquette was to just sit by and watch her be dragged to a dismal fate?

“Uhm, no? Do you remember having met before?”

Once again down in the ravine, Elena shook her head while saying, “Nonono, I just thought it was strange to go out of your way to save someone you don’t know, so I thought maybe YOU knew me from somewhere.”

A snort was his reaction, accompanied by a sudden eye closure. “Nah, saving damsels in distress is more or less my job. That’s all. Nothing personal.” He opened his right eye, hoping mayhaps to get a peek of Elena’s reaction, then closed it again upon not seeing a face he wanted. He repeated this process a few times.

Unfortunately for him, Elena remained stone-faced, thoughts pecking her brain. His was a response that brewed further questions. He was dressed like a scoundrel, with leather boots and a plain white shirt covered by a brown coat. Were he to wear an eye patch, it’d be a fair assumption to say he was a pirate. Yet apparently, he was in the business of saving ladies from being sold, rather than doing the selling himself.

Perhaps he was a thief with a heart of gold? That was her immediate assumption upon laying eyes upon him, but only as a result of his mesmerizing appearance. It wouldn’t be fair to assume someone’s virtue just based on their looks.

Then again, if she’d truly been transported to the world of a romance novel or game, beauty would in fact be the perfect way to measure a person’s virtue. If nothing else, he seemed to be kinder than those dreadful thugs from before.

Maybe his name would provide a hint? Usually, bad people in these kinds of stories would have evil-sounding names. Of course, her wanting to know his name undoubtedly factored into her thought process, but it did originate from a place of reason. She needed to learn what sort of character this man could be slotted into.

She inhaled air deeply, selecting her upcoming words with great care. If the man before her was the hero of her story, learning his name was surely a moment of great importance. This was a scene she needed to nail.

“Of course, I'll give out my name. But only so long as I first hear yours”—she let out a fake cough, followed by pounding her chest and then grabbing the hem of her dress— “So, would my ears be so blessed as to be witness to its lovely—?”

“Miles.”

“—sound… huh?” Her pretentious question was answered in as cutting a fashion as possible. It was evident a tinge of tiredness colored his voice. Likely, stemming from tiredness at her.

“Miles. That’s my name.” A silence filled with awkward stares filled the air separating them. Miles began tapping his right foot, before saying, “So… you’re gonna tell me yours?”

“My name? You wanna know my name?” Elena pointed at her chin.

“I mean, it’s only fair. I told you mine.”

It was her hope he was actually curious about what her name was, but politeness was all she could read from his tone. Nevertheless, after the failure her attempt to get his name turned out to be, she wasn’t gonna let this chance slip by.

“Well,” she stretched her left arm upward, the palm of her hand high-fiving the heavens above, “if a face like yours asks for my name”—she winked at him— ”then I have no choice but to answer…”

Frustratingly for her, Miles only reacted with confusion, furrowing his brow with his arms crossed. All these antics were for the aim of building anticipation to the grand reveal, so seeing his face gave her no pleasure.

As a result, she cut her speech short, originally planning to flirt, or at least attempt to, for a bit longer. Instead, she shut her eyes and only added, ”...and that answer is my name, which is—”

“WATCH OUT!” Miles’ scream assaulted her ears before she could finish, his body plunging forward, shoving her down to the floor. He wasted less than a second prone on top of her, for he quickly got up and unsheathed his sword. “Are you ok?” he asked, without averting his sight from whatever danger had just attacked them.

“Yes… I am… except for…” She was about to say she wished to remain sandwiched between the ground and his body for just a little longer, but swallowed that thought upon looking forward, realizing it was no time for being horny. “Oh no.”

The same ruffians from before had somehow found them. Or maybe they were different ones, she could not remember. But it mattered not. What mattered was that Miles knew they were trouble, and were preventing them from escaping the way they came.

Worst of all, they each carried some sort of weapon in their hands. If it could be described succinctly, it could be said to resemble the barrel of a cannon stemming from medieval times, but with the grip and trigger of a modern firearm underneath it.

“We have you now, rat!” one of them shouted.

Biting his lip, Miles slowly turned his head around, pointed towards the depths of the backstreet, and with a brief glance at Elena, yelled, “Run!”

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Elena was frozen by a mixture of fear and stubbornness, not wanting to leave him alone despite her lack of combat value. It was then, that a faint but deafening sound reached her ears, the sound of a flame about to wrap the air.

That sound would be polluted by the scream of one of the thugs. “Eat this!”

The sound was now accompanied by a sight, that of a burning red fireball, floating right in front of the weapon the criminal held. Within the blink of an eye, the fireball began accelerating toward Miles. It frightened him not; he stood his ground firmly and swung his sword. The blade directly parried the projectile, diverting its path. The fireball instead collided with the ground beneath them, a spiral of flame spiraling in all directions.

“Run, I said!” Miles shouted again. The fire had spread chaos across the battlefield, and he knew that protecting her any further would prove difficult

This time, Elena’s instincts followed the order. She turned around and launched into a mad dash, careful not to trip on the hem of her own dress, the shrieks of men increasingly decreasing in volume with every step.

Her pace would come to a screeching halt at a moment’s notice, for suddenly she dropped to the ground.

This stupid dress she thought.

In truth, something had struck her back, the force of the impact shoving her body downward. But in the heat of the moment, she paid it no mind; in fact, she lacked the ability to analyze the scenario and realize what had truly happened. Instead, she simply attempted to stand up as efficiently as possible.

However, right before moving a foot forward to continue her escape, her vision suddenly blurred intensely, the world before her shaking before her eyes. Her knees crumbled suddenly, catching herself with her left arm to not collapse completely.

“Wow, what’s going on?” She managed to lift her body up yet again, but standing completely still was all she could manage, her body refusing to move any further. The adrenaline had done a good job so far distracting her from a burning sensation coming from her belly, which was not calling for her attention.

Ignoring it no more, she placed her right hand on the spot, without giving it much thought.

“ARRRGH” she screamed, suddenly met with unimaginable pain, as she’d touched something she shouldn’t have. She quickly put her hand away, which now seemed to be bathed in some kind of sticky liquid.

“What the…?”

Elena stared disturbed at her own fingers, now clad in the crimson color of blood.

Her whole body was shaking and her breath was rapid, her mind trying to come to grips with what was happening. Filled with hesitation, she slowly lowered her gaze.

“No… nonononononono this isn’t happening.”

A big hole had formed in the middle of Elena’s belly, increasing in size with each second, as the skin that once formed her torso had begun melting away, her intestines one wrong move away from flying off. The pavement she was standing on had become flooded, her leaking blood painting the ground red.

“I… I…” Elena’s speech started to falter, her body using most of its energy just trying to stay alive. “...I must… make it back… to him.”

Elena began moving her right leg, a futile attempt to walk. It wasn’t even the right direction, or maybe it was. It didn’t matter. The world once again blurred, up had become the same as down, left the same as up. All sense of direction vanished, there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to go, for death surrounded her on all sides.

Eventually, the farce broke down. She lost her balance, dropping face-first into the ground, soaked with blood.

Her organs scattered across the ground, floating like leaves in a red pond. Elena writhed in pain as the countdown began for her life to end.

She made one last, desperate, defiant attempt to get up, planting her hands on the floor to lift herself up. While she managed to achieve some height, gravity would render her efforts a waste, crashing down into the pond of blood once again, albeit this time facing the sky.

She wasn’t scared. Her body trembled, yet she was not scared. And if she was scared, then it was not the main emotion flowing through what remained of her.

That would be rage. Pure, unbridled rage

“Did I really come to this world… just to die like this?”

Her brain hadn’t shut down quite yet, but she wished it had, for its only remaining use was to torture her. As the sky shifted from blue to black, all she could do was to chastise herself, to rage at her feeble self for what a waste her life had been.

Through some divine intervention, she’d gotten a second chance at life, and she had wasted it by dying like a dog.

Her opportunity for adventure, gone.

Her opportunity for romance, gone.

The golden eyes of the handsome man who saved her, who reached out his hand when no one else would, flashed through her eyes as if to mock her, to remind her of what she almost had. Of what death was about to rob her of.

And during that final breath, his eyes vanished, and in their place, eyes as green as emerald shone in all their glory.

A face the girl couldn’t remember, but nonetheless felt familiar. That was the last vision she’d see.

A figure that spoke in a voice she’d claim she’d never heard, but that nonetheless her soul knew intimately.

The dark figure began whispering to her, long after her ears had stopped hearing.

She couldn’t fully make out the message; she wasn’t yet desperate enough be able to. But she heard it all the same. Those would be the last words her current self would hear.

“Em…arms…” I said.

It was my soothing voice what’d serve as the lullaby for her sleep, her consciousness melting away, becoming one with the darkness of despair.

----------------------------------------

Waves struck her ears, sea salt pierced her nostrils, and the ground appeared to shake underneath her.

What this coordinated attack on her senses was, she had no idea. Her mind had been stripped of the ability to comprehend.

This was because she had to be dead. Dying was all her mind could remember.

The despair felt when the realization struck. The infernal pain of having your guts spill out.

It was an unforgettable feeling. One that’s many times imagined, but only once experienced.

To have felt that unbearable pain meant desire for eternal sleep was the only possible method of coping. And she was blessed to at last be at peace.

No matter if she could smell or hear, the only conclusion she could draw, the only conclusion she wanted to draw, was that she was dead. After yet another life of failure, all she could hope was for a graceful afterlife.

And at that moment, the words she thought were her greeting on the heavenly gates reached her ears.

“Hey, you! You’re finally awake, huh?”

Seeing nothing but darkness, Elena grinned. Suddenly, her desire to see the world before her spiked up, for only her eyes could confirm the insanity of what her hearing had told her.

“Todd Howard… you’ve done it again, you son of a bitch!” she whispered, before at last slowly opening her eyes.

It could only be this way. Too many hours spent playing that blasted game. It was only to be expected, then, for there to be no escape. Not even in death could she escape. Perhaps she was in hell instead? Were that the case, odds were she’d open her eyes and come across a silhouette of a red spaceman, or something.

Why was she even having such strange thoughts? Then again, maybe they aren’t so weird. She had already reincarnated into the world of some random Otome game or manhwa she couldn’t even remember the name of, so why couldn’t she now show up in Skyrim? Would be less weird, if anything.

Once her vision returned, the image that unfolded in front of her was nothing expected. With a clear, blue sky serving as the background, a gorgeous blonde woman stared down at her.

“Hey look! She opened her eyes. About fucking time,” said the woman, calling out to someone outside Elena’s view. Her voice had been the same that first said she was awake. Any similarities with any video game she’d played were a mere coincidence.

It was at that moment that Elena’s consciousness fully returned to her body. It’s not often the realization of being alive hits you, but it had just hit Elena, feeling a wooden surface against the skin of her back.

“Oh, thank the goddess,” cried out a masculine voice, one Elena knew well. Tilting her head in its direction, she saw the originator of said voice. It was Miles.

“Where am I?” Elena wasted no time asking. She’d get her reply not with words, but in the form of an earthquake of sorts, the ground seemingly vibrating. That combined with the sea salt in the air, as well as the sound of waves made her guess she was in some kind of large ship.

“You’re in our ship. Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” answered Miles, confirming her suspicions.

Standing up, Elena continued, “Well, good to know we’re nowhere near those morons from the alleyway.”

The moment that last word left her mouth, a scarring image swept through her mind. Those dreadful moments filled with despair, visited by death within the confines of a dark alley, fire tearing apart her flesh.

A painful, burning pain… one that was currently absent from her torso. Her hand slowly caressed the area beneath her chest, her mind bracing for the worst. Instead, it felt completely normal.

“Wow, your medicine must be superb,” said Elena, with a wide smile, “that hole in my body is completely gone. Did you use some kind of spell, or something?”

“Uhm, we have no healing magic in our squad,” replied the blonde woman, “but you weren’t particularly injured, anyway.”

Understandably, Elena was bewildered. “Huh?” She clearly remembered being brought within an inch of her life. Had she dreamed it?

“Yeah, after I took care of those goons, I ran by your side. One of them had taken a shot at you, but when I inspected your body, you were completely unharmed, albeit you had passed out. I guess the shock was a bit too much.”

Elena scratched her chin. She didn’t want to believe the two people in front of her were liars, but neither could she dismiss the very real pain she’d experienced.

But from these two contrasting viewpoints, she’d eventually have to pick one to place her faith in.

For somehow, she’d awoken alive, despite having encountered what could only be referred to by the name of “death”.