Chapter 1: Rebirth

If there was one way to sum up my life to this point, it would be a struggle. I've been living off garbage scraps and the kindness of passing couples I ambushed on the streets for spare change. A young homeless girl can easily swindle money from strangers with just her rough smile. I have been lucky during my time on the streets, since I was kicked out of the church. They held me in contempt since I skipped prayer regularly and helped people on the streets without taking commission. Why pray to God and take money from his followers to benefit selfishness when I had helped them and asked for nothing in return? They cast me aside. I don't know how, but I never developed a sickness when almost all the other kids roaming the streets were succumbing to one ailment or another. Soon I found myself alone, and starving.

"Hello, young girl. You look like you have had it rough." He smiled kindly, eyes closed through his glasses. "Come home with us and have some food."

Normally I never took up these people on such offers and just left as soon as they offered, fearing they would take me to one of the accursed orphanages where children were beaten, shamed, and sold to the highest bidder. But I am starved. Three days without food is enough to make anyone hungry enough make poor judgement calls. If I paid more attention, I would have noticed the curl in his smile and the crease in his eyebrows showing he had an ulterior motive.

"Aren't you a cute one! So young, untainted despite being on the streets so long," I did not reply, the reason for that was because I was careful, and everyone I did know died from one thing or another, new home abuse, poison to rid the streets of us, "and not as thin as most! Truly a sight to behold!" The large woman next to his small frame threw danger signs all around. The woman's mouth was large enough to swallow anything, including young girls wandering the streets at night. Her lips smacked each time she ended her sentences, presumably sucking back in her saliva dripping from the corners of her mouth. "Come, the carriage is that way!" A command followed by what I assume she would call a song.

I followed without saying a word, the smile I attempted to play at the beginning of my entrance was long gone. I needed food desperately, these people were my only way out. Behind them I could only see the woman's rump. It filled my vision despite me following feet behind them. So large, so fat, no wonder they had offered food. They had me enter the carriage before them, helping me step up with a small stool they had at the side. From the outside of the carriage, it was merely a standard brown and ugly thing, but inside it was lavishly ornate.

A small, brown table in the center held gold, rimming the corners, while the seating was plush red velvet, the stuff I had once seen royal curtains made of when the new King took the throne officially, ten years ago, from the late Queen who died at childbirth along with the child, sixteen years ago. On the table sat some fruits and vegetables that I have never seen, including salted meats on silver trays. I smiled at my luck. These people are rich! I can eat all I want without guilt!

I ate until I felt sick, then passed out in the old man's arms, his hands stroking my silver hair. We arrived at their estate much later. I know we had to have traveled for some time, since I had been so desperate for food I had been without sleep for nearly two whole days. I came to, looking at the old man above me. He grinned, flashing his teeth at me. That was when I noticed he wasn't the same person who's lap I slept on. I straightened upright as pain flashed up my back. I gasped, losing my breath and entering a coughing fit consisting of congealed and fresh blood.

"Glad to see your predictions are right as always Hershfeld, the last one died as soon as you started." The woman across from me looked to a ring on her finger, she seemed the same in her eyes but was slim and old.

"Spinal reconstruction with blunt force is not necessarily the easiest to perform unless they are asleep and relaxed," he held out his handkerchief for me, "you hurried the others and made them stressed or had me operate while they were awake. She has been out for days, yet her body healed in a matter of hours, the others took longer, but this gives insight to her miracle. And make sure we don't miss the time she turns pale, that's when we need to do the first reset."

I took the cloth and wiped the blood from my mouth, dry heaving onto the table while blood leaked from my nose. What the hell is going on!? I recalled what happened before I slept. Looking at the woman I could see she wasn't the same person, but she was. Her dress had been resized at some point to fit her, I assume. The man looked younger and had no glasses anymore, a butler uniform replaced his former's suit.

"Allow me to introduce us," the woman spoke as the man smiled like he had before I slept, "I am Madam Esser, and this is my butler Zukun. You may not know it yet, but with the restructuring you will soon enough. Your name is Seraphina, and you are…" She trailed off, unsure of herself revealing more information. "Well, we'll go with special. It's close enough to your mother's name Sarah."

I drew in a breath to reply but instead heaved once more, providing more blood for the cloth. When I recovered, I spoke, "Why?" I expected no answer from Zukun, so I looked to Esser. But I was taken aback on all accounts. My mouth opened and spoke for me, "Because I have seen the Fifth." The butler smiled his devil grin.

"Aha, so you do know why!" The woman smiled as well, a genuine one. "We may not have to Re Set her at all, I think her mother achieved the Merge we were hoping for!" She whispered to the butler, but we were in a small cabin and no one can hide anything in that environment.

"When your mother died at childbirth you did something miraculous, something we have been trying to accomplish for hundreds of years. A Merge! You carry your mother's soul in yours, a transfer that happened the moment you were born! Her soul added all of its power into your own, because of the synchronization, it became an exponential growth! But it is different than what we perform…" She started talking like a dictionary, throwing out weird words that I have never heard of before, talking of technology and math interwoven with a spiritual world that people call the Fifth dimension. How souls are energy that can manipulate this world with miracles, and how each person can manifest these miracles in various ways.

Zukun the butler stopped her as she began to explain how they gained more souls to convert, something I assume was not so healthy for our relationship. He looked at me, "You inherited a miracle, a power that transcends the universe's control over humanity's direction. Quiet literally, you have the ability to shape our history." Even he couldn't contain his excitement.

"I have seen some of what you do, and I am so happy to be a part of this scheme, but my miracle can only uncover the beneficial futures for me. Esser doesn't really have a power, she is what you could call a god-eater. She saps the Fifth's energy from people. But you, she can't get enough of. Your tap is like a glacier that's been frozen for millennia. We have an idea of what your power was and now is but want to confirm it later." He finally stopped, his grin was now a smile with his mouth partly open. "It's still so amazing you healed so quickly, after I broke and reconstructed your spine I noticed that I couldn't hit the same place again as easily, I had to use more force… Isn't that interesting?"

I felt my back up and down, it seemed straighter and not as crooked as it had been from my time sleeping on the rock pathways of the city. And for some reason it felt as hard as tempered steel. The carriage came to a stop. Esser and Zukun looked at me. Zukun spoke, "I'll catch you after orientation, we are going to be sitting in a special spot, so you can meet an old friend of yours."

The door opened from the outside and they stepped out, disappearing into the light. I stood up, immediately overcome by a rush of blood to my head. I caught myself on the table, wondering why they gave me such an odd name. Not that I am complaining, it is cute in its own respect, but my back is sore, and I feel taller than before by more than a few inches. Wait a minute, inches? I never knew that term before, but I have heard it said by people in special clothing shops. I know it's a measurement of length or height, and that there are twelve to one foot, and one can be divided into an irregular number of centimeters. I also know that there is a better measurement system that is much different from the one I am thinking of. Metric?

I throw the numbers and thoughts aside, there is no reason to fret over suddenly gained knowledge. I wonder if their fixing of my spine had anything to do with this. I curse Madam Esser and Zukun for making my head spin in thought. I step from the carriage, landing on the stool unevenly and immediately falling to the mud on the ground. What an entrance. I need to get control of my unnaturally corrected stance. I push myself up on all fours, looking around.

A mansion as imposing as a castle stood in front of me. I feel oddly like I have been here before, there was a certain type of flower here, blue and imposing, yet red on the tips of the petals. I don't recall treading here, but I know that flower is somewhere close. I make a mental note to look for it later. Up the stairs in front of me, a tiled courtyard holds a changing area for clothing, dining tables lined with utensils and tools for dissecting food, as well as a training dummy with a helmet resting upon its head.

"This way little miss." To my left, a manservant who is similar to the butler in posture stands, gesturing to the changing area with an outstretched hand. "The others have gone ahead to meet with the visitors to the estate, please take your time before going to greet them by relearning the basics here." He shifts his hand to point towards the table and dummy.

"I don't take kindly to you people shoving me into this. I am still unsure as to whether I should believe this stuff." In my head, I had not thought of anything half as eloquent as what I just spoke. I am slowly learning to distrust my own mind.

"Besides, I am not sure I have the mouth for some twats rolling in luxury." I meant to say how him and the rest of the group inside was most likely bigmouthed swindlers about to start an auction to sell me off. But again, my own voice failed me.

The manservant raised an eyebrow at me, resting his gloved hands to his sides. "Please follow me little miss." He turned and walked to the changing area. I could see I had no easy escape from this weird place, so I followed.

In the changing area, three maids stand, bowing towards me. I look behind them and see a multitude of dresses, each very different from the next. They spoke in unison, "Welcome little miss. We have selected a number of clothes for you." I thought the initial shock would have left me, but it returned when they looked up to me. Each one lacks the basic facial featured for identifying a human, and instead hold a single eyeball in the center of their would be faces. One red, another blue, and the last yellow.

"I have never been more perturbed in my life." Again, a word I never once uttered and never knew of, yet now I do. That word was meant to be horrified, but I did not say what I thought. I am seriously unnerved at this development. Now I am thinking as such. I apologized to the maids as they guided me to the clothes, stripping the dirty rags I had been wearing. They offered me tea and biscuits as they went over the options in front of me. I took a cube of sugar and dropped it into the tea, though I feel as if I had always drunk without sugar. In the end I told them to take the best from about three of the outfits, including that I wanted it to allow for quick movement yet shoulder the firm air of regality. Not fully sure why it had to be regal, I feel like I am not alone in my thoughts.

They said the Re Set involved taking another's soul or something by inserting yours into their body… but what is the difference between that and a Merge? I conclude that it must mean that the Merge is keeping the soul intact to an extent, or something similar, to provide better understandings of things. I wonder what my mother's occupation was.

The maids took the three outfits I had pointed out to the backroom and returned a few moments later with a culmination of all three in an oversized version fit for a fully-grown woman. The dress held shoulder cords and puffed out in the chest with a white piece of cloth as if… renaissance? The dress came back together at the waist to drape over the legs. Of course, the entire outfit shone golden. Also, what the hell is renaissance? I never heard of such a thing. The maids explain that the outfit alters in reaction to my movements. They proceeded to wash me in a small tub off to the side of the mirrors that was hidden behind all the outfits.

I was scrubbed and cleaned thoroughly. My silver hair draping over my back as they rinsed my face, it sure is nice to be young again. One pat me down with a towel to dry me while they sized me at five feet and four inches, seven inches smaller than what I expected. Why did I expect to be so tall? I hoped I would grow at least a little bit taller. The maids disappeared and returned with a smaller version of the dress in front of me, retaining the original for future use I assume, provided I grow that much. Doubt in that happening flooded my heart. They gave me some amazingly comfortable heels that fit my feet perfectly, as if they expected to match the size on the first go. I had asked if they had others and they replied that they didn't think I would want a different type, which I affirmed, these ones felt so good!

I left the maids, thanking them for their service. The feeling of being sick in my stomach was fully gone after the bath. Took long enough. The manservant looks to me from his place behind the seat at the table filled with cutlery.

"Miss," oh hey, an upgrade, "we are now to go over basic table etiquette and names for tools and utensils for your meeting in the hour. Please pay close attention." I walk to him, the clothes feeling their way around me. This outfit feels unlike anything I wore previously. There was one time when I got my hands on good clothes as a child, but they became soiled before I could experience such luxury, run over and torn apart in the spokes of a passing carriage as they fell from my hands. I knew it would never compare to what I wore now. The clothes seemed to have a mind of their own, moving out of my way as soon as I made a movement. Miraculous.

I sat at the table opposite the empty one, feet unable to touch the ground fully. The manservant, was it Alfard? How I got that name, I do not know. I ignored the thought as he began explaining all the different tools and utensils before me, of which I would take a guess at there being a hundred or so. He began to list off all their names and practical uses. I knew what each one was before he said it, like it was just him describing an already known fact. When he was finished he asked me to list all the ones he described in order. I turned around in my chair to the empty table, pointing to where each tool or utensil would be opposite of me and repeating exactly what he said word for word within ten minutes, even going into a little bit more description for some. I had to force myself to speak louder since my voice could not be heard above the loud chirping of birds and I felt like I needed to test being more commanding for when I get put on the spotlight. I felt it would happen soon given the course of time.

"I see it hasn't wavered from your time with me Sarah." He smiled from over my shoulder as I turned around and glared at him. Why would he be calling me Sarah? Wasn't that my mother?

"Alfard, it is not wise to prod in other's affairs." I clasped my hands to my mouth. What the hell?!

"Ah… I see." He looked closer at me. I felt like I was going to cry. "You must be Sarah's daughter, Alfard served before me, but we are twins. He passed away two years ago miss. I am Galor." He pulled back. "Must be a new method you attempted. Hope it works well."

"Seraphina is my name." I told him crying but distressed. I still don't know what he is going on about fully, but something inside me is saying not to prod yet.

He pulled out his timepiece. "We must hurry to the final check, Miss Seraphina." He held his hand towards the dummy. "Try to honor your mother's name without embarrassment to a servant of hers."

I jumped off the chair, annoyed at the tone he spoke in. That passive aggressive little shit. He is just like his brother. I grabbed the dummy by the bottom of the post and felt myself become unfeeling, like my sense of touch ceased to be. Silence filled the air, birds ceased chirping, air stopped flowing, time stopped. Then resumed. The dummy's spine broke into pieces, causing wood and hay to fly out of the back. Then its crotch and stomach imploded, kneeling it forwards. At this point it was going to crush me, and I wanted it to, I wouldn't feel it and it would take me from this weird place. But I felt like all of this was meant to be. I gripped the helmet in my hands, screaming unlike myself, and tore it apart.

Inside was my flower, the flower that I said would cause my daughter to understand everything, and it did. I knew the Merge worked. They said we could not accomplish such a thing, but we proved them wrong. I grabbed the flower and cried, out of happiness, anger, joy, many different emotions that I knew were not fully my own. I am no longer alone in the world. I have a friend who won't leave me!

"I'm glad you have not let me down Queen Seraphina. It is time for you to reclaim your throne." He slipped off his gloves and knelt on one knee. "I pledge myself to you once more, as Alfard and Galor, achieved through your hypothesized twin-Merge technique."

I jumped up and down like a giddy little girl. "Amazing! We can finally move on with our plans!"

The servant held out his hands as if he was opening an invisible door, he curled his hands and held an ornate golden doorway. It is time to make an entrance.