Chapter 1

The rainbow lights faded from her vision. Saranie blinked rapidly like waking up with the curtains open and the sun shining in the room. Looking around where she found herself, she saw a large, wide, room. Paintings on the wall, windows of glass, shelves, and a bunch of children sitting in an orderly fashion. To call them kids wouldn't be correct. They looked around the average age of fifteen. All human as well.

She turned her head to look behind her. It was a green wall… no a green board with white writing on it. It gave off a strange, dusty, scent. Her hand held a book, partially open to a page, with some written notes within it. It had a deep constant scent, but not of ink. There were some scratches and tears on it, but a complete masterpiece where she was… standing from. That gave her the moment to set the book down on a desk or table housing papers and books.

"Ms. Odaria is something wrong?"

Saranie turned around to find all the children looking at her. One of them had said something, but she didn't catch it in her musing. A girl was standing up in her seat.

"What?" Saranie was at a loss for words really. It felt so real and different from any dream she ever had.

The last thing she remembered was killing those cultists and closing the portal. Then-

---

Saranie blinked, but it turned dark. Looking around she found herself in some room. The blankets, pillows and the bed itself were fit for royalty. She could hear rain taping the windows to her left and right.

It felt cold as she removed the blankets and sat up. A dresser with a mirror on it, closet overflowing with many clothes and shoes, and some dark mirror box that reflected her movements. Although it was dark from her perspective, she could follow her movements in it.

To her left was some end table with a lamp. Saranie looked it over, but she didn't see how to use it. Instead she cast a simple light spell with her mana and the room brightened up.

As she moved over to the mirror, her light spell faltered. It wasn't her face she saw in the mirror. Looking over her hands they missed the callouses and tougher skin. In their place fair hands of a noble reflected back at her. In some… revealing nightgown she found none of her scars were present and her armor was lost. Quickly pinching herself as she was furiously trying to wake up, but the pain was present.

---

"What did you say?" Some woman sitting in front of her spoke in a loud tone over the other patrons of this tavern.

Music and other conversations dominated the space she was in. Many people, humans, dancing around, drinking, laughing and all around having fun. It was bright all around, but no fireplace, candles or magic were present.

She could even taste something in her mouth. It had a salty taste, so she quickly took a gulp from the drink in her hand. It was a strange beverage, like most things recently, but it was cold and a little strong. Looking down at herself, the clothing she was wearing covered her up and with the drink flowing through her, getting quite warm. With two layers, she took the top one off before realizing this wasn't her body again.

"Who are you?" Rather than the person in front of her, she was saying it more towards her body.

---

Blinking again, she found herself back in that room where the teenagers were. Although there were just a few sitting around. Two teenagers walked in wearing some strange clothing. 'Again.' Considering before and the others in the room, she would be the strange one.

"Good morning Ms. Odaria!" One of the girls who just entered said towards her.

Towards the door where they entered from a bunch of voices came from and loud slamming sounds came from. Then back over towards the windows, she could see the sun rising up over…

"Whoa…"

The buildings were tall and had mirrors all on the sides of them. No, looking closer she could see through them.

'All windows!'

More teenagers came in going towards the chairs. Setting down books, papers down on a desk that they sat at. Comparing her the faces she saw for a moment at most, the ones currently there were in the same spots as before.

Wiping a hand through her black hair-

'This isn't my hair.'

Everything was happening so suddenly. Quickly moving towards the door, she looked out to see a bunch of teenagers roaming the hall, all human again, and some adults. The walls were the same color as the room she was in, but those loud slams were the teenagers closing some small space with a large force.

---

The first thing Saranie noticed this time was the taste of some soup. Vegetables, meat…

"Chicken!"

Quickly spurting out the food in her mouth she saw a small kitchen. A sink, cupboards, a large white box, and even the table she was sitting at. Quickly she stood up, letting the chair fall to the floor. The ground was some white tile, a little dirty, but overall clean. A light above her shining bright.

Turning towards people talking, she found a box she could easily lift. It made her think of a fly based on where the sound was coming out.

"… they were sent to the hospital. Now moving on to sports after a short word from our sponsor." A man's voice spoke through it.

Some music started to play and then they talked about 'shaving cream'. It weirded her out more than her curiosity at the strange item. Like everything, she sensed no mana coming from it.

Saranie took the time to walk around this space. Leaving the kitchen area, the tiles changed into a carpet. But it wasn't a rug, but all over the place. It was a little coarse, but felt nice on her feet. The light from the kitchen lit up her way. There were some clothes on the floor. Ones she never expected to see. In a basket, some clothes hung out, but one stood out among the rest. It was the same one from that tavern.

---

"Tell me more about these episodes." An older woman sat in a red chair, laid back with her glasses hanging off her nose. A board and paper in her hand and something to write with.

Saranie found herself sitting on a couch, with the same design as the chair. A lamp in the corner and a light up on the ceiling. The carpet like the home laid on the floor, although in a blue color. The shoes she was wearing prevented her from touching the floor with her skin, but it looked much softer than where she was eating. The home where this body lived.

"Is something wrong Odaria?" The older woman caught her attention. Saranie did see a bookcase behind her, although asking questions right now is more important.

"Me?" Saranie used her pointer finger and aimed it at herself. Then looked behind her to find a wall and window looking out to more of those tall buildings. Actually she could tell she was high up in one, but she needed to focus. "Odaria… where am I?"

The woman in front of her narrowed her eyes for a moment. Before sitting up and straightening herself out. No longer laid back. This woman reminded her of the commander.

"This is my office. Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine…" She let her words drag out to form another question. Trying to not panic. "Who are you?"

"My name is Gyellat. Do you not remember me?" There was a clear amount of concern in her voice.

"It's the first time I've met you…"

---

Once again Saranie blinked and found herself in another location. This time it was a familiar one. She was sitting at a table with a large paper in her hands. She folded it along its crease and let it lie down on the table.

"The shower's ready for you. How are you feeling?"

A woman drying herself off with a white fluffy towel walked around the corner. Another towel was already hiding behind another towel on her head. A question already was forming in her mind.

"Who are you?" Then Saranie recognized this woman. She was the one sitting across from her in that tavern.

Also considering it was dark outside the windows, it was either before sunrise or after it now.

The woman quickly changed tune and started to worry. She quickly moved closer to Saranie, but she backed up and let the chair, same one as before, fall to the floor.

"Odaria, do you not remember me? It's me, Litalsse."

"Stay back." Her training told her she could take Litalsse. Although she needed answers. "What is going on? Did you do this to me?" She could already tell this was no dream if the previous times were any-

"Calm down Odaria. I won't hurt you see." Litalsse stepped back to put her hands in the air. Not one of surrender, but it was clear she meant no harm.

"Alright first, my name isn't Odaria. Second, I would like you to answer my questions. I'm sick of finding myself in these strange places at strange times. I am sick of 'strange'." She heavily emphasized that word in her frustration. "I just want to know what's going on."

Litalsse seemed to be at a loss for words at the moment, before getting her thoughts arranged.

"Um… what's your name?" She sounded so unsure of herself.

---

"Arghh!" Saranie screamed in frustration when she blinked again and saw that she was looking up.

She was in bed and it seemed to be still dark out like before. It was a familiar room, although it drove her mad. Why was this happening? Why wasn't she in her body? What was this strange world?

It was clear that this wasn't her world. There was just no possible way it was. The buildings and all the strange items. The lack of dirt to most things was an easy thing to spot. The people and their clothing. Everything really and it was all 'strange'.

She ripped the pillow out from behind her and threw it at the wall. She let out another scream of frustration.

Footsteps came from outside the door, letting Litalsse burst forth in the room.

"What's wrong Odaria?"

"I'm not her. I'm not. What is going on?" She was freaking out and it wasn't getting better. Nothing made sense. Saranie clutched her head and rocked back and forth.

Arms wrapped around her. She found Litalsse hugging her and making gentle noises.

"It's alright. Just take a deep breath and relax."

She followed those orders. Her mind was clearing up. Only now did she realize there had been a fog all over her thoughts. There was something else there, but for now she focused on Litalsse.

"I'm sorry for that."

"Don't worry about it. Just take your time."

A few more moments later, Saranie collected herself.

"I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Saranie. Do you know what's going on? Why am I in this body of 'Odaria' as you call her?"

Litalsse had pulled away from her and started chuckling. Before Saranie could ask, she collected herself enough.

"I don't know what is going on. I just think it's funny for my best friend to… uhm talk about herself like that."

"I'm not her though."

"Ah sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Then that 'body' of my best friend… Well Saranie, it's nice to meet you." She held out her hand and Saranie met it and shook it.

"Is this common? You just seem to be taking this rather well."

"It might seem that way. I'm low on sleep and this whole thing is strange to me too. It just hasn't caught up with me I guess."

"So you don't know what this could be?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know Odaria… I mean Saranie."

"It's fine. I was-

---

"… just hoping."

"What did you say Ms. Odaria?"

Saranie's voice had already been trailing there at the end. She was in deep thought and being ripped from her conversation with Litalsse frustrated her, but held it back. Afterall a bunch of teenagers were now staring at her. With her mind a bit cleared, she now found this all the more strange.

Based on the setting, she could infer they were learning. Scholars of some kind. Although she was never in a room like this, given it being a different world, her commanding officer trained them lined up like this. They happened to be standing and outside, but they happened to be in a similar grid like fashion.

Saranie now wanted to flee this situation because it was too much for her.

"I'll be back shortly. Just do whatever you want." Saranie made her way for the door and just left.

The door closed behind her and she moved her way through the halls. Catching glimpses of the rooms she passed through a small window in the doors. The floors were made out of sleek white tiles. While the ones at Odaria's home, based on how many times she had appeared there before, were smaller and much cleaner.

Taking a right down the hallway it was just as the same as the one she was in. Red doors, super small closets she guessed, to her right and more door ways leading to rooms with students. As one of them came into view, Saranie saw Litalsse. Quickly knocking on the door all the faces turned towards her.

Litalsse said something to the teenagers, before walking out of the room. The door muffled the noise, as the hallways were quiet.

"Odaria is something wrong? No, wait… Saranie?"

"Yes, uhm you're here too?" She was nervous as there were a few faces looking through the window towards her. They both were whispering.

"Odaria and I are teachers at this school. What are you-

---

"… a ghost or something? I mean it could be, but… this is so weird. I'm just trying to understand it all I guess. Sorry I'm not really being helpful." Litalsse hid her face behind the ceramic cup she was holding. Saranie could see the steam coming off the top, letting her know it was warm.

She was sitting right next to her and there was a similar cup on a small table in front of her. A thin blanket around them both, while a box in front of them talked with moving pictures.

"What is that thing?" She couldn't help but ask. It was amazing. No mana, but it was functioning.

"What are you talking about? Oh… of course Saranie. Are you talking about the TV?"

"Tee-Vee? How is it even working? There's no magic. Wait, no, stop!"

"What?" Litalsse was startled by that sudden increase in tone.

She started thinking. Clearly she was limited in the amount of time she had left.

"I don't know how much time I have. Has Odaria told you what happens on her end of things?"

"Uh…uh… She mentioned that the time where 'you' showed up, it was just missing from her memory. Until earlier where you found me at school, she said that it was like a fuzzy memory."

Saranie thought back to just before this one and couldn't remember anything. One moment she was standing in that hallway and the next she was here.

"I don't remember anything like that. When was that? When we were in the hallway at school?"

"A couple hours ago."

"Hours?"

"You know… um how do I explain that?"

---

Saranie smelt a flowery scent around her. She found herself in the water. Bubbles popped slowly, giving off that smell. It was a small room. The bath, toilet, sink and light above.

Instead of moving or trying to figure out what was going on Saranie spent this time relaxing in the bath. She had never been in one like this with hot water. It was just too good to give up.

It didn't matter if it wasn't her body if she could still enjoy a bath.

---

Saranie felt herself fall to the ground as her foot stopped before it could touch the ground.

"Odaria, are you hurt?" Litalsse called out as she leaned down to giver Saranie a hand.

"Thanks."

The sun was just coming up over the horizon. Based on how Odaria and Litalsse were dressed, she could guess they were going back to the school. It was similar to what they wore during school time.

Something else she noticed were these things passing them on the black road to her left.

"What are those?"

"Cars… I'll take it back Saranie?" Then she quickly grabbed her wrist. "Your bleeding. Come with me, we'll go to the nurses office to get this fixed."

Saranie looked at the scratch and it was barely bleeding. Litalsse made it sound like she lost her limb.

"I'm fine, it's a scratch. Here let me heal it up."

Saranie used her mana to heal her cut. Although focused on the sword, being able to heal wounds in battle was necessary. This wound she got was easy enough to fix.

Now that she thought about it, her lifeforce did change when she closed the portal.

Instead of continuing to walk, Litalsse just stood there with her mouth hung open. It was like…

"No… no no no no no… no no no no." Saranie made the connection right there. The reason why she felt no mana from people or around her. "You people don't have mana?"

"Don't do that again, not in front of anyone. And yes, that was… cool, but don't show anyone."

Saranie could understand her worry. If she was the only one who had something, others might try to get at her for it.

Looking around, many people were nearby, but she couldn't see any that stared at her. Nothing to suggest someone had seen. Even if they did, the time it took to heal that scratch was minimal, only letting a little green glow for a moment.

"I understand." Saranie's voice was more somber than she had hoped. It was like losing a friend. No one would be able to use it. As Saranie understood it, no one even emitted mana here. Back in her world, even if someone was just born or never used mana, there was some in their body. "What about lifeforce?"

"Nothing magic related. At least not here. All of it is fiction. So promise-"

---

Saranie was starting to realize the time these 'episodes', as she barely remembered Gyellat referred to them as or something, were getting shorter. Now she was in front of the teenagers again. Not really though.

She was sitting in a chair, behind a big desk. One of the boys was in front of the class holding a poster of some kind. It had drawings and writing on it, detailing something. She couldn't see it now as he flattened the board on the table in front of that green wall. The students, a better word for them, were now clapping for the boy. It was more reminiscent of when one of the officers would tell the trainees they would run for a few more kilometers and their sarcastic cheers drove home how frustrated they were. For the students though, it was more out of boredom.

The boy in front was looking at her now and the clapping died down. They all started to turn to her as well.

"You can take your seat." She had no idea what to say or what was going on. Clearly some sort of presentation from what she heard at the tail end, but other than that she didn't know. Looking around the room, she saw others with similar posters. "Next." Should she be happy to hear something or not, Saranie had no idea how to act. Next time she was going to ask Litalsse what she should do.

The kids turned to each other, non really moving from their spots. Just chatting really about mundane stuff. At least that was what she caught from their whispers. Before Saranie was worried that she did something wrong or there were no more, one of the kids stood up and walked to the front. The girl had lots of freckles and a huge pair of glasses. She was sitting in the front, furthest away from Saranie. The seat next to where the boy from up next the board found his seat.

---

A quick sigh escaped her mouth. But quickly she was choking on some food, so she started coughing it up. There were people around her, adults, some old and young, asked her if she was ok, as she was choking.

"I'm fine *cough* I'm alright." A few more coughs to clear her airways.

Next to her, Litalsse was patting her back like she was a baby. Although it did help her, so it was fine.

"Doing better?"

"Thank you."

---

Clearly that coughing took up a lot of time, as she now found herself holding a door handle. She closed the door as it was opened and looked around. Litalsse and a small grassy area were behind her. Even further than that was a black road with some of those cars. None were moving, but the sight was nice.

"Saranie?"

"Oh sorry, did you say something?"

Litalsse sighed and pushed, gently, passed Saranie opened the door and went into the house. "Come in."

"I need to ask before I can't, what do I do with those teenagers, the students. I'm so confused about what to do."

"Odaria and I already talked about it earlier today. See this notebook here, she will have it near her all the time. Just look through it and it should help you. She's going to be writing down a lot tonight. Although from what she said, you popped in during her class, so you are appearing more lately. This is your fourth time today right?"

"I think so." From her context, it would make sense. Based on the lighting from outside, it did feel like a single day, although it was hard to tell in general.

"Before you go, can I ask you about magic?" Clearly giddy about the idea.

"Go ahead."

"I saw you heal, but can you shoot fireballs?"

"I can, although I'm not efficient with them. It'd probably use up a quarter of my mana for something like that."

"What about-"

---

She was sitting at the table with a writing utensil in her hand. Saranie recognized it from Gyellat's office and the various other places she has appeared, like at school.

The red notebook Litalsse had shown her was in front of her. Going through the pages, there was a lot already there. Almost four pages, just the front side, were filled.

The first page almost started as a diary.

[I don't know who is reading this, but hello! I'm Odaria. If it's Saranie, then do you know what is going on? I've been trying to think of what this could be. Some split personality as Gyellat had guessed or some ancient wizard from what Gyellat was talking about. I don't really know who you are, so would you tell me?]

A big area was left alone on that page for Saranie to write it in. Looking at the other pages, just skimming, Odaria talked about her day to day life. Do's and don'ts. Certain etiquette for different people. Especially when in front of her students. In big underlined letters.

[Don't leave the classroom!]

Well Saranie wouldn't do that again. She had no intention of taking over Odaria's life or making it worse.

[Hello, this is Saranie. So a little about myself. I grew up an orphan, trained as a blacksmith before the war, then I was, still am, a soldier. I fought against other kingdoms before we learned the truth about the real enemy. Those filthy-]

---

Even thinking about the cultist frustrated her. Then when she blinked it was dark outside. She could see it through the window, but one of the lamps to her left was still on. She was covered in a blanket and there was a pillow behind her head. This wasn't the bedroom, but the living space. She was in front of the TV and the table had the red notebook on it with the writing utensil next to it.

Saranie finished her introduction before looking through the notebook.

[… cultists lead the world against each other. They were making a portal to another plane and bringing in monsters. I was the last one alive and I closed the portal. But it exploded and then I found myself here in this world in your body.]

It was good enough as an introduction and told her what she believed to be the reason for how this whole thing happened. She still couldn't wrap her head around how it worked and if there was a way to stop it.

For the rest of the time, she read through the notes Odaria had written out for her.