Floating in the darkness the last thing Reina remembers doing was talking to Roland and Derick. Then everything went black. Shifting to look to her side she saw a light, it was getting closer. Soon the light enveloped her and then she was standing in a rose garden. Roses of different hues of red, pink, blue, and yellow were neatly planted in rows. Next to a yellow bush was a small blond-haired girl. She knelt next to the bush and was watering it. Seeming to notice Reina she looked over and smiled."Reina." The child"s voice was high pitched, Reina found it slightly annoying. "Well I apologize if my voice is annoying." Stunned Reina looked at the child. "Strange isn"t it? How I knew what you were thinking."
"Yeah." Reina shifted her guard and tensed her legs suddenly realizing that she was in her old body. Her short brown hair which ended at her neck and her uselessly long arms and legs. Looking down at her body it seemed like her old one. "What"s going on?"
"Haha, you take over someone"s body and then dare ask "what"s going on?", can"t you figure it out?"
"I died?"
"No. I never died, so I"m still stuck here. Trapped inside my own mind, isn"t that funny?"
"What do you want?" Reina was on guard again watching the small child closely to make sure she wasn"t making any suspicious movements.
"No need to be so on guard. I just want peace."
"What do you mean?"
"My only options are to either stay trapped in your mind forever, until you die, receive something from you and disappear peacefully, allowing my soul to enter the reincarnation cycle , or taking over my body again." When she said the last option Reina began to sweat, her body tensing even more. Her eyes darted to the watering can and back to the girl, looking for weapons.
"Hahaha. Don"t worry, the last one was something I never considered. No, I think it"d be best for both of us if I just received something from you and disappeared."
"Why not just stay locked inside my mind." The small child shook her head.
"If I were to do that then what happened earlier would happen more frequently. Fainting and becoming unconscious. Bleeding from our ears and nose. That"s happening because our body can"t handle the power of two souls inside it. And even if we were able to somehow survive all of that then eventually our souls would combine into one, you wouldn"t want to lose your sense of self right? Me neither." The small child placed her watering can down and stood up. She made a motion of sitting down, pulling her white skirt under her and instantly the scenery changed. From the rose bush garden to a gra.s.sy plain and a single table in the middle, with an umbrella covering the table from the sun. Two chairs were around the table, the little girl was already seated sipping on her tea.
"Have a seat." Gesturing to the empty seat she beckoned for Reina to sit down. Hesitating Reina stood there unmoving. The little girl ushered her again and in the next moment Reina found herself seated in the chair holding a cup of tea.
"Better. Now, back to business. Give me something of yours and I"ll be able to leave. I have to be satisfied with it, it"s a trade." Sipping on her tea she snapped her fingers and biscuits appeared on the table.
"I don"t have anything to give you." Reina placed the cup of tea down.
"Yes you do. Your memories. Just like you can look and learn from mine I can do the same for yours. It"s strange though. All you have is a raging anger and a frightening memory of an unknown place with blood and fighting. I find it very intriguing." Sipping on her tea again the little girl waited patiently.
"They are all I remember, they are all I am."
"Yes, and you will have all I am, my body, my memories, and my life." Silence pa.s.sed between them. Reina was reluctant to part with her memories but she didn"t want to disappear either. Losing the memories that were hers might as well as having "Reina" disappear.
"Fine, take them." Delighted the small girl"s hair turned a fiery red. Placing down her cup.
"Please be happy in this life. I"ll take away those painful memories." Before Reina could say anything the small child raised her arms and cradled Reina"s head in between them. Her mind felt like it was being split apart and for a second Reina thought that the little girl had tricked her. Pulling back the little girl held a small black crystal in the palm of her hand. She reached into her own head, her hands pa.s.sing through and pulled out a larger light blue crystal. "My memories for yours."
"W-wait, who are you?"
"Is that not obvious? I"m Lydis Huwen. But now you are Lydis Huwen." Handing the light blue crystal to Reina. "Now I am Reina Strauss. A girl full of hate and bloodshed." She placed the black crystal into her head.
"Wait! I thought that Lydis Huwen, I mean you, were a spoiled child. What is this polite behavior and that matured way of speaking?"
"While the memories a.s.similate into my mind let me tell you, yes, I was a spoiled child. I always got what I wanted and I never listened. But, the moment your soul entered my body I was changed. I can"t explain how but I seemed to have matured mentally." She patted the table gently. "It"s time."
"Time for what?"
"For me to leave and for you to wake up." The small child snapped her finger and they were back in the rose bush garden. "When you wake up you won"t remember any of this and it"ll seem like you"ve been Lydis Huwen all your life." The world around them was falling apart, white light eating away at the scenery. Turning towards the light the small child suddenly turned into a beautiful girl. Her red hair flying from an unknown wind, pale skin like porcelain and soft eyes that seemed to show kindness to everything it saw.
"Farewell." Stepping off the ledge of the world the red-haired girl disappeared into the light. Soon Reina was consumed by the light as well.
Asleep in a bubble a small child lay curled into a ball in the darkness. A warm light protecting her from anything that might harm her, Her fiery hair like a blaze in the darkness, a slight smile on her lips. Walking slowly a dark silhouette emerged from the darkness. Wrapped in a flowing red cape a man appeared. His hair blending in with the darkness. He raised his hand and touched the warm light. He pulled his hand back as the light stung his hands.
"Interesting." His voice was deep and made the air around him vibrate as he spoke. He coated his hands in a black flame and touched the warm light. The light faltered for a bit but it still held against the black flame. "Let"s see you hold out against this." He flicked his hand and the black flame disappeared. In it"s place a small black orb appeared. Rolling it around his hand he placed the orb on top of the warm light. The moment it touched the light it exploded, covering the warm light, and dripping black sludge. The light disappearing the tall man stood in complete darkness. Rumbling and bubbling the black sludge peeled away from the warm light, revealing the small child again. Holding strong the warm light seemed to blaze stronger than before, as if saying "ha, what else can you do?". Intrigued the tall man grinned.
"What an interesting little flame. Why don"t you let yourself become tainted and burn eternally for me?" He raised his hand and let hover over the flame, beckoning it to come to him. Slowly the flame crept closer and then it erupted in the man"s face. Turning his head away in time the man backed away. "Then, I have no choice but to destroy you now. What a waste." He raised his hand and a small beam of black light shot forward piercing the warm light. As soon as it was pierced the warm light dispersed and the small child inside remained floating.
"This wouldn"t be any fun if you forgot everything now." Raising his hands, the small child drifted towards him. Using his finger he poked into her head and adjusted her memories. In the process the small child"s slight smile disappeared and was replaced with a pained face, her brows furrowed.
"How nice of her, to give you the blessing she received, her memories, and even taking all of your painful memories. Wow, talk about a big heart." Swishing his finger he jumbled the memories and cut out the ones he considered unimportant and replaced them with battle instincts and an urge to kill.
"This"ll be fun." Laughing to himself he continued to distort the child"s memories. Soon he finished and stood back to admire his work. Nodding his head in acknowledgement he leaned close to the small child"s ears. "Wake up little wolf."