Kalie Rana

It took about eight more days for me to be able to stand up without a rush of extreme pain. After that, I was faced with another problem, relearning how to walk.

Watching all those shows about people needing to relearn how to walk or movies about the sort of intensive physiotherapy people need when they wake up from a coma did nothing to prepare me for what it was like trying to do the same thing on my own.

I wasn’t sure if it was the Mana sickness or if it was an after effect of me ending up in this body, or maybe it was the fact that in my old life I hadn’t walked in months, but regardless, getting my little feet under me, holding my weight was a lot more than I was expecting. In the days that followed my first unassisted steps Ashreal paid me many visits. Joanna had visited me once—my eldest sister was much too busy to be concerned with the affairs of her youngest sister. And my Grandmother had visited me once as well, only when I had another attack of the Mana sickness. Another lullaby, and the pain subsided. However, I also managed to lose a full day to the sleep that she had put me under.

After seeing her in action time and time again, there was no doubt in my mind that it was in fact magic that she was using to soothe my pain.

A thought that didn’t sit particularly well until I realized just how little it actually mattered. If I was going to get caught up with worrying about all the little details of what was different in this world from my own, I would be completely useless right out of the gate.

The very fact that I woke up in the body of someone else is so far out of the realm of “normal” that the fact that there’s magic in this world isn’t all that shocking. Or at least, I can’t let it shock me.

I spent the following days relearning how every single step felt. It really was like being reborn. The only real trouble was that I knew what it was like to walk. I knew that I had been able to do it before. Regardless, I persevered.

“How are you today, M’lady?” Maria, the maid who I had a less than stellar first few interactions with, had quickly become my main life line. She couldn’t have been much older than fifteen or sixteen but, she managed to carry herself with an air of professionalism that I could admire. Aside from Ashreal’s daily visits, she was the only other person that I saw every day. In truth, she had quickly become the only person who I actually enjoyed speaking with.

“I’m alright. I was able to make it to the table today.”

“The table? That’s wonderful M’lady! Are you feeling any pain?”

“None today!”

“Leona's blessing! That’s wonderful!”

Leona; that was an interesting first conversation. Apparently, Leona is widely believed to be the head goddess around here. Classic protector deity, mother type figure. The way I understood it, it was the normal sort of omnipotence schtick that was common back in my old life. To be honest, I barely even batted an eye the first time that I had heard the name. I had grown so used to the sort of saying being around my mother that I hadn’t even thought it was weird.

“I was wondering, would you be willing to accompany me as I take a walk outside?”

“In the halls you mean?” The leading way that she asked the question told me that what I really wanted wouldn’t be an easy ask. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t push for it.

“I was hoping to feel the grass on my feet actually. Would you mind helping me? Please!” While I didn’t think that would be enough her quizzical expression told me that I stumbled onto something completely different.

“Grass?”

“I mean… if that’s at all possible.”

“M’lady, I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’d be able to climb up to the top of the fjord. I’m sure that once your strength has completely returned that we would be able to ask one of the attendants to accompany you.”

Top of the fjord? Where in the world am I?

In my previous life, I had only ever heard about fjords on tv shows, or in movies. Truely, I had to wrack my brain to even remember what the heck they were. But, that line of questioning was quickly ended when Maria offered another option.

“Would you like for me to take you out of the apartments? I’m sure that I could find you a wonderful view in the solarium?”

Apartments? Now isn’t the time to question, lets just get the heck out of this room!

“Is there no way we can go outside? Please!”

“Well…” Maria said, trailing off, “maybe if we take a moment to dress you properly. Wouldn’t want anyone seeing the young miss in her nightgown.”

“Of course! Anything as long as we go outside!” At the time I didn’t realize the type of mistake that I had just made, because at that moment, Maria turned from sweet but stern, to full on demon.

“I’m just so glad that you are feeling well enough to be dressed again M’lady! I’ve made sure to maintain all of your favorite dresses so there shouldn’t be a moth ball in sight! Just come along this way.” Without waiting for me for a moment, Maria began to drag me across the room entering the one door that I hadn’t yet used, the closet.

In my previous life, I wasn’t one for fashion. The most that I ever dressed up was in college when my friends decided amongst themselves that we were all going to go out for New Years. Before then, the fanciest that I would ever get dressed up in was a pair of nice jeans. After that, the best I could manage was a pair of business slacks. Lets just say, that the calibre of dresses that were in that closet were so far beyond what I was used to that it looked to me more like backstage at a Shakespeare play rather than a set of clothing that I was actually supposed to wear.

That hesitation however did nothing to stop Maria. I think that maybe she had been waiting for this moment since long before I had woken up. To her, I was probably more of a doll that she could dress up to look beautiful. She had the plain slip I had been wearing off of my body before I even realized, and had begun the arduous process of stuffing my tiny body into a dress before she stopped herself.

“Wait, M’lady, are you sure that you’re feeling well enough for this?”

Absolutely not. There is no way that I’m alright with this.

But, there didn’t seem to be much of a choice, so I kept my mouth shut.

“I’m fine of course.’

“Well, its just that… well, you are looking quite pale.”

“Pale?”

Maybe it was because in my previous life I had been so sickly near the end, but the idea of regressing at all back to how I was then struck me with an intense fear.

“Yes, take a look here.” Maria dragged her doll over to a small cabinet, opening a box on it before me. Set within the box, in front of a beautiful background of art was a small circular mirror. Being the only mirror I had seen since waking up, it was a bit of a surprise to see the reflection within. While I had liked to imagine that the body that I was within was similar to my own, the truth couldn’t have been farther from it. The little face that stared back, was so utterly foreign to me. The shock alone was almost enough to cause another bout of mana sickness, but I was able to right myself.

It wasn’t the fact that she was different from the old me, rather, it was the fact that she was so much more beautiful than I could ever have been. Fine living was one thing, but the much more real explanation was that this girl was just naturally beautiful. Tight and high cheeks, still plump with childhood fat, a curved face coming to a smoothly pointed chin. This Kalie Rana was like something out of a story book. And yet, when my gaze met with the eyes in the mirror, I instantly knew what Maria was talking about.

While the rest of the girl was beautiful, those eyes, they were far from it. While they looked nothing like my own, carrying the color of seafoam green rather than my normally plain brown, there was something about them that just looked off. And, as someone who knew Kalie, it was no surprise that Maria could see the difference. Despite being set like jewels within the face of the girl, the energy of those eyes were so wrong.

They were wrong, because they were mine.