Like No One Ever Was

The beginning was surreal, like a lucid dream. Or maybe she was the one dreaming, and I was the one dreamed of. It was hard to comprehend, or really focus when I was that young. As such, I skipped through most of my childhood without a care, seeing ‘me’ doing things, but not connecting that with myself. It wasn’t until I was running outside one day that things really clicked for me. That I remembered who I was - or had been.

“Young Miss, please stop running around! You’ll get dirty and catch a cold!” One of the maids called out to me, and I stopped, more in puzzlement. Catch a cold in this weather? Hardly, it’s the middle of summer. Hot sun with a cool breeze is my favorite weather anyways. I opened my mouth to retort, reply that I’d stay clean, she should know that I hated getting dirty anyways but-

It felt like the world tilted sideways, and it did in a way as I reeled and fell over, suddenly losing control of my bodies as the memories hit me. That’s what they are, memories. Not a dream. I’m… I’m someone else.

I tried to bite back my tears and stop myself from hyperventilating as the maid rushed over, fretting over me. She’s massive. Why do I have a giant maid? I thought for about one second before the obvious clicked into place. Right, I’m a child now.

“Are you ok Miss Nemona? Oh please be alright, I’d hate for your parents to come back and see you hurt.” She said, more to herself than me. Still in a daze, I let myself be led back inside, barely noticing some of the strange animals outside.

On the way, I caught a glimpse of my house. Even taking into account my smaller size, it was massive. A sprawling estate with an excellently tended garden, beautifully kept. There were paths set to walk between the greenery and admire the flower beds and the trees, large enough that one really could take a stroll through it, especially with the stairs that led down the other side around the mansion. The elegant tiles right at the front and antique stained glass all around the front door and set within the wooden door to make a small window served as the cherry on top to this very rich pie.

It’s not right. My home has a beautiful garden, but the space is limited. My mother kept everything together and took care of it. It might not have been as precise and orderly as this, but it didn’t feel as artificial either. I wasn’t truly confused anymore about that. I knew the difference, but just felt the need to grumble to myself. Not quite ready to mourn what I had lost.

The front hall was quite a grand thing, a large open space living room. Ridiculously large, really, since it was big enough to go to the back end of the mansion. It definitely wasn’t crowded, but had enough to not feel empty, rugs and lamps placed strategically by paintings hung on the walls. The largest of them was of a very strange pale blue swan captured head on to make its eyes look odd, sticking out at the sides. Cabinets filled with a modest amount of books on either end of the living room itself, with hallways branching off to doors on either side to the rest of the manor. Chairs, a large L-shaped couch and table were set up in the center of the room to relax, and there was even a small kitchenette in there to grab snacks, but what really caught anyone’s attention was the window.

It took up most of the back wall, the curtains pulled fully open to reveal a breathtaking sight. Just off the small hill the mansion was situated on was a vast beach leading to a glittering ocean as far as the eye could see. Off to the side, I could make out a few palm trees poking from below. A real beachside mansion. Wow.

Butlers and maids set about their chores here and there, tidying up in places. Or maybe just trying to look like they were working at my sudden appearance. I distantly noted all this as the maid quickly led me through to the left side of the building. What was her name again? Nemona’s memories, or, I guess mine, make me think it's Leah?

She took me into the true kitchen, where she rummaged in the cupboards for first aid supplies before inspecting. You probably could have just asked me if I was hurt first, before getting that out. I didn’t say that, however, and decided to throw her a bone. “I’m fine Leah, not hurt, so don’t worry.”

My voice sounded odd. It was an odd thing to fixate on, but it just threw me off a bit, to hear my voice and not see it as my own. Leah didn’t seem to believe me, quickly inspecting me, ruffling through my hair to make sure I didn’t have any scrapes. Eventually though, she accepted that if she couldn’t see anything, I probably wasn’t actually hurt.

“Alright, fine, I believe you. But no more time outside, ok? I know you just moved here, but it’s dangerous to go wandering off by yourself,” She said sternly.

We just moved here? Right, we did. Details on the rest of my history and family were still a bit vague and blurry for the moment, but I did recall moving here a few months ago. Wherever ‘here’ is. “Ok. Can I look stuff up on the computer?” Even trying really hard to pronounce the words well, I found I was talking with a bit of childish lisp. Leah looked suspicious instantly.

“You just want to stay inside?” Then, as if realizing that might give me the chance to go back on what I asked for, she turned around and said “That’s fine, young miss! Stay in the den, I’ll see where your phone has run off to.”

If I didn’t have vague memories of how much ‘I’ like to run about places I’d wonder about how wise it is to try and ‘distract’ a child with electronics. Then again, she’s probably doing her best while my parents are off with their jobs. The pieces were hard to put together, but given how lavish the estate was, I was pretty sure both my parents had very high paying jobs.

The kitchen proper had marble counters and stainless steel for the center island where much of the prep work was done, further selling the opulence of my new life. I could hear the television on in the den, one of the rooms just past the kitchen, but for the moment decided to get a better look at myself.

Climbing up on a stool, I stood on it and looked down at my reflection. It wasn’t the best mirror, but given how well the staff kept things clean, it was good enough. I was small, obviously, being five or so years old. My age also meant I had a bit of that ‘baby pudginess’ left on my cheeks. I was wearing a dress that was frilly and pink enough to make me want to tear it off. Freckles were a new thing, just a few of them dusting the bridge of my nose. I had always thought freckles were cute, so I didn’t mind that change, unlike the rest of it (i.e. being five years old again). The short black hair wasn’t very noteworthy, but the two small locks of green hair that struck out from it along with my vibrant amber eyes, were.

With the time I had to settle down, I started trying to puzzle things out logically. I don’t think they would have dyed one lock of hair for me, so this is probably natural. Definitely a different world I’ve been reborn in. I’ve got a wealthy family at least, which is nice… hopefully. Still can’t remember too much of dear old ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ here, but not sure if that’s just the memories being fuzzy still or they really aren’t around that much.

That thought had me instantly thinking of The Realm in Exalted. Hands off, but incredibly wealthy nobles that can afford tons of servants to look after and basically raise their kids? Check. Anime hair colors? Check again, with special thanks to the Dragonblooded and how their elemental features could change stuff like hair even more as time goes on.

I did my best not to panic, but I was really hoping that it wasn’t the case that I was reborn in Creation. The Dragonblooded might seem like the top dogs, but there were beavies of threats waiting in the shadows to tear them, and the entire world, down. Solar and Lunar exalts might kill me just for being a Dynast (if I was one), to say nothing of the other monsters, all of which could likely manage even if I did get chosen to become an elemental demi-god.

Okay, step 1: Exalt. Step 2: Get five pairs of artifact short daiklaives. Step 3: Heavy artifact armor and that one hearthstone to treat it as medium, or more likely, medium artifact armor. Step 4: Find teacher to learn Thousand Blades Style and Fire Dragon Style. Step 5: Profit. Step 6: Don’t die to assassins in my sleep, or poison, or other rivals in the Realm, or just Celestial exalts that can kill me anyways-

My totally reasonable plans were derailed by a small fragment I heard from the television in the other room. “-what an impressive use of Aura! His opponent is on the backfoot now. Luc-” I didn’t catch the rest, but it had me thinking again.

Right, a television, no way I’m in Creation. Unless it's a Modern Shard? - No, I don’t think it’s quite right.. Aura… is this RWBY? Or rather, Remnant? I thought about that for a minute and tried not to freak out even more. Crud, Remnant is even worse than Creation. Both are besieged by horrors trying to kill all mortals and end the world, but at least people are (generally) winning in Creation. How would I beat an insane immortal witch? Trick her into the Never After (which itself needs Ambrosius to make a portal), something something, big tree make her not my problem?

Things were surprisingly peaceful, however, which had me thinking that this might not be Remnant, even with the mention of Aura. A manor like this would definitely have a security system to deal with the Grimm. Also there weren’t any Faunus among the staff, which traditionally they were kinda given those jobs. Hmm, no Faunus at all might mean I’m in pre-Salem times Remnant. In which case, genocidal brother gods to worry about, but on the plus side, magic! I waved my hands out trying to conjure a lightning bolt, before thinking about where I was or the damage it would cause. Thankfully, nothing happened, beyond me nearly losing balance on the stool.

My antics were interrupted by Leah coming back into the room. “Oh, there you are. Please get down from there,” She lightly scolded, taking me off the stool. “I found your phone, you can play in the den. Kevin will be using the kitchen shortly to prepare dinner.” I was a bit distracted from her words as the red ‘phone’ flew out from behind her and hovered in front of me. The back had a smiling face with large blue eyes and a grin.

“Bzzt - greetings Nemona. I was just charging on one of the docks since I thought you would be outside. What do you wish to look up, bzzt?” The Rotom Phone asked me as it flipped over to show the screen.

I blinked as the pieces finally slid into place. “I’m… I’m in Pokemon.”