1 laza/Paradigm - Chapter 2: The Girl on the Swing

My back is cold and slightly damp, a cold breeze blowing by chilling my entire body. Sitting up slowly, I find myself in the middle of a field, but not like any field that I've seen before.

Each blade of grass is a different shade of black, some leaning more towards grey while others so dark that whatever particle of light that hits it is immediately absorbed. The sky above is just as dark as the ground below it, clouds that would normally indicate a stormy night somewhere. On a first glance, everything's so dark that my eyes have trouble adjusting, but within a few seconds, everything becomes clear and well lit. What's more odd than that, however, is the fact that I'm completely naked, my chest and the area where my crowned jewels are supposed to be completely smooth.

Standing up and looking around, the field goes on for miles and miles in every direction that I turn, not a single tree or building in sight. It's a sight so surreal, my first thought admittedly was that I'm in another one of my dreams, but something is different about this one.

With nothing to do but either wake up or confirm my lingering suspicion, I hesitantly pinch my arm, the familiar sensation of pain confirming everything.

"Hello!"

I frantically turn my head to where the voice is coming from, but nobody is to be seen. I know I haven't lost my marbles yet. There was definitely somebody who spoke just now.

"Who's there?" I shout out, my voice echoing throughout the air. I'm left in silence for a few seconds, the possibility that I might've actually lost my sanity quickly taking over my thoughts, That instantly fades away though once they speak again.

"Are you really the Black Blood?"

From behind me, I quickly turn around and prepare my fists, left with another copy of the same scene. Their voice giggles at my reaction, only this time coming from above me, and when I turn my gaze upwards, that's when I see it.

A pair of legs as white and smooth as a porcelain vase hang off from what appears to be a wooden plank hanging from a pair of ropes that go up into the sky, piercing the clouds. The legs and plank come down from the sky, their swing descending closer and closer until they reach slightly above my head, their legs crossed.

From this height, I have more than just a good look at them.

She's just as pale as me, if not even more, her slender legs and body free from any blemishes or things of the like. Her silk-like white hair flows down her naked body, running down her ample chest. It is then that I realize that she has no areolas as well, where they're supposed to be completely smooth as the rest of her skin. She gazes at me with iridescent pupils, the color seemingly changing with every time that she blinks.

Using my height as reference, she's suspended above 6 feet in the air, looking down on me with a warm smile.

"Hello there, Murama. Doing well, I suppose?"

"Yeah, great..." I mumble reactively. "W-who are you?"

"Hmmm... who am I, indeed? Those on Earth have a plethora of names to refer to me as, though frankly, I'm not fond of any of them. For the sake of convenience, you may call me Diatra, though names are of no importance right now." Tapping the rope to her right twice, it drops down at a violent speed, barely stopping before her feet touches the ground.

Without warning, she lunges at me, wrapping her arms and legs around my body. I nearly fall on my back, miraculously finding a way to both hold her up and not lose my balance. Before I can get a word out, she begins to smell my hair, grazing her nose behind my ear to down my neck. She presses her ear against my chest for a moment before returning to smelling me. I attempt to push her off, but before my hands can even touch her, she pushes herself off of my shoulders, flipping over until she's wrapped herself around me from behind. Sniffing down my nape, she turns her body and wraps her legs underneath my armpits as her nose lingers across my spine slowly until she's finally starting to reach my-

"Okay, that's enough!" I blurt out, grabbing onto her legs. Kicking my arms away, she bends back unnaturally and does a handstand momentarily on my shoulders, pushing off with a freakish amount of force that sends her flying high into the air. With a gymnast's grace, she lands with both feet back on the swing, neither the plank nor the ropes attached to it budging.

Giggling childishly, she sits herself back down, crossing her legs. "My apologies. I had to confirm if Sayuri had done her job properly. You don't have to be so on guard anymore. I won't hop off my swing like that again." Tapping twice on the rope to her left now, the swing rises to its original position.

"Wait, you know Sayuri?"

"Of course! I'm the one who sent her to you, so why wouldn't I know her?"

It doesn't surprise me that Sayuri is somehow involved in this. Like Diatra or whatever the woman in front of me called herself, they both lack that rotten smell to them. I only wonder why Sayuri hasn't told me anything about Diatra if she knew who she was.

"Oh, I've ordered her to keep silent about me, if you were wondering." Saying this out of the blue, I furrow my brow in confusion, not knowing if I had said my thoughts out loud or not.

"Oh, okay..." I finally mutter after collecting my thoughts, taking the chance to look at my surroundings once more. "W-where exactly am I?"

"My home?" she responds doubtingly. Shaking her head, she drops her head down and sighs. "Quite honestly, I'm not sure myself. I can assure you that you'll be safe here, however, so there's no need to worry."

"Safe?" I don't recall ever being in any danger, so what exactly am I safe from?

"You haven't encountered them, but I felt their presence on your planet. Taking into consideration the nature of those in that world, it won't take them long to find a host body, and when they do, it'll be too late for you. In hopes that I'll get to warn you in advance before they catch you off guard, I've transferred your soul here, but only temporarily."

Huh? She transferred my soul? Then... whose body am I in?

"Nobody's," she suddenly replies, almost as if she can hear my thoughts. Raising her right hand in front of her, she spreads her fingers apart, the only one missing from her hand being her thumb. "The body you are using currently was made out of one of my fingers. As you are physically a piece of me, it is also the reason why I can do this."

On cue with her words, in the only way that I can describe it, the control over my body completely leaves my grasp. I don't feel anything at the moment, but I'm still able to see through my own eyes. The words I want to say don't leave my mouth, and my arms and legs move in directions I don't want them to. It only continues for a few seconds, and just as quickly as it left my body, my control over it comes back. The rush of sensation drops me to my knees, and from the lack of breathing, I start coughing and gasping for air.

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" she immediately apologizes, jumping down from her swing and checking on me. "I was trying to show you that we are technically one at the moment!"

"Well I got your message loud and clear..." I grumble.

Clearing her throat, she signals for the swing to come down, the plank descending. "You're surprisingly calm considering the situation you're in. Why is that?"

I bite my thumbnail, sitting myself down on the grass. "There's no reason for me to freak out, is there? After all, you were the one who told in advance that shit would be like this."

"So you did get my message. Wonderful!" she exclaims, clapping her hands together. "That makes this far more easier to explain the predicament you're currently in."

"Predicament?"

"Well, I'll have to explain a couple of things before I can tell you what's happening.

"To put it simply, there are two planes of existence, one of which contains the planet that you know as Earth. In the other plane of existence, however, exists a world similar to Earth in the sense that it's capable of sustaining life. That world is known as Doremi," she rambles, lifting herself up onto the swing. Crossing her legs, she continues, "You originally come from Doremi, but for reasons that I'll explain another time, you've been exiled from that plane of existence, or more specifically, your soul."

"Then the body on Earth isn't mine either?"

"No, that body is yours. Under normal circumstances, I'd have no control over it whatsoever. You'd also have either Doremic or human blood in your veins for the first few years you were alive depending on which vessel I'd have chosen."

She says all these things with no hint of deceit or change in expression, her voice speaking of absurd things like soul transferring as if I'm supposed to nod my head and take it as normal. I suppose by my definition of normal, my very existence alone is out of the ordinary for both Earth and whatever world she's talking about.

Sighing at that thought, I let her continue.

"Now, had you spent your time peacefully on Earth and not died, it would've taken them millennium to find out where you were specifically, but due to your misfortune, things have taken an unexpected turn. Because of your sudden death, I had to send Sayuri to attempt to bring you back to life in hopes that you wouldn't have completed your Burden. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, but in the short period that you were dead, there was enough of a presence for the other Whisperers to take notice. In hopes to bring you back, some have decided to send the souls of their own Servants to come and retrieve you, and that is right about where we are at the moment.

"I brought you here to not only warn you of this but to also relay a message to Sayuri. My connection with her is getting weaker and weaker as time passes by, and I don't think I'll be able to tell her."

There are too many questions on my mind for me to even care about what she wants me to tell Sayuri. I knew I was going to be involved in some weird shit in the future, but I didn't think I'd be this deep already in whatever rabbit hole I'm currently in.

After letting my confusion settle down a bit, I let out an exasperated sigh. "What did you want me to tell her?"

She pauses for a moment, holding her chin in thought. With a nod, she finally opens her mouth. "Tell her that if the time calls for it, it has to be done."

"That's it?"

"Yes. She'll understand what I mean by that. As for you, I'll let you return back to your slumber with these parting words." She jumps down from the swing, walking up to me until we're face to face. She's smaller than me by a few inches, but with her in front of me like this, her presence alone makes my knees weak. "Do not die. I won't be able to bring you back to life another time, and more importantly, do not let the heart in your chest receive damage. That is what's protecting you at the moment."

With that, she presses her right hand against my chest, and in one swift move, she lodges her hand inside. There isn't any pain once her hand is inside. It's more like a foreign object being inserted into my body. I'm too shocked to let out any words, but before I can even come up with anything, she's already pushed me to the ground.

My vision gets blurry, the last thing that I see being her face and that dark sky above her.

Everything turns black in that instant. All around me, the darkness of what I presume is temporary death consumes me. It only lasts briefly, but it only took a few seconds for me to realize it.

I've been in this 'place' before.