The End

"Your name is Kokirai Sora. You're dead, I'm God, and I'd like to offer you a gift."

Their words sunk in like the teeth of a crocodile catching its prey. At first, all I could do was blankly stare at them, waiting for them to take back what they had just said, but they didn't. All they did was stare at me, awaiting my response.

There was no way I could be dead. I had hardly even lived my life! The only memories I had were of the dark, empty, colorless world I had been not even a few minutes before. How many years had I been in there? It couldn't have been enough to last an entire lifetime... it couldn't have been…

I could feel my blood boiling. Was I being tricked? Was I being tricked by this being, who called themselves God? Were they taking advantage of my state? Of the place I was from? Did they think I could be easily tricked like that? That had to be it. There wasn't any logical explanation for them to tell me something like that.

Unfortunately for them, they chose to mess with the wrong girl. I could see right through them.

"Admirable," the lavender-haired being said, twirling a long strand between their fingers, "but admirably wrong."

I had not said anything, I was sure of it. I had not been thinking out loud... had I? No, I knew for a fact that I definitely had not been. So... how? Unless... no, it couldn't be. It wasn't possible. Things like that just don't happen in real life…

"You- You're-"

I pointed my finger at them- at this so-called God. I knew I didn't have to finish my sentence out loud, because if I was right, then I knew they could hear me anyway.

"Yes, I am a mind reader." They sighed, "I have to say that I'm disappointed. When you were alive, you weren't this slow to catch onto things, not that I remember at least..."

Though I had suspected it, I was still shocked. I didn't remember much... but I did know for a fact that there were multiple children's fairy tales with mind readers in them. More specifically, witches, and they were almost always considered the antagonists. They were villains, who lured runaway children into their homes with candy, and tried to fatten them up in order to cook and eat them later on; they were villains, who put curses on young, spoiled princes whom they thought deserved to be punished. Yet, this was not a fairy tale of any kind. This was my life, wasn't it? So what did this witch want from me?

"I'm not a witch," they huffed angrily, causing me to snap away from my thoughts and focus on them instead, "I just told you who I am. Even if I was, I'd rather be called a warlock, but I'm not. I'm God, and I'm offering you a gift. I'd also appreciate it if you would use your words instead of just thinking. It's rude, you know."

That was suspicious too. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? God's subjects- their creations- offer them gifts, in exchange for blessings? Unfortunately, the being was right about one thing. It would probably be best for me to voice my thoughts, and respect them. After all, I had no idea what they wanted from me... or what they were going to do to me if I complied, or if I refused.

"Who am I?"

Their golden eyes rested on my own yet again, as they turned around in the water and rested their head on one of the rocks, so that they could now see me from an upside down view. Not long after, they jerked their head toward the far end of the pond. I didn't understand exactly what was going on at first, but when they did it again, I realized that they were beckoning me over to them. I stood my ground, clenching my left fist behind my back as I wondered why they weren't answering my question. Was it that hard a question to answer?

"Why can't you just answer the question?" I asked them, scrunching my eyebrows together in confusion.

"That's no way to speak to the almighty being who created you, is it?" They smirked, yet again cocking their head.

Once again, I could feel my blood begin to boil, threatening to spill over the edge as if I were a pot on a stove. Were they... actually enjoying this? I had no idea who I was- aside from my name, and even that seemed foreign to me- and they thought this was the right time to play games with me or something?

"I don't care who you are," though I attempted to keep my voice leveled, I knew I was scowling at them, "I don't care if you're a wit- a warlock, or if you really are God. I just want to know what in the hell is going on. Answer my question, or I'm leaving."

Their eyes appeared to light up at my words, only making me feel worse and worse.

"And where do you suppose, Kokirai Sora, is the exit?"

I spun around, looking up, down, left, right, and diagonal from me, but I could not see a single way out. Not a door, not a window, not a waterfall, not even a hole. I turned back to the being- God, I supposed I should call them, so as not to make them anymore annoyed and thus annoying- and noticed they were beginning to look frustrated.

"I can assure you that there is one. Feel free to use it, if you don't mind lava. I think there's another one with a shortcut through Venus as well, but the pressure there might be a bit much for a mere human body to handle. Now," they beckoned me over again, "do you want your proof, or not?"

I blinked. Proof of what, exactly? Proof of their statements? Proof that I was indeed dead? I sighed to myself, looking behind me as if hoping a door would magically appear out of nowhere, or that I would suddenly wake up, back in the colorless world I lived in. But I didn't, and for whatever reason, I had the strong feeling that I wasn't going to.

The truth of the matter was, I had nothing to gain from trying to run away from God, and I had nothing to lose by going along with them. So, finally making up my mind, I loosened my fist, and approached them.

The second I was within reach, they took hold of the ends of my shirt, examining the reddish mud smeared all across the front of it. Their golden eyes then shifted their attention toward my red skirt- ankle-length, and torn on the right side along my leg and up to the center of my thigh. It was then that I realized: the visible skin was pale, torn-looking, and covered by more of the reddish mud from my shirt- which also smeared across the skirt, though I had just now noticed it did so. When I looked at my hands and my arms, they were also covered in the same, reddish mud.

Finally, God released my shirt, and looked up at me, noticing the horror-struck expression on my face as I realized what I was really covered in. It was definitely not mud. Not at all.

"Put your hand on your heart," they told me, calmly, "and count your beats."

I did as I was told… and nothing. If a normal person had done it, they would have felt the faint beating of their heart- speeding up or going slower, depending on what they were doing, or how they were feeling. My heartbeat should have been beating as fast as possible- maybe even up to one hundred and forty beats per minute- but it was not. A minute passed, and there was still nothing. Not a single vibration from where my heart was supposed to be. Not a single sound either.

They had not been lying to me, or trying to trick me. There was absolutely no doubt about it now. I was, indeed, dead.

"I'm still breathing." I remarked, being fully aware of the increasing movement in my chest.

"You are." They answered, "Your lungs are still working."

"Why?"

"Because I said so," they sighed, as they shifted a little bit to the right of the pond from where they'd been sitting before, "because like I said, I have a gift for you. I'm honestly a little surprised that you didn't want to hear about that first..."

"... may I ask what it is?"

"It's a second chance."

I blinked three or four times, with my increasingly-heavy breathing abruptly stopping. What exactly did that mean? A second chance... to live?

"A second chance at life," God nodded, "I've wiped your memories clean and I have a different place ready for you- one far from where you died. Do you accept my gift?"

"Wait... I'm sorry.. what??" I gaped at them.

"I'm a busy being and I don't have the time to explain the details, since I've wasted enough time trying to prove I'm not a warlock or a predator already. My assistant will explain everything, are we clear? Good, have a nice life."

"Wait-"

However, before I could ask any more questions, I found myself gone from God's cave, and instead face-to-face with a blue-haired figure.