Chapter 2: I'm a mute midget :(

She heard water.

Not rain.

Not a river.

Not the sound of waves crashing against a beach.

Just...

Water.

Everywhere.

"...Well."

Darkness.

"...Either I'm dead..."

A pause.

"...or somebody is being extremely shit with plumbing."

Silence.

Nothing answered.

Nothing happened.

She waited a little longer anyway.

"...Hello?"

Still nothing.

"...This is the worst afterlife I've ever experienced."

The darkness remained thoroughly unhelpful as it usually is.

She sighed.

"...Fine."

Something warm surrounded her.

Not warm like a blanket.

Warmer.

Safer.

Like floating.

"...That's suspicious."

Then—

Light.

She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.

"...Ow."

She slowly opened one eye.

Then the other.

Blue.

Everything was blue.

Not the dull grey she'd left behind.

Not the faded blue of painted walls.

A rich, vibrant blue that almost seemed alive.

It shimmered.

Danced.

Moved.

"...Pretty."

That was the first honest thing she'd thought all day.

A face appeared above her.

A woman.

No...

Not just a woman.

She was beautiful enough that the girl's train of thought quietly walked off the rails and refused to come back.

Long azure hair floated weightlessly around her like flowing silk.

Her eyes were a deep sapphire, calm and impossibly gentle.

A crown woven from coral and pearls rested upon her head, and even though the girl had absolutely no idea where she was, she somehow knew...

Royalty.

The woman smiled.

"My daughter..."

The girl stared.

A very long silence followed.

"...Well."

Another pause.

"...If you're my mother..."

She narrowed her eyes slightly.

"...Then whoever my father is has to either be a literal God or the funniest man alive."

The woman laughed.

It was soft.

Warm.

The kind of laugh that made the room feel brighter.

"...Oh no."

The girl blinked.

"I like her, I think I'll keep her."

However she suddenly realised something horrifying.

She opened her mouth.

"Excuse me, I'd like to ask several questions concerning my apparent death and subsequent rebirth."

Instead—

"Bweh."

...

She froze.

"...No."

She tried again.

"I reject these circumstances."

"Bwaah."

Silence.

"...I've become incapable of speech."

The woman smiled even wider.

"My little princess..."

The girl attempted to look dignified.

This was difficult.

She currently lacked neck control or any control for that matter as she is currently a baby.

Someone nearby cleared their throat.

"Your Majesty..."

An elderly woman stepped closer.

She wore robes embroidered with silver thread that resembled flowing currents.

She looked old enough to have personally invented the wheel.

"The princess appears... healthy."

The girl looked at her.

She looked back.

"...Congratulations old woman, you have eyes," she wanted to say.

Instead—

"Gah."

The old woman nodded thoughtfully.

"A remarkable vocabulary."

She appreciated her optimism.

Something drifted past her face.

A fish.

She blinked.

Another fish followed.

Then another.

They weren't inside a tank.

They were...

Swimming.

Around the room.

"...Hold on."

She looked upward.

There was no ceiling.

Not exactly.

Above them stretched an endless ocean illuminated by pillars of golden sunlight pouring down from impossibly far away.

Schools of radiant fish swam overhead.

Massive sea turtles the size of islands glided gracefully through the water.

Flowers she couldn't name bloomed from enormous coral structures.

Everything moved.

Everything flowed.

"...Why is nobody drowning?"

A terrible possibility occurred to her.

"...Am I drowning?"

She attempted to panic.

Instead...

She inhaled.

Comfortably.

Water entered her lungs.

Nothing happened.

She inhaled again.

Still alive.

She frowned.

"...That's..."

Another breath.

"...Actually very convenient."

She had spent her previous life breathing air.

Frankly, water seemed much cleaner.

The Queen gently adjusted the blanket wrapped around her.

The girl stared.

"...Wait."

Blanket?

She looked down.

Tiny arms.

Tiny fingers.

Tiny...

Everything.

"...No."

She lifted one arm.

It wobbled dramatically before gravity remembered it had a job.

"...No no no."

She lifted the other.

It performed approximately the same quality of work.

"...I've become a midget."

She stared at her own feet.

They stared back.

"...and even worse, a midget who can't even talk."

The Queen interpreted the tiny movements as adorable excitement.

"My little Luna..."

The girl blinked.

"...Luna?"

She repeated the name silently.

It felt...

Nice.

"...I suppose I can accept the name Luna, take pride in my acceptance."

She had absolutely no authority over the matter.

The elderly physician leaned closer.

"She hasn't cried once."

Another woman nodded.

"She simply... observes I suppose."

The physician frowned.

"Most unusual."

Luna looked between them.

"...Would crying improve the situation?"

She considered it carefully.

"No."

There wasn't much to cry about.

She had a beautiful mother.

The room was full of colourful fish.

Nobody seemed intent on locking her behind suspiciously ineffective doors.

Honestly...

Things were looking up.

She reached toward the Queen's face.

Mostly because it was there and just when could she touch such a beautiful person without being arrested.

Her tiny fingers wrapped around a strand of blue hair.

"...Soft."

The Queen giggled.

Luna nodded to herself.

"...Excellent quality, I'll be taking some."

She tugged.

Very gently.

The Queen smiled instead of complaining.

"...She really is nice."

A tiny bubble drifted past her nose.

She stared at it.

It shimmered beautifully.

Round.

Perfect.

"...Come here."

The bubble stopped.

The physician blinked.

The bubble floated toward her tiny hand.

"...Huh."

Luna blinked.

"...Did I do that?"

The bubble circled lazily around her finger.

Then another joined it.

Then another.

Soon half a dozen bubbles were slowly orbiting her tiny hand.

The room became quiet.

Very quiet.

The physician stared.

A court mage slowly lowered the scroll he'd been reading.

"...Your Majesty..."

The Queen looked at the floating bubbles.

Then at her daughter.

Then smiled.

"...Beautiful."

The physician looked significantly less enthusiastic.

"...Newborns..."

She swallowed.

"...cannot manipulate mana."

Luna looked at the bubbles.

Then at the adults.

Then back at the bubbles.

"...yes, worship my supreme power you worms."

She hadn't meant to do...

Whatever she'd just done.

The bubbles continued spinning happily around her hand.

"...Well..."

She watched them thoughtfully.

"...I suppose that's somebody else's problem."

She yawned.

The bubbles popped all at once.

The room collectively gasped.

Luna closed her eyes.

"...I'm going back to sleep."

Because being reborn was surprisingly exhausting.

And if this really was her second life...

She could investigate it tomorrow.