Chapter I: The Reincarnation.

A gentle tune was heard from a distance, the wind carrying its sound, drifting it away for everyone to hear Ellie's soft, delicate humming.

The thick plastic, disposable bags in her hands were rustling with every step she made, "It's so beautiful out..." She stopped humming to exhale a drag of the oxygen around her, a gentle smile on her face as she continued to walk to her home.

Crossing a pedestrian overcrossing, Ellie stumbled forward, almost dropping all items in her hands as she felt a heavyweight crash into her abdomen.

A small grunt of discomfort left her lips as the impact of whatever crashed into her left her slightly winded.

"I'm so sorry!" A little boy who looked to be no older than eight ran passed behind her, chasing after some more children who were in the distance, she caught a glimpse of his childish, innocent smile, "Hey! Wait up!" He shouted, sprinting toward the kids in front of him.

"It's quite alright," her eyes watched the boy's retreating figure, "don't worry about it." A soft smile on her face, taking joy out of the situation despite almost falling on her face.

Oh, how she loved children, and how she'd do anything to be a child once more.

Little did she know that very day, her wish would become a reality.

Ellie continued to stroll around town, swaying the grocery filled bags in the air, humming yet another tune before she turned left, walking up a driveway she walked toward a rather small yet cozy looking house.

The key she wore around her neck fit into the lock hole and granted her access into the house.

"Home sweet home!" She placed the plastic bags on the kitchen bench and began backing all her items away. 

Until she came to a stop.

"Oh, no..."

Her eyebrows furrowed at her carelessness, somehow she had managed to forget the core purpose of her mini shopping spree.

Milk.

"How could I be so careless!" She didn't bother to unpack the rest of her items. Instead, she began patting her back pockets, checking for her phone and wallet, feeling they were there she put the key which she had attached to a lanyard around her neck. Ellie didn't waste any time and left her home as quick as she went in.

Her pacing was fast and quick as she speed-walked; she had no choice but to hurry as it was currently half past four in the afternoon, and the shopping centre closed at five.

Entering the shop in a hurry, grabbing the milk and paying for the lonesome item in an equal, fast pace, she exited the store, holding the milk in her bare, left hand without a plastic bag to break the feeling of cold liquid on her skin.

Ellie let out a sigh of relief, taking notice of the store closing as soon as she left, the sky was darkening, but she didn't dare hurry, she wanted to take her time, to walk home at her own pace so she could witness the breathtaking sunset.

Crossing the same overcrossing where a little boy had bumped into her, she couldn't help but smile.

Walking off the overcrossing, she turned another corner, unable to suppress a flinch when the street light, which was lighting up the partial alleyway blew, leaving her in the dark Ellie couldn't contain her slight fear.

Despite her slow-growing fear, her smile didn't fade, 'You got this, it's just a little darkness, pull it together Ellie.' she let out a shaky breath, shaking her head at herself, it was so unlike her to be afraid, especially of the dark.

Ellie placed her best foot forward, only for it to land on something squishy.

The change of flooring caused the balance to be broken, resulting in Ellie losing her balance, falling forward.

It wasn't just Ellie that was affected by her clumsiness, the milk also took quite the fall, falling from her left hand and crashing onto the pavement, splattering onto the ground.

"Ow..." She grit her teeth, feeling wetness on her knee, Ellie looked in front of her, catching a glimpse of the splattered milk, "Oh man..." She stared at the mess she had made for a solid minute before turning around to investigate what it was she had tripped on.

Her squinted eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of what it was she had fallen over.

A human.

More specifically, a little boy looking to be no older than eight.

Ellie's eyes widened further as they adjusted to the dull, minimal lighting of where she currently stood, crawling slowly toward the fallen boy.

He was covered in blood, laying in what also looked to be a puddle of the crimson liquid.

A scream left her lips; the pitch of the noise was enough to cause birds to explode.

Ellie's pupils dilated, heart, pounding against her ribcage as she scrambled toward the child, shakily yet firmly placing both hands on his chest, her ear on the left side, checking for a pulse.

"Oh God, please be okay...!" She whisper-yelled, feeling nothing but a strained voice come out as the fear swirled and danced within her body. Upon hearing no beat she pulled out her phone from her back pocket, knowing she wasn't educated enough to perform CPR she contacted the ambulance.

"Hello, this is Manchester Ambulance service, what is the state of your emergency?"

Ellie didn't hesitate to open her mouth and ramble away, "Y-Yes hello! I-I need your help, there's a child!" She looked down at the unresponsive, limp, kid, "A little boy who is--"

She would have loved to finish her cry for help, but it appeared, fate had other options as her mobile device was plucked from her grasp, she flinched upon hearing it shatter as it made contact with the concrete beside her.

"My, my, my..." A deep, masculine voice boomed from behind her, "look what the cat dragged in." His vocal tone was deep yet hoarse; it was enough to set shivers down one's spine and not in the 'good' way.

Ellie shrunk back, not feeling at all safe she turned around, facing her prosecutor, his looks were hidden by a black baseball cap which covered his eyes, a dark surgical mask covered the lower half of his face. 

It was as if he were prepared for a funeral, dressing in all black as he also wore an oversized black jacket and leggings.

Swallowing her fears, the lump in her throat preventing her ability to breathe correctly, Ellie crawled backward, away from the man in an attempt to get away and create distance between them, "W-Who are you...?"

"I'm just a guy," The man stepped toward Ellie, closing off any distance she had formed between the two before reaching into his jacket pocket, pulling out something lengthy yet shiny, "with no tolerance for witnesses."

Ellie let out yet another scream as the unidentified male lunged at her, holding her in his grasp he held the shiny object in his right hand before swinging it forward, lodging it into Ellie's skull at a force which seemed humanly impossible.

A crack was heard.

That crack was the last thing Ellie ever heard.

The excruciating, agonizing pain, the feeling of something sharp yet firm being forcibly shoved into the front of her skull was the last thing she had ever felt before her world turned dark.

♡ ♡ ♡

"Oh my God, my head is KILLING me..." Ellie's feet above the ground; however, looking again, there was no ground. She seemed to be hovering in what looked like a pastel blue sky surrounded, no, filled with clouds.

"Ah, yes, you're here earlier than expected..." A petite yet feminine boy with thin, round-framed glasses held a handful of paperwork, his eyes fixated on the papers, reading the context aloud.

"Ellie Stryder...Cause of death, knife to the skull," the feminine boy adjusted his glasses, looking up from the paperwork, his soft, baby blue eyes boring into Ellie's, "murder."

The female squirmed in place, her left hand rubbing her right arm up and down sheepishly, she had no clue what was going on, and her everlasting patience was threatening to wear thin.

"You're pretty spick and span when it comes to your life choices it seems..."

Ellie looked around, taking a step forward in an attempt to walk on air only to awkwardly spin in the air, coming to a stop once she had gotten used to the habit of floating, "Who..." She slowly hovered toward the boy, "Who are you..?," she placed her hand on his shoulder, "And where am I?"

"Ah!" The boy let out a shriek, jumping back in fright, "No physical contact!" Two beautiful, fluffy white wings emerged from his back, flapping in the air ever so elegantly, "Especially from humans."

Ellie's eyes went wide once more, 'Is he an angel...?' If he were indeed an angel, she didn't want to get on his bad side, so the awkwardly floated back, creating distance between the two, "Alright..."

"Right, thank you, now, who I am isn't your priority. Therefore it is not important." The angel's wings flapped twice every minute his wingspan was so large if she were to be any closer she could get whacked in the face, "However, as for where you are, you're in the afterlife, more specifically, you're in the judgment room."

"Judgement room?"

Ellie's question seemed to bring forth the passion in the Angel's eyes as he folded the paperwork under his arm, "Yep! The afterlife, not to be confused with heaven, has five different parts!"

The holy being adjusted his glasses, "We have an administration office, the judgment room of course," he rolled his eyes playfully, stating the obvious, "we have a lounge where those with missing files or uncalculatable deaths can freeload, dormitories and of course, the sauna!"

Ellie rose her eyebrows, was he serious? She didn't know if she should question that, but her curiosity knew no bounds. Hence, her mouth spoke for her.

"The...Sauna...?"

"Yes! Anyways, not important," he shut her curiosity down, locking it away in a chamber and throwing the key into an imaginary ocean, "now, I was told specifically that when you die you're our top priority for our reincarnation project."

Ellie was once again dumbfounded, "Say what now?"

"A project we've created for those beautiful souls who lost their lives too soon, tragically and unexpectedly, those beautiful souls who were tampered with on the cruel, wild world they lived in, it's a way for them to have a second chance."

'Second chance? I thought there was no such thing as second chances...' Ellie was at war with herself, mentally debating whether or not it was legit, despite the words coming from an Angel nonetheless.

"Will you like to try it?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts, although she was slightly wary, it would be a lie if she said she didn't like the idea of reincarnation, "Sure, I'd love to, but I have a question if you don't mind."

"Great!" The Angel grabbed a fluffy, white cloud, giving it a firm squeeze and on cue of his touch to the cloud, a machine slowly began to emerge from above, stopping directly beside Ellie, "Step into the machine here; it'll read every inch of your soul and put you in a place best fitting to you!"

Ellie did as she was told hovering into the machine before landing on her feet, now that there was ground, she was able to stand on two feet.

"And as for your question, what might it be?"

"Will I," Ellie flinched as the see-through doors belonging to the machine closed, locking her in "remember anything from my past life?"

The Angel looked down; he seemed to be in thought, "I...I don't know, there's a chance you will and a chance you will not, it's not under my control to give you access to your memories once you've been reincarnated or not."

With that, the boy flew toward the machine, pressing a button.

On cue, a sound was heard, a machine-like, monotone voice spoke.

'The reincarnation project begins in 5...'

"Wait!" Ellie placed her hand on her side of the door.

The Angel had his face in his paperwork again, removing his eyes from the dozens of letters to look into Ellie's eyes, "Hm?" 

'4...'

"Before I go, what's your name? I'd like to remember you if possible."

'3...'

Ellie could've sworn she saw noticed a slight pink hue on his cheeks, "W-What, no human's ever asked me for my name before..."

'2...'

"It's...It's Artemis..."

'1...'

"Thank you, Artemis." Ellie let her lips curve upward, flashing one last smile before the machinery spoke the last digit.

'0...'

'Transferring you to your new life...'

♡ ♡ ♡

The high toned sound of a baby crying, releasing its first breaths, was all that filled the air alongside a feminine voice shouting in glee.

"It's a girl!"

"Welcome to the world, Seladon Abel."

//End Of Chapter//

Updating: Whenever I feel like it.