Darkest Depths

The Administrators, a mysterious force standing at the precipice of the universe. Few beings are aware of their existence, and those that are would struggle to sufficiently explain their enigmatic position within the hierarchy of all beings. In the simplest sense, the Administrators were the overseers of the world, an impartial and detached caretaker, whose only role is maintaining the integrity and momentum of the world and it's beings. With such a vague mission statement, Administrators are free to exercise any form of rule they deem fit. Some may choose allow the denizens to run wild, others may interfere occasionally and covertly to unobtrusively guide history, while a few even directly interfere making their presence very known.

Telus was an eccentric among the administrators. Although he generally maintained his distance from the denizens of the world, he still worked to guide it's progress in very conspicuous ways. His magnum opus was Tyla, a child that caught his interest during the early days of his world. Inspired by her tenacity and just personality, Telus molded her over multiple lifetimes into his own ideal champion. With minimal input from him, he could simply reincarnate Tyla in problematic areas and allow her to resolve problems organically.

Although his proudest, Tyla was not his only project. Through the many eons that the world existed, Telus' influence took many forms. His earliest, and longest work, was the Administrator trial. Among the many races in his world, the ones most in tune with the ambient mana were the fairies, a race of entirely spiritual creatures intertwined with the concept of the elements of magic. The Administrator trial was devised by Telus to develop the fairies' magic capabilities by experiencing some aspect of the essence of their element. With their new found knowledge of magic, those first fairies, or as they were known at the time 'The Elemental Progenitors' taught the sentient races the basis of magic, before isolating themselves within a separate realm (these events occurred at around the time of Tyla's first incarnation, during the conception of the Eskendria Empire).

Adeline felt concerned at the words she had just heard. The child-like voice that had just surrounded her was entirely foreign to her, but she could assume that it belonged to whomever controlled the trial, the 'Administrator'. Although his words were ominous, there was little detail for her to derive from them and so she quickly decided to move on from them, at least briefly. As if simultaneous to her decision, her surroundings began to change once again. The darkness around her began to slowly fade away, revealing to her an oddly familiar scene.

A soft rug brushed against her exposed toes. Ahead her, was a large leather L-shaped sofa facing a large flat-screen television. The cabinet supporting the television also carried several framed photographs, showing a family of five, three girls and their parents, posing near various famous landmarks from around the world. In all of the photographs, the smiles of the younger twin girls shone the brightest, attracting any onlookers attention. Without noticing, tears had begun streaming down Adeline's face.

"Noor... Leila..." she found herself whispering the names of her sisters. The room she was in was her living room in her family home. Everything was exactly as she remembered, down to the fairy lights that accented the mantle. She quickly rushed to the photographs, to catch even the faintest glimpses at the faces of her family. However, as she closely inspected one of the photographs, one major discrepancy caught her off guard. All her family was present in the photograph as she remembered, her sisters, her mother, even her late father. However, the one individual that was missing was herself, instead replaced by someone she had no memory of. Looking through all the other photos, it became clear that the mysterious girl had replaced Adeline in every instance.

Feeling horrified, Adeline hastily exited the living room, hoping to find any members of her family that still remained in the house. By this point, Adeline had entirely forgotten about her reincarnation or the trial, all that existed in her mind was seeing her family and figuring out the identity of the mysterious girl that seemed to have replaced her. As she exited the living room door, she heard the sound of conversation coming from the end of the hall, where she knew the dining room was located.

Adeline did not waste any time, striding towards the dining room door that had been left ajar. As her hand touched the door knob, she heard the conversation ongoing inside,

"...-missed you too, we should go visit them soon" said Nadia, Adeline's mother in a fawning tone.

"Oh are we visiting Grammy?! Can you ask her to make peach cobbler again? it's my favourite!" interjected Noor. Her chaotic energy had always endeared her to all that met her, subconsciously convincing them to dote on her.

"Ah, I miss Grandma alot! can we go soon mommy?" Added Leila. Although she also carried a large amount of energy, she also had a slight sense of maturity that often lead people to believe that she was the older twin.

"Hmm, you're right, I haven't seen Grandma and Grandpa since I left for university. It'll be nice to see them again," added an unknown voice in a casual tone. Adeline froze once more. No matter how hard she racked her mind, she could not recognize that voice in the slightest. However, through the direction of the conversation, Adeline could conclude that this person was extremely familiar with her family.

"I can't think of anyone we know that mother would invite to see my grandparents..." thought Adeline. However, before she could think anymore, she heard one line that chilled her to her core,

"I bet mom will be quite excited to see her grand-daughter again. You know Tyla, she was this close to taking the train alone to come see your graduation, even after her operation" Joked Nadia.

"Grand-daughter?... Tyla?... Who?" stumbled Adeline as she struggled to get her thoughts in order. Suddenly it rushed back to her. How could she forget? the shameless woman that suddenly and selfishly stole her life.

"Why is she here? Why is she with my family? did she steal my entire life?" thought Adeline, as her mind quickly snowballed into a blind rage.

Not controlling her impulses, Adeline quickly barged through the door, entering the dining room. Instantly, silence overtook the room as all eyes turned to her. Nadia was the first to snap out of her surprise, a look of horror plastered on her face,

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she shouted indignantly. Adeline's anger was visible on her face. However, hearing the lack of recognition in her mother's voice was truly shocking. Quickly look around the table, she saw the fear in the eyes of her sisters which caused a harsh pain in her heart. But even that quickly disappeared as her eyes finally landed on Tyla. Adeline's rationality could not overcome her anger. She could only blame this woman for stealing her entire life, to the point where her own mother could not recognize her. To the extent that her own sisters felt fearful of her presence.

"How dare this woman live my life as if it's hers! why is it that I must suffer while she gets to live my life? she should just die like I had to!" ranted Adeline internally. As her thoughts reached the depths of the darkness within her, something faint began to change around Adeline.