The sound of clanging steel rang out in the streets. Two women fought in a high-speed battle as the city around them burned, filling the night with an unnatural light. With every clash, a shockwave rumbled through the ruined city. One was a back-haired young woman around age eighteen, and the other a brown-haired woman in her thirties.

“Is this all Sayaka Sakaguchi is capable of?” said the younger woman.

“Please stop this!” the older woman, Sayaka, said. “Suzuka, I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Look at all I’ve done. Do you really think simply asking me would convince me to stop?”

Sayaka said nothing, responding instead with her sword. Suzuka parried attack after attack and found herself having a harder time countering. Sayaka was a legend who had only ever faced defeat at the hands of one person. Sayaka was also one of Suzuka’s mothers and could not bring herself to attack in any way that would cause harm. All she could do was pressure the girl in hopes she would give up, but the girl only grew more determined.

“Like the denizens of this city, you will die!” Suzuka screamed. “You, Shiori, and every other person in this world! Everyone dies!”

Sayaka only sighed as she prepared to continue her attack.

“But, since you’re so insistent I’ll give you one opportunity to convince me otherwise. Go on, mother, give me your argument.”

Sayaka sighed again and closed her eyes as she began to gather her thoughts, a mistake that cost he dearly. The instant Sayaka closed her eyes, Suzuka teleported behind her and shoved her sword through her heart. Sayaka’s eyes burst open and focused on the blade sticking out of her chest.

“Suzu...ka.”

Suzuka pulled her blade from Sayaka’s chest and the older woman fell over. She was dead before she hit the ground. Suzuka knelt down and closed the dead woman’s eyes. As she stood up, another woman appeared before her, one with the same black hair as Suzuka and around the same age as Sayaka. “You’re a bit late.”

The older black-haired woman looked at Sayaka for a moment, then back up at Suzuka. “Aside us, there are no living beings in the entire city or the surrounding area.”

“And soon, that number will drop to one!” Suzuka rushed at the black-haired woman, but her attack was useless. The older woman caught Suzuka’s sword with her bare hand and crushed it effortlessly.

“You’ve been given chance after chance,” the older woman said. “Suzuka, why? After all my patience, after all the protection I’ve given you… why is this city in ruins, why are the people dead, and why is Sayaka dead?”

The girl laughed. “You care about all of those things and claim to have protected me… but what was I being protected from? On this entire planet, only my parents were capable of hurting me, be it physical or mental. But I suppose I’ll answer your questions before I do to you what I did to her. This city and the people suffer now because I’ve suffered for years. You stand for the people, but you did not stand for your daughter. I grew up resenting these people. I wanted your attention, too. I wanted her attention. You rarely spoke to me or even looked at me. You spent all your time improving the world. But for what end? And don’t say it was for me.”

“But it was for you.”

“Let me guess. You wanted a perfect world for me to live in? You missed your mark by a long shot.”

A tear rolled down the older woman’s face. “Yes. I failed you.”

“Ha! Tears. I relish in those. More, mother. Give me more! Look at the great Shiori Sakaguchi. Look at the world’s greatest failure! In the end, you created a monster and couldn’t protect anyone.”

“Sayaka…”

“So, what now? You broke my weapon. I’ll have to go find another one and I guess I’ll just move on to the next city. Will you follow me? I’ll destroy this world one city at a time. If you’re anything like her… you-”

She was cut short. Faster than Suzuka could see, Shiori drew her katana and closed the distance. She embedded her blade in her daughter’s heart.

“Wh-wha…” She couldn’t get a word out from coughing up blood.

“Suzuka, I swear I will make this right. Someday your soul will be delivered to me in a future life. I will not fail you a second time. Sayaka and I will meet again, you will be born again, and we will be your parents again. I swear upon my soul name, Elysia, that I will show you a good childhood, that you will grow up not wanting for attention. You are my daughter and I love you. I will not allow you to walk this dark path. Now go! The goddess will take care of you until we meet again.”

“M-mom...”

The light faded from Suzuka’s eyes and Shiori withdrew her blade. As the girl’s body lay lifeless, the woman collapsed to her knees. She gripped her sword, flipped it around, and pierced her own heart.

*****

I am Elysia. For eons, I have lived, died, and reincarnated. Since my life as Shiori Sakaguchi, I have not met Sayaka again. Her soul name is Maya. I have lived millions of lives since then and I have yet to meet her again. I’ve asked the goddess time and time again to put me in the same world, but she would only ever tell me about her lives and assure me that we’ll share a life in the future and that my chance to make things right with Suzuka will come. Here I am again standing before the goddess.

Elysia had just died in a recent life and was once again standing in front of a familiar rainbow haired woman sitting on a white stone throne. She was leaning to one side with her head propped up on one hand and her legs crossed. The immediate area was an empty circular arena made of the same material. Beyond the area was an expanse of stars in all directions.

“Hello, Elysia.”

“Greetings, Lady Eve,” she said with a warm smile. “I have died again.”

“Indeed, you have. Once again you stand before me and once again I offer the same. Will you stay?”

“I cannot. I must continue. Will my next reincarnation be the one where I meet Maya again?”

The goddess smiled and only said, “If she chooses the same option, then yes.”

The blonde-haired Elysia sat down cross legged and gazed up at the endless expanse of stars. As she considered her choices, she wondered aloud, “What choices are there for reincarnation?”

The rainbow woman held up her index finger and a small white orb formed above it. “There are many choices. However, I would ask that you choose this one.” She pointed her finger at the blonde and the orb flew over to her. The orb showed a palace where five children had just been born. The orb flashed to another scene with three women in a throne room, one of them sitting upon it, and a young man with a baby standing before them. It flashed to another scene depicting a teenage blonde girl in a classroom before disappearing.

“So, it’s a mission?”

“Yes. There is an entry point the same year those children are born. You would be born to a king and eventually meet up with them.”

“I see. I assume they are important?” The rainbow haired woman did not respond. “Okay. What’s the catch?” That question earned her a smirk.

“Without being too specific… hardship, difficult choices, and various other miseries. There will also be a restrictive noble upbringing for you and those children.”

“Sounds like your usual cryptic description. Anything positive?”

“You will have many opportunities in this world.”

“What’s the mission?”

“You must eliminate one entity.”

“I suppose I’m not getting any information about this entity?”

“No.”

“What do I start with?”

“Everything you have attained thus far. Knowledge. Power. Everything. Of course, while your soul will possess everything you’ve attained your body will still require training to properly utilize it. This particular world is comprised of ten universes. Inter universal travel will be possible but limited. Four of the universes are hard linked due to past events and a fifth has recently been connected. Travel between them is simple. The remaining five require some other means, among which reincarnation is an option. You will be reincarnated into one of the first four.”

“For you to request that I take this mission and give me everything I’ve attained... this entity must be quite the problem... What type of magic system does this world have?”

“Aether and mana. Mana is mainly used for magic, as it is with basically every other world that has it, and anyone can harness it. It exists within everything, and you can do quite a bit more with it than that. Some in this world have already realized this and some advancements have been made, but most will believe it’s just fuel for magic. Aether is different. It’s neither common nor has a simple explanation. You have experienced similar things to it before and should be able to figure it out. The people will call it Divine Mana. While that is not entirely incorrect, it’s an oversimplification at best. You’ll be born with it, so you’ll be able to understand it quickly.”

Elysia crossed her arms. “Mmm.”

“Any other questions?”

“Many, but will I get answers to them?”

“No.”

“Okay. Send it.” The blonde sighed as she closed her eyes. She felt a familiar sensation and her consciousness drifted until it went into a slumber.

*****

In a very regal looking bedroom, a woman was giving birth surrounded by three others. Two were women delivering the baby and the other was a man next to the woman getting his hand crushed by a labor fueled grip. Moments later, her reincarnation was complete and she, now a baby, was handed to her new mother. She didn’t cry. As with many reincarnations before, she possessed full awareness from birth.

“Lord Zen, Lady Layla, have you selected a name?”

“Zen?” Layla asked.

“I only asked if we have a son that he receives my name,” Zen responded. “We agreed that you would choose for a girl.”

“What do you think of Kye?”

“Kye Akari, then?”

Layla smiled at him.

Zen turned to the woman asking for the baby’s name. “There you have it.”

“So does that mean I get to pick the next girl’s name, too?” Layla interrupted with a smirk.

“How do you know we’ll have another girl next?”

“Because you want a boy.”

I like my new mother.

“...ah, well...”

“Now that this part is done...” As the woman wrote the name down, Layla held a hand over baby Kye for a moment. A light glow spread from her hand to the baby. A cloth formed out of nothing and bundled the child. Layla then did the same for herself and was magically changed into a dress. “It’s so nice feeling normal again.” She looked down at Kye with a smile. “But it was worth it.”

My new mother has some useful abilities.

Zen held out his hand and gestured at it with his other.

“Oh... right.” Layla gave him an apologetic smile before healing his hand. “Shall we go greet our guests? They’ve been waiting quite a while.”

Zen nodded. “Let’s go.”

As so Princess Kye Akari was born to King Zen Akari of Nippon Sekai and Lady Layla Barrett of Alcanus.