Versatile: Alternate World

This person, or spirit or whatever she is, is exuding a lot of negative vibes. Not necessarily evil but not necessarily good either, more like neutral. I kinda felt this pressure before but I think that only happened when I am close to my death.

...

The woman looked at me, without a word, she only have an empty look in her eyes. That simple stare she did to me might just be something that can happen every day but it is enough to cause the creeps to me.

"Child of man, the one who wanders between the past and future."

She started speaking and although this is just a dream, her voice are so harrowing I am feeling the fear creep on me. Even though she is not scary in the slightest, the atmosphere around her makes her feel like something that would cause you to unconsciously shiver and be afraid of the unknown. Despite that, I didn't cower in fear and faced her.

"Who are you? Why am I here."

"Do not be afraid, I am but a passing mirage and fragment of the mind. I am neither here but I exist. My visitation here has nothing to do with the current situation in the world. You might not know me, but I am watching you since the time you become part of the world's cycle. You are no longer an irrelevant being that will not affect the future of this world."

"Just who are you exactly? Why are you not answering my question?"

"Because you already know the answer and I have no need to tell it to you. However, when the time is right, perhaps you will know. For now, call me Death."

Death?! I instinctively backed off hearing her name. There are plenty of things that might connect with her. She might be the same Death that exists in this world, she might be the embodiment of death, the grim reaper herself, or perhaps, she is the same person as the goddess of death in the Alternate World.

"Why are you here?"

"Nothing in particular. I am just visiting my favored human that appeared in my whole life. Is there any problem with that?"

"Favored human?"

Instead of answering me, she floated away from me and stares out the window. Yes, floated away, she is not walking at all making me frown at why she is talking to me. Perhaps this is my sleep paralysis demon or something?

"My favored human, I might be unable to provide any kind of support to you but you are someone who has saved me from everything in this world. I understand if you are confused, I might be speaking something to you that you might be unable to understand but just take your time. There is no need to rush what you needed to know."

She turns to look at me and held out her palms, revealing a small holographic form of the world. However, I don't think the world she is showing is the planet Earth. In fact, I can't take a clear picture of what it was due to how hazy it looks.

"You might not know this, but the act of you returning to the past has broken a cycle that has been ongoing on multiple occasions, and for the first time, history seems to have already been progressing to the road that has not yet been explored. Perhaps you will be the key to the future that I might have not yet known. But knowing you, my favored human, you will do great and I know you will."

Then, lights flashed outside. It was very sudden so I was caught off guard. The light flash even reached the room and kinda lighten up the dark room. I also just realized that everywhere I look in my house, everything is just black and white, even me.

Before I can ask another question, the one called Death starts to walk away from me.

"I apologize for the sudden arrival, but I will also apologize for my sudden departure as my time for visitation is very limited and straining. Perhaps in the future, we will meet again. I will be waiting for our reunion, my favored human."

And before I can intervene or stop her from leaving, she disappeared and her whole body dissipated like smoke. It was like she materialized as a human being and then dies by disintegrating to smoke. It was quite confusing to me. Just as I was about to wonder what should I do next, I opened my eyes and I woke up from the dream.

I am sweating a lot and my whole body is drenched in sweat. This made Rennata and Rika to get startled as I stood up from the sofa so fast.

"Are you okay over there, Manato? You seemed like you are having a nightmare just now."

"Ah, don't worry. I am fine."

I put my palms in front of my face while still thinking about the recent dream. Compared to the dreams I see with the girl and the great tree where the moment I open my eyes from experiencing that dream, I forget about it, this particular dream didn't. It is still vivid in my mind and even when I am just inside my house, seeing what I have seen in my dreams causes me to see the surroundings no longer the same.

Since my whole body is drenched in sweat, I went back to my room to grab some clothes and went inside the bathroom to take a shower.

While inside the shower, my mind keeps on wondering who Death really is. Not only that but she called me, her Favored Person. I have not been called a term like that in my whole life, not even in the past timeline. Not only that but it leaves too many questions for me to look for answers for. Why did she call me that? Who she really is? Why did she visit me? What is the purpose of her talking with me? These questions linger in my mind and I still have no idea what would be happening in the future.

Then, I suddenly remembered something from the Alternate World.

"Death's Favorite"

That is the very first title I received after returning to the past as I played the game again in this timeline. The title Death's Favorite and the one who is named Death is calling me her Favored Human. Does that makes sense or does that feel like not a mere coincidence?

I haven't thought too much about it but that holographic globe she revealed before looked familiar but I am quite sure it was not the Earth. Then doesn't that mean that was the Alternate World's map? I still don't know but perhaps that was really it.

Perhaps that dream wasn't even meant to be a dream, but some kind of connection with me and that Death woman. As much as I want to learn more, there is nothing I can do for her to immediately move the moment the lightning flashes by in the distance.

Perhaps that lightning was a sign of something? Like perhaps...

Life.

Then, the legend of Life and Death that Lucia told me before flashed back to my head. Although it really happened during the time Lucia originally existed, that story is now just a legend that is being passed down by different people.

Seeing how Death is the symbol of darkness and everything that envelops it from total darkness, does that mean the lightning from before is a significant sign that Life has found Death and is following her? I can only speculate and I can't say much either but I can easily say that the reason Death left so early is because of Life herself.

The two siblings govern the balance of the world. One who handles and gives life, and one who handles the death and final resting area of all the creatures in the Alternate World. The war they are in seems to be ongoing until this very day. I might have not seen it personally but it seems to be happening in the background and is changing the world slowly but surely.

One thing that made me think is that the words of Death seem to know my time-traveling shenanigans. The person who walks between the past and future. A person who has hailed from the past returning to the past and creating a new present day, perhaps that might be the main case but what was that exactly all about? Death seems to have already been aware of that and it seems she is looking at me on what actions I may do in the future.

I might not have any sort of idea of what will going to happen in the future, but it seems that Death is looking forward to it. Perhaps, I am not just playing a normal game, I am playing a game now called the Real Life.