A Foreign Era

Athena inhaled sharply, her body shuddering as she regained consciousness. The sensation of air filling her lungs felt foreign, as if she had forgotten how to breathe.

Her fingers trembled as she pressed her palms against the cold floor beneath her, trying to push herself up.

A dull ache pulsed in the back of her skull, and her limbs felt sluggish, weak. Her throat was dry, and when she parted her lips to swallow, a faint, metallic taste lingered on her tongue.

Where am I? The thought came unbidden, her mind scrambling for answers as she blinked against the blinding light above her.

Slowly, her vision adjusted, and the room around her began to take form. It was unfamiliar, no, more than that, it was beyond comprehension.

Walls with an almost liquid-like sheen surrounded her, their surfaces pulsing faintly with veins of glowing blue light.

The ceiling stretched impossibly high, curving into an intricate structure that seemed to shift with an unseen rhythm.

Strange symbols flickered across a hovering screen at the far end of the room, their language utterly foreign.

Athena forced herself onto her knees, ignoring the sharp protest of her muscles. Every instinct screamed that this was not Earth.

The air smelled sterile, lacking the familiar scents of gasoline, metal, or even the faint hint of pollution she had grown accustomed to in her previous life.

Instead, the atmosphere was crisp, as if purified to an unnatural degree.

A chill ran down her spine as she caught sight of her reflection. A large, seamless mirror was positioned in front of her, reflecting a woman who both was and wasn't her.

The face staring back had the same sharp cheekbones, the same piercing eyes that once struck fear into those who dared oppose her.

But there was something different, a subtle change in the slope of her nose, a slight fullness to her lips, and most unsettling of all, an aura that didn't belong to her.

It was powerful, suffocating, something beyond what she had ever known.

Athena touched her face hesitantly, her fingers running along her jawline, her lips, her temples. It felt real. Too real. But how?

Her breath hitched as a sudden, sharp pain twisted in her chest. It was as if something was trying to crush her ribs, burning from within.

She pressed a hand to her sternum, her nails digging into the fabric of the dark bodysuit she now wore. And then, she noticed it, the dried blood smeared across her lips.

Poison.

The memories rushed back like a tide breaking against the shore. The ship. The dance. The knife sinking into flesh.

The betrayal. The red moon. The icy embrace of the sea. She had accepted death the moment she completed her mission.

The strongest Mafia leader in the country had fallen by her hand. There was no escape from that fate. Yet, she was here.

No. No, that wasn't possible. Athena gritted her teeth, forcing herself to her feet despite the lingering dizziness.

She refused to believe in reincarnation, in second chances, in souls wandering from one body to another.

Death was absolute. She had lived and died by that truth. And yet, the reality before her was undeniable.

Her eyes flicked to her hands, elegant, long fingers that bore no scars, no calluses from years of wielding weapons. This was not her body. It couldn't be.

Her pulse quickened. If this wasn't Earth, then where was she? And who had she become?

A soft hum filled the room, and Athena stiffened. The air vibrated with an unseen energy, a presence she couldn't identify.

She turned sharply, scanning the space with the instincts honed from years of survival.

There were no obvious exits, no doors, no windows, only smooth, shifting walls that pulsed as if alive.

The hovering symbols on the screen flickered faster, their glow intensifying as if reacting to her movements.

She took a cautious step forward, testing the feel of the ground beneath her. It was smooth, almost weightless, as if she were walking on air rather than solid material.

Her gaze darted to the symbols again. If this was some sort of advanced technology, she needed to understand it.

Reaching out, she hesitated for only a second before pressing her fingers against the nearest glowing panel.

The moment her skin made contact, a surge of information flooded her mind.

Images, voices, fragmented data, none of it made sense, yet it felt strangely familiar, as though the body she now inhabited recognized it.

A name echoed in her mind. Athena Demerin.

Her breath caught. The realization struck her like a bullet. This body, this person, was called Athena Demerin.

Not her, yet her name remained unchanged. Was it a coincidence? Or something far more deliberate?

She clenched her fists, frustration bubbling beneath the surface. Nothing made sense, and she despised the unknown.

If she had truly been transported, no, transmigrated, into another life, another world, then she needed to understand the rules of this place.

Her focus shifted to the structure of the room, her trained eyes searching for weaknesses. If she was being kept here, then someone had put her here.

That meant there were people, possibly enemies, watching. If she wanted answers, she needed to act quickly.

Pushing aside the lingering discomfort of her unfamiliar body, Athena began testing the walls.

The material was unlike anything she had encountered before, flexible yet unbreakable.

There were no visible seams, no indication of how she had even arrived here. Was this a prison? A laboratory? A containment facility?

Her fingers brushed over a thin metallic band around her wrist, previously unnoticed. It was sleek, fitted perfectly to her skin, and pulsed with a faint blue light.

She tried to pry it off, but the moment she attempted to exert force, a sharp jolt of electricity coursed through her nerves, sending her staggering back.

Her breathing came faster now. This was worse than being caged.

She was trapped in a body that wasn't hers, in a place beyond her understanding, with no memory of how she got here. And above all, someone else had control.

No. She wouldn't accept this.

She had assassinated the most dangerous man in her world. She had survived betrayals, tortures, and death itself. Whoever had done this to her would regret it.

Athena took another deep breath, forcing her heartbeat to slow. She needed to be methodical, precise.

First, she would gather information. Second, she would escape. And then, she would find out who had dared to manipulate her fate.

Because if she was alive, if she had been given a second chance, no matter how impossible, then she would carve her own path in this new world.

And anyone who stood in her way would learn exactly why, in her past life, she had been feared.

Athena Demerin, or whoever she was now, was no one's pawn. And she would prove it.