My body was submerged in water. I wasn't breathing—and I didn't need to. Falling in the opposite direction from me, a beautiful young woman with brown hair was staring.
"Poor thing… I feel sorry for you."
Her voice was as soft as a lullaby. What the hell—how could she speak underwater while I couldn't?
Slowly, I began sinking into something comfortable. I was so deep in the water that I couldn't hear anything, feel anything, or see anything.
I think this is really… the true ha—
~ Miss… — I heard a muffled whisper.
What was that? How strange… Well… I'm feeling the true ha—
~ Miss! Wake up! Please wake up! — another muffled whisper, even closer this time.
DAMN IT, I WANT TO FEEL THE TRUE HA—
"…PEACE!"
I opened my eyes, spitting out a mouthful of water while screaming, feeling my diaphragm painfully compress. Air slowly returned to my lungs. Two women around me were crying, while an elderly man sat on the floor, drenched.
"Miss! Oh my god! How can you be so careless!" — the first woman shouted, now looking older than I first thought.
"Oh, Miss…" — the other sobbed — "what would we have done if Joseph hadn't saved you?! Please!"
My blurred eyes met the exhausted gaze of the older man as he followed my line of sight to the river beside me. My soaking clothes told the whole story: I had been drowning.
Wait… am I forgetting something?
"Let's get inside, Miss! The Master will be furious!" — the hysterical women helped me up, each holding an arm as if I were incapable of standing… though I almost was.
"Hey… cough cough… wait!"
The chaos made it impossible to think straight. In less than an hour, I had been brought to this… palace? They bathed me, dried me, dressed me in nightclothes, and dumped me into a ridiculously huge room with a mattress so soft it was almost mushy. I couldn't even sit up properly, and all the while, the women screamed ecstatically because I'd been drowning. I mean, I'm fine now! You can stop.
"Can I… get up?" — "OF COURSE NOT, MISS!" — they replied in unison.
As I threatened to rise, we were all startled by a doctor bursting into the room, even more frantic than the two apparent maids.
"THIS IS WHERE THE YOUNG LADY IS?" — the man shouted, hair wild everywhere except the top, eyes bulging like a madman.
"BJÖRN! MR. BJÖRN! SAVE OUR MISS!!!"
They looked… no… they were completely insane! The three of them, nearly hugging and crying together, was an image I couldn't shake, as disturbing as a random shitpost meme on a feed.
What… feed? How…
The doctor, now calmer, approached carefully.
"Miss, take the deepest breath you can," he said, placing a stethoscope on my back.
A full examination followed—reflexes, breathing, blood pressure, even checking for diabetes—proving what anyone could see if they stopped screaming so hysterically: I was fine.
"You're okay! Thank the gods! Thank you, gods!" — the two maids exclaimed, teary-eyed, clutching my hands.
"Miss Diana is physically fine, but mentally she may have experienced significant stress. Please allow her to rest, just in case."
"Understood, Mr. Björn!"
I had never seen people so concerned for me before. Not even my parents acted like this when I returned from the hospital with more stitches from my psychotic attempts at… Wait…
I really had never seen people so worried, because I had no idea who these people were.
Wait, I was somewhere before this, right? Where? Where was I?
Wait… what's my name?
I closed my eyes, trying to remember something I wasn't sure of. I'm forgetting something very important. Remember. Remember. Who are these people? Why don't I know them? Who are…
Ah… my nose… it's bleeding?
A flood of memories crashed into my mind, giving me a terrible headache. Headache is an understatement. This feeling was as if someone had shoved the pages of a book into the depths of my skull and stirred them with a fork.
"Ah!" — I doubled over in pain, feeling hands pressing against my back.
"Miss Diana!! Breathe!! Björn, what's wrong with her?!" — the older maid shouted.
"Diana…?" — I questioned, not recognizing my own voice. — "My name is Yano!"
Silence fell. Looking up while holding back the blood dripping from my nose, I saw faces devoid of expression. Faces that soon went from shock to sheer terror.
"MISSSSSSSSS!!!" — they screamed hysterically. One fell to her knees crying at me, while the other dropped to the doctor's feet, yelling — "SAVE OUR MISS!!! SAVE HEEEER!!!"
The doctor looked horrified, as if his head might explode, staring at me as though my soul had already left my body.
I don't know this place, I have no idea where I am, but… I must have died in that accident.
Now… am I… someone else?