Billows of smoke rose over the horizon. The fires of war were blazing. I stood alone on top of the ridge, looking down at the massive army in front of me. Yes… I was alone. I had no massive army to aid me. That was because my small village was left to live or die on its own. You may think I am dumb for coming here alone. But I have no choice. If I let this army that numbers in the tens of thousands push any further, my home, my family, and those who have treated me kindly over the years would die.

I am not some saint, nor am I some hero. If I do not know you, I will not run to try to save you. I am only doing this for those I care about and nothing more. If I happen to save lives that have nothing to do with me, then it’s their luck that they were included.

I know it might sound crazy, and I know I might sound rash, but I am someone who holds close bonds dearly. My kind parents who raised me with so much love and care. My older brother who protected me when the village kids bullied me. The auntie that lived next door who always baked a few extra cookies for me. There were many who truly treated me as their family, and I am grateful for their kindness. The least I can do is repay that kindness by protecting them all.

One may ask where I got the courage to fight such a large army alone? One may ask if I was afraid of death? Ignoring the first question, for now, the second question is easy to answer. Yes, I am afraid of death. I am very scared of death. In my opinion, anyone who says they are not scared of death is an idiot, or at least I would have thought if this was before…

As for the first question…. Well, I have a secret that I have hidden from everyone since I was young. A secret that expands past the world I am currently in, to a place called Earth. It’s hard to explain, but before I begin, let me finish things here… _-.

Raising my head to the sky, I raised my hand up with an open palm. My eyes glowed slightly as faint magic circles began to appear within them, and softly from my lips, I spoke a single phrase. “Grand Fall…”

—

“Faith, what do you think of him?” My friend Jen, short for Jennifer, asked as I was forced to watch the guys playing soccer out on the school’s field. This year I just turned sixteen, and I can say I have never had a boyfriend in my life. It’s not that I am ugly or anything of the sort, it’s just more of a, boys are a waste of time thing. Some may say I am making excuses, but it is what it is. I would prefer to keep what precious time that I have for myself in doing things that are less stressful like reading. Yes, I am what is called a book nerd or bibliophile.

To me, reading is life. I love getting lost in a story and picturing myself as the lead of the novel. The idea of becoming someone who can cast spells and go on amazing journeys has always been something I loved. But alas, in a world where science rules, there is no such thing as adventure anymore.

“Faith, are you listening to me?” Jen nudged my shoulder, breaking me out of my daze.

“Sorry, I was thinking of what I would read later on….” I truly was thinking about the novel I just started reading. It was very interesting. About a world of magic and a girl who grew up from nothing to become someone everyone had to look up to.

“This is why you will never get a boyfriend!” Jen yelled while pinching my cheeks. It hurt. I do not know why she does this. It’s not like I have chubby cheeks. I only weigh around one hundred pounds.

Slapping her hands away, I pursed my lips. She always brings up the fact that I have never had a boyfriend. “Who cares about boyfriends? All it is, is a fuss. I would rather not deal with. Plus, having a boyfriend means my….”

“Yes, I know your precious reading time would be taken up. Geez… Faith, I wonder what will happen to you in the future. If it wasn’t for the fact that you went out to exercise every day, I would think you were a neet. Anyway, now tell me what do you think of that guy there.” Jen brought the conversation back on topic.

I looked down at the boy she was talking about and saw nothing really noteworthy about him. Maybe it was just my sense of not understanding what the opposite sex should look like to be appealing, or maybe my thought process of a good looking guy has been ruined by the novels I read. Either way, I found nothing amazing about him. He may be good at soccer, but so what? Will he become an amazing star someday if he continues down this road? Probably not. It is more likely that he would end up at some dead end job trying to make ends meet. Unless he actually goes to college to get a degree in something that will make him money in return.

Either way, there was nothing for me to see. So I just stared at my friend Jen with a blank expression which she knowingly sighed and held her head. “I swear Faith… What happened to the cute girl who used to run around and do so many things when she was younger? Now you are just a cute girl who hides her looks behind her glasses and long black hair.”

I wrinkled my nose at her question. What was the point in being cute? Right now, I am at the top of my class, working hard towards my future. Yes, I know some say to enjoy life to its fullest when you are young, but that won’t give me a good paying job that will allow me to cover my hobby. It is already bad enough that I still have quite a few years before I finish my education but still…

“Alright! I will stop. There is no changing you.” With this last sigh from my good friend, I left the window to go sit down.

My days at school normally went on like this. It was an easy life. I never thought for a moment that my life would change that same day.

—

As usual, after school, I walked home with my best friend, Jen. We were always together. She was like family. She was my sister through and through. No matter what happened, she would be by my side. She was always overly protective of me, shielding me from anything that might cause me harm. Like one day, she had beaten up three boys who corned me in the school hallway. They got mad at me because I wouldn’t do something they asked. We were in elementary school at the time, and the idea of differences between males and females was not instilled into our minds back then. So they had no problems with using force against a girl.

But Jen became my knight and shining armor that day and really let them have it. We have been together since young, which meant my parents and her parents were also friends. So it was only natural for the two of us to become close.

Now while I might be airheaded at times when my mind wanders about a book I read, Jen was the person who would not think before acting. And on this day, that is exactly what happened. We were crossing the street at the time and were just about to step back onto the sidewalk on the other side when Jen suddenly realized she had dropped something.

She turned and bolted out to pick up the object she dropped. Until this day, I still have no idea what she actually dropped. I only saw a truck barreling towards her. It seemed the driver might not have been paying attention.

People say that your body just moves on its own. There is no rhyme or reason for it. It just instinctively moves. When I saw Jen was about to be hit by the truck, I shot forward while screaming her name. “Jen, look out!”

“Ahh!” I pushed hard, shoving Jen with all my might causing her to tumble over. I only saw her distressed look before I felt something heavy hit my body, knocking me to the ground. The last thing I remember was a stabbing pain in my head and Jen’s crying voice calling out to me. “Faith, no! Faith, stick with me! You can’t die on me!”

I have never heard Jen so desperate in my entire life. I could already feel my life force fading. It was a scary thought, but I already knew I was about to die. I regretted a lot. I regretted making my best friend have to feel like she was the cause of my death. Knowing she would need to live with such pain from this moment on tore me apart. I wish I could have apologized to her. I also regretted not finishing the light novel series I just started reading. It was very good. It was all about a silly dragon girl… And lastly, I regretted not being able to say goodbye to my parents, who raised me with love and care. But now I would not have such a chance….

The strange thing about life is that things only become known once they have been discovered. For me, reincarnation or being reborn after death was only something you would see in fantasy, and I have read a lot of fantasy. I am not sure if I was ever supposed to retain my memories of my past life, but when I opened my eyes next, I could clearly remember everything. It was just that…