The sun was shining at its zenith, lighting the small meadow where Nerya lay.

  She slowly opened her eyes, her hands fumbling over the strange texture beneath her.

  “Where… am I?” she stammered, her voice weak.

  She slowly pushed herself up, sitting before looking around her.

  The odd texture she had felt was nothing but grass, stretching as far as the eye could see, seemingly without end.

  Around her, tall trees with pink petals scattered the sunlight in a soothing softness.

  “Cherry blossoms? What the hell is this… I was on the bridge, then I fell,” she breathed, doubt settling into her voice.

  She lowered her gaze and realized her clothes were different.

  She was no longer wearing her trousers or her T-shirt; instead, she wore what looked like a long tunic covering her entire body.

  She stood up with some difficulty, still numb from waking.

  “Is anyone there?” she called out.

  But no answer came.

  She began walking across the meadow, hoping to find a village or a town farther on.

  The breeze flowing between the trees gently brushed her face, her hair swaying with it.

  But after a few minutes of walking, she stopped abruptly.

  “If you keep going like that, you’ll just go in circles,” an odd voice spoke.

  Nerya looked all around her, yet she saw no one nearby, and the trees were set far apart.

  “Who… who’s there? Show yourself,” she said, her voice trembling.

  No reply followed her request, but she noticed a small floating glimmer that had suddenly appeared near her.

  Then, without warning, a flash forced her to shield her eyes with her arm.

  After a few seconds, she lowered it and saw a figure standing before her.

  Imposing, also clad in a white tunic.

  He was only slightly taller than her, rather old, with a grayish beard that fell to his chest.

  His gray-white hair was likewise cut rather short.

  “I’m dreaming, right? I’m hallucinating because of the fall? Or is this some kind of delirium?” Nerya wondered aloud.

  The old man placed a hand on her shoulder, his grip firm, yet Nerya felt something gentle in the gesture.

  “No, my child, this is not a dream. You are in what you call the ethereal plane,” the man explained in a strangely pleasant voice.

  Nerya tried to grasp the man’s words, but she could not understand what he meant.

  “Sorry, but what is the ethereal plane?” she asked.

  The old man raised an eyebrow, as if surprised by her answer.

  “Before we talk, follow me. We’ll speak over a good tea, it’s always better that way, and it will help you understand more clearly,” he replied.

  He turned and set off in a precise direction.

  Nerya remained there for a few seconds, hesitant to follow him.

  She knew nothing about this man; he had appeared from nowhere, after all.

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  In the end, she fell in step behind him, wanting answers about what was happening.

  After a few minutes of walking through this scenery that Nerya found paradisiacal, she spotted a small house in the distance.

  The man opened the door, then turned back toward Nerya with a small smile, gesturing with his hand to invite her inside.

  The interior was plain, everything in its place, as if nothing useless existed here.

  “Welcome to my home, Nerya. If you would be so kind as to sit,” he said.

  Nerya walked over to the table, pulled out one of the chairs, and sat down comfortably.

  The man took a seat across from her, then raised his hand without saying a word.

  A dull sound echoed as the cupboard opened gently, letting two cups and a teapot float out and settle softly on the table.

  The man snapped his fingers, and the teapot filled with a greenish liquid, releasing a faint steam.

  The scent that rose from it made Nerya want to drink it.

  The man poured the tea into both cups, then handed one to Nerya before taking his own and bringing it to his lips.

  Nerya followed suit, her hand trembling slightly.

  She did not know why, but deep down she hesitated, as if her movements were happening on their own.

  The man eventually set his cup down and fixed his gaze on Nerya.

  “You must have many questions, and I am here to answer them. After that, I will explain what comes next. Does that suit you?” he asked, his voice calm.

  Nerya also set her cup down and nodded while swallowing her tea.

  “To begin with, who are you? And what is this place you call the ethereal plane?” she finally said.

  “My name is Gelgora. And this place is where people go when they die even though their time had not yet come. As you have understood, your fall from that bridge should not have happened,” he replied.

  Nerya remained speechless at his words, trying to understand and absorb what he had just said.

  “So I really am dead. That’s not what I wanted, I wanted to keep living. I had so many things to do, dreams I never even realized. I was truly foolish to act that way, I’ve ruined everything now,” Nerya went on, tears running down her cheeks.

  “Do not blame yourself, your life was not easy. Humans often harbor dark thoughts in moments of doubt or betrayal. Far more than you think. I know very well that you did not want this, but sometimes the thread of fate is cut without us understanding why,” he explained.

  Nerya took hold of her cup to take another sip, the tea easing a little of the shame she felt over the act that had led to her fall.

  “I was just lost, everything collapsed at once and I didn’t know what to do anymore. I’ll say it again, I didn’t want this. But for a moment, that solution crossed my mind, and I followed it without thinking about the consequences,” she replied.

  Gelgora rose from his chair and walked around the table, coming to sit beside her.

  “I’ll say it again as well, do not blame yourself for that. Everyone makes mistakes. But you must keep moving forward and not let that mistake guide your life,” he said.

  He placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

  Nerya turned her head toward him, wiping her tears away with the back of her sleeve.

  “What will happen now? What am I going to become?” she asked.

  Gelgora stood up from his chair and walked over to the window, his gaze drifting into the scenery beyond.

  “Before that, there is one thing that intrigues me. I made the teapot and the cups come out of the cupboards, and I filled the teapot with tea from nowhere. Yet you had no reaction. Why?” he asked, his voice tinged with marked interest.

  “Oh, that? Yes, it’s supernatural, sure, but you came out of a bright shimmer in the middle of a forest after flashing me. Your appearance makes you far stranger than that teapot,” she replied in a sincere tone.

  He turned back toward her, a small smile forming.

  “Hahahahaha! Me, strange? You’re not wrong after all, I hadn’t thought of it that way,” he said.

  Nerya’s eyes widened as she realized what she had just said.

  She twisted her fingers together, thinking about her words: that the man explaining everything to her was… strange.

  “Do not blame yourself. After all, you know the concept of gods, but you have never lived alongside them,” he said, noticing Nerya’s nervousness.

  He then came back to sit across from her, straightening himself, his back upright, his arms resting on the table.

  “To return to your question, I am going to give you a new life,” he explained, his tone growing serious again.

  He raised a hand to stop Nerya, who had begun to move her lips to answer.

  “No, I cannot send you back to the world you came from. The space-time in which Earth exists is far too complex. A soul that leaves that place can never return,” he continued, a little more sharply.

  Nerya lowered her eyes, slightly disappointed by the news.

  But deep down, she knew it already.

  All the stories she had read spoke of people changing worlds without ever being able to return to their original one.

  “I know I didn’t have much family, and my husband cheated on me, but I liked being there… Where am I going to go, then?” Nerya asked in a low voice.

  “You will start your life over from zero. I will send you to the kingdom of Velgrinthar. However, I will let you keep the memories of your past life, hoping that they will help you live a better one. You must understand, however, that your knowledge and what you know must not be shared lightly. This world has no technology like the one you came from. It is made of magic and monsters of all kinds,” Gelgora replied.

  A smile appeared on Nerya’s lips as she heard those words.

  A world of magic and monsters… just like in the stories she loved to read.

  “And I’ll be able to use magic too, then? And live a life as an adventurer?” Nerya wondered, her voice betraying her excitement.

  “Yes, all living beings in that world can use it freely. As for your life, you may lead it however you wish,” he explained.

  Nerya rose from her chair, she who had believed such things were only stories.

  She pinched her arm, letting out a small cry of pain to make sure she was not dreaming.

  “And I’ll have blessings too, and all that? A quest to accomplish?” she breathed, thrilled.

  “Blessings and a quest? Nerya, you were not summoned by a kingdom facing a grave crisis. As I explained, worlds obey strict rules that cannot be broken. Bad people, or bad gods, have tried… and they paid dearly for breaking the established laws,” he said, his fingers running through his beard.

  He stood up from his chair once more and walked toward the door.

  Nerya also stood, but Gelgora gestured for her to sit back down.

  “Our paths part here, Nerya. We will have no other opportunity to see each other from now on. I wish you a beautiful life, make the most of it. Never forget: you are free to live as you please,” Gelgora added with a smile.

  He stepped out of the house, closing the door behind him.

  Yet Nerya still had so many questions to ask him, so many things she would have liked to know about this world.

  “After all, discovering things for oneself is far more exciting,” she murmured.

  But as she finished her sentence, her vision began to blur.

  Everything she saw warped, an unpleasant sensation suddenly overwhelming her.

  Her muscles were going numb, her mind could no longer focus on anything at all.

  Her eyelids grew heavy, her head falling against the table.

  “What’s happening to me this time…?” she stammered, her voice growing weaker with each word.

  Her eyes then closed completely, unable to fight any longer.

  Once again, darkness swallowed her.

  But this time, her journey in her new world could begin.

  Everything now depended on her alone.

  A new life was beginning.