Operating Room…
Lily lay on the cold operating table, dressed in a white hospital gown. The blinding surgical lights forced her to squint.
A nurse approached and gently placed an oxygen mask over her face. "Breathe in slowly. Everything will be alright."
Lily wanted to nod, but her body gradually felt weaker.
Strangely, she felt at peace.
This wasn't the fear she had imagined. Instead, there was a warmth in her chest, an unfamiliar sense of comfort.
Her mother always said, "Every flower has its time to bloom and wither."
Perhaps this was her time.
"I will bloom with Daisy in the bright blue sky."
Lily closed her eyes.
The anesthesia took effect, and her consciousness began to fade.
But just before everything went dark, she heard it—
A voice.
A chilling, unfamiliar voice echoed right beside her ear.
"Crystal… you've finally returned."
And then… everything turned black.
BEEEEEEP— --
For the first time in what felt like forever, Lily's body stirred. A deep, aching exhaustion coursed through every limb, a dull pain she couldn't describe.
Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, gazing at a ceiling covered in cobwebs.
"Hng…" She groaned, struggling against the weakness weighing her down. Her gaze swept across the dimly lit room, dust floating in the air.
Creak.
The sound of old wooden boards beneath her was the first noise that greeted her senses.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
A wooden clock ticked away, its sound creeping through the air like an omen.
Lily froze. Something about this place... felt wrong.
"This room... belongs to us now. You sleep in the rat-infested storage!"
A voice—one from a memory, yet unfamiliar.
Her brows furrowed, confusion settling deep in her chest as flashes of someone else's past invaded her mind.
Meow…
Lily turned to see an orange cat gazing at her with an eerie, knowing stare. It walked across the dusty floor, heading straight for her.
Whoosh…
A gust of cold air seeped into the room, sending shivers through her already trembling body.
For several long moments, she merely hugged her arms, rubbing warmth back into them while watching the orange cat move as if it had lived in this house for years.
"This… isn't the hospital."
"And it's not the greenhouse either."
The words tumbled from her lips before she could stop them, as if she was speaking thoughts that weren't even hers.
"Welcome back, Crystal."
The voice returned, deeper this time, resonating through the room like a whisper of fate.
"You must survive in this cruel world. At the very least... this is your chance to live as you desire."
Lily's breath hitched. She forced herself to speak, her voice shaking.
"Wh-Who are you? Show yourself!"
And then she realized it.
"This was a different world."
"A different dimension."
"A different reality."
The ceiling above her was old and crumbling, webs clinging to its corners. Sunlight barely seeped through the tightly shut windows. The scent of aged wood and faint incense lingered in the air.
And her clothes—filthy, tattered—weren't even fit for cleaning rags in her former home.
"No… This isn't right. Maybe I'm dreaming."
She clenched her fists, her breathing uneven. "I remember… The operation had just started. What about Daisy?"
The voice chuckled, an amused whisper in the dark.
"She lives… because of you."
"Explain. What the hell happened?"
Fear twisted in her stomach. Her eyes darted around the room, searching desperately for the unseen speaker.
A scoff echoed in her mind.
"Humans are such fools. Every soul that has entered Crystal's body has died at the hands of the Prince."
"Crystal? Prince?"
"Calm down, Lily," she told herself. "Breathe properly. Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale…"
Meow. "You're not crazy, well, I'm the talking cat."
Her eyes snapped to the orange cat.
"Hah!" She stumbled back, pointing a shaking finger. "Y-You… A cat? A cat can talk?! This is insane!"
She clutched her head, pacing back and forth in frantic circles.
"Didn't the doctors replace my lungs? But why does it feel like my brain is missing instead…?!"
The voice hummed, amusement laced within it.
"That is your gift, Crystal. You can communicate with animals… and wield healing magic."
Lily's breath caught in her throat.
"If I'm inside Crystal's body… That means…"
She forced herself to calm down. Taking one last deep breath, she slowly lifted her hands and examined them.
Every inch of her skin felt unfamiliar.
And then—her eyes widened.
The needle scars.
The scars that had been with her for as long as she could remember… were gone.
"This isn't my body."
The realization hit her like a crashing wave.
It wasn't just the scars.
Her fingers were more slender, her skin softer. Even her posture—everything about her felt… different.
Heart pounding, she staggered toward a small, cracked mirror at the corner of the room.
There, staring back at her…
Wasn't Lilyana Sinclair.
".....?"
Her breath hitched as she took a shaky step back.
Her shoulder slammed into an old wooden wardrobe, making a loud BANG! that sent dust flying into the air.
"Awwh…!"
But Lily barely felt the pain. "This is crazy."
the reflection in the mirror…Is Crystal.
was a girl she had never seen before.
A few moments later..
Lily took a deep breath, the cold air seeping into her lungs as she stood before the worn-out wooden door. Her fingers hesitated over the rusty iron handle. Was this real? Was she truly in the body of someone named Crystal?
Meow.
An orange cat sat smugly in the corner of the dimly lit room, its tail flicking lazily. "If you just sit there, we might as well rot together. But remember, you have a duty to serve the Witch."
Lily frowned. "A Witch? And why should I trust a talking cat?"
The cat snorted before leaping onto a small, open window. A sliver of dawn's light crept into the dusty room. "Because if you stay here any longer, she might just drown this shack in a river of wrath. Is that what you want?"
Lily's heartbeat quickened. She knew nothing about this world—or this so-called Witch. If the storyline was correct, Crystal had woken up accompanied by a stray cat she had picked up during her father's funeral.
"So, am I going to die? I mean, is Crystal?" she muttered, eyeing the feline warily.
The cat twitched its ears.
"Deus, answer me, you fat cat."
A chuckle escaped her lips. She had just named the cat 'Deus'—God. How ironic.
"Ha! Laugh all you want," Deus scoffed. "I was just thinking of arranging a nice little funeral for a spoiled brat today."
"Just wait and see, Deus."
With a gentle push, the wooden door creaked open, revealing the world outside.
The crisp morning air greeted her, mingling with the scent of dew and burning wood. Crystal stepped forward, her bare feet sinking into the cool, sandy ground. Reality hit her like a crashing wave—this was no dream.
A garden stretched out before her, its flowers still slumbering in the quiet dawn.
In the distance, a grand mansion with a red roof stood tall against the horizon, its presence starkly contrasting with the humble village surroundings.
"Is this the year after Crystal's father passed away?" she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
"Centra..." The name felt foreign on her tongue, yet oddly familiar, like a memory that didn't belong to her.
Deus leaped down, padding ahead with an air of arrogance. "Welcome to Earlania, a small village on the outskirts of the Centra Kingdom."
Crystal clenched her fists.
"Then I need to find out who Crystal really is... and why I'm in her body."