NOVEL NEXT Prologue - The Antechamber Between Life and Death
I was drowning. No… that wasn’t quite right. I was definitely submerged in a thick liquid, but… it was comforting and warm like amniotic fluid. I didn’t feel I was lacking air.
Did I die and was about to be reborn?
No… that wasn’t quite right either. I still had all my memories. How did I get there though? I remembered it being a cold morning in January, Anno Domini 2024, just a mere two months shy of my thirty-fourth birthday. The weather lately has been quite terrible. You know, that ever-so-wonderful combination of there still being some snow all around, cold rain, the temperature being high enough during the day so that the white plague just slightly melts and so low at night that it all freezes up again, turning like the entire ground into ice by early morning? Yeah. That kind of terrible weather. It’s really easy to slip and hurt yourself.
So… maybe I did die. Just hit the ground with my head, and bye-bye Lily.
Yes… There was a sensation of falling. And then a flash.
No… that also wasn’t quite right. Yes, I did slip, and the ground was rushing to meet me. It was A sensation of falling, but it wasn’t THE sensation of falling. That one only came after the flash. After that things were a jumble. I felt some force pulling at me, but not managing to hold on. And what was I doing in that liquid?
I tried to move but my limbs wouldn’t listen to me. I still had them but I could feel them… dissolve. There was no pain to it, only a sensation of becoming part of a greater whole. The weird thing was… despite my body slowly ceasing to be my consciousness persisted. Soon, I realised that I wasn’t alone. There were others - a chorus of voices that beckoned me to join them. They promised me a sense of belonging that nothing else could offer. Something I have dreamt of my entire life. Even then I could feel the sheer joy such an existence would entail. They also enticed me with access to a treasure trove of joint memories. A repository of knowledge that far exceeded what the human race would ever have access to. I moved to join them, but then something powerful stopped me. I could hear a sultry female voice say with a giggle:
‘No… this won’t do at all.’
A presence surrounded me and started pulling away from the great Hive Mind. My body was starting to reform… but I felt I could control it this time. Become what I always wanted. I could feel the presence encouraging me to do it. So I shed some kilograms, accentuated some curves, swapped out the parts I didn’t want with the ones I did and when I was happy with the results the presence took me out of the liquid.
I found myself standing naked on a white disk suspended in the middle of pitch black void. Before me stood a slender pale woman with long white hair, and cold blue eyes. Her small breasts were covered by a black bare midriff tank top. Besides that, she was wearing blue jeans trousers and black-and-white sneakers. I also saw pink polish on her fingernails. The woman warmly smiled, pushed her right hip to the side and put her hand on it.
‘Hello, love,’ she said.
I raised my hand in greeting.
‘H-hi there,’ I replied, my voice much more… womanly than I was used to. ‘I suppose you are the one who pulled me out of… well… whatever that was.’
‘Indeed. My name is Ereshkigal. Well… not really, but you of all people should understand the thing about deadnames.’
I laughed.
‘I guess so. Pardon me asking, Miss Ereshkigal, but… what happened to me?’
‘You didn’t die, if that is what you were worried about. The short version is: your world and mine were passing close to each other, this caused rifts to form and you fell into one.’
That answered one question.
‘As for the liquid… well… you specifically ended up in my domain and fell into a nest of well… slimes. You know what happened next.’
I nodded.
‘I couldn’t save your original body, but I was able to reform it out of the slime before your consciousness was irretrievably lost. So good news: you are still you. Bad news: you are no longer human.’
I was a bit disturbed by that revelation, but I wasn’t that fond of my original body to begin with. In fact, for most of my life I felt trapped inside of it, so it didn't seem to me like a big deal.
‘I’ll take that over being dead. Or well… losing all my individuality which would amount to the same thing, I guess.’
Ereshkigal nodded.
‘Indeed. Well… the worst news is: you can never go home again.’
This did hit me like Truck-kun would the Isekai protagonist, which I kinda became. I could feel tears well in my eyes when it was confirmed I would never see my sister or mother again. And that they would never learn what had happened to me. It would break their hearts. And who would take care of my cat?
Before I could stop myself I was sitting on the disk weeping. Ereshkigal sat beside me and hugged me.
‘There… there…’ Ereshkigal comforted me. ‘Let it all out.’
We sat there in silence. Eventually, I felt ready to continue and asked:
‘W-why… are you so nice to me?’
Ereshkigal smiled.
‘Because you need help, so why wouldn't I be? And you would still need it for a while. Right now… you are too weak to survive on Mevara. It’s not your fault. You come from a very different world. Ain’t no much use for fighting skills in an office job after all. I will put you under the care of a man named Zedram. He is an old monk living in a monastery near a village called Jolcir. He’ll teach you the ways of this world and in turn, you’ll help him around the place.’
I nodded. ‘Seems like a fair deal. More than fair even, given you saved my life.’
‘Ah. Gratitude. A rare thing nowadays. Anyway, before I send you on your way a couple more things to keep in mind. First, you should keep in mind that it’s best not to advertise that you are no longer a human being. Monster races tend not to be the most popular in some circles.’
‘And what am I exactly?’
‘You, my dear, are a slimeling. A tenebral slimeling to be exact, one infused by the power of shadow that permeates my realm. You outwardly look human, but your body has some extra properties you may find to be to your liking. You can check what they are on your interface.’
‘My what?’ I asked, surprised.
Ereshkigal facepalmed and shook her head. Then she snapped her fingers. A message appeared before my eyes, which jumpscared me.
Interface initiated
Please provide your name
‘Should have warned you.’ Ereshkigal chuckled. ‘Anyway - since you are basically reborn here you might as well finish it and get yourself a new name.’
I thought about it and said:
‘Lilyth!’
It was my online handle, so might as well, since that was how I thought of myself in my free time.
Name accepted.
‘So… Lilyth,’ Ereshkigal said using my new name. ‘Do you have any more questions?’
‘Just one, so far. I imagine Zedram will explain most other things I am wondering about.’
Ereshkigal nodded at me to continue.
‘Where are we?’ I asked, making a sweep with my hand to indicate the void we were in
‘I should probably mention that I am the local goddess of Shadow and Death. This is what most call “The Antechamber between Life and Death”. It’s the entrance to my domain. I didn't want to spook you further by talking to you in, you know, the actual land of the dead.’
‘I appreciate that,’ I said weakly.
‘Anyway, I will be watching your progress, so you might get a tour of this place if you manage to impress me. While you are alive that is. I might throw a quest or two your way too. After all, it would be weird if there weren’t a-n-y strings attached.’
I could have sworn there was a heart at the end of that sentence.
'Anyway, I can’t release you into Zedram’s care when you are butt-naked. Not that I don’t appreciate the sight.’
I completely forgot about that. And... did she just flirt with me?
Ereshkigal snapped her fingers again and a mirror and a pile of clothes appeared: a green sleeveless tunic, black linen pants with a leather belt, black leather combat boots and a set of modern-looking white bra and panties. I dressed myself, the clothes being a perfect fit, and looked at myself in the mirror. It felt weird to look at the stranger that was reflected there. My shoulder-length hair went from dark brown to raven black with some blue streaks, my skin was almost white and hairless, my face was way sleeker and my nose straighter. The weirdest part was the pointed ears. I didn't remember adding those when restructuring my body.
Ereshkigal must have sensed my confusion as she quickly said:
‘Oh, I gave you those. They will help you explain why you are so pale. Just say that you have elven blood and most people should leave you alone.’
‘Thank you.’
‘No problem, love. A quick note about those clothes: They are soulbound so unless they are completely destroyed they will regenerate any damage over time and you can resummon them at will if you lose them. You don’t have to worry about washing them too, but…
Ereshkigal snapped her slender fingers again and a backpack similar to the one I had back on Earth appeared by my side. There was a canteen attached to it.
‘There are some spares there, along with some clothes for cold weather. Plus whatever I was able to save from your old backpack. The canteen is a small bonus’
She beamed at me.
‘Th-thank you…’ I said, once again on the verge of tears again.
She approached me and gave me a hug.
‘Don’t worry about it. Now stay safe, Love.’
She raises her hand again but before she could do anything a set of messages flashed before my eyes:
INTERFERENCE FROM GOD-ENTITY: ERESHKIGAL CLEARED
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SUBJECT: LILYTH REACQUIRED
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RESUMING SUMMONING
Then there was another flash and the world went dark.