“Okay, lady. Talk.”

Fighting a monster using magical cards while her life was on a literal countdown? That wasn’t very hard to accept. Sure, it doesn’t seem to be a situation where a normal person would find themselves. Not that the girl knew what kind of situation normal people find themselves in, or what being normal actually means, for what is worth. But looking out to find herself floating somewhere surrounded by a literal ocean of fire, swarming with monsters? Nope, that was too much for her. After freaking out for a couple of minutes, she just plopped to the ground and decided she wouldn’t move from there until she got a proper explanation.

“So?”

The voice seemed to mentally sigh at that, before finally answering.

Simply put, I have reasons to believe that we are dead. You and I. Or more accurately, we died once.

We seemed to have been given a second chance… Or maybe this is just where you go after you die. I am not certain.

“Okay… Shoot, I died? Wait… So, that out there, is that some kind of hell?” she asked, extending her arm and pointing towards the window on the other side of the room, where unknowing of the girl’s presence, multiple creatures roamed amidst the fire oceans. “I died and went to hell?!”

I apologize. I can only see and hear what is happening near you. And even that, only if you stay still for a while. Mostly, I only get feelings… Such as when you were in imminent danger.

“So… Basically what you are saying is that you have no idea where we are?”

I only gained consciousness moments before you, so this is just as new to me as it is to you. But I do seem to have a limited knowledge of this place… I don’t think this is what you would define as hell. It feels more like a test… Or the start of a series of tests.

“Tests for what?”

I am not entirely certain.

Unbelievable! Looking up at the ceiling, she just let her hands fall down at her sides with a long exasperated sigh. Just when she thought she would find some answers, turns out the voice in her head didn’t know much more than herself.

“Veeery helpful,” she continued, slowly wiping her face with her hand “I still don’t see how I am going through a test and not suffering eternal damnation in hell for being a bad person. Even though I have no memories of my life!”

I… Don’t have an answer for that. But it was suspiciously convenient, don’t you think?

“...What? What do you mean?”

Well, skipping all the uncertainty surrounding our awakening in this place, upon gaining consciousness I did feel impending doom and knew of our limited time. And we just so happened to find means to defend ourselves moments before being attacked by a creature that, upon defeating, rewarded us with extra Lifetime.

It seemed too convenient. For me, it feels like a setup.

“Okaay… I see your point." She really did. Come to think of it, that thing started recking at the door out of nowhere. If there wasn't something controlling him, or at least nudging him in her direction, how would he have come at her so fast?

“If there is someone or something out there controlling all of this like some sort of game, or a test, like you said, lemme ask you this; what does that make us?”

The voice took a moment, rummaging through the girl's question, finally getting to the only answer she could give with all her knowledge.

Survivors. That's what we are, girl.

We don’t have enough information to come to a conclusion to any of our questions. So for now, it doesn’t matter if or why we are being tested. We might have died once, let's make sure that won’t happen again. There may, most probably, not be a third chance.

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With an extended finger, she opened her mouth to ask another question. That's when it came to her; the voice was right. They didn’t know much about this place, but the girl knew what she wanted beyond everything right now; she wanted to survive. And whoever was talking to her, she might be her only ally here.

“I… I suppose…”

After that, they stayed quiet for some time, deep in thought— The girl biting at the insides of her cheek while looking at the sky, where some strange winged creatures would occasionally fly over her line of sight. She even saw two of these fighting for one of those rodent-like creatures; the little thing’s body being thrown from one side to the other like a ragdoll.

That made her wonder; why was she sent here? All of this felt too unreal, like a strange dream she couldn’t get out of, and for some reason, this dream was becoming too acceptable for her too fast. Like it was all supposed to be like this from the start.

Well, changing to a different line of thought; at least something came out of all her contemplation—

“Maggie.”

…Pardon me?

“My name! I think my name is Maggie. When I think of myself, it’s sort of what comes up.”

I see.

“So, my mind-dwelling friend, who are you, and why are you talking in my head?”

The voice took a moment before answering, as if thinking of the best way of responding to her. In the end, she took a deep breath —even though she probably couldn't breathe— and decided to go with a simple straight answer; the truth.

I am—Was a god of some kind, I think. I… I can’t remember my name.

“Wait, a god? Like a god, god?”

A deity, yes. As in a divine being of higher power.

There was a pause there, as the voice's words went through Maggie's head time and again and she digested what she heard. From all the answers she could have received, she did not expect that.

“Oookay. Boy, I don’t know how to respond to that,” said Maggie, scratching the back of her head. In truth, she really didn’t know what to say! Gods are real! Although she thought she was taking this all strangely easy.

“Sooo, how did a god end up in my head anyway?”

I am not certain.

As with you, I find that my memory is… Lacking. I only have the impression that I may have died. Most probably, a long time ago. And was forgotten.

And now… Now I am trapped; powerless.

“Oh…” That didn’t seem good. If nothing else, because the voice was trapped inside her head! On the good side though, she was sure now; this was really too easy to take in. Well, to be honest, considering what she could see just by peeping outside the window, in the grand scheme of things, head-trapped god didn’t seem that out of the ordinary. So she decided to not dwell more on this line of thought.

“Okay, no ‘how’, gotcha. I’m going to ask a less obvious question here, but I am pretty sure you don’t know the answer either, but anyway —Why?”

You are right in there; I don’t have a proper answer to this question either.

For some reason beyond my current understanding, I am attached to you. And… I can’t help but feel that I am to guide you. Not only because my survival depends on your survival, but because this is what I should do.

That means we are one on this.

Well, that was enough for her.

The girl didn’t really know who she was talking to, but in the voice’s defense, the girl didn’t know who herself was either. So as far as she knew, they were already bonding on the ‘not knowing anything’ thing, and that was enough for her.

“So… Partners then?”

Yes. Partners, I suppose.

“Alright, partner! If we are going to share a brain I need to call you something. Hmmm, let's see…”

“What about… Belinda? You sound like a Belinda.”

I most definitely do not sound like a Belinda.

“Belinda the God…dess? Sorry, I should have asked before assuming.”

That took the voice off guard, who quickly realized she didn’t have a proper answer to that either. Or better put, she didn’t have an objective answer to that. But she knew what felt right at the moment, so she went with that.

I am… Not certain as to what my gender was before. For now… Goddess sounds right.

“A goddess then!”

…I must say; you did not seem this loud before.

“Well, in my defense, I had just awakened, was confused, scared, and I had to fight for my life—”

“—And by the way, you still haven’t said ‘no’ to Belinda.”

…

“Belinda it is! It is very nice to meet ya, Belinda.” She said, mimicking shaking hands in the air and grinning.

Belinda mentally sighed at that, finally realizing what kind of person she was stuck with.

With a jump, Maggie got up, cleaning her robes of dirt and making sure it was properly tied around her waist, getting ready to move on.

“So what now, partner?”

We move.

Come. We have just under 50 minutes, and there are some things I have to teach you about magic.

“Wait, magic! That’s what I did, right? Magic is real! I shot a fire bolt out of my hand and then I summoned a magical shield and then—” She looked back at the monster and was suddenly out of words. The ground was a mess of blood; a big pool formed underneath the creature’s motionless body. A wide gap open in his throat, where her knife cut from side to side, further deepened by the weight of his head that now hung limply against the wall. She looked at his dead eyes as they stared back in her direction. He looked helpless in his last moments, so even if he tried to kill her in the first place, he wanted to live, and felt fear in the end. Was he being controlled? Forced to attack her? Or maybe he was also on borrowed time, like her? She wondered. That’s when it finally hit her; her time went up for killing him. She killed a monster and got to live another hour. So that’s what means surviving for her now? Becoming a killer?

Maggie took a deep breath and turned around, her mood soured.

We move.