[Ba-dum]

Hm..?

[Ba-dum]

Where am I...?

[Ba-dum]

It's dark in here... But also... Warm...

[Ba-dum]

[Reincarnation In Progress]

Reincarnation...?

Oh... yeah... I died...

[Subject Hestia will begin reincarnation as a Human]

[Failed. The Individual's soul is incompatible with a normal Human body]

[Recalculating]

Grandma arranged for me to reincarnate huh... Was she... a god?

She didn't seem like one... she was so... gentle...

[Insuficient data]

[Contacting the Eternal Library]

[...]

[Done]

[Recalculating]

Several minutes went by as I waited. Grandma said something like that, about me being different. She said the eternal flames have reforged my soul… But what does that even mean?

It kinda makes sense that I can't be a normal human, then... I just hope I don't turn into something hideous...

[No existing species found]

[Creating new species]

[Calculating DNA combination]

[10%... 46%... 89%... 100%]

[Combining 16% of Human DNA, 14% of Angel DNA, 10% of Soul Anomaly DNA, 60% of Royal Phoenix DNA.]

[New Species: Variant Fire Human created sucessfully]

That doesn't sound half bad... Will I have red skin and breathe smoke or something?

[Warning! External interference detected!]

[Subject Hestia is affected by God's Blessing]

[Recalculating]

[Combining 25% of Human DNA, 25% of Royal Phoenix DNA, 50% of Angel DNA]

[New Species: Divine Champion created sucessfully]

[Attempting Reincarnation]

A warm feeling surrounded me, it started trickling into my body like thousands of cloths...

This kinda feels pretty goo... - A strong wave hit my mind like a truck. Fire filled my vision as I saw myself lost in the never-ending flames again. Pain radiated through my body, those gentle cloths started burning as something inside me screamed in hunger.

[Warning! 1st attempt failed!]

[Emergency Calculations Ensued]

[10%... 28%...]

AAAAAAAAAHHH IT BURNS!! - I screamed in my mind, that feeling brought with it memories that had been suppressed by the goddess for the last year. Even though what I felt couldn't even be considered a thousand of a percent of what I felt in the void, that was almost enough to drive me insane.

[39%... 58%...]

MAKE IT STOP! - The warmness, which before was soothing, now burned my skin and was driving me blind.

[79%... 100%]

[Combining Divine Champion DNA with subject Hestia's soul for the creation of a half spiritual body]

[New variant half-spiritual species: Champion of Flames successfully created]

[Attempting Reincarnation]

[Ba-dum]

That burning feeling started sinking into my skin, and into the inside of my body, it got milder and milder as new gentle but warm cloth-like things were again placed on me.

This went on for what felt like a few hours until it slowly but surely came to an end.

[Reincarnation Successful]

I left out a sigh in my mind. This had been painful, like, more painful than being shot...

Wait. I can remember it now?

Yeah... I remember... I was trying to save Cris... Then that guy shot at us and I protected her with my body.

That's how I died eh..? I can't help but wonder if she is okay... - For a while I wondered, trying to remember more things, but no matter how, I could only remember the day I died. And even then, some parts were completely obscured.

To think that from everything, I would remember my entire physics essay...

[Ba-dum]

What is this sound? It's been here as long as I can remember... - I listened to it a bit more carefully.

[Ba-dum]

[Ba-dum]

[Ba-dum]

Hmm... It kinda sounds... like a heart? - Then I came to the realization - Oh... I'm in my new mother's womb.

I wonder how she is..? Is she pretty? Maybe I'll be born into a wealthy family and have an easy life? That wouldn't be bad...

Wait. What kind of world am I in? Am I on Earth? It doesn't seem to be, because of the things that voice was saying... But, if I'm on Earth, can I find Cris? - Hope started swelling up inside me.

And with hopeful thoughts, I barely noticed when I fell asleep.

[11 Months Later]

A small building stood minute among many others in a dimly lit town. The evening was impending and the last rays of light stroke the ceilings of the houses. It would have been a peaceful sight, were it not for the cries of a woman, echoing on the inside.

Irwan tightly held the hand of his wife amidst his. He sweated profusely, stealing glances at the midwife helping with the birthing process. Inside the home, the screams sounded more like howls of a wounded beast than the cries of a woman. Irwan knew something was wrong, this pregnancy had taken far too long, two months longer than when his son, Ralph, was born.

Lady Yen, the midwife, had said it would be fine, that she had already brought many difficult children onto this world. That this one wouldn't be different.

He knew now, however, looking at her face. Those words were mostly self-assurance, not confidence. He could now only hope and pray for the better.

His wife's vice-like grip brought him back to reality. She looked tiredly in his eyes, not a single hint of fear could be seen. In between breaths, she managed to say.

"Promise me... That you will take care of her. Prom-" She was cut off by a guttural howl coming out of her own throat as she forced the child out.

Irwan didn't think, he didn't want to think.

"I will, I'll take care of her, I promise" He held her hand closer to him.

I'll take care of both of you, so please, hang on! - He thought.

With a last, wall-shaking howl, followed by an eerie silence, Lady Yen brought a silent baby into her arms, her assistant hurriedly wrapping her in a towel.

A few moments passed, Yen's assistant was dutifully using her wand to cast healing spells on the mother.

While the father stood up to look at his child.

"Lady Yen... Why is she not crying?" He sounded worried, almost at a loss.

She didn't find it so strange, some children just didn't cry, this was one of them. The newborn was normal, she was breathing normally and vividly looked around the room, trying to explore the new world she was in.

"Some of them don't cry, Irwan. It's rare but pretty normal."

"Let me see her..." Teressa muttered quietly, weakly extending her arms to the midwife.

Yen carefully passed her down to the mother, nodding to her assistant to pay attention.

"You are so pretty..." She caressed the baby's cheeks with her thumb "So pretty... My little Hestia..." Her hand started dropping, losing strength... And she passed out.

Yen passed the baby to Irwan, saying in a serious tone

"Take the baby and go outside, we'll treat your wife."

"But" She cut him off.

"No buts, go, we need space to treat her and you could disrupt the healing magic."

She shooed him out of the room, then produced from her purse a small sheepskin canteen.

"Feed her with the milk in here, it's what we collected yesterday in case Teressa would faint."

She placed the canteen on his arms, together with the baby, and rushed back inside the room, closing the door.

Irwan slowly fed the baby with the milk; he paced around the room while doing so. She had burped as soon as she finished, using her little hand to push the canteen away from her mouth. For a while, she looked at his face, with wide, twinkling amber eyes.

"Hestia... It's a pretty name... Everything is gonna be alright, honey, everything is gonna be alright..." He lulled the baby in his arms until she fell asleep, then he waited, for a few minutes... Then a few hours... The apprehension was starting to get a grip on his heart when Yen and her assistant came out of the room.

Irwan rapidly stood up, walking towards her.

"How is she?" He asked hopefully

But she gave him a tired look, sadness filled her eyes as she said the words.

His world was silent. Colorless. All around him the shadows seemed to laugh at his peril, the woman in front of him hadn't helped his wife, even when he spent all of his savings from the past three years on her.

The world didn't make sense. It wasn't fair. Why would this happen to her? A loving mother and a wife, a hard-working woman who brought only happiness to him. Gone.

But a sound was captured in his deaf years. The cries of a baby, tugging at his clothes. He looked down as two almost glowing ambers looked back at him, crying her lungs out.

"It's gonna be okay, honey" He held her close, tears swelling up in his eyes - I'm gonna take care of you.