Birthed Into The World Upside Down

A light pulsed in the darkness of the ocean.

It started faint, then grew stronger, beating in the water around Yuri Hyemi as she sank. Her chest felt crushed, her lungs frozen, and then she heard it.

The sound of glass breaking.

Her pendant, the last gift from her mother, fractured under the pressure. The moment it shattered, everything shifted.

The freezing water warmed. The glow from the pendant spread outward until it filled her vision. Yuri squeezed her eyes shut as the light grew too bright. The water swirled around her, but she wasn’t drowning. It actually felt like she could breathe.

Her eyes opened.

A woman floated before her, glowing. Her long hair drifted through the water like strands of silver. Her entire body gave off a faint, glowing light.

In her hand, the woman held Yuri’s broken pendant. She smiled down at her.

“Oh… it seems you have regrets,” the woman said, her voice clear even in the water.

Yuri’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“Sad child. Neglected. Unloved. That isn’t fair, is it?” The woman’s smile grew softer. “I shall give you the chance to live again… because this pendant tells me so.”

Yuri’s thoughts became frazzled. What does she mean? Why me? What does she mean the pendant told her?

She didn’t understand, but she didn’t have time to ponder on it.

The ache in her chest wasn’t fear anymore. It was hope.

The woman’s glow brightened. “Your new life will be different. You will face things you have never faced before. Whether that is a blessing or a curse will depend on you. Will you accept?”

Yuri hesitated only a moment before nodding.

The woman’s smile widened. She reached forward, cupping Yuri’s face in both hands, warm even under the sea.

“Then this is not only your new birth, but the birth of your power.”

Light filled the woman’s eyes until it spilled out into the water around them. It rushed toward Yuri, wrapping around her body, then pressed itself into her forehead, forming a glowing blue gem. Yuri gasped. The glow on her forehead spread outward in a sudden flash. Starting at the roots of her hair, a wave of energy swept outward turning her once black hair white.

The water shook. A strong current pulled her down, faster and faster. Below her, light spread out like the world was opening.

She sank straight through it.

The surface split apart with another sharp crack of sound. White light swallowed her vision.

And then….

Yuri opened her eyes, laying on the ground, gasping for air.

The ocean was gone. Beneath her hands, there was grass, damp and cold. In front of her stretched a wide lake. The air was brisk, filled with scents she didn’t know. Above her, two moons hung in the sky. Yuri’s hands shook as she pushed herself upright. Her hair fell over her shoulder, and she froze. It wasn’t black anymore. Strands that were pale white clung to her damp skin. She grabbed at it. It was hers, but it just felt so surreal.

She crawled over to the lake to get a look at herself, peering into the water she saw a blue gem glow faintly in the center of her forehead, pulsing which seemed to match with her heartbeat. When she reached up to touch it, warmth spread through her fingertips. That’s when she noticed her ears, long and pointy.

“This… isn’t real…” she whispered, though the sound of her voice only proved it was.

She looked around. The lake stretched far, its surface dotted with patches of glowing lilies, their petals casting a faint light even under the moons. Beyond the water, trees with tall dark colored trunks lined the horizon, their leaves vibrant and green, but traced with veins of silver. Insects chirped somewhere she couldn’t see, sounding almost musical.

Everything felt clearer here… the colors, the air, the water.

Yuri hugged her knees to her chest, staring at the sky. The woman’s words still lingered… a second chance… a new story. Her fingers closed around the cracked pendant still hanging from her neck. The glass was chipped, but the chain was intact. It should have been useless. And yet, it had brought her here. She held it close and took a deep breath. That’s when she heard it, the sound of a low growl rolled through the air.

Her head snapped toward the treeline.

A massive wolf stepped out of the forest, its eyes glowing faintly in the moonlight, teeth bared in a snarl. Yuri froze, then stumbled back toward the water’s edge. The wolf lunged.

She threw herself aside, falling hard on the grass. The beast’s jaws snapped inches from her face. Scrambling up, she spun quickly, looking for a stick, a rock…anything. The wolf came again. She dodged, but her hand scraped against rocks near the lake’s edge. Water rushed over her cut palm.

She looked at herself in the lake's reflection, fear was written all over her face…Before she could take another breath, she saw the wolf’s reflection looming right behind her.

She turned too late.

The wolf slammed into her, pinning her to the ground. Its teeth snapped down at her face. Yuri jerked her head left, then right, barely escaping its jaws. Her scream tore from her throat as she raised her arms in desperation.

The gem glowed.

The water behind her erupted upward, swirling into a torrent that slammed into the wolf’s side and hurled it off her. Yuri sat up, gasping, staring at the glowing streams still curling from the lake.

“What… what was that?” she whispered to herself.

The wolf shook itself and leapt again. Yuri threw up her hands to shield herself again on pure instinct, nothing more. Two jets of water spiraled out of the air and shot forward, piercing into the wolf’s flank. It yelped, hit the ground hard, then rose again, then collapsed before howling into the sky.

Her heart pounded as the sound was answered. More howls, closer.

She staggered to her feet. No, no, no… She ran. Branches tore at her arms and face as she shoved through the undergrowth, but the thundering of paws closed in behind her.

She burst out into a clearing, lungs burning. Wolves spilled out of the treeline, surrounding her. They circled, snapping their jaws, their eyes all fixed on her.

That’s when she heard someone above her.

“Hope you weren’t planning on dying yet…kinda ruins my grand entrance.”