It's not fair. It shouldn't have had to end like this. I mean, how could I have known?... Mary Sue... that was the name in the tag hanging from her neck. She had been the one to do me in. One shot to the head while I was barely conscious, and now, my life as Tanya von Degurechaff is over. What now?
Where am I?
Am I falling somewhere?
Yes. It feels as if I'd be falling. I'm falling from the sky. The sky is red, and above me there is a five pointed star stretching all over me, and below, beneath me, I see the place I'm falling into. It looks like a set of buildings, some are tall ones. Wait... a city? what is this place?
I try to use my flight gear to control my fall, but, it's not there. I don't have neither my computational jewel, nor my flying gear. I'm gonna crash against the floor, aren't I?
CRASH
OUCH!!! DAMN IT!!! THAT HURT LIKE HELL!!!
But... it also didn't hurt nearly as much as I would have expected. I mean, it hurt, but it was just a momentary pain, and almost immediately, the pain receded and I feel... relatively okay. I think I'm unharmed, despite falling who knows how far down from the skies.
Where have I arrived? Was I actually reincarnated again? No. This doesn't feel like reincarnation. When I was first reincarnated, I was barely conscious for being in the body of an infant. This time I feel completely conscious, and I'm in the body of, well, not an adult yet, since I didn't really developed all that much while alive. I think I was just edging my year number twelve, as Tanya, at least, but I'm also not an infant either since my body seems relatively the same. Except... my skin... it's... red? Why is my skin red?
Great. I'm gonna have to get used to this new color. Well, at least I still have my uniform, and... wait... what is this on my head? WHAT THE...? ARE THESE HORNS???!!! WHAT THE FUCK?!!! Ahm... I mean, I guess it could be worse.
Oh, well, I guess, if this is my life now, I gotta assess the situation to take a proper course of action... Ahm... why am I surrounded by creatures that all look animalistic? And why are they running?
"Hey, mister!" I yell at the first creature that I see near me. "MISTER!!! OR MISS!!!" I get no response and the creature simply ignores me as it keeps on running. Well, that was useless.
I start walking around, and suddenly, I feel something crashing on me and throwing me to the floor.
"Hey! Watch it!!!" I scream as I feel my body slightly bruised.
"Get out of my fucking way, Jackass!!!" yelled the creature that crashed on me as it gets up and keeps on running as if nothing would have happened.
"Rude!" I yell at the creature.
I look around, to see what it is that everyone seems so terrified about. And all I see is: shadows on the floor. Shadows from something up above. I raise my head into heavens and suddenly I see creatures there. Winged creatures that are flying down. If I wouldn't know any better, I'd call them angels, and for a lack of a better word, that is what I'll call them for now. And then I finally understand what everyone is so scared about. I see as one of those 'angels' falls over another creature on the floor and quickly rips him apart, as he screams in agony briefly.
So, when in Rome... I decide to run away from the peril, just like every other non-angelical creature around. I am a trained soldier. With a weapon I am lethal, but even so, I rather not risk my life needlessly. Besides, one of the reasons I went into combat while I was in the Army of the Empire, was because I had no choice. If I didn't go into combat, I would have probably been executed as a deserter. But now, wherever I am, I don't have to answer to nobody. So, I can act my first instinct: self-preservation.
I find myself running as fast as I can. But then I notice it: the shadow that looms over my head. One of the angels has spotted me. Why are you chasing me? Out of all the creatures around, why are you coming at ME?! Well, if you really are gonna come at me, you'll find out that I'm not an easy prey!!!
I twist my head slightly upwards, and just as I see the shadow getting closer to me, I take a sharp stop, and the momentum of the winged creature carries it further ahead. I see it crashing a metallic spear on the floor. And with a frustrated grunt looks at me.
"You may have evaded that first attack, sinner. But it will only prolong your anguish!!!"
Adrenaline pumping inside me. I remember some of my magic powers as Tanya. Will they work here? But I don't have a computational orb. I can't channel any spell properly. But the angel is attacking me again. Oh well, worse is not even trying. I try to use a force vector to push myself out of the way, and it works... a little too well, as I feel myself moving sideways with too much speed, and I suddenly find myself dragged through the floor by my own spell. But, at least, I got away from the attacking creature. Although, not for long.
I see the creature angered, as it comes towards me again. Great, I have not been here even an hour, and I'm gonna get killed again, in a situation I barely understand. Who knows? Perhaps next time I'll actually be reincarnated into something better. Fuck you, Being X!!!
But suddenly, something I wasn't expecting happens. I see as another creature, a humanoid one falls over the angel, and I see the head of my would-be killer roll on the floor and its body fall limp on the ground.
For a second I look up at the one that saved me: A tall female humanoid, clear skin, white hair, and red eyes. And following her closely behind, other two humanoid creatures, smaller in stature, both skinny but with different skin colors, one has a clear tone of skin, and the other a nice caramel one.
"Clara! Odette! Seek refuge!" said the tall one that saved me.
"Yes, mother!" said the other two in unison, and they run away.
"You!" calls the creature staring at me. "Wake up! Find a refuge for yourself! And don't tell anybody what you saw!"
I can't even respond, and the tall one is already running away. What exactly am I not supposed to tell? This entire situation is confusing. But, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. If that creature gave me a chance to run, I'll gladly take it. On the other hand, the angel dropped a very nice spear on the floor. It would be a waste to just leave it there, wouldn't it?
I pick up the weapon, and I run through the streets, seeking cover from whatever flies above me. I try to turn a corner to avoid being seen. But, it's a bad turn, and I find myself in a short alley with a wall in front of me. And suddenly, I feel something landing right behind me. As I turn around, my heart skips a beat, looking, not at one, but three angels closing my exit path.
"Well, look at this. You are a young looking one. But if you are in hell, then it doesn't matter what you look like. You are a sinner, and you deserve to be exterminated!"
I don't consider myself all too receptive, but from that simple phrase, I finally know where I am. I can connect the dots. This is hell. It's not the fiery pit that I imagined, since it just seems like a half-assed version of a modern city, but it IS horrible in its own way, since apparently this place is always in a constant war. And I suppose these things REALLY ARE angels. So this is your little secret, then, isn't it, Being X? This is how you entertain yourself with those that go against you. Putting them in constant war. Well, if you leave me no choice...
I hold onto the spear that I stole from the other dead angel. And I prepare myself to use my force-vector. I see as the Angel in front takes a lounge forward towards me... and my soldier instincts kick in. My magic vector pushes me upwards, which allows me to dodge the attack. And I can tell by the look on the face of the Angels, that none of them expected that. Well, then you won't like what comes next either.
With no other choice but to defend myself, I feel as my own weight pulls me down again, and I place the tip of the spear downwards. I expect to see the Angel below trying to dodge the attack, but, that doesn't happen. All I see, is as it stares back at me, as if just calmly waiting for me to fall down. It'll cost him dearly.
My spear pierces the neck of the angel, and with a violent movement of my arms, I yank out the tip of the spear from its neck, and I see all its blood splutter all around. Ah... this familiar sensation. The adrenaline is pumping. My heart is raising. The thrill of the battle. I know I shouldn't enjoy this. In my first life, I would have never enjoyed something like this... but... my time as Tanya, altered my mind a little. I still won't look for fights on my own, but now, if the necessity arises, I will have no fear of fighting. And I might even find myself enjoying the struggle.
My gleeful face must have been evident, as I turned my blood covered gaze towards the other two angels that had dared to come at me.
"Come on." I say onto them. "Wanna try your luck?"
I notice as their faces are suddenly turned into pure horror, and they fly away, terrified. It's very strange. If this is the worst that hell can get, then I'm surprised anybody is scared of coming here. Still, no time to waste. I'd really prefer to avoid fighting again, since I don't want to have to risk myself again.