A soft breeze blew over a vacant waste land, carrying a swampy mist that engulfed and concealed a forsaken kingdom and a forgotten people.
“Help me…”
A girl no older than 16 called out for help. Her voice was stricken with distress.
“Someone… please…”
She called out again as tears made her vision misty.
“Anyone…”
The girl reached out into the air in desperation, attempting to cling onto something that was not there…
“I don’t want to die…”
Tears began to stream down the girl's face as her arm lowered to the ground, joining the rest of her body in the vile, blood stained soil.
“Please…”
Her voice seeped out with sorrow and regret. She had no energy left and her body refused to move.
“I- I’ll do anything…”
The girl attempted to raise her head but it was hopeless. All she achieved was a mouthful of dirt and smothered brown hair…
…
There was no reply. There was only the faint sounds of the wind whisking away the little life the girl had left.
“A…ny…thing…”
The girl forced out one last muffled word, conveying the last of her hopes of survival being carried in the wind along with the mist.
<<Anything…?>>
The wind picked up, sending shivers down the girl's spine. The voice that had just spoken to her felt like a faraway cry, like an apparition, like her mind was playing tricks on her.
<<Anything?>>
The voice became less distant and sounded more real. But it still felt unreal, like someone angelic, almost godly was talking to the girl.
<<Anything?>> The voice repeated.
The girl looked up at the sky, the swampy mist blocking her view of it. The voice was more stern, it even sounded annoyed.
<<Oh for the love of Eldir are you truly willing to do anything Elijah?!>>
*Eldir…? Elijah…?*
The girl had never heard either of those names before, but it didn’t matter… Whoever was talking to her was annoyed, it felt amusing, it felt nice, like a grandmother reprimanding her grandkids...
<<I don’t have much time girl, are you truly willing to do anything?>>
A visage of a woman formed in the mist in front of Elijah. The woman left the girl awestruck as the visage gained colour and became almost real, as if the grey substance had suddenly compressed and disappeared while a goddess had taken its place.
*So beautiful…*
The girl almost forgot that she was on death's doorstep as she stared in awe at the pink haired beauty in front of her.
<<Are you even listening to me?>>
The woman spoke again, staring back at Elijah for a moment with vertically slit golden eyes. Her angelic aura gave Elijah the feeling that the woman was calm and relaxed. Her pink hair reached down to the hem of her silky white dress which complimented her pale white skin
<<Please just answer the question Elijah.>>
The woman’s gaze softened as her warm aura became cold. Her voice softened and seemed to almost drop its angelic echo. A ball formed in Elijah’s throat as a wave of guilt washed over her.
“W..e..sss” (Yes)
Elijah nodded slowly, her voice muffled by the dirt that she had forgotten was in her mouth.
<<Good…>>
The woman’s expression softened even more as her lips curled up into a smile, her aura returning to its warm state, giving Elijah a feeling of comfort in her last moments of life.
<<We’ve ran out of time, I’ll have to explain everything once you’re strong enough. >>
"Wh..jt, wa- dju.. mhen?" (Wait, what do you mean?)
*What did she mean? When I am strong enough?*
Elijah’s thoughts echoed in her mind as if she were in a void, no ground to walk on, no air to breathe and no source of light to see with. It felt suffocating.
*And what was that about not having enough time?* She continued.
Elijah attempted to open her eyes, but she found that the darkness remained and this immediately made her heart race.
*I can’t see anything!*
A shiver went up the girl's spine as her thoughts went haywire. She attempted to open her eyes once more but to no avail.
*What did that lady do to me?!*
The girl attempted to cover her eyes with her hands but as her warm palms rubbed against her eyelids she felt even worse.
*Why can’t I open them!?*
Her heart began to beat even faster than before as her hands desperately rubbed at her eyelids.
*What is-*
Her thoughts stopped in their tracks, leaving her with just her heartbeat and a warm fuzzy feeling. Something felt off, it felt warm, it felt gooey and it felt restricting.
*That…?*
Elijah finished her last thought as she attempted to move her legs, feeling out her surroundings.
*What…?*
Her heartbeat began to slow down, she hadn’t realised it but her arms felt numb and had long since stopped moving, a similar feeling had washed over her legs. And her eyelids despite being closed felt heavy. Her whole body felt heavy.
*So tired…*
She was falling asleep. A sudden fatigue due to the movements of her limbs sent the girl into a drowsy state. But something kept her awake, something that made Elijah feel uneasy.
*My feet…*
Elijah tried moving her head but found that she couldn’t, it too felt constrained… Like her neck wasn’t strong or even long enough to move properly. Slowly her heart rate began to pick up as an uncomfortable feeling cemented itself in her mind, her feet felt the weirdest.
*My feet…* The girl repeated.
It felt uncanny even, like she was submerged in water but her feet were the closest to the break where water and air meet. To top it all off, strange noises were coming from the direction of her feet… Muffled and strained noises, as if she was listening to someone attempting to talk to her through a small hole with water in their mouth.
*What is that?* She continued
The weird feeling got worse as a shiver went up her spine and her fists balled up against her chest while her legs tensed. She no longer felt like she was submerged in water, she felt a strange air tugging at her feet, no it was tugging at her whole body.
*I don’t like this…*
Elijah’s heartbeat began to skyrocket as her eyebrows furrowed.
*I don’t like this at all!*
Her eyes were still closed but something told her to shut her eyes closed, like she needed to do it. The strange air felt like it had gripped on her body and everything suddenly felt tight, painfully tight as the strange noises became louder and clearer and her body felt like it was moving, like it was being pulled by whatever this strange air was.
*What is this!?*
The noise became blaringly loud as a blistering light that felt like daggers attempted to make its way into her eyes. Her aberrant ability of not needing to breathe suddenly disappeared as she found herself gasping for air.
*Make it stop!*
Too much was happening at once, her lungs hurt, her ears hurt and she felt cold! With the ability to breathe she couldn’t help but call out for help.
“Waaaaaah!” She screamed.
Tears began to roll down her cheeks as the moment of living hell seemed like it would never end!
“Shhhh my baby, mommy’s here…”
A warm feeling washed over Elijah as she felt a warm fabric wrap around her body, casting away the cold air that had made this one thousand times worse. The pain in her ears subsided as she caught her breath and began to calm down, but she still felt the need to cry.
“It’s okay… you’re with us now…”
A soothing voice with a motherly charm calmed the girl down, her tears simply stopped coming as her heartbeat began to slow down.
“That’s it… mommy will keep you safe…”
The girl opened her eyes a bit to see who was talking to her, but her eyesight was blurry.
“Honey… we’re finally parents…!”
A shaky voice that belonged to a man allerted Elijah as a warm, big and firm hand rubbed against her cheek.
*What…?*
It wasn’t his voice that alerted her, no…
*What does he mean…?*
The girls now infant face went pale as realisation washed over her.
*Wait… is that what she meant by ‘anything’!? Was I just sent back to my own year of birth?!*
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