The World Beyond Death

I walked through the portal, closing my eyes and taking a couple of deep breaths. I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar scene, with multiple nurses surrounding me. Not all of them looked exactly human to me; I was swept up suddenly. It was surprisingly jolting yet soft at the same time. I was put into a lady's arms, one I can only assume is my mother in this world.

“ Congratulations, Madam, your daughter is beautiful. What shall you name the young heir.” The human nurse asked with a smile.

 “ Yes, a regal name for a regal girl, something noble and fierce that will strike fear into the hearts of the other four elemental factions… I shall name you-” The lady was saying.

 “Ai,” I said to her. She looked almost taken aback; I don’t know if it was because a baby talked or she just didn’t like the name.

“ Ai, does that count as her first word? Is that the name she wants? It’s not as elegant as I’d like. But very well, your name shall be Airis Vilanova. Carry our name with pride.” She said before handing me back to the nurse, “ I shall rest for a while.” My mom declared, laying her head back on the pillow.

 “ Come now, we’ll take the young miss to her father for a little bit,” one of the nurses with non-human features said. Her ears, which reminded me of dog ears, perked up when she noticed me staring at her. “ Indeed, I’m sure the master will be pleased she has been born safely; let’s get her there quickly; afterwards she needs rest.” The human-looking nurse noticed the other nurse.    "Oh, fine, hold her until we reach the door, but if the master sees you, you’ll be in trouble. I’m the only one supposed to touch her right now.”

 The human nurse sighed and handed me over to the beast girl. “ Awww, are you ready to meet your papa?” The beast girl asked, smiling at me. She carried me down the hall right until we reached a big set of double doors, where she handed me back to the human nurse and opened the doors. 

“ Now Presenting Your Daughter, Airis Vilanova.” The Human nurse announced, walking towards my father, she handed me over to him with a bow.

 “ Ah, my beautiful daughter. I can already feel the power she’ll grow into. I say she could be a level six user by the time she goes off to school.” My dad said, hugging me lightly before handing me back to the nurse. “ Make sure she gets some rest, alright, Meila?” Meila, the human nurse, bowed, holding me.

 “ It will be done, my lord; I pray she grows into a strong fire magic user,” Meila said, walking out the door. The Beast girl closed the door behind Meila and me.

It took five long years, but I have finally learned how to talk. The language isn’t Japanese, but it’s some odd spin-off; I could somehow always understand it; I just couldn’t speak it. Throughout these five years, I’ve learned lots about this new world. 

For example, the beast girl Heska is the lowest of all servants in rank purely because she’s not fully human; privately, she’s been assigned the role of my bodyguard. “ Airis-Sama, please step back,” Heska said slowly, unsheathing a dagger from her waistband. “ I implore you to come out before I kill you. I wouldn’t want the master's daughter seeing such a scene.” Heska pointed her dagger at a particular spot in the bushes.

 “ Earth Flash!” A young male voice yelled. I felt a strange presence from under me, so I jumped backwards. Suddenly, a chunk of land shot up, finally stopping as a single point.“ How fun! What else do you have, earth boy!” I didn’t know what I was even saying anymore. The words just came out. 

“ Sorry, Miss Airis, but I’ve already captured him. He won't be attacking you anymore… I love the spirit though!” Heska chuckled awkwardly, throwing the earth mage over her shoulder. She called over another maid, leaving the scene muttering about my little outburst. ‘ I wonder if the master will let me train her.’ I made out of Heska’s mumbling. 

The maid took me back to my room, and such ended my first semi private garden walk. I sat in my room looking at multiple maps. The castle was simple compared to the Rail lines. Man, I would’ve made a killing! I was the youngest driver ever. “ The good thing is I don’t need to worry about money in this life.” I decided I had studied enough for the day and went to spy on the interrogation of the Earth Mage. This does directly involve my life, so I’d like to know why I was attacked.

 I've had the map of our castle memerized since I was two, so I knew every secret entrance and passage there was. Just like in real life, I learned how to walk when I was two. I never knew it’d come in so handy, though!“ Cough it up! Why were you after Miss Airis?” I peeked through the painting of my dad on Fraize. She is our family interrogator. I had secretly poked a small, eye-sized hole in this painting so I could figure out things like this. Who would seriously tell a five year old someone tried to kill them?

 I looked into the room and saw the earth user tied to a chair. The rope was glowing for some odd reason; it appeared to drain his magic the longer it was around his body. “ You’ll never know you fire using Scum!” The earth user spat the words out.“ Aw, how cute you think I use fire? Ha, wrong. I have… other powers.” Fraize mocked him. 

I wasn’t used to seeing Fraize like this. She’s a tall girl with cat ears, but what sets her apart is her icy look; her hair, eyes and ears are all this beautiful color of Alabaster. In this world, nothing is really different. Heska, also being relatively tall with dog ears, you’d imagine they don’t get along, but they’re exact opposites. While Fraize is the color of alabaster, Heska is Obsidian… 

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen my reflection yet. That’d have to wait, though. Fraize activated her ability. In this world, there are 4 core abilities, in which each other is an offshoot. Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. Being born into the Vilanovas means I should have a fire ability, but I’m not old enough yet, which is boring! 

I don’t know if I really want a fire ability. Fraize, being a water user, has so much more she can do she maxed out her control, so in integrations she can do things like this. “ I attacked her because I'm broke. My mom runs a small flower shop, and it closed down because some fire thugs burned all her products. This hooded guy offered me 50 million Dess to kill the young heir.” The earth user confessed his words in kinda a slurred state. It reminds me of when I’d go to work parties, and my boss would drink one too many beers. I shed a tear thinking about the past. While my boss was cheap, he cared about all his employees and did his best to be there for us. 

“ That's enough, Fraize.” She raised her hands. I knew what came next; it’s horrifying. “ Y-young Lady, how did you get back here? AH! Did you cut a hole in your dad’s picture? I bet it was that Heska; she’s always plotting to get in my way!” Fraize looked ready to fight and on the verge of tears at the same time.

 I put the hole I had cut out back in place. It slowly sank down into the painting.“ Well, whenever my dad comes in, it’s good enough he won’t notice. Anyways, I’ll take it from here.” I smiled at Fraize.

 “ M-miss, your clothes will get dirty, though; Marianne worked hard to put that outfit together, too. How about I handle this, okay?” Fraize asked, her hands raised in an anxious position; her palms were up at her chin, facing me almost like she was scared I’d lash out at her.

 “ It’s okay; I won’t sully such a cute outfit.” I flipped my hair over my shoulder. If there's one change I’m sure of, it’s my hair color. I liked to keep it in a short bob so I could barely see the color, but when I do, I’m filled with power. My hair shone a beautiful coat of orange; it often reminded me of flames. It fills me with passion every time I see it.