Dione Rains died with thread still tangled around her fingers.
One moment she was stepping off the curb, grocery bags cutting into her palms, mind already half-lost in thoughts of fabric weights and whether the new silk she'd ordered would drape properly for the costume commission due next week. The next—
"Look out!" A shout came from across the street.
She turned just in time to see two children frozen in the street, eyes wide, bodies locked in that terrible moment where fear robs motion.
Dione didn't think.
She dropped the bags and ran.
Hands slammed into small shoulders. She shoved—hard—sending the twins sprawling onto the pavement just as a horn screamed and metal filled her vision.
There was pain. Brief. Sharp.
Then nothing.
Nothing became awareness.
She was floating.
No—standing on something that was neither ground nor sky, a blank white expanse stretching endlessly in all directions. Her body felt light, distant, as if it were an idea rather than flesh.
"Well," a cheerful, almost smug voice said, "that could have gone better."
Dione pinched herself.
She felt it.
"…I'm dead, aren't I?"
"In the most technical sense? Yes."
A truck appeared.
It was red. Immaculately polished. Parked politely several feet away.
Dione stared at it. Then she laughed—once, hysterically.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Truck-kun?"
The truck's headlights flickered like a wink.
"Famous across worlds," the voice said proudly. "You saved two lives. Very heroic. Very cliché. Which means you qualify."
"Qualify for what?"
A translucent screen blinked into existence in front of her.
[REINCARNATION OFFER
Candidate: Dione Rains
Cause of Death: Vehicular Impact (Heroic Interference)
Eligibility: Confirmed]
[Available Worlds:
1. Wizarding World (Harry Potter)
Role: Twin Sister of Harry Potter
2. Alternate Supernatural Earth (The Vampire Diaries – AU)
Role: Twin Sister of Elena Gilbert]
Dione rubbed her face.
"Let me guess. I pick one, get reincarnated, chaos ensues, canon derails, I survive or die spectacularly?"
"More or less," Truck-kun said. "Oh! You also get a survival system. Limited items and abilities from selected universes. Permanent integration. Infinite inventory. System Credits. Missions. The usual."
She squinted at the screen. "And if I say no?"
The white void flickered—just for a moment—revealing something vast and dark behind it.
"…You return to the cycle."
She swallowed. "Right. Okay. So. Harry Potter, or Vampire Diaries."
She exhaled slowly.
Both were disasters.
One raised a child soldier to kill a Dark Lord.
The other tore the world apart with immortal bloodlust.
Dione tilted her head, thinking.
Then she smiled.
"Well," she said lightly, "why not both?"
The void went silent.
The screen froze.
Truck-kun's engine sputtered.
[Accepted]
The words appeared in glowing gold.
Dione's smile vanished. "Wait. What? No, no, no—that was a joke."
[Reincarnation parameters updated]
"Hold on!" She waved her arms. "You can't just—"
[SYSTEM NOTICE:
Dual-World Reincarnation Confirmed
Two Wish-Slot Abilities Available per World]
"…You're serious," Dione whispered.
"Oh it definitely is," Truck-kun said. "Please allocate your wishes."
She pressed her hands to her face, dragging them down slowly.
"Okay. Okay. Think. You're a professional adult woman with genre awareness. Panic later."
She straightened.
"Question," she said, pointing at the second world. "In the Vampire Diaries universe—were supernaturals ever discovered by the general public?"
Truck-kun tilted, "No other candidate has asked this question."
"…That's never a good sign."
"The world was torn apart," Truck-kun continued. "Global exposure led to panic, war, and extinction-level events. The timeline collapsed."
Dione grimaced. "Let me guess. Vampires."
"Yes. Their bloodlust proved unsustainable."
She tapped her chin. "Immortality itself isn't the issue. People will always want it. But bloodlust… that's a design flaw."
The system hummed in wait.
"Can I have an ability that changes normal vampires into psychic vampires instead? Feeding on emotion rather than blood?"
Silence.
Then—
[Considering…]
Time stretched.
[…Granted.]
Dione sagged in relief. "Good. That should stabilize things. Now—Harry Potter world."
She didn't hesitate.
"I want to be the Mistress of Death. I don't want that burden on Harry."
The air shifted.
The white void darkened, deepening into something infinite.
Before the system could respond, the world changed.
Someone else was there.
Death. More leaning toward a feminine look than the usual fanfics portrayed. In fact she reminded Dione of the Roméo et Juliette: de la Haine à l'Amour musical Death character dressed in white instead of black.
Death did not wear a cloak. She did not carry a scythe. She appeared as a tall, serene figure wrapped in shadow and starlight, eyes like distant galaxies, voice neither male nor female.
"You are bold," Death said softly, "to assume a mantle hunted for ages."
Dione met her gaze. Her heart hammered—but she did not look away.
"I don't want power," Dione said. "I want to move the weight off a child who shouldn't have to carry it."
Death studied her.
Then she smiled.
"That," she said, "is precisely why I accept."
The words settled into Dione's bones, heavy and irrevocable.
"You are my Mistress," Death continued. "Not my ruler. My steward."
Dione nodded. "Fair."
"In return," Death said, "I ask something of you."
"Of course you do."
Death's eyes softened. "Bring real magic back to the other world. They have forgotten intent. They borrow power without understanding it. My sister, Magic, is… displeased."
A faint pressure bloomed in Dione's chest—warm, vast, endless.
"You will have a strong, unlimited core in both worlds," Death said. "No wand required. Magic will answer you because it recognizes you."
Dione swallowed. "How does this work? Two identities? Two lives?"
"When you sleep," Death said, "you will wake in the other world. Once you reach adulthood, you may choose where to remain."
"And the dangers?"
Death's smile sharpened.
"The powerful will be drawn to you. I will hide our connection—but those attuned to endings will feel you."
Dione exhaled slowly.
"Figures."
Death inclined her head. "Live well, Dione Rains. Or rather…"
The worlds folded inward.
"…Rose Euphemia Potter.
Rose Gilbert."
Light rushed in.
And somewhere, in two different cradles, two babies took their first breath—
carrying the weight of death, magic, and choice in their tiny, clenched fists.