I was greeted by the sound of my own groaning. It was feminine, soft, and soothing, but dry and hoarse. It was something I had never heard before, yet it felt oddly familiar.
What happened before—the strange feeling of that dark limbo; the mystifying voice; the blinding, unreachable light; and the sensation of weightlessness—still haunted my thoughts.
I could recall it as vividly as I recalled the tragedy of my past existence.
I managed to come to the conclusion that I had transitioned from one existence to another. But where I was now remained a mystery.
The first sensation, from what I felt, was a gentle touch on my hand, as if someone was trying to comfort me. It was a strange mix of emotions, both comforting and unsettling at the same time. My skin crawled at the unfamiliar contact, my instinct to pull away suppressed by a desire to understand where I was.
And then came the discordant sound of unfamiliar voices speaking in a language I had never heard of before, yet I could understand clearly.
"She's moving!"
I heard a particular voice. It was soft, gratuitous, and filled with concern.
This caused me to slowly open my eyes.
I immediately noticed that one of my eyes seemed to be covered by hair.
But then, my eyes (or eye) beheld seven blurry figures looming over me on one side. There were a mix of maids, armoured knights of sorts, and rich-looking people. Wherever I was in this "First World," it was clear that, in reality, I had no idea what was happening or who these people were. My heart pounded, a familiar anxiety creeping in, making it hard to focus.
"Do you feel anything?" A voice asked me from the other side in a hopeful tone, which was part of another group of seven individuals clad in similar attire.
"Ah..." I attempted to speak, but my throat felt parched and scratchy.
"Take your time, dear. We can wait."
"But we need to figure out—"
"That can wait, Sable."
"Pardon my intrusion, Lady Lorelei, but Sable is right; we need to know what's going on and how she got struck with—" One of the others chimed in before getting interrupted.
"Like I said before, it can wait; she's just woken up from death and needs time to process everything..." Lady Lorelei's calm voice reassured me, but the urgency in the air made me realise that there was something important I needed to understand about my current situation.
For example, what death? I knew I... committed suicide in my past life, but how would they know? Wasn't I transported into a whole new world? Or... was this body occupied by someone before my arrival?
Nevertheless, I learned the names of two people—Lorelei, with sky-blue hair dressed in casual but expensive clothes, and Sable, with silver hair, also dressed in casual but wealthy attire.
Looking around more, I pondered my situation, which led me to to notice the room I was in.
Black and white seemed to be the main colour scheme; some of the furniture had onyx-trimmed edges and accents; and the room itself seemed to be some sort of aristocratic bedroom. Although I wasn't an expert on that topic, in my past life, I just listened to what people said and believed them. The opulence made me feel out of place, it was a massive difference to the squalor I was used to.
The air was heavy with the scent of roses among other things, and the lighting was soft yet elegant.
I then realised I was on a bed, with luxurious silk sheets and a canopy overhead. The feeling of the bed then suddenly arrived, and it felt like the missing piece to a puzzle I didn't know I was trying to solve.
