"So this is how it ends?" Alice thought to herself while bleeding out on a street.
She felt the cold embrace of the wall against her back. The only thing that kept the consciousness from fading was the sharp pain from the gaping wound under the ribs.
And to think all of this had happened because of trying to save a young boy from being extorted by a bunch of thugs.
Alice coughed up scarlet-red liquid, painting the pavement with her lifeforce. Very well understanding how dire the situation really is.
WEEEEOOO WEEEEOOO
Sirens of an ambulance were ringing loudly in the woman's ears.
"Oh shut up, it's pointless anyway." If not for being too exhausted, she would have grabbed her head because of the deafening sound.
The adrenaline started to run out. Her eyes grew heavier with each blink, arms and legs too heavy to lift.
Everything around became blurry, too blurry to make out any details.
"At least... I was useful to someone. But I wish I could have done more..." She contemplated the choices she had made so far. The memories vivid in her mind.
The scenery taking an image of the kitchen in the house she grew up in. The fridge was never connected to an outlet because of not having anything inside.
"Alice. Come here. Soon everything will be better, dear." A warm, caring voice called out to the girl.
It's been so long since she has heard those words. She saw her mom sitting with two plates of food in front of her. There was never enough of it to feel full, but they weren't starving either.
Alice tried running towards her mom, but the scene shifted into the same woman on a hospital bed, not breathing. It's been over eight years since this happened, but the memory still feels so vivid.
Even though she lived in poverty, not once did she think of blaming her mom.
Since that day she studied hard and did anything to pay off their debt. She succeeded, but that didn't fill the hole left by her parent.
But becoming financially stable didn't mean she lived a life of luxury; quite the contrary, most of the money was being sent to orphanages to prevent anyone else from going through the same thing.
Around her there were countless fantasy books, which were birthday gifts from her. They were the only keepsake Alice had.
She had always loved them because of the rightful heroes defending the weak. This childish mindset stayed with Alice all the way until now, which led to dying early, with no one to hold her hand or say, 'Everything will be alright.'.
Tears fell down her face. "I'm happy I saved him." Alice wasn't sure if she really meant it or if it was a lie...
....
....
"Wake up."
...
"Wake up!" The loud order made her instantly open her eyes. Looking around.
"What??!" Alice screamed out.
She found herself floating in a place devoid of any light.
Although there was one thing that could be seen. It was a glowing silhouette of a human.
Alice squinted her eye, trying to make out more details of the stranger in front of her, but each attempt ended in a headache and ringing in her ears.
"Don't even bother. It won't work." The being in front exclaimed. "I just wanted to ask you one question."
The thing walked on the void itself towards the floating girl. Staring at her. "Why do all of this?"
"Because my head is killing me! That's why" Alice mistook the question that was being asked.
It started to laugh loudly. "You are a funny one. I will give you that." It took a few steps back, stopping the headache.
"But I was referring to your selfless act back in Japan." The glowing person continued circling around.
"I..." Alice crossed her arms. "I didn't want him to die." She looked in the otherworldly being's way and could barely make out a grin on its face before it snapped its fingers.
She instantly lost control over her body, and everything went blank again.
...
"She will be fine." Voices of chatter could be heard. "Thank you, doctor. I don't know what we would have done without your help. We couldn't have left her there all alone."
"Thank God. I thought I was a goner," Alice thought to herself as she opened her eyes.
But instead of being in a modern hospital, she was in what looked like a medieval house.
"Maybe I'm still hallucinating." She searched for anything next to the bed. There was a mirror that the woman peeked at; the sight she saw made her jump back.
Instead of a twenty-five-year-old woman, a sixteen-year-old teenager version of herself looked back from the mirror.
The difference was drastic. Her hair was very short, just like her height. Because of being a late bloomer, she could easily be mistaken for a thirteen-year-old.
"What's going on?!" Alice screamed out and sat up, alerting the man and the woman in the room.
The man was an elderly doctor with glasses; he was a bit chubby. He wore a white lab coat and had a notebook in his hand, presumably writing down a medical report related to her.
Next to him stood a slim woman with a caring expression and long brown hair.
"It seems she has woken up." The elderly doctor observed, "You are in a hospital right now. Let me tell you everything you probably want to know."
He put down his notebook and stared straight at Alice. Then, with a warm smile explained.
"My name is Hanes, and I am a doctor. You had a stab wound under your ribs, and Lady Elizabeth brought you to me." He explained the whole thing while pointing towards the slim woman.
Alice could see the worry turning into relief on Elizabeth's face.
"Are you feeling better, dear?" Elizabeth asked Alice, "Do you know where your parents are?" She added while patting Alice's head in a caring way. Like a mom would to her child.
"My parents... I don't have any." Alice tried explaining further while still assessing what's going on.
"Ouch!" But she felt a sudden sting in her belly. She could still feel the pain of her wounds, but to Alice's surprise there was no longer any blood. The bruises were also gone for some reason.
"It seems I've missed a spot. Old age is getting the better of me." Doctor Hanes chuckled before sitting next to Alice and putting his hand in front of her. "Don't worry. It won't hurt at all."
Alice was skeptical. She saw green particles emitting from Doctor Hanese's palm.
"What's that!" Alice jumped. Scared of the weird light. But its effects were comforting. Making it hard to stop him from continuing.
"This is my rend; it speeds up the healing process if I understand the wound I'm working on." The pain from the stab wound quickly disappeared as the doctor explained, leaving nothing but a nasty scar under her ribs.
The sight left the now young girl confused. But before there was time to react, a strong wind blew through the house and put out all the candles.
"Don't worry, doctor; I will take care of it," Elizabeth informed him before flicking her fingers, which emitted flames from them, quickly lighting the candles one by one.
The bedridden gal was left speechless, not knowing what just happened. The only sound explanation was it being a dream.
"When I wake up, I bet it will all go back to normal." She went back to sleep.