Memories of a Different Lifetime

A sharp breeze went through the little temple. The sky outside grew heavy with rainclouds. They were still far off, but the wind already grew colder.

Mikkah took a deep breath. “No more lies,” she repeated. “You’re right. If we want to keep this up, we can’t lie to each other. I’ll tell you about me. The real me.”

She walked up to him, her head held high. He could see the determination in her eyes, but he also noticed how her hands clenched the upper arms.

“You deserve to know why I’m doing this.

I am, or was, from a small village on this world shard. It wasn’t an easy life, but like so many in the village my family made their living from farming. We didn’t have much, but enough for a pretty good life. The demons, they usually focused on the bigger cities and left little villages like ours alone. We thought we were safe.

But then there were rumors about the king changing. About the castle eating people. Suddenly, more demons came around, and they demanded our crops. Some of our villagers went to the castle to complain, to beg the king to do something, only to never return.”

She took a deep breath. By now, she was shaking.

“I told you that I’m a mechanic. You… took that in without much of a reaction. When my talent was discovered, it was different. I only repaired some of the ancient farming equipment to aid our village. But someone, and I don’t know who it could be, told the demons about it a year ago. And then they came to our village, looking for me. They wanted me for the demon king’s army. And they didn’t stop.

They were stronger. Smarter. They burned the whole village down and I barely managed to escape on my bike. You know what a bike is?”

He nodded without saying a worth.

She let out a wet sob. “Of course you know what a bike is. Sorry, I’m just stupid.”

“That’s not true.”

“But it’s because of me they’re all dead! I couldn’t do anything!” She rubbed her tears away, but her eyes remained red.

“If you stayed, it would have only been worse,” he said in a soft voice.

“I know! I know, Nys be damned! I just wanted to invent new things and refine our tech, not make weapons!”

She stopped herself at those words, breathing heavily. The wind howled through the temple and drowned out her sobs.

He stood there, and fought the urge to do something. Right now, he was pretty sure he couldn’t do anything for her but listen. And so he did, without shying away from the heavy feeling in his chest urging him to turn away or change the subject.

“You had a difficult life,” he finally said. “Your strength… is admirable.”

“What choice did I have but to be strong? Should I have despaired, like all the others? There is no hope left on this shard, and that’s why I have to bring it back. The demons must be stopped.”

She sniffled.

“Thank you for listening to me,” she mumbled, and wiped her nose on her tunic.

“Of course. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

“Hah. It really wasn’t. But I do feel lighter, now.”

She turned around, towards the bridge.

“I’ve been on the run from the demons since it happened. And really, it just showed me that I can’t outrun them. At least not forever. So I chose to fight back.”

She grinned at him. “I knew there were no holy knights around. And the people I asked… Well, most of them were too afraid to even pose as a knight. Some of them even tried to sell me out to the demons. So this was actually my last resort, as I followed every rumor about ancient automatons that I could. Most of them turned out to be plain false, while others were beyond repair. So when I found you, I was overjoyed. And, by Lucine’s truth, I still am.”

“So, what about the prophecy?”

“What about it? It’s an old story. Everyone has heard it before.” She narrowed her eyes. “Really, it’s weird that you don’t know it, especially since you seem so well-versed in my world for an outsider.”

“Um…”

He didn’t know how to explain this. He had already told her that it was a game to him, and she didn’t understand. Maybe there was some other way to make her understand?

“You could say that in my world, none of this was real. I lived through a version of this world’s history… shaped it, even. I had many skills, and deep knowledge of the way the world worked. But here, everything is just slightly off. It’s just strange. Plus, this automaton is not calibrated for sword fighting. Its abilities are bad.”

She tilted her head. “Maybe we can do something to change that?”

“Honestly, I’d love that! But do you have all the materials needed for modifications? I feel like a mechanic would know what this body needs.”

“I used all the material I found on my journey to get you to this state.”

“I figured.” He let out a long sigh. “This is going to take a while.”
“I’m not sure we have that time.”

He looked towards the bridge. “Oh, because of that demon?”

“What demon?” 

Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the tall, pale figure on the bridge.