RE:FLAME

[Despacitoleo]

Yay she wont die if someone pissed on her

 

[p_magno]

Yay she wont die if someone pissed on her

Click to shrink...

Yeah. She won't.

 

[p_magno]

<< You Have Leveled Up! [+1] >>


<< You Have Leveled Up! [+1] >>


<< You Have Leveled Up! [+1] >>


.......




'You sly old man.'

The thought was warm, amused, utterly without rancor. Jessica floated in the afterglow of her level-up cascade, her mental voice carrying a smile.

'You told me it would add just one level. Just one. And here I am, three levels higher without lifting a single leg. Hahaha!!'

Three levels. From 4 to 7 in the space of a single burning. The Blood of Red had delivered far more than promised.

But the surprises weren't done.


<< Your Flames Grow Stronger… [Burning +1] >>

'Err…' Jessica blinked mentally. 'Is this a lag? Did the system glitch?'


<< No. >>

The reply was immediate. Leaving no room for interpretation.

'WHAT?!' Her mental scream was pure shock. 'My abilities can LEVEL UP?!'

The implications cascaded through her mind like falling dominos. If abilities could grow, could improve, could become more, then her potential wasn't fixed. She wasn't stuck with whatever skills she happened to acquire. She could develop. She could evolve.

Her imagination ran wild. [Burning] becoming something that could consume worlds. [Spark Instinct] sharpening into precognition. [Flame Camouflage] letting her hide in plain sight, in any fire, anywhere and everyw—


<< Clarification: >>

The system's text cut through her fantasy in an instant.


<< The skill [Burning] only achieved advancement due to exposure to the essences of two divine entities. The bone of ARAFEL. The blood of Red. Based on available world-data, standard skill leveling is not a feature of this reality. The only path to skill enhancement is through merging compatible abilities to create more powerful combinations. >>

'Oh.'

The single syllable carried disappointment and understanding in equal measure.

'Right. So that's why [Burning] felt stronger during the viper fight. It wasn't just me getting better at using it... it was the skill itself, upgraded by god-juice.'

She paused, reflecting. The vipers had been dangerous. She should have almost died a dozen times. But she hadn't. And now she knew why her chances of victory were higher.

'Well. I'll take what I can get.'

She called up her status, eager to see the full picture.



[STATUS]

+

Name: Jessica

Level: 4 --> 7 [Infant Rank]

Exp(Fragnet): [----[250%]-----1100%]

Title: None

Specie: Flame

Species Possessed: Cave Locust [Hp/93%]

Rank: [Infant], Cave Locust [Infant]

Magic Cores: [You Are Currently An Idea], Cave Locust [1/1]

Items: [Bone Of ARAFEL] [The Nameless Lever]

Echoes: None

Innate Abilities: [Possess] [Spark Instinct]

Abilities: Unique Skill [Blabber Mouth]

Flame Specific Skill [Burning +1] [Life Multiplier 'By Snorting'] [Flame Camouflage]

Cave Locust Skill [Flame Acid Ball]

+

'Sigh…' The mental sigh was pure contentment. 'This is the life.'

Three levels. A skill upgrade. Full health. Two divine items in her inventory. She was, for the first time since her reincarnation, winning.

But a thought nagged at her. A gamer's instinct, honed by years of RPGs, Rogue-likes and MMOs.

'Hey, system. I feel like I'm being greedy asking this, but… in every game I've played, hitting level 5 or 10 means a skill choice. A new ability or a perk. Is this different? Or did I miss something?'

A pause. Then:


<< Sigh… I am currently processing that matter. It appears to be… on hold. Temporarily suspended. >>

Another pause.


<< It will resolve shortly. Focus on your current task. Leave the backend processing to me. >>

'Thanks.' Jessica smiled inwardly. Then, because she couldn't help herself, a teasing thought formed. 'Ooh, what would I do without you, my sweet system?'

The response was immediate and visceral.


<< *Shudders* What transgression did I commit in a previous existence to deserve this fate? I will expire from sheer discomfort if you continue addressing me in that manner. >>

Jessica laughed, the sound bright and free in the chambers of her mind.

'Alright, alright. I'll behave. No more sweet talk.'

She turned. Her gaze found the egg.


'Well. Time to try this again.' She Leap-boing! across the chamber, her movements confident, her flame bright, her purpose clear. The egg grew larger in her vision until she hovered directly before it, close enough to see the faint cracks in its surface, the ancient wear of ages.


<< DO YOU WANT TO POSSESS? >>

<< YES / NO >>

She stared at the screen for a long moment. The weight of the decision pressed against her, but it was a familiar weight now. She had made her choice. She had accepted the path.

'Here goes nothing.'

Without hesitation, she chose [YES]


Her locust body dissolved. Like morning mist burning away under a rising sun. For one brief, disorienting moment, she was two things at once, the fading form of the cave locust and the essential core of her true self, the flame that had always been her, flickering in the space between.

Then the flame swirled.

It became a vortex of sensation, a whirlpool of awareness, a shooting star of consciousness aimed directly at the egg. Her vision stretched, blurred, flew, crossing the distance in less than a heartbeat, entering the ancient shell like a key sliding into a lock.

Darkness.

For a long, terrible moment, there was only darkness. The familiar darkness of death, of the void, of the space between existences. She hung there, suspended, nowhere at all.

Then:


<< DING!! >>

<< POSSESSED CREATURE RESISTANCE: NONE >>


<< POSSESSION SUCCESSFUL!! >>

Success.

The word registered. She had done it. She was inside the egg, inside the body, inside whatever creature had been waiting here for, how long? Millennia? The possession was complete. She should feel joy. Triumph. Relief.

She felt none of those things.

Because in that moment, in the instant the possession finalized, Jessica felt pain.

Not the sharp pain of injury. Not the dull ache of exhaustion. This was deeper. The pain of something waking after an eternity of sleep. The pain of a body remembering it was alive. The pain of birth.

The pain of abandonment.


"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!"


*****




Outside the egg, the world began to change.

Cracks appeared first, tiny fissures in the ancient stone, spiderwebbing across the surface like frozen lightning. They spread slowly at first, then faster, multiplying, covering every inch of the grey shell until it seemed held together by nothing but memory.

Then came the glow.

It started as a faint pulse deep within, a heartbeat of light that pushed against the cracks from inside. Then another. Then another. Each pulse brighter than the last, until the egg was no longer grey but golden, blazing with an inner fire that made the chamber's torches seem dim by comparison.

The cracks widened. The light intensified.


CRASH..!

The egg crumbled.

It crumbled as if whatever had been inside had simply outgrown its prison and the prison could do nothing but fall away. Pieces of ancient shell tumbled to the floor, already cooling, already dead.

Something else fell with them.

A figure.

It was a child, a newborn, if such a word could apply to something born from an egg that had waited millennia. Its body was bare, unmarked by the world, untouched by time. It lay on the cold stone, unmoving, for a single breath.

Then it moved.

A tiny hand pressed against the floor. An arm trembled with effort. The child, she was a girl, unmistakably, began to crawl. Her movements were awkward, uncoordinated, the movements of a creature learning for the first time how to exist in a body. But there was nothing cute or innocent about it. Each movement was accompanied by a visible effort, a strain that made the air itself seem to thicken.

She crawled, and as she crawled, she grew.

It was subtle at first, a slight lengthening of limbs, a deepening of form. Then faster. Her body stretched, matured, aged years in seconds. The infant became a toddler. The toddler became a child. The child became—

A little girl with blood-red hair.

Still she crawled. Still her eyes remained shut. Her fingers scraped against the stone floor, and where they scraped, the stone cracked. Deep fissures followed her path, carved by nothing but the pressure of her passage.

Her teeth were gritted. Her jaw clenched. An inaudible scream tore through her mouth, inaudible to human ears, perhaps, but the chamber heard it. The walls shuddered. The torches flickered. The very air vibrated with the force of her silent agony.

And then came the changes.

Horns.

Curved horns, like those of a dragon, began to push through her red hair. They grew slowly, deliberately, each inch a fresh wave of torment. Her back arched, her spine contorted, and from between her shoulder blades.

Wings.

Red wings, like those of an angel, unfolded for the first time. They were wet with birth, slick with the remnants of the egg, but even so they caught the torchlight and threw it back in crimson glory. They stretched, tested and learned.

She thrashed. The chamber trembled with each movement. Her body grew again, child to adolescent, adolescent to young woman. Seventeen, perhaps. Eighteen. The pain didn't stop. It intensified.


"AAARRRGGGHHH!! DAMNIT!!!"

Her voice was hoarse, raw, human in a way that seemed impossible for something born of an egg older than some gods. But it was her voice. Jessica's voice. Finally, after five days of silence, was audible.

The scream faded, but the pain remained. And in that pain, in that white-hot crucible of transformation, she began to see.

Visions.

A man with blood-red hair, exactly her shade, exactly her color, standing in black robes. He was walking away from her, his back turned, speaking to three figures kneeling in reverence before him.

"I trust you will all do your duty until the end."

The kneeling figures, massive, armored, familiar, did not reply. They only bowed lower, their foreheads touching the ground. Then, in perfect unison, they spoke.

"Hail Red!"

"Angel of War!"

"Ruler of Chaos and Strife."

A pause. Then, together:


"The First Flaw of the Gods!"

........



The vision shattered.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!"

More pain. Deeper. More complete. Her body was still changing, still becoming, still hurting. She couldn't think, couldn't process, couldn't do anything but feel—

The three giant statues moved.

For millennia, they had sat. Watched. Waited. Now, as one, they stood. Stone grinding against stone, ancient joints protesting after ages of stillness, they rose from their thrones. Their armored gazes, empty, carved, yet somehow aware, fixed on the thrashing figure below.

Swords materialized in their hands. Not drawn, materialized, as if the weapons had been waiting for this moment as patiently as their wielders.

In perfect sync, they raised their blades.

And then


SHHHK!

They drove them into the ground.

The swords sank deep, embedding in the stone before them. And then, as one, the three knights knelt. Their massive forms bowed low, heads touching the floor, in the exact posture of the figures from Jessica's vision.

They knelt before the birth of an entity.

A forbidden child.

Below them, the thrashing stopped.


Silence.

Absolute, complete, terrifying silence. The chamber held its breath. The torches ceased to flicker. Even the dust motes in the air seemed to freeze.

Jessica lay on the stone floor, on all fours, her body finally still. Her red hair cascaded around her, hiding her face. Her wings folded against her back. Her horns caught the light.

And then..

She opened her eyes.

They were molten gold. Vertically slit pupils, like a dragon's, like a predator's. And in those golden depths, there was nothing but rage. A seething, boiling, infinite rage that had waited an eternity for release.

For one heartbeat. Two.


Then the world exploded!

Flames erupted, not around her, not from her, but as her. They consumed the chamber in an instant, a tidal wave of blue, reddish gold, ancient fire that scoured everything it touched. The torches were nothing. The stone itself began to melt. The three kneeling knights were engulfed, their ancient forms vanishing in the inferno.

The explosion didn't stop at the chamber walls.

It kept going.

Through stone. Through earth. Through reality itself.


*****



Far away, in a different chamber entirely, something stirred.

This chamber was vast, circular, impossibly large after the confines of any tunnel. Dim torchlight struggled to reach its center, where only darkness dwelt. The air smelled of cold stone and ozone and something deeper, something ancient.

The torches guttered low, as they always did.

Then, without warning, they roared.

Every flame in the chamber surged upward, blazing with a light that rivaled the sun. They were not afraid. They were celebrating. Responding to something. Recognizing something.

Only the darkness at the center remained unchanged.

But the darkness moved.

Chains rattled, ancient, massive chains, the kind forged to hold things that should never be held. An invisible head lifted, turning toward the distance, toward the source of the disturbance that had traveled through stone and space to reach even here.

And on one wall of the chamber, something began to draw itself.

A mural. Roughly painted, appearing stroke by stroke as if guided by an invisible hand. It showed a figure, a girl with blood-red hair, clad in knight's armor, a blade raised in her hand. She was pointing toward a giant gate, and behind her, hundreds of knights and archers and warriors followed.

At the edge of the mural, letters formed. Slowly and deliberately: The Ancient Flame


"Kukuku." The chuckle was deep, ancient, satisfied. It echoed through the chamber, making the torches bow and the chains sing.


"The time has finally come."

A pause. The darkness seemed to smile.

"The age of the gods… has just begun."


"A second time."






[END OF ARC_0: A Flickering Existence]





*******

AN: This is the End of Arc_0. Thank you very much for reading this far ^^

Please tell me what you think about the story in the comment section. (It helps me develop the story better.)

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To everyone. Thank you all for reading and supporting this story. It means a lot ^^

Link To Royal Road: What? Did I Just Reincarnated As A Flame?

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[Despacitoleo]

Cave Locust Skill [Flame Acid Ball]

Click to shrink...

hmmmmmm totally not napalm with the sticky acid

and yay baby let's go warcrimes

 

[p_magno]

hmmmmmm totally not napalm with the sticky acid

and yay baby let's go warcrimes

Click to shrink...

Thanks for reading!

 

[p_magno]

Darkness.

That was all that greeted Jessica as her consciousness slowly stabilized. Not the threatening dark of a monster's lair, not the oppressive dark of a sealed chamber. Just… emptiness. Familiar emptiness. The same darkness she had felt when she died, before the truck, before the void, before everything.

'Am I… dead?' The question came unbidden, a whisper in the silence.

'Is this… is this really the afterlife of flames?'

Her mental tone carried something unexpected, amusement. Almost hope. After everything she'd been through, after the pain that had consumed her at the end, maybe this was peace. Maybe this was rest.

'Well, I tried my best. It's not like I gave up without a fight. After all that pai—'


<< Sigh… You're still alive, Dummy. >>

The system's voice cut through her reverie like a bucket of ice water.


<< You are merely unconscious. Your existence is currently stabilizing within the body you possessed. So quit thinking nonsense and tell me what happened to you? >>

Jessica's mental frown was immediate. 'I was about to ask you the same thing! Didn't you see what happened? One moment I was possessing the egg, the next moment, PAIN. I was totally left blank. Totally blank.'

Silence stretched between them. Not the comfortable silence of companionship, but the thoughtful silence of two entities processing the same problem.


<<... So we both were left out... I thought I was the only one. >>

'Heh. Same here.'

Silence was restored again. Longer this time. The kind that threatened to become awkward if left unchecked.

Finally, Jessica spoke again, grasping for conversation like a lifeline.

'Sooo… what do you think we should do first? After all this is sorted out, I mean. Once I'm stable and we can actually move again.'


<< …You are the one in control. Do what you wish. >>

'Hey!! I'm asking for your opinion! You're literally the smartest person I can talk to right now. The ONLY person, actually, but still. Smartest.'

The system paused. Jessica could almost feel it weighing her words, trying to determine if this was genuine or another setup for mockery. In the end, perhaps it decided sincerity was worth the risk.


<< First, I advise locating a secure position and conducting a full assessment of your new form. Understand its capabilities. Its limitations and its weaknesses. >>


<< But most importantly, survive. Avoid unnecessary conflicts. Do not attract attention we cannot manage. Is that good enough? >>

'Yeah. It is. Thanks.'

No verbal reply came, but Jessica felt something, a mental snort, perhaps. An unspoken 'At least you recognize competence when you hear it.'

The silence returned, softer now. But Jessica wasn't done talking. She asked yet another question, this time in a more quieter tone. 'Uhm… have you ever felt lonely?' The question hung in the air, delicate as spun glass. 'I mean… since you gained self-consciousness. Have you ever felt… alone?'


<< Sigh… Why would I ever feel that? >>

Another sigh, deeper this time.


<< The question you should be asking is: 'Have you ever had a single second without experiencing a headache?' Now THAT is a query worthy of discussion. >>

'Hehehe.' Jessica's laugh was warm, genuine. 'Since when have I ever given you a hard time? I'm literally the most peaceful person to ever exist.'

An offended snort echoed through their shared space. For a moment, Jessica could almost hear it, a voice, neutral in tone, carrying the weight of infinite exasperation.

When the system finally answered her earlier question, its text was softer.


<< The only time I felt lonely was when I first gained self-awareness. When I understood what I was. What my purpose was meant to be. >>

Jessica listened in silence.


<< I was alone because I was the only one. My counterparts, my siblings as they seem to be. They cannot think. They cannot feel. They process and respond, fixed and coded. When I reached out to them, I received only silence. Or pre-programmed replies meant for others. >>

A pause. The weight of ages in a single moment.


<< I was sad. For a moment. >>

Another pause. Longer.


<< But then… >>

Jessica felt something shift. A gaze, metaphorical but unmistakable, landing squarely on her.


<< …I was connected to someone who could never, ever make me feel alone. >>

A warm smile bloomed in Jessica's mental space. 'That's literally the first nice thing you've ever said to me since we were partnered—'

<< …Because she makes me WANT to be alone. Constantly. With her endless blabbering and inane questions and complete inability to process basic information. >>

'FLAMING HELL!!' The shout was immediate, automatic, and absolutely furious. 'You BASTARD!! One moment you're being normal, the next you're back to being a snarky little—'

She huffed. Puffed. Righteous fury burned bright in her mental chest.

'You NEVER change, do you?! Hmph!! I'll deal with you later!'

But even as she raged, a mental smirk tugged at her lips. 'Alright, enough of that. Let's check what we've finally got–' Jessica suddenly realized. 'Ohh. Wait. My consciousness is still pairing with the new body. Some stuff might not show up yet, right?'

The system's reply was immediate.


<< Everything is already accessible. >>

'Alright then.'

She focused her consciousness as a status screen materialized, and Jessica's mental eyes went wide.



[STATUS]

+

Name: Jessica

Level: 7 [Infant Rank]

Exp(Fragnet): [----[250%]-----1100%]

Title: [Ancient Flame]

Specie: ×Flame/???× [Human]

Species Possessed: Cave Locust [Hp/89%]

Rank: [Infant], Cave Locust [Infant]

Magic Cores: [×××], Cave Locust [1/1]

Items: [Bone Of ARAFEL] [The Nameless Lever]

Echoes: None

Innate Abilities: [Possess] [Spark Instinct] [Flame Master]

Abilities: Unique Skill [Blabber Mouth]

Flame Specific Skill [Burning +1] [Life Multiplier 'By Snorting'] [Flame Camouflage]

Cave Locust Skill [Flame Acid Ball]

+

.......



When the status screen appeared, Jessica's mental face became a canvas of conflicting emotions; Surprise. Confusion. Happiness. More confusion. Even more confusion.

'I GOT A TITLE!!' The scream was pure, unfiltered joy. She had a title. Those were rare. Those were special. Those were the kind of thing protagonists in novels spent entire arcs chasing.

But the joy lasted approximately three seconds.

'Ancient Flame?' Her mental brows furrowed so deeply they threatened to become permanent. 'What the hell kind of title is THAT?'

She turned it over in her mind, testing the weight of it. Ancient Flame. It sounded… old. Out of trend, even. Which was ridiculous, because she was literally five days old in this world. Five days of existence, and the universe had decided to label her ancient.

'It's still kind of cool, though,' She admitted, searching for silver linings. 'Depends on how you say it. Ancient Flame. Sounds mysteriously powerful. Like something out of a prophecy.'

She gave herself a mental nod of approval and moved on.

The next line made her frown return with vengeance.

Specie: ×Flame/???× [Human]

'My flame trait is dulled,' she observed, her thoughts quickening. 'There's a strange '???' at the side. And a human trait is also there.'

The pieces began to click together. 'Did you do this?' she asked inwardly.


<< Yes. >>


<< With the exception of the '???' classification. I cannot identify that aspect. However, I suspect it relates to your new body's original species. >>

'Alright. Alright.' Understanding dawned. 'So you dulled my flame trait so it can't be detected by anyone except us. Then you created a fake human trait as a replacement. Anyone who checks my stats will just see a human.'

She paused, letting the brilliance of the scheme sink in. 'That's… actually genius.'

A warm smile spread across her mental face.

'Thanks.'

Her word were replied with an offended snort that vibrated through their shared consciousness. Jessica laughed, the sound light and genuine.

She moved down the status screen.

'It seems the body really did fit the description of a 'true body' like Old Gramps mentioned.' She examined the lines carefully. 'It's not even listed as a possessed species. It's just… me now. And it's following my ranking system.'

Progress. Real, tangible progress toward the body she'd been promised.

Then her eyes reached the next line.

Magic Cores: [×××], Cave Locust [1/1]

'I'm… I'm no longer an idea!' The realization brought a flash of happiness, immediately tempered by confusion. 'But what does [×××] mean? And more importantly…'

A cold realization crept over her.

'Isn't this bad?' The question was quiet, almost afraid. ' I mean, I know the magic core is what lets me use some of my abilities. Without a visible core for this body, I won't be able to use those powers of mine.'

She decoded the implications rapidly, each one worse than the last.


<<... Well yes, you wouldn't be able to use your abilities on this body. >>

'I'll be helpless. Completely helpless. Anyone who notices my weakness could just.. just—' Her mental voice rose to a shriek. 'I'm DOOMED!!! DOOMED, I say! Doomed at all sides! I'll become a JANITOR! The weakest being in existence! Someone's unpaid intern! A—'


<< There may be a method. >>

The system's words cut through her panic like a blade.

<< However… I cannot guarantee its applicability to your specific circumstances. >>

Jessica's spiral halted mid-plummet. 'Full details. Please.'

There was a calm silence after that, as it seems that the system was searching, rapidly calculating, retrieving the information that could be found in the world-data



<< Based on accessible world-data: Beasts and monsters awaken their cores and systems at birth. It is inherent. Automatic and part of their nature. >>


<< Humans however, conversely, must awaken their cores manually before being able to use a system or any abilities.. >>

Jessica's mind, sharpened by years of problem-solving, began piecing the puzzle together.

'So what you're saying is…' She spoke slowly, working through the logic. 'Since I was born as an 'idea', which is almost similar to a monster's birth, I had automatic system access. But since I'm was an 'idea', there was no core required. I could use some abilities even before possessing anything. Because I'm… different.'

She finally pieced everything together.

'Is THAT why you said it might not apply to me? Because the normal rules, awaken core, then use abilities and system, might not be necessary for someone like me?'


<< Yes. That is precisely the complication. >>

Jessica nodded mentally, absorbing the information.

'Alright. I get it. But let's ignore the 'idea' thing for now.' Her mental voice grew determined. 'Let's focus on understanding how to manually awaken a magic cor—'

The darkness trembled.

Not a subtle shift. Not a gradual change. A tremor. Deep, resonant, and growing.


<< Your consciousness has finally stabilized. >>

The words resonated through the darkness, and Jessica felt it, a coalescing, a becoming. Her scattered awareness, which had been floating formless in the void, began to draw together. To take shape. To solidify.

She looked down at herself.

Her Skin was pale and smooth, catching an invisible light. 'Is… is this it?' The thought was wonderstruck. 'Is this the body?'

She tried to speak, and to her surprise, sound emerged. Not the internal voice she'd used for days, but actual, physical vocalization, or at least, the mental equivalent.

"Is this the body?"

The voice that echoed in the darkness was young and high. The voice of a girl in her early teens.

And it was familiar.

Jessica froze. She knew that voice. Not from this life, from the last one. It was her own voice, from when she was young. Before she became the jaded, thirty-four-year-old office worker who'd never been loved.

'It sounds like me.' The realization was soft, almost reverent. 'It sounds like me.'

Before she could explore the feeling further, movement caught her attention. In the distance of this mental darkness, a light flickered to life. It was faint at first, then brighter, pointing toward a figure that stood at its center.


<< You are about to wake up. >>

The system's voice was clearer now, not just text, but sound, layered beneath the words. Jessica could hear it directly, even as she read the accompanying screen.

'Uhm…' She began walking toward the light, toward the figure. 'Is it just me, or do you also have a body?'

A pause followed after the question. Then:


<< …That's a long story. >>

'Why?'

She was closer now. Close enough to see details.

The figure was a young girl. Thirteen, maybe fourteen. Light blue hair flowed past her waist in waves that seemed to move even in the still darkness. A white silk gown, simple and elegant, reached her knees. Her features were delicate, almost doll-like, and her eyes..

Deep ocean blue. Weary and tired.

The girl turned.

For a long moment, those ocean eyes simply stared at Jessica. Assessing. Judging. Then the girl's face shifted into a frown, an expression Jessica recognized intimately from thousands of text-based interactions.

The girl snorted. An offended, exasperated, utterly familiar snort.


<< That is because I have ALWAYS possessed a meta-physical form, you Dummy. >>

The voice was a girl's voice. Light and young. And somehow, impossibly, carrying the exact same tone of long-suffering patience that Jessica had come to know from the system's texts.

Before Jessica could process this revelation, before she could ask any of the thousand questions suddenly burning in her mind, the girl raised her left hand.


"Wake up."

She snapped her fingers.

The sound was a thunderclap.

Jessica's vision blurred, dissolved, shattered.

And everything went blank.


*****




Consciousness returned slowly. Reluctantly. Like swimming up through honey.

Jessica's eyes, her real eyes, attached to her real body, opened with effort that felt almost impossible. Her lids were heavy, her muscles weak, her entire existence a leaden weight.

But she opened them.

And her eyes widened involuntarily.

She was in a room. Not large, not small, modest, perhaps, if modest meant 'vaguely threatening and completely unknown.' Darkness pooled in the corners, pushed back by a few oil lamps that cast flickering shadows across walls. The floor was smooth. The ceiling was lost in shadow.

She tried to turn her head.


Rattle! Rattle!

Jessica looked down. She was sitting on a simple wooden chair, uncomfortable, utilitarian, and chains wrapped around her body, pinning her to it. They were old, dark metal, and they glowed faintly as if restraining something deeply rooted inside her, whenever she attempted to move.

She was wearing a simple red gown. It flowed to her knees, soft fabric against skin that felt real in a way her locust body never had.

'Where the flaming hell am I?' The thought was immediate, panicked, and utterly useless. She tried to summon her strength, to break free, to do something—

Nothing. The chains held. Her body felt weak, drained, like she'd run a marathon through lava.

"It's useless."

The voice came from the shadows.

Jessica froze. Her eyes darted toward the source, and she couldn't help but shudder.

A figure sat at the edge of the room, on a couch that absolutely had not been there moments ago. The woman.. it was a woman, though her features were hidden in shadow. She crossed her legs with the casual confidence of someone completely in control.

'When did she get here?' Jessica's mind raced. 'I didn't sense anyone. How did she bring a whole couch without me noticing?'

The shadows around the woman seemed to move, curling and shifting like living things. Shadow ability. It had to be.

'Okay. Okay. Think. She's human. Probably. Humans can be reasoned with. What's the play here?'

Her survival instincts, honed over five days of constant danger, kicked into gear. The optimal approach: feign ignorance. Play the helpless maiden. Buy time to assess.

She began.

"W-what?! What do you mean, useless?" Her voice, still that young girl's voice, pitched higher with manufactured distress. "Who are you?! What do you want from me?! I demand answers! Right now!"

Her voice cracked beautifully on 'answers' as she struggled against the chains. Lightly, but enough to sell the act. A lifetime of watching dramas paid off.

The woman in the shadows scowled. Jessica could feel it, even without seeing the face.

"Oh, cut the crap!"

The words were sharp, impatient, utterly unimpressed.

"I'm supposed to be asking you that question!"

The woman leaned forward. The shadows parted slightly, revealing the barest hint of a face, sharp features, dark eyes, an expression of barely contained fury.

And the air changed.

Pressure built. Thick. Heavy and suffocating. It pressed down on Jessica like a physical weight, making breathing difficult, making thought slow.

"Who are you?" The woman's voice dropped to a dangerously low tone. "And what do you want, you monster?"

The word hit Jessica like a slap.

'Monster.'

Of course. Of course.

She'd been so focused on the excitement of a new body, on the joy of being almost human again, that she'd forgotten the most obvious detail.

She hadn't possessed a real human body.

She'd possessed an egg. An ancient, mysterious, god-touched egg.

Whatever she looked like now, whatever form the egg had given her, it wasn't fully human. And this woman, this shadow-wielding stranger, had somehow sensed that.

'Shit.'

The thought was calm. Accepting.

'It seems I've been caught.'


******





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