I am Vigor Winger. At least in this life, I had another life which I incidentally remembered on my sixteenth year in this world. Yes, in this world, because I used to live in a completely different and rather boring world and you would be familiar with this world because if not then you can't read this. (P.S. - It's written in English which is not a language of my world.)
(P.P.S. - By my world I mean this new world.)
So anyways this is how I remember it beginning...
It was an anonymous call, I should have known it was not a good idea to reply to such call, but the news of an ancient relic that resembles a dice is something I had never heard. I recall everything about my 'previous life', except my identity or any name actually. I was an archaeologist. A renowned archaeologist (I remember many trophies decorating my shelves). So maybe it was my lust for discovery of something new that made me ignore all the possibilities of a prank or a trap. Therefore, the next minute I was over my couch booking ticket to fly over the destination of the caller. I cancelled all my appointments, nothing was more important to an archaeologist than adding one more artifact to their collection of discoveries.
'Where was I headed to? What happened to me that I end up here?' I racked my head but even after jarring my memories, they were still blur and missing some very important fact, my name for instance. I squinted my eyes, trying to adjust to the absence of proper light, I was in a cave - at least it looked like a cave with low ceiling and was made of stone - I tried to measure my surrounding. It was five feet in height and something of the same in breath. I was gasping, 'My claustrophobia is acting.'
I did not have a serious condition but being in a small, dark, enclosed area would put anyone in a tensed condition especially when you are suffering from amnesia. I was now standing, or rather stooping; I pulled my hair back, 'Longer than I remember.' It was true, my hair was falling down my neck and I never had them this long. 'Don't tell me I was here for so long that my hair has grown this much! No, on second though before this would happen I would die of dehydration and or starvation.' I felt some thick liquid on my face and sure, as the word sure went I knew, it was not sweat. I started walking, which direction? The darkness made it impossible for anything to be made out of it. So I just started in the direction I was facing and when I reached a wall, I used it to walk in another direction. I sensed warm wind coming from the direction I was walking towards and so I knew it was the right direction but then suddenly the ground beneath my leg slipped and I fell screaming, "Arghhhhhhh!!!!!"
…
"- you should start focusing on your life more ---," the voice belonged to a man in white lab coat; it was unclear at some part. I was someone wearing another white coat bend over a table.
"If that is your way of telling me to ask a girl then you need to use a much more better way." I was inspecting an old coin with a magnifying glass, man-in-white-coat moved towards me and kept my hands on my shoulders only then did I realize that it was not a man but a very beautiful, who seemed handsome with short hair, woman.
"Oh why you! Don't you think that it is about time that you look out of those ancient artifact and focus on the present!" She continued, "You are wasting your life on these things..."
"Huh... why do you all think so, I mean what's wrong with being dedication to one's profession?" I felt anger rise inside my heart, turned around, and raised my voice, "What do you all want from me!"
The woman leaned onto me, "I don't know about others but I want y-"
...
"Arghhhh!!!" I woke up screaming and frantically looked around. I was in a forest near a lake, I tried to get up but fumbled, my back was as if hit by a hammer and my knees were locked and all over my body I felt slashing pain as if moving opened my old wounds. However, my dry throat was burning and so to subdue this I dragged my body through the mud towards the lake and finally after excruciating efforts I was looking at my reflection in the lake.
My face was a bloody mess, blood had run down through my left eyes albeit there was no pain in my eyes, I had a small cut on the bridge of my nose and the left corner of my mouth, my lower lip was also slightly bleeding and my hair had become rough ruined with blood falling on my eyebrows. I pulled myself forward and now my body was completely in contact with the shallow water at the outskirt of the lake. Somehow I gather strength to get onto my knees and brought my hands towards my face and cleaned it with the water, when the cool water splashed onto my bruised face I winced but nonetheless continued the process until the water had carried my blood and I looked onto myself once again.
It was clear that my face was not of an adult, I was looked much younger than I was, but then again I was not aware of my age and all I knew was that a teenager would not be a world-renowned archaeologist. Black hair and blue eyes, fair face but tanned body, long and slim. My memories and present state was contradicting themselves. Who was I? Moreover, if not my then whose memories are these?
"You who hears me," an eerie voice brought me out of my thought, "Who is it?!"
"Your way lies to the Kingdom in the way of the winds..."
"What? Show yourself!" Was I hearing things? "Who are you? Do you know me? Tell me who I am?"
Almost as if answering me the voice said, "You are Vigor, who shall be tested and only shall you prevail if you shall throw the arrow at the silhouette in red."
"Vigor... is that my name? Which test do I have? Who is man in red and who are you?"
The water raised and slowly it formed a sphere floating in midair, I backed away baffled, the sphere stopped moving and slowing something shone from within it, and it dispersed to leave by a golden bracelet. The bracelet produced magnificent light and attracted me towards itself I unconsciously moved forward and the bracelet locked itself in my left wrist. "What?!" I started shaking my hand and pulling the bracelet trying to remove it but it was locked onto my wrist.
"Go now, go with the wind Vigor." Therefore, I started walking, confused and scared but deep within my heart in some tiny corner I was tingling with thrill. Only I was unaware that this all was not reality, rather I was still unborn and dead, I was in a land beyond life and death. Killed in my previous life for something that will be connected to my reincarnation as Vigor Winger. My life had one single moment to live up to, no, my lives had one single moment to live and die in wait of and I had started my journey towards that moment.