The girl didn't see the truck. One moment, she was walking home from school, the familiar weight of her backpack bouncing against her shoulders, the scent of roasted chestnuts from a street vendor thick in the autumn air. The next, there was a sound like tearing metal, a pressure like the world was folding in on itself, and then nothing.
No lingering light, no life flashing before her eyes, no sense of falling into a warm embrace. The universe had simply, efficiently, erased her. Her final thought wasn't of her parents, or friends, or unfinished homework, but a detached curiosity: Huh, so that's it?
It was the lack of ceremony that bothered her most. Such a final, permanent event, handled with all the grace of a misplaced comma.
Then, sensation returned, slow and strange.
It wasn't the feeling of waking up, it was the feeling of being switched on.
Her eyelids felt too light. The air against her skin was too sharp, carrying the scent of damp earth, crushed pine needles, and something else… something metallic and ancient, like a buried coin. Her thoughts, usually a chaotic chatter of worries and daydreams, were unnervingly clear, each one distinct and separate, like beads on a string.
She sat up, her body felt different, new. She looked at her hands, tanned and delicate, the nails perfectly trimmed. The world around her was a forest so dense the canopy was a solid, breathing ceiling of green. Sunlight, when it broke through, fell in thick, honey-colored shafts, illuminating dust motes that danced in the still air.
She was being watched. It wasn't a menacing feeling. It was simply a fact, like the texture of the moss beneath her or the temperature of the breeze. Her gaze swept the trees, finding nothing. But the feeling remained, a steady, patient presence.
Leaves and loose dirt skittered away from her as she pushed herself to her feet, a small, silent ripple in the quiet forest floor. She didn't notice. Her attention was fixed on the empty space before her as it began to waver, like heat haze off summer asphalt.
The creature that appeared was small, pink, and impossibly serene. It floated with an effortlessness that defied gravity, its long tail twitching with a gentle, cat-like rhythm. Its enormous blue eyes blinked at her once, slowly.
"Oh, good," a voice bloomed directly in her mind, light and airy and laced with a cheerfulness that felt profoundly out of place. "You're awake! I was a little worried you'd gotten scrambled."
The girl looked at the floating creature. She tilted her head. The mental pressure she'd felt since waking intensified, pressing against her like a warm blanket. "Are you the one who's been watching me?"
"Guilty!" the mental voice chirped. It was impossible to tell if the creature's mouth moved, but the sound was clear. "Though 'watching' sounds a bit… nefarious. More like, I was waiting to see if you'd work."
The girl processed this. Just a quiet, filing-away of information. "So I'm dead?"
"Well, yes and no. The 'you' that was walking home from school? Definitely dead, my fault, I'm afraid. Bit of a navigational mishap. The multiverse is larger than it looks, you know!"
It bobbed in the air, looking entirely unrepentant. "I was popping between realities, and… well, there was a bit of a spill-over. It happens. Anyway, I felt a bit bad, so I had a word with the big guy above. Got a transfer approved. A do-over, of sorts."
The girl looked down at her new, small hands. "Why can I barley remember anything? About my old life, I mean."
"Oh, that's standard procedure. A clean slate makes for better integration. Less messy baggage." The creature's mental tone was that of a clerk explaining routine paperwork. "Don't worry about it. You won't miss what you can't remember."
"The things you can remember is only information about this world," Mew spun in a circle before continuing, "This may have been a fictional world in your last life but don't think that now!"
"Oh…ok, can I go back?"
The pink creature let out a mental sigh, the psychic equivalent of a door slamming. "Absolutely not! The rules on existential reversal are dreadfully strict. One soul, one lifetime, one direction. You're here now, best to make the most of it."
She nodded, accepting this with the same calm she'd accepted her own death. "If I'm staying here, do I get a name?"
This seemed to please the creature immensely. "What a wonderful question! I knew you'd be a good fit. Yes, I picked one out, Eliana." The characters bloomed in her mind, sharp and clean. "It means 'Sun.' I thought it fitting, since you're starting fresh."
Eliana rolled the name around in her mind. Eliana. A bit basic, she repeated it aloud, her voice a soft, clear whisper in the forest. "Eliana."
"Exactly! Now, for the compensation part of the deal," Mew continued, its tone shifting to something like a shopkeeper listing inventory. "The big guy approved the soul transfer and the body, but… well, I may have added a little something extra. A personal apology gift."
It didn't wait for her to ask. Images and concepts flooded Eliana's mind, not explanations, but pure information, downloaded straight into her consciousness. Mind reading, Telekinesis, Telepathy, and Mediumship all had no side effects. Mind control could come with fatigue if overused. Teleportation was flagged with a subtle warning of unstable use.
There were no real limitations listed. No warnings of psychological strain or moral consequences. Just a list of functions.
Without thinking, Eliana reached out with her newfound senses, a tentative tendril of thought brushing against Mew's mind. She wasn't trying to pry, only to test. What she found was not a lie, but an absence of the guilt a human would feel. There was a flicker of annoyance at the clerical work, a hint of curiosity about her as a project, but no remorse. It was like feeling the surface of a polished stone, smooth, hard, and utterly alien.
"As a final gesture," Mew announced, "you'll need a companion." It raised a tiny paw, and the space between them shimmered. A mote of white light solidified, coalescing into a small, humanoid creature. Its body was a light almost white pink, and it peered up at her from behind a curtain of light blue hair that concealed two large, red eyes.
A Ralts, but something was different. The green hair was blue, its body was not quite white but a pale pink. It was a perfect, impossible creature.
"A shiny one," Mew explained, a touch of pride in its mental voice. "And a little something extra. I tucked a fragment of my own power in there. He's male, by the way, so you'll have a choice in how he grows."
Mew produced a smooth, teal stone from thin air. Inside was a shape like a star and emanated a faint, cool light. A Dawn Stone. "For later if you so choose."
Eliana knelt, the movement silent and fluid. The Ralts flinched back, a wave of confused emotion washing over her. She didn't speak. Instead, she reached out with her mind, not as a probe, but as an offering. A single, clear thought.
( ˶°ㅁ°) !! The Ralts froze. The fear didn't vanish completely, but it was joined by a sliver of overwhelming curiosity. Hesitantly, it took a shuffling step forward.
"Excellent! You're a natural," Mew chirped. It watched her interact with the Ralts for a moment longer, its tail swishing. "Well, my work here is done. The big guy gets testy if I linger too long in one reality."
Eliana stood, the Ralts pressing hesitantly against her leg. She looked at the floating pink being, "Before you go, what if I die again?"
A different kind of silence followed. Mew's cheerfulness evaporated, replaced by a profound neutrality. "That's on you," the voice stated, flat and final. No safety net, no third chances. The apology gift had been fully delivered.
"Where am I?" she asked, her last, most practical query.
"Not far from a settlement. Humans call it Dark City. A nasty place but you're strong enough to handle it." Mew gave a final, airy little wave. "And don't worry, you're technically my responsibility now. I'll be checking in, whether you notice or not."
And then it was gone, an instantaneous absence, as if it had never been there at all.
The forest fell silent. Eliana stood in a pool of honey-colored sunlight, a small, impossible creature clinging to her leg. She looked at her hands again, then at the Dawn Stone in her palm, then at the dense, watching trees.
The psychic noise of the world rushed in. The frantic, simple thoughts of a burrowing wurmple. The territorial instincts of a spearow perched high above. The slow, patient hunger of a carnivorous plant waiting in the shadows.
It was all so loud.
A slow smile spread across Eliana's face. It wasn't a happy smile. It wasn't a cruel smile.
It was the smile of someone who had just been given the keys to a fascinating, complicated toy.
Interesting, she thought. I can't wait to see what fun I can have here.