Prologue

I awaken to the sound of rain pattering against the nearby window. My hand, which I had been resting my head on, is drenched from my earlier crying. Still a bit stuffy, I don't even bother reaching across to pull the window shut. Instead, I simply sit and watch the rain come through but as the first drops make their way towards me, they stop. The previously busy city goes quiet as I find myself staring at an impossible sight. There before my very eyes, the world has stopped. Rain droplets float frozen in time. Birds flying by are suspended mid-flight.

Moving to take a closer look, I lean against the windowsill and find that even the people on the street are frozen in place. What's happening and why am I the only one moving?

"Why are you in such pain, my child?"

Looking for the voice, I come face to face with a man who seems to be floating just outside my window. Thinking I am seeing things, I rub my eyes and sure enough, once I remove them, he's gone. Still, the question hits home and before long, tears fall from my eyes as the emotions, bottled deep inside, burst forth.

As I sit, crying, a hand touches my shoulder. Looking up, I find a stranger standing beside me. It's a woman whom I've never met before. As I continue to take in her features, I notice that her eyes are almost neon purple in colour whilst her hair is snowy white. Despite these, however, it's her gentle smile that manages to calm me if only for a brief moment.

"Now, now. Don't cry."

She pulls me into an embrace and, despite her words, I let my emotions pour forth. She doesn't pull away, instead, allowing me to take all the time I need. I'm not sure how much time has passed or whether I fell asleep or not but I open my eyes sometime later to find my head still resting on her shoulder. Looking up, I find her mesmerising eyes watching me closely. Pulling away, I attempt to apologize but she stops me.

"Are you feeling better?"

"I am."

"That's good to hear but what are you going to do now?"

I open my mouth to answer but as I remember that my entire family is dead, the words are lost. She notices but doesn't comment, instead, giving me all the time I need. Thinking about the future, I find that there's simply nothing there. I remember wanting to become an Entrepreneur mere days earlier but now...

"What if I were to give you another choice?"

"Another...choice?"

What does she mean by that? I'm sure that the only thing left for me in this world is pain and heartache. I'm eighteen so the government won't find a home to put me in but I've never worked a day in my life before. I don't even know where to start. Seemingly reading my mind, she laughs and stands.

"I'm not thinking along those lines."

She offers me a hand and after some hesitation, I take it. There's a bright flash of light and once my eyes readjust, I find that we're no longer in my house. In fact, we're not standing in space.

Panicking, I gasp for air and struggle to stay still but she smiles and pulls me close, helping in the process to calm me down. Once I manage to do so, I realize that I'm not having any issues with breathing. Neither am I plummeting to the planet we're hovering over.

Planet...

Space...

Wait! How did we get here? As it dawns on me, I turn to face the person who had appeared out of the blue, seemingly to comfort me, but they aren't there. In fact, it's almost as though they were never there, to begin with. Is this all just a dream? Have I already lost my mind to my grief?

"You're not dreaming."

Turning to face the voice, I am surprised to find not one, but three separate individuals staring back at me. So startled am I that for a brief moment I simply stand, dumbfounded. As I continue staring, I notice that I recognize two of the three. The man in the middle was the one that appeared to me first. At the time, I had thought I was simply hallucinating because mere seconds later, there was a female there instead, but here they are both before me as separate entities.

"Entities huh?"

"That's certainly one way to think of us."

The two males both speak, almost in unison. As I take in their presence, I notice that everyone here is dressed in one colour or the next. The man on the left is dressed in black and has black hair but red eyes. His appearance is menacing but he also seems rather relaxed. The lady on the right, however, is dressed in stark contrast to her leftmost counterpart. Her hair, much like her clothing, is completely white. Still, it's her eyes that mesmerize me. They are, as before, neon purple and in the darkness of space, they glisten like miniature stars.

"Pretty..."

She laughs and her peers all join in. I hide my face in embarrassment but aren't allowed to hide for long. The soft, caressing, feeling of skin brushing against my own causes me to quickly refocus. Removing my hands from my face, I found myself face to face with the same lady I admired mere moments earlier.

"So...will you take my offer?"

"What's the offer?"

I'm still completely clueless as to what I'm being offered here. Looking around, I remember the planet we're hovering over. At first, I thought it was Earth, but the landmasses aren't even remotely similar to Earth's. Looking at what I assume is the North Pole of this planet, I notice that it seems to have a similar climate structure to Earth. Perhaps these beings are going to offer me this planet. What would I do with an entire planet though...especially if I don't have anyone to share it with?

"That's an excellent question."

"Indeed. To answer your original question, however, we're offering you a new life."

"We're offering you the chance to start over."

"A new life in a world fit for the taking."

It takes a while for it to sink in but I've seen enough anime to understand what's happening here. I must have really lost my mind if my imagination is resorting to this. Perhaps it was the tea I drank earlier after being dropped off by the police. Yes...that must be it, bad tea. There's simply no way this is happening right now.

"Well, even so, tell us, what would you like if this were true?"

I think about this for a moment and decide to indulge myself just a little. After all, if this is merely my imagination, nothing I say or do can't possibly hurt here. It'd also explain why I am breathing and standing up like normal in space.

First, I think of an appearance but nothing comes to mind but looks that are all similar to the supposed "Goddess" before me. I simply can't get over her purple eyes and long white hair. Then, I imagine myself strong, really strong. If I must start over, I want to be strong enough to never have to lose the people I care about ever again!

"Interesting...is that all?"

I think about this for a moment and decide that ultimately, if I'd have to start over, I'd really like someone to spend my life with. I don't want to start as a baby. I can't imagine having to go to school all over again. The mere thought alone terrifies me. Still, if I'm continuing from my current age onwards, I'd want to be 21 and never age. I wouldn't want a partner since it'd be much more appealing to find love on my own but it wouldn't hurt to have a little sister or something similar. I've always wanted one. It'd also be pretty good if we couldn't die or rather even if we did get killed, we'd simply return to one another, always.

"For someone who thinks this is merely her imagination, you're really taking this seriously."

"That she is...and it's a good thing too. What name would you give yourself in this new world?"

Name huh? I suppose I'd change my name. Skylar sounds about right. If anything I can even shorten it to Sky. Though, it doesn't quite match my ideal eye colour. Raelynn is another great name that I could easily shorten to not give strangers my full name...

As I continue the internal debate over what name to choose, each of the three beings sits back and watch patiently. I notice and try to speed up my selection process but I simply can't think of a better name than Raelynn. Deciding to settle on it, though still feeling slightly unsure, I made my decision.

"I'd go with Raelynn."

"Just Raelynn?"

"Huh?"

"I say we give her both, agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Then go forth, Raelynn Skylar Lorei!"

"Indeed, enjoy this new life that you've been granted. Live life to your heart's desires."

"We will be watching-"

Before I can respond, there's another blinding flash of light and before long I find myself slowly slipping into darkness.