Memories: Ten, Eleven, Twelve

As a bolt of lightning hits the water beneath my feet, I feel it coursing through my body. Then, in an instant, the world around me fades to black.

Memories of my past lives have always been a bit hazy, but Numbers 10 to 12 have been all but blank. Now, however, I find that the fog is dissolving, and my own memories are slowly being returned to me.

Number 10 was about the same as I am now.

In a word: "Jaded."

It was the fastest I had ever killed the Demon Lord. Only slightly older than 20, I found myself alone and without purpose. I had distanced myself from my family, and I hadn't bothered to gain any friends. I was left with nothing but time, waiting for the next reincarnation.

It was during this period that I began studying the force known as mana. I had begun to notice of how it differed between worlds. And how its use in magic differed.

I soon found that my mana store, and mine alone, contained a mix of mana from across worlds, each slightly different from the other. It took me years to figure out how to distinguish between them, and even longer to separate them.

Intriguing as it was, it was of no real use to me. None of the other forms of mana worked in this world. It was useless. I thought I had wasted my time. With no point to their existence, the mana containers collected dust in a corner of my house.

It wasn't until many, many years later, that I realized the significance of my research.

I had reached a great age, and was walking steadily toward a slow and lonely death, when I heard the gods call upon me once more.

"Your work here is done. We thank you. Now, you will be reborn once more."

It was only once the voice had stopped that I noticed it; A series of bright, flashing lights, radiated out from the corner of my room, lighting up my house in all the colors of the rainbow. It seemed to me to be a chaotic, random sequence at first, though I soon thought that I could see the semblance of a pattern in the chaos.

Then it all disappeared, and I opened my eyes to a blurry world, with two adults looking down upon me. Number 11 had begun his new life.

---

As Number 11 neared the age of 14, I had started to speculate about the nature of the sequence. Why had I never experienced that phenomenon before? There was only one conclusion that I could reasonably come to.

The sequence must be a result of the gods' interaction with the different worlds. Perhaps the gods draw mana, not from one world, but from many?

I was unsure about the details, but as soon as I was able to take use of my mana store, I hurried to separate more of my mana. Luckily, I had plenty to spend, as I had only separated very little as Number 10.

Planning to replicate the experiment, I travelled from the small village where I lived, all the way to the capital. There, I visited a cathedral. With me, I brought a series of small canisters, each containing a separated form of mana.

Placing the canisters in a circle around me, I closed my eyes and recounted the ritual I was taught by Gaia, to contact her.

Beyond my closed eyelids, I, once again, witnessed the series of flashing colors. It was hard to make out, but the sequence was undoubtedly different.

Determined to see my research through, I delayed my battle against the Demon Lord, who slowly began gaining power. By the time I had finally managed to record the entire sequence, I believe Gaia was starting to notice that I wasn't doing anything to quell the Demon Lord's forces. Unsurprising, considering the amount of excuses I had to make for the amount of times I contacted her.

If she had paid more attention, she may have noticed earlier, but I've long gotten the sense that she rarely watches me on my travels.

If she *had* been watching, I may not have been able to perform my research so uninterrupted, so I suppose I got lucky.

I knew that if I took any longer, I would be in trouble. They might force me to reincarnate, wiping my memories in the process, and I might never be able to complete my research. That's when I had the idea.

If this is truly related to the gods' magic, might there be a way for me to replicate it? To cast their magic?

Could there be a way back to Princess Sofia? If I could force a reincarnation, for example?

Maybe.

Just "maybe."

I decided to dedicate the remainder of my time to my battle with the Demon Lord and the greater monsters. On my travels, everywhere I went, and with every monster I killed, I wrote down the pattern of their magic. The sequence that would pave the road to the gods' magic, scattered across my mind.

It took longer than expected, but I eventually found myself fading away, the words of Gaia echoing in my mind.

---

When Number 12 was born, I found that my memory was in worse shape than ever before. It took me many years before I managed to compile enough to continue my work.

The sequence wasn't easy to reconstruct, but my plan had worked; Gaia hadn't been able to find and remove every instance of the pattern, but she must surely have known what I was trying to do.

Decades of work. Centuries, if you count my past lives. All leading up to this.

Nearing the end of my life as Number 12, I had finally done it. A magic so powerful, it could equal the power of the very gods whose torture I've had to endure for so long.

It was just one spell, but if it worked, it would be proof. Definitive evidence that it was possible to replicate the power of the gods.

What was the spell?

It was a way to overcome the biggest, most imminent problem. The gods - Gaia - was meddling with my brain. My memories.

The spell, if it worked, would be able to transfer memories, and even mana, across worlds, so I would never again forget.

---

I open my eyes to a vaguely familiar ceiling. I'm lying in a bed in the healers' building. There's a lightly burnt smell in the air around me and I can sense people in the room. A golden shape moves beside my bed and a young woman with blonde hair enters my field of vision.

My body aches as I move to speak to her. She must have woken up while we were away.

An exhausted voice leaves my lips.

"Elizabeth..?"