I was always afraid it would happen. I knew my best friend had this illness. I knew he didn't have much time left, part of me believed that a miracle would happen. However, the illness took his life in the end. My life just hasn't been the same without him. At school, I keep to myself. Mary talks to me from time to time but she's pretty sad herself.
No one really bothered talking to either of us. What I've been feeling from losing our friend, it's made things a lot harder. We don't focus as well in school as we used to and our grades aren't as high as they used to be. I just wish... this didn't happen.
"Do you ever wish we could just bring him back?" asked Mary one day when we were alone on the roof.
"Yeah, but... it wouldn't be right to mess with nature like that." I answered, "Gabe's gone. We're never going to see him again."
"So even if there was a way, you wouldn't want to do it?" asked Mary.
"I just... don't think we should." I replied, "I think he'd just want us to let him rest in piece.
"But..." she started.
"Did you forget?" I asked, "Gabe said he wanted us to continue living our own lives."
We did our best, but the way you feel when you lose someone doesn't go away that easily. I went so many nights without eating dinner and spent a few crying even though I knew none of that was going to do anything. I needed to get over this, as sad as it was that he was gone. I wanted to visit his parents in order to pay my respects but... I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Ah, this sucks." I said to myself, as I laid down on my bed, staring at the ceiling.
My phone went off right after I said that. I picked it up to see I had a text message. It was from Mary.
"I got something important to talk to you about. Meet me on the roof after school tomorrow." was what it said.
"I wonder what this is about..." I said.
So, like she said, we met on the roof after school the next day.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked.
"There might be a way to see Gabe again." she said.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I recently found out that my aunt can use magic."
"Magic? What are you going on about now?"
"It's fine if you don't believe me."
"Well, assuming what you say is true, how did you find out?"
"She kinda just told me last night."
"Why?"
"I... think it's because I've been so sad lately."
"And what else did she tell you?"
"She said there's a way to see the dead again."
"Whatever."
"At least think about it."
She then handed me a note.
"What's this?" I asked.
"It's the address for the restaurant she works at." answered Mary.
"I guess if I've got time this weekend." I said.
Then we didn't really say anything to each other for the next few days. The weekend came and I was bored. Of course, I didn't really believe anything she said. I thought it was just her weird way of trying to cheer me up. I guess it sort of worked...
So I came to the restaurant like I was supposed to. Mary was there, signaling to me to follow her into an "employee only" area. I felt a bit nervous about it, but since she was related to someone who worked her, I figured it would be fine. We walked down a large hallway and than I was taken to an office.
"So, you're Oswin?" said a beautiful looking woman with really long blonde hair and purple eyes.
I honestly couldn't believe what I was looking at. To me, it looked like she was cosplaying as a witch. She had black outfit on with a matching black hat.
"So, what's with the outfit?" I commented.
"Never mind that." she said, "So, you want to see your friend again?"
"Should we really be doing this?" I asked, still not believing anything.
"Your friend Gabe was supposed to have passed away." the woman said, "However, I managed to locate his soul."
"What!?" responded Mary.
"Why are you acting so surprised?" I reacted.
"Where is his soul?" asked Mary.
"Well, he didn't go to heaven or hell," her aunt answered, "his soul went to another world."
"Cut the crap." I said, "There's no way any of this is true."
"Why would he go to another world?" asked Mary.
"There are a lot of reasons it could have happened." her aunt replied, "Maybe it's because he didn't get a real fair chance at life here."
"Whatever the reason is," I said, "I'm not buying it. You guys can go ahead and chase after his 'soul' if you want."
"I have business here." her aunt said.
"I... can't go either." said Mary.
"Well, then whatever." I said, "Let's just let him rest in piece."
"If you don't believe me." her aunt said, "Why don't I just send you to him?"
"Yeah, sure." I said.
She then pulled out a wand and started waving it around. The next thing I knew, it felt like the room was moving and I was feeling a bit dizzy.
"W-what's happening!?" I exclaimed as I passed out.
When I came to, I was in an area similar to where I had come from. Another world, my ass.
"What are you doing on the ground?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
When I looked up I saw a young woman with short blue hair and green eyes. She looked like she was in college.
"What made you want to dye your hair?" I asked.
"Dye?" she said.
"Well, your hair is blue." I said.
"What are you talking about?" the woman asked, "This is my natural hair color."
"I don't believe you." I said.
"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked.
"I guess not. I'm Oswin." I said, "You are?"
"Wendy." she answered.
After that, she took me to her place and I had been living with her since. I was able to figure out that this really was another world. She was able to prove that her color was natural and she showed me some of the magic she could use. She tried teaching me some, but I couldn't really figure it out.
"So, why did you come here?" she asked.
"I was told my best friend was here." I said, "He died a while ago and apparently his soul ended up here."
"And you're hoping to find him?" asked Wendy.
"Since I'm here," I said, "I kind of have to."
With her help, I was able to go to school in this world. Since I seemed to be stuck here anyways, I figured it would be a good idea to just live my life here. After I introduced myself to my class, I noticed something interesting. There was a girl with white hair. So I guess she's kinda like Gabe. However, I didn't see him anywhere at school, so I do wonder if Wendy's aunt even knew what the hell she was talking about.
***
I really wasn't expecting Oswin to suddenly show up at school. But his appearance made no damn sense to me. The fact that he was able to show up in the same form was the most confusing thing to me. And then, he ends up sitting right next to me. I couldn't believe it. My best friend was next to me again, but he didn't know who I was. I guess it makes sense he wouldn't recognize me.
Even if I did end up telling him, he probably wouldn't even believe me. Honestly, who the heck would believe a girl that says she's a person that some guy used to know. I didn't want to lie to him, but if he likely wouldn't believe me anyway, there wouldn't be any point in telling him. But my troubles wouldn't end there.
The school day ended and I knew where I needed to go. Rose had something important she wanted to talk to me about and I had no idea what the heck it was going to be. I just hoped it wouldn't be about if there was anyone I liked or anything like that. I made it to the roof and she was there, waiting for me.
"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" I asked.
"You've died once, haven't you?" she said.
"W-what!?" I exclaimed.