A loud gasp was the first thing I heard as the light from the ‘loading screen’, as I liked to call it, faded from my vision, and I saw Kelcie hovering in front of me in her fairy form. I must admit she looked great like that. I loved her in her human form, but there was just something about her looking like a fairy that spoke to me on a fundamental level. Maybe it was the fact that I had spent more time in my life as a fairy than as a human, and their sensibilities had rubbed off on me? Or it could just be that she looked adorable, and because I loved her it made her even more attractive to me? I had always found her attractive, but it was how loving, caring and strong she was that really drew me to her.

“Azalea? Did you go and choose your evolution?”

Taking in Kelcie’s appearance, I noticed that it had changed since I had last seen her, just before I left to select my evolution. The glow that she emitted was brighter than before, and now with the golden tint that mine had taken on. She was even more beautiful than before, her elegant and refined appearance having been enhanced somehow. My consort was a proper beautiful young woman now, in either of her forms. 

“Azalea? Is there something wrong?”

“I think you broke her,” Ryel replied, her tone highly amused, the complete opposite to Kelcie’s worried one.

Kelcie rushed in and grabbed my shoulders. “What? How?”

I tried to speak and only an ineligible grunt was all I could manage before I cleared my throat and tried again. “Pretty,” I breathed out finally, staring at Kelcie the whole while.

A blush bloomed on Kelcie’s face as she spluttered while Ryel giggled. “See? I told you!”

Clearing my throat again, I tried once more. “You look beautiful, my consort, my… wife?”

With my cheeks going pink from my own blush, my heart raced as I waited for Kelcie to reply to my question. A quiet gasp drew my attention to Ryel for a moment as she bounced on her toes. I could have almost sworn she had stars in her eyes as she beamed a brilliant smile at us. 

“Silly fairy, I already said I had felt like we had gotten married or something, but are you sure that this is what you want? After all, I was–”

“Don’t say another word, my love,” I interrupted, placing a finger on her lips and pulling her to me. “You are the girl that I love. Now and forever. Never forget that.”

Ryel made a face. “You two are so gross!”

“You were just cheering for us. Make up your mind!” Kelcie replied with a sigh. 

“Ha! A girl can change her mind!”

I giggled as Kelcie pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head at Ryel’s brattiness. That was some ‘A’ class brattiness. I should know, I taught her, after all.

Do you wish to designate ‘Consort Kelcie’ as your Chosen?
Yes No

I had just selected Yes when a woman appeared behind Ryel with a faint ripple of air around her, with no warning nor fanfare. As she spoke, I could’ve sworn that her voice was simultaneously very familiar and foreign. “She’s right, you know. It was gross.”

The woman was wearing dark robes that were doing a great job cosplaying as Jedi attire, with skin-tight black clothes underneath and solid black leather boots. Her fiery red hair was tied up into a tight braid that ran all the way down to the bottom of her back. I could just see the pointed long ears of an elf poking through her hair. The smirk on her face was one that taunted me with its familiarity. The edges of my vision began to turn black as I suddenly realised I had stopped breathing. 

Flashes of a half forgotten memory danced through my mind as I stared at the woman with hair like fire. 

“Why is your character always a girl, and always named Azalea?”

I looked over my shoulder at Sarah leaning down to look at the new character I had just made on the old MMO the three of us were playing. My best friend coughed and pretended to hide his character from his twin sister’s gaze. 

Eventually, I knew I’d have to come clean about myself, but Sarah could be intense. I was actually honestly surprised that she hadn’t worked it out yet, she was by far the smartest person in our school, after all. 

Her eyes suddenly widened as she took in the look on my face, and my clothes, feminine ‘comfy’ clothes as I liked to call them. “No way…” she whispered. “It all makes so much sense now.” At the look on my face, she smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret, you know I will. Don’t worry too, I still love you.” She smirked as I spluttered and blushed. Her brother faux-gagged as he sat next to me with his laptop.

She’d always teased me about her affections for me, no matter my protests or how embarrassed it made me.

Another memory made itself known, the very last time I had seen Sarah before waking up as a fairy. 

The steady beeping was the first thing I heard when I woke up. After all this time, I had still yet to get used to it. 

“Good morning, cutie.”

I gasped, startled. In my sleep and drugged addled state, I hadn’t realised someone had come to visit me. “Sarah? What’re you doing here?” I asked, easily recognising the short fiery red hair covering her head like the morning sun, and Sarah was the only one who called me cutie frequently. 

“What? I need an excuse to come and see one of my best friends? Besides, you asked me to come and see you, dummy, or did you forget?”

Rubbing sleep groggily from my eyes, I pressed the button to lift the hospital bed so I could sit up. “What?”

“Wow, they really do have you on strong medication, don’t they?” Sarah replied. Her tone was light and amused, but I had always been able to read her, and I could easily see the pain and fear she was hiding.

“Nuh, I’m just allergic to getting up early.”

“It’s three in the afternoon!”

“Oh God, why did you wake me up so early for?” I groaned, trying not to smile, clapping my hands to my face. 

I felt the bed sink a little as Sarah giggled and sat down. “So what did you ask me here for?” she asked, taking one of my hands in both of hers, carefully avoiding where the drip was strapped to my arm.

“What? Oh yeah! I wanted you to have my account for that new game that we were going to play together.”

Sarah shook her head. “Absolutely not! That’s your account, you paid a crazy amount of money for. I want you to have it for when you get out of here.”

“I don’t…” I started, before a coughing fit overtook me and I attempted to cough up my lungs along with what felt like my spleen. Throughout the whole time, Sarah held me and patted my back and shoulder gently, trying to help soothe me.

Weakly I laid back on my bed with a grateful sigh as the attack passed. “I don’t think I am going to get out of this one, I’m afraid. Fairly sure I have run out of lives this time.” I managed to get out, my voice quiet and serious. “Don’t talk, just listen,” I spoke up, interrupting her. “Sarah, please take my account for that fancy pants VR game that is about to come out. My pre-order has some rare, almost unique items and class choices that I want you to have, otherwise I am afraid they will go to waste.”

“Well… now I know for sure that you are doped up on meds. The girl I know would never give up like that. And for another, the game has already started, don’t you remember my brother showing you his character? And the NPC he is crushing on.”

≿--------༺❀༻--------≾

Seeing someone who just happened to have an uncanny resemblance to one of my best friends in my previous life and to absolutely make sure that I was not wrong, I used [Inspect] on her. 

Demon Lord Sarah Almswyth, Custodian of Souls, Goddess in all but Name
Class:
[Divine Blade] (Mythic) Level 778
[Soul Reaper] (Legendary) Level 1178
Hidden Skill:
[Soul of the System]
I’m letting you see all of this information, cutie, even though by rights you should not be able to.

The name was the same, her looks identical. Even her humour and how she called me cutie was the same, and yet, it couldn't really be her, could it? I cradled my head in pain as memories I had long suppressed forced their way back to the surface. “No, no, no, NO! You can’t be here! I thought you were long dead and I was in another world! Why did you never come to find me then!?” I sobbed as the red haired beauty blurred in my vision. I wondered why for a moment until I felt tears running down my cheeks.

I felt Kelcie wrap her arms around me as Ryel stepped in between Sarah and I, glaring at the older woman. “Azzie? What’s wrong? Who is this woman?”

A scream escaped my lips as everything wobbled, pixelating wildly like a glitchy game as pain seared across my brain like it was on fire. She couldn’t be here. I was in another world, one with a system, one that was so different to the one I had left. I could never forget the class she was showing either. Soul Reaper was the class that I had received in my account as part of the pre-order bonus. The account that I had given Sarah just before I died. Am I in the game somehow? Was all of this Virtual Reality? What was going on, was any of this real?

“Azalea! What’s happening? Please, come back to me.” I heard someone sob from what felt simultaneously very close and too far away. 

One moment, everything was smeared across my vision like an old computer that’s about to bluescreen and the next, a prompt appeared in my UI.

Sarah has sent you a notification:
“Wake up, dummy!”

A cold shock as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice cold water rushed over me, kickstarting my synapsis back to life. With a loud gasp, I breathed in for what felt like the first time in years, opening my eyes and finding myself cradled in Kelcie’s arms, seeing everyone’s worried expressions as they stared at me. Ryel and Kelcie glared angrily at Sarah, the latter with a worried look I couldn’t quite fathom. Callie and Raya couldn’t seem to decide whether to look at me with concern or at the new and immensely powerful Demon Lord in our midst. Sarah stood over me, looking upset and yet utterly unfazed by the mixed emotions swirling around her. 

“I would never have let you see that information if I thought you were going to pass out because of it,” Sarah said, her signature smirk gracing her lips. The setting sun hovered behind her head, lighting up her already bright red hair, making it appear to lit on fire.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice cracking at the end. I was suddenly parched and feeling incredibly weak. I groaned quietly in pain as fire licked my brain again. 

Sarah sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. It was so reminiscent of Kelcie, I couldn’t help but smile weakly. “You nearly bluescreened yourself, dumbass. All over little ole me, too.”

“Is this even real? What’s going on?!”

“It’s…” Just before Sarah could finish, with a thunderous crack and flash of lightning, another person appeared suddenly. 

“Do not say another word, Demon Lord. Adam commands it. He is watching.”

Suddenly Sarah’s flippant attitude changed, it was subtle, though, and I doubted most people would have been able to pick up on it. That told me that Sarah regarded this woman as someone who was incredibly dangerous, and this was coming from someone who appeared to have some sort of system access. Was she the real protagonist in this story?

Sarah’s smirk had slipped slightly when the new person had arrived, but it was back and stronger than ever. “Viv! Hi! How are you? How is grovelling at the feet of your master doing for you? By the looks of you, not well.”

I used [Inspect] and as I did, Sarah coughed into her hand, briefly waving her free one.

Goddess of War, Vivian the Judgement
Class: [Note from Sarah] Honestly, I’d say this bitch has no class, but that’s just me
[Divine Warrior] (Mythic) Level 999
[Executioner] (Legendary) Level 1542

All around us, soldier’s fell on their knees in supplication to the woman who had just appeared. Vivian’s face, which had been red before, almost purpled as she glared at Sarah with utter contempt and hatred. “How dare you allow some nobody to see my information.” She turned that glare toward me. “Don’t you dare let another soul know that information, girl.”

Sarah snorted. “Good thing she ain’t a nobody, Viv.”

“Don’t call me that, Demon Lord.” The contempt she put into Sarah’s title and glare was obvious. Clearly no love was lost between these two. I did notice that she chose to ignore everything else that Sarah had said, though. What is it about me that made me somebody to these titans? I could see and feel the magic literally pouring off of them. It was immense.

“What’s wrong, Viv, don’t like your own name? That’s totally okay, you know? I have experience dealing with that.”

In a split second, Vivian had a truly terrible looking giant sword out and pointing directly at Sarah. The speed and power of the move sent a shockwave out in all directions, knocking half of the onlookers over. Kelcie staggered back, barely managing to stay standing with me in her arms as Ryel, Callie, and Raya all fell over. Tyral, I noticed, had somehow managed to place a magic barrier in between her and the two women, protecting her and the prince.

In a move of supreme coolness – in my opinion – Sarah just stood there, only her hair moving slightly as if it was merely a breeze. She smirked at the enraged War Goddess without so much as lifting a finger in preparing herself for a fight. “That’s not a clever move, and you know it, Viv.”

A loud creaking of leather accompanied the goddess’ glare at Sarah. “Oh, and why is that? Think you can take me, do you? Even with your little cheat.”

Sarah scratched the back of her head, straightening her braid, seeming to not even pay Vivian any major sort of attention. That was clearly intentional as Vivian seemed to get even angrier at being so casually dismissed.

“It’s not that, exactly. It’s just that if we were to fight, most of the people around us would die. Now, I know you don’t care for them because you are a heartless bitch, but I do know that Adam will be upset with you if you harmed Re–Azalea.” Sarah glanced at me briefly before looking back at her enemy. “And we both know that you would do anything to be a good little pet, don’t we?”

Despite Sarah’s warning, it did actually look like Vivian was debating with herself about attacking or not, when I finally felt like I had had enough of this pompous blowhard.

“Enough!” I yelled out as I flew out of Kelcie’s arms – ignoring her shouted warning and got in between the Demon Lord and the Goddess of War. 

“You dare get between me and my hated enemy, child?”

I snorted. “You really do like to hear yourself speak, don’t you? Gods, are you bloody rude! Have you no manners? I was having a reunion with an old friend I thought I had lost, and you butted in, with that massive sword that just has to be overcompensating for something. Like, seriously, you look like a generic anime protagonist with that thing. Why don’t you go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, and quit bothering us!”

“How–”

“Yeah, yeah. How dare I, yadda, yadda, blah, blah. Such a clichéd villain. We both know you aren’t going to do squat, now leave, loser.” Having said my piece, I turned my back and smiled at Sarah brightly. It was probably not the wisest thing I had ever done, but seriously, this woman screamed walking cliché to me.

“I look forward to killing you, little fairy,” the Goddess of War hissed out, before with a crack of thunder and flash of lightning, vanished.

“Azalea! What have I said about running towards dangerous situations that would kill you?” Kelcie screeched as she ran up to me.

“Umm, not to?”

Hugging me tightly, Kelcie glowered down at me. When had she changed back to her human form? I hadn’t even registered that she had been holding me during the confrontation. “And just what did you do?”

I looked up at her with my big eyes and pouted at her. “I plead the fifth!”

Sarah cracked up as she watched us, although I could see she was hiding some pain behind her laughter as well as she sighed. “Fifteen millennia I searched for you, and apparently I was still too late, it seems,” she said as she watched Kelcie and I together. “Unfortunately, I cannot stay. Viv isn’t the only one working with Adam and I know he is watching me like a hawk right now, Gods – no, not you McKenna – is he annoying. I came, not just to see you, but to give you this, too. A formal invitation to a Demon Lord’s summit to officially welcome you as a new demon lord. Congratulations on that by the way. Total kickass move you pulled off. Keep doing those and we will pull through this just fine.”

“Wait,” I said as I processed even more shocks that Sarah had dumped on me as she handed me a small letter. “Why does the name McKenna feel familiar?”

Sarah stared at me with surprise, before her signature smirk reappeared. “Oh, boy are you gonna be surprised, cutie. You will see at the meeting.” Sarah suddenly turned towards Rad Ollie with a bright smile. “Don’t think I didn’t see you there, Rad. I hope you are enjoying your new life. I see that you never gave up your love of motor bikes,” she said with a nod towards the Airbike sitting nearby.

Rad startled, having Sarah address her directly like that, before her face turned red as everyone nearby turned to look at her with surprise that a demon lord of Sarah’s calibre knew her. “Ah, yes, my Lord. I am, I could never give up the love of my life like that.”

“Heh, well, good on you. Anyway, ciao, for now.”

“Wait!” 

The demon lord shook her head with a look of regret. “Sorry, Azalea. I can’t stay. I will see you again soon.” Before anyone else could raise an objection, she was gone with a faint ripple of air.

“Well… so that happened,” Ryel commented in a shaky voice. 

I sighed. “Drat. I forgot to ask her about her brother.”