The floor was as clear as glass, and everything surrounding her was purple with bright stars and floating orbs reflecting the stars' shine. It reassembled a galaxy that was the setting of a book, but in this place, you could see nothing for miles.
In an unconscious state, she lay on the transparent glass floor until something splashed ice-cold water on her face. Instantly, she arose with her eyes clenched tighter and her throat coughing out the bits of water that choked her when they entered her slightly opened mouth.
"…Ugh! What the heck…!?" While rubbing her right eye, she peered out with her left to see a woman who stood before her.
She had shoulder-length, shiny black hair and eyes resembling a dark soul-sucking void. She's dressed like a person I'd imagine was living in a dystopian world.
Wait a minute! Who even is this person!? Out of trembling fear, she picked up the closest thing next to her, which happened to be a rock, and flung it toward the random woman who had a domineering aura.
She dodged the rock with an empty look as if it was nothing. Realizing what she'd done, she covered her mouth and gasped.
"Ah! I-I'm sorry I didn't m-mean to throw it…" Her eyes looked elsewhere while sneakingly pushing her legs against the ground one at a time to get to a safer distance.
"Don't apologize for something so trivial." Her tone was so cold, but in a sense, to me, it sounded like loneliness was hidden somewhere inside that indifference. Her eyes didn't have the tiniest hint of my gruesome death anymore. Rather than a void, they looked like a bottomless pit longing to be filled.
While trapped in her thoughts, the strange woman removed her long black cloak and wrapped it around the girl who'd been trembling from the wet, ice-cold water she was drenched with. With that action, the girl's fear dissipated into nothingness.
"I'll use my defense maneuvers if you try to attack me again." Her glare was like a sharp blade that sliced my throat, but fear wasn't something I wanted to show the woman who was threatening me right now.
She took a deep breath and buried her fear so as not to show the weakness that could get her killed.
"Where am I? What is this place, and who are you?… Tell me the truth…am I…dead?" She stood tall against the even taller woman, and although she hid it well, her fist that was clenched so tightly was still quivering.
"You're not dead."
"Phew, that's a relief…" She touched her chest and let out all the compressed air that filled her lungs.
"…Your body's just non-existent."
If she could shatter, her entire being would have shattered by those words, but mentally, she did break.
"What!? That's the same thing as being dead!" The heartbreak quickly spread, and her tears dripped down her face from her chin like rain falling from the roof's edge. "I-I don't want to die!! After everything, all I wanted was to live peacefully! This can't be true!"
"Haa…relax, I didn't lie, you're really alive. My name is Zroverra, the Soul keeper, and if you follow me, I can help you get back." Her racing heartbeat slowed down, as well as her hyperventilating breath. She looked up with red, puffy eyes and the last few tears that fell.
"R-Really?"
Sighing with her furrowed brows, she turned around and walked away. "Just follow me, and I'll explain everything."
Desperate, her only choice was to follow behind her.
Down what seemed like an endless road, the space between them was filled with silence.
I really don't want to die, but even if I did, who would care about me? I'm an unwanted child who was just a puppet, so why am I still crying even though I know all of this? It's just…I want to be treated like a person with feelings; I want to be cherished and deeply loved; I don't care who it's from; I just want that love to be real.
"Stop slowing down!" Zroverra yanked her by the arm and dragged her with her quick stride to their destination.
The destination was a humongous dark cave that looked as though it was from a horror movie. The girl scanned the cave with a wavering eye. She swallowed every bit of feelings she had and entered in with Zroverra.
Inside the cave, through the darkness, a dim candle was on the verge of blowing out.
"Hold on a minute." she lit the other candles in the cave with just a finger snap. The fantastic ability meant nothing to Zroverra, but the girl was impressed by something she knew was impossible.
"Woah! You lit the whole cave like it was nothing! Are you magic or something?" She grasped her hand and looked at it like it was anything but what it really was.
Zroverra jerked away her arm with a cat-like glare and yelled. "Focus! Stop fooling around and pay attention to everything I tell you!" The girl flinched and staggered back when Zroverra grabbed her shoulders and sat her in the chair beside a large table.
"I'm going to be blunt, so pay attention and stay quiet." Zroverra slammed the table, startling the girl into silence and her heart into an exceeding speed. "Ahem, the only way for you to go home is to accomplish a vital mission."
"You must save an Empire from certain doom."
For anyone, this news would leave their brain in shambles, and for her, it did. "… I'm sorry, please run that by me again." The girl smiled awkwardly, hoping it would stop Zroverra from yelling at her.
"Haa… you're really mentally tiring, you know. How stupid can you be?" She ruffled her hair into messy hair strands sticking out like she'd woken up from bed.
"You know, something like this can be hard for anyone in my world to take in. Please just give me a minute to think."
Okay, so if I want to go home, I must save an entire empire from ruin, but what exactly from? She took a short pause, but her conclusion became clear.
No, I don't care what it takes. I'm going to make it home. If I have to crawl there with my teeth, I will return to my freedom. "Okay! I understand—Oof!"
Her sentence was cut off by the giant book that had been dropped in her lap and consumed both legs. "Ow!! It's…so…heavy! What the hell is this!?"
Zroverra bent down and tapped on the hardcover of the brown, golden-encrusted book with a gem at the center.
"It's a magical book containing everything you'll ever need."
No wonder it's so heavy! This thing contains every inch of information I need to know. With a pained, groaned look on her scrunched-up face, she tried with all her strength to push it off her legs. "…Ugh…Is there no way…to make it…lighter?" She paused each time to take in a breath between her words.
Unexpectedly, she'd listened to her words and made the book smaller with her magic. It was hand-held size and yet still beautifully rustic and eye-catching.
"Oh…Thank you, Zroverra." It was the first time I used her name, and I used it in such an uncomfortable tone; please tell me she isn't upset.
"Verra…" The girl's eyes flinched open, and she looked at Verra, who once again had the deep loneliness that the girl had recognized.
"What?"
"Call me Verra; when you say my full name, it makes it sound horrible, so just use my nickname."
A smile formed on her smooth pink lips as she used Verra's name in a friendly tone that Verra never seemed to know.
"So, Verra, how is this supposed to work?"
The trance she'd been put under was worn off, and she shook her thoughts so they'd return to normal. "First off, Since you're going into an existent world, I need to transmigrate you into the body of a resident who already lives there."
'Slam!' The thin yet think book fell from her hands while her skin turned pale. "Excuse me? Did I hear you right?"
Her unchanging expression raised an eyebrow when turned back to look at her. "Yes, that's correct. Don't worry; she'll have her body back when you're done."
Still, how can I steal this poor girl's life? This isn't right. Her weak heart shattered a little for someone she didn't know.
"Her name is Emris Fallow, and she's the daughter of the Duke. Look, you can read it all in here." Verra picked up the book off the floor and opened it to the page marked 'Emris Fallow' before handing it to her.
When I read it, my eyes jolted wide open, "This-This poor girl…disappeared!?"