2 Chapter 2: Revival

"Heeeeh..! Heeeh..! Heeh..!"

Her eyes swiftly opened, and her hand hastened to her chest that heaved deeply. Unexpectedly, she comes face to face with colors of blue and shades of white, which are far from the orange she anticipated to come across.

There she laid on the grass below the sky. Ortega could still smell tinges of smoke. She pointed her nose toward the clouds as she looked for where the traces of smoke originated. Her scent neared toward the opposite direction of the sky—the ground. When she turns her head to her right, she comes into contact with grasses that had been charred to their roots.

Noticing that they were still aflame, she lifted herself upright on her feet in fear of getting burned. As she stood over the burnt grass, Ortega noticed that the grasses had been scorched in a particular shape—a shape resembling those of a child.

Then, she discerned the level of her eyes. It was distinctly lower than before. When she brought her hands in front of her, that was when it all pieced together. She looked at her hands; they were clearly those of a toddler's.

Her small hands hovered towards her face, tracing the baby fats of her plump cheeks to the tip of her perky nose. It was at that moment that she had come to the conclusion that the god had reverted her back into a child.

Her eyes roamed toward her chest.

Not just a child, but a naked one at that.

"Oh shit!" She cursed to herself, trying to cover her bare skin with her arms, but it was futile.

Ortega glanced at her surroundings in hope of finding cover, and sighed in defeat, realizing there would be nothing, but leaves to wear. She shook her head at the thought of it, and decided against the idea. Perhaps, it wouldn't be strange for a child who looks to be just a few years old to wear nothing, but their pride.

She hoped.

She wondered just what further tricks the god who brought her in the middle of a forest had in mind.

It was so strange.

Out of all the punishments she thought she could have been given, turning into a child was not one of them. Nonetheless, Ortega cleared her mind of all uncertainties.

"I should get out of here first."

With that judgement, she set off to find a way out of the forest.

A couple minutes of faltering passed. Still nothing, but trees in view.

Her legs constantly wavered with each step. She was not accustomed to trudging on such tiny legs, and, moreover, with short strides.

This time, an hour of walking passed. The minutes slipped away as she proceeded to observe nature and the trivial things around her. She paid no mind to the ever blue sky, and the never ending trees. But what she did pay attention to was the lack of wildlife. For someone who had walked for a long time, she had yet to encounter a single animal. Granted, her strides did not take her farther than she hoped, but not even a bird has joined her sight. She began to hope that civilization was not very far.

Fortunately, at this point, Ortega had gotten used to her new body. Though, how it could still function without bogging after a long physical activity was a question she could not answer. All she knew was that her childish body had yet to break a sweat.

As Ortega stepped over a large root that had grown above the ground, a sound that blossomed hope reached her ears. Immediately, she scurried over to the sound of streams.

Within a minute, a river could be seen at a distance, and as her legs brought her closer towards the body of water, so did her reflection. Kneeling beside the water, her jaw slackened at the sight of her mirror image.

Cut slightly below her ears, her once dark hair had lost all their pigments, turning into the color of Nordic white. It was such a bizarre color, yet it was not bizarre enough that it would shy away strangers from staring at her eyes. They were yellow, glowing bright as though to indicate some kind of power hiding within the wearer.

Ortega had to admit the image in front of her was breathtakingly beautiful. However, it was so different from her previous self that there was no doubt she had been casted in a stranger's body. Whether it was recently made or once a corpse, her curiosity grew at the peculiarity of her new body.

'How would one's eyes glow? Is that possible?' She thought.

She remembered that animals with eyes that glow have a layer called tapetum lucidum behind their retina, which reflects light. However, her eyes glows differently than those animals. For one, it was daytime and their eyes could only glow at night, and two, she was human. It would be impossible for a human to have such a thing. So, just what is the cause behind her unnatural eyes?

Regardless of the theories she may have, the sun had begun to descend. There was only so much time until it was dark.

In addition to that problem, she was still lost. Being naked doesn't help much with her comfort. She had to think. She had to figure out a faster way to get out of the forest before night arrives.

Staring at the current of the water, she sat in silence. With time, she remembered what one of her patients had once told her.

'If you ever get lost, find a river and follow it downhill. Chances are you will find civilization.'

"Follow it downhill," she repeated, this time, aloud as she rose from the ground.

Suddenly, her foot tripped over the other, causing her body to sway forward.

Falling into the river, Ortega internally laughed at her own misfortune.

This time, there was no doubt about it; the god was trolling with her like some kind of marionette.