(Or: That Time I Got Reincarnated As A College Girl)
By MisterWildCard
Author's notes:
If this was a Japanese "light novel" like some of the stories that partially inspired this, the title would be "ISEKAI KARA KITA MAJO: TENSEI SHITARA JOSHI DAISEI DATTA KEN". I leave it to my readers to come to a consensus on what the abbreviated nickname should be. :)
All characters here engaged in any sort of sexual activity are at least eighteen years old. All characters here are my own creation, and not intended to reference any real persons, intentionally or otherwise.
Some background characters in this tale, along with the fictional "Ellwood College" setting first appeared in my previous story "Roger, Over and Out", but it's not necessary to have read that in order to enjoy this one.
I know I haven't published much this last year, and I do apologize for that. I'm hoping to increase my output going forward, but there was no way I was going to miss Geek Pride, so I'm glad to have this ready in time for you all to read and hopefully enjoy.
Big thanks to Blind_Justice for beta-reading this and making some very helpful suggestions. Check his stories out, they're very good!
If you enjoyed this story, I hope you'll check out the others I have posted here, and I'd love to hear any and all feedback, even on the parts you think maybe didn't work as well.
Without any further ado, let us begin our tale, which begins (but does not end) in a distant world so very different from our own, a world of magic and mystery, a world called All Stone:
***
The land was on fire.
Natashka Veltris lay on her back, staring up at the smoke-choked sky. Her right arm lay limp at her side, flesh shredded and burned down to the bone, while her good left hand spasmed weakly over her opened belly, unable to stem the tide of blood. "Tell me, Kai. Did we win?"
A ghostly face appeared in her field of vision, crafted in the image of a handsome youngster of indeterminate gender and species. Her bond-spirit. They had a sad smile, their voice echoing through her mind and soul.
"You did, Great Mistress. The Abomination of Flame is no more, and I have heard reports on the wind of his armies scattering, now that they lack his power to unite and empower them. The war is over. You won."
"We won, Kai. You and I, and 'I'm-Just-A-Sergeant-Damnit' Borkin, and Polly, and Malice, and all the others. The world won. The world will live. That's all that matters." She coughed, and felt hot coppery blood splatter across her mouth and chin.
"I am very sorry that you will not, Great Mistress. Your magics, while considerable, are not sufficient to heal your wounds."
"Stop calling me that, Kai. I'm no one's mistress -- I'm just an old woman."
Kai cocked their face to one side, still holding that same sad smile.
"Would you prefer I call you the 'Dread-Witch', as so many have done?"
"You've been my bond-spirit for many years, Kai. I'd like to think you're more than just my familiar, confidante, and assistant. I'd like to think that a spirit and a witch could be friends, at least here at the end, eh?" She glanced over at her destroyed arm. "It's one thing to cure maladies, and quite another to rebuild so much lost flesh -- and even if I had that latter skill, my reserves of power are quite spent. I'm all too aware that no one will reach us in time. My only regret is that you will perish with me, bonded as we are."
Now Kai looked skeptical.
"Your only regret? Let us be honest with each other at our mutual end, Great... I mean, Natashka. Surely, you must have others."
"Such comfort you are, Kai! Such bedside manner, it's a wonder you weren't bonded to a healer-mage. I wish I could at least numb the pain a bit, but even that kind of healing magic's never been my forte." She laughed for a moment, but it hurt too much to draw breath, and she continued the conversation only in her mind, where only her bond-spirit could hear.
"I don't want to die here, Kai. No one does, of course -- but I'm only sixty! I had many decades of vitality ahead of me, if I cared for myself well. It would be a great thing, if only I could have another life to live, to give more of what I had to offer to the world and to those I cherished, to experience all that life has to offer in return. Wouldn't... wouldn't that be nice? I'd like that very much, I would."
A sharp agony speared through her chest, and her left arm went numb. The edges of her vision grew dark.
Another face manifested before her, its eyes great and terrible, and Kai's visage backed away out of fear and respect. YOU HAVE SERVED THIS WORLD WELL, DREAD-WITCH OF LEGEND. YOU SHALL HAVE YOUR WISH. ANOTHER LIFE, SERVING ANOTHER WORLD, AND PERHAPS THIS TIME, YOU SHALL ALLOW YOURSELF THE BOUNTY OF JOY THAT LIFE CAN BRING YOU. HEAR OUR JUDGEMENT -- AND FARE WELL UPON YOUR JOURNEY.
Gasping one last breath of pained air, Natashka Veltris spoke her last words. "The Lord of All Stone! What do you...?" But in that moment, her heart beat its last, and her words froze in her still throat. As the flames of the burning world around her slowly settled into smoldering embers, and the shining blue-white sun broke through the parting clouds, Natashka Veltris, the Dread-Witch of the Emerald Forest, greatest hero of her age... died alone in a ditch by the side of a distant road. Her world would mourn her.
***
"Wait! The machine beeped! For the love of God! Wait!"
Natashka heard the words, but didn't recognize the man's voice. She was still lying down... but now she felt a softness beneath her. A bed, a luxurious one from the feel of it. Pillows below her head. Her belly felt intact. She could feel her arms, and felt no pain there at all -- but there was something in her throat, a source of great discomfort. She opened her eyes. Immediately there were screams, followed by a loud thump as a man who'd been standing over her fainted and collapsed.
"We've got brain activity! Her eyes are open! Doctor... dios mio, come see!"
Her bed was surrounded by strangers. She could hear their words, and understood their meaning -- but they weren't words she actually knew. They were not speaking River-talk, or Migoro, or any of the other languages she'd ever heard of in her sixty years. It was something altogether different -- but somehow she understood. Where was she? What was going on? She tried to speak, but whatever was in her throat made it impossible. It took a few moments for the people around her in white uniforms to pull some strange tube from deep within her throat. That was a new round of agony, but it passed quickly. She was able to breathe normally afterwards, which seemed to mystify everyone present. The man who'd fainted had been gently carried into a nearby chair, and was slowly coming around.
Natashka looked left and right -- definitely no one here she recognized. All humans like herself, none of the other sentient species present at all. How strange. "How..." her throat was raspy, and it hurt to speak, but she tried her best. "How did I survive? I should be dead!"
Everyone stopped and stared at her. "Oh god, she's speaking gibberish," one of them said. "There's still neurological damage."
A woman stepped up to her and took hold of her face, shining a small light into her eyes. "Victoria! My name is Doctor Kanagawa! Can you understand what I'm saying? Nod your head up and down if you can understand my words!"
Squinting from the bright light, Natashka nodded.
"Oh thank god. Do you know where you are? Nod your head for yes, shake it side to side for no."
Natashka shook her head. She couldn't even figure out what these walls were made of, never mind where this strange place was.
"Do you know who these people here are?"
She shook her head again, which drew sobs from many present.
"Oh gods! Vickie, it's me! Your mother! I should have never let you leave the house that day, I knew something bad was going to happen! Don't you remember me?"
The next few hours were utter chaos. Natashka was prodded and probed in every possible way, and was shocked to discover during that exam that she had the body of a much younger woman. What was going on? Before she could process this, she was wheeled to another room with a strange tube-like machine, which she was fed into head first with firm instructions not to move. The machine was painfully loud, but Natashka endured it. She'd dealt with worse in her long life.
Once she was back in the room where she'd first opened her eyes, the doctor was now speaking to the people who seemed to be her family. "I'll be honest, I have no idea what's going on. This morning, your daughter was... well, brain-dead. You were about to disconnect life support. Now she's not only awake, but she seems -- fine. Physically."
"But she was talking gibberish! She doesn't know us!"
"Victoria received massive cerebral trauma when she was run over, Mister Blackstone. It's a miracle she's alive at all, and although her brain tissues don't show evidence of any trauma now -- which makes no sense whatsoever -- it's not at all shocking that she's experiencing neurological issues, such as this apparent aphasia and memory loss. Don't worry, our neurologists and rehab therapists will work with her to get her functional again, as best we can."
After a flurry of tearful farewells, the family eventually filed out, leaving only the uniformed staff such as Doctor Kanagawa. They tested her physical abilities, showing she was able to stand and walk, which further mystified them. A discomforting tube they called a "catheter" was removed from between her legs, and she was shown where she could relieve herself in a small side room. Natashka sat and did so, her mind awhirl in confusion. She looked down at her youthful breasts, much larger than her previous life's endowment, and laughed a raspy laugh, completely at a loss of any other way to react to everything. But even as she laughed, she winced in pain - her throat was still sore from the breathing tube they'd removed earlier.
After firm instructions from the doctor not to remove any of the sensors they taped to her chest, nor the odd needle in her arm, she was finally given solitude, and the bright lights on the ceiling were extinguished. After hours of chaos, finally the world was still, with no more distractions.
Not wanting to stress her throat further, The Dread-Witch's thoughts echoed inside her own mind. "
Kai? Are you there?
"
After a long moment, the bond-spirit's face appeared before her, and Natashka breathed a sigh of relief.
"I am, Great Mistress. But something happened. I've been disoriented, overwhelmed with strange sounds and images. I tried to speak to you, but your thoughts were too unfocused, as were mine. But I'm feeling better now."
Natashka reached up to touch her face and her hair, which was now only stubble. They'd removed a band of "brain sensors" from around her skull -- perhaps her hair had been shaved off to avoid interfering with them. This face felt completely unlike the one she remembered from her long sixty years. Her nose was the wrong shape. Her skin had an olive tone to it rather than the pale Northerner hue. There was a gap in her lower left teeth that hadn't been there before. Taking a deep breath, Natashka reached out with her other senses -- and could feel her reservoir of mystic power inside, mostly depleted but steadily replenishing. In fact, it was doing so much faster than she would have expected. This place was rich in arcane energy, but it seemed that absolutely no one nearby was drawing upon it except for her. Very odd. "
Kai, what can you discern about where we are?
