Let me start by saying I didn't plan to die.
Actually, I had a pretty solid plan that Tuesday. Morning rounds at the Hospital, lunch with my bestie, then a night binge-watching whatever new K-drama Netflix decided to bless me with. What I didn't plan was standing in the middle of a busy intersection in Manilla, pizza boxes in hand. I just thought that if I'm gonna binge watch all night I might as well do it with pizza.
Then...well, not standing anymore.
It happened so fast I didn't even have time to say, "Oh shit."
One moment I was dodging a honking taxi, balancing two pizza boxes like I was a pro juggler. The next second, I felt this gut-wrenching impact that knocked the breath and the life right out of me. Cold pavement, blinking streetlight, and then...nothing. There was no light at the end of the tunnel, no flashbacks of my life rolling like a movie montage. Just void, like someone forgot to cue the afterlife.
I suddenly died.
.
.
.
*Gasp*
Huh? Was that a dream? Wait. No. I died - certainly did. Is this heaven? I scanned my surroundings expecting tall white gates and some heavenly choir in the background or knowing my luck a hospital ceiling. But instead, what greeted me was grass. A lot of it. So much that I could smell the strong fresh scent of it. And it wasn't that kind of scraggly half-dead grass you could see in city parks, either. No, this was the luxury version - too vibrant, lush, and too green to be anywhere on the smoky streets of Manila.
I tried to sit up, but something heavy weighed me down. I glanced down and almost choked. The scrubs I wore before were gone. Instead, I was draped with layers and layers of fabric. So frilly and ornate that it looked like those costumes from a historical drama. I couldn't even see my feet under all the lace and silk. And it was... pink. Who on earth would put someone in pink after they die?Before I could process that my death wardrobe was apparently colour coordinated, a shadow fell over me.
"Are you okay, Lady Alithia?" a small voice asked.
I blinked. Lady Alithia? Okay this definitely had to be a mistake. No one's called me "Lady" anything since that one time I joked about being royalty in front of my patients. I squinted against the sunlight and found a girl standing over me. Her face was full of worry, framed by her dark hair braided neatly down her back. She was dressed in what could only be described as a maid's uniform. My brain couldn't catch up to my mouth, so all I managed was "Lady who?"
The girl blinked at me confused. "Lady Alithia Lancefort. Are you hurt? You've been lying on the grass for a while now. Should I fetch the physician?"
I blinked back at her, and I was certain I might be coma dreaming. Alithia Lancefort? That sounds familiar. But my name is Althea Morales, a twenty-five-year-old nurse who hasn't seen decent days off in months. She almost got my name right, just the pronunciation was off. But before I could correct her nor think of what to say next - something else caught my eye. A floating screen hovering a few inches away from my face, translucent but glowing softly, as if someone hacked into my field of vision.
It read. [Welcome to the world of Aetheria. You have been given a second chance at life. ]
I laughed. Stared. Blinked. And stared again. Then, like any person waking up in a strange place with no recollection of how they got there, I waved my hand through the screen to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. It didn't disappear. In fact, it flickered like it was annoyed with me for not taking it seriously.
"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered as I kept tapping on the screen like a touchscreen, but it wasn't exactly cooperating.
A game-like screen, a maid, and a frilly dress that looked like it came out of a drama. There's no way right? Those things only happen in novels.
Except...it's happening. I think I just woke up somewhere that's definitely not heaven.
I glanced around hoping to see a camera crew pop out somewhere shouting "Surprise!". But nope. Just a forest in the distance and a group of confused-looking people standing near a picnic spread. A fancy picnic spread. Silver trays, fine china and what appeared to be a roast bird on a platter.
"Lady Alithia, are you sure alright?" The girl beside me asked again looking more worried than before. I was in fact not alright, but I couldn't say it out loud. My heart was pounding hard on my chest and panic was starting to creep up to my neck. I was just supposed to go home and watch Kdramas not die and get dumped in some unknown world.
My breath was picking up, and I could feel that awful tightness in my chest that usually comes with panic attacks. Calm down. I told myself. You always wanted to experience getting reincarnated right? This is it. You can figure this out.
But before I could answer, movement in the corner of my eye drew my attention. A tall man with broad shoulders, silver gray hair, and an expression that made it look like he was used to being in charge. Following was a woman with graceful features, who looked like she came straight out of a fairy tale with her silky black hair. They both wore clothes that looked like what cosplayers wear except fancier and elegant. As soon as they reached me, concern filled their faces. "Alithia, my dear," the woman said, kneeling beside me and brushing a hand across my forehead. "You look so pale. Are you feeling faint again?"
I felt a tug at the edge of my dress. I glanced to see a small boy garnished on the same clothes as me. He was so small I didn't even notice him.
"Sister, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" his voice is small but cute.
I stared at them, my head spinning. I flinched from the pain that suddenly surfaced in the back of my head. Images of the same people came rolling like waves. I was overwhelmed by faces I recognised but didn't know. The woman with the worried eyes was Elyra Lancefort, the wife of the man beside her, Alucard Lancefort. And the boy...their youngest son, Damon. These were memories I had no recollection of. Or at least, not mine.
I glanced at the small, fragile arms that extended from my body. "Oh God," I whispered. Then, like a spark igniting deep within me, a name surfaced in my mind.
Alithia Cassiane Lancefort.
The realisation hit me like a punch to the gut. This was my family. I was the eldest daughter of the Lancefort Marquisette, born into a life of privilege and expectation. As the truth sank in, so did fear. Because this isn't my truth. I'm not the one in those memories. They were someone else's life playing out inside my head. My real family, my real life, is in Manila.
Or it was.
I opened my mouth to say something, but again, before the words could form, I felt strong hands under my arms, lifting me up with ease. I glanced up to find the tall man who had approached earlier - my father, now holding me in his arms as if I weighed nothing at all. "Alithia," he said with a voice rich and authoritative. "You're unusually quiet today. Did something happen?"
"Uh..." I blinked; my mind blank. "I think I died...?"
My father raised an eyebrow, his frown deepening. "Died? Alithia, you've always had quite the imagination." He leaned in, checking my temperature with the back of his hand. "Perhaps the sun has gotten to you. Sensitive as you are, it's no wonder. We'll head home at once."
That...was some reasoning.
He motioned to some people and the world spun into action. People bustled to pack up the picnic. Overwhelmed by the onslaught of emotions and the surrealness of it all, I let him carry me not knowing what to do or think.
I was guided into the carriage, the beautiful woman fussing over me while the little boy watched with worried eyes. As the carriage door shut, and the carriage wheel began advancing, I tried to steady my breath, trying to process what was happening - but it felt like my mind was slipping through my fingers. Everything was too much.
The carriage swayed gently as it began its steady rhythm over the road. I tried - really tried - to process everything but it was too much. The picnic, extravagant over layered clothes, floating screens, and a new family - it all feels foreign. I wasn't some Lady, I'm just a nurse who helps treat people. I don't belong here. I wasn't some fancy looking noble's daughter, and I sure wasn't used to being fussed over by people who thought I was delicate.
I buried my face in the folds of my father's silky shirt, trying to steady my breath, but every single one only worsened the panic in my chest. He seemed to have noticed my dilemma as he tightened his grip on me. This is just a dream. . . Yeah. . . . . And that's when it hit me, like a cold shock spreading through my veins. The memory came rushing back all at once - the accident.
I died.
I could see it as clear as day, flashing behind my eyelids like a cruel, unavoidable truth. The screeching tires. The deafening honk of a taxi. The sharp impact that had shattered my body. I could almost feel the cold pavement beneath me again, the way the world had slipped out of my grasp like a candle snuffed out too soon. I'd never gone home that night. I'd never made it back to binge-watch the latest K-drama. My life as Althea Morales had ended on that street, and here I was—alive, somehow, but in a completely different world.
My heart pounded in my ears as I lifted my head from my father's chest, the world around me suddenly too bright, too real. My mother's worried voice faded into the background, as if I were underwater. I could feel my brother's small hand resting on my arm, his touch light, as if he too was afraid, I might break. All of it—their concern, the carriage, the rolling hills outside the window—it overwhelmed me.
None of it was familiar. None of it was home.
I clutched the fabric of my dress, my breath coming in shaky gasps.
I died.
The truth of it hit me harder than the accident itself. I had died, and now I was here, sitting in a carriage in the arms of a man who wasn't my real father, surrounded by people who thought I was someone else. I didn't belong in this world.
And just when I thought things couldn't get any more confusing, the glowing screen popped up again, floating right in front of me.
[The fate of the world lies in your hands.]