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Elisha's POV
The boy's words still echoed faintly in my mind long after he left. My eyelids felt heavy—too heavy—and my thoughts were crawling like exhausted soldiers through mud. I shut my eyes, not because I wanted rest, but because I didn't have the strength to open them anymore.
Inside, my pessimistic self—the same miserable voice that never shuts up—was already screaming accusations. You messed up again, Elisha. You're going to die here, and for what? I ignored it, or tried to. There was nothing left to fight anyway, so I let the silence swallow me whole.
For a fleeting second, I wished this was just another bad dream. That I'd wake up in my dorm room at the Academy, sunlight cutting through the window, the bells already tolling for class I'd overslept again. Sixteen years old, groaning and muttering, sorry, I'll do better next time.
But reality… reality is never that merciful.
I'm twenty-five. An orphan. Expelled. A low-ranked Green Raider with nothing but a sword, scars, and the weight of every failure I've ever owned.
And right now… I'm on the brink of death.
Cold.
That was the first thing I noticed when everything else began to fade.
A creeping chill crawled up my skin, into my bones. I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. I couldn't hear anything either—not the creak of the carriage, not the wind, not even my heartbeat. My senses were shutting down one by one.
Is this it? Am I about to die?
I didn't know whether we were still moving or if we'd reached the inn. I couldn't tell anymore. The only thing I knew was that I didn't want this. Not like this.
"Someone…" I whispered, though I wasn't sure if the word ever left my lips. "Please… notice…"
I didn't want to die. Not this time. Not because I was desperate to save anyone. But because… for the first time in years, someone had looked at me and actually cared. Madam Lucky's worry. Xavier's sharp concern masked as scolding. Even Nathan's quiet presence—it all reminded me that once, long ago, people had cared about me too.
But no—that wasn't it. That wasn't the reason I didn't want to die.
It was something else.
Something I couldn't name.
Because truthfully, I've never really lived in the first place. I've been surviving, drifting from one mess to another, acting like I didn't care if death took me. So why, now that it's finally here, do I feel like screaming?
Images flickered behind my eyelids.
Xavier's face.
Paige's laugh.
Darcelle's confident grin.
Madam Lucky's eyes glimmering with worry.
And Nathan—damn him, Nathan—his face flashing like a distant memory I didn't ask for.
Then there were three others, hazy, faces I couldn't quite see but felt I should remember.
My throat tightened. I wanted to reach for them, but everything was slipping away.
Then—darkness.
It wasn't the comforting kind. It was thick and endless, swallowing me whole. I was falling, sinking deeper and deeper into a pool that had no bottom. Every movement felt heavier than the last, every thought slower, every breath colder.
"So this is death, huh…" My voice echoed weakly in the void, almost amused.
Shapes began to twist around me—shadows, corpses, memories. The dead Raiders, the ones I'd mocked, reaching out from the depths, whispering my name.
"Fine," I muttered, "I deserve that. Go ahead. Mock me back."
Their hollow eyes glowed faintly, and I laughed—or maybe coughed. Hard to tell the difference anymore.
The scenery kept changing like a dream on fast-forward. One moment I was standing before two doors—black and white. Then I was reliving a memory I couldn't quite place. Then the corpses. Then the pool again.
It was chaos. Pure, silent chaos.
"Guess this is what they call the call of death…" I murmured, sinking deeper.
I thought of the gods. The ones everyone prayed to. The ones who supposedly cared. I'd never trusted them. Not even when I was a kid.
"Alright then," I whispered, voice trembling. "Luneth, Goddess of Reincarnation or whatever name you go by… if you're listening…"
A weak laugh escaped me. "Let me be reborn in a happy home, okay? Somewhere quiet, with no pain, no suffering. I'm tired. I've had enough."
My lips twitched into a half-smile. "Oh, and make sure Mei—the Goddess of Mischief—chokes on her laughter when she sees I'm actually happy for once. You owe me that much."
The darkness didn't answer. It only pulled harder.
I let out a shaky breath. "Sorry, guys… you better get back the Heart. Don't let those losers win."
And then I stopped fighting it. I let go.
Something seized me by the ankle, dragging me down. The weight of death itself pressed over me, suffocating, absolute. The pool swallowed me whole. My body grew numb. My thoughts blurred until they were nothing but static.
That was it.
Elisha Rael, low-ranked Raider, orphan, failure—gone.
…
Or so I thought.
A sudden light broke through the blackness, blinding and gold, flooding everything in a brilliance that hurt to look at.
"What the hell—"
Before I could finish, I was standing—actually standing—in front of a massive golden door. It shimmered like molten sunlight, humming with warmth.
"Wow," I muttered, squinting. "Is this the door to the afterlife? Bit flashy for my taste. Blue would've been better, but… gold's fine, I guess."
I reached for the handle and pushed. The light that poured out was so bright it forced my eyes shut. When I reopened them, the world had changed again.
I blinked. Once. Twice.
There were two figures standing in front of me. For a second, they were just silhouettes—but as my vision adjusted, their faces came into focus.
A middle-aged woman, her hair streaked with silver and her eyes soft as twilight. Beside her stood a younger woman, radiant, almost ethereal—like she'd stepped straight out of a painting.
Ah, perfect, I thought. At least the afterlife's got good taste. If someone's escorting me, might as well be a pretty lady, not some grumpy guy like Nathan.
But then I realized something strange. They were smiling down at me.
"Wait," I muttered, glancing around. Everything looked… huge. The bed beneath me was soft, a blanket tucked to my chin. My hands—small. My body—tiny.
"What the—am I a child?"
Before I could panic, the older woman leaned closer, her eyes warm and wet. "Welcome back, lad."
Her words echoed, soft but clear.
Welcome back.
Back?
Back where?
The girl said softly, "Probably still in shock… since he almost died. I mean, his body was cold when he got here."
…Cold.
My body… was cold.
Wait—does that mean…
So I'm… still… alive?
Still Elisha?
A long silence stretched in my head before I groaned inwardly.
Of course.
Of course I'm still here.
I wanted to scream, but I didn't even have the strength for it. My fingers twitched slightly under the blanket.
'I knew it… I knew the gods were unreliable,' I thought bitterly.
I could almost imagine the smug grin of that goddess—Luneth, Goddess of Reincarnation—snickering somewhere in the heavens.
I asked for a peaceful rebirth… no pain, no stress, no monsters, I grumbled mentally. But nooo, Luneth just had to keep me here. She probably choked on laughter watching me beg.
I sighed weakly in my head, too tired to do anything .. I closed back my eyes.
'Fine. You win. Keep your jokes, goddess. But next time—try answering prayers on time.'
The edges of my mind blurred again, soft and heavy.
'Arrgh… I knew the gods were unreliable…'
And just like that, I drifted off again—half annoyed, half relieved, still very much Elisha.
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