For whatever reason, Sara Reece was nearly impossible to kill. She was a normal human, so in theory, a good axe swing should do the trick. But with her luck, the blade would stop a centimeter in her skull, cerebrospinal fluid would shoot out like a sprinkler system, and the attack would save her from hydrocephalus.

Sara had outlasted all the members of the Hero’s Party, her best friend, a paranoid king, a narcissistic tyrant, and a sadistic, villainous bitch of a queen named Mary, who she wished she could kill twice. She survived two different worlds, four wars, and hundreds of battles with beasts, kingdoms, and demons. And just ten minutes ago, to her complete astonishment, Sara survived her battle with Agronus, the demon king. She looked like a botched back-alley surgery when it was over—vital organs punctured and spilling out all over the place—but she was still breathing somehow. And even then, bleeding out on the floor, waiting for the demons to storm the castle and finish her off, the human forces were fighting outside, making it technically possible for her to survive. That said, the situation was bleak, really bleak, so she felt like her “luck” had finally run out.

She was wrong. Oh, yes, she was fucking wrong.

The second Agronus died, a massive magical circle on his ballroom floor lit up under her feet, thrusting her through space and time and slamming her into the one place only magic could reach: Palo Alto, California—a place where her body was whole and a long bright future awaited her.

Sara would never forget the surreal three minutes she lay in bed, listening to the distinctive hum of cars, watching their headlights flash across her ceiling. There were no cars in Reemada, but she ignored that fact, wearing her denial like a strait jacket. But the masochistic side of her brain (the only one that seemed to work anymore) told her to look around, and so she eventually did.

Four USTA tennis trophies adorned the walls. Textbooks sprawled over a rolltop desk, and an open closet exposed dresses, blouses, and two racks of shoes. In the corner: a vanity mirror and a halo light combo, perfect accessories to the mansion of a cosmetics organizer in front of it.

For a moment, she just stared at everything, frozen in time. Then adrenaline hit her like an EpiPen, her mind kicked into overdrive, and she rushed to the mirror, staring at her reflection. What she saw made her chuckle, causing her to grip the table to maintain balance. But then her jovial laughter turned hostile, her knuckles turned white from gripping too hard, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Sara? Sara!” A distant voice called out to her, but she didn’t listen. Her mind wasn’t in a place to listen. Listening wasn’t on the menu.

No… Sara thought, probing her face frantically. No-no-no-No-NO! The hideous scar on her cheekbone was gone, the weathered lines on her face replaced with smooth skin. Her matted blonde hair was now sheened with modern remedies, and her teeth reflected moonlight like fallen snow.

Sara turned to the alarm clock on her nightstand, glowing red in the darkness. [5:13 AM]. Then, her intestines turned into a living organism, writhing and twisting as she looked at the date written below the numbers. No…. It can’t be, she thought, mouth open, mind hazy, heart pounding in her chest.

May 12th, 2024.

That was the day ten years ago when she and her homeroom classmates were teleported to another world to fight Agronus. Now, mere moments after she put a sword through that charming fucker’s skull, time had somehow reversed, teleporting her back to Earth as if it had never happened.

“It was all for nothing...” Sara whispered. For a moment, she stared at herself, seemingly calm. Then her anger took over, she grabbed the alarm clock and sentenced it to the role of shattering her mirror. But just before it could leave her hands, she caught another glimpse of the time and held back.

[5:17]

Wait… Sara wasn’t just returned to the day of the summoning—

—she was returned before the summoning.

I should be able to go back… Sara thought, throwing the alarm clock like used trash. I better be able to go back. Then she stomped into the bathroom, stripped off her top and pink pajama shorts, cranked the shower knob to Seventh Circle, and let the water take her to hell.

2

The shower helped to clear her mind, allowing her to see how fucked she was.

“They’re gonna think you're schitzo,” Sara chuckled. “They’ll all think you're schitzo. Hi, my name is Sara. I know I look young, but don’t be fooled. I’m actually 28, and I’ve spent the last decade killing people in another world. Isn’t that something?” She chuckled like a lunatic, itching shampoo into her scalp. The water was burning her skin, but she liked it. Compared to her emotions, it was ice cold.

Once she finished, she toweled off, grabbed a blouse from the hamper, and squeezed her ass into a pair of Lululemons. Then, she snatched her backpack off her bedroom floor, dumped out her textbooks, cosmetics, diary, and all the other useless shit in there, and returned to the bathroom, replacing the empty space with pads, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. If she was going back to Reemada, she’d do it with sanitary supplies and a toothbrush, goddamn it!

“Sara? Sara! Talk to me!”

Sara’s face twitched when she heard the mystery woman’s voice again, sporting that thick, foreign accent. “One fucking second!” she screamed back.

Returning to her bedroom, she packed utilitarian clothing, unwilling to even look at her expensive outfits. But when she saw the cosmetics organizer, she paused. She was getting married soon, and it would be nice to hide the hideous scar on her… face.

Sara froze, dropping her backpack. “He’s not going to remember me…” she whispered. “No one’s going to remember me….” If time reversed, that meant that all the people she met in Reemada—her friends, fiancé, and little sister—had never even met her before. Her entire existence there… never existed.

“Fuck! fuck-fuck-fuck Fuck FUCK! God fucking damn it!” Sara picked up a textbook and hurled it against the wall.

“Sara? Sara!” The voice called for her again, this time yelling and crying. “Tell me you’re okay!”

“I’m fine!” Sara screamed back. “I’ll pay for the fucking damages!” This wasn’t her first time destroying things, but it was the first time she'd be introducing herself to her fiancé, and she had no clue what she would do about it.

You have to win him over again… Sara thought, and it sure as fuck won’t be with your personality. Without hesitation, she threw her cosmetics into her bag. Then, as if deciding that makeup alone wouldn't make up for her anger problem and proclivity for violence, she started stuffing jewelry, perfume, lingerie, and hair products into her bag at rapid speed. The bag instantly filled up, making her look at her luggage, considering the profound implications of bringing a carry-on to class on the day everyone got summoned to another world.

It’s not like I’m going to be able to hide my knowledge, anyway… she reasoned. Attempting to do that would be like trying to act like a tourist in California while pretending you couldn't speak English. If she tried, she'd only look like a spy.

“I’m going on a trip after school,” Sara chuckled aloud. “Yeah, that's what I'll tell them. And when they point out the strange coincidence? I’ll tell ’em to go fuck themselves; how bout that?”

Sara grinned like a psychopath, ripping random shit out of her closet and throwing it into the carry-on.

“Sara!” Suddenly, the person on the lower floor flew up the stairs. In a flash, she was in the hallway, pounding on the door and jiggling the handle. “Open this door right now!”

Sara bared her teeth. “Go away! I told you I’d pay for the damages!”

“Don’t you talk back to me, young lady!” the woman yelled back, crying hysterically. “Until you leave this house, you’ll follow my rules. Now open up this door!”

Sara’s eyes widened, and her anger instantly disappeared. With everything going on—the battle with Agronus, being on death’s door, waking up on Earth, time reversing, and losing everything and everyone she knew—she forgot that she was in her parents' house in Palo Alto. That meant the mystery foreigner was… “Mom?”

3

Sara found herself at the kitchen table, stabbing aimlessly at a plate of couscous and fried tofu. After living off steak and liquor for most of her time as an adventurer, the meal looked alien and wrong. Still, she'd take it over the conversation she was dreading.

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She and her mother had an emotional reunion in the hallway; now, 48-year-old Susan Reece was waiting for an explanation with blurred makeup. The problem was Sara didn't know what to say. In a few hours, she would be in Reemada again, caring for her friends and family, just as her mother would be doing in this world. Neither would give up their lives to stay together, so anything she said would seem hollow.

Just tell her the truth, Sara thought. That's all you can do. She looked up with determination in her eyes. “I had a nightmare last night," she said. "Can I tell you about it?"

Her mother swallowed hard, emotionally damaged by the uncharacteristic outburst from her perfect daughter. Then she nodded. "O-Okay."

Sara took a deep breath. "It started with being abducted...."

Sara told the truth, recounting how she was summoned to another world to fight demons. She detailed how she trained to be a mage and joined the Hero's party. She described how her boyfriend Jason (the man her parents loved so much) changed at the outset of power, leading her best friend Emma to her death before executing their close friend Raul and chasing Sara to the ends of the world. She conveniently left out the part where she killed him and his ex-wife Mary (at different times for equally bleak reasons) and went straight to the hilariously ironic part where she became the “Hero.”

Along the way, she laughed, explaining how difficult it was to find soap that didn’t make her skin flake off, what “silver glider” meat tasted like in a desert, the dangers of magic and of a man: Kyritus Senecaru, a tavern owner with a voice as smooth as honey, and how she fell in love with him. About his sister, Tiber, cute little Tiber, who ran around with her hands curled into monster claws, getting picked up and protected by all the tavern locals. How Tiber was dying and needed medicine Kyritus alone could never afford….

Suddenly, tears welled in Sara’s eyes, and she stopped talking, making her mother grab her hand.

“It was just a dream, honey. It’s okay.”

Sara swallowed hard, staring at the table. “Yeah… it was just a dream. But Mom…?” She looked up.

Her mother made eye contact. ”What?”

“Even though it was shitty most of the time, it was a good life. I was happy there… at least at the end. And I just… wish you could go there and meet them.” Her family.

Susan furrowed her brows. “Could?”

Sara winced. “Could’ve.” She swallowed and looked at the clock, turning stiff. [7:15]. The summoning (if there was still going to be a summoning) would be in homeroom at 8:00 sharp. Time was ticking.

"Unlock your phone and hand it to me," Sara instructed. Her mother resisted but gave in, only to be assaulted with selfies and videos as she squirmed, crying about how Sara wasn't wearing makeup and how she personally looked like a tear gas victim. Still, it ended up being a fun moment.

“I love you, Mom,” Sara said, kissing her cheek on a final video. Then she shut it off, looked at the clock, and cringed. [7:31]. “I need to get to class.”

Her mother’s eyes welled with tears. “Okay, honey.”

“I love you. Never forget that.”

“I won’t.”

Sara nodded, ran upstairs, added her backpack’s contents into her carry-on, and rolled it down the stairs. When Susan saw it, all the goodwill they had built up instantly disappeared.

“Is that luggage?!”

Sara froze and looked at the purple bag. “It’s… take your luggage to school day. I gotta go. Class is at 8!” Without giving her mother time to think, she ran into the garage, threw the luggage into her Tesla Model S, and then hit the garage door opener as her mother chased after her.

“Where are you going?!”

“To school!” Sara yelled. “Call the school in fifteen minutes. If I’m not there, call whoever the hell you want. Until then, I’m late for a test!” As if by magic, her mother’s gaze turned conflicted, and her brain started haywiring. Daughter running away versus good grades. Hard decision for Susan Reece.

Before her mother had a chance to come to a decision, Sara figured out how to set the autopilot, pressed the voice-to-text option, and said, “Henry M Gunn High School.” The screen pulled up, showing the navigation to 780 Arastradero Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306. Then the car backed out into the driveway and headed west on Alma Street—en route to another world—in the blazing California heat.

4

As Sara’s Tesla cruised across the streets of Palo Alto, she pressed the voice command button on the Tesla’s dashboard and said, “Call Gregory Reece.” It rang over and over, stuck on repeat, haunting her like a broken record. “Of course,” she chuckled as the automated voicemail started sounding. “Probably another long day of meetings. Classic.” Despite that feeling welling in her stomach, she left him a long, heartfelt message, meaning every word. Then she checked the clock:

[7:54].

“God, this thing’s slow!” Sara grabbed the steering wheel and considered turning off Autopilot. Still, the estimated arrival was 7:57, and with her current muscle memory and lack of practice, she’d risk a car crash and miss her chance forever. So she gripped the sensor, communicating her anger with her pulse, warning the vehicle that she was ready to scrap it for battery parts if it took one second longer than necessary.

It performed beautifully, getting her there as promised. She told it to stop, jumped out of the car, and then hit Autopark in a reflexive act of respect as she flew through the double doors, hugging her purple luggage to her chest. If anyone saw her, they’d probably think she had a bomb, but they had to catch her first, and they’d do that in the classroom.

5

Jason sat on his desk, talking to Mary Jansen. She was a total bitch, and he hated her black hair, but when she got a little tipsy at Raul’s party and started rubbing against his crotch…. Yeah. He’d fuck her. Not actually. He had Sara, and he was faithful, but it was getting hard. They had been dating for about a year, and she hadn't put out, and it was getting really annoying. They were dating, right? It was like she didn't think his desires mattered at all. If he were anyone else, he would've left her. She needed to know that. On second thought, maybe he should flirt with Mary a little. Make Sara a bit jealous. Send her a little message: If you don’t satisfy Jason’s needs, he’ll find someone who will. Not to be a dick. Just a reminder that relationships were two-way streets.

Jason’s eyes glided to the V in Mary’s blue blouse. She bit her lip in response. God, it'd be so easy.

“Where’s Sara?” Mary asked, playing with the bottom of her skirt, subtly asking if he wanted her to lift.

Jason glanced at her hands and smirked. “Don’t worry. She was just up a little late last night. She’ll be here.”

Mary’s eyes narrowed. “Late? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jason shrugged and snuck another glance at her chest. “I’m just saying she was up late last night. You can interpret that however you—”

“Ahem!”

Jason’s eyes jolted to the doorway and found Sara staring at him. She was pissed.

“I was up late thinking about you, Jason,” Sara said. The classroom instantly came alive, buzzing with gossip queens and drama hounds.

Jason chuckled awkwardly, cheeks heating as he looked at everyone watching him. “Really? I was also thinking about—“

“We’re over.”

Sara strode right past him, rolling a carry-on through the classroom as if she was symbolically moving out.

Jason’s eyes trembled when his classmates exploded in oohs and giggles as they pointed their phones at him and hit record. For a moment, he thought the humiliation would never end. As it turned out, it was actually short-lived. Within a second, the oohs got louder, directed elsewhere, fresh and terrifying like a pack of howling wolves.

He turned and found Sara sitting at Mary's desk, staring at Daniel Winters, a scrawny little imp who wore the same Bassnectar t-shirt three days a week like a loser. “Sup, Daniel?”

“I-I…. Hi,” Daniel said, flitting his gaze around the room like a cornered animal. “Um, Sara? People are watching—”

“If anyone harasses you, I’ll use my connections to destroy their lives!” Sara said, raising her voice.

As whispers spread through the room like a virus, Mary stomped over to Sara.

“Yes, Mary?” Sara asked, ignoring eye contact.

Mary folded her arms. “That’s my desk.”

“Was your desk,” Sara corrected. “This is English class. Learn your tenses.”

Mary’s lip curled as the students trained their cameras on her, tapping the screens as they posted to Instagram, Facebook, and X. It left her livid. “Everyone just heard you saying you’d exploit your connections to harm them. That’s a crime.”

“So is abusing male servants. Didn’t stop you.”

Jason and Mary looked at each other in confusion. What the fuck was she talking about?

“Oh, right,” Sara chuckled, “you don’t have power yet. Spoiler alert: you turn into a total bitch.”

Sara’s “spoiler” sent the classroom spiraling into chaos. Ms. Shouts chose that moment to run into the room, diving head-first into the jaws of teenage pandemonium. “What’s going on in here?”

“Daniel was getting bullied—as usual—so I sat here to prevent that,” Sara said, turning to Mary. “Please have this bully take my chair.”

“Young lady!” Ms. Shouts snapped, nervously looking at all the smartphones. “You can’t just make accusations in front of the class!”

“Accusations? It’s been going on all year. I’m happy to testify in court. I'm sure the superintendent would love to hear about it.”

Ms. Shouts' eyes widened in horror, and she fell silent, looking around at all the phones recording. “We’ll take this up after class. For now, put your phones away. Class is about to start.”

Jason watched in a haze. What? Was Ms. Shouts really going to let her get away with it? Mary wasn't even bullying Daniel, and Sara threatened to exploit her connections to hurt her! He was so stunned that he said nothing, simply watching as Sara flicked her fingers at Mary in a fuck off sort of gesture.

“Tara—phone away!” Ms. Shouts said, turning to a grinning student, tapping at her screen. “Anyone who isn't in their chair by the time I—”

That's when it happened. Even years later, Jason still wouldn't have the words to explain exactly what happened that day.

It started with the floor glowing with geometric lines and symbols, like something out of Leonardo DaVinci’s notebook. It was a circle layered with inner squares and lines and triangles, surrounded by these strange symbols right out of a DnD game guide. Then it seemed to pulse, and he was hit with this crushing energy that was hot but also not moving up parts of his body that shouldn't exist.

Later, he would learn it was a magical array and the feeling was mana, but it wasn't like the feeling he got from casting spells or arrays. It was far more intense and caused this strange synesthesia that blended thoughts with emotions and feelings. That made it impossible to think or really remember what exactly happened. But when he looked back at his girlfriend, he would've sworn—absolutely sworn—that he saw her smiling.

Then, the world turned white.