1 Chapter 1: Where Am I?

Sophie gathered her things and put them away in her black school bag, before leaving her classroom. The last class of the day had just finished. Sophie was glad the school day was finally over. She was tired, having gotten to bed late the night before finishing the last touches of an assignment due in English that day and then getting up early for her usual morning run before school. All she wanted was to go home and sleep now. It was a pity she still had 4 hours of work to get to.

Sophie worked part time after school at a fast food restaurant three days a week as well as a full day on Saturdays. Her family of five was monetarily comfortable, but not well off. So working part time provided 17 year old Sophie with the spending money for personal luxuries, like her cell phone, that her parents couldn't fit into their budget.

Sophie was the oldest of her three siblings. She had a brother, John, who was two years younger than herself and a sister, Rebecca, who was five years younger. Sophie loved her siblings dearly, though she'd also admit they could annoy her pieces very easily.

She gave her younger siblings a brief smile as she met them at her old snot green hatchback. Rebecca had joined her older siblings at high school that year, whilst it was Sophie's last year there. Sophie had gotten her drivers licence last year and she was enjoying being able to drive her siblings to school and back while she could.*

The short drive home was spent with Rebecca babbling happily about all the gossip she'd heard from her friends that day. John and Sophie gave small verbal acknowledgements where needed.

John asked Sophie for her help on an assignment he had due soon as they entered their tired looking two storey house. She promised to help him when she got home from work.

A quick change into her work uniform, a fitted red shirt and a black knee length skirt. Then Sophie grabbed an apple from the fridge to snack on, called out "see you later" to her siblings and left for work.

She munched on the last of her apple as she stopped at a red light at an intersection just up the road from her work place. She adjusted her car radio to turn down the announcers as the song she was listening to ended. The light turned green for her car to go and Sophie released the break pedal and moved her car into the intersection.

Right then, a loud horn blast through the air. Startled, Sophie looked to her right. A large truck was moving too fast to stop and had run the red light. She had just enough time to see the face of the panicked male driver before the truck slammed into her side of the car. **

....

When Sophie next opened her eyes, it was to darkness. Literally. She appeared to be suspended in midair. She could see nothing in the darkness around her.

"Where... am... I?" Sophie asked hesitant as she looked for anything located in the darkness around her. "Did... I... die?"

That thought depressed her a little. She was still so young. She hadn't even finished High School yet. Didn't get a chance to help John with his assignment. Didn't get to tell her family that she loved them.

"Yes, you did. I'm sorry about that."

The sudden voice shocked Sophie out of her depressive thoughts. She looked around her but still couldn't see anyone or anything in the darkness. "Who are you? Where am I? Where are you?"

"I'm an administrator. I guess you would call me a god, of sorts? Though not really? I manage the passage of souls as they leave one world through death and pass on to the next one. I guess you would call it reincarnation. My name is Carrion."

"Um... Like the Greek mythology, Carrion?" Sophie asked feeling slightly amused.

"Probably. There's usually some basis of truth in mythological stories even if it's as remote as a single grain of salt." Carrion answered.

"So, I'm in some sort of passage to move my soul on to the next world?"

"Yes. To be exact you are currently awaiting for your birth by your new mother."

"Will I like my new family and my new world?" Sophie felt a little nervous.

"That depends on you. There is magic and adventure in your new world. It's very much like a game in some ways. So probably? As for your new family, I don't know."

"Will I remember my old life?" Sophie asked a little quieter.

"Do you want to?"

"Yes, please. I don't want to forget my family and the memories I had with them."

"Very well then. I'll let you keep your memories. Do you have any other wishes for this new life? You can have up to three."

"Not really. I'll leave that to you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Sophie nodded firmly.

"Then I'll surprise you. It looks like it's time now. Your new mother is about to give birth."

"Then, thank you for keeping me company until now, Carrion." Sophie could only offer a smile into the darkness since she still had no clue where exactly Carrion was.

"Enjoy your new life, Sophie."

After a few minutes, Sophie could feel a huge pressure around her body. It caused her to black out.

....

Some time later Sophie blearily opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by dim light. She was being lifted up by a strange looking woman from what she could only imagine was between her mother's legs.

She assumed the woman was some form of a nurse or midwife but Sophie was fascinated by the random shade of green that the woman's hair had. The cheerful looking orange coloured eyes looking back at Sophie were also fascinating and Sophie couldn't stop staring them. The woman's lips curved into a smile as she moved towards the top half of the bed that Sophie's new mother lay on.

"Is the baby alright? She's not crying. Don't babies usually cry when born? Chris screamed his lungs out when he was first born."

A tired voice spoke to the woman carrying Sophie. Sophie turned her new baby sized head with some difficulty to look at her new mother. From what she could see, her new mother had some sort of silvery coloured hair and purplish coloured eyes. She looked fairly young though so Sophie could only assume it was a natural colour of this world rather than a sign of aging like it was in her old one. It was even more eye catching than the green haired woman.

"Oh she's just perfect. Very alert and curious. Not all babies cry so there's nothing to worry about. Here she is. Why don't you give her a cuddle and a feed?" The green haired woman passed Sophie to her new mother carefully.

Now that she was closer to her mother's face, Sophie was able to make out more details. Her purplish eyes appeared to have a more lilac shade to them. Her silver lashes were long and feathered. Her matching brows were neatly shaped. Pink lips curved like a bow as she cooed at Sophie and a beauty mark sat just above the left side of her top lip. Sophie could only imagine that her mother was probably considered a great beauty.

Some time after Sophie had been fed and fallen asleep, she awoke to loud footsteps and two excited voices following a door slam.

"Where is my new daughter? Let me see her!"

The first voice was older, male. Sophie blinked tiredly up at him. She was amused to see hair in a deep shade of blue and eyes that almost matched. She assumed this was her father.

"Siswer. I wanna see my siswer."

The second voice was much younger, though also male. She could only guess that he was the Chris that her mother had mentioned to the green haired woman earlier and her older brother. From what she could tell, he appeared around the age of three. He had their father's hair and their mother's eyes. Sophie began to wonder which of her parents features she had gained.

"Calm down, Lumere. She's right here, Chris. Isn't your little sister cute?" Sophie's mother lifted Sophie down so Chris could see her properly.

"Cwute. Siswer is cwute." Chris nodded in agreement.

Sophie struggled to lift an arm up until she could touch Chris's cheek and gave him a smile. Chris smiled back at her happily however, their parents fell silent in shock. New born babies weren't usually able to control their limbs or able to smile.

Sophie felt weirded out at the odd silence and looked up at her parents shocked faces. 'Oh, I did some unbaby like.' She gave them a shy little smile and raised her arms to her father. It was getting easier to move them the more she did so.

Lumere took it to mean that Sophie wanted to be held and lifted her gently out of his wife's hands. "She's amazing, Belle. What will we call her?"

"Hmmm, she's going to be a beauty when she grows up. From what I can tell, her hair is a blend of ours. Her eyes are more silvery than either of ours though. So... what about Celeste?"

"Celeste... I like it. You are now Celeste Anna Marie Von Drake. Second child and first daughter of Duke Lumere Piere Rowen Bob Drake and Duchess Isabella Susan Emmeline Von Drake. Sister to Christopher Robert Thomas Von Drake."

'Duke? Duchess? Then I guess my new family are nobles?' Sophie, now called Celeste, mused as she smiled back at her father and nodded. 'Then I guess this world is based on a class system of sorts.'

"Goo too baa bee.(Hello papa, hello mama, hello brother.)" Celeste responded in greeting. She frowned on hearing the baby language leave her mouth. 'Guess I'll need to work on that.'

Some how, her family all looked at her and smiled. Celeste smiled back. 'Let's make this a good life.'

....

*The school system mentioned here is the New Zealand one. Primary School covers children from age 5 years to 10 years old. Intermediate from 10 years to 12 years and High School/College covers age 12 years to 18 years. University or tertiary education usually starts from 18 years old.

**In New Zealand, cars are driven on the left side of the road and the drivers sit on the right side of the car.