Prologue - L.A.R.P. For Life

Two young girls sat under the tree in the town's park. The taller girl had luscious purple hair, fair skin, and striking amethyst eyes that pulled people in. Her straight back and elegant posture belied her rustic upbringing. While a frown marred her face as she shifted into a dogeza pose. Her hand-stitched violet dress pooling on the ground around her.

"Sarah, I have a confession to make. I was going to wait until we found Alex, to apologize together, but it's been over a year now, and the guilt is killing me."

Mirellia used Sarah's original name to convey the severity of the conversation. She looked up at the fair skinned girl with ruby eyes and black messy hair, who had designed herself to look like Raven Branwen. They were both otaku and had been allowed to freely choose their appearance during their reincarnation.

The clash between Sarah's ultra sweet personality, and those she cosplayed, was always a point of humor. The laugh lines in her face, and dimples, always made her glaring look comical.

Sarah didn't say anything, but let Mirellia (Charlotte) know she could continue, with a facial expression that showed her full attention and understanding. The two had known each other for a decade prior to this world, they didn't need words to convey their intent.

"Before the plane crash, I told Alex he needed to choose one of us. I was tired of not being able to say I was married. I was tired of my family insinuating we weren't in love because there was no commitment. I was just so tired of the stupidity. I went behind your back. And when Alex said he'd stay with me, well, we planned to tell you after the vacation ended."

She didn't need to look up to know Sarah was tearing up. "You two were just going to leave me. After everything we've been through. We lived together, we're you just going to throw me out on the streets too?"

"No no nooo. Never. We were going to see if we could remain together, but with Alex and I being legally married." Mirellia stroked a hand through her hair. "I know it's not much better. And I'm so sorry for betraying your trust like that. I swear it'll never happen again. I'll find some way to make this up to you."

They were both in tears now. How could she have known how far Sarah would go for them. For their relationship. To refuse to reincarnate straight to the face of God, unless it was with them.

She had pushed Alex to make a decision on their relationship. She gave him an ultimatum, and he chose her. If only she could hit her past self. F*ck what others think of them, so long as they can be happy together. It's so sappy it hurts.

But it's true.

"Swear to me Charlotte (Mirellia). Swear that you two weren't going to throw me out of your lives." She didn't hesitate to swear it. Smacking her head against the ground again and again until she was stopped. Sarah would be mad for some time, but they'd get through this.

That's all that mattered.

"Mirellia, Raven, hurry over to the town square. The spirit master has arrived to perform the awakening ceremony." The village elder spoke in his raspy voice, before turning his hunched back to look for more wayward children.

Raven (Sarah) squeezed Mirellia's hand as they got up and wiped the tears aways. "Once Alex is found, we'll all sit down and talk. I still love you, but I need- I don't even know, closure I guess. We'll talk once we're all together again." Raven Kissed her cheek, and they headed to the ceremony hand in hand.

The cobbled road made a crisp clacking noise against their wooden shoes. The town square was little more than a market place for farmers and merchants to set up their wares. Most residents lived a decently long walk away from the center of town, usually out in the middle of their farm land. The orphanage was an exception though. That's why neither was concerned with being late to the ceremony.

As with every year, a spirit master, far better dressed than the entirety of the village's residents combined, came to town and acted like this place is beneath the dirt on his shoes. Despite that, the village treats today as a festival, as everyone gathered around to watch the awakenings.

Mirellia fell back into her icy persona well before they reached the town square. Her small childish frame prevented her from being able to walk with her usual dancer's grace. Instead she opted to take slower measured steps, as if the world waited on herself. Some girls want to be a princess when they grow up, not her, she always dreamed to be a queen.

Raven was different from Charlotte, in that she adored complex characters. The more copy-paste their background or personality, the less interested she became. She maintained the pace of Mirellia, while keeping one hand on the bokken tied to her waist. She was both relaxed and keeping her eyes active scanning the crowd. Mirellia loved the feeling of having her own royal guard, and Raven was happy to play the part.

She focused on the overly self important three ringed bear spirit master. She didn't know which spirit beast bear specifically, because that information is in the spirit master academies. What she did know, was that only her and Raven maintained their composure upon seeing the brute's martial spirit.

She fell into a stoic trance as each child failed to produce a measurable amount of spirit power. This didn't concern her, as the combination of her old soul merging with this body's soul made her innately full of spirit power. Same for Raven. They confirmed this by trying to practice a cultivation method and discovering they were at a major breakthrough stage, unable to break through.

After they had gone and she thought all the children were done, a white haired boy she had never seen before was assisted up to the spirit master by the village doctor. He was wheeled up and looked malnourished to a frightening degree.

Like every time before, the spirit master began pouring spirit power into nine mysterious orbs. After a few moments they glowed and floated up waist high. With a pushing gesture and a surge in power from the master, they began to pour energy into the boy.

The slight muscle on the boy began to contract, giving him an intense constipated look. With no further signs of awakening, the master pushed more spirit power into the boy via the orbs. The boy's body began to twitch and spasm. With no awakened martial spirit, the master must of had enough of holding back, and pushed everything he had into this final awakening. The light of the orbs blinded Mirellia.

The screams of the boy drowned out the surprised yells from the crowd. Her sight returned as the boy's body absorbed the lights, just in time to let her watch the his body rip and tear all over. It looked like his martial spirit was trying to rip itself out of the his physical body.

While most were screaming, crying, or frozen in shock over what was happening to the child, Raven and Mirellia were hyper focusing on the change in the boy's appearance. They'd seen a similar anime character in their past life.

Adlet Myers