Chapter 2.
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3RD POV
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With a groggy expression, Colith's golden eyes cracked open, blinking slowly as she tried to orient herself. She gazed intently at the unfamiliar ceiling above, her mind grappling to understand where on earth she was. A peculiar sensation caught her attention—a strap secured around her face. She reached up to remove it, only to realize her arm felt stiff and painful. Despite the sluggishness of her movements, determination fueled her, and she managed to pull off the object from her face. It turned out to be an oxygen mask, and upon seeing it, a frown formed on her face.
"..what?" Her body jolted with a sudden cough, sending a sharp wave of pain that nearly forced a scream from her lips. Swiftly, she suppressed the agony by instinctively shutting off her nociceptors, preventing herself from passing out.
"GAH DAMN," she gasped, her eyes widening with the realization.
Yes, she was undeniably awake now. The scent of antiseptic and alcohol filled her nostrils, and the steady beeping sound confirmed she was in a white-walled room. At least, she believed that's where she was.
'...Hospital...?'
She blinked, attempting to crane her neck to look around, but her movements were obstructed by something – neck braces.
What on earth had happened for her to be in such a state?!
She slowly realized she was in a hospital room, adding to her already confused brain. Why was she in a hospital in the first place? And more importantly, why did she wake up feeling so much pain? She couldn't recall the events leading up to this moment, but she was certain that the AOT realm didn't possess such advanced medical technology, like the machine monitoring her vitals.
Frowning, she examined the pulse oximeter in front of her eyes. It was a device she hadn't noticed earlier, deepening the mystery of her current situation.
'???'
Fully blinking away the grogginess, Colith attempted to sit up, only to discover her inability to do so, deepening her frown.
"What in the world..."
A sense of déjà vu washed over her; it felt like she had experienced this before – traveling from one universe to another. The distant roar of cars reached her ears, replacing the familiar sounds of horse hooves clacking on cobblestones, carts being pulled, and the slicing of grappling hooks through the air, accompanied by the hissing of escaping gas from the ODM gear. All those sounds were now replaced by the noise of urban traffic, indicative of a modern city setting.
Hold on. What the fuck.
Her gut twisted uncomfortably as she found herself unable to recall how she got here or why she felt this way. A trembling hand reached for the spot where her heart beat rapidly, and a sudden rush of panic and sadness engulfed her. There was an unsettling feeling that something was amiss, beyond her current predicament. It was as though she was forgetting something or, more precisely, someone. But who? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't grasp the memory of the person she yearned for, yet her mind vividly recalled three sets of gleaming eyes looking up at her with love and trust. Her beans, her children.
With a quiet sigh of relief, she acknowledged that she hadn't forgotten about them, and she thanked Allah for that. A fond smile appeared on her lips, and her eyes softened as she wondered about their well-being. Where were they? Were they safe and cared for? She could only hope so.
Feeling relieved as she remembered how they had been huddled together, sleeping soundly in their home while she left for HQ, she nearly missed the intrusion of a new voice frantically echoing in her head, jolting her back into focus.
"Lith! Damn Finally! I've been calling you for a while now! Are you good pal?"
"... Dipshit messenger?" She breathed.
"WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME LIKE THAT! UGH! And here I was worried for you! You ungrateful woman!"
Steam billowed from every part of Colith's unmoving body as she rolled her eyes in annoyance. Noticing this peculiar phenomenon, she couldn't help but frown before turning her attention to the messenger. "What's happened to me? What's going on? And why do I have this nagging feeling that I've experienced this before?" She narrowed her eyes, attempting to visualize her interlocutor more clearly.
The messenger chuckled nervously, "Well, huh, you know it's funny because..."
"THEY DID WHAT?!" Colith fumed in her mind, veins bulging out of her forehead as she scowled. She finally understood why everything freaking hurts and she wasn't happy about it!
"Ah, don't shoot the messenger! I told them it wasn't a good idea, but they still went with it!" The voice apologized, though there was an undertone of amusement beneath it. "More importantly, they knew you'd survive, so they did it anyway." It shrugged. "Though, I wasn't expecting you to be out for this long…" It mumbled.
"Come again?"
"Oh, nothing."
Colith groaned. "Still that's fucking rude man! Dropping me from the sky! What's next? The fucking ocean?!"
"..."
Colith paused. "...it better be One piece or I'm kicking a fuss."
"Duly noted," the voice replied without missing a beat. They both hummed as if sharing a handshake after coming to an agreement.
She sniffed, her irritation returning as her body pulled itself back together, "Seriously tho, what did they take me for? A fucking bird?" she hissed.
"Well your supposed son is one, so yes.." the voice retorted with a chuckle that made the woman's eye twitch in annoyance.
"Not on my fucking watch!" she huffed. "Anyway, where am I? You still haven't told me which anime they dropped me off in this time." she muttered while looking around, noticing how everything looked animesque and trying to recognize the art style, without much success thus far. "Ain't it your job to inform me of such? Or could it be that you guys have finally decided to send me home?" she asked.
"Ah-ah, don't get your hopes up, sis. Remember, favorite soul."
"Tch. Motherfucker" she grumbled.
"Watch your profanity."
"Yes, anyway, will you tell me where the fuck am I this time? Don't think I didn't notice how you've been avoiding the question."
It was silent for a while, as if the messenger had disappeared, confusing Colith until it returned with a shrug.
"Hmmm...so since you've been acting like a brat, they told me to tell you this: 'Let her figure it out herself.' In their words. So, hmmm...yeah, good luck."
"Seriously?! Not even a hint?!"
"Nah, you're on your own this time, sorry."
Her eye twitched, "why do I feel like you're not genuine?"
" 'Cause i'm not. Alright, bye-bye, adieu farewell, and kick ass!" the presence disappeared once again before Colith could shout more profanities in her mind.
She couldn't believe it, man! The nerve of those higher-ups! Dropping her from the sky like some trash and then leaving her alone with no clues as to where she was?! That was beyond rude!
The woman clicked her tongue, glaring at the ceiling as if trying to will it to burn, but she quickly stopped as a black dot materialized out of nowhere. Ah, good. Her powers were still intact. Yey.
Closing her eyes, she attempted to recall something, piecing together the puzzle of her current location. Well, she might as well try and make an educated guess.
First, she deduced that she was somewhere in Japan, ruling out "The God of High School" and "Hunter X Hunter" since the former took place in Korea and the latter in a peculiar version of Earth. How did she reach this conclusion? The presence of kanji all around her, which she had no trouble reading, was a dead giveaway. This allowed her to eliminate any settings outside of Japan and any universes with peculiar alphabets or writing systems.
Now, the most challenging part was determining which anime she had landed in! Drawing from her past experiences, it had to be a universe she was familiar with. Unless the Higher-Ups (H-U) were sadistic bastards who took pleasure in tormenting her—
"I better stop antagonizing them before they do something crazy." she decided.
So, which anime/manga had she seen so far? Plenty. She realized that she could be in some random slice-of-life series she had watched years ago, for all she knew. And since she was in Japan, the possibilities were vast.
[Code Geass]
Her memories of that show were hazy at best, except for the overwhelming confusion she experienced while watching it. Therefore, it seemed highly unlikely that she had landed in that particular anime universe.
[Death note]
Similar to the first show, she was aware of its ending, but her attention waned, she had been around 12 when she watched it, and she dropped it when L died.
[One punch man]
The prospect of constant destruction sounded exciting, but the current absence of such chaos dashed those hopes. What a bummer.
[Jujutsu kaisen]
Hm... it seemed quite probable, but given her luck, she doubted that was the case. Besides, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had been there before, so she decided to brush it off for now.
[Yuri on ice]
Why have powers if she can't even skate to save her life? Plus she didn't even finish the anime.
[Arakawa under the bridge]
HA, MOTHERFUCKER SHE'S IN! That would be HILARIOUS.
[Mirai ni-
she gagged.
Allah please no.
[Baki]
The mere thought of potentially being on the same planet as Yujiro Hanma and Pickle was enough to send her into a shuddering mess.
And so on and on...
After a while of pondering and coming up with nothing, she shifted her gaze towards the window, contemplating whether to make a swift exit like a certain copycat ninja and perhaps coincidentally encounter the main character. Well, how cliché would that be? She chuckled at the thought, but her amusement came to a halt as the door to her room opened, prompting her to lazily glance in its direction. Maybe from the nurse's appearance, she could gather a clue? Because right now, she was utterly clueless.
To her immense disappointment, the nurse looked like any background character she would typically overlook among the main cast. Long brown hair tied in a low ponytail complemented dark charcoal-colored eyes. Yep, definitely a random character. At least this helped narrow down her options since the art style appeared to be a bit more detailed compared to something like Mob Psycho 100!
Her lips pursed slightly as she observed the woman who had just closed the door behind her, holding a clipboard in hand. Turning around, the woman walked towards Colith's spot, checking the machine and scribbling something. However, her movements came to a halt as she noticed the oxygen mask on Colith's chest. Their eyes met, and a brief silence hung between them as they stared at each other.
"Hey."
Startled by the sudden greeting, the nurse let out a surprised yelp, her eyes widening in shock, causing her to drop her clipboard to the ground. Bewildered by the unexpected reaction, Colith mirrored the nurse's expression. Before she could say anything, the nurse gingerly picked up the clipboard and pressed a button, presumably to notify a doctor, before excusing herself.
Colith sat up, a sense of bewilderment washing over her as she swiftly removed the casts encasing her body and stretched. Her nociceptors were reactivated in the process.
After what felt like an eternity, a doctor entered the room, accompanied by the same nurse who engaged in hushed conversation with him. They both stared at Colith, who was now in a sitting position, with astonishment etched on their faces. In response, she shot them a puzzled frown.
"What's with the staring?"
Her question seemed to catch them off guard, but the doctor cleared his throat and tried to compose himself. He proceeded to explain that a week ago, they had discovered her in a park, gravely injured, with nearly every bone in her body broken, as if she had fallen from a considerable height. Her survival had been deemed almost impossible, which accounted for their shock at her unexpected recovery. Colith nodded slowly, feigning surprise at the news, even though she was aware of her unique circumstances. Fortunately, her healing process had already concluded by the time the nurse arrived, sparing her from having her memories tampered with – something she strongly disliked.
After an extensive examination that seemed to last an eternity, Colith was discharged from the hospital, much to the perplexity of the medical staff who couldn't find anything wrong with her. They were deeply puzzled by her case, as it was exceedingly rare to encounter someone on the brink of death fully healed within just a week. They were tempted to keep her for further observations, but Colith knew she had to take matters into her own hands. Reluctantly, she decided to subtly influence their minds, ensuring her discharge on the very day she woke up.
As the doctor departed to attend to his duties, Colith turned to the nurse, who appeared more at ease than before. Curious about her location, she inquired about the prefecture they were in. She hoped it wouldn't be Tokyo, as that would be a bit too cliché, given how numerous anime series were set there, with only a select few diverging from that trend. To her surprise, she discovered she was in Kyoto instead, which brought a refreshing change. With a chuckle, she dismissed the idea of Tokyo Ghoul, considering the city's name.
As memories of her past adventures, wandering into ancient Japan out of sheer boredom and trolling people, resurfaced in her mind, a soft smile adorned Colith's lips. So, this time she had been sent there as well? How interesting.
Shaking her head, she couldn't help but wonder what her alternate self was up to in that era. Nevertheless, she refocused her attention on the present task – donning a white sweatshirt and a long flowery skirt, generously provided by the nurse, as her original clothes had been irreparably damaged.
Colith let out a huff of frustration. It seemed they didn't have anything in her size. The skirt proved challenging to put on due to her wider hips, a reminder of her curvy figure stemming from her African heritage. Similarly, the shirt felt too constricting around her, requiring her to once again employ her powers to adjust them to a perfect fit.
She snorted.
Well, guess shopping is out of the window for now!
Without a clear sense of her location, she couldn't simply conjure things into existence. Who knew if she had landed in a heavily monitored and dangerous world? What if she found herself in the midst of Parasytes or, heaven forbid, Chainsaw-man?
A shiver ran down her spine at the thought.
Yeah no, she didn't sign up for that shit. It would be best to keep a low profile until she could assess the situation properly. Even if she were to encounter someone like Denji, she couldn't let her guard down entirely. The lack of knowledge about her surroundings could make even the mightiest individual excessively cautious. Her only hope was to avoid unpleasant surprises, like stumbling upon a red-haired person with eerie, piercing yellow ringed eyes, for instance.
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(EDITED)
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