Walking Disasters and Me-Reckoning and Purpose – Ch 1 and Proper Introductions – Ch 2
"-UCK?!" I scream out into the, admittedly beautiful, sky. I just got done nearly coming undone accidentally, lost to this whole new sensation and body apparently, when I looked up and saw that there were
rings.
Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore.
To top it all off, a Windows esq message bombarded my eyes! In my near hysterical state, I almost gave in to panic then and there. It was just... too much for me. Sandra was always the one who could keep a ship between the lines. Wait no, that's the wrong expression.. Bus? Yeah they have to be in lines right?
Okay so despite my best efforts I may be having a
bit
of a panic attack still. I blame that EF-5 level cloud formation and the random ass message that got beamed into my head. Who just pings you right when you're processing reality?! At least let a girl wake up for 5 minutes and have her coffee!
With a sickly-sweet feminine voice, I hear inside my definitely not coffee addicted mind:
'I can always talk this way if you give me authorization Host!~'
Shocked again by this foreign yet familiar seeming invader, I fall onto my rear, now looking down to the ground beneath my...
Holy shit...
my thighs are so comfy... The thought makes me shudder in fear again, remembering that I was pretty average in all categories back home. Decent chest, decent thighs and ass, apparently very tight from what my ex-girlfriends said. But this... this is not my body from before. I run my hands along my new thighs again, this time noting the fat to muscle ratio. Wait...
I am in a totally new body... I start to hyperventilate, the new-ness of the situation finally having run its course through my shocked mind. Nothing is right, even my hands feel alien to me as they grip my face which has a look of terror. As I'm about to fully descend into a classic Amelia grade panic attack, the voice comes back inside my head and starts speaking comfortingly.
'
Whoa!
Slow down there killer, you're going to die of a heart attack if you keep this up!~
I know this situation is new for you, and you understandably have a
load
of questions, but for now I need you to take deep breaths and try your hardest to relax. Can you do that for me sweetie~?'
I nod my head shakily as I try to get my breathing and pulse under control. The voice sounds a lot like Sandra, so it helps more than maybe I realize in calming me down. She was always the one that navigate my outbursts the best, not that I needed it much these days being an adult an all. I even had my own job and apartment, with an automatic coffee maker! Take that high school quote that said I'd be a mess forever! Who cares if I'm still terrified of going outside half the time?? Not me!...
Right, need to actually calm down and focus. I keep taking deep, calming breaths as my hands run through my hair, which is also changed from my chestnut brown to a deep, dark red color. I'll just file that away to the "panic attack" folder. Hmm... Its getting full in there... Oh well, that's future Aims problems not mine~!
Once I've finally stabilized enough to take in my surroundings the voice in my head pops back up.
'Alright honey~! Seems like you're finally calm enough to talk now. I was worried for a second there!' The voice giggles at the end of the statement before adopting a kind, yet serious tone.
'
So
you are not in the world you were before. Surprise!~ and sorry. You and your family had just gone out to get dinner together when a drunk driver hit your dad's truck. Your dad and mom lived, and as far as I could tell they were going to make a good recovery, your mom will probably have some lingering issues since she was on the side the driver hit. But! Your dad was mostly fine! He was already up and about, taking care of your mom when I snooped around. Honestly I was surprised, you don't see men like him much these days!'
While the news is being shared, the hyperventilating begins to surface again, my loose control over my emotions taking a severe critical hit from.. well, from everything. My mother and father are safe, thank God, but it wasn't just me in that old, rusty truck. What happened to Sandra? Where is she? Can I even find her here, wherever here is? Why am I still alive if she isn-
'
Easy there
hun, calm down its going to be fine!! It's okay, you're in a safe spot for now, I made sure to put you here after all~. Just keep breathing, focus on my voice. It's going to be okay, alright? I know this is scary, but we have a bit of time still to go over everything. There is no rush, you're safe and I'll protect you as best I can for now okay?'
I nod my head shakily as I begin to hug myself, trying to get some form of grounding and comfort as my worldview continues to take a 180.
'So, you're safe. Yes, keep breathing deep honey~! What happened that lead you to here was tragic, and I'm sorry you had to experience it. Quite frankly, the only reason I was able to save your soul was because
someone
had some kind of weirdly strong attachment to somebody else hehe~'
'Teasing you aside, I was able to nab your little co dependent soul before it slipped into the Ether, which is what beings like me call the afterlife basically. If you slip into there, you're going to follow an endless river with other souls until you eventually get born again. It takes a very powerful soul, or people bonded so strongly, to avoid the rivers currents and personality destructing features.'
'Now, before you have another panic attack, the only reason I saved you was because of your connection like I mentioned previously. Yes, you could have floated along the river until you met with your mate again, but that's
so
boring!! And! Your connection is so strong!~ It was truly a sight to see!
Thats why I pulled you out before you got to the river, so to speak. Your connection, and its connection to you, is dazzling honey!~ I promise, I will shepard you into the natural flow when you are ready, but you are such a fighter and have so much left to do! While I was collecting you, I also noticed that your mate, Sandra's soul, came with you too~! Can you imagine?? Honestly honey, this level of connection isn't heard of in my world, although your human media maybe has examples hehe~.'
My veins turned to ice once the voice finished giving me a crash course in my previous life and.. hang ups. Sandra? Here?? If mom and dad are safe back home then why.. oh no. Tears start flowing down my new heart shaped face before I can stop them, and soon I'm back into a fetal position. The voice doesn't call me out on it this time, seemingly it understands that I just need to... cry it out a bit. I feel this strange power around me for a good distance while I'm indisposed, maybe that's how she's keeping any nasty critters or bad folks away.
There is only one thought that rings through the chaos of my tumultuous mind as I cradle myself in this foreign body... Sandra is here. She's alive. And I have to find her.
Having nearly fully recovered my wits after a few more minutes of wallowing in panic, my determination to move forward spurns me to action. I rise shakily back to a standing position, taking in the sight around me. It seems like the area I landed in was a lush forest, with me standing in a clearing of light foliage in about a 30 ft radius. I say was, because now it looks like my arrival coincided with a nuke going off! All the trees are devoid of any kind of leaves or even smaller branches, only the thickest ones close to the trunks are remaining. Some bigger trees are even split at the base and fallen, making it look like a lumberjacks dream. The grass field below me is burnt in spiderwebbed patterns centralizing on where I now stand, the earth itself seems to be turned to glass where these burn marks appear. A faint bit of heat can still be felt from the cracks as I kneel down to inspect one close to where my feet are.
The voice in my head takes this opportunity to reappear in her usual giggling, sing song, high pitched tone. Her voice is actually kind of cute, too bad every time she's talked to me so far it's been to drop info bombs on top of my head...
'Welcome back dear!~ I figured I should let you process a bit, I know this is turning out to be quite the exciting day for you! I'll try to go slower and ease you into this new reality more, but we are, sadly, on the clock. Your... Our.. grand entrance is going to draw
alot
of attention from the locals, and likely some of the bigger players on this world that you are sooooo not ready for. I used some of the energy that this pissy Heaven threw our way when we landed to erect a sort of camouflage for now, but it's on a timer.
First things first, I got so excited to meet and talk with you that I forgot to give a proper lady like introduction, hehe!~ My name is Ios, and it is my absolute pleasure to meet you Amelia. I am not a being of this world, or your previous world. My kind exists sort of in-between the 3rd and 4th dimensions, we can dip our toes into either for a time but ultimately, we cannot reside there forever. However, the timescales we can exist in those planes is longer than the human civilization, so don't feel too bad for little old me cutie~. Are you with me so far hun?'
I nod, so far everything makes about as much sense as the flying spaghetti monster being the one true deity of the universe so why not add in a bit more spice. "Yeah," my voice comes out husky and low, like a late-night singer in a ritzy slow jazz bar. It surprises me enough that I stop talking for a second and a blush comes to my cheeks. Okay no. No, no, no. I am not getting turned on
by my own voice.
Thats where I draw the line on this insanity! I always had a lower voice growing up after puberty, but this voice sounds like me if I was a few years older and making porn! Like, dommy mommy shit!!
Shaking my head to try and rid myself of this embarrassing moment, I continue.
"Yeah *cough* yeah, I'm following so far Ios. So, you're some kind of.. eldritch being beyond comprehension here to offer this mortal untold power on a whim. Damn, Lovecraft really was spitting facts huh."
I hear a breathy laughing tumble through my head as Ios replies, 'He really nailed alot of things, Thu-Thu was so annoyed that he was exposed so badly hahaha!~ To be fair, old Thu-ly did play around in your world a bit too much back in Lovecraft's time. It was inevitable
someone
was going to dox him.'
The hits to my sanity just keep coming today it seems...
'So to get us back on track! Like I said earlier, I have brought you here to this world, and I promise I did have a solid reason to do so beyond your beautiful connection to your sister. Ironically,
my
sister Ilya was the one who came up with this whole arrangement! Isn't that neat?~ She's the absolute best I swear, she is incredibly smart and leads her own research hub back in our dimension! *Ahem* Right before I show you more of
my own
sister complex, Ilya's idea was to see how two souls woven together extremely tightly could handle the transmigration process. In her words, alot of souls reincarnate allll the time, but when souls transmigrate from another reality, universe, whatever, they usually are alone. In her research, the few times interconnected souls did transmigrate, they became a sort of.. dual consciousness. Two minds residing in the same body kind of deal, with both of their souls merged together.
So! She devised a way to keep the souls separate during the transmigration process, so long as the souls were at least soulmate quality in connection. Good news is it worked! You and Sandra are both here in this plane as separate, fully individual souls!'
At least this info dump gives me more hope and fuels my reason to embark on this wild ass journey I find myself in. I chime in before the next new revelation can blindside me.
"So, both my sister and I are here, safe and sound. If that's true, then where is she? Shouldn't we have appeared together?"
Ios replies in her usual beyond upbeat manner, 'Thats a good point! This is the perfect opportunity to showcase how you and I are going to tackle this whole world together. I promise we will get back to the grand, overarching plan that Ilya made and I facilitated, but this next bit of info is going to be
crucial.
How familiar are you with RPG games and stuff back in your old world?'
"Uhm... Fairly? Sandra played more of those kinds of games more than me, but I'm not clueless about the basics." I thoughtfully reply after a moment of consideration. I was more into strategy games and shooters, but I would never turn down a chance to spend time with Sandy and watch her be so intense and sucked into games like Baulder's Gate or Fallout.
'Great!' Ios sings back, 'Then you should be totally able to adjust to this little tidbit!'
Bright gold letters appear in front of my face, the message:
[Quest Started: Find Your Long-Lost Sister!
Rewards: 10 Skill Points and 500 Shop Points!]
I find that I am less startled than previously, when all this craziness began. Maybe I'm adjusting? My therapist would be so proud. Or I'm still slightly dissociating, in which case they would be not as proud.. But hey, I'm doin' my best out here alright?! I find that I can "will away" the prompt in my face, basically just mentally think to get rid of it and its gone. Which is nice, definitely need to find a better way to get those messages going forward though, that seems like quite the hazard if I'm moving about or doing something that needs focus.
"Okay, I saw the quest kick in. We need to talk about how to get notifications and shit later. Seems kind of... dangerous right??" I ask aloud after taking a second to think.
A breathy laugh answers back, 'You're absolutely right! I can make like, a quest journal that you can access mentally instead. I'll try to prompt you on the bigger ones, just so they don't slip your attention, but probably an easier way to handle them going forward. You can just think about opening your journal, and then bam! You'll have a whole laundry list of things to do, like any proper RPG. Fetch quests galore!'
Please, God, no.
'Anyway' the suddenly sadistic voice continues, 'I think this would be a good time to show you your status page! Another classic trope, just think or say "Status" and it will open in your mind for you!~'
Exhausted by the amount of energy one eldritch being can possess while still being shockingly helpful, I say aloud for now: "Status."
Status Screen
Name:
Amelia "Aims" Dufort
Race
Human (Reborn)
Titles:
[Intertwined Soul] [Reincarnator] [Favored by Ios] [Favored by Ilya] [Defier of the Heavens] [Touched by the Void] [Hardened Soul] [Charon's Little Helper] [Otherworldly Beauty] [Pro Athlete] [Alumni] [Survivor]
Level
1
(Exp Gain Multiplier +175% from Titles)
Cultivation Methods
None
Health:
390 / 390
(Base 150 + 10 per CON = 300) (+ 30% from Titles)
Recovery Rate: 6 pts per hour
(Base 5 + 1 per 10 CON)
Stamina:
562 / 650
(Base 100 + 10 per DEX and CON = 500) (+ 30% from Titles) (Being Drained by Active Effects, 10 pts per hour)
Recovery Rate: 8 pts per hour
(Base 5 + 1 per 10 CON and + 1 per 10 DEX)
Stored Qi
0
(Accumulation Rate Boost +175% from Titles) (Being Absorbed by Active Effects)
Active Effects:
[Soul Storage (Occupied) (Incubating)] [Mild Panic (Recovering)] [Grief (Processing)] [Mild Confusion (Receding)] [Qi Concealment (Active Time Remaining: 5:50:27)] [Determination (Filled)]
Ability Scores:
Strength (STR)
10
Dexterity (DEX)
25
Constitution (CON)
15
Intelligence (INT)
20
Wisdom (WIS)
12
Charisma (CHA)
100
Luck (LCK)
500
Active Skills:
[Inspect lvl 1] [Appraise lvl 1] [Charm lvl 10 (MAX)] [Steady Breathing lvl 5]
Passive Skills:
[Allure lvl 10 (MAX)] [Firearm Mastery (MAX)] [Advanced Learning lvl 5] [Cooking lvl 3]
Available Ability Points:
100
Available Skill Points:
10
Available Shop Points:
500
.
!
Reckoning and Purpose – Ch 1 and Proper Introductions – Ch 2
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