Polaris North

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

Mako prided herself over her memory— a good employee who knew where something was stored as long as she was the one who placed it. And maybe she could memorize all of the names presented upon the map. But they held no meaning to her.

Well, most of them anyway.

Githameire was right there. Right next to where she was now. The capital was marked there and it looked like a long trek but it didn't matter— that was likely where Alexisa's family was and it would likely be great for Mako if she could get there. The feeling of giddiness lasted for only a moment before it sunk in that Alexisa's family must have been more than just some random nobility as she thought. No, if they had a region named for them, then they held some sort of power that Mako couldn't really imagine. She wasn't well-versed in medieval European hierarchy but they had to be somewhere up there, right?

The mere thought terrified her. Not only did she have to face some army commander and have to explain the massacre of the battle, she also had to come forward to possibly one of the strictest parents there were. Mako let out a groan, pressing one hand to her forehead and the cool metal served to ground her somewhat. She needed to rehearse something. Maybe she should feign amnesia? The trauma of the battlefield - both physical and mental - caused her to forget everything? Though, she wasn't sure if they were medically advanced in this place yet for "trauma" to be a valid excuse.

For all she knew, they'd brand her a person with psychosis or bewitched by the enemy and be killed off.

Another long and suffering sigh left her mouth as she folded the map and tucked it beside Alexisa's journal. Fishing village first, a complicated noble life later. Witn that, she stood up and continued her trek forward. A lake was the most likely place she could find the village and she really wanted to see if they had some answers and she hoped that whatever company Alexisa had did not pass by that village. And hopefully, they weren't under the Empire's control either. It couldn't have been that long since Alexisa's death and her reincarnation.

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

She let out a nervous laugh at the angel's words. Mako wasn't certain she would be able to play Alexisa's part. She doubted anyone would be able to imitate another person so perfectly that no one would suspect. She'll do her best, of course, she had nothing else to do but to try. She perked up a bit as Sigridelle began to mutter something under her breath, something she had started to get used to before she dropped a very important detail.

"Wai-" Before she could even get the full word out, the angel had disappeared from her sight, leaving her alone in the middle of the road in a world not of her own. "Great. Excellent. This is fine. This is perfectly fine. I have... a direction. A sword. And a body that can use it. Yes, this is fine. It'll be fine." She said as chipper as possible as she clapped her hands together. Yes, she will be able to do this with or without the angel. Of course, Sigridielle had other responsibilities. She didn't want to take the angel's time more than necessary... even if she was the case handler. Maybe she wasn't Sigridelle's only case! Yes, that was possible. Well, she hoped that person was dealing with this better than she was!

She took a deep breath and continued forward. Get to the goal. One step at a time, Mako, one step at a time.

Casting everything aside, Mako had to admit that the scenery wasn't half bad. Maybe if they weren't ravaged in a war, she would have seen more foot traffic around these parts. Maybe regular patrols of guards to make sure that the people living around these parts weren't constantly ransacked by bandits or whatever manner of predator that lived within this area. At the very least, the sun was still around. She gathered she had enough time to get to her destination before it decided to leave her. She wouldn't want to be traveling in the middle of the night, or be caught by exhaustion without a roof over her head.

It wasn't long before she saw a discarded and ransacked cart off to the side of a stone bridge. Mako rushed towards the wagon, surveying the situation. No bodies. No horses. Odd. Perhaps they just left the wagon here and ran off with the horses to escape something? Possible. She climbed up to pry open the remaining crates. There was nothing much left but she took some dried food and drank from the pitcher of water. Shame she couldn't exactly bring it. No place to put it in either. She just hoped she didn't die of dehydration so soon after her reincarnation.

Thankfully, there was a regional map. She supposed scavengers didn't exactly need that. Mako picked it up and began to read through the contents as she sat down next to the wagon. A capital or any sort of major city would be good to note. Surely, Alexisa's family would be in one of them at least. After scanning for relevant names, she would try to pinpoint where she was. Addan Fields, a river, a stone bridge. There should be a fishing village to the north so close to the sea, perhaps? Or a lake? Or whatever else a fishing village was built next to?

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

Mako wouldn't go as far as claiming she had a connection to Alexisa through reading her journal. It gave a glimpse of her personality but one Mako wasn't sure she could perfectly imitate. Not immediately, at least. Alexisa spoke of her squire, Iavan, the poor guy was so young and Mako was pretty sure he was among the dead there. She didn't have the guts to return and find him. She didn't even know what he looked like. Heavens, what would his parents think when she returned without him? A problem for another time. One thing at a time, Mako, one thing at a time.

Alexisa wrote about a fishing village a few hours north of this place. She looked up at Sigridelle. "This is the path North, right? There's apparently a small fishing village a few hours up, might be our best bet right now." It spoke of the Empire and their apparent misdeeds... whatever they were. She simply said they were horrifying. And maybe Mako didn't want to know for now.

The warden likely kept this journal to keep her wits about her. Something to pass the time with that wasn't purely about the incoming battle or whatever she had witnessed before.

"Alexisa sounded like a very dedicated person. Honor bound though a little bit lacking in the empathetic department." Mako claimed with a small smile on her face as she closed the journal, tucking it back safely in place. "I wonder what it would have been like to be her friend."

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

Mako spent a few seconds studying the amulet, some form of recognition from deep within allowed her to know what was written on it. Perhaps it was the body, or perhaps Alexisa was still around to help her; either way, she hoped that this kind of "recognition" would continue so her adjustment period wouldn't be horrific.

Next was a signet ring. It looked beautifully made and there was no doubt it would be expensive. She toyed with it, getting a feel of the object. Was Mako some sort of noble? If she wasn't mistaken, commoner knights didn't get things like signet rings. Or maybe she had caught the fancy of some noble and they had gifted it to Alexisa as a show of their affection. That was also possible. Mako didn't know which one she preferred— having to pretend that she likes someone or pretending that she remembered the etiquette of being nobility.

A coin purse that at least had some currency inside. Good to know she would have the ability to pay for a tavern.

And a handbook. Maybe there would be some information here that would be essential for her to know. She began to flip through them slowly and carefully, not wishing to soil the book with any more residual blood on her armor.

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

Addan Fields, probably where they were standing right now. They fought a defensive and lost the battle against the Raaldanian Empire. It was safe to assume that these two nations were enemies— likely at war. She looked around for a bit and confirmed that Sigridelle's observations were correct. Most of the dead bodies belonged to her side of the conflict and not the other. The thought of it made her shiver. She wondered if she had any friends among the dead. Well, if she was part of the retinue, then she most likely did have acquaintances at the very least. Mako felt bad about the fact that she couldn't mourn them genuinely seeing as she had no attachments to them at all.

"Right, and as far as I know, I am the only survivor of this battle on our side." Well, survivor was pushing it. The warden had died and the universe had simply decided to place her, Mako, inside the body and hope she can adjust to that lifestyle. So in a weird sense, no, she wasn't a survivor. She was a new player. She let out a sigh, pressing a hand to the side of her head and grimacing at the dried blood she accidentally smeared on herself. "And wherever the Raaldanian Empire's army is, I don't know. How would I excuse this?" She muttered, more as a question to herself and not towards the Angel. Helpful as she was, she doubted she would hold her hand all throughout the process of her life.

She had miraculously survived. Somehow, someway, Alexisa had survived an absolute massacre. Maybe she could excuse that she had been knocked out by one blow and was left for dead but her stubbornness caused her to keep surviving until she could reach safety and get herself healed? Mako stretched her limbs. Sore but nothing was broken and she didn't feel any sharp stings that would indicate injury.

"When the army came, we were caught unaware. I had been on the battlefield and amongst the chaos, something had hit me and I fell. The next thing I knew, I was still alive but the rest of the retinue was not." Mako formulated, looking up at Sigridelle, silently questioning if that excuse would have been enough. "I made my way back to into our territory to seek aid and to report this though I do not know what the Empire is planning on doing next."

It was a pathetic excuse. She wondered if knights here had the same kind of honor code that samurai did. Mako would have had to commit seppuku and end it all right then and there out of shame of losing a battle and having the audacity to show her face in public again when her comrades in arms could not.

"I'll... workshop it while we're moving. I don't want to be here anymore." She muttered, wondering how long it would take for her mind to truly catch up to what was happening and process that she was in a mass graveyard. With that, she continued down the path while checking herself for any personal effects that might give her a clue on what kind of person Alexisa was aside from being a soldier.

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

The parameters for choosing a body seemed to make sense. She wondered if bodies and souls had some sort of rejection capacity wherein a reincarnation would fail should they have placed a soul in the wrong body. She peered at the angel and bit the question back. She doubted Sigridelle would want to answer irrelevant questions given how she seemed to work as straightforward as possible. Mako could respect that. She knew how tiring talking to clients who didn't have a single clue on what they were doing was. She didn't want to make this harder for the angel.

"Okay. Alright. I'm Alexisa Githameire of the Kingdom Siilmera." Those were the current important information she had. Right now, her next course of action was to find a tavern or something along those lines. What do those old Knights had? Um... a garrison? Maybe she could find one of those and they could take her back home. Or well, Alexisa's home. It would be nice to have a bed or something along those lines.

With a deep breath, she finally hoisted herself up to a standing position. She stumbled for a moment, her body seemingly sore from the exertion of the battle, before steadying herself properly. She surveyed the area and she found herself getting used to the sight far quicker than she had expected. Was it the body? Was it simply used to this and found no problems in standing in a bloodbath? Alexisa, how many times have you gone to battle?

With that question at the back of her mind, Mako instinctively grabbed her fallen sword and slid it back into the sheath and securing it around her waist. Good thing the body did not lose its years of training or else Mako imagined that she would be floundering on how to get to Alexisa's skill level in a short span of time. Nevertheless, Mako followed the road and hoped it wouldn't be too long before she got to some form of civilization.

"What was that battle all about anyway?" She asked the angel after a few minutes of silence. She waited for a moment before quickly adding. "So I know what to say when I find someone who knows Alexisa!"

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

A warden. Well, Mako supposed she had to remember this information. If she really was just occupying and borrowing this body- is it called borrowing if you were going to keep it permanently?- she had to know how to operate in this new world. She looked around tentatively again and an involuntary shiver went down her spine. This is what this woman had chosen? To live and breathe the battlefield? Based on the armor, it is some sort of medieval-esque time so maybe there was glory to be found in clashing swords and mass graveyards.

A large shadow passed by them and Mako looked upwards, wondering what could have been big enough to make such a big impression. Some form of giant bird had flown overhead. Was this some sort of predator? Maybe a scavenger? Mako just hoped it wasn't the first option. She was not looking forward to running for her life at the first hour she had gotten to this strange, new world.

Her eyes and attention snapped back down when Sigridelle continued speaking to answer her question. She winced once again, a couple of scenarios running through her head of what a "not pretty death" looked like on the battlefield. Had she been trampled by a horse and her body succumbed from the weight of it? Skewered through a spear and decapitated? There were so many possibilities and yet she would not ever be able to find out as there were no signs left aside from the blood on her armor.

"An office lady becoming a knight- a warden?" She muttered, more to herself than for the angel. She closed her fists, the armor creaking in response. Could she even do it? Could she live up to the standards of which this warden had been operating by? She looked back up at the angel. "Why a warden? I don't think I was a very physically or combat capable person in my previous life?" If she was one of those LARP people or someone who was fond of medieval fantasy, maybe she would have been overjoyed to be put in such a position. Alas, she really was just some run-on-the-mill office worker who was working a nine-to-five and whose hobbies included scrolling through the internet, listening to music and shopping.

"A-And... what happens now? Where do I go? Who do I even talk to?"

Because aside from Sigridelle, there was no one else alive as far as the eyes could see. The people from before had been long gone and she doubted they were friendly if they retreated that quickly. Likely grave robbers if she really thought about it but that information was useless to her current predicament.

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

Not Valhalla. Gotcha.

The explanation was simple enough. The challenge she thought the universe had sent her was a complete mistake and it ended up costing her life when it shouldn't have. Maybe the car crash was supposed to simply be a turning point in her life for the better but it had instead ended it right then and there. It was a puzzling concept to wrap one's head around and it really showed on her face. It wasn't horrified or furious or disappointed, merely puzzled and confused. Who knew that the universe could make mistakes like that? Did they also have a cubicle office in the heavens where Sigridelle worked at?

Man, even angels had it boring and rough too, huh?

She did, however, wince at the knowledge that she could have gotten back to her own body had her family not rushed her cremation. "They always did do their due diligence in the most efficient manner." She muttered almost begrudgingly. Considering her death was a brutal one, they likely didn't even put her up for a viewing or a wake and had jumped straight into cremation. She just hoped that she didn't hurt people by leaving so fast.

"So like this is some sort of weird reincarnation?" Finally, Mako looked down at her own body, viewing her hands down to her legs She was covered in the same metal armor as most of the dead bodies on the field. Red stains smeared across the breastplate and for a moment, Mako wondered if it had been the body's she was inhabiting or if it had been the blood of her enemies. Neither of those thoughts brought her any sort of comfort.

"Am I a knight? Soldier? Thing? What happened to--" and she gestured to herself, or rather the body she was currently in because she was almost completely sure this was not her own body.

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

Methiyl.

That wasn't just a name on Earth, was it? It didn't sound like it. She was by no means a geography expert but it didn't sound like any country she knew of. So she simply stared at the angel to try and ignore the fact that they were on a violent battlefield and to ignore the building bile in her stomach from the stench that she had finally clocked in that it was fresh blood and flesh beginning to rot.

"Sigridelle. Nice to meet you." She said first, manners coming first than anything else.

Sigridelle mentioned that she was going to handle Mako's case. What kind of case? She was an angel. Was this an afterlife sort of deal? There was a pregnant pause between their introductions before the angel's next words and it was enough for Mako to start brewing a couple of questions and hypothesis because if she wasn't going to try and logic her way through this, she'd have to focus on something else and not everything else that's happening.

And Sigridelle dropped the news.

She had died.

There was another moment before Mako cocked her head to the left. "Yeah, I realized that." Because Mako had come to terms with that in the few moments she felt that sharp impact then nothingness. She swallowed, her hands clutching her armored legs but that hadn't quite registered just yet. "So, is this some sort of afterlife? Is that why there are dead bodies around? What exactly is going on?"

Alter Ego: Transported to Another World because of a Celestial Mix-Up!

It all had happened so fast, really. A person in the wrong place at the wrong time— Mako had thought that her life could not get any worse and the universe simply decided to take that as a challenge. The sound of something snapping, screaming, the shadow being cast over her, and then nothing. Mako had thought death would be far more terrifying than a quick blip in her monotonous life.

Mako was not big on spirituality but she was not one to discredit them. She visited the shrines regularly, wishing for nothing but good health at that point in her life, and she was... rather sure that she had been a fairly good person. Maybe in her death, it would take her to a better afterlife. She didn't have many wishes in the world but she was glad to pass on peacefully if that was needed.

So when the darkness came, she expected to wake up above the clouds or something along those lines.

When she took in a sharp inhale and opened her eyes to the sky, Mako didn't understand if she were to be disappointed that the afterlife looked so much like Earth or if she was thankful that it was semi-familiar. The stench of the air was... off. Her eyes wandered. There were a couple of people scurrying away and they were already at a distance. One person remained and she had a halo above her head.

An angel?

A sigh.

Ah, an irritated angel.

"I'm sorry?" Mako muttered uncertainly.

It took her a moment as reality finally dawned upon her and her surroundings. Beyond the running men and the angel before her were bodies. Her head whipped around and they were everywhere. Fallen knights and soldiers, blood oozing out of their armor and seeping into the ground below. Her eyes were wide as she gaped at the vicious location they found themselves in and she looked back to the angel, a tad horrified.

"Where... am I?"