Categories > Original > Fantasy > Afterlife
Afterlife
Chapter 1 — Ghost
In a field she didn’t recognize, a girl woke up.
Everything hurt. Her brain hurt, her face hurt, her back felt like someone was carefully dissecting each individual cell with a red-hot butter knife. Without anesthetic.
She fainted.
When she woke again, the pain had subsided - either that or she had become numb to it - and she found she could finally think again, not being struck by agony. Upon discovering this, she realized something.
Why is the world bigger?
What happened last night?
Where the fuck and I?
She was lying in front of a small stone, with others scattered around the field. The sky was dark, but the myriad of stars gave her enough light to see by, read by, even, even with the absence of a moon. The stones were all indented, no, engraved, with small writing. She squinted to read it.
Rest in Peace, Eva Sivershard
Oh. She was in a graveyard. Poor Eva, whoever she was. But why did that name sound familiar? Did she know an Eva?
She couldn’t remember.
With a start, she realized she couldn’t remember anything. Her mind was blank. She didn’t know who she was. She couldn’t remember her parents, or her friends, or her favourite foods, or books, or anything else that was supposed to define someone. A name! She needed a name. She wasn’t sure why, exactly, but she needed a name. And so she picked the first one she could think of.
I’m sorry, Eva, whoever you are. But… I need a name, and yours sounds… right.
The newly-christened Eva tried to stand up, and realized her feet weren’t touching the ground.
She looked down.
Instead of finding her legs being numb, they were instead non-existent. In their place, nothing. There was absolutely nothing that could be holding her off the ground, and yet…
…
… She was flying
Looking down at her body, she discovered it wasn’t what she normally looked like either. At least, she didn’t think. She didn’t know for certain, but she was fairly sure she used to be human. Now, the girl floated several feet off the ground, her purplish-blue body being the same size as her head, or even a bit smaller. Small wisps of shadowstuff comprised her body, and trailed down her head in what she could only assume to be hair. Looking into a puddle, she saw her reflection. Her eyes were unsettlingly large, and she seemed to be more head than anything else, but there was one more disturbing fact, which was the lack of arms.
Well, that’s… disturbing.
Is this really me?
Am I a ghost?
…
Hey, I can fly!
Overjoyed at this last thought, the little ghost took to the air and took a moment to mull things over.
She knew ghosts existed. That was common knowledge. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but ghosts were a common fact of life- unlife?- for everyone. But she couldn’t recall anything more than that. This amnesia was so frustrating, like a veil had been pulled between the li’l ghost and herself. Her very being had been parted, pulled apart by some unseen force. She needed help. Maybe someone would know how to fix her? It was a long shot, but she needed to try. Maybe she could find her family again!
I wonder how they’ll react to… this.
The little ghost turned her head towards the sky, and set off for wherever home was.
Chapter 1 — Ghost
In a field she didn’t recognize, a girl woke up.
Everything hurt. Her brain hurt, her face hurt, her back felt like someone was carefully dissecting each individual cell with a red-hot butter knife. Without anesthetic.
She fainted.
When she woke again, the pain had subsided - either that or she had become numb to it - and she found she could finally think again, not being struck by agony. Upon discovering this, she realized something.
Why is the world bigger?
What happened last night?
Where the fuck and I?
She was lying in front of a small stone, with others scattered around the field. The sky was dark, but the myriad of stars gave her enough light to see by, read by, even, even with the absence of a moon. The stones were all indented, no, engraved, with small writing. She squinted to read it.
Rest in Peace, Eva Sivershard
Oh. She was in a graveyard. Poor Eva, whoever she was. But why did that name sound familiar? Did she know an Eva?
She couldn’t remember.
With a start, she realized she couldn’t remember anything. Her mind was blank. She didn’t know who she was. She couldn’t remember her parents, or her friends, or her favourite foods, or books, or anything else that was supposed to define someone. A name! She needed a name. She wasn’t sure why, exactly, but she needed a name. And so she picked the first one she could think of.
I’m sorry, Eva, whoever you are. But… I need a name, and yours sounds… right.
The newly-christened Eva tried to stand up, and realized her feet weren’t touching the ground.
She looked down.
Instead of finding her legs being numb, they were instead non-existent. In their place, nothing. There was absolutely nothing that could be holding her off the ground, and yet…
…
… She was flying
Looking down at her body, she discovered it wasn’t what she normally looked like either. At least, she didn’t think. She didn’t know for certain, but she was fairly sure she used to be human. Now, the girl floated several feet off the ground, her purplish-blue body being the same size as her head, or even a bit smaller. Small wisps of shadowstuff comprised her body, and trailed down her head in what she could only assume to be hair. Looking into a puddle, she saw her reflection. Her eyes were unsettlingly large, and she seemed to be more head than anything else, but there was one more disturbing fact, which was the lack of arms.
Well, that’s… disturbing.
Is this really me?
Am I a ghost?
…
Hey, I can fly!
Overjoyed at this last thought, the little ghost took to the air and took a moment to mull things over.
She knew ghosts existed. That was common knowledge. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but ghosts were a common fact of life- unlife?- for everyone. But she couldn’t recall anything more than that. This amnesia was so frustrating, like a veil had been pulled between the li’l ghost and herself. Her very being had been parted, pulled apart by some unseen force. She needed help. Maybe someone would know how to fix her? It was a long shot, but she needed to try. Maybe she could find her family again!
I wonder how they’ll react to… this.
The little ghost turned her head towards the sky, and set off for wherever home was.
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