What a Dumb Way to Die...
Hi! My name is Akashia Stewart. I'm a high school senior, and I love sewing, Specifically, I love sewing cloth dolls to play with.
Yeah, call me childish if you want, but I like my hobbies and I'm not about to shame anyone else for theirs, ok?
Anyways, I am currently cleaning the school's theatre room. I'm cleaning it because I am a part of the drama club's group that makes costumes and props (I just made costumes if I'm gonna be honest.) and I felt like helping out some more.
So, I was cleaning around the stage area, when I accidentally hit a release for one of the sandbags attached to the lights.
At the time I was thinking, 'Oh, what are the chances of it hitting me? Probably low, right?'
Boy, am I unlucky, cause that sandbag just so happened to land on my head. I fell to the floor in pain, with blurry vision, and after a little bit, I blacked out, which brings us to now.
I open my eyes and see a bright blue sky. I sit up and look around, seeing a lush field of flowers and grass, and upon further observation, a white painted gazebo with a set of two chairs either side of a table in the center.
I stand up and walk over to the gazebo, a small circle of fire springs up by one of the chairs when I reach the gazebo.
I jump back a little in surprise as the fire rises and reshapes itself into the shape of a woman, and after a moment, disappears, leaving behind a beautiful woman with fiery red and orange hair, emerald-colored eyes, and pale skin.
The woman looks at me and gestures to the chair opposite her. Deciding to trust this lady, I sit down, with her doing the same.
The red-haired woman introduces herself, "My name is Zira, I'm the goddess of fire, transmigration, and reincarnation." My eyes widen slightly at her claim, "Seriously?!"
Zira just nods her head with a smile, as if she expected my reaction. Zira then snaps her fingers causing two teacups and a teapot to appear in a burst of fire.
Zira grabs the teapot and pours some tea for herself, before looking at me and asking if I wanted any, to which I respectfully declined.
She puts the teapot down before taking a sip of her tea, "I brought you here to reincarnate you, seeing as you died in a regrettable way. To be honest, if you were around other people when you got hit, you might have survived but, since you were alone, by the time you were found, it was too late."
I feel myself deflate at her words, letting out a small 'Oh...'
Zira takes another sip of her tea before continuing, "I will give you two options; 1. I send you to heaven, or..." She smiles before continuing, "I reincarnate you into another world, one of swords and magic. And as a bonus, I'll give you the power to control puppets! If you choose the second option."
I cup my chin in serious thought, before realizing that my choice is actually a simple one, "I pick option 2."
Zira's smile deepens, "I was hoping you'd say that." Zira claps her hands, and the tea set is soon replaced by a book and pen.
Zira takes the book and opens it, soon taking the pen and writing in the book with one hand and snaps her fingers with the other, a stringed canvas doll appearing in front of me.
"You can have that, a gift for you to use in the new world." Zira says without looking up from her writing.
I pick up the doll by its strings and inspect it, 'It seems very well made. She said I could have this? How nice of her!' The doll itself is kinda creepy, with no mouth and stitched on eyes, but that's how I like them.
After a while, Zira closes the book and hands it to me, "Whenever you're ready to go, just open the book, it will take you to the new world."
I stand up and thank Zira for this second chance, tears forming in the corners of my eyes, "Your welcome dear, and good luck. I hope you live a long and happy life."
I wipe my tears and say goodbye, before I open the book she gave me, my eyes soon being fill with a blinding light.
---
*Chirp* *Chirp*
I slowly open my eyes and see the canopy of a lone tree. I sit up and look around, eyes landing on two objects lying next to me.
I pick up the first object, which is the book Zira gave to me. I open it and am shocked at what I find. In video game format, is what looks like a status menu, with different pages showing different information.
<
-General Info
Name: Akashia Stewart
Race: Human
Titles: Reincarnated, Master of Puppets
New: Reincarnated: A title granted to those who have died and been reincarnated by the goddess Zira. Does not appear on appraisals or inspection stones.
New: Master of Puppets: A title granted to the puppeteer Akashia Stewart. Allows the owner to create puppets with raw materials and magic. Allows title owner to communicate with puppets telepathically.
LVL: 1
EXP: 0/1000
-Stats
HP: 1100/1100
MP: 1300/1300
STR: 10
VIT: 10
TOU: 10
DEX: 40
AGI: 30
INT: 30
Stat Points:
-Skills and Spells
Active: Create Puppet, Inspect, Inventory
New: Create Puppet: Allows the user to imbue magic into an inanimate doll or puppet to bring them to life. If the user has the [Master of Puppets] title, they can use a piece of raw material to create a fully functioning puppet, at the cost of more mana. A class must be assigned along with an optional name. Note: naming a puppet will give them a personality. Puppets can be repaired by infusing mana into them.
New: Inspect: Allows the user to see the status of other living or undead creatures. Some details cannot be seen with this skill, such as some divine given skills or titles. Can be silent cast.
New: Inventory: using this skill opens a portal to a personal pocket dimension that holds the users' things. Can store golems and similar constructs, but not living/undead beings.
Passive: N/A
>
I try my [Inventory] skill out by storing the book and pulling it back out again, nodding at the usefulness of this skill.
After putting the book away again, I turn towards the second object that was next to me, the puppet Zira gave to me.
I pick up the puppet and think for a moment, "Wait, can't I make this into a live puppet? I should try it. [Create Puppet]!"
After saying those key words, I feel some kind of energy leave my body and flow into the puppet. I put the puppet down on its back and watch as its once lifeless eyes begin to glow purple, as it rises into the air, rapidly growing to the size of a small toddler.
After a moment, the puppet stops rising and looks at me, before bowing and saying in a gender-neutral voice, "Greetings master." I feel irked at being called that, so I tell the puppet to just call me by my name, "As you wish Akashia."
The puppet stops bowing, "I require a class. And a name should you wish to give me one." I tap on my chin for a moment, "What classes are available?"
"Currently, you can assign one of three classes: Warrior, Mage, and Healer." I cross my arms in thought, "Alright, I'll give you the Mage class, and the name Annabelle, or Anna for short."
Suddenly, Anna is covered in purple smoke, and I feel a little lightheaded. I check my MP and see that naming her took 300 MP. Bringing her to life took 500 MP.
after a few minutes, the feeling goes away, along with the smoke surrounding Anna, revealing her in a little witch outfit with purple accents to match her eyes, "Looking good Anna!" I compliment.
"Why thank you Akashia. It feels good to be alive and serving such a wonderful person." I jolt at her words, 'Well the spell did say that it would give them a personality if I named them. Just didn't expect it to be like this. It also gave her voice some substance to it; she sounds just like a normal human girl.'
I stand up and look around again, spotting a river. I walk towards it, with Anna following, and look into it.
In the reflection is a pretty, slim girl with black hair that has a few purple streaks in it. She has one red eye and one purple one, with fair skin. They're wearing a light brown full body cloak, with a purple shirt and black leggings underneath with black shoes.
'I will say this about Zira, she did a good job on my body. I like it.' I do a few poses before noticing something, "I don't have a weapon... Crap." Anna looks at me, "Do you really need one with me around?"
*Boing* *Boing*
I turn around to see 3 green blobs bouncing towards me and Anna, "Crap, are those slimes?!" Anna moves in front of me and raises her hand toward the slimes, "{Fireball}!" A ball of fire forms and launches itself at a slime, exploding upon impact.
<Slime Slain!>
<+100 EXP>
"Wait, I can get EXP from you killing enemies? Cool!" Anna doesn't comment, and instead throws another fireball at the second slime, resulting in another explosion.
<Slime Slain!>
<+100 EXP>
I decide to fight as well and try kicking the third slime, only for my foot to rebound off of it, knocking me to the ground.
The slime inches closer, until it is cut in half by a blade of water.
<Slime Slain!>
<+100 EXP>
Anna floats over to me, "Are you alright?" I stand up and brush off any dirt on my clothes before turning to Anna, "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking, Anna."
"I'm happy to serve you." Anna says with a bow. I smile, "And I'm happy to have you, Anna." And with that I set off to find civilization.