[May 31, 2027, 6:49 PM]
[Anchor 1 Male: Breaking News! This year's festival just got a lot more special!]
[Anchor 2 Female: That's right! A rare astronomical event is happening tonight - a meteor will pass incredibly close to Earth for the first time this century!]
[Anchor 1 Male: We're counting down the minutes! It's currently 6:50 PM, and the meteor is expected to be visible at 7:00 PM sharp.]
[Anchor 2 Female: As you can see behind me, the crowds are already gathering, eager to witness this once-in-a-lifetime spectacle!]
ᯓ
Seth looked at the news being played on his phone, wearing his glasses and earbuds while sitting on a bus. He was dressed in a white shirt with a brown jacket and with a shoulder bag hanging in his shoulder to waist.
As a 24-year-old graduate in education with a mathematics major, he was currently teaching at the prestigious University of Louisville. With the school year having ended over a 2 months ago, and the festival being held today, it will be the last week of the weekend.
Seth turned to gaze out the bus window. The sky was already dark with clouds, and stars were visible. He watched as cars, buses, and people passed each other.
"Festival day huh..." he murmured, his eyes flashed with lights reflected from the streetlights and vehicle headlights.
ᯓ
Fourteen years ago, on May 31, 2013. It was currently the festival day.
On a plane, a kid with a white shirt and black shorts, Seth, was looking out the window at the night sky filled with stars. His sister sat beside him, while their mother and father were seated in the back.
Seth turned to his sister, who was sleeping, and tapped her left shoulder, saying:
"Sister, I need to use the restroom…"
However, she didn't respond, still growling softly in her sleep. Seth looked between his chair and his sister's to check on his parents in the back and saw they were also asleep. He quietly stood up to head to the restroom.
He passed the second cabin before reaching the restroom. After finishing, he started walking back but encountered a male person wearing a backpack walking towards him. As they passed each other, Seth stopped and looked back, noticing the person was already looking at him.
This person had sweat all over his face, his face was pale, and he was gritting his teeth. Seth looked at him with an indifferent gaze.
The person opened his mouth and said:
"I-I'm s-sorry…"
"I'm sorry?" Seth asked, wearing a questioning look, but the person turned his head and kept walking.
'What's up with that guy?' Seth thought as he turned and walked back.
As he passed the second cabin, he saw his sister still asleep and considered pranking her. Suddenly, a shout came from the back:
"Stop!"
"Stop him!
"No!"
Seth turned around.
"Boom!"
He stumbled dow, hi eyes were blurry, and he heard countless screams and air rushing in.
A hand reached out for Seth, and he heard his sister's voice: "Don't just stay there!"
She carried him by the shoulder. In his blurry vision, Seth saw his sister's face but couldn't see clearly. The plane tilted, causing them to stumble sideways. A hand reached out for them, and Seth heard his sister's voice:
"Dad! Mom!"
His dad's voice responded: "Both of you sit here!"
They sat down with difficulty, and Seth struggled to lock his seatbelt until a hand helped him. He heard his mother's voice: "It's going to be okay."
Then his parents moved to nearby seats but were sucked away by a strong air force before they could sit.
"No! Mom! Dad!" Seth's sister shouted as she hugged Seth tightly. The plane slowly fell and crashed onto the ground.
⊹
Seth lay in the hospital bed, bandaged was all over his body and a neck collar. His eyes fixed on the top TV screen in front of him. The news report replayed the horrific scene:
[ "The Tragic Bombing Terrorism." ] His heart was calm as he watched, along with his face that is devoid of any expression.
The statistics flashed on screen: [ 200 passengers on board, 199 lives lost, and only one survivor. ]
Yes, one survivor…him.
As he gazed at the TV, the blurry faces of his parents and sister flashed in his mind. He whispered:
"I survive huh?"
ᯓ
Soon, the bus stopped, and Seth stepped outside. This was the central plaza, where there were already a lot of people standing, sitting, and some were crouching as they prepared their devices to record this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Seth found a vacant space and took out a camera from his shoulder bag. He checked the time on his watch.
"Look!"
"It's here!"
"Wow…"
Seth looked up, and a dazzling white line streaked across the night sky, filling the air with a collective gasp of wonder.
"Quick make a wish." A mother said smiling white looking at her son and husband.
"Jump!" A groups teenager shouted together.
Seth raised his camera as he clicked the video play button.
In just less than a minute, it slowly faded away into the distance.
Seth turned his camera around him, people were happily conversing, some were on their phones talking, some were already starting to leave and some were standing alone in this crowd full of people. That is to say, Seth was among these lone people.
Just then, a hand grasped the tip of his jacket from behind. Seth turned his head and saw a young boy licking an ice cream as the boy asked:
"Mister, do you believe in • • •?"
The young boy was wearing a black jacket with grey shorts, and he had jet-black hair and black eyes. Seth was taken aback by the boy's question and pondered it for a moment.
'Although • • • is a ⌗⌗⌗⌗ in ⌗⌗⌗⌗ that's shaped by our ⌗⌗⌗⌗ and the ⌗⌗⌗⌗ around us. It's a ⌗⌗⌗⌗ of what we ⌗⌗⌗⌗ and what ⌗⌗⌗⌗ brings our ⌗⌗⌗⌗.'
'Are we in ⌗⌗⌗⌗ of our • • •? No.'
'Or is it ⌗⌗⌗⌗ set in ⌗⌗⌗⌗? Not really sure about that.'
'Wait. Why am I thinking hard about this?'
Seth then crouched to the little boy's height and said.
"Yes."
A slight smile appeared on the young boy's face.
Seth looked dazed while looking at this boy.
Then he blinked.
ᯓ
"Look!"
"It's here!"
"Wow..."
Seth's eyes were already fixed on the night sky in a daze, and he didn't raise his camera as he watched the dazzling white line streak across the sky with a confused expression.
'Didn't this already happened before?' he wondered.
Then he heard some familiar voices.
"Quick, make a wish." a mother said, smiling at her son and husband.
"Jump!" a group of teenagers shouted together.
Seth was really confused now, looking at the surrounding people who were happily conversing, some on their phones, some already leaving, and others standing alone in the crowd.
The scene felt eerily familiar to Seth.
'Are my stresses really that bad that they're starting to influence my mind?' he thought.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
_badump_
_badump_
_badump_
"Ugh!" Seth immediately clutched his left chest with inexplicable pain and stumbled.
'Heart attack?!' He immediately shouted in his thought.
Then his whole body stumbled to the ground, attracting the attention of a nearby family. The husband rushed over.
"Hey! Hey, young man! Are you okay?!"
"Call 919, quick!"
Seth tried to open his mouth, but the pain was too much. His eyes slowly lost their clarity.
"Don't close your eyes! Hang in there!" the man urged.
Seth's hands, which had been holding tightly to his left chest, slowly came off.
'So this is death…' he thought as he took his final breath and closed his eyes. His breathing stopped. The man checked for a pulse and said solemnly.
"H-He's dead..."
ᯓ
A mother, holding her daughter's left arm, stood in front of a stone statue. This statue depicted a beautiful figure of a woman with long stone hair that reached down her waist, wearing a robe. Her two hands were raised near her chest, holding a stone orb. The child then asked her mother, her language was different from the type of languages from earth.
"Mother, is Luminary Divine Elysia powerful?"
The mother looked at her daughter with a smile and glanced at the stone statue as she said:
"Very, very powerful…"
The daughter looked at the stone statue with her resplendent eyes, then heard her mother's words.
"Luminary title is not just for show. Until today, for the past thousands of years, only seven luminaries have emerged in history."
The daughter replied instantly.
"I want to be like Luminary Divine Elysia!"
The mother turned her gaze from the statue and looked at her daughter, smiling as she patted her daughter's head as she crouched down to her daughter's height and said:
"Oh child…"
Suddenly, a rumbling of thunderous sound was heard in the sky. This immediately attracted the attention of the two. After the sound ceased, a cracking sound was then heard as certain part of the sky broke, opening a rift between reality and space. Soon, thirteen beams of light shot towards the seven continents from every direction.
The beams can't be seen in a naked eyes as it was like air that scattered souls across the continents.
The mother and daughter only saw a black dot in the sky. Even so, they gasped in confusion and fear that was naturally showing on their faces.
ᯓ
Three beam of souls headed towards the Vida Continent, scattering upon arrival and entering different individuals who had just died.
Two beam souls each went towards the Aran Continent and the Ausi Continent, while two beam souls each also went to the Noda Continent and the Elyria Continent.
One beam soul went to the Suda Continent, and one beam soul went to the Glace Continent.
ᯓ
"Ugh..."
Seth felt intense pain as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Where?"
There were no ceilings above him; instead, grey-white clouds drifted lazily, with snowflakes dancing in the air. Pecks of snow landed on his face as he realized he was lying on the snowfield.
"It hurts..."
He tried to move his body, but pain shot through him with every attempt. He stopped trying and gazed up at the sky, feeling the coldness of the air and snow permeating in his body.
Suddenly, a burst of pain began in his head as memories flooded back like a dam breaking.
"!"
Soon the pain stopped, and Seth's groaning ceased as he looked stunned, confused, and disoriented. Whatever the reason, he couldn't understand what was happening.
ᯓ
He's a 24-year-old graduate in education with a mathematics major, he was teaching at the prestigious University of Louisville. All the memories from his childhood, teenage, adult age and the moment he died emerged in his mind.
Now, he had another memory, one that wasn't his own. It was the memory of a boy named Dale, who had lived to age twelve, and the strangest thing is that, they had a similar face when he was still a twelve years old, the only difference is that now he had a grey eyes.
⊹
This memory was filled with countless emotions. Dale had grown up in an orphanage that recently had been destroyed by a group of smugglers. They had abducted the other children, killed their caregivers, looted the property, and decapitated Dale's sister.
Although they weren't related by blood, she was like a sister to him.
A figure chased them, it was one of those smugglers. Dale was about to be hit by a flying axe, but his sister sacrificed herself, pushing him back and taking the blow. The axe was a double edge, sharp and deadly. Dale stumbled down, grunting in horror, and looked back just in time to see his sister's head flying through the air.
"Sister!"
Dale was helpless, unable to do anything but watch as his sister's head and body crumpled to the snow. He gritted his teeth, stood up and kept running, as he knows what her sister wanted for him. That is to survive!
But fate wasn't on his side. This maniac caught up to him and struck him with a fist, shattering his ribs as his heart crushed and sending his body flying through the air like a rag doll. He landed hard in the snow -
Dead.
ᯓ
Time passed, and a minutes later, Seth's body began to recover some vitality. He moved his arms to hold his chest, and, finding no severe pain, slowly stood up. He began thinking of those memories.
'This person speaks in a different language, although I can talk with it and understand it…'
In the snow field surrounded by thick trees, he was alone, wearing a grey shirt and black ragged pants. Although he already have some guesses what happened to him, he throw those thoughts at the back of his mind.
He looked around cautiously, and, realizing there was no danger, randomly chose a direction to walk in. His cold body and pale face made him truly like a dead person risen from the dead. But the truth was really like that.
ᯓ
Step by step, Seth's body began to feel exhausted and extremely cold. A twelve year old body, after all, hadn't reached even teenage years. He walked forward in a straight line, leaving behind tracks of his footprints in the snow as it slowly dispersed by the wind. He didn't have the energy to think; all he could do was move his body and walk forward, snowflakes swirling around him.
'Death…'
Having already experienced death, he didn't feel afraid of experiencing in again. In this mysterious place, with a strange body and no recollection of how he got here. The feeling of death permeated through the air.
⊹
Seth's eyes remained fixed ahead, his pale face remained expressionless, In contrast for his cold body as it was shivering from the cold wind.
He kept moving; he didn't know why. Death had touched him before; its chill was familiar. Why fear it now? His heart beat slower, his breaths fewer, but yet, he kept moving.'
As he walked, his breathing grew rougher, and his throat began to burn from the cold. He stumbled forward, his steps dwindling.
A hundred steps, fifty steps, ten steps, five steps, two steps, and one final step. With that last step, he collapsed, landing in the snow, and fell unconscious, his body weakened by the biting chill. In the stillness, his fragile form would soon slowly freeze to death.
ᯓ
"Young miss, the snow is getting fiercer ahead. We should retreat for now." said the girl with short brown hair and green eyes.
Mysha gazed ahead, her cold blue eyes fixed on the horizon, her long black hair swaying in the wind as she said:
"This mission contained a ruin piece, we must obtained it. We will just find shelter for the time being."
A group of three females clad in black robes, with only their faces visible, trudged through the fierce snow, soon traversing a dense forest with thick trees. Their scout, a black-haired female with black eyes, shouted from ahead. "I found someone!"
The three immediately rushed to her side, finding her crouched beside a body lying in the snow.
It was Seth!
Mysha's voice was stern as she asked: "Still alive?"
This scout replied immediately. "Barely."
Mysha looked at Seth and turned to look at the girl beside her with short brown hair and green eyes.
"Bring him, and try to heal him and also use the hex unveil memory on him. We might find some useful information."
The girl nodded as the scout carried Seth.
ᯓ
The cold win blew as snow filtered through, in one particular cave, there was a girl standing as she gazed on a certain direction. She was the leader of the group, Mysha.
"Found anything Lin?" asked as she turned around and gaze at a girl with short brown hair and green eyes clad with black robe. Her name was Lin.
"No…" Lin shook her head as she said with a confused face.
"This is kid really strange." Lin said at she look at Seth's young body who was laying into the wall with closed eyes, both hands was tied together in his back.
"Oh? How so?" Mysha asked with curiosity.
"I have used the hex unveil memory on him four times, yet, there was no results. As if he doesn't have any memory left or hes got some sort of defense for it, but I checked his body and found nothing special about him, he's just a young child, he was not even a practitioner of any pathways. He's just a sapien.
「 Sapien refers to a normal human while pathways refers to practitioners. 」
"Mhm, thats really strange…" Mysha said as she look at this young boy.
There were only the three of them are here in the cave, the other one(scout) was command to go back and report the situation.
Mysha pondered a thought for a moment and said: "Wake him up."
Lin nodded her head as she raised her right hand pointing at Seth, as a water slowly came out of thin air, as it condenses into an orb. And shot towards Seth.
"Splat!"
This water was so cold that it immediately made Seth's eyelids twitch. His face is dripping with water as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked at the surroundings, his gaze landed in the two girls in front of him and with a weak voice he asked: "Who are you two?"
Mysha looked at Seth as she smiled, her smile along with her face and ocean like blue eyes was so beautiful like a dazzling ocean below the rising sun, she then saids: "We are your benefactors kid, we basically saved your life."
Seth was in daze as he retracted his gaze and looked down to look at his body and said.
"Thank you for saving me, but I wonder what my hands tied are for?" Seth's face look stern as he said this.
Mysha stopped smiling and directly said with a lingering cold tone voice. "I have three questions for you kid, either you answer them or be buried here alive."
Seth looked at this young blue eyed girl. His face was still expressionless.
Then Mysha said a mocking smile. "It's not a joke. I'm absolutely going to bury you here alive. After all, you're merely just a sapien; what use do you have? You're better off dead."
Seth looked at Lin, then at Mysha and said: "What three questions do you have?"
Mysha smiled, nodded and said: "Firstly, kid, where did you come from?"
Seth thought back to his memories and said:
"Thetji Orphanage."
Mysha smiled brightly as she clapped. Lin's face lit up with a smile as well.
"Good, seems like you have some use after all. You can be our guide for that ruin piece."
Seth's response was silence.
"Seems like our luck is on our side, young miss."
Mysha nodded, but her expression turned cold as she heard Seth's next words.
"If you guys are planning to go there, unfortunately for you, it was already besieged. Tons of people died; some orphans like me got abducted, while others were killed mercilessly. I'm probably the only one who managed to escape…"
The cave fell silent.
Seth looked at Mysha and then at Lin for a moment before saying: "Also, I know nothing about that ruin piece or whatever it is. If it is something kind of valuable thing, then it must have been already taken away. Now, what's your second—!"
'Wossh!'
A blade, like ice, was stuck near Seth's left side, drilling into the stone wall and leaving a small cut wound on his cheek. Seth was stunned but didn't feel afraid nor felt a bit shaken; instead, he smiled internally.
All his doubts about his current situation instantly vanished! One thought emerged in his mind. "Transmigration!"
"Haha, interesting…"
Mysha looking at this young boy laughing she said: "What are you smiling for, kid? Did you lose your mind from that near death experience just a second ago? If you're spouting nonsense I will shot it directly at your face."
Seth shook his head. "No, no. I just found this situation quite interesting, that's all. And I wasn't spouting nonsense; it was all the truth. What's your third question?"
Lin looked at Seth with a dumbfounded expression and thought. 'This kid...'
Mysha's face didn't show it, but she was shocked by the boy's calm demeanor. He looked young, and his lack of worry was disturbing, given the stakes.
But in the end, Mysha was both right and wrong about him.
For Seth, the boundaries of mortality had lost their hold.
He learned to fear as a child, unlearned it as an adult, and now he's free to be.
He left behind the memories that once defined him, all that remained was his name.