Mariel: The Goddess of War

Ummmm.....

"Where is this?" a voice echoed from inside. A soul (of a guy) is floating in another dimension which cannot be known where it is.

Darkness shrouded the surrounding area. Everywhere he looks, there is only darkness, emptiness, and no purpose or direction. This mind wanders on and on. There is no indication that there will be a way out, a light at the end.

"Where will I float? It's so dark."

How much time had passed is unknown. Until...suddenly, he saw a small light in the distance.

Expanded little by little, the light gradually got closer and closer, then it suddenly cut off.

...

... 

...

Waaaaah.... Waaaaah! (baby crying) 

"Have you opened your eyes? my dear" said a woman's voice with great joy.

"She looks a lot like you." Another man's voice sounded very excited as well.

"Gray eyes, just like yours."

"This child is like both of us. Her face is very charming."

There are 2 persons in front of her whose are the man and woman both around 30 years of age. The man wears glasses. Short light blue hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face. And he looks like a wise sorcerer, and he also wears normal casual clothes, short white sleeve shirt and light gray pants. The woman has a beautiful face like an angel, gray eyes, and long gray hair with sparkling silver. She also wears a foot-length white robe. Her face is filled with tears of happiness.

"Wha.... (Where am I?)" my voice tried to come out, but I could only say a single word.

After that, I suck milk from the mother's breast. Such a warm feeling I've never experienced like this for as long as I can remember. It makes me forget everything around me for a moment.

"So, the name of our child is as we talked about, right?" a wife asks her husband.

"Yes, if we have a son, his name will be Gracias De Stella. But if we have a daughter, her name will be Mariel De Stella, honey" a husband answers.

"It's a very nice name. My daughter, Mariel De Stella"

(Eh??? Daughter??? 

Am I a baby girl???

 I thought immediately after hearing the two people call her daughter, "Oh my gosh, were I born a girl? What should I do?")

Waaaaah!... Mariel cried out in panic with the situation that happened to herself.

"Don't cry, my baby. Don't be afraid." A mother comforted her daughter in arms with concern.

That night, Mariel's mother and father were asleep. Mariel just lay there while thinking on the small baby bed. Countless questions poured into her head.

"Let it be, go to sleep first. Let's think about it again tomorrow," Mariel thought to herself and fell into a deep sleep.

In a dark space, a voice suddenly called out, not too far away from me.

"Wake up, young man!" the voice of an old man called out.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw that the body itself was the same shape it had been since my last world. There were skinny and thin, short hair, Thai skin tone but naked, without any clothing to cover my body. 

Yes, I am here, my soul, sitting in a room which is white all over in this area with the old man.

"Welcome young man. My name is Sergil, and I am a god who protects this world from above." The old man introduced himself with a sincere smile. His age was probably hundreds of years old or more than that.

"Hello, my name is Chai." I replied, staring at the old man who called himself a god who was standing in front of me. From an appearance, this old man was wearing a long white robe with long white hair He also held an old magic wand in his right hand.

"Nice to meet you, Chai. By the way, you probably don't belong on this planet, am I right?" 

"Yes, but where is this world?"

"In another universe, or simply called it was like a parallel world of that world you came from. It's just that there will be something differences."

"Like what?" Chai asked curiously to Sergil.

"Firstly, is language. Have you noticed that when you were born you could understand our language. It is one of God's blessings in this world. That will be given to everyone who is born here. Those people will be able to understand, listen, speak, read, and write basics immediately. They call it Kale language."

"I understand." Chai responded,

"Secondly, this world has magic. For example: Some people are more special than the general group of people. But magic also has its limits for each person. How different will they be? Let you find the answer by yourself." Sergil explained,

"Thirdly, this world has many races, including goblins, demons, orc tribes, as well as countless species of animals. You can be found in various places around the world, including mountains, mysterious places. Including under the sea, etc."

"Here are 3 things that you should know. But when I look inside your heart, it seems like there is suffering?" Sergil asked, and it explain what the meaning that Chai was feeling at this moment.

After listening to Sergil's words, Chai then recalled the last memory before he died.

*The story has been going on since I was birth. I was born into a poor family. None of my parents wanted me. They left me at an orphanage and never came back to see me again. Each day I almost went hungry because where I lived there was hardly enough budget to cover the food to all the orphans. Welfare from the state was not accessible and there were almost countless toys and that's why the children might fight with each other all the time. I wore torn clothes every day.

 Occasionally, a kind-hearted person would donate food and discarded toys to the orphanage. It made us able to eat good food sometimes. As for toys, they struggled to play with each other because there were not many of them.

 The memory cut again to the time of puberty. Around the age of 15, I left the orphanage to find a small rental room for staying alone. Looking for construction work to do every day where they hired laborers in exchange for scraps of money for rent and food to survive.

 My life had been difficult and destitute. Until one day, one of my friends who was named King, drove a motorcycle to pick me up at my room and then we went out for drinking. The two of us worked in construction together. King's house had some money and gold, but he rarely studied. So, he had to work in construction like me. We got along very well, our personalities and our simple way of life each day so we often went everywhere together.

That day, after we finished drinking. King complained that a Japanese actress committed suicide in her hotel room. King admired her very much. Her name was Risue Manaka (pseudonym). This caused my friend to feel extremely sad. I could only be comforted by his side. But the return trip was accompanied by heavy rain and slippery roads. It caused King to not drive in the correct direction. When they were reaching a green-light intersection.

 King didn't even notice that another truck was running through a red light from the left. It made a loud noise and after this happened. King and I were lying on the road in different directions. The road was wet with heavy rain and blood flowing everywhere. My consciousness began to fade, and the blood flowed from the head without stopping. I couldn't understand how many bones I had broken; my arms and legs were starting to feel numb; the amount of pain was indescribable. Then I slowly closed my eyes...and... immediately died*

When Chai regained consciousness, he had tears streaming down his cheeks. It poured out endlessly with the bitterness of his past life.

"I understand your feelings very well. Your life from childhood to adolescence, there's only pain. All you wanted for your life is about family and true happiness," Sergil said with concern.

"Do I have another chance to achieve my wishes fulfilled in this world?" Chai asked with doubt.

"It depends on you. Looking for the true meaning of your life and then you will find the answer." Sir Gil smiled encouragingly at Chai.

 "By the way, you were born in the body of this girl, Are you okay?" Sergil asked with concern.

 "Um....At first, I was worried. But...now it's okay. Whether I live in the body of a boy or a girl, I'm very happy. I will make myself the happiest person in this world." Chai assuredly promised.

"If you answer like that. I am also pleased with you. What is your goal? Do you have anything in your mind? This world has everything that your imagination can think of." Sergil asked.

"Since childhood, I have watched television and some movies. I like the adventure genre, the fighting genre, and searching for wonders," Chai replied.

 "You will get your wish. This world is completely available for your goals. There are also wars between races as well. It's up to you how you choose to fight or escape from them, you decide for yourself," Sergil said with a smile.

Chai imagines himself growing up to be a female warrior with a sword in her hand, attack and smite countless monsters and demons. In addition, she can use magic skills that are like the mage class. She also has a reputation spread far and wide. Like what you've seen in Chinese martial arts movies. From these images, his heart immediately throbbed. Chai's eyes immediately became determined and sparkled. Ready to utter the words firmly,

"I will be Mariel De Stella, the goddess of war, please keep an eye on me!" Chai answered confidently.

Sergil smiled with pride. He gives Chai a soft nod,

"Very well. Fight, learn, and your efforts will bring you success. Now, the time has come. We must say goodbye for now. May you have good luck in your new life, Mariel." Sergil said and then, it appeared as a bright light in every direction.

Chai closed his eyes by both hands.

"Am I back?" When Chai woke up, he found that he was in the body of a baby girl as before who was sleeping on the child's bed next to Parents who are asleep from exhaustion.

A baby stared at the dark ceiling in front of her along with making an intention in mind.

"Thank you very much Sergil. I will focus on making this life as valuable as possible," Mariel thought to herself and fell asleep from exhaustion. Ready to welcome the dawn of a new day in her new world.