Looking back on it now there are a lot of things that I regret doing such as my parents how much I appreciated them for everything they did for me, telling my little sister just how much I cared about her and just wanted the best for her and spending one more night with my friends before we all went our separate ways in the pursuit of success and happiness in university. Yet I was too much of an idiot to take it seriously, so you can probably imagine my reaction when I died and was reborn in another world.
And you're right in thinking I hated and resented myself for it. I wanted so badly to rewind the clock and change what happened but, alas it wasn't meant to be. At the time, I was still wrapping my mind around the whole ordeal, after all, I figured I was in some sort of elaborate dream that my mind conjured up one night. I never even gave a second thought about the pitch-blackness that surrounded me at the time.
It was only when I heard her voice call out to me that I suddenly felt something wasn't right.
"Yuuma"
I remember it vividly it was angelic and calm almost soothing right to the bone it was a voice I could listen to all day. Yet again I didn't give it a second thought thinking it was all a part of the dream until I felt a smooth warm touch against the skin of my cheek when I opened my eyes that's when I was indeed introduced to what angelic beauty looked like, to be honest, it was almost too good to be true she looked like a pure angel coming out from under a veil of black paint.
Feeling her warm hands clasp on either side of my face was pleasant. At that moment, I was indeed in the middle of pure bliss and thinking to myself back then if at that moment it was going to be the end of me I was content with that. I couldn't help but wonder who she was that question was at the forefront of my mind throughout the entire time my eyes were laid upon her.
"W-Who are you?" I could barely speak it felt like I had to use all my strength to speak. Thinking about it now I can still clearly picture that whimsical look on her face but, her eyes were a different story they seemed dead like all life was extinguished from them leaving no trace behind.
Upon hearing my question she smirked her lifeless eyes unchanging as she continued to hold my face in the middle of this pitch-black abode that surrounded the both of us.
"Right now, that's the least of your worries" hearing those words escape her mouth reinforced the idea that she appeared to simply be a lifeless vessel there was not a single hint of emotion behind those words. Her speech and movements were near identical to what I remembered as being called androids.
The two of us continued to float through this empty black abyss her eyes locked with mine making me feel that she was piercing my very soul with her gaze. Any other time it would make me feel uncomfortable being in this situation but, she seemed to let off this calming aura that dulled my senses.
"We don't have much time..." her words echoed as she spoke them "...it won't be long before they notice that I'm missing"
I was confused with so much running through my head that I could barely keep up anyway. I couldn't help but ask what in the hell was going on, after all, she was the most likely one to give me any sort of idea of what was happening.
"W-What's going on? W-Where am I?" my voice barely audible as I felt the severe pressure against my vocal cords. My eyes still locked on the girl in front of me her expression changed from being stoic to a combination of frantic and worried as her hands gripped either side of my face with slightly more force than before but, not enough to do me any physical harm.
"There isn't any time..." she was becoming more impatient with me it seems by the second "...listen to me when you wake up find a person by the name, of Voeckler, they'll tell you everything you need to know"
Before I could even respond our once quiet abode was interrupted by the sound of tearing which attacked my senses the girl, however, seemed to not faze her in the slightest. I continued to watch her when my eyes glanced at what looked like a glistening light coming out from a tear in the black void that surrounded us before I knew it I felt a strong force pulling me towards it leaving the girl behind. Instinctively I reached out to her I don't know why but, it just happened when she noticed her mouth turned into what looked to be a sad smile as she watched me leave her behind in that void.
The last few seconds were of me still watching her as I went through the tear until it completely closed shutting off my line of sight to the girl. What was once the black void that surrounded me was now a shining bleach white making my eyes flinch in pain I tried my best to make out anything but to no avail. My gentle glide through this open space was suddenly changed to such a great force as my body began moving at the speed of a high-end sports car.
Barely keeping myself conscious I tried to look around the best I could. Twisting my neck as far back as I could my eyes caught a glimpse of what looked like a ring of fire in the distance. With how fast I was moving it didn't take long to realize that my first assumption was wrong, the orange hue coming off the ring was more like a shimmering forcefield than fire.
Within mere seconds whatever was moving my body pulled me through the centre of this orange ring. I immediately felt my body lose all of its weight followed by a sensation that I could only describe as being slowly pulled apart. At first, I thought it was my mind just playing tricks on me until suddenly saw my arms and legs slowly start breaking up into tiny particles.
I felt no pain which you would think is a good sign and, to be honest, I would probably agree with you in any other situation but, this wasn't any ordinary situation. With everything happening so suddenly my thoughts and emotions couldn't process it all until now. For the first time since arriving here the realization of what was happening finally set in, and I couldn't help but feel scared of the unknown that was to await me on the other side.
Before I could wrap my head around what was happening my entire body had suddenly started to dissipate into nothing leaving me with nothing more than a wandering empty husk of my former self. For a brief moment, I expected to lose the identity of who I was from my past life so you could probably understand my surprise when nothing changed or at least it didn't seem to after I went through that orange ring, yet my bearings of where and what was happening around me were all out of sync like a poorly tuned instrument.
The thought of being alone in this place would have sent shivers down my spine if I still had a body but, instead, it felt like a painful and uncomfortable tingling sensation was wreaking havoc throughout my consciousness like I was being attacked by a multitude of fiery migraines without a moment of pause. With the dread of not knowing what was to come there was nothing, I could do other than let whatever otherworldly force take control of me from here on out.
I floated there still like a statue with no way to move as I watched my body slowly be encased within a veil of pure white light feeling a sensation akin to having one's body purified. With no way to escape the unknown, I waited for the purifying light to envelope my entire body as I contemplated what to expect after all this was over. It wouldn't take long before the white light completely swallowed me up whole sending my consciousness back to a prison devoid of everything except for darkness along with my empty thoughts as if something or someone had taken something very dear to me.
***
Wasn't this supposed to be the end? That's what I thought anyway when I was pulled into that veil of white light from before assuming that it was some sort of rite of passage into the afterlife yet why does it feel like nothing has changed? I don't know how but, I could tell something didn't feel right as if I was missing a piece of the puzzle from the very beginning, all I could say was that I had this uneasy sense of being in a perpetual state of limbo.
I tried to open my eyes but, nothing changed it was still the same pitch-blackness that surrounded me from before. When I went to move my body I immediately realized that there was nothing to move I couldn't feel anything. Was my body gone for good then? Thoughts of when my body disappeared right before my eyes surfaced at the forefront of my memories. Deep down I guess I still longed for everything to have been just an elaborate dream still playing itself out but, it seemed that was not the case.
Unable to do anything I waited for what seemed like an eternity for something, anything to happen. Suddenly out of nowhere, I could see a small white diamond flashing before me. I thought I had no eyes to see with, so how I can see this flashing diamond then? Am I imagining it?
Again I tried to figure out whether I had eyes to see whether I could make out anything else around me yet no matter what I tried nothing changed. I racked my mind as to what was happening I came to the conclusion that I might have been hallucinating but, it didn't make sense for it to be an oddly specific shape and colour as such things would have significant meaning to you but, I couldn't recall anything that even closely resembled this symbol flashing before me.
I had lost track of how long I had been staring into nothingness when the white diamond symbol stopped flashing staying as a solid shape and colour for a few moments before disappearing entirely. At first, I was confused had I imagined it this entire time and just pretended it was real as a way to hold onto some form of hope that this was all fake, to begin with? I didn't even have time to think to myself when something started to happen.
Out of nowhere, a large white box appeared something akin to a computer screen. Seconds went by where nothing happened if I still had a body there was doubt that my heart would be racing and my chest tightening up from the suspense of awaiting whatever was going to happen. At the top I noticed a smaller square symbol flashing within the large white screen as if it knew what I was thinking the square started to move but, as it did the symbol left a trail of letters behind.
[... Initializing System Protocols ...]
What's this about system protocols? I thought I was dead not in some computer system.
I thought about everything that had happened to me and how unreal it all seemed to be but, the more I experienced all of this the more likely all this gave the impression that this was now my new reality.
[... System Protocols Start-Up In Effect ...]
[... System Protocols Start-Up Complete ...]
The white screen all of sudden disappeared only for another to take its exact place a second later this time with something entirely different presented on the screen.
[... EvoGenetics First Generation ...]
EvoGenetics? First Generation? None of these phrases triggered a memory, was I supposed to know all of these as if they were second nature to me? Regardless none of this was making any sense to me I didn't bother trying to dig through my memories on whether there was any information on any of this, after all, I had no time to think to myself before new information started appearing in front of me.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
[... Subject: E-3431 Analysis Complete ...]
[... Subject: E-3431 Profile Compiled ...]
I watched as dozens of lines filled with words appeared on the white screen, at first, I didn't recognize what was written but upon closer inspection, it immediately became apparent that it was all information on me.
[... Subject: E-3431 ... Name: Kagome Akiyama ...]
[... D.O.B: 7/21/2035 ...]
Before I could even read through it all the white screen began to flash and glitch out sporadically originally I thought my vision was playing tricks on me but, when it continued happening that when I realized something didn't seem right. It made me uneasy floating here worrying about what was happening and knowing I had no power to do anything about it. Without warning, the white screen vanished leaving me in a few seconds of darkness only to be replaced with a flashing red hue surrounding revealing what looked to be an endless dimension of black clouds. The white screen once again appeared before me, however, this time it was showing one flashing word.
[... WARNING WARNING ...]
The screen started to once again glitch out almost as if it was trying its best to fight against an enemy that I was unable to sense for myself.
W-What's happening?! I screamed in my head almost hoping someone will reach out to me to comfort and reassure me that everything was going to be okay and that there was nothing to fear.
[... Virus Detected ... System Protocols Vulnerable ...]
A virus? What do you mean by that?!
[... Executing Firewall Protections ...]
[... ERROR ERROR ...]
[... Firewall Protections Failure ...]
So much was running through my head I still had many questions like who was the girl from before, what is this place, where am I and what was going to happen to me. I knew something or someone had control over me and I couldn't explain how I came to this conclusion but, my instinct was giving me that feeling of someone holding me against my will. Yet whatever entity had me at its mercy didn't seem to want to relieve me of my fears instead I got the impression that whatever this thing was had no care in the world about how I felt and what I wanted.
It wouldn't surprise me if it didn't even have a shred of remorse if I suddenly disappeared right before its very eyes and that scared me right down to my very core. That someone so illusive and with so much power gave off this bone-chilling aura without a care in the world of what others thought of it.
[... Rebooting System Attempt 1 ...]
[... Rebooting System Attempt 2 ...]
[... Rebooting System Attempt 3 ...]
[... Unable To Establish A Secure Connection ...]
My mind was too muddled to even process what was happening it was almost like I was in a trance state while all of this was unfolding around me. I continued to watch the white screen before me when it fizzled out of existence the sudden silence was unsettling and the thought of something unknown and invisible lurking within this place didn't help when I tried to calm myself. Unable to do anything I waited in anticipation expecting something terrifying to happen so when the small flashing diamond appear once more I can't deny that a sense of momentary relief washed over me.
I watched the symbol unflinchingly it was then replaced not long after with multiple lines of text while glitching sporadically.
[... EvoGenetic First Generation ...]
[... Connection Established ...]
[... Subject: E-3431 Personality And Memories ... Uploaded To H-E Vessel: 343-1 ...]
Without warning, another blinding light appeared around me blocking all of my vision. A second later, I felt as if my soul was slowly beginning to regain all of its senses as faint hints of each of them began to stimulate the energy coursing through my soul, in turn, the blinding light was starting to dim with each passing second until only a very faint light remained. My mind wandered for a moment trying to figure out what just happened when I unexpectedly heard what sounded like someone's voice.
I thought I was imagining it at first but, then I heard it again the muffled voice far in the eerie darkness that surrounded me it felt like someone was trying to reach out to me through the darkness with only their voice. Could it be the girl from before did she somehow find me or was it just my mind laying tricks on me again? The dim light from before started to flicker and grow brighter with each passing second. I could also feel the gentle warmth of someone's touch as if the numbness that suffocated me before was suddenly being washed away.
Again I heard that voice, however, this time it was accompanied by others that I didn't recognize and I still couldn't make out what they were saying or if it was even real, to begin with. I had no way of doing something all I could do was wait as that flickering light and the voices slowly began clear up around me. It wouldn't take long before the light shining towards me began to affect my vision before I even realized what I was doing I had already blocked the light itself.
W-Wait I have arms? B-But I thought I died. Being surprised by this was an understatement, after all, I thought I'd never be able to move again but, this also raised more questions on top of other ones that I had yet to get answers for. As I contemplated with myself the voices that I was hearing started to become more clear than before.
"Lady Niona, the birth was a success!"
I could hear another person besides this woman, however, they were breathing heavily between the words that they were saying.
"T-That's good...to hear...Sylna"
Niona and Sylna? I've heard of these names before but, even still I can't figure out where those names originate from. I tried to open my mouth to try and say something so I could get some answers but, the only sound to escape my mouth was an incoherent babble which stunned me for a split second.
"Lady Niona, she just tried to speak!" I could hear another interject herself into the conversation.
"Talaena how many times do I need to tell you not to raise your voice in the presence of Lady Niona?" What sounded like Sylna had just admonished another known as Talaena for her actions.
"I-It's...okay...just for...today" I heard Niona weakly speak as she tried to calm the situation between Sylna and Talaena clearly worried that it would turn into a heated exchange from the tone of her voice. I eventually mustered enough strength in my body to open my eyes slowly, at first, my vision was blurry as it tried to adjust to my surroundings. I blinked a few times to clear my vision once I could see properly I began to look around trying to figure out where I am.
Looming over me were two women that I did not recognize they didn't look mature for their age I was almost certain they were in their twenties. As I looked at them taking in their features it was then that I realized just how beautiful the two of them were they both had soft delicate features for women and I had to admit that they wouldn't have any problems with winning a beauty pageant. I couldn't help but keep starring bouncing my eyes between the two unable to decide who to rest my sight upon first.
"Aww, she's so cute!" I turned my head to the left to see a girl with golden blonde beaming a cute smile towards me. Her soft hands gently grasped my own as she tried to get a reaction out of me, I'm not going to lie though this was all so surreal. Everything that had happened and was unfolding before my very eyes was the stuff out of manga and anime.
"Talaena, do be gentle with the child" the other woman spoke out. So this golden blonde girl before me is, Talaena. I looked to other woman her hair colour the polar opposite to Talaena's being a jet black. And she must be Sylna.
"You need to stop worrying so much Syl," Talaena went back to playing hide and seek with me, to be honest, I wasn't amused yet if I had the mindset of a baby I would most certainly be giggling like a fan girl that had just seen her favourite K-Pop idol star. I was suddenly lifted into the air by Talaena that joyful smile of hers never faltering for even a second. For those few moments that I was high in the air I could see a lavishly adorned bedroom that surrounded me.
The bed was covered with a fabric coloured in a rich red of silk sheets, the bed frame itself moulded out of a material mysteriously similar to gold. The braziers that illuminated the room itself were intricately crafted into impressive shapes their hue of light revealed masterfully created pieces of artwork, furniture and statues that filled the room. It was almost like I was in the presence of royalty or at least nobility.
I soon descended from my high vantage point as Talaena placed me down upon the soft bed right next to Niona. Now that I think about, it didn't totally sink in yet that I was now a baby born into a new world, and Niona was now my mother. I took this moment to really take in her appearance, Niona's scarlet red hair that draped long past her shoulders looked almost entrancing under the illumination of the fire braziers.
All she had covering her body was what looked to be a lace night gown, however, it was hard for me to really tell with the angle that I was looking from and with both Sylna and Talaena blocking the light of another fire brazier behind them. Niona had been conversing with her servants when it seemed she had noticed me looking at her.
Niona gave me a gentle smile. “You're beautiful, just as I hoped,” speaking gently to me as she carefully picked me up in her arms. She wasn't struggling to talk like she was earlier but, being closer to her now, I could clearly see the beads of sweat trailing down her soft skin and her chest moving at a relatively fast pace as she breathed.
“Lady Niona, have you decided on what to call her?!” Talaena exclaimed, clearly showing her excitement with the whole ordeal.
Sylna, however, quickly intervened before Talaena could say any more. “Talaena! By the spirits, you know such a question can bring misfortune to us!”
“S-Sorry, I'm still getting used to the customs here” I could see Talaena uncomfortably squirm at the thought of such a thing happening, to be honest, I almost felt sorry for her.
“It's okay…” Niona paused before she once turned to look at me looking as if she was in deep thought for a moment “… I'll wait for Elinos to arrive, after all, we both had quite a few ideas for names for her”.
I heard a heavy thud that matched the pace of someone jogging, it quickly grew louder as they got closer to the room before I knew the door had swung open. Turning my head, I tried to see who it was but, I couldn't see beyond where Sylna and Talaena were standing next to the bed.
“Niona!” the voice that called out was deep but gentle just like Niona's, however, it was obvious to me that it was a man that had spoken. It didn't take long before Sylna and Talaena stepped aside, leaving space for the person standing under the doorframe to walk up to the side of the bed. In their hand, they held a lantern, it wasn't bright enough to reveal them fully.
As he moved towards me and Niona he placed the lantern on the stand next to the bed before leaning in closer. With the lantern being much closer the light brightened up my surroundings considerably and for the first time I could see Niona's facial features clearly as with the man that had just arrived. Niona was beautiful beyond anything I had ever seen, her sliver eyes stood out compared to her hair. She looked up, directing her gaze towards the man leaning partially over me.
“Elinos we have a girl”
“She has your face”. Elinos responded as he looked down at me with a soft smile on his face as his hand caressing the top of my head.
“But she has your eyes”. I shifted my head looking towards Elinos his hair was jet black although to the naked it would seem he didn't treat his hair with care, in fact, on closer observation it looked to have been purposely done, his eyes were a stunning golden amber just looking at them was enough to lose yourself in them.
“Have you decided on what we should call her?” Elinos asked. I looked towards Niona for a moment, seeing her deep in thought for a second before making a decision. She looked back towards Elinos with a joyful smile upon her face.
“I think we should call her Edona”. I could tell just from the mention of that name alone that both Niona and Elinos were happy with it.
“It's a great name…” Elinos looked down at me once again, this time leaning in closer than before, “…what do you think of Edona little one?”
Do I really have a choice in the matter? After all, I can't exactly speak because I'm a baby. Ideally I probably would have chosen something else like Aoi or Sachika but, right now, that wasn't possible and if I showed my displeasure of my current name there was no guarantee that the next one or the one after that and so on would be any better. Well, Edona it is, I guess. I decided to show my appreciation for the name the best I could, hearing my own joyful giggles upon hearing my now new given birth name.
“I think she likes it!” Talaena called out from the other side of the room. Even she and Sylna showed their enthusiasm for my new name. I shifted my gaze between Niona and Elinos both looking overjoyed at the fact that I liked my new name. It was all still sinking in, everything that had just happened. I couldn't help but wonder what happened to me before I appeared in that purgatory like world, who was that unusual girl I met there, and what world am I in now?
All of these questions I would like answers to but, right now, that would have to wait. For the time being, I will have to survive in this world and when I'm able to I'll have to start gathering information about this place. Until then, I guess all I can do is try to play the role of both Elinos and Niona's daughter to the best of my ability.