Chapter 2-Rewind
When it came to how they saw themselves dying, Annie and Megan had differing opinions. Annie thought that dying was going to be painful, or at least agonizing to a point. Megan thought that her death would be slow, quiet, and peaceful, like falling asleep. To both girls' surprise, neither of them felt anything when they were killed by the truck that ran the red light. One moment Annie was trying to push Megan out of the way, the next they were waking up in some white void.
"Megan?" Annie whispered once she regained her senses. Seeing her best friend lying next to her, she scrambled to her knees and shook her. "Megan, are you alright?"
"Annie?" Megan groaned. The blue haired girl sat up with Annie's help and looked around at the white void they stood in. "A-Annie, where are we?"
"I don't know." She answered. "All I remember is seeing that truck heading for us and trying to push you away..." Annie's face paled. "Oh god, are we dead?!"
"Dead?! I don't want to be dead!" Megan squeaked. "We-We can't be dead, Annie. Maybe we're just having the same dream."
"No, you're dead." A womanly voice said.
Both girls looked forward to see a little girl standing before them. She was petite girl, no more than thirteen years old, if going by appearances, but that was where her human similarities ended. Her skin was pale white, her hair was silver, like starlight and hung over her face, and from what Annie and Megan could see, her eyes were pitch black, no whites to be seen as she smiled up at the teenage girls with a deceptively innocent smile that did not match her appearance. Even her white and black dress didn't garner much support due to her unnerving appearance.
"Who the hell are you?" Asked Annie, startled. "W-Where did you come from?"
"I'm a goddess, and you two are in my domain." The girl said, her smile not going away. "You can just call me Sheba."
"S-Sheba?" Megan repeated, clinging to Annie's arm as if to anchor herself. This was just too weird.
"A goddess? So, what, god's a little girl?" Annie said skeptically.
"Actually I'm both male and female, but I like going as a little girl to catch people off guard. Like I'm doing to you two right now." Sheba said with a giggle. "Now, back to the matter at hand, yes, you two are dead. Thankfully you've been spared experiencing the painful end of that truck running both of you over, and both of you flatlined before medical help could arrive. I'll give you two a moment to process that."
Annie and Megan stared at her in shock, unable to fully process that they were well and truly dead. By rights, they should've been crying their eyes out right now, but they just stood there with wide eyes and gaping mouths. This may be due to the subtle emotional manipulation Sheba was unknowingly doing on them. She was never a fan of sobbing teenagers.
"Got it out of your system? Good. Now we can get down to business." Sheba turned to Megan, who froze under her gaze. "You, Megan, right? You know what isekai is?"
Megan blinked at the question. "Um...yes?"
"Great, you can think of this experience as one of those me-forsaken isekai anime you love to watch so much. Since you two died so early in life, I'll give you two a second chance in a new world. A world with magic, nonhumans, adventurers, and all that good stuff." Sheba said. "I don't do this for everybody, only people who I think were dealt a bad hand in life. What do you say?"
Annie looked unsure, but Megan's face lit up at the idea of actually being in a world where magic and adventure were prevalent, just like the anime and light novels she read. The idea of a second chance in a newer, more exciting world sounded appealing after getting abruptly killed like that. Sheba's smile grew wider upon seeing that she had the girls' consent, not that she really needed it, but it made the process go smoother.
"The world I'm placing you in is called Aurora, and it's filled with all the good stuff that you'll find in your typical JRPG. Plenty of stuff to do, but only a few paths are open to you. I'm going to implant the basic information of this world into your minds, but once you're on the ground you're on your own." Sheba told them. "And if you want to really make your mark on the world, go to the building with the big black rose on its banner. You can't miss it. The woman running that place will definitely give you the perfect jobs suited for your skillset. You got all that?"
Annie and Megan nodded, still trying to process that this was really happening. It all seemed unbelievable, but it was real.
"Great! Have fun in the new world, girls. I know I will." Sheba snapped her fingers and the girls' bodies vanished in a flash of light, their souls transported to one of the main worlds that she watched over. Sheba giggled at her own deviousness.
"Those girls are so fucked!"
XXXXXX
Annie and Megan were suddenly dropped into the world of Aurora, a world where magic and adventures were real and commonplace, and almost anything was possible. The city they appeared in was called Rosemary, a trading center and popular stop for adventurers within the Kingdom of Aurelia. At first glance, the girls were amazed and awestruck at the new sights and sounds they were introduced. People, not just humans but also dwarves, elves, and even trolls, roamed the streets mingling and talking to each other, performers doing magic streets for onlookers, and adventurers wielding weapons that either looked highly impractical for combat or looked too heavy to even drag behind them, let alone swing.
It was all so eye opening to Annie and Megan, but once the wonder faded away, they soon became aware of their problems. Their biggest issue was that they had no money. Their second biggest issue was that they only had the clothes on their backs, which were their school uniforms (which drew a lot of glances from the men around them. Hungry gazes that didn't inspire a lot of confidence). They figured it would be prudent to find their destination before they drew anymore unwanted glances.
Unfortunately, Annie and Megan were taken even further from their comfort zone when the directions Sheba implanted into their heads brought them into the city's red light district. Rowdy taverns and parlors lined the streets, on top of brothels and dancing clubs full of scantily clad women and men who groped and hugged them in the streets and windows. It was as if they stepped into a completely different world; gone was the obligatory JRPG tropes that they were familiar with, now everything looked like it came straight out of some hentai game. The deeper they got into the district, the more nervous the girls got about where exactly they were going. As it turns out, they were right to be worried.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Annie exclaimed.
"Oh no..." Megan groaned.
The girls finally reached their destination-a brothel. The building was a large establishment, with a rowdy tavern on the first floor and numerous rooms on the upper two levels. It certainly looked like a high class establishment, clean and proper, despite the lewd activities going on inside its halls. Men and women could be heard laughing and moaning, while men flooded into the building looking for a good time with a beautiful woman. Many of the girls there were older than Annie and Megan, making them feel really out of place.
They would've thought they were in the wrong part of the city, if not for the black rose banner that sat on top of the building as if to mock them.
"This is the place she sent us too?" Annie couldn't hold her rage in. "A whorehouse? This has to be some joke!"
"I don't think it is." Megan whimpered, shying away from the gazes of some of the men that passed them by. Two teenage girls in the middle of a red light district in nothing by tight white shirts and short skirts were bound to attract some attention. "Maybe we should-"
"Hey, there!"
The girls stiffened when someone called out to them from the crowd. It was one of the prostitutes that hung outside the large brothel, standing by the doorway welcoming customers. She was a tall dark skinned girl probably a few years older than them with curly black hair and amber gold eyes. She had a plump figure, curvy in all the right places, and only had on white wrappings around her large breasts and short tights that only reached mid-thigh.
"W-Who, us?" Megan said blinking.
"Yeah, you two." The girl said, smiling at them. She beckoned them over to her, not perturbed by their odd clothing or behavior at all. "It's about time you two showed up. I was getting worried that you got lost along the way."
"You were waiting for us?" Annie asked.
"Of course. It'd be rude to leave our two newest girls to roam this place by themselves. Come on in, the madam's waiting for you both and it's not a good idea to keep her waiting." The girl took their hands and nearly dragged them into the brothel. "Oh, and I'm Tanya. Nice to meet you both!"